Food Gluten free

I've been on a naturally gluten free diet for 2 weeks now and I can definitely feel an improvement to my health (notwithstanding the cold I woke up with this morning - I blame that on spending the weekend with hundreds of small children and all of their germs). I've been doing some research on my own, but the next time I see my doctor I am going to ask him for a referral to a dietitian so I can do this as healthy as possible.

Anyone else on a gluten free diet? Tried it in the past? Or just perhaps cutting back a little on foods that have gluten?

It's both harder and easier than I thought it would be, for different reasons. Typically I could never stick to giving up certain types of food for more than a couple days, but for some reason going gluten free is starting to feel natural to me and I haven't had many problems with cravings. That said, it is really hard to eat gluten free because so many foods have gluten in them, and the pre-packed non-gluten foods are really expensive. Those pre-packaged foods (like gluten free wafers, for example) are also often really high in sugar and fat. Besides a package of gluten free cereal for those rushed mornings, for the past two weeks I have been making my own gluten free meals with naturally gluten free foods... and I need more ideas and more recipes!

Here, i'll start us off with a recipe for yummy gluten free cookies made from chick peas...

1 1/2 cups chickpeas
2 tsp. organic vanilla
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (can't be the regular kind)
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. baking powder
pinch of unrefined sea salt
1/2 cup gluten free chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. In a food processor, place dried chickpeas (use a cloth or paper towel), vanilla, peanut butter, honey, baking powder and salt (if you don't have a food processor just smush the chickpeas really well first then mix it all together).
3. Process until mixture forms a ball, scraping sides periodically, to ensure beans are well pulverized.
4. Place ball on a plate, flatten, add chocolate chips, and knead lightly to combine. If mixture is a bit runny, use a fork to combine.
5. With wet hands, make 1 1/2″ balls and place them on parchment paper. Makes about 20 – 25 balls. Press slightly to flatten.
6. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until bottom is slightly browned

 

My mother in law eats gluten free because she has ciliac (her body rejects gluten). We think our daughter has it too, but just a touch. We don't eat gluten free, only at the inlaws. There are a few huge differences, and a few subtle ones. Mostly, it's ok. Certain things she makes are, shall we say, not so good! But she has been on it for almost 5 years.

I wouldn't do it full time, or even part time. But I see benefits to it.

 

I try to eat GF most of the time, because gluten makes me bloat. I'm also starting to recognize some immune system changes associated with gluten, so I try to be strict about 90% of the time. A paleo/primal diet is mostly gluten free, so I usually stick to those general guidelines.