CONDENSED CREAM SOUP GF/CF

2011

Whatever did we do before Campbell canned condensed soups? 

Well, thanks to COVID, we all can learn to do as our grandmothers did and make our own.

This is one of the best recipes in my collection - I probably use it as a soup or in powdered form to create a casserole, twice a week in winter soup season. 

I keep this soup mix foremost in the front of the pantry -- (so the darling husband, Mr. Darcey can find it.)

Homemade Condensed Soup Recipe

 (Powdered mix) version below

GF creamed soup  (notice, all ingredients are healthy and pronounceable)

1 cup cold milk
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp salt dash of pepper

In a small saucepan, whisk milk and cornstarch till well blended. Stir in butter, bouillon, salt, and pepper. Heat to a boil, stirring frequently. Simmer on low for one minute more to thicken.

Use in recipes to replace one can of cream of anything soup.

Cream of Mushroom Soup: Stir in a drained 4 ounce can of mushroom pieces to the recipe above.

Cream of Chicken Soup: Already flavored, you could stir in 1/2 cup cooked chicken pieces to the recipe above.

Cream of Celery Soup:Stir in 1/2 cup sautéed chopped celery to the recipe above.

 

QUICK and EASY MIX

Cream of ANYTHING Soup Mix GF/CF Version

I keep a container of this in the cupboard and just use a scoop of it with water whenever I need a can of cream of something soup. If it is a can of condensed soup that I need, I half the water as liquid and double the powder.

2 cups of dry powdered milk or gf/cf nondairy creamer
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup bouillon granules
1 Tbs dry onion flakes
1 teaspoon each basil and garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons dry celery flakes (optional)
1 tsp salt

To make the mix, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix them up, distributing everything evenly. Stored in a quart size container, well sealed, this mix will keep for several months.

To prepare as soup: Whisk 1/3 cup mix and 1 1/4 cups cool tap water in a small saucepan. Stir well and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil and stir for a full minute. Remove from heat.

It is now ready to use in any recipe calling for a can of Cream of Mushroom, Celery or Chicken Soup. This works in any casserole when you add a can of mushrooms, some sauteed celery or chicken.

Microwave instructions - reduce the liquid to 1 cup because it does not evaporate during the cooking process.

This recipe contains no added fat - a benefit. But if you want you can add a tablespoon of margarine or bacon grease for more flavor, but it really doesn't need it. This recipe makes 9 cans of soup and may save you about $8.00 if you used to use Campbell's brand... and 80% more than that if you are able to discover a g-f stash of Progresso Cream of Mushroom . (Stores rarely have it in stock!)

Summer Squash Quick Bread

We have too much summer squash. After like 10 summer squash dishes and then someone drops some off on your porch and your mother-in-law wants you to pick hers and your plant is just starting to produce, we're in for a serious amount of summer squash. We've sauteed it, frozen it, and hidden it in other dishes...

GOOD NEWS.
SUMMER SQUASH BREAD.

Or cake.






Pictured--I put in half the batter then added marshmallows, pecans and chocolate chips. Then poured the rest of the batter on top.




Easy peasy recipe (you can half it if you don't have as much squash as I did...):

2 huge summer squash,
cut up in a blender with
1 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
and
3 eggs.

Puree it all, pour it in a BIG bowl and add

1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 T milk powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 c sugar (or less if you want it for breakfast instead of dessert)
1 t guar gum
1 T cinnamon
mix it all with 1 cup flour and then wait ten minutes to see how the texture is turning out. THEN add up to 2 ish cups more GF flour blend (I used my 7 flour blend of rice, tapioca, sorghum, millet, potato, cornstarch, buckwheat, recipe here but I'm sure any blend will be fine)--add last and just look for when it makes a nice smooth cake-consistency batter.
Too wet and it will never cook through. Too dry and it will be chalky.


Mix. Preheat oven 350*, pour it into many multiple greased pans (this made a 9" round AND a big bread pan) and cook for 50 minutes or so. Follow your nose and tap it on top when you think it's done. If it bounces back, get it out and let it cool. Undercooked is nasty and I do not recommend it.

This is an easy bread and I'm guessing it would freeze nicely (if we ever didn't finish it/give it to neighbors, Sunday School classes, and friends).

