The Beauty Detox and Yoga Challenge Begins

I started a 30-day yoga challenge today. My goal is to go to yoga every single day for a month. We will see how it works out. If I attend 85 percent of the month, I'll consider it a success.

This weekend, I came across Kimberly Snyder's Beauty Detox blog and book. I made her Glowing Green Smoothie, which was so good, and I plan to start drinking one every day. I switched the recipe up. I used kale instead of romaine and I ditched celery because I can't digest it easily. I added blueberries and an orange, instead of the pear. I think the main emphasis is consuming more greens.

I can't wait to dive into her book. She seems brilliant. I need to start eating more veggies and organic foods and Kim is just the right person to motivate me. I eat fairly healthy, but when I'm busy I tend to carboload with quinoa/corn pasta and rice. It's easy and quick, but it might be responsible for my sloshy digestion.

Well, I'll let you know how my yoga challenge and Beauty Detox reading goes. I think this may be a start to a more healthful life.

Gluten-free bread from scratch. Here we go....

I am still not able to make up my own baking recipes. I'm still learning about gluten-free flours and how to use them. I am so grateful for bloggers who share their recipes that they have perfected over many years of trial and error.

I miss eating breads. But the store-bought gluten-free breads are pricey and have a dry and tough texture.

I have made Namaste Foods Gluten-free Bread Mix. It tasted great, but it was expensive, more than $6 at Whole Foods. I couldn't afford to buy it every week.

Today I received a 5 pound bag of almond flour, as recommended by Elana, who loves to bake with almond flour. I figure 5 pounds will be cheaper than buying the pre-made bread loafs individually. We will see later on if that theory is correct.

Elana has taught me a lot about gluten-free baking goods. I have her gluten-free cupcake book and it is fabulous. Her cupcake recipes are to die for. I'll post about my experience with her cupcakes later.

Anyway, I made her gluten-free bread tonight. It was simple and delicious. The bread is loaded with fiber and protein.

I used a 8 x 4 inch loaf pan because I couldn't find a 7.5 x 3.5 at the regular grocery store. The loaf slices were a bit smaller than I expected and I think the wrong pan might be to blame.

Regardless, it was good. I love to eat fresh out of the oven bread. Mmmm.


Here's Elana's recipe from her website:
1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
¾ cup arrowroot powder
¼ cup flax seed meal
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, arrowroot, flax meal, salt and baking soda
2. In a larger bowl, blend eggs 3-5 minutes until frothy
3. Stir agave and vinegar into eggs
4. Mix dry ingredients into wet
5. Pour Scoop batter into a well greased 7.5" x 3.5" loaf pan
6. Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean
7. Cool and serve

Thanks, Elana!

Vegan mac and cheese might not be for me. Any suggestions for how to make a cheesy taste without cheese?

I tried a vegan mac and cheese recipe from one of my favorite bloggers, Katrina from www.glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com. Katrina has many great recipes.

I have been skeptical of dairy-free cheeses. It just seems so wrong to eat fake cheese.

I used to eat a lot of cheese. I'd buy a brick and cut slices and eat it. And I loved mac and cheese. But, for obvious reasons, I do not eat mac and cheese anymore.

After almost a year of being gluten free and dairy free, I decided to try vegan mac. Katrina's recipe doesn't use dairy-free cheese, so I decided to give it a shot.

I was open-minded. I really was. But it didn't turn out as good as I hoped.

I do not claim to be the best cook. To be honest, I didn't cook from scratch much before I became g-free and d-free. I certainly never made mac and cheese from scratch. So maybe I flubbed this recipe up. I followed the directions precisely — except I left off the bread crumbs — and it didn't taste very cheesy to me. My boyfriend said it was good. But I think he was just trying not to hurt my feelings.

I will not give up. I will try other recipes. And, I cook with nutritional yeast often to create a cheesy taste.

Let me know if you have any recommendations for gluten-free and dairy-free mac. Or let me know if you tried out this recipe and if you thought it was good.

