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The gluten-free pumpkin pie that I made and brought
to my family's Thanksgiving gathering.
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My Gluten-Free Journey
I have been eating a gluten-free, as well as a mostly milk-free diet (I cannot tolerate any milk products except butter) for about seven years
now. The digestive issues and
brainfog that I experienced about an hour after eating revealed that something
wasn’t quite right. Although I was
tested for Celiac Disease and the results were negative, I just knew that my
body didn’t do well whenever I would eat anything with gluten in it.
After discovering that I was intolerant to gluten, I
eliminated it from my diet and a number of my health issues cleared up. While some of my health issues still persist, eliminating it has been a major positive step
along the path of my health journey.
Although avoiding gluten has been good for my body, making the
transition to being gluten-free was not easy for me. It can take a lot of learning and will
power to change your eating habits, although my experiences with digestive difficulties from eating
particular foods were a major motivational factor for me to stay on track. In my former eating life, I loved to eat
bread, pasta, cookies, pizza…, you name it.
How I Eat Now
These days, I cook a lot from scratch at home, I eat primarily whole foods including meat, eggs, fruit, vegetables, and I include a lot of traditional nourishing fats in my diet like coconut oil, organic & grassfed butter & ghee, and cod liver oil. I also enjoy making fruit and veggie smoothies with lots of healthy greens like kale and adding super foods like raw cacao powder, chaga mushroom tea, chlorella powder, and hemp and chia seeds.
Treats Happen
Every now and then, occasions do happen when I make
the occasional gluten-free treat.
The Holidays are one of those times when I believe it’s okay to treat
yourself and be a little indulgent, as long as it doesn’t get too out of
balance and doesn’t continue as an everyday habit. There are so many resources out there for those of us with
food sensitivities now, and I’m so
very grateful that if I must live with food sensitivities, we live in a
time when there are many options to choose from, even at most major chain
grocery stores.
For both the food-allergic and non-food allergic, my best advice is to cook from scratch as much as possible, since you then have complete control over what goes in your food. Chances are that the taste of your homemade goodness will outshine most items from the store just about every single time, and will likely be much less expensive as well.
For both the food-allergic and non-food allergic, my best advice is to cook from scratch as much as possible, since you then have complete control over what goes in your food. Chances are that the taste of your homemade goodness will outshine most items from the store just about every single time, and will likely be much less expensive as well.
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| Gluten-free apple crisp, also brought to Thanksgiving. |
Making Gluten-Free Goodies
As I have learned, gluten-free baking is somewhat of an
art form. My advice if you are new to the gluten-free baking scene is to start out
with some pre-made baking mixes to gain some confidence, and then branch out
and find a good gluten-free cookbook or online recipe source such as Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, which is one of my favorite resources for gluten-free cooking, recipes, and advice.
There are a few tips that that you should know if you are a newbie to gluten-free baking:
There are a few tips that that you should know if you are a newbie to gluten-free baking:
- Exact measurements matter! Gluten-free baking success is very dependent upon the ratios of your various ingredients.
- Be aware that the texture of your dough may be much stickier and more difficult to handle than when baking with gluten-based flour. You may need to do more scooping and spreading than kneading and handling than you may be used to. Do not freak out about this; accept that it can be a part of the process and make peace with it. Sometimes adding a little bit of rice flour or other gluten-free flour to the dough that you are handling can be helpful, and using these to “flour” your working surface can also help.
- In most cases, you cannot simply replace your wheat-based flour with a single type of gluten-free flour and be good. Most commonly, you'll need a mixture of several different gluten-free flours plus a binding agent, such as xanthan gum or guar gum to help the gluten-free flours “stick” together and stretch like the gluten does in wheat-based flour. There are many great gluten-free cookbooks out there that can help you to navigate through the different types of gluten-free flours and on how to make your own flour mixes for baking. After my copy of Nourishing Traditions written by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, two of my favorite cookbooks that I own are 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes by Carol Fenster and Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts.
I have found that with good gluten-free recipes, and the
gluten-free flours or flour mixes that exist, you can often make
goodies that taste delicious and rival just about anything made with wheat flour. In fact, I prefer my own gluten-free pumpkin pie to any
gluten-based pie. Due to my milk sensitivity, I use canned coconut milk instead of the
sweetened condensed milk that pumpkin pies generally call for, and I think that my pies turn out even tastier than the original.
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| My homemade cranberry sauce |
Being Social
One of the most challenging issues with my diet has been
attending social gatherings.
However, I have found that many of the traditional holiday favorites can easily be converted to be more friendly for those with food sensitivities. In fact, as I write this, I am visiting
family for Thanksgiving, and I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with
mashed potatoes, lots of veggies, organic turkey, corn, homemade cranberry sauce, and
gluten-free pumpkin pie and gluten-free apple crisp that I made and brought to
the family function. Others in the
family seemed to really enjoy these treats as well. I did not feel deprived in the least, and I fully (and
thankfully) enjoyed my meal.
Sometimes, having dietary restrictions can feel quite lonely
and socially isolating. The following steps can go a long way in helping you to approach eating in social situations and can help you to feel more included:
- Plan, plan, plan! Eat before you arrive, bring your own tasty food that you can enjoy while you’re there, or bring yummy pre-tested food that you can eat and share with others.
- Many foods such as fruits, veggies, and nuts are naturally gluten-free, so they are a good place to start and are healthier for everyone anyway.
- Cook from time-tested recipes that you know are good. Don’t try out new recipes when bringing food to share at social occasions (just be sure to get some before everyone else gobbles up your goodies!).
- Bring snacks with you in case you can’t find suitable foods.
You can also offer to prepare some of the foods for the
feast when you get there. For
example, in my husband’s family, I have become the official Mashed Potato Maker. Due to my dairy-related issues,
I started preparing mashed potatoes in the way that I could tolerate them
by replacing the traditional milk with a natural, gluten-free chicken
broth. The family has requested that I make the mashed potatoes for many of the family
dinner gatherings where mashed potatoes will be served because the way that I
make them is so flavorful and yummy.
They actually prefer my potatoes to the regular kind. You never know what might happen when
you step outside of the gluten- and allergen-filled boxes!
Do you or someone you care about have a food intolerance of some kind? How have you approached social eating?
Do you or someone you care about have a food intolerance of some kind? How have you approached social eating?
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