GF Travel Food Tips

Our trip shutterfly album will be titled, "2014 Starving in NYC."  Did you know that if you ate every day, every meal at a different restaurant in NYC, in your lifetime, you would never eat at them all?  24,000 restaurants AND we found only one in our area that was certified gluten-free.      https://www.thelittlebeet.com
They do great snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies, but one can only live so long without protein.

So once more into the breech,  I'll resurrect this, first posted 9-17-08  Disclaimer, check ALL labels, this info is 6 years old.  Gaaagh, have I really been doing this that long?  What am I a masochist?  Who would do this out of the goodness of their heart for this long?_____________Please ignore that rant. I'm still suffering from the effects of malnutrition.

glutenfreetravelsite.com

glutenfreetravel.com

glutenfreetraveller.com

glutenfreeroads.com

celiactravel.com

Hungry?  Consider taking these items when Traveling:

String cheese, nuts, carrots,
Fresh fruits and vegetables
Gorp (combine Planters peanuts, M&Ms, and Sun-Maid raisins)
Homemade trail mix
Homemade cinnamon Granola
Hormel summer sausage,
Deli meat, cheese, and condiments
Olberto Original Beef Jerky;
Hormel Beef Jerky, watch for wheat
Homemade onion dip (combine 16 oz. GF sour cream [such as Daisy brand], ½ cup finely chopped onions, and 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons Herb-Ox beef flavoring);
Lay’s Classic Potato Chips
GF olives
Nutella

Individual pudding packs (Hunts and Hy-Vee; not all flavors are gluten-free)
Lipton Cup-O-Soup (tomato and broccoli with cheese could still be gluten-free)
Individual serving-size Progesso soups (lentil and chicken with wild rice are GF)
Individual serving-size of Dinty Moore beef stew
Individual serving-size Thai Kitchen rice noodle dishes (not all flavors are gluten-free)
Individual serving-size Hormel Kids’ Kitchen Beans and Weiners Ensure nutrition supplement (EXCEPT Ensure Nutrition and Energy Bars are not GF)
Carnation Instant Breakfast (EXCEPT Classic Chocolate Malt which contains gluten)
GF canned fruits—individual serving sizes (take plastic spoons)
GF dried fruits (not all dried fruits are gluten-free)
Fruit rolls and snacks (Justice League)
GF breakfast cereals (purchased or homemade, such as Betty Hagman’s)
Instant grits (Quaker); take along some brown sugar, a bowl or cup and a spoon
(inexpensive, light-weight, and space-saving)
Homemade or purchased GF muffins and cookies (Pamela’s, Mi-Del)

Cooler Foods 
Potato salad, Egg salad, hard boiled eggs, deviled eggs,
Hillshire Farms Deli Select sandwich meats
Hormel Deli Sliced lunch meats (read label)
Tuna packets (with small packets of Hellman’s mayo or Kraft Miracle Whip, and Vlasic pickle relish
Homemade cheese dip (microwave 1 lb Velveeta, 1 can Rotel tomatoes);
Tostitos chips Fritos brand bean dip Assorted GF cheeses (after you slice or cube at home)
Peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and honey (use on GF crackers, bread, or rice
cakes). Also, Skippy Squeeze Stix (chocolate is not gluten-free).
Peanut butter and celery Kraft cheese spreads in juice-glass style jar (pimento, etc.)—made with Philadelphia cream cheese singles
Yoplait yogurt (not all flavors are gluten-free)

Keeping Food Cool During Air Travel

For day trips, use an insulated soft-side bag or small cooler and insert a frozen Blue Ice pack. For longer trips, a larger cooler may be appropriate. Some hotels and motels will allow use of their freezer to refreeze the ice pack overnight. Otherwise, it may be necessary to restock a cooler with ice, as needed.

Since frozen gel packs (such as Blue Ice packs) are prohibited on airlines, a suitable alternative that will pass inspection is bags of frozen peas or corn. Cooling lasts 7 to 24 hours, depending on conditions. (This method is used by a shipper of frozen salmon in AK.)
GF bread (purchased or homemade)—use toaster bags to avoid contamination from motel
toasters (Note: For travel, homemade bread in bun form creates fewer crumbs.)

