I had no energy to struggle with them so I modified the recipe and decided to bake them in the oven. I ended up with Falafel Cookies. And you know what? They were actually pretty good and very handy to kill some small hungers along the day. Next time when I am on the way, I will make sure to have the falafel cookies in a handbag.

Ingredients

• Walnuts – 1 cup
• Boiled chickpeas – 2 glass pots from AH/Jumbo/other or 1 big pot from Turkish shop
• Onion – 1 small,
• Petersly – 1 cup
• Garlic- 2 gloves
• Egg – 1
• GF flour (all purpose or chickpeas flour)- 3-4 spoons
• Baking soda – ½  teaspoon
• Cumin – 1 ½ tea spoon
• Olive oil (to spread on surface)

Preparation steps

1. Pulse walnuts in a kitchen processor (until you have small chunks) and then transfer them to a big bowl.
2. Drain chickpeas very well. You can additionally dry them on a paper kitchen towel. Then pulse them in a kitchen processor until you get very tiny chunks. After, add them to the processed walnuts.
3. Chop an onion and the petersly. Add them to the other ingredients in the bowl.
4. Press garlic and add it together with cumin, GF flour, soda and an egg to the rest of ingredients. Mix everything.
5. Spread baking paper on a baking tray and form cookies from the prepared ‘falafel’ mixture.
6. Before placing the tray into the oven, spread some olive oil on the surface of each cookie.
7. Bake in a pre-heated to 180 degrees Celsius oven for about 15-20 min. Adjust baking time accordingly when needed.

Cheers,

Kati xxx

Ingredients

• Butternut squash – 1
• Carrots – 2
• Parsnip – 1
• Onion – 1
• Bell pepper – 1/2
• Red linzen (dry) – 2/3 rd cup
• Cold water – 3-4 glasses
• Chilli spices (ready blend e.g. Beltane or self-made) – sea salt, paprika, dry onion, pepper, turmeric, coriander, dry  garlic, cumin, caraway, chili, oregano, savory, bay leaf;
• Tomato sauce (1 cup; I used AH organic natural)
• Petersley – chopped 1 cup
• Garlic – 3 gloves chopped or pressed
• White beans in tomato sauce ( I used half of the pot from Lidl)
• Small piece of ginger – chopped or pressed
• Olive oil/Butter – 1 spoon

Preparation steps

1. Cut the squash half. Then each of halfs cut half again. Repeat one more time. You should end up with long stripes by now. Cut off the squash from the outer part and cut in cubes.

2. Wash and peel vegetables, then cut them in small cubes/chunks.

3. Heat olive oil on a pan and add cut onion and garlic. When soft add other vegetables: squash, carrots, parsnip, bell pepper. Stir while frying shortly. Then add 3 glasses of cold water,        lentils and chilli spices. Let it boil until everything is soft.

4. Afterwards add white beans in red sauce, red sauce and chopped petersley.  Let it boil some more.

5. Try and eventually add more spices/salt if needed.

It can be served with rice, bread or as a sauce on potatoes :-)

Cheers,

Kati xxx

When it comes to quality of my food, I learned to choose for the best whenever possible.  For a long time now, I have been avoiding conventional food and buying mainly their biological equivalents.

Till now, I haven’t been paying much attention to the costs of such food choices. However, recently I went to Lidl a couple of times and I noticed that I have a few (bio/GF) favorite products. Even better, I realized I saved money by buying these products in Lidl rather than in AH or a biological supermarket.

Below I show you some of my favorites from Lidl. They are gluten free (based on ingredients and allergy information), some also biological.

Vegetables (all biological)

You can find more biological vegetables by Lidl. Last weekend, I saw also different bio pumpkins and zucchini.

Nuts and seeds 

Great in salads!

I like to grind walnuts and use them in gluten free baking as a replacement for an expensive almond flour.

Sugar-y but gluten free 

These sweets contain glucose syrup and/or maltodextrine. I can have only a small amount, otherwise I get headache and other symptoms. Perhaps, you can tolerate them better.

 From the Delicieux line in Lidl, also the ‘Amandel Petits Fours’ (small amandelgebakjes) are glutenfree. Their bottom is made of almond cookies.

Other

I became really addicted to olives last weeks. These are quite tasty and cheap.

Soon, I will post a recipe for vegetarian butternut squash-lentils chilli ‘con-carne’ that I made with these beans. The sauce contains corn starch and is free from wheat.

I like these eggs for their nicely yellow yolks. But I also buy the biological eggs from Lidl if they are in stock.

I don’t tolerate dairy proteins well but I have no problem with butter.

 I really like the bio apple moes as an evening snack. The curry sauce makes a boring meal a bit more spicy and the gluten free pasta’s from Lidl are really cheap (penne, fusilli and spaghetti).

You can also find in Lidl paprika chips which are gluten free, some borrelnootjes, fritessaus, some ice-creams (Gelatelli /fake almond Magnum; Noblissima/Viennetta), frozen potato croquettes (not my fav though), an oven-dish fish mediterranean, some fresh and processed meat (e.g. Zwagerman Saksische leverworst; and andere vleeswaren), many dairy products, (bio) rice waffles and other.

I just wanted to show you the ones that I like the most.  I also buy there WC paper (the pinky one ;). The mineral water is not so tasty BUT unlike the Dutch tap water – the Lidl mineral water is free from estrogen and traces of Roundup chemical so I buy it sometimes too.

And bananas, not biological but so cheap ! ;-) I like to use them in my banana-avocado-cacao-honey ‘pudding’ (see the recipe).

Cheers,

Kati xxx

For the last couple of months, other than reading about pregnancy and newborns, I was experimenting in a kitchen with new & old recipes.

Now, as I am getting heavier and I spend more time sitting, I thought of sharing some of the recipes with you.

Below, you can find a recipe for well-known in Poland ‘RACUCHY’. It is a kind of small thick pancake resembling the American pancake, but with apple (or berries) inside.

Ingredients

• All-purpose GF flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill) – 300 g
• Baking soda – ½ teaspoon
• Brown sugar – 1 spoon
• Eggs – 2
• *Almond or soy milk – 1 glass
• *Soy yogurt – 1 spoon
• Salt –  a pinch
• Apples (rasped; big holes on grater) – 2 middle size
• Cinnamon – 1 tea spoon
• Vanilla extract – 1/3 tea spoon
• Optional: blueberries –a couple of spoons
• Fat for frying

Preparation steps

1. Peel and rasp apples. Use the big holes on a rasper.
2. Mix together in a big bowl all dry ingredients:  GF flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract.
3. Then add eggs, soy yogurt and – while mixing – gradually almond milk.
4. After mixing everything thoroughly – add rasped apples (and eventually berries or other fruits)
5. Fry small portions on a hot oil.
6. For an optimum polish experience – serve with a powdered sugar on top : – )

They are so delicious! You can use w/e topping you like, for instance (soy)yogurt and/or apple puree : – )

Have fun cooking,

Kati xxx

I can’t keep this recipe to myself. Yes, I took time off from blogging but I need to share this recipe. CARROT CAKE was one of my (many) pregnancy cravings, I made it and it worked out so well that I will make it again in the future. I wanted to create a ‘healthy’ recipe but in the end I made it pretty ‘sugary and caloric’ by adding almond paste and creme fraiche to ‘decorate it’. Nevertheless, the recipe has a huge potential to be called ‘healthy’ if one skips a couple of additives (marmalade, almond paste, creme fraiche) and substitute the refined dark sugar by honey or dates. I couldn’t help myself this time but next time I will make the guilt-free version.

