First, I would like to welcome anyone who may have been directed here through Heather's blog. I didn't know that you would necessarily be interested in my back story since you don't know me, but feel free to browse around. My blog is an eclectic mish mash of gardening things, cooking, family stuff, crafts,... Whatever I feel like writing about. You can see by the dates of some of my posts I don't keep up on my posts as regularly as Heather does. I hope that you find my information useful. I share my knowledge randomly with no real order or thought to it really, but I think that may partly me a function of my lack of clarity in thought recently. It is my goal to be more purposeful in my posts and share my journey back to health and wellness.
In the Wheat Belly book Dr. Davis says to eliminate pretty much ALL grains. Well, judging by my list from Wednesday's post I am sure that you can see that would be a near impossibility. There is NO way I could get the rest of the family to abandon ALL grains in favor of veggies and meats almost exclusively so we are taking a baby step by eliminating wheat.
I have greatly reduced the wheat we have been consuming over the course of the last month or so. While I haven't seen a significant drop in weight the needle on the scale has budged a little so it has given me hope that the more I do toward that end, the more the scale will go down for me.
What are some of the things we have done so far?
1. I have begun coating our baked boneless skinless chicken breasts in potato chip crumbs or rice flour instead of the usual flour, bread, cereal, or crackers I have used in the past. It is similar to fried chicken, very tender and oh so good. I even use chicken that is boneless and skinless and it is still tender and juicy with a crispy coating.
2. My battered fish has used my own home made gluten free flour mixture in place of the regular flour that I would have used before. This flour has also been used in place of many other recipes I already used in the past without making any other adjustments.
3. I also use my gluten free flour to make my own gluten free bread. The flavor lacks nothing, but it is a bit more dense than flour I have used before. I am still working on tweaking it to make the best bread possible, but aside from the bread seeming like it should raise a bit more I have been very happy with the loaves I have produced
4. I have made pizza crust from cauliflower.
I plan on doing more in the coming days and weeks, but sometimes our busy schedule prevents me from experimenting much. That, and someone else likes to cook too (though I suspect that this person is just trying to avoid me making too many healthy dishes).
Now, on to the recipes!!!!
Baked Chicken Breasts- Soak chicken in milk (I like to use milk kefir as well which imparts a slightly tangy flavor) to make it more tender using a baggie to allow meat to be immersed in milk. Several hours is ideal but at least 30 minutes. Mix 1 c flour alternative (if you are using potato chip crumbs you may need more than that) with 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 1/2 t Italian seasoning and mix well. Remove chicken from milk and dredge in flour mixture, them place in a greased baking dish. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes or until juices run clear. Bone in takes a bit longer, boneless takes less time. It also varies depending on the thickness of your meat.
Beer Battered Fish- 2 eggs, 6 oz beer (allow to go flat), 1 c flour substitute,1 t baking powder, 2 t baking soda, 1 t salt, 1 T oil (whatever type you are frying it in), 1/2 t pepper, a splash of lemon juice, and a sprinkle of milled flax seeds. Combine all ingredients together. Dip fish into batter mixture and cook in fryer preheated to 350. Fry about 5 minutes until golden brown.
Gluten Free White Bread- use 1 1/4 c water/milk/milk kefir, 3 c flour substitute, 1 1/2 t salt, 3 T sugar, 2 T butter, 1 1/2 T dry milk, 1 1/2 t yeast, sprinkle flax seeds. Mix, knead, let rise, and bake as you would any other bread. This will not rise like the gluten filled flours do
Pizza crust- Use a head of cauliflower, cut florets off and grind cauliflower in food processor, steam until soft, and allow to cool. Place in a towel and then squeeze the liquid out of the cauliflower until it is dry. (This is the step I missed last time and it turned out a bit soft and mooshy, and stuck to the pizza pan.)
Measure out 3 c (or close to it) and place the cauliflower into a mixing bowl. Add cheese. 1/4 c parmesan, 1/4 c cheddar cheese (or any cheese you want really but at least 2 types really enhances the flavor of the crust), 1/2 t each salt, dried crushed oregano, dried crushed rosemary, garlic powder, and onion powder, mix then add an egg to hold it all together.
Once your crust is mixed you are ready to bake it! I think I will try to use my baking stone next time, but whatever you do, make sure to grease the pan or you will loose some of your yummy pizza to the pan. Spread out your crust evenly on your pizza pan or baking sheet. Try to have it about 1/4 of an inch thick if possible. Bake at 450 for approximately 10 minute, until golden brown.
Top your pizza with desired ingredients )I made my own from tomato paste, but we'll talk about that another time! Bake an additional 5-8 minutes (or until your cheese is melted to your desired color) then serve.
Now, for the flour substitute I've been using. It is really delicious and hard to tell it isn't regular flour though you need to be careful when making rising crust items. I'd suggest reading some gluten free baking books if this is something you want to learn more about. When just used in place of flour for coating meats I don't think it matters much.
I used my wondermill to make my own flour from products I had on hand since the gluten free flour is so expensive to purchase. I think I will do a cost comparison post in the future...