SNACKS
Microwave popcorn (Act II; Jolly Time: American’s Best, Blast O Butter, Butter-
Licious, Crispy N’White, Kettle Mania, The Big Cheez and other flavors) [use microwave at Quik Trip, 7-Eleven, gas station, etc.]

GF crackers (Bi-Aglut, Ener-G, Blue Diamond, etc.)
Rice cakes (some may not be gluten-free—read label)
GF snack bars (such as Lara Bars, also Bumble Bars at some Wild Oats stores

Lays products: Classic Potato Chips, Ruffles, Tostitos, Fritos Corn Chips, Cheetos Nuts (Planters, Fisher)
GF pretzels (Ener-G and Wylde)
GF banana chips (Sweet Meadow) or other
GF dried fruit chips
GF candy bars (Hershey’s plain or almond, Almond Joy, Butter Finger, Snickers, York Mints, M&Ms, Baby Ruth, Oh Henry, Heath, and others.)
GF fruit and vegetable juices—individual serving sizes (e.g., V-8; Dole; Minute Maid;
Del Monte’s 100% fruit juices, but read label)
GF powdered fruit drinks: Capri Sun, Crystal Lite, Country Time, HiC, Minute Maid, Tang (pour
powders into bottle of water and shake)

Note: Citing brand names is for reader convenience and does not constitute endorsement of products or imply that these are the only suitable gluten-free products available. For all purchases, always read labels to be sure of gluten-free status.

Gluten Free Easy Chicken Enchiladas

This is a story of a college newlywed trying to cook for guests tonight while her GF Muse (read: Mom) is "busy." Lots of reality bites in this one, but it still turned out great.

Filling: (ie put this stuff with the chicken inside the tortillas)

can of green chiles
can of corn
can of black beans
can of tomatoes

  Reality Bite: shouldn't have blended the corn and beans into the sauce. Lumpy sauce is awkward for guests. Perfect for children who don't think they like veggies, though (evil laugh*). 

Oh, and the chicken.

Reality Bite: forgot to put the chicken in the crockpot eight hours ago. Well, if I put it on high that should half the cooking time... right...? 6 lbs of raw chicken in the crockpot for four hours on high with 1/2 c water and a couple teaspoons of salt and pepper, I'll just have to come back later and finish... yikes. 

And Sour Cream, which I have none of. ...1 part plain yogurt to 3 parts mayo makes a great substitute?

Reality Bite: Moommmmmyyyy! 

Sauce: (ie put this stuff in the pot, then the blender, and then spoon it over and under the rolled tortillas)

can of tomatoes
onion
olive oil
cilantro, red pepper/chili pepper (what's the difference, anyway?!), salt and pepper, cumin, lime? Sure.

Reality Bite:  have 16 oz of cumin and absolutely no cilantro in the house. Ugh. Borrow some from neighbors...  

Put some sauce in the casserole pan and start frying and filling the tortillas. The sauce helps them stick so they don't unroll. When your pan is full of filled, rolled tortillas, put on a few more spoonfuls of sauce and cover the whole thing in cheese. Mmmm.

Pretty forgiving recipe, turns out. 

Cheezy Potato Spinach Casserole

A delicious way to use up the leftover mashed potatoes from Valentines... uh, Christmas... uh Thanksgiving? Hey, this recipe test has been sitting in my draft file for a really long time.  Glad I finally tried it.  It's a keeper.

10 potatoes cooked and mashed
10 oz. frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
1/2 cup sour cream (I used plain yogurt)
1 cup cheddar cheese (divided in half)
Salt and pepper to taste (my autocondimentor likes        all his pretty salty--that's what he gets.)

Stir it all up together,reserving half of the cheese for the top.  Place in a greased 2 qt. casserole, top with cheese, Bake at 350 15-25 minutes (depending on the heat of your potatoes to start).  Mine were refrigerated leftovers (No not from Thanksgiving) and so I heated them first in the dutch oven on the stovetop.

Reality Bite:  Autocondimentor extraordinaire, Terry Pratchett, you are a literary monument.

100 GLUTEN-FREE FOODS YOU CAN EAT NOW

Checked and modified again

The GF Mantra: CHECK THE LABEL FIRST!!!!

WATCH BLOG DATES
 Don't trust anything two years old!!! DUH!