You can make it

• grain free (just substitute all purpose GF flour by e.g. coconut flour)
• refined sugar free (just use honey or dates instead of brown sugar)
• dairy free (assuming you won’t spread creme fraiche on top of it)
• added fats free (without creme fraiche on top)
• pretty much Paleo (if you implement all above modifications)

Ingredients

• Almond flour (or other ground nuts) – 250 g
• Rasped carrots – 250 g
• *Cinnamon – 1 tea spoon
• *Vanilla extract – 1 tea spoon
• Gluten free flour (all purpose or coconut flour) – 4 spoons
• Baking powder – 1 tea spoon
• Eggs – 4
• Brown sugar (or other sweetener: honey, dates) – 100 g
• Lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
• Lemon juice (from half a lemon)
• Salt – a pinch

*Cinnamon and vanilla can be replaced by 2 tea spoons of mixed spice/koekkruiden. The koekkruiden can be bought at Dille&Kamille here.

Optional (for decoration)

• Almond paste (Dutch: amandelspijs). I rolled it on a baking paper to make a layer of about 0.5 cm and placed it between two layers of the carrot cake. The carrot cake can be successfully sliced only after it cools down.
• Marmolade or other frosting on top

And so I did :-)

Preparation steps

1. Spread baking paper in a baking form
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
3. Peel and rasp carrots (use small holes on your grater)
4. Mix together in a small bowl: gluten free flour, baking powder and spices (cinnamon with vanilla or koekkruiden)
5. Combine together in a big bowl: almond flour, carrots and mixed GF flour (with spices and baking powder – from step 4)
6. Separate egg whites and yolks.
7. Mix yolks with sugar thoroughly. Then add lemon zest and lemon juice and keep mixing until well combined.
8. Add the yolk mix to the rest of ingredients and mix together.
9. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt using a mixer (the highest speed).
10.  Gradually add egg whites foam to the rest of ingredients and slowly mix.
11. Place the mixture to the baking form and bake for about 45-50 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.
12. Baked cake needs to be cool before slicing/decorating.
13. Cold cake cut half and spread almond paste in between two layers of cake.
14. Decorate the top with a frosting of choice or home-made marmalade.

Wishing you delicious carrot cake!

Kati xxx

To increase consumption of dietary fiber and enjoy different food textures, I made this cauliflower rice from a cookbook ‘Against all grains’. First, I didn’t know what to expect from this dish but it turned out really awesome!

And it is so easy to make!

All you need                                                                                                                

Ingredients: raw cauliflower

Utensils: a food processor or a kitchen rasper/grater

How-to

If you process it in a processor I suggest to pulse it slowly until you get the size of ‘rice’ which suits you best. If you use rasper/grater, I suggest to use the ‘big wholes’.

Flavor

Now, this is optional and totally up to you but you can spice your rice up! I added juice from half lemon and fresh chopped parsley leaves and it just completed the dish!

The dish from the featured photo: beef, carrots, mushrooms, chive and string beans – wokked on ghee with garlic and salt. Optional 2-3 teaspoons of soy sauce (if you are not eating Paleo or AIP).

There are various ways to flavor the cauliflower ‘rice’. You can use any herbs and spices that you like or have at home. It could be e.g. basil, mint or turmeric; you name it :-)

Have fun in the kitchen!

Kati xxx

The most difficult meal of the day when following the AIP diet is breakfast. Not always one feels like cooked vegetables or meat/fish so early in the morning. Breakfast containing too much fruit (smoothie with fruits mostly) is also not such a brilliant idea: it significantly elevates blood sugar.

~ Paleo & AIP Breakfast Pap ~

What you need

Ingredients: small apple, big carrot, 2 dry figs, hand of coconut chips, 1 teaspoon coconut fat, big pinch of cinnamon; optional: coconut milk with cinnamon as a ‘sauce’

Utensils: a frying pan and a spatula, a grater/rasper and a knife

How-to

• Rasp a carrot & peel and slice an apple
• Melt coconut fat on a pan
• Place sliced apple in the hot pan and let it soften
• Add cinnamon to apples and mix well
• In the end, add rasped carrot to apples and let it ‘warm up’ shortly
• Move everything on a plate, sprinkle with pieces of dry figs (not too many; lots of sugar!) and coconut chips
• As you can see I used a little of coconut chips but if it is something that works well for you, you can easily add much more. Bon appetit!

Kati xxx

Multiple studies reported that organ meat is much richer in minerals than meat. It is estimated that consuming about 100 g of organ meat per week is very healthy. The liver from pork has somewhat stronger taste while the chicken liver is mild in its flavor. If you are new to it, I would suggest to go for chicken organ meats first.

As far as I don’t have a problem with e.g. liver fried with onion as it is, I know people who feel aversion to it. This is why grinding organ meat might be a really good idea.

Recently, I tried liver burgers and liver-pork burgers and I must admit they were much nicer to eat than the whole liver pieces.

What do you need to make Liver-Pork Burgers

Ingredients: Pork meat, liver, onion, spices (I used salt and ground cumin).

My proportion between meat:liver were about 4 to 1

Utensils: Meat grinding machine (or you get your meat ground in shop and process raw liver in a kitchen processor) and a frying pan

How I made my patties

• I ground the raw pork meat first
• Then I ground the raw liver
• I ground an onion in the same machine
• After, I mixed all components together with a big pinch of salt and a table spoon of ground cumin
• I used spoon to transfer the mixture on the hot oil as it is more liquid than a regular meat for patties
• The patties shouldn’t be too big as they could be too fragile to turn them up side down on the pan

They are best when served with fried or caramelized onion :-)

Enjoy cooking!

Kati xxx

Very easy and filling snack without allergens and without refined sugar. Snacking is one of my bad habits but I am working on it :D Sometimes it requires to bribe my belly with something truly tasty and guilt free. This plantain baked in coconut oil is such a healthy alternative to the processed food snacks.

Snacking on bacon is not that bad either ;-) Fats are good for thyroid. Tip: Fried bacon cut in small pieces and sprinkled on a salad instead of croutons adds nice flavor to it :)

Things you are going to use to make the plantain snack

Utensils: a frying pan and a spatula

Ingredients: ripe (yellow) plantain,  a table spoon of coconut fat and a half teaspoon of cinnamon

What you need to do

• Cut plantain in small rings (the riper plantain the sweeter it is)
• Heat a table spoon of coconut fat (The coconut fat in glass containers has the best quality)
• Add plantain to the coconut fat and fry on both sides
• In the end sprinkle generously the cinnamon
• Served warm is nicest :)

As I am typing it, I am thinking how would the plantain taste when prepared on a grill. Never tried but perhaps something to test this summer :D

Enjoy your snacking!

Kati xxx

The ready spice mixes contain many highly refined food additives which irritate humans intestines. Healthy people usually don’t feel it but someone with compromised digestive system will experience unpleasant symptoms.

Paleo diet (considered a healing diet) allows using spices and herbs. But spices are powerful ingredients and some of them could irritate the very damaged intestinal wall (at celiac patients without intestinal villi, people with a leaky gut). For us there is developed Autoimmune Protocol (AIP). It is an elimination diet which excludes all foods potentially irritating guts for a period of time (30-90 days) sufficient to fully heal intestines.

People with diagnosed celiac disease (or other gluten intolerance) can use dry spices only from the brands that guarantee no gluten traces.

