We're doing an experiment at my house. We're going to take DH's diet gluten free, we suspect a wheat intolerance issue. Several doctors "diagnosed" IBS, but none of the remedies seem to have worked. It was an accident that I ran across a website talking about celiac's often being misdiagnosed as IBS. (Since diet is the only change we're making, we figured it couldn't hurt to do a month or so experiment.)

His main staples are bread, pasta, more bread, and more pasta. He's pretty concerned about being full after eating. He eats some pretty big quantities of the above. I made him pretty happy when I told him he could still have his AM oatmeal. I'm looking to make the majority of his bread, and some of his pasta, unless I can find a reasonably priced source of commercial gluten free pastas.

I am pretty sure that Cate is a gluten free eater, but I am not sure if others are. I've been doing a lot of research for bread and pasta recipes and in reading a few cookbooks, it seems like most changes are pretty easy.

Basically I thought I'd take advantage of the collective smarts on this board and ask for tips, hints, good websites, recipes, etc.

Popping on long enough to say I finally managed to make a decent bread for DH, after 3+ months of trying. Just in case anyone ever might need a recipe for a gluten free "multigrain" bread, here it is. They got two grunts up as DH downed several sandwiches in record time.


Gluten free bread/hamburger buns

Combine 1/2 c warm water + 2 tsp sugar + 2 tbsp yeast in a very large mixer bowl and let sit 5-10 min.



Add to the yeast mixture:



1 1/4 c. cornstarch, tapioca starch, or potato starch

1 c. rice flour

1 3/4 c. (total) soy, oat, garbanzo bean, and/or corn flours (note: not corn meal, you need masa harina if you want corn flour)

4 tsp. xanthan gum

3 whole eggs

4 tbsp. oil

1/3 c. dry milk (optional: substitute in 3/4 c. liquid soy milk and adjust the water down by 3/4c.)

1 tsp. vinegar

1 3/4 c. water (although I usually need more, closer to 2 to 2-1/4c.)



Beat with paddle attachment of mixer about 2 min. on high speed (medium speed if you have a kitchen aid mixer). The batter should be the texture of wet cookie dough (or really thick cake batter), but still just thick enough to hold shape for hamburg or hot dog buns if you want to make them.



Pour batter into 2 well greased (grease the pans some even if they're nonstick) bread pans and let rise for 45 min. to 1 hour, then bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 min. or until it sounds hollow when knocked on.



For hamburger buns, lay out equal amounts of dough on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet instead of pouring into bread pans. I usually get 12 buns out of 1 batch of dough. Let rise 45 min. to an hour and then bake at the same temperature for 20-25 min. or until brown on the bottom and top.



Cool on a wire rack and store in a plastic bag in the fridge for upto a week.

Saw this article on Celiac's and Gluten Free in Wash Post...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...ml?wpisrc=newsletter

THanks, Brie. I'll look into that. I knew I loved Mustard Seed.

FYI from Mustard Seed:
Call Customer Service to register!

Learn What You Can Eat on a GLUTEN-FREE DIET Discussion and Store Tour
with Vicki Richardson

SOLON * Thursday, September 10 * 7:00 to 8:30pm

Call 440-519-3663

MONTROSE * Tuesday, September 15 * 7:00 to 8:30pm

Call 330-666-7333

No Charge. Reservations are required - limit 10.

THanks, Sandy, I'll keep that in mind. I tried using part oat flour in last night's loaf and it came out better. My next fix is that I think I just need to bake it longer. I may just sneak the spelt in after our 4 week "restriction period".

Right now, I'd only sound like I didn't know what I was talking about and confuse him since he's just memorizing his list of things to avoid.

Laura,
I wonder if he can tolerate spelt. I know that it contains some gluten, but some on a GF diet can tolerate it.

I ask because I do a fair amount of GF cooking a baking for friends who can eat spelt and I find it much easier to use than many of the other grain choices.

quote:

Originally posted by CatherineM:
Just a tip on g-f bread making...rising twice doesn't really work, because the gf doesn't have the structure. If you do a single-rise and then bake it (no punching down) it will do a lot better...