To start, AVOID WHEAT, RYE, BARLEY and OATMEAL in everything.
Also avoid any other allergies you have already (for now).

Avoid common additives of malt and wheat starch.

100 THINGS YOU CAN BUY AND EAT RIGHT NOW!!!

re-categorized from a CSA support group website.

See: http://csaceliacs.org/ and http://csatulsa.googlepages.com/100Things

All vegetables- keep a relish tray and dressings for dipping. All dressings now state on the label if they contain wheat. Many say gluten-free now.

Most dairy - Milk is g/f

Cheddar Cheese(s) (check label)
Viva Cottage Cheese
Velveeta Cheese (Kraft swears all gluten will be marked on the labels)
Viva Cottage Cheese
Philadelphia Cream Cheese
Crisco
Butter Buds
Parkay

All meats - fresh, like from the butcher, not marinated or coated or injected or processed.

Butterball Turkey
Hormel Pepperoni & Canadian Bacon
Hormel Vienna Sausage
Hormel Canned Chuck Meats
Hormel Fully Cooked Entrees Beef Roast
Au Jus & Pork Au Jus only
Boars’ Head Hickory Smoked Chicken Breast
Oscar Meyer Lunch meats (all hot dogs)
Ball Park Hot Dogs (except corn dogs)
Jennie-O Turkey Breast
Jennie-O Turkey (for Thanksgiving)
Delimex Taquitos
Tyson Chicken Tenders
Hormel Bacon Bits and Pieces
Hillshire Farm Bacon
Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage (except Fresh Beerwurst & Cheddarwurst)
Little Sizzlers Sausage Links & Patties
Always Tender Homestyle Potroast & Peppercorn Pot Roast
Cure 81 Ham (bone-in, boneless, & old-fashioned spiral)
Johnsonville Sausage Beef Snack Stix

All fresh fruit - I can't think of any fruit with gluten in it. Canned fruit maybe... but I doubt it.

Preserves
Dole dried fruit
Apple sauce (Musslemans & most brands)
Del Monte Canned and jarred fruits
Minute Maid Fruit Drinks
Skippy Peanut Butter
Jiff Peanut Butter
Smucker’s Jams Jellies, Marmalades, Preserves
Hershey’s chocolate syrup
Ice Cream (watch label--they add wheat, go figure) (and NO MALT SHAKES)

Tortilla corn chips (most-but check label--some flavors have wheat!)
Pace Picante Sauce and Salsa (check label on salsas for wheat, some say GF)
Nut Thins by Blue Diamond
Brown Rice Snaps (Edward & Sons brand)
Glutino's Cookies absolutely the best and most like regular food, but exxxxpennnsive!
Kinniknikikinninii (or some such) cookies from Canada
Mydel Cookies (gluten free type)
EnerG Crackers & Pretzels

Many candies: Check the label for malt, wheat starch, modified food starch (wheat)
NO MILKY WAY
NO TWIX
NO LICORICE
Butterfingers and Baby Ruth
Reeces Peanut Butter Cups
Almond Joy
Jelly Bellys (not buttered toast)
Campfire marshmallows
Tootsie Rolls
Snickers
Skittles
M&M’s not crispy

Hunt’s Snack Pack Puddings (all are okay, except cookie added)
Jello Brand Puddings; Gelatin
Warning:  Walmart Sugar Free Gelatin's CHECK LABEL some have wheat.

Guittard chocolates
Kelloggs Fruit Snacks (many other brands are GF)

Eggs – boiled make a good snack, fried makes a good breakfast, in a casserole makes good dinner

CEREALS 
Rice, Corn, Strawberry, Chocolate and Honey Nut CHEX (General Mills) will be your best friend!!
Kix and more!
Health Valley Corn & Rice Crunch-Ums
Fruity Pebbles (watch for malt)
Nabisco Cream of Rice (bland)
Trix-Cocoa Pebbles, (check label)

SNACKS
Act II microwave popcorn (all)
Fritos
Cheetos
Potato Chips (some flavor with wheat)
Lays Stax

Most Fresh Fish -
including Starkist Tuna (except Lunch-to-Go kits)