Simple flavor inducing food ingredients approved for AIP (Autoimmune Protocol) 

• Onion (fresh & dry)
• Chives (fresh & dry)
• Garlic (fresh & dry)
• Imbir (fresh & dry)
• Horseradish (fresh & dry)
• Lemon grass
• Turmeric
• Lemon juice
• Lemon zest
• Olive oil
• Parsley (fresh & dry)
• Dill (fresh & dry)
• Basil (fresh & dry)
• Other fresh or dry herbs: Marjoram, Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme, Cinnamon, Bay Leaves, Lavender, Cilanto, Peppermint, Saffron, Sage, Tarragone,
• Salt
• Fruits: oranges, pineapple, bananas, apple mousse, raisins,
• Coconut flakes
• Carob
• Honey
• Maple syrup
• Mushrooms
• Crispy bacon (e.g. instead of croutons on salad)
• Ghee
• Olives green & black
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Capers
• Sauerkraut

AIP friendly ingredients for bases of homemade sauces

• Olive oil
• Avocado
• Ghee
• Coconut oil
• Coconut milk
• Coconut cream
• Lemon juice
• Orange juice
• Bone broth
• Vegetables pure
• Fruits pure (e.g. rhubarb, apple)
• Water with coconut flour or arrowroot starch

There are many many other basic ingredients which could be used in Paleo recipes but NOT in AIP diet.

Some examples

• Nut butters
• Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds butter
• Mustard, mayonnaise
• Egg yolk
• Nut milks (almond milk)
• Seeds derived spices like cumin, pepper
• Tahini
• Roasted sesame seeds
• Poppy seeds
• Cocoa/cacao
• Vanilla
• Nightshades like tomato’s, red pepper and products made of.

I hope that such a list inspires to experiment with flavors or/and makes the AIP shopping a bit easier. Have fun shopping for new ingredients and experiment!

Kati xxx

The best kind of dinner is the dinner that prepares itself, am I right :-) ? And these beef rolls are exactly such independent gals :D

Well, actually meat production is a burden for our environment. So are the cars. But Loesje’s ..are just super cute ;-)

Btw. Did you hear of that great plan which will be introduced in France in 2016? Supermarkets are not allowed to throw away food which is just before or after the expiration date. It has to be send to charity or farmers who will use it as a feed for animals. Now, that is caring about environment if you ask me, no food waste!

~Back to Beef Rolls~

What do you need to make them

Ingredients: thin beef slices, raw bacon, onions, pickles and mayonnaise

Appliances: an oven dish and an oven ;-)

Tip: Did you know that red meat contains pro-cancer components but they are totally blocked when eating green vegetables with meat at the same meal?

What you need to do

Preheat an oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Cut long thin pieces of onion, pickle and bacon. Spread slices of beef and sprinkle some salt (and other spices of your choice) on it. Then take a stripe of bacon, pickle and onion and roll them in the beef. Place some mayonnaise on top of the meat if you like. It isn’t necessary though, beef won’t get burn in the oven without it.

What you can’t see on the picture is that I sometimes close the ends of the roll with toothsticks so the juices stay inside of the roll. It is not necessary but it sure makes the rolls more juicy.

What you get

Tasty meat that looks fancy while it is actually very easy to make.

I keep trying to photograph them when they come out of the oven but I always can’t wait to eat them rather than dance with the camera around them. So if you like to see them baked, I suggest to make them yourself ;-)

Rock your kitchen and enjoy the meal!

Cheers,

Kati xxx

Do your intestines tolerate the shop bought bouillon? If yes, then you can consider yourself lucky. If not, you can consider yourself lucky too because I will share with you a recipe for the best homemade chicken soup ever ;-)

What ingredients are needed to make the soup

• Chicken – the best would be from a farm, freely hopping and eating organic feed, such a little happy guy :D
• Carrots – 2
• Parsley root – 1
• Onions – 2 small
• Leek – 1
• Green celery or root celery – 2-3 stalks
• Bay leaves – 2 big
• *Allspice seeds – 5-6
• *Black pepper seeds – 5-6
• Salt – a generous pinch
• Parsley (green) chopped
• Water – about 2-3 liters
• Optional: rice noodles

! *For Autoimmune Protocol leave allspice and pepper seeds out.

..and appliances

• Big pot
• Cutting board, knife to peel and cut vegetables
• Colander to wash vegetables

How to make the chicken soup

I place the entire chicken (cleaned from the internal organs) in a pot with 2-3 liters of cold water and a pinch of salt & I start cooking it on a middle gas pit.

While chicken is being boiled I peel, wash and cut vegetables. I add them to the chicken when the meat is already boiled (after an hour or so) and I continue to boil. At the same time I also add the bay leaves, allspice and black pepper. I let it all cook for 2-4 hours on the smallest gas pit. The longer it cooks the better quality bouillon it is.

Afterwards, I remove chicken gently. It falls apart because the nutrients from joints and other connective tissues are well dissolved in the bouillon. I clean the chicken from bones and skin and place the cleaned meat back to the soup.

I serve it hot with fresh green parsley leaves and rice noodles. It is very healthy to drink as well.

I wish you Happy & Healthy cooking!

Kati xxx

Eggplant is a beautiful vegetable but I have never been a huge fan because of its ‘odd’ taxture, so I thought until today. I was experimenting with my lunch and managed to create really tasty salad with just 4 ingredients! The inspiration came from a cookbook ‘Against All Grains, meals made simple’ by Danielle Walker’s. I remember her pictures posted on FB when she was on her way to the publisher’s office and now I have her book at home :D Her recipe is ‘Roasted eggplant’ so not my salad but my idea was born when paging her book so I think she deserves the mentioning. And the book is full of very easy recipes – just what I like best!

 What I used to make my salad

Ingredients

• Half an eggplant,
• 3-4 table spoons of bacon pieces
• Tomato
• 4-5 basilica leaves
• a bit of ghee for frying

Utensils:   Frying pan and a spatula, cutting board and a knife.

What I did

• I fried bacon on a little bit of ghee
• Then added chopped eggplant to the fried bacon and fried together until the eggplant became nice and soft
• In a meantime I chopped tomato and basilica leaves
• Mixed all together and enjoyed with a pinch of salt

Enjoy cooking :-)

Kati xxx

Do you know the cookbook ‘Plenty’ of Yotam Ottolenghi ?

All recipes in this book are vegetarian (some contain eggs and dairy products). I was inspired by the ‘Royal Potato Salad’ which originally is made with potatoes, green peas and quail eggs and I created something similar – Potato Salad with Pesto and Fava Beans.

What do you need

Ingredients

• Boiled potatoes – as many as you want
• Basilica leaves – 1 cup
• Pine nuts – 1/3 of a cup
• Olive oil – 1/3 of a cup
• Salt – a pinch
• Parsley – fresh chopped; as much as you like
• Fava beens – 1 cup (I bought frozen)

Appliances

• Water boiler
• A bowl
• Kitchen processor

And how to make it..

1. Boil water and pour it over the frozen fava beans. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes
2. Cut boiled potatoes (still warm) in chunks
3. Process pine nuts with basilica leaves in a kitchen processor. Pulse until a pesto is formed.
4. Peel fava beans with your fingers. You can watch a video that shows how to do it :-) (Just squeeze it).
5. Mix all ingredients together and sprinkle it with salt and olive oil. Be generous with the olive. If you use a good quality olive it is very healthy! Did you know that 30 % of our energy should come from fats? Now, add some more of that healthy liquid, don’t you ? ;-)

Tip

The Glycemic index (GI) of boiled white potatoes is about 82. Eating cooled or reheated potatoes reduces their GI by 30–40%. The GI and glycemic load offer information about how foods affect blood sugar and insulin. The lower food’s glycemic index or glycemic load, the less it affects blood sugar and insulin levels.

