This weekend was the first that I have worked since starting to eat gluten free (GF). My usual shift is 6am to 2pm so usually eating really isn't that bad, if I eat right before I go to work and then have something at work for my lunch. However, I was also working the 10am to 2pm shift which threw a wrench into my normal routine. Because I was awake a good bit before even going to work there was a span of time between eating and getting to work that usually isn't there. And the shift spans over lunch and dinner creating more reasons for me to feel hungry and want / need to eat.
Having worked at my current job for all but three years I have fallen into a routine. I have foods that I will eat if I need breakfast, as well as foods for throughout the day. Most of these foods are not GF. Of the 10 or so foods that we usually make, only two are GF. And these foods are chosen because I don't have to pay for them. The need to eat GF then creates an issue where I would need to buy everything that I want to eat. Thus in an attempt to not buy excess amounts of food packing and bringing snacks is in order.
Friday night Kate made spaghetti with the tomato sauce that she made, which I love. She made a point to make extra so that I could take it with me to work on Saturday. We also had supplies for sandwiches. Walking into work on Saturday my arms were full with options. I had coffee as well as carbonated water. Due to its effects on my stomach I can no longer drink either the coffee or from the soda fountain anymore. Food wise I had a sandwich and leftover sushi. On top of this I had an early riser which was the one thing that I ate that I did not bring with me. An early riser is essentially a hash brown or potato cake that also has bacon and egg. Since I have started eating GF I have noticed that I am hungrier quicker and eat more sporadically, so I knew that I would have to take multiple things if I did not want to purchase anything. Sunday I ended up bringing coffee, spaghetti, and leftovers from the night before, the chicken from our dining out experience. My only purchase was an air head which I ate cause I felt the need for some sugar and I also had another early riser.
It turns out that my coworkers are very nice about eating GF. One of my coworkers even eats GF herself so it was good to talk to her. She recommended Gluten Free Mall's website which has been very interesting (http://www.glutenfreemall.com/). The gentleman that I was working with Sunday joked about getting rid of my temptations as he threw out one of the foods that I would previously always eat when it was available (tornado). My justification for this particular item is that I should not be eating this food anyway. My body has set a limit of only one tornado at a time, if I eat anymore my stomach bloats and hurts which is very uncomfortable having to stand on my feet for a few more hours and having the need to move around constantly.
Overall, I think that this weekend was a success. And, I think that having the need to bring things for two days in a row was a good thing. Shortly, I will be working full time so I will be working for many days in a row so practicing it now is definitely a good thing. While I may have wanted to eat some of the food that are not GF I did not miss them and succumb to eating them. Hopefully this attitude will continue.
~ Brooke
Monday, April 11, 2011
Braised Short Ribs and gluten free product tastings
I love braised short ribs; they are sometimes the "birthday dinner" my mom makes for me when I get to chose whatever I want to eat. At first thought, meat simmering in a crock pot for hours is obviously gluten free. Examining the recipe though, the meat it dredged in flour. I altered the recipe somewhat based on what I had in the kitchen, and used a gluten free pre-packaged flour.
1/4 cup Better Batter pre-packed flour
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
t teaspoon chili powder
2 lbs short ribs
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 tablespoon garlic puree
1 small can tomato paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 small can mushrooms
2 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon italian seasoning blend
1 bay leaf
3 cups water
Combine flour, a few pinches of salt, pepper, and chili powder. Pat short ribs dry and dredge in flour mixture.
Brown half the ribs in hot oil over medium-high heat. Remove ribs, reserve drippings. Brown second half of the ribs. Remove and place on paper towels.
Add a few more pinches of salt, red pepper, onion powder, mushrooms, lemon juice, beef broth, and tomato paste. I combined these in a bowl and then put into the pan I used to brown the ribs.
Bring to a simmer. Put short ribs into a crock pot. When the liquid begins to simmer, add to crock pot. Add water, italian seasoning blend, and bay leaf. Cover and leave for 4 hours.
Two Hours of Cooking
After 4 hours, I added a can of whole new potatoes.
To serve it, I put some of the liquid into a pan, added some corn starch (no roux for those eating gluten free is a conundrum for me; I love using roux for my sauces), and reduced it as it simmered. I poured this over the meat and potatoes, or meat and rice.