Quick Cook foods: 
Bean and Wienies - check the label for fillers
Ortega Refried Beans
Dinty Moore Beef Stew
Progresso Cream of Mushroom Soup, Clam Chowder Soup and several others (check label)
Hunts Spagetti Sauce
Prego Traditional Pasta Sauce

Thai Kitchen Stir-Fry noodles w/Sauce
(original Pad Thai, w/ chili and Thai Peanut have wheat) check the label
Hormel Tamales (Beef & Chicken)
Hormel Chili with Beans (not meat only)
Bush’s Baked Beans
(Except Chili Beans & Chili Magics)
Campbells Healthy Request RTC
(RTC Hearty country vegetable)
Giant Food frozen broccoli in cheese sauce

Del Monte canned tomatoes & tomato products (except spaghetti sauce flavored with meat. AVOID TVP or HYDROLIZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN on the LABEL)

FAST FOOD: For comprehensive lists see TriumphDining.com
Always call ahead to be safe: ask about gluten-free options AND cross-contamination.

Wendy’s chili, baked potato and frosty, southwest salad, (WENDYS has a nutrition label on the wall with wheat marked on it!!!) and they'll make you any burger or sandwich without the bun. Sweethearts.

McDonald’s French Fries (should be a dedicated fryer, but is too complicated legally to certify as GF, so I eat them anyway.) I have never had a reaction, but McDonalds sees liability everywhere, so See this link for proof that they aren't GF.

DO NOT GO TO APPLEBYS (Many franchises inject meat with wheat.)
Outback will make you happy with their GF menu.
Spaghetti Factory has GF noodles now.
Carrabas has a GF menu
Jason's Deli has a GF menu (and GF bread for sandwiches!)
Los Hermanos has a GF menu (except you need to get your waiter in a strangle hold and pound into their head: do NOT give me THE SPANISH RICE or the NORMAL BEANS!)
Guru's (in Provo on Center) has a GF menu
CiCi's is trying to make a GF pizza crust. (call them and complain)
Domino's has a GF crust
Pier 49 has a "GF" crust (not really, don't go there)
CHILI's has a GF menu now.
Costa Vida does everything gluten-free except the wheat tortilla, and they are careful about cross contamination.
Pizza Pie Cafe does GF pizza and pasta for just $2 more than the normal buffet, also very careful.
Almost every Thai and Indian restaurant will have several safe (if not an entire menu full of safe) dishes.

Condiments
Mrs. Dash
Pace Enchilada Sauce
Walmart Great Value Red Sauce (see label)
Heintz Ketchup
Heintz EZ Marinader Teriyaki
Herb-Ox bouillion (beef, chicken, vegetable)
Swanson vegetable broth
Cattleman’s Barbecue Sauces
Miracle Whip
Hellman’s Mayonaise (Best Foods)
Valasic Pickles
French’s mustard
Hellman’s Tarter Sauce
French’s Worchestershire Sauce
Hellman’s dipping sauce
McCormick extracts & some packet mixes
Trappey’s Hot Sauces (all)

Carnation instant breakfast
(except Classic Chocolate Malt)
Cremora Non-Dairy Coffee Creamers
Folgers Coffee (all)
Carnation Hot Cocoa
Juicy Juice
Gatorade
Nestea Ice Tea
Stephens Gourmet Hot Cocoa (at Target)

There are many options here that you will not choose when you have been on the diet more than a month or so and are becoming healthier.  But having a list when I was first diagnosed really made life easier.

AS ALWAYS, check labels, recipes do change, and HAPPY EATING.

Twelve Reasons to JUST TRY a Gluten-free Diet for ONE month

Could you be celiac or gluten intolerant and not know it? Check the following list of tell-tale signs and take the challenge of an entirely, 100% gluten-free diet--for just one month to find out for sure.

Gluten-free? Isn't that just for my weird vegan crunchy-granola friends? Not if you identify with any of the following indications. If you or a close family member has experienced one of these symptoms or diseases, a gluten-free diet can be ameliorating or even curative. 

As I said recently to a college friend diagnosed with an IBD that would cost him $20,000 a year for the rest of his life (hopefully 50+ more years) in medications, 

"Hey, isn't it worth A MILLION DOLLARS to try it for ONE MONTH?" 

(This logic also somehow resolved his worry that "it's so expensive to go GF"! Go figure.) If it doesn't fix it, you're a month gluten-less. If it does, you're an entire lifetime richer. 

