Recipe Sunday (Finally!)

Evan and I absolutely adore the bulk foods section of just about any store. It usually has a lot of items that you can't find elsewhere, and it is so much more cost effective. However, the bulk foods section at WinCo Foods tops them all. WinCo carries in bulk everything from gummy candies to spices and even honey! So, you can imagine our delight when we discovered some gluten free options there.

First, there are almonds. Don't get me wrong, we love our Trader Joe's pre-made almond meal, but being that Spokane doesn't have a Trader Joe's yet, we sometimes have to make our own. So, we can buy extremely large quantities of almonds (not an inexpensive nut, as I'm sure you know) for an excellent price. Plus, almonds have a lot of gluten-free calories, which are great for Evan who is trying (as always) to gain weight. You can imagine that it would be hard not to be underweight with Crohn's.

Recently, we discovered that WinCo carries bulk rice flour. This flour is very fine and has a really nice texture. We decided to buy some because we thought we could find a good pancake recipe using the rice flour. Sure enough we did! By way of a Google search, we found this recipe for AMAZING banana pancakes. The pancakes turned out thick and moist. But, they weren't fluffy like your average Krusteaz pancake. No, they were dense and sort of chewy. Evan said he used less water because he sweetened them with honey, but when you make them, be sure to use the whole cup of water so that they turn out a little less thick.

Anyway here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp honey (you can use sugar instead if you like, but honey is best for the Crohn's diet)
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 pinch of cinnamon (use slightly more than the nutmeg)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 ripe to overripe banana

Preparation:

Preheat griddle or pan to about 300-350 degrees/medium-high heat
Mix all dry ingredients together
Mash the banana with the water and oil, then add to the dry ingredient mixture
Stir well to combine (we like to use our hand held mixer for this)
Pour batter onto griddle to make pancakes of desired size. Cook until brown on both sides.
Serve hot with whatever toppings you like (they are utterly delicious with honey!)

(recipe taken and modified from http://www.grouprecipes.com/25531/gluten-free-banana-pancakes.html)

Neighbor love

Last night, Evan and I spent a lovely night with one of our neighbors. She and her husband are our age, and they live right across the hall and go to our church. Plus, they've recently started a young marrieds small group! I couldn't think of a better place for God to have put us at the start of our marriage. I feel as though I've really grown as a person as a result of knowing them. Shayla has inspired me to keep up with my blog and start writing that book I've always wanted to write through her dedication to her own creativity (she writes and records AMAZING music). Zach has taught us that life is not just about tasks and commitments. It's about relationships and connections. I already feel more connected to the church because of their influence because they have pushed me to get more connected.

If you're reading this Zach and Shayla, thank you. You are wonderful people, and amazing neighbors.

The wonders of masa flour

About 6 months ago, Evan and I discovered the wonder that is masa flour (brand name Maseca). We sought it out originally because we wanted to make our own tortillas. They are so much more flavorful than store-bought corn tortillas, and cheaper to make. A 25 pound bag of Maseca costs just $6 at Safeway.

Anyway, as it turns out, Maseca can be used to make a plethora of South American classic recipes. We recently tried making sopes, and today we are making arepas. At some point, when we have time, we are going to try our hand at tamales (very labor intensive by the way, if you've ever seen a recipe).

I just love that we can make delicious, homemade meals that are gluten free. Here the recipe for sopes that we've been using. They are much thicker than tortillas, and so are quite filling. They make for an inexpensive meal because you don't have to put much on them in the way of toppings simply because they are so filling.

Ingredients

3 cups masa harina (Maseca)

2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon salt

Oil for frying

Preparation:

Put the oil in the frying pan to begin heating it to the correct frying temperature.

Mix together, masa, water and salt until a soft dough forms. If the dough is too dry, add water by the tablespoon, until you get a smooth but not sticky consistency.

Make balls out of the dough. You can make different sizes based on what you're using them for. For example, 1-inch balls are good for making appetizers, where 3-inch balls are great for dinner.

Flatten these out so they are about 1/4 inch thick. Pinch up the sides to make a sort of shallow bowl out of the dough.

Put these in the frying pan. Fry both sides until they are golden brown.

Do you miss it when it's gone?

Evan and I have been married for almost two months now. People always ask me how married life is, and whether it's been an adjustment for us. Honestly, it hasn't been difficult in the least to adjust to living together. I think if you're really made for each other, than you won't really have a problem with it. Plus, if you've spent enough time together before getting married, you already know most of your spouse's little habits that may or may not be annoying.