The final result was quite delicious. We couldn't even tell it was gluten free. In fact, we ate with one of our roommates and didn't mention the gluten free flour, and he said nothing about it tasting differently than it should. So this is a recipe we both would recommend if you want a gluten free meal. It requires very minimal special gluten free ingredients, keeping the cost down. We bought our short ribs from a local butcher, keeping the price even lower, so the meal really was not a major expense, but was very delicious. We served the meal over rice, also a cheap gluten free option. However, adding more potatoes would have made the meal a stand-alone dish. It is also very convenient to make, requiring a little bit of time up from preparing for it for the long haul in the crock pot. A fix-it-and-forget-it meal.
Product Tastings
Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal
I love oatmeal, but many oatmeals you cannot eat if you are worried about contamination of gluten, because it is processed on the same machinery that processes wheat. You can find some more information at http://www.glutenfreeoats.com//. I tried Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal (http://www.bobsredmill.com/gf-might-tasty-hot-cereal.html). I like maple and brown sugar oatmeal, so I added some raw sugar, the kind I have is a moist sugar, and cooked that into the mixture, otherwise cooking according to the directions on the package (just adding to boiling water and simmering for 10 minutes). I found it to be delicious. Brooke added dried currants to hers. She loved it.
Ener G Brown Rice Loaf
We finished our loaf of Brown Rice Bread (http://www.ener-g.com/gluten-free/breads/sliced-breads/brown-rice-loaf.html) today. I thought it was fair to use the complete loaf before writing a review. Overall, I would not particularly recommend this bread. It is dry, very crumbly, and does a weird thing where it makes my teeth squeak when I chew it. The flavor is good, the texture is not so much. Brooke discovered that if you toast it, it is much better. This is indeed true, the bread is less crumbly, and a better overall texture. Brooke could not eat the crusts at all. Our next loaf is another Ener G loaf, but this time we will be trying the White Rice Loaf. When we have really experienced it, we will let you know.
1/4 cup Better Batter pre-packed flour
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
t teaspoon chili powder
2 lbs short ribs
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 tablespoon garlic puree
1 small can tomato paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 small can mushrooms
2 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon italian seasoning blend
1 bay leaf
3 cups water
Combine flour, a few pinches of salt, pepper, and chili powder. Pat short ribs dry and dredge in flour mixture.
Brown half the ribs in hot oil over medium-high heat. Remove ribs, reserve drippings. Brown second half of the ribs. Remove and place on paper towels.
Add a few more pinches of salt, red pepper, onion powder, mushrooms, lemon juice, beef broth, and tomato paste. I combined these in a bowl and then put into the pan I used to brown the ribs.
Bring to a simmer. Put short ribs into a crock pot. When the liquid begins to simmer, add to crock pot. Add water, italian seasoning blend, and bay leaf. Cover and leave for 4 hours.
Two Hours of Cooking
After 4 hours, I added a can of whole new potatoes.
To serve it, I put some of the liquid into a pan, added some corn starch (no roux for those eating gluten free is a conundrum for me; I love using roux for my sauces), and reduced it as it simmered. I poured this over the meat and potatoes, or meat and rice.
The final result was quite delicious. We couldn't even tell it was gluten free. In fact, we ate with one of our roommates and didn't mention the gluten free flour, and he said nothing about it tasting differently than it should. So this is a recipe we both would recommend if you want a gluten free meal. It requires very minimal special gluten free ingredients, keeping the cost down. We bought our short ribs from a local butcher, keeping the price even lower, so the meal really was not a major expense, but was very delicious. We served the meal over rice, also a cheap gluten free option. However, adding more potatoes would have made the meal a stand-alone dish. It is also very convenient to make, requiring a little bit of time up from preparing for it for the long haul in the crock pot. A fix-it-and-forget-it meal.
Product Tastings
Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal
I love oatmeal, but many oatmeals you cannot eat if you are worried about contamination of gluten, because it is processed on the same machinery that processes wheat. You can find some more information at http://www.glutenfreeoats.com//. I tried Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal (http://www.bobsredmill.com/gf-might-tasty-hot-cereal.html). I like maple and brown sugar oatmeal, so I added some raw sugar, the kind I have is a moist sugar, and cooked that into the mixture, otherwise cooking according to the directions on the package (just adding to boiling water and simmering for 10 minutes). I found it to be delicious. Brooke added dried currants to hers. She loved it.