Why haven't I heard about this before? Unfortunately, there is no prescription drug company lobbying for more studies about how people can stop taking their drug and save millions by changing their diet. Surprise. 

So who says that it will help? The links that follow are a combination of Mayo Clinic publications, University studies, MDs and PhDs who have published on the topic as well as a sheer mass of anecdotal evidence. Please feel free to do more research and post anything you want to share as a comment. 

Don't I have to wait for a diagnosis? Terina was once faced with a friend who had tried the GF diet and had immediate relief from her lifetime chronic pain. This result prompted her to get a test to find out "once and for all" if she was gluten-intolerant. She called Terina in tears the day of the test and asked, "What am I going to do if it's NEGATIVE?! Go back to being miserable?!" Terina replied, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! USE YOUR BRAIN!" Just kidding. But seriously: false negatives, along with yet un-test-for-able gluten sensitivity and gluten intolerance, are a huge problem in the medical world. This girl right here had a falsely negative skin biopsy, blood test and stomach scope before a fecal test (through EnteroLab) and cheek swab finally came back blatantly positive... 15 years of suffering later. Thanks, medicine. It's up to you, of course. 

The twelve tell-tale signs: 

12. "Addiction" to carbs. Higher gluten in wheat because of recent food processing changes (a la Wheat Belly's author, Dr. William Davis) makes modern wheat a completely different, highly addictive grain than what human digestion systems have been processing for thousands of years. 
11. High blood sugar (pre-diabetic or diabetic) or hypertension or low blood sugar. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, which we'll read more about further down. 
10. Asthma, arthritis, hypertension, fibromyalgia, tension headaches and migraines or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders: more autoimmune disorders, along with a few "garbage" diagnoses when doctors just give a name to a pain.
9. Chronic fatigue and/or anemia. So tired you fall asleep at stop lights and have to call a babysitter to watch your kids while you're home because you keep falling asleep in the middle of board games? Terina was before her diet change. Celiac disease affects your ability to absorb iron--so no matter how many supplements you take (or how many cans of spinach you gulp, Popeye-style, before you give blood) you can't increase your hematocrit levels.
8. Any other autoimmune disorders (Lupus, alopecia, rheumatoid arthritis, vitiligo, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune hepatitis, and about 30 others I can't pronounce). "I would suggest that if you have an autoimmune disease you get tested for gluten sensitivity, and if you're gluten intolerant, you should get screened for autoimmunity" says this article by MD Amy Myers (read the whole thing if you have time, it's really comprehensive).
7. ANY Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptoms (diarrhea, constipation, bloating, heartburn), and any Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) including Crohn's and Colitis (detractor here disproved by 100+ posts of UC non-celiacs here). This is an obvious one, people, it's even on wikipedia.
6. Thyroid/ Graves' disease/ Hashimoto's (more autoimmune disorders that aren't usually lumped with the others). Thyroid disease is another that many doctors still refuse to connect to gluten. Give 'em a couple years.
5. Odd or uncontrollable weight loss OR gain, or inability to lose or gain weight despite diet and exercise changes. Your body is calculated to keep you alive, but it starts wigging out when you're poisoning your own digestive tract ("wigging out" being a technical term for losing or holding onto fat stores or muscle tone in response to nutritional deficiencies--ie, your body won't lose fat when it's essentially starving.)
4. Skin rashes, including eczema and psoriasis: ever had the itch to, you know, tear your skin off your body? When it seems like a Niagara Falls of lotion won't fix it? Been there. Think about how you could take the family to Disneyland just from the lotion savings if going off gluten fixes THIS problem! 
3. Mental disease/disorders: schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, anorexia/bulimia. This connection is becoming better researched, but it's amazing how your own family tree and a little medical history can enlighten the subject. Is it just our family's curse that every adolescent girl gets anorexia? Might be connected to gluten.
2. Infertility (or here, including multiple miscarriage, especially before you try IVF) (try searching "go gluten free and get pregnant), missed/irregular or painful periods: "Clinical studies have shown that women with untreated celiac disease have a very high rate of infertility with difficulties in conceiving," "gluten can make your period absolutely miserable" and "adults may also have aforementioned symptoms but could also have unexplained pain, anemia, depression or anxiety, seizures, osteoporosis, infertility, canker sores, rash, migraines, irregular menstrual periods, poor teeth enamel or numbness in the hands or feet."
1. Understanding your friends/family: if you don't have gluten intolerance, yay. Chances (and statistics) are that your mom, friend, spouse, child, coworker or student will. Nothing shows support like co-suffering, and the amount of empathy you gain may change your experience a little bit next time you have to alter a birthday party or work gathering menu for the weird-GF-one-out.  