Even going completely gluten free at home hasn't been too hard. In spite of the fact that I have been craving pizza for about a month now, I am doing really well with it. It's amazing how much you don't miss certain kinds of food when it just isn't available.

Of course, when we go out I will always eat the bread that comes with the meal, and more often than not I will order some delicious pasta dish. I thought that doing this would make me want all my gluten-full favorites even more, but it's actually become a special treat. For example, the last time we went out to eat, I had this amazing Italian steak sandwich. Everything about it was simply delectable (including the bread!). I went home completely satisfied and thinking, "there's no way I could make a sandwich that good at home anyway."

So no, I don't miss gluten now that it's gone. It is like that acquaintance who is almost your friend. They come over for dinner every once in awhile, you also don't yearn for their presence between visits.

Have you ever taken the time to contemplate your day? I've found in doing this just how fast time truly goes. Life is a precious gift, and we should strive to savor each succulent second. We should even find the good in swallowing the bad ones because they often sharpen us.

Love life. Live it.

New beginnings are always sore

As I type this post, I keep thinking how I should really be trying to sleep right now. I mean, have to get up about 7 hours from now. But, I also keep thinking about how something new beginning almost always means something else must end.

For me, the new beginning is my marriage. Of course, I could not be more excited about joining lives with such an amazing, wonderful man, but....then there's the thing that has to end.

That sore ending is swim team. For the past two summer seasons, I have been coaching a group of amazing, genuine, wonderful kids. Ages 4 to 17, they all inspire laughter, love and friendship. Each of them has found a special place in my heart, where they have taught me about patience, flexibility and just going with the flow.

It makes me sad to think that I won't be able to spend next summer with these kids. I'll be living on the other side of the state, and yet I still try to turn over in my head how I could possibly coach next year, even with a 4 hour commute. I have yet to solve that problem. I mean, how can I live somewhere my husband isn't? I really don't know how our men and women in the armed forces manage it.

If you are reading this, and you are a part of my swim team, I want to thank you. Swimmers and parents, you have made this a completely joyful experience, and you are making it incredibly difficult for me to leave. If you are not a part of my team, I encourage you to find something, be it a hobby, a career or a person, that brings you challenges and joys that help bring you into being.

Continuing the Story

It's been a long time since my last post about Evan's story. Things have been VERY busy around here, but I'd like to continue now.

So, Evan's family began adapting their diet to his needs. They continued to experiment with recipes to come up with things that Evan could eat. They developed the pumpkin bread recipe that is already on this blog, along with recipes for chocolate cheesecake and pumpkin pie. At first though, it was hard for Evan to be on the diet. He would ask his mother for the snacks that he was accustomed to eating, and she would have to refuse. He struggled (as many do) with why this would happen to him. Why couldn't he just be normal? Why couldn't he eat like his friends? But, his parents knew that the only way to improve his health was through this diet.

They supported him by eating the way he had to. They began making dinners that the whole family could share but would still be good for Evan to eat. Within just 2 weeks of the diet, Evan began to notice improvement. He had more energy, and he was gaining weight. Obviously, his parents were thrilled with these results. They continued to support him by setting goals for weight gain in 10 pound increments. When he reached his weight goals, they would take the whole family out to dinner, often to Tony Roma's. Though the barbeque sauce on the ribs he always ordered contained sugar, he was able to maintain his results because his family helped him be strict at all other times.

We'll be adding more to this story later. Thanks for reading!

Oops!

I just realized that I've missed TWO Recipe Sundays! We have been incredibly busy prepping for and taking finals and moving into our new apartment. Life has been moving so fast lately, and sometimes it's difficult to remember to enjoy each moment. But, as I am slowly learning, this is SOOO important because if you're always looking forward, you miss so much of the little details that make experiences unique.

Anyway, here is another recipe, even though it's not Sunday.

Best Thai Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

1.5 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Broccoli or spinach to taste

Directions:

1. Begin cooking chicken or other meat of choice on the stove.
2. Mix peanut butter, coconut milk, water, lime juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, ginger and garlic on the stove on medium to high heat.
3. Mix in cilantro and broccoli/spinach just before serving

I think this dish tastes best with chopped chicken, but if you don't like chicken, it also goes nicely with salmon or another kind of fish.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

Evan and I decided to go mattress shopping today after helping some friends move their stuff into storage. We just wanted to look around and see what we might want because we weren't intending on buying anything until next week when we move into our apartment. We went to a couple of mattress stores that had fairly nice mattresses, though most were on the upper limit of our price range. Then, we went to Mattress Land.