Ener G Brown Rice Loaf
We finished our loaf of Brown Rice Bread (http://www.ener-g.com/gluten-free/breads/sliced-breads/brown-rice-loaf.html) today. I thought it was fair to use the complete loaf before writing a review. Overall, I would not particularly recommend this bread. It is dry, very crumbly, and does a weird thing where it makes my teeth squeak when I chew it. The flavor is good, the texture is not so much. Brooke discovered that if you toast it, it is much better. This is indeed true, the bread is less crumbly, and a better overall texture. Brooke could not eat the crusts at all. Our next loaf is another Ener G loaf, but this time we will be trying the White Rice Loaf. When we have really experienced it, we will let you know.
Some More Unceremoniously Gluten Free Comments
There is some more information to add about this blog...
I, Kate, am eating Gluten Free for Fibromyalgia and Migraines, like I said. My girlfriend, Brooke, is eating Gluten Free mostly to support me, but also because she has some stomach issues and is hopeful that the gluten free way will help her.
We are hoping to learn how to eat gluten free affordably; she is working and going to school, and I am not working, and am waiting to hear if I have been accepted for disability. We therefore don't have a high food budget, and as gluten free can be very expensive, we are going to try to make it as affordable as possible.
We will also investigate convenient gluten free cooking, and how good it is to make gluten free meals in advance, and freezing them for later. I usually am not really a fan of this; I like making my meals and then eating them right away. So this could be interesting.
We also want to learn about eating out gluten free. You will inevitably eat out, so what can you do when you're not eating gluten? Our friend was having a celebration and wanted to go to Buca di Beppo for his dinner. Obviously an Italian place, pasta galore. Brooke and I ordered the Chicken Saltemboca (chicken, proscuitto, artichokes, capers), and told them we were eating Gluten Free, so they didn't bread the chicken, just simply sauteed it. Turns out to be healthier for anyone. And the waiter was extremely friendly, and discussed all meal choices with us to make sure they were gluten free. We will keep you posted with more gluten free dining options.
Do you have gluten free experience or tips? Comment them or e-mail to unceremoniouslyglutenfree@gmail.com
I, Kate, am eating Gluten Free for Fibromyalgia and Migraines, like I said. My girlfriend, Brooke, is eating Gluten Free mostly to support me, but also because she has some stomach issues and is hopeful that the gluten free way will help her.
We are hoping to learn how to eat gluten free affordably; she is working and going to school, and I am not working, and am waiting to hear if I have been accepted for disability. We therefore don't have a high food budget, and as gluten free can be very expensive, we are going to try to make it as affordable as possible.
We will also investigate convenient gluten free cooking, and how good it is to make gluten free meals in advance, and freezing them for later. I usually am not really a fan of this; I like making my meals and then eating them right away. So this could be interesting.
We also want to learn about eating out gluten free. You will inevitably eat out, so what can you do when you're not eating gluten? Our friend was having a celebration and wanted to go to Buca di Beppo for his dinner. Obviously an Italian place, pasta galore. Brooke and I ordered the Chicken Saltemboca (chicken, proscuitto, artichokes, capers), and told them we were eating Gluten Free, so they didn't bread the chicken, just simply sauteed it. Turns out to be healthier for anyone. And the waiter was extremely friendly, and discussed all meal choices with us to make sure they were gluten free. We will keep you posted with more gluten free dining options.
Do you have gluten free experience or tips? Comment them or e-mail to unceremoniouslyglutenfree@gmail.com
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Unceremoniously Gluten-Free
Tomorrow will be one full week of eating Gluten-Free.
I am trying to eat gluten-free for ailments that I have read can be helped by a gluten-free diet. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia about a month ago (March of 2011), and have found some evidence that gluten-free helps (http://www.glutenfibrofree.com/). I also suffer from Chronic Daily Migraines, and I read a post from a woman who had daily headaches, and was helped by a gluten-free diet (http://www.thedailyheadache.com/2008/09/migraine-and-gluten-sensitivity.html).
So now I am trying to eat gluten-free. I am trying to learn as much as I can and take in as much information as possible. So here, I will pass on information I learn, techniques or tips I develop, and recipes I try.
Let's hope I can manage this.
I am trying to eat gluten-free for ailments that I have read can be helped by a gluten-free diet. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia about a month ago (March of 2011), and have found some evidence that gluten-free helps (http://www.glutenfibrofree.com/). I also suffer from Chronic Daily Migraines, and I read a post from a woman who had daily headaches, and was helped by a gluten-free diet (http://www.thedailyheadache.com/2008/09/migraine-and-gluten-sensitivity.html).
So now I am trying to eat gluten-free. I am trying to learn as much as I can and take in as much information as possible. So here, I will pass on information I learn, techniques or tips I develop, and recipes I try.
Let's hope I can manage this.
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