Pre-made lunch ideas

This blog started as a class project. Four UNL seniors were posting about their gluten-free experiences. Now, I — Alissa — will be the only one continuing to blog. It has been a while since I last posted, but I'm eager to dive back in.

I moved to Little Rock, Ark., for a summer reporting internship and have been quite busy with the new gig.  I'll be back in Lincoln in a few weeks.

Arkansas is definitely a change of pace. It seems fewer people know about gluten allergies here than they do in Nebraska, and therefore I have been contaminated about four times from restaurant cooks who have mis-handled my food. :/ I often am asked by wait staff what gluten even is....

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I need to bring food to work for lunch now because I live about 20 minutes away from the office. So I have started this new routine — I make lunch for the week on Sunday and put it in tupperware. It seems to be working well. People who sit around me always comment on how good my lunch looks or smells, so that's a good sign. ;)

This summer I expanded my gluten-free menu as I have learned more about healthy eating. I discovered two super grains quinoa — pronounced keen-wah — and Forbidden Rice.

Quinoa has an excellent source of protein and is actually a seed of a leafy plant.

Food researchers have found that Forbidden Rice has more antioxidants than blueberries. The name was coined many years ago when an emperor of China didn't let the people eat the rice because it was saved for royalty. The black rice has  fiber, vitamin E, iron and 48 grams of whole grains per serving — wowee.

Here are some ideas:

1. My favorite lunch is a crisp kale salad with Italian or balsamic dressing. I usually throw in whatever I have in my kitchen.
This week's mix was — grape  tomatoes, black beans, avocado, onion and Italian or balsamic dressing.

Other variations of the salad:
-Kale with strawberries, blueberries, onion, avocado
- Kale with grape tomatoes, tuna in olive oil, onions, yellow pepper and brewer's yeast
I love me some kale. I hear it's the new spinach.

2. I treat quinoa and black rice like my kale salads — I use whatever I feel like eating that week.
Variations--
- Tomatoes, garlic, onion, red, yellow or orange peppers and chicken and oregano
-Tomatoes, garlic, onion, asparagus and chicken, cracked black pepper and white wine sauce
-Spinach, tomatoes, onion, garlic and chicken and dairy and soy free olive oil melted butter sauce
You also could make cold side salads with quinoa, which are yummy too, but not as filling.

3. Corn tortilla chicken tacos
I love, love, love yummy chicken tacos. They are so easy to make and I can eat them in a hurry.
I cook chicken in a skillet with olive oil. While the chicken is cooking, I cut up avocado, onions and cilantro and mix the ingredients. Then I grab the salsa. Toss everything in a corn tortilla. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.


4. Ancient Harvest brand Quinoa pasta-- the elbow pasta, spirals or spaghetti
I like quinoa pasta with cherry tomatoes, onion, garlic, chicken and a dairy and soy free olive oil melted butter sauce with added parsley. Some times I eat it with a red tomato sauce, or pesto, too.




5. Lately I've been eating butternut squash soup. Try Trader Joe's brand or Pacific Natural Foods. It's dairy-free and gluten-free and has lots of vitamin A.

For lunch, I also usually pack a So Delicious coconut yogurt or Amande almond milk yogurt, a Larabar or KIND granola bar and fruit — strawberries, pineapple, a banana or an apple. I also eat blue corn chips, sweet potato chips, or brown rice crackers with hummus. Mmm


Happy lunch making!
<3 Alissa

Interview with Karen Kuzma

We went to Hy-Vee for an interview with Karen Kuzma about being gluten free and having Celiac Disease.

Share your allergy story

Please send us your story about how you became gluten free. We want this blog to serve as a discussion board for the Lincoln community. This is a place where those with allergies can talk, ask questions and learn about how to increase awareness about gluten allergies. Our email: holdthewheat@gmail.com

Gluten-free Easter Candy

So Easter is just around the corner and it seems — from my experience — that gluten sneaks into candy or I have assumed candy is gluten free when it is not. For instance, I ate a Twizzler — definitely not gluten free. I learned my lesson to always check the labeling. So here's a list of safe gluten-free candies from glutenfacts.com. And yes, Peeps are gluten free.