Ok, if you followed the recipe you probably ended up with something like this

Enjoy your meal :-) So easy, right?

Cheers,

Kati <3

How do you like to eat chicory (witlof)? I used to prepare it in two ways: in an oven dish with ground meat and potatoes or on a pan with honey and pine nuts. Now I have a better recipe. Chicory wrapped in bacon!

What is needed to make the chicory in bacon

Ingredients: chicory, bacon, almond milk, ghee

Utensils: an oven dish and an oven :D

..and how to make it

Cut chicory in half, wrap each half of chicory in two slices of bacon and place them next to each other in an oven dish. Add big spoon of ghee and a generous splash of almond milk to the dish so the chicory is resting on the liquids. If you don’t mind refined flours, you can add some flour to milk and ghee to create a kind of bechamel sauce. You don’t need to salt it as the bacon will lose some of its flavor to the sauce. Place everything to the preheated oven (about 160-170 degrees Celsius). My chicory was ready after 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on them and remove before the bacon is burnt ;-)

What to expect

Soft and juicy chicory – on the picture they look little dry but it is far from the truth!

Don’t you just feel like making them? :D

Bon appetit!

Kati xxx

Nothing is better on a gluten free cracker or on a slice of bread than a homemade bread spread. I usually have meat or eggs or smoked salmon on my cracker but I like to make some new things whenever I have time. Lately, I couldn’t eat enough of the beets tapenade, it was so special. Now, I am into fish -based spreads. Normally, I would use tuna from a tin in a homemade spread like this as a tin is easy to store and I always have some at home. This time, I made it with a smoked mackerel.

Ingredients

• Smoked mackerel
• Big onion
• A cup of chopped parsley
• A couple of teaspoons of mayonnaise
• A pinch of salt
• Optional: boiled eggs, pickles, olives, ..

Preparation

• Separate fish meat from the rest of the fish carefully. To make sure that all fish-bones are removed – squeeze the fish meat between your fingers.
• Mix fish meat with the rest of ingredients and serve!
• In principle you can add anything you like to it: corn (not Paleo), pickles, green onion, dill, boiled eggs, bell pepper, olives etc.

Happy cooking! :-)

Kati xxx

I like these Gummies because they are healthy and free from white refined sugar. They are a perfect snack for someone who has problems with bones and joints. They add gelatin to a diet and (good quality) gelatin is supposed to be good for both, joints and bones. Sadly most of Celiacs have troubles with their bones later on in their lives so I like to counteract already now.

Do you know what gelatin is? It is a mixture of peptides (elements of proteins) produced by partial hydrolysis (a kind of breaking reaction) of collagen extracted from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals. I used the Great Lakes gelatin derived from grass fed cows. It is known for its very high quality. It is available in The Netherlands here.

Gummy Candy

Diet restrictions

• Gluten free
• Dairy free
• Grain free
• Egg free
• Nuts free
• Soy & corn free
• Sugar free

Ingredients

• Frozen raspberries – 1 cup
• Apple mousse – 4 -5 spoons
• Water (or some juice) – 6 spoons
• Gelatin – 6-7 spoons
• Salt – a pinch
• Optional: maple syrup (1-2 spoons)

Preparation steps

• Pulse the raspberries and apple mousse in a kitchen processor to smooth consistency

• Mix pulsed fruits with water (or juice) and a pinch of salt and bring it to boiling while continuously stirring
• Slowly add gelatin (keep stirring)
• Let it boil for a couple of minutes while stirring
• Cool it and then fill in the forms
• Let it cool a bit more in forms and then place it in a fridge
• It will solidify in a fridge very fast – don’t wait to long, enjoy it :-)

My gummies weren’t sweet as I used no sugar nor syrups. It is possible to add 2-3 spoons of maple syrup or other sweetener for sweeter effect. One can play with this recipe as much as possible by using other fruits, coffee, juices, teas etc. My next trial will be apple mousse with cinnamon, ‘ à la’ apple pie :D

Thank you for dropping by :-)

Kati xxx

I was in Rees in Germany the other day and I stepped in to the drugstore DE. To my surprise, I found gluten free food products that I haven’t seen before. Next to a large  stand with Schar products (which are cheaper than in NL) I noticed gluten free food from the organic brand FruSano. There were for instance gluten free ketchup, gummy bears, drops, lactose free chocolates, protein bars, rice in lactose free chocolate, gluten free and fructose free jams. Perhaps nothing unusual but if you are around and use these kind of food products, you might like to enter.

I bought a couple of ciabatta’s. I really like to have them from time to time.

I regret I didn’t buy this ketchup. It was quite expensive and I usually buy Heinz Bio, which is also GF, but who knows perhaps this one is even better.

Some gluten free candies – also low in fructose. Not for me though. I cut off refined sugar from my diet and I feel way better now.

Jams. They looked really nice but ehhh the price! I prefer the jams (also free from refined sugar) from the brand FiordiFrutta (from EkoPlaza).

The prices of the biological products are quite high but so is the quality. Most of the products are lactose free and refined sugar free; some even fructose free. I think they are aimed at a certain group of people with these specific food intolerance’s and allergies.

Next time I see a drugstore abroad I will surely step in to check out the rack with the special food.

Do you have similar experience with the drugstores in other countries? I have been to drugstores Rossmann in Poland and they had a wide assortment of gluten free food too.

Cheers,

Kati xxx

I found amazing recipes for Plantain waffles. Paleomum.com posted a recipe based on plantain banana, eggs and coconut oil. Similar recipe but without eggs was published by Holdthegrain.com. I love these recipes as they require just two/three main ingredients. I even excluded some of the minor ingredients from the original recipes and the waffles were still amazing :-)

~Plantain Waffles~

Dietary restrictions

• Grain free
• Dairy free
• Nuts free
• Refined white flours free
• Refined sugar free
• Eggs free (as I eat a lot of eggs with other meals)

I like minimalism so this is what I used to make my waffles

• Plantains (yellow and ripe) – 2
• Coconut oil – 2 melted spoons
• Cinnamon – 1 spoon
• Vanilla extract – 1/2 spoon
• Baking soda – 1/2 spoon
• Apple cider vinegar – 1 spoon

..and this is how I made them

1. I mashed the plantains using a kitchen processor
2. In a small pan I melted 2.5 spoons of coconut fat and I mixed it with the plantain pure
3. Then I added the rest of ingredients: cinnamon, vanilla, soda and vinegar
4. Well mixed pure I transferred  to a hot waffle machine which was earlier coated with coconut fat
5. Baked until golden brown

I chose ripe yellow plantains with black spots all over. They were soft and really sweet. As I didn’t eat refined sugar for 10 days the waffles seemed very sweet to me. Just don’t expect them to be extremely crunchy. Mine were soft and only slightly crunchy but still mouth watering!

The most guilt free use of my waffle making machine ever :-)

Kati xxx

May is the Celiac Disease Awareness Month

For the first time in The Netherlands, May is announced the Celiac Disease Awareness Month. Why? Because celiac patients from the US lead a similar campaign every year and it proved to help many people to get diagnosed. Celiac is a ‘mean’ autoimmune condition which expresses itself with 300 different symptoms. Gastrointestinal symptoms are not always there. It is estimated that 135.ooo people have celiac disease and don’t know about it. Perhaps their condition is silent or they don’t realize that their chronic migraines can lead to infertility or colon cancer.

