Pizza!

So I had been doing really well eating COMPLETELY gluten free, even when we went out to breakfast our last day at home. I'm a sucker for perfectly cooked pancakes, so this was really tough. Anyway, yesterday I was so hungry at work I felt lightheaded. A coworker had some goldfish crackers. Needless to say, I couldn't resist. I mean, who could, with their cute orange color and smiley faces? Just kidding. I should have stuck to the communal carrots. But, I have noticed an improvement in my energy levels even in the past couple of weeks of eating like this. And, I also noticed when we went out to eat (before my resolution, of course) and I got a heaping plate of pasta, I was unusually tired and grumpy the next day. This, I am certain, is no coincidence.

Now for the good stuff. Evan and I discovered a great recipe for gluten free pizza dough! We have yet to perfect the bake time on our pizzas to get the thin dough to be nice and crispy, but it still tastes delicious. This recipe is relatively easy to make, and you can find the ingredients at your local grocery store. No need to go to a specialty foods store!

Gluten Free Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups rice flour

2-1/4 tsp gluten free quick rise yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp Xanthan gum

3 tbsp olive oil

1-1/2 cup warm water; divided

1 tbsp honey

Directions:

Combine flour, yeast, salt and Xanthan gum in a large bowl. Stir in 1 cup water, olive oil and honey. Next, use hands to work the dough. Use the remaining water (as much as needed) to hold the dough together. Knead the dough for five minutes then cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Lightly grease a 12 inch pizza pan and flatten dough into the pan. Press the dough into the pan and against the sides to make the outer crust. Top as desired and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Isn't it amazing how quickly we can fail? I've already eaten some gluten. Yesterday, Evan, my sister and I went to Royal India (an amazing Indian restaurant) and we ordered garlic naan. Of course, I ate some. It is just so delectable to dip it in the Indian curries - simply irresistible. At least to me. Like I said, I have very little willpower when it comes to eating gluten in social settings.

But, today is a new day. Today I can try again to be completely gluten free. Today, I have another chance. So far, I've succeeded. I haven't eaten anything yet.

New Year's Resolutions

At church this morning, the pastor did a sermon on New Year's resolutions. Supposedly, half of the people in America make New Year's resolutions and the top two resolutions are to lose weight and to save money.

I normally don't make New Year's resoltuions, because they are those things that people make on January 1st and forget about by January 7th. However, I think this year I'm going to give the resolution thing another try. You probably know that I've been eating (mostly) gluten free since Evan and I got married. I eat gluten every once in awhile, like when we go out to eat. So, I resolve this year to eat completely gluten free. That means no bread when we go to restaurants, no Olive Garden (for some reason, they haven't gotten the gluten free pasta message) and no cakes or cookies.

This will be REALLY hard for me. It's not difficult when we're at home because we don't keep gluten in the house. But, when we get into social settings, like parties and family get togethers I have very little will power. So, we'll see how this goes!