Upon entering the store, one of the associates greeted us with "Hey, did you guys bring any 70 degree sunshine with you?" We laughed, and told him exactly what we told the other salespeople. We were simply looking to get an idea of what we might want in the budget we had. He began to show us some really nice mattresses that were on special just until Monday. This guy had tons of knowledge about mattresses too. We told him what kind of bed we had (platform bed, no box spring) and he recommended these mattresses that were made for platform beds. He was telling us that Sertas and other mattress brands weren't designed to be used without a box spring, and would be more likely to start sagging without one.

Oh, and did I mention that this mattress was marked down by 200 bucks?

Anyway, this salesman was really nice, and we started having a casual conversation, not about mattresses but about his family. And, would you believe it, his wife has Crohn's disease! We shared an abbreviated version of Evan's story with him and told him about Evan's diet. He was so grateful because his wife has been struggling with Crohn's for quite awhile. And we were grateful because we were able to get an amazing deal on a mattress.

It's times like these when I can't help but reflect on the way God works. I mean, there were 3 other guys working in this store, this guy was the one to help us. God's timing is just perfect.

I last left you with Evan's parents searching for alternatives. Western medicine was quickly showing itself to be ineffective in helping Evan with his Crohn's Disease, and they wanted to find something that would actually relieve Evan's symptoms.

Enter naturopathic medicine.

A good friend of Evan's family suggested that they try naturopathic medicine. In spite of their several doubts about whether it could be effective, Evan's mother tracked down Dr. Donovan, a naturopathic doctor whose office is in Seattle's U-District. They an appointment with him, and he reconfirmed that Evan had Crohn's disease. It was here that Evan and his family learned about the gluten free, sugar free diet.

Dr. Donovan told Evan to cut out of his diet all products containing complex sugars. So, Evan was restricted to eating fruit, beans, nuts, meat and vegetables. He could only have dairy products that had a low lactose content, which essentially eliminated everything except cheddar cheese.

Now, up until this point, Evan's parents had been feeding him foods with high amounts of calories in an effort to make him gain weight. However, because Crohn's disease had caused lesions in his intestinal tract, food molecules had been leaking into his bloodstream. After visiting Dr. Donovan, Evan had an allergy test done, and they found that Evan had built up several food allergies in addition to his new dietary restrictions outlined by Dr. Donovan. His diet was further reduced. He could no longer eat chicken (which included chicken eggs), green beans, peaches, plums, bananas and potatoes.

These new allergies forced Evan to make another radical shift in what he could and could not eat, because the things he was allergic to were the things he was eating the most. However, he and his family got very creative. Instead of buying chicken eggs, they bought duck eggs. Instead of using Bisquick to make pancakes, they began using almond flour from Trader Joe's.

Well, the story does not end there. But, I think I have written enough for now. And, I haven't forgotten that today IS Sunday, so here is another recipe for you to try!

Homemade Tortilla Chips

Ingredients:

Corn tortillas cut into triangles
Canola or other cooking oil

Directions:

To bake: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly brush tortillas with oil on both sides before cutting. Bake for 5 minutes per side and sprinkle with salt if desired. Cool and store in an airtight container.

To fry: Heat about half an inch of oil in a large skillet over high heat. Place triangles into oil and fry until they puff. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels or cooling rack. Sprinkle with salt.

The frying can be tricky with corn tortillas because they don't puff up as much as flour ones do. Leaving them in the oil for about 1.5 minutes should do the trick.

Recipe Sunday!

As the title may imply, today is Recipe Sunday! I've decided that on Sundays I will be posting gluten free recipes. Many of the recipes are for things you will recognize by name, but the ingredients will look radically different from what you've seen. Instead all-purpose flour, you'll see almond flour. Instead of sugar, you'll see honey.

So without further ado, here is the first recipe! (It's really a two for one because you can also make banana bread using this recipe)

Evan's Pumpkin Bread

2/3 cup honey
2 eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cloves
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
3 cups almond flour

Cook at 310 degrees F for about an hour. You can check it by poking a knife or toothpick through the middle.