The initiator of the campaign is Elize Vis, a blogger behind Stories of a Coeliac. The pictures used in this post are designed by Emmelou Green from Bakers and Fakers, a contributor to the coeliakiemaand campaign.

Celiac disease is a serious matter but nothing should take away the smiles from our faces. To cheer up a bit

7 reasons to follow #coeliakiemaand

1. To support this excellent initiative of bloggers who care to increase awareness and help others to get diagnosed

2. To spread awareness and help your family, friends, colleagues, neighbors to get diagnosed. 1 in 100 persons has celiac disease! SHARING IS CARING.

3. To benefit from discounts and win-actions organized as part of this campaign

4. To get free samples of gluten free products which you haven’t tried so far (Always good to check if it is worth its price, right?)

5. To buy unique gadgets with gluten free slogans – for yourself or as a present for your daughter/son/mum/father/sister/friends with celiac disease. Click on the picture below to order. (The gadgets are limited edition so it might be a special gift. They are sold without profit)

6. For entertainment during a geeky coffee pause behind your PC ;-)

7. Get to know new people and their stories, bloggers and blogs you might not know yet

Go to Coeliakiemaand.nl and check what is new!

Thanks for visiting,

Kati xxx

How did you learn what the gluten free diet really stands for? I didn’t get any guidelines from my doctor and the visit with a dietitian was scheduled 3 months after my diagnosis.

When I first heard that I can’t eat any gluten I stopped eating products that were containing it. That went well with the knowledge I researched myself. But in the beginning I didn’t know that the diet had to be so strict that even gluten contamination is a deal breaker for a Celiac patient like me.

Have you seen or heard the guidelines for a gluten free diet from the Dutch Coeliac Association (NCV) yet? There is so many information on the internet that one might feel lost from time to time. I paged the presentations which were shown during the Dutch Coeliac Disease Day on 18th April 2015 in Vianen and collected all the guidelines below.

Healthy gluten free lifestyle

• Healthy food
• Sports and other physical activities
• Enough sleep
• Relax
• Joy/Fun/Motivation

Good Gluten Free -NCV Guidelines

– Strict gluten free food without traces of gluten

– Mostly homemade meals prepared from whole (unprocessed) foods (cook from scratch)

– Each meal should consist of healthy protein, fats and carbohydrates

– To avoid processed food (not all products with a gluten free logo contribute to your health)

– Variety of preparation techniques (steaming, baking, boiling, frying, grill, raw food)

– Variety of food products (as long as they are gluten free and unprocessed)

– Not to eat the same food every day (even the healthiest food eaten in excess can have negative influence)

– Not to consume gluten consciously (it can set you back for even 6 months and you need to heal the intestinal villi all over again)

– Not to eat products produced in the same facility as conventional food

– A lot of food rich in dietary fiber

– Enough of products rich in essential vitamins and minerals (preparation techniques are crucial)

– A lot of vegetables (preferably with each meal) 

– Two fruits per day

– Three big meals with fruits or/and vegetables per day and 2-3 small snacks

– A lot of water and herbal tea

– Chewing thoroughly

– Processed sweets and snacks only occasionally (not every day)

– Careful with sugar, fat and salt

– To use salt with iodine (e.g. yozo, bakers salt)

– To consume healthy fats like olive oil, fat fish, avocado, nuts and seeds

– To consume enough of vitamin D (supplement, sun exposure), Calcium, Magnesium, Iron and folic acid (vitamin B9)

It is possible to email a dietitians that work together with NCV for an advice. An email address you need is: dietist@glutenvrij.nl.

Source: www.glutenvrij.nl/

Cheers,

Kati xxx

I really like eating eggs for breakfast. Such a meal keeps me full for the entire half a day. But how many days in a row can I eat scrambled eggs or boiled eggs :D Today, I made something else: mini- pancakes. There is a reason why they are ‘mini’. If you try to make them bigger, you might have a problem with turning them up side down. They seem quite fragile until baked on both sides.

• Gluten free
• Dairy free
• Grain free
• Soy & corn free
• Refined sugar free

Needed appliances

• Kitchen bowl
• Fork
• Frying pan
• Spatula

Ingredienst

• Banana – 1
• Eggs – 2
• Coconut flour – 2 spoons
• Flax seeds (broken) – 3 spoons
• Apple fibers Le Poole – 3 spoons
• Optional: gelatin (I use organic from Great Lakes*) – half a teaspoon
• Fat for frying

*I bought it here

Preparation

Mash banana with a fork and add the rest of ingredients to it. Mix well and fry on a hot pan.

They are rich in fibers and protein. After eating them at breakfast I felt satiated until lunch. They are nicely sweet so I think they would go great with fresh berries.

Cheers,

Kati xxx

About two weeks ago I spotted in Bruna a magazine ‘Glutenvrij’. There was another edition (also with only gluten free recipes) a couple of months ago but I didn’t buy it back then. It is for sale here though.

This time, I had to give it a chance.

I paid E 5, 95,- for 95 recipes.

The magazine has a nice graphical index with mini photos of each recipe. You will find there following recipes

• Different types of gluten free dough (Filo, Savory, Pasta, Puff pastry)
• Sauces (Bechamel, Mayonnaise)
• Breads (6 different recipes)
• Snacks (17 recipes)
• Vegetarian dishes (16 recipes)
• Fish dishes (13 recipes)
• Meat dishes (13 recipes)
• Sweets (24 recipes)

Next to recipes, you can find there a couple of handy tips and 2 pages of basic instructions on using gluten free ingredients (substitutes, binding ingredients etc.)

The recipes below I like most

Vegetable dips

 Stuffed chicken breast

Corndogs

Carrot gratin with sunflower seeds

If you can’t eat dairy then the recipes are little less valuable as most of them call for milk or fresh cream (creme fraiche). You can always replace dairy ingredients with soy/rice/coconut products but then a couple of modification is usually needed. In principle not a problem but there are better recipe magazines/books for you then.

Also, if you prefer more unconventional recipes and you follow an overall anti-inflammatory diet – this is not a magazine for you.

Despite above, it is a great magazine, full of beautiful pictures with many recipes. There are easy recipes which are doable within 30 minutes and more challenging ones that require a bit more time and perhaps some skills. Not that it should stop anyone from trying.

I bought my copy in Bruna but the magazine is available on the internet as well. For example here.

AN UPDATE: In May 2015 (Celiac Awarness Month) you can order online both Glutenvrij magazines with a discount of 10%. All you need to do to get the discount is follow the link in the end of this post on Coeliakiemaand.nl website.

Cheers,

Kati xxx

I am a big fan of beets. My favorite way of eating this vegetable is warm pure. Recently, I came across of tapenade made of black olives and beets. It is so delicious. Even my partner, who never eats beets, enjoyed it. According to ‘Healing with Whole Foods; Asian traditions and Modern nutrition’ eating beets has following benefits:

• Strengthen the heart
• Improve circulation
• Purify blood
• Benefit liver
• Moisten the intestines
• Treats constipation
• Promote menstruation
• Together with carrots – regulate hormones during menopause
• Treats nervousness

There is a number of nutrients in beets, like folates, niacin (B-3), pantothenic acid (B-5), pyridoxine (B-6) and minerals such as iron, manganese, copper, and magnesium. What is more beets are a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains. Betanin and vulgaxanthin are the two best-studied betalains from beets, and both have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support. In recent lab studies on human tumor cells, betanin pigments from beets have been shown to lessen tumor cell growth through a number of mechanisms, including inhibition of pro-inflammatory enzymes (specifically, cyclooxygenase enzymes). The tumor cell types tested in these studies include tumor cells from colon, stomach, nerve, lung, breast, prostate and testicular tissue.

