Buckwheeeee... wait, what?

I was introduced to Buckwheat while in Asia, (there it's called soba).  It's a grey looking noodle, served cold that does not look appetizing at all.  A friend of mine had ordered it for me and I looked at her like what in the...  But, being the adventurer that I am, I tried it anyway and IT WAS AWESOME!  


Now, present day with Celiac, I see some in the grocery store and I'm thinking buckwheat, there's no way this is gluten-free and the packaging doesn't help at all.  Spending money like I'm a superstar (seriously who pays $5 for noodles?), I pick it up anyway and decide that it will make a good blog post to figure it out.  So I'm here to tell you that after my extravagant noodle purchase and some research, Buckwheat IS gluten-free!  Yeah!  It is approved as GF in Canada, Australia, and Europe.  Buckwheat is not actually a wheat, it just physically looks like it is.  It's technically harvested from the fruit of the plant.  It's high in protein and fiber.  Win and win.


Here's the rub - Sometimes buckwheat is grown in the same field as wheat and can become cross-contaminated.  Also, sometimes buckwheat is processed on the same manufacturing equipment thereby becoming cross-contaminated.  So, here is my disclaimer - I am going to eat my buckwheat noodles, however, if the packaging doesn't say GF you probably shouldn't eat it.  

How do you eat buckwheat noodles?  You boil them like normal noodles.  Rinse them off in cold water so they cool.  I eat them cold with GF soy sauce or you can make a soba sauce with 2 cups of dashi, 1/2 c GF soy sauce, 1/2 c mirin.  All these products you'd probably find at an Asian grocery store, as they are Japanese staples.  Then you dip the noodles into the sauce (also cold).  Enjoy!

Christina's Appley Crisp

So, I'm going to trust my sister on this one that she didn't actually kill anyone with her cooking.  She has a friend who is GF, so as a courtesy, my sister makes their get together meals all GF.  Thank you sis!  She swears by this apple crisp recipe so I thought I'd share it with you:


7 tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 c brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 c GF rolled oats (not all oats are gluten free!)
1/4 c alternative soy butter (or alternative butter of your choice), room temperature


1.  Preheat over to 375 degrees.  In bowl combine apples, lemon juice & vanilla.  Toss to combine.
2.  Layer sliced apples in a 9 x 12 inch baking pan.
3.  Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and oatmeal in a bowl.  Cut in the soy butter.  Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples.

Cut in the butter

4.  Bake 45 minutes or until topping looks crunchy and apples are tender.

How it should look before baking

Serves 8.  Serve with dairy-free vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy Christina's Appley Crisp

I'm Healthy, I'm Happy & I Feel Great!

2012 is starting off to be a great year but sometimes I still struggle with Celiac.  And then, in my time of frustration I remember this quote:  “I’m healthy, I’m happy, and I feel great.”  A long time ago, while on vacation with family friends their dad made us get up every day and yell it as loud as we could.  I used to roll my eyes and think wow, really?!  And now it’s something I say to myself fairly often.

There is the constant reminder in the back of my head of those who live each day sick and unable to get out of bed.  They wish for nothing more than to be able to get up and just go to work or to go fishing.  So when you think that living with Celiac is hard, or life is hard in general, repeat this quote to yourself and remember that each day you have a choice of what you want to do and how you want to live.  What you put in your body so that you can fulfill your dreams is your choice.  And when you aren’t happy, healthy and feeling great – fake it.  Tonight I’m making halibut in a mushroom sauce, tomorrow conquer the world.  (Thank you Mr. D)

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

So, this Celiac thing is still new to me.  And while I know the adverse effects of not being GF/DF (gluten-free, diary-free) I still like pizza.  I have been craving pizza for days with the gooey yummy greasy cheese and the crunchy awesome crust.  I researched how to make gluten free crust and a dairy-free topping.  I think I actually found something yummy I wanted to try.  Then my butt magically became attached to my couch and I somehow reached for the phone and called a pizza place.  So, yes, I totally cheated.  And no, it wasn't that delicious.  And yes, it made me really sick - stomach crampings and all. Aaauuuggghhh!  Needless to say, I will be more careful from now on.  And, hopefully, I will have a really great GF/DF pizza recipe for you shortly.  Lesson for the day - Do As I Say, Not As I Do.