To make banana bread, eliminate the spices and add another 1/2 cup almond flour and substitute 2/3 cup pumpkin for 2 bananas and add 1/4 tsp vanilla.

You can find almond flour at Trader Joe's. If you don't have a Joe's in your area, it is also available online, or you can grind up almonds with a coffee grinder.

Just a thought.

As I sit here at my kitchen table deciding whether I to continue Evan's story at this time, he sleeps on the couch next to me. I am so blessed to have him in my life, and I truly cannot imagine what direction I'd be going without him. I admire him greatly for so many reasons.

So I'll admit, today I totally failed at the gluten free thing today. But, I figure that I shouldn't let my bread and pasta go to waste, so I decide that I'm going to try and cut things out as they disappear from my apartment. Then, when the wedding happens, I'll go cold turkey.

Anyway, rather than dwell on my lack of self-discipline when it comes to my favorite gluten filled snacks and foods, I'd like to continue to tell you Evan's story.

When Evan was in fourth grade, he was one of the smallest kids in his class, weighing only 90 pounds (Evan's parents are average in both height and weight, so this was very peculiar). His doctor attributed this to the fact that Evan simply hadn't had his growth spurt yet, like the rest of the boys. However, the next year, nothing changed. He hadn't grown or gained weight and he was as skinny as a rail. Evan and his parents visited the doctor again, where they got referred to Dr. Christie at Children's Hospital, whose specialty is gastroenterology.

Dr. Christie diagnosed Evan with Crohn's Disease almost immediately. Crohn's Disease causes inflammation of the digestive tract which makes it extremely difficult for the body to absorb nutrients. To confirm this diagnosis, Evan had to undergo a bowel biopsy. Sure enough, the biopsy was positive for Crohn's, so Evan was prescribed the steroid prednisone. This drug is designed to get the symptoms of Crohn's under control, but because of its terrible side effects, patients are put on another drug to keep symptoms down. For Evan this drug was Pentasa. For a little while it seemed as though the symptoms were under control. But, a few months later, Evan had another flare-up and had start the drug process over again with prednisone.

After two or three rounds with prednisone, paired with other maintenance drugs, like Imuran, plus a nutrient formula called Modulen IBD from Nestle, Evan and his family were getting desperate. Evan's body was still not absorbing enough nutrients, and the medications were had awful side effects which interfered with Evan's daily life. With Western medicine's only option being to try new drugs, like Remicade, he and his family began searching for another way.

Growing up, I never gave much thought to what I ate. If it tasted good, I ate it! Of course, like all good parents, mine taught be the importance of eating a balanced and healthy diet.

However, being one quarter Italian, going gluten free never crossed my mind. I mean, how could I possibly live without my pastas? Gluten free would mean cutting out fettucine alfredo, spaghetti, lasagna, tortellini, and pretty much every favorite food I have ever had. I thought all the Atkins followers were crazy!

And then, I met Evan. It wasn't love at first sight, but we became fast friends. We were working on a class project together, and after a work session with our friend Claire I asked him if he wanted to get Starbucks. He told me he would go, but he wasn't going to get anything. After another work session, we were both hungry so I suggested Italian food. He declined my suggestion, and asked if I might like Thai food instead. So he took me to Thumra Thai, a place I had never tried before (as it turned out, this was our first date. He didn't tell me he was going to pay until the check came. He can be very sneaky sometimes!). I ended up loving it!

Reader, you are probably wondering at this point what Evan has to do with being gluten free. Well, let me tell you.

Fast forward 3 years. Evan and I are engaged, and our wedding date is set for July 31, 2010. I am SO excited. He is an amazing, loving, godly man who has been an enormous blessing to me. However, this marriage means that I, after about 18 years of loving every Italian food I could lay my hands on, will be going gluten free.

Why would I do this? What could possibly drive me to make this decision? Well, Evan did. You see, reader, Evan had Crohn's Disease, a disease which as of today is incurable with Western medicine. We know very little about the disease and how people get it. Evan, however, with self-discipline, supportive parents and the realization that Western medicine just wouldn't cut it, has been able to beat Crohn's by going gluten free.

So, the purpose of this blog is keep telling you his story and our story together. We will be posting gluten free, low sugar recipes that tantalize even the gluten savvy tongue. We hope that others with Crohn's Disease might be inspired by this blog to realize that it doesn't have to end with Western medicine. You don't have to live with Crohn's.

Until next time,