Tapenade

• Gluten free
• Dairy free
• Egg free
• Nuts free
• Sugar free
• Vegetarian
• Vegan
• Paleo

Needed appliances

• Kitchen processor
• Pan to boil beets (unless you buy already boiled beets)

Ingredients

• Boiled beets (2 big or 3 small)
• Black olives (4-5 spoons)
• Basilicum leaves (half a cup)
• Olive oil (a couple of spoons; to your preference)
• Lemon juice (from half a lemon)
• Salt

Preparation steps

• Boil beets and peel them
• Place boiled cooled beets, black olives and basilicum leaves together in a kitchen processor. Pulse till desired consistency
• Add olive oil, lemon juice and salt and mix together

This tapenade is excellent on bread/cracker but also with fish and meat at dinner.

Enjoy,

Kati xxx

Thus it is more difficult for sensitive people to find reliable information on the internet. A lot of shared information refers to products which don’t contain gluten in the ingredients but are contaminated with it. I can imagine that suggesting the less sensitive people to watch out for traces might not be opportune. And so they advice’s, on the other hand, might sometimes cost another person feeling very sick.

Therefore, I dedicate this post to all sensitive Celiacs who are about to shop for gluten free food in The Netherlands :-)

Where I shop

I buy fruits and vegetables in EkoPlaza (link). I go there because they have organic products and a wide assortment of certified gluten free food.  As for meat, I buy it at a butcher. I don’t buy packed meat (very rarely) as it contains entire list of ingredients, especially sugars, like maltodextrin and dextrin (which might contain some tiny traces of gluten – perhaps it is nothing but if you collect all the traces you eat every day you might actually rich beyond 20 ppm).

The rest of food products I buy mostly in Albert Heijn (AH) or in shops with special assortment (also from webshops). AH is the only supermarket in NL that uses their own gluten free and dairy free logo’s on products made by their brand.

Although it is still necessary to double check the ingredients, it allows to shop faster. I check the ingredients on products with AH’ GF logo because they might still contain gluten free wheat starch (I don’t tolerate it well). I don’t buy AH brand products without their GF logo. AH place their GF logo on products which they know to contain gluten traces below 20 ppm. It is safe (although occasionally mistakes happen so read  ingredients on these products anyway). There are some products (not from AH brand) which I know are 100% gluten free but it took me some time to collect such knowledge. I used Livaad in the beginning.

Traces

I you are very sensitive you might not tolerate well products that ‘may contain traces of gluten’ or ‘are processed at the same facility as products with gluten’.

Recently, AH changed the labels on nuts. In the past, they were marked gluten free with their logo. Now, the logo is not there. I told myself to not exaggerate, those are JUST nuts, and nothing can go wrong, that I would be fine. But I wasn’t fine at all. There is no gluten on the ingredients list but AH doesn’t guarantee that the gluten traces are below 20 ppm. Now I understand why even better, these nuts are contaminated with gluten.

Sugar

Another problematic ingredient (for me) is sugar. I think it is related to my Hashimoto’s disease rather than to Celiac disease but I react very strongly to all sugar fluctuations in my blood. Sugar and hormones don’t go along. It is really annoying that sugar is added even to the raw meat. That is why I buy meat at butcher. I can barely find any (gluten free) product which doesn’t contain maltodextrin, dextrin, glucose-fructose syrup, sugar or (hydrolyzed) starches.

What makes me really disappointed is that the gluten free flour mixes (e.g. cake mixes or universal flour mixes) often have sugar on the 1^st or 2^nd or 3^rd place on the ingredients list. It is sad and frustrating that the companies who make food for people with gluten intolerance seem not to care about these people at all. They are simply profit oriented. Gluten free food products produced by small (often family) businesses are sometimes of a better quality.

Wishing you all ‘gluten traces – free’ and healthy shopping :-)

Kati xxx

• Refined sugar free
• Dairy free
• Gluten free
• Soy & corn free

Using oat flour together with flax seeds, apple fibers, banana and dadels makes the ontbijtkoek rich in dietary fibers. It is truly satiating without increasing the blood sugar too rapidly. It is sweet but it doesn’t contain simple, refined sugars – you can enjoy it every day without compromising your well being.

Needed appliances

• Oven
• Kitchen bowl
• Spoon
• Fork or/and kitchen processor
• Baking form
• Baking paper

Ingredients

• Bananas – 2 small
• Dadels – 4 big
• Honey – 1-2 spoons
• Mixed spice/koekkruiden (I used Het Blauwe Huis from EkoPlaza) – 3-4 spoons
• Broken flax seeds – 5 spoons
• Apple fibers Le Poole – 4 spoons
• Oat flour (I used Provena) – 200 g <The best alternative to oat flour: almond flour or quinoa flakes>
• Baking powder – 3 spoons
• Almond milk – 200 ml
• Egg – 1
• Optional: nuts and dry fruits

Preparation steps

1.  Mash banana and dadels – I used fork and then kitchen processor
2. Add honey, spices, flax seeds, fibers and mix using a spoon
3. Add flour, baking powder, almond milk and an egg and mix thoroughly together using a  spoon
4. Place the dough in a baking form lined with baking paper
5. Bake at 160-170 degrees for about 45-50 min (control it with a wooden toothpick)

I really like this breakfast cake. It is nicely moist and its texture is so light.

Do you have tips how to improve the recipe? Please share!

Cheers,

Kati xxx

Oat is a bit controversial grain in a gluten free diet. Often, oats and wheat are grown on the same fields. Farmers use the same machines to harvest and to transport both grains and thus contaminate the oats with wheat. Flour mills used for grinding oats can’t be used for grains containing gluten. This is why it is important to buy only certified gluten free oats.

But that’s not all. Some people with celiac disease express the same reaction towards the storage protein Avenin in oats as to gluten. Some research suggests that oats are not safe for anyone with gluten intolerance; other studies concluded that oats cause reaction at about 1-20% of people with celiac disease. Unfortunately, there is no consensus (or certainty) in science on this matter which makes us laboratory rats   :-/

According to The Canadian Celiac Association adults can consume safely up to 70 g of (gluten free) oats and children up to 25 g per day. 

Nutritional facts

• Very good source of manganese, selenium, vitamin B1 (thiamin), magnesium and phosphorus
• The bran and germ of oats remain after hulling process making them rich in fiber
• Contains more soluble fiber than any other grain, resulting in slower digestion, a feeling of satiety and suppression of appetite
• Higher in protein than other grains
• Help stabilize blood sugar, making it easier to keep blood sugar levels in control throughout the day
• One type of soluble fiber in oats, beta-glucans, has been proven to lower cholesterol
• Lowers LDL(“bad”) and total cholesterol possibly reducing the risk of heart disease
• Rich in fat (10%)
• Oats are so-called warming food
• Restores nervous and reproductive systems
• Helps renew the bones and connective tissue
• Reliefs itching and heals/beautifies skin

Gluten free Oat Flours

These are the flours I know of: Bob’s Red Mill, Provena and Piec Przemian.