1 c rice flour
1 c oat flour
1 c potato flakes
1 c tapioca flour
1/4 c cornstarch
3 1/2 t guar gum
Use cup for cup the way you would use your normal flour possibly adding a small amount of extra fat in your recipe.
Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy
In the Wheat Belly book Dr. Davis says to eliminate pretty much ALL grains. Well, judging by my list from Wednesday's post I am sure that you can see that would be a near impossibility. There is NO way I could get the rest of the family to abandon ALL grains in favor of veggies and meats almost exclusively so we are taking a baby step by eliminating wheat.
I have greatly reduced the wheat we have been consuming over the course of the last month or so. While I haven't seen a significant drop in weight the needle on the scale has budged a little so it has given me hope that the more I do toward that end, the more the scale will go down for me.
What are some of the things we have done so far?
1. I have begun coating our baked boneless skinless chicken breasts in potato chip crumbs or rice flour instead of the usual flour, bread, cereal, or crackers I have used in the past. It is similar to fried chicken, very tender and oh so good. I even use chicken that is boneless and skinless and it is still tender and juicy with a crispy coating.2. My battered fish has used my own home made gluten free flour mixture in place of the regular flour that I would have used before. This flour has also been used in place of many other recipes I already used in the past without making any other adjustments.
3. I also use my gluten free flour to make my own gluten free bread. The flavor lacks nothing, but it is a bit more dense than flour I have used before. I am still working on tweaking it to make the best bread possible, but aside from the bread seeming like it should raise a bit more I have been very happy with the loaves I have produced
4. I have made pizza crust from cauliflower.
I plan on doing more in the coming days and weeks, but sometimes our busy schedule prevents me from experimenting much. That, and someone else likes to cook too (though I suspect that this person is just trying to avoid me making too many healthy dishes).
Now, on to the recipes!!!!
Baked Chicken Breasts- Soak chicken in milk (I like to use milk kefir as well which imparts a slightly tangy flavor) to make it more tender using a baggie to allow meat to be immersed in milk. Several hours is ideal but at least 30 minutes. Mix 1 c flour alternative (if you are using potato chip crumbs you may need more than that) with 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 1/2 t Italian seasoning and mix well. Remove chicken from milk and dredge in flour mixture, them place in a greased baking dish. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes or until juices run clear. Bone in takes a bit longer, boneless takes less time. It also varies depending on the thickness of your meat.
Beer Battered Fish- 2 eggs, 6 oz beer (allow to go flat), 1 c flour substitute,1 t baking powder, 2 t baking soda, 1 t salt, 1 T oil (whatever type you are frying it in), 1/2 t pepper, a splash of lemon juice, and a sprinkle of milled flax seeds. Combine all ingredients together. Dip fish into batter mixture and cook in fryer preheated to 350. Fry about 5 minutes until golden brown.
Gluten Free White Bread- use 1 1/4 c water/milk/milk kefir, 3 c flour substitute, 1 1/2 t salt, 3 T sugar, 2 T butter, 1 1/2 T dry milk, 1 1/2 t yeast, sprinkle flax seeds. Mix, knead, let rise, and bake as you would any other bread. This will not rise like the gluten filled flours do
Pizza crust- Use a head of cauliflower, cut florets off and grind cauliflower in food processor, steam until soft, and allow to cool. Place in a towel and then squeeze the liquid out of the cauliflower until it is dry. (This is the step I missed last time and it turned out a bit soft and mooshy, and stuck to the pizza pan.)
Measure out 3 c (or close to it) and place the cauliflower into a mixing bowl. Add cheese. 1/4 c parmesan, 1/4 c cheddar cheese (or any cheese you want really but at least 2 types really enhances the flavor of the crust), 1/2 t each salt, dried crushed oregano, dried crushed rosemary, garlic powder, and onion powder, mix then add an egg to hold it all together.
Once your crust is mixed you are ready to bake it! I think I will try to use my baking stone next time, but whatever you do, make sure to grease the pan or you will loose some of your yummy pizza to the pan. Spread out your crust evenly on your pizza pan or baking sheet. Try to have it about 1/4 of an inch thick if possible. Bake at 450 for approximately 10 minute, until golden brown.
Top your pizza with desired ingredients )I made my own from tomato paste, but we'll talk about that another time! Bake an additional 5-8 minutes (or until your cheese is melted to your desired color) then serve.
Now, for the flour substitute I've been using. It is really delicious and hard to tell it isn't regular flour though you need to be careful when making rising crust items. I'd suggest reading some gluten free baking books if this is something you want to learn more about. When just used in place of flour for coating meats I don't think it matters much.
I used my wondermill to make my own flour from products I had on hand since the gluten free flour is so expensive to purchase. I think I will do a cost comparison post in the future...
1 c rice flour
1 c oat flour
1 c potato flakes
1 c tapioca flour
1/4 c cornstarch
3 1/2 t guar gum
Use cup for cup the way you would use your normal flour possibly adding a small amount of extra fat in your recipe.
Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy
1 comment:
Great info! I've gone mostly gluten free to minimize menopause symptoms (especially being too hot), and it helps a lot. Thank you!
Post a Comment