So how do I do it? Please save yourself the pain and money and don't just go buy every alternative gf bread and pasta on the shelves. This doctor explains why, but the basic reason is that when your intestinal tract is already full of holes, other grains will fall "out" of it just as easily as gluten. To heal, you need to start over with an entirely natural (only food God made--veggies, un-messed-with meats, fruits, water) diet. Too much, you cry? It's only a month. Remember that time your buddies dared you to stay off facebook or walk a mile everyday for a month (no? maybe I have weird friends...)? Remember that time you kept a crazy weird New Years Resolution for a month? You can do it. Let us help! Post if you're thinking about taking the challenge.

Click on the "a newbie?" link on the side of the main page for easy starter foods, including 100 GF foods you can eat now. 

Gluten-Free Fried Rice

A quick and simple fried rice that can get as authentic as you dare. Just remember the GF soy sauce!!

TOFU OPTION: Get firm or very firm tofu and drain all the water off. If you're a purist, weight the thing with a plate and a heavy pan on top to squeeze out even more water while you're getting ready to cook. Then chunk it, season with salt and pepper and roll in potato starch. Fry 'em up in a few teaspoons of canola oil.

The Fried Rice:

 Start with plain (cooked) rice,

 slice up and sizzle the Asian trio:

GINGER

GARLIC

GREEN ONION

 Then throw in the rice, whatever veggies you please, and an egg.

 Cook it around for a bit, then season with fish sauce and soy sauce, both GLUTEN FREE.

Finish with a handful of peanuts and the already-cooked tofu (or other meat) and serve hot. 

Gluten-Free FAST AND EASY Potato Smash

Can't mess up this delicious and FAST kid or teenager filler-upper. Cheap, easy and quick meal for on the go.

When Mr.-then-Boyfriend in college found out I was gluten-free, he didn't stop cooking for me (maybe that's why he became Mr. Husband), but he's anything but a gourmet gluten-free chef. He was a college kid!

He made up this Potato Smash to make on the run. It's flexible, easy, and quickly thrown together and microwaved. Plenty of carbs, starches and calories for hungry celiac bellies.

Nuke potatoes,
add any of the following:
chili, cheese, sour cream, salsa, can of beans, can of corn, leftover soup, spinach, tomatoes, whatever!

Warm it all up and you're done.

The only way you can mess it up is to use rotten potatoes. Trust me, we've tried it ALL!

Gluten-Free Recipes: Easy, Fast AND Cheap?

Five easy, fast, delicious gluten-free staple meals that you can eat in the next 30 minutes.

That's right, it's a promise: as a working newlywed with a HUNGRY law student husband, I understand the need for easy, cheap, quick (and delicious) gluten free food.

Is it possible?  YES! 

You're going to want to branch out on some rainy Saturdays when you wind up with an hour or two free, but for now we're interested in getting some calories into that wheat-free belly.
*All of these recipes can be made WITHOUT dairy, soy, meat, nuts, and/or eggs. It just takes some ingenuity!*

corn quesadillas (3 ingredients, 10 minutes, contains cheese)
fried rice (4 ingredients, 15 minutes, super cheap, contains egg)
potato bar (3 ingredients, 10 minutes, cheap as dirt)
spaghetti (2 ingredients, 30 minutes, a little more expensive)
simple stone stew (10 canned ingredients, 30 minutes, cheap as ...a rock)

Look for some recipes and pictures next time I make these favorites (aka within two or three days!). They are so simple and consistent I find myself making them over and over.

What are your "go-to" recipes for when you need to eat FAST? 

Fabulous Flour Table

This is a repost from 6-03-09 and 9-21-11   Happy flour storage!!!!

This table is designed to help you decide which flours combine to make a great flour mix.

Good Luck in your mixes.