Baking tips 

• 1 cup of oat flour = about 120 grams
• It belongs to whole grains ‘heavy’ flours
• Adds taste to baked products (slightly sweet flavor)
• Adds texture and structure to cookies, bread and other baked products
• Oats gain their flavour after the roasting process which takes place after harvest
• Oat flour contains natural antioxidants which prolong shelf life of bread
• To make your own oat flour, you can simply grind gluten free oat flakes in a kitchen processor

A homemade fresh flour has different taste and acts quite differently when cooked than the shop bought flour. Yeast feeds better on fresh flour and leads to higher fermentation activity. This might influence your recipe but it should only improve it.

• Store it in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dry place (like fridge) or freeze to extend the shelf life. Oat flour goes rancid fairly quickly due to the high fat content.
• Before using, bring it to the room temperature.
• It can be used in all recipes but should be less than 30% of a flour blend (for optimal baking properties)
• Could be substituted by almond flour or quinoa flakes
• Oat flour is supposed to lighten the heavy texture of bran muffins, carrot cake and zucchini bread if you replace 25 % of a gluten free flour blend with oat flour
• It’s absorbent and light, which results in light and fluffy cakes
• You can use slightly more baking powder when you bake with oat flour
• Oat flour used alone in a recipe produces a dense, gummy texture. Mix it with other flours e.g. rice flour.
• I read that a 50% oat/50% rice flour works well in drop cookies* (such as banana, zucchini and pumpkin), wholesome muffins, and quick breads. To lighten the texture you can add 1-2 spoons of tapioca starch or potato starch per each cup of 50-50 flour mix. Half spoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour will make the final product crumble less. Make it 1 spoon for bread and pizza recipes.

*Drop cookies are made from a relatively soft dough that is dropped by spoonfuls onto the baking sheet. During baking, the mounds of dough spread and flatten. No kidding!

Applications (flakes & flour)

• porridge (my recipe for oven-baked porridge)
• cold cereals like muesli and granola
• a variety of baked goods, such as pastry dough, oatcakes, oat-muffins, oatmeal cookies and oat bread (my recipe for oat flakes-cookies)
• oat flakes can be used as a thickener in soups
• in several different drinks – breakfast smoothies or in brewing beer
• oat water (a drink obtained after simmering 1-2 spoons of oats in water for 30-120 min)
• roughly ground flakes can be used as bread crumbs

Click on a picture for a recipe with gluten free oats

Soaking

Ideally, oat flakes should be soaked before cooking/using for 6-8 hours (e.g. overnight). Soaking can make them more digestible and help assimilate all the nutrients. It also reduces boiling time significantly and improves the consistency after boiling.

Where to buy gluten free flours (in NL)

• Online in Albert Heijn (link)
• Webshop Glutenvrijemarkt.com (link)
• Webshop Glutenvrijewebshop (link)
• Webshop Winkelglutenvrij.nl (link)
• Webshop Glutenvrij Le Poole (link)
• EkoPlaza
• De Tuinen
• Other Gluten free shops/Special assortment shops
• If you know other place, pls comment below.

An oat-based product in a spotlight

Gluten free oat bread mix from Provena

If you have some tips & tricks on how to use oat flour, please share/comment. Perhaps you want to share your recipe with oat flour/flakes? Feel free to drop a link!

Cheers,

Kati xxx

Specialetaarten.nl (also known as glutenvrijetaart.nl) is a bakery that makes, among other, gluten free cakes, gluten free breads (view assortment) and gluten free pastry (view assortment). I ordered a gluten and dairy free cake to celebrate my partner’s birthday.  It was a cake for 10-12 persons with a filling made of chocolate mousse. It was amazing. The dairy free chocolate  mousse turned out beyond our expectations.

Birthday cakes from Specialetaarten can be ordered online here. Once you choose a style and a size of a cake, you will have to fill in a short questionnaire. This smart system allows you to choose taste, allergens to avoid, type of filling, color, decorations etc. It is very easy and I must admit – convenient. It leaves no room for misunderstandings. You can have the cake delivered to you (extra costs) or pick it up in one of the shops (Almere, Heemskerk, Amsterdam, Apeldoorn). I live in Arnhem so I went to The Free From Shop in Apeldoorn to get my cake. If you are interested in my review of that shop you can read it here.

The baker Joop Siervogel is very famous for his work.

This is the cake I ordered

Everybody just loved this cake! Our guests couldn’t believe it was gluten free.

If you want to order a gluten free cake for a special occasion I recommend Specialetaarten. Another equally good option is Gebaksjuwelier (my review of the bakery is here). At Gebaksjuwelier only gluten free products are made so there is no chances of gluten contamination. At Specialetaarten, although they do bake conventional products, they take measures to prevent contamination.

An update: A gluten free birthday cake can be order as well at Zoete Bakselz. I didn’t order anything yet but I just found out that it is possible. Also, The Welsh Bakestone in Den Haag makes gluten free cakes if you order it 2 weeks ahead.

Cheers,

Kati xxx

Specialetaarten.nl

Glutenvrijetaart.nl

info@specialetaarten.nl

Zandzuigerstraat 53

1333 MV Almere

If we went for a party to my aunt or we celebrated Christmas at my grandparents’ house – the vegetable salad with mayonnaise was always there. No matter what occasion to celebrate was it. It is our traditional food :D

I made this vegetable salad last Easter. It is delicious and filling. You can eat it at breakfast, for lunch and even with a dinner. It is gluten and dairy free. Remember that not all mayonnaise is gluten free, check the label (I used Delaan Belgian mayonnaise which is free from preservatives and color agents). Yumm!

Ingredients

• Carrots – 3
• Potatoes – 4
• Eggs – 5
• Green Peas – one  tin/jar (about 250 ml)
• Corn – one tin/jar (about 250 ml)
• Leek – 1 big or 2 small
• Salt
• Pepper
• Mayonnaise – 1 big spoon
• Optional: Fermented/Pickled cucumbers – 4
• Optional: ham

Preparation steps

• Boil carrots and potatoes together (don’t let them become too soft; they need to keep their shape when you cut them in small blocks);
• Boil eggs and let them cool;
• Cut leek in small rings; wash and blanch it with boiled water; let it stay in hot water till it is cold-ish;
• Open jars/tins with corn and peas and drain well;
• Optional: cut cucumber and ham in small blocks;
• Add spices and a big spoon of mayonnaise and mix everything;
• Serve cooled.

Try it out, it is really nice.

Cheers from Arnhem!

Kati xxx

This year (at Easter), I made my own pate for the first time. I read the recipe from Bezglutenowamama.pl (here), I called my mum for more tips and I went to shop to buy all ingredients.

Such homemade pate is fully nutritious and delicious. It contains no preservatives or other functional ingredients.

Tips from my mum

• Don’t use lean pork. Make sure there is some fat on it (so the pate is not dry)
• Cook beef 30 min longer than pork
• Don’t boil/fry liver – place it in boiled water and let it cool down (boiled liver will taste bitter)
• Beef, pork and bacon can be boiled together
• It is enough to grind meat once
• You can omit butter in recipe if you used enough bacon and fatty piece of pork
• You can use any liver, e.g. from pork or chicken
• Don’t  add salt to the boiling meat

Ingredients

• Beef – 500 g
• Pork – 500 g
• Raw bacon – 500 g
• Liver (I used chicken) – 500 g
• Eggs – 5
• Butter (in room temperature) – 250 g <*for Paleo leave it our or use ghee, lard, more bacon or replace with more vegetables>
• Carrots – 2 big ones
• Onions- 2
• Parsnip – 2
• Salt
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Pepper

The machine (meat mincer) I use to process meat (see picture).