What the Hell is Xantham Gum?

So, Xanthan Gum by definition is a polysaccharide (a molecule), derived from the bacterial coat of xanthomonas campestris.  When you buy it get it in a powder form.  It should be in the grocery store right next to the alternative flours.

Structure of a molecule

Next question for us non-chemistry majors – WHY do we care about Polysaccharides?  Polysaccharides again are molecules (you can't actually see them with your eyes!)  

They are important when you eat because they give you energy.  They change the food you eat in your gastrointestinal tract.  Polysaccharides also change how other nutrients and chemicals are absorbed.  So, when you have Celiac and you eat gluten you aren’t absorbing nutrients that your body needs.  This is why it’s important to eat things that your body can absorb.  There are also many benefits to this:

• 1.    Lower cholesterol levels
• 2.    Reducing sugar responses after eating
• 3.    An association with a reduced diabetes risk

Ok, now I’m sure you’re next question is What the hell is xanthomonas campestris, right?  Well, this is kind of gross, so if you are grossed out easily stop reading now.  It is a bacterial species that causes a variety of plant diseases. But, keep in mind, not all bacteria is bad for you!  (apparently just plants)

Xanthomonas campestris on plants

If you’re still reading you’re probably wondering why we’re talking about Xanthan Gum right now.  So- when you can’t use wheat flour you need an alternative, like oat flour.  However, alternative flours don’t have a lot of natural “glue” to them like wheat flours do.  So, you need to add some “glue” like Xanthan Gum.  

Xanthan Gum

Not convinced?  The last time you made cookies with an alternative flour did you use Xanthan gum-No?  Ok, so did they turn out crumbly and a weird texture-Yes!  So, if you use the Xanthan gum that won’t happen!  Be forewarned, you only need a tiny bit!  I made banana bread today and my recipe was only for 1 ½ teaspoons.  Ta da!

My Banana Bread

I Can't Eat My Favorite Foods Anymore!

While this might be true, we can certainly try to get as close as possible to our old time favorite comfort foods.  I'll share one of mine with you.  Scalloped Potatoes and Ham.  This recipe calls for flour, milk and butter.  I just made this one without any of these products and this is how.  

First, heat up a pot on the stove and turn your oven onto 350 degrees.  Melt a butter alternative or olive oil in the pan.  Meanwhile cut up 2 medium sized onions.  Throw into the pot.  Cook until they are translucent.  

Next, grab your oat flour or alternative flour of choice, and of course, your xanthun gum.  Put in 2 heaving tablespoons of flour and a 1/2 teaspoon of the xanthun gum.  Mix into the onions until you get a lumpy mixture.

Measure out three cups of Soy or Almond Milk and add to the pot.  Grab your whisk and get to it.  You are going to whisk until it's not lumpy anymore.  Also, turn up the heat because you want the white mixture to come to boil (you're making what the French call a "bechamel sauce" or "white sauce").  When it starts boiling and you have no lumps, turn the heat back down until you dip a spoon in it and the sauce mostly stays on the spoon.

While you're waiting for your sauce to thicken, you should be dicing up your ham into bite sized pieces.  Also, you are cutting up your potatoes into nice thin circles.  Your sauce now should be done.  NOTE:  Stir your sauce often - it will burn if you don't!

Remove the sauce from the heat once it's reached its desired consistency.  Grease the bottom of a casserole dish or cake pan.  Carefully ladel just enough sauce to barely cover the bottom of your dish.  Then, lay your first layer of potatoes.  They can be touching, but not by much.  Add in a layer of ham.  Then dump some of your sauce over the layer.  Start over with another layer of potatoes, then ham, then sauce.  Repeat until you're out of all three.

Cover the dish with foil.  Put in the oven for about 40 minutes or until a fork goes through the potatoes easily.  Be sure to remove the foil AWAY from your face so you don't get a bad steam facial.  The sauce in the dish will set a little bit when you let it sit.  Serve immediately with your favorite veggie - like corn or green beans.  Yummy!  

REMEMBER:  You can make your own favorite foods, you just need to tweek them a smidge!  Good luck!