EXOTIC GRAINS http://www.usda.gov nutrients of 13,000 foods we eat
TYPE **supergrain	USE IN:	QUALITIES	SOURCE	STORAGE
Almond meal $$$	In breads, mixes, desserts, crusts,	High in Proteins,	Almonds ground in food processor or blender. I do it w/ rice flour	Fridge, freezer-tightly sealed, keeps 6 months
Amaranth ** $$$	In mixes bread, muffins, bagels, pasta, milk, nut butter, cookies, gravies, sauces, pancakes, flatbreads, doughnuts, dumplings, pasta.	Excellent filler grain, 1-3 grain mix	Bobs Red Mill, Arrowhead Mills, Walton wheat, grind fresh or harvest home.com specialfoods.com	Tightly sealed, fridge, freezer, keeps 1 yr.
Arrowroot (starch) $$	West Indian starch	Swap for cornstarch	Bobsredmill.com, Arrowhead Mills	Seal tightly on Shelf
Bean, black, pinto, white, garbanzo, fava, romano, $	In mixes, as thickeners, Indian foods, baking breads	High food value, pulses mixed with grains = complete protein	Grind alternating with rice flour, high moisture, BobsRedMill.com, or Asian/India market	Shelf
Buckwheat ** aka groats (Kasha)	Pancakes, cakes, baking	Flavorful, grainy, rhubarb relative	Bobs, Arrowhead mills, grocery stores, walton feed,	Tightly sealed, 6 mo.
Coconut	Mixes, Can comprise as much as 10-30% mix	Good fiber, protein	Bobs, tropicaltraditions.com simplycoconut.com	Refrigerator, freezer
Cornstarch	Thickening- soups, sauces, and mixes	Bland, blending power	Grocery shelf, or asian store.	Shelf, cool dry
Corn flour, meal	Muffins, spoonbreads. tortillas, hot cereal	Gritty,	Grind from popcorn	Shelf, cool dry, years
Green Pea	Soups, thickening	Strong flavor,	Grind	Shelf
Flax **	In everything	Heart, colon healthy	Coffee grind, blender	Fridge, freezer, dark
Millet **	Breads, salads,	Grandma’s favorite	Grind, or steamed whole	Grain– Shelf, cool dry Flour, freezer/fridge
Nut, hazelnut, pecan, walnut,	Dessert crusts	Flaky, flavorful	Grocery stores - grind in coffee grinder or blender	Fridge, freezer
Quinoa ** flakes, flour, grain	Salads, tabouli, in place of couscous, flakes in place of oatmeal, sprouts 4 hrs.	Exotic, complete protein.	Bobs, quinoa.net, Wikipedia suggests 3 parts quinoa, 3 parts sorghum flour, 2 parts potato starch, and 1 part tapioca starch.	Shelf, dry, 1 year, longer if unground and stored in grain.
Potato Starch	In mixes, superior thickening,	Good blending power	Bobs, Asian/Indian store	Shelf
Potato Flour	Thickener, flavorful,	Moistening power	Bobs, Can grind instant potato flakes	Fridge
Rice, white, sweet, wild rice Montina, brown	Baking superior, alone and in mixes, soups, salads, performs best when mixed.	Gritty, mild, good base flour in mixes	Grind myself, or Sams, or Asian Store, Waltonfeed.com or Bobsredmill.com,	Brown whole grain rices must be frozen or refrigerated. All others shelved Wild rice– indefinitely
Sorghum ** $	Alone in cookies, makes great raw dough, in mixes,	50% swap in flours, good mix w/cornstarch	Grind, or Bobs, best source is Twinvalleymills.com in Ruskin Nebraska	Shelf, in grain form 10 years cool, dry - flour refrigerate or freeze.
Soybean	Mild nutty flavor	Never alone, mixed 30% with other grains	Versatile, I grind, Bobs	Freeze, fridge
Tapioca starch (cassava root)	Favored GF Flour, in mixes, adds chewyness	Mucilagenic	Bobs Red Mill, Asian/India market, Walton Feed,	Shelf
Teff** $$	Exotics, in mixes, soups, thickener, sprouted, salads--chocolate cake!	Tiniest grain in the world, good 30% mix	Teffco.com and natural food stores.	Sealed tight, fridge, freezer