I've realised that I have to start eating healthier, gf foods tend to have too much sugar or fat and be 'white rice' foods... and with this summer I have not been highly healthy with running to and fro, hither and yon... but keep an eye on the ingredients in the gf stuff...

Thanks for the tips. DH has been eating some really gummy & dense loaves of bread. I'm going to switch him to brown rice flour once I've used up the white rice stuff. I've noticed that those foods seem to be higher calorie & fat.

The switch seems to be working, I'm starting to see some changes in some of his symptoms.

Just a tip on g-f bread making...rising twice doesn't really work, because the gf doesn't have the structure. If you do a single-rise and then bake it (no punching down) it will do a lot better...

I've realised that I have to start eating healthier, gf foods tend to have too much sugar or fat and be 'white rice' foods... and with this summer I have not been highly healthy with running to and fro, hither and yon... but keep an eye on the ingredients in the gf stuff...

I made gf pancakes based on oat flour for breakfast this AM. They were really tasty. Although it did reinforce that keeping two sets of everything (I'm not going gluten free) will take some getting used to.

DH was pleasantly surprised at how good they were and how silky the texture was. So far, so good. He's making the transition far smoother than I expected, which I'm happy about. Then again, I'm only making small changes and tweaking most of what we normally eat at home. I have a hunch that the real test will be when we start eating out.

I'm also going to thoroughly clean out my bread maker that will be designated gluten free for the duration, and then make my first loaf of gluten free bread.

We're heading to our local grocery stores tonight and tomorrow to evaluate who has what and what the prices are like to make our grocery shopping easier.

I have already brought brown rice pasta and corn pasta into the house over the last few months just to try some new things and both were pretty darn good, you just need to cook them a little longer.

Woohoo!! One thing I don't have to worry about...DH doesn't eat fruit, let alone dried fruit.

Thanks, Cate (and everybody). I appreciate the input.

I just got home, and saw this. There are some pretty good brands of wheat-free pasta on the market. I like the bionaturae brand.

I agree with Brie that that is a huge issue when eating out. And you do have to check labels when buying sauces and dressings and such.

In terms of making breads, you'll find that most recipes are baking soda/baking powder breads. There is gluten-free oatmeal out there.

The other big things to check labels on: snack foods and cereals. I've even run into it in dried fruit though (glucose syrup).

If you use a pancake mix, add a little extra baking powder to it. You'll also notice that most g-f stuff is sweet, in part the alternative flours are sweeter, but they also use sugar are a structural replacement.

Oh, and watch out for cheeses with dried fruit or nuts mixed in....

I'll pass that along, thanks. This adventure just keeps getting funner.

One note of warning, if your DH wants to be tested for a gluten intolerance, he actually needs to be eating gluten for the results to be accurate.

It is also my understanding that the intolerance for gluten is fairly sensitive and you really do need to eliminate all of it to see relief from symptoms. This would include checking into oatmeal brands, since most are processed on equipment shared with wheat.

There are many good blogs devoted to a gluten free lifestyle. http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/ That one is my favorite. She has links to lots of other GF sites as well.

I know that oatmeal can be processed with other grains including wheat, but right now, we're just trying to eliminate the bulk of the gluten in his diet. We're not really worrying about cross contaminated foods right now. If we see a difference, then we'll tighten up more if we need to.

I'm trying to avoid traumatizing my DH, he wants to do this but doesn't want to jump in to totally wheat free and have to become that diligent about every single bite of food yet. Just heading down this road has pushed his past his comfort zone.

Are you sure about the oatmeal? Maybe there's gluten-free oatmeal on the market. Can he get full enough on more proteins? Good luck!

Laura,

One of my good friends here in Urbana eats gluten-free so I'll check with you and get back to you in the next day or two.

Linda

Mustard seed has tons of gf stuff. They also have gf cookbooks for sale but I bet the library will have some too. My sol has celiacs and it seems the bigger issue is the wheat based additives in sauces , dressings etc.