Pondering Flax Ratios in Gluten Free Flat Bread

I've made two gluten free flat breads so far in the last week.  I tried a sorghum millet flax blend and a millet blend.  I am not excited about a rice flax bread, since we already have so much rice in our diet.  I'm hoping that 100% flax will work.  I've heard a good recommendation from a friend who read Wheat Belly and tried the recipe in the book.  She has a microwave; I don't have a working one.  I am not interested in buying another microwave, but would rather make one in the oven.  I'm going to try it today.  From there, I think I'll try some sprouted whole grains.  I have some whole sorghum, waiting for a good recipe. I've heard of gluten free oat flour, but I hesitate there.  Since the Vintner has true celiac disease, even the gluten free, non-cross contaminated oats may be an unnecessary strain for him.  I'm not too keen on having large amounts of grain or insoluble fiber in my diet, either.  I'd rather have vegetables be my fiber source.

Also, I don't want all the gums and trickery to make the flat bread.  I'm aware that many traditional cultures have flat breads, and many of those are gluten free.  I'd love to stumble on some grandmother's recipe that's basic and nourishing both emotionally and physically.  I'm not looking to replace processed modern products, but rather introduce a pleasant way to keep grains in our diet.  I'm tired of the gluten free tomfoolery.  I accept that gluten free doesn't mean maintaining an industrial, processed diet.  It means getting free of packaged food and into real, wholesome food, like meat, vegetables, dairy, nuts and fruit.  There's a place for some grain from traditional sources without being carb-tastic.  We're not talking about going Paleo.  Here at the vineyard, we're looking for an old-fashioned approach.  That rules out ersatz bagels.

In Pursuit of Gluten Free Flat Bread

I've made two attempts at gluten free flat bread this week.  While the sorghum millet amaranth flour blend was okay, the amaranth was too strong of a flavor for the flat bread.  I may try another without the amaranth and make it thinner.  I won't post that recipe, since I see it as a bit of a fail.  I also tried a flat bread with half flax meal and half millet flour.  The flavor was nice, and the thickness was good, but it wasn't flexible enough.  I want to keep trying and experimenting.  I'm not looking for excessive flour blends, heavy starch or gums and tricks and twists.  I want a basic, simple food that's clearly not a cracker or a pizza crust.  A tortilla or naan or traditional flat bread without gluten, and perhaps without grain would be ideal.  I'm going to see how close I can get to that.  So far, I think it'll be high in flax seed.

Almond-Rice Gluten Free Butter Cookies

This week, I've played around with my butter cookie recipe.  I substituted almond flour for the sorghum and millet flour blend.  Next time, I'm going to try a almond and coconut blend and make a grain free cookie.  We don't need to be grain free, but the boys do need calorically dense nutrtition.


4 oz unsalted butter
4 oz sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 extra large egg
4 oz almond meal
4 oz white rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cream the butter and the sugar.  Add the vanilla extract and the egg.  Blend well.  Gradually add in the almond meal, rice flour and the leavening.  Mix until well blended.  Drop by teaspoons onto a cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Cool.  Can be frosted.

Wheat and Sugar

I've been reading Fat Chance and Wheat Belly.  I'm glad that I've already decided to let go of my sour dough starter.  I'm only just starting Wheat Belly, but so far it's a better read.  Fat Chance was easier to absorb in the beginning, since I've already begun the process of weaning off sugar.  I'm not a sweet drinks person, just a spoonful in my tea or coffee, but I stopped that earlier this year.  Wheat-free will be new for more than a few meals.

I imagine that eating a traditional diet will be rather easy with this new approach.  I'm not going to be restrictive.  I don't need to be.  I'm just making more space in my diet for even more fresh fruits and vegetables, the highest quality meats and dairy I can afford, fats I love like butter, olive oil and coconut oil.  I'm not leaving as much room for wheat, corn, soy, sugar or processed food in general.

With the Vintner suffering from celiac disease, it's not a big challenge to go gluten free now.  However, for me it's a choice, not a life-saving measure.  I'm in good health.  I don't have much reason to worry, other than a few extra pounds.  Now that the baby years are behind me, I can think of my body for my own nutrition and health.  I don't have to prioritize for their needs, as of the last four months.  It's a good time for me to think of building my post-childbearing years' health.

Gluten free, Soy Free, Corn Free, Chocolate Free, Psyllium Free, Peanut Free, Egg Free, Bleu Cheese Free

Gluten free, Soy Free, Corn Free, Chocolate Free, Psyllium Free, Peanut Free, Egg Free, Bleu Cheese Free

This is where we are as a family.  All family meals need these basic parameters to meet the allergy requirements of all members.  I'm the bleu cheese contingent, myself.  Some are more serious, like peanuts, for the respective members.  We do have two epi-pen prescriptions, so I'm not just being a nuisance of a mother.

I don't know if I'll be directing my posts to meeting these specific needs.  My kitchen is going this way in general.  It may be more of a vague sense that we are a special diet family, and not a family on a mission to create an allergy free tamale or pad thai recipe.  There are other blogs out there.  I use them and appreciate them.  However, we remain a traditional kitchen.  We're still an old-fashioned family.  I'm still making chicken and dumplings - from scratch - all the time.  I don't need to adjust those gluten free, since the Vintner doesn't care for his chicken that way.  I'm adhering to traditional recipes that meet all of our needs - allergy, nutrition, emotional and social.  There wont be too much variation from what I've done in the past, but I thought it valuable to put this official in a post.  If someone is looking for a blog like mine to follow, then it might be nice to know this is it!

Lenten Delights

I am no vegetarian.  During Lent, one could be excused from assuming otherwise.  I'm feasting on veggies, including veggie juice.  I'm enjoying the delicacy of an early spring palate.  With that, I've reminded myself how pleasurable it is to through a few veggies in the cast iron skillet, toss over a sauce at the end and fork away.

Last night, I took out a parsnip, a green onion and 4 ounces of mushrooms.  I stir fried them in butter, until they had a delightful brown color.  Then, I tossed in some left over peas and carrots.  At the end, I turned in a small glove of garlic and tumeric, cumino seeds and thyme.  Off the heat, I poured over a couple of tablespoons of whipping cream.  I sprinkled over some of the remaining bits of green onion tops for color.  Wonderful!  A sort of a quick and easy creamy curry to remind me how nice a veggie meal can be.

No wine pairing tonight - it is Lent - but I'd love it with a buttery chardonnay.  Not that I even like chardonnay!

Saying Good-Bye to the Sourdough Culture

I have nurtured a my wild-caught sourdough culture for over five years.  Now, it's time to say goodbye.  I hate to through it out.  However, with two family members needing to be gluten free, I no longer feel that it's appropriate.  I can always catch more.  Besides, it is probably better to start fresh every so often anyway.  Personally, I wanted to keep it going for my own enjoyment of sourdough bread.  I wanted my four-year-old son to grow up loving home made sourdough bread without a molecule of commercial yeast.  Now that I'm over forty, I find my palette changing.  I don't enjoy grains as much as I used to do.  My four year old loves a wide array of foods, and will enjoy it again and again, even if it's not home made for a time.  My eldest and my youngest are tube fed for nutrition, with special diets when they do have oral feeds.  My husband is gluten-free, but never liked sour dough even when he did have gluten in his diet (before the celiac diagnosis.)

Good-bye, good friend.  Perhaps I'll one day start the love of French sour dough again.  For now, we are going our separate ways.