Any other kitchen processor you might have at home will do a good job too.

Preparation steps

1. Boil water and add beef to it. Cook for 30 min. Then, add pork, bacon, carrot and parsnip (optional: onion) to it and boil for another 45-60 min.
2. Remove boiled meat from the water and put into the boiled hot water the liver. Let it stay in water until cold.
3. Optional: you can fry onion or let it boil with meat. I boiled mine.
4. Grind the cooled down meat, liver and vegetables together once. Mix together well.
5. Add eggs, butter and spices to the mix. Make sure all is well combined. You can use spoon to mix it or your hand.
6. Place the mix in a baking form (spread butter on it first or use baking paper) and decorate (for example with vegetables or herbs)
7. Bake pate with a cover for 30 min at 180 °C. After, uncover it and bake it for another 30-45 min until golden brown.

From the ingredients listed in the recipe I made two forms as shown on the picture above.

Feel free to modify the recipe. You don’t eat pork? Leave it out! It is a great opportunity to incorporate organ meat in a diet without the ‘bleh’ effect ;-) Play with ingredients and their amounts for the taste that suits you best.

Cheers,

Kati xxx

Whatever gluten free product you need, you can find it here!

The Free From Shop in Apeldoorn provides a wide assortment of the gluten and lactose free food products. Luckily for me, Apeldoorn is just a half an hour drive from Arnhem.

From fresh baked goods and any baking/cooking ingredient, that you might think of, to frozen ready meals – you can find there everything.

I bought a couple of things

What I forgot to place in the basket are: gluten free beer , suikerbrood and beef croquettes from VA Foods.

I have heard of a soy-based whip cream before but I have actually never seen it in any shop before.  I was happy to find it there :-)

‘Gevulde koeken’ (filled cookies) were always my favorite Dutch sweets. Unfortunately, most of the gluten free filled cookies are packed per one and they are ridiculously expensive. You can imagine my joy to find a package that actually contained 4 cookies :D

Yeyy, a gluten free marsepain (in different colors)! I regret I didn’t buy aromas for baking, there were a couple of them with different flavors. Oh well, next time!

I bought Sam Mills pasta made of corn flour and quinoa flour. Something new to try.

A Belgian mayonnaise Delaan without preservatives and color agents. So good! I don’t want to eat any other mayo from now on :-)

The suikerbrood (sugar bread) from Specialetaarten.nl was amazing! I have noticed too late that it contained wheat starch < 20 ppm (it was enough to fire up my rash and make me feel like this). Further, it was mouth-watering :D

Many different breads were for sale; they contained all kind of flours. I chose a walnut bread which, unfortunately, contained wheat starch (<20 ppm) as I found out at home (luckily, before I ate it).

Freezers were full with different gluten free cakes and pastry, breads and ready meals. Definitely, many reasons to go back to Apeldoorn!

If you have a chance to visit The Free From Shop, I am sure you won’t regret. Just  remember to read the labels if you are sensitive to wheat starch. I was so excited I forgot to watch out for it.

This post is not sponsored. I recommend this place because I love it! :-) 

Cheers,

Kati xxx

The Free From Shop

info@thefreefromshop.nl

Soerenseweg 22

7314 CD Apeldoorn

The Netherlands

Finally, I went to Gebaksjuwelier! Twice :-)

Gebaksjuwelier is a gluten free bakery in Culemborg, 30 km below Utrecht or an hour-tje drive from Arnhem. Bakery! Everything is gluten free!

We drove to Culemborg by car. It was easy to find the bakery as we used a navigation. It is located in a quiet area, next to a couple of other shops.

The owner of the bakery is Paula Onink.  Paula is the nicest baker in a Dutch province Gelderland! How cool is that?! (the picture below is ‘borrowed’ from here)

The bakery is a lovely and charming place, designed in a cute inviting style. I took a couple of pictures to give you an impression. I bet, though, that most of you have already been there!

I celebrated my birthday in March and I wanted a gluten free cake. On a short notice Paula agreed to make me a cake (the orders should be placed at least 2 weeks in advance). As we needed a cake without gluten and without dairy, we had two choices for the filling: vanilla or coconut. Besides, if you have wishes with regard to size or a cake decoration, Paula will take them into account. Check out these pretty roses and curly leafs!

The cake was really tasty, with a light filling, moist and not too sweet inside. I ate soo much of it :D

Once in, you can’t leave empty handed. To be honest, I wanted to try EVERYTHING!

We bought all three types of bread that were in stock: white bread, sunflower seeds bread and multi-seeds bread (brown bread). They all were so delicious that I don’t really know which of them I liked most :| Decisions, decisions – I take them all! :D

I can tell you one thing – the best gluten free bread I have ever had.

We went back to the bakery before Easter. We came back home with a bag full of delicious goods.

We tried:

• Brownies and pecan pie

• Mini apple pies (gluten&lactose free)

• Mini Easter fruit cake

• Baquettes

• Chilli bread snacks

• Chocolate (gluten&lactose free) cookies

• Mini quiche

• Paasstol

And we got a sample with granola to test :-)

I am very happy I finally went to visit the bakery. Within two weeks I have been there twice and I can’t wait to go again!

This post is not sponsored. I wanted to share with you this awesome place that bakes gluten free goods and that I absolutely loved!

PS. If you know other places that are worth visiting and suitable for a review on this blog, please let me know.

Cheers,

Kati xxx

GEBAKSJUWELIER

www.glutenvrijgenieten.nl

Easter breakfast is a special meal in my family. A gluten free diet doesn’t have to change that. This year isn’t going to be any different.

This is what we will eat at Easter breakfast(s)/brunch(es) this year:

GF Bread from GF bakery Gebaksjuwelier in Culemborg (NL) (check out my review )

Paasstol from the same bakery

Suikerbrood from the Free From shop in Apeldoorn (review of the FF shop) (made by Specialetaarten.nl)

Homemade vegetable salad with mayonnaise (recipe)

White GF sausages from the supermarket Real in Germany

Homemade pate (recipe)

Boiled eggs with mayonnaise 

and Snack vegetables & Fresh berries :-) (from Real in Germany)

I am looking forward to it, I just hope I will be able to move after breakfast :D

Wishing you all Happy Easter, Vrolijk Pasen, Wesolego Alleluja!

Kati xxx

The problem with the salted caramel hearts is that they all contain the same filling. Where is the surprise? Where the chocolate romance?!

I sought handmade, high quality, delicious gluten free bonbons and I found Villa. Villa is an online shop that distributes, among other, gluten free bonbons.

‘ GENIETEN VOOR IEDEREEN!

Iedereen vindt chocolade lekker, maar smaken verschillen.
Bovendien mag niet iedereen alles eten.
Dat kan bijvoorbeeld zijn om medische reden of vanwege bepaalde allergieën.

Villa Chocola wil zoveel mogelijk mensen laten genieten van goede kwaliteit chocola.
Oók mensen met wat meer specifieke wensen zijn we daarom graag van dienst.

Zo hebben we een ruime keus in suikervrije en glutenvrije bonbons.
Zelfs lactose-vrije chocola vind je bij Villa Chocola.’

For the security, I emailed them and asked if the chocolates were suitable for people with Celiac disease. To their knowledge the gluten content (if present) is below 20 ppm. I am always a bit skeptical when products have no certificate but I enjoyed them and I had no problems. Besides, one rarely eats more than 1-2 bonbons at once so the chances of getting glutened (if there were any) are small.

The quality is very good. The bonbons are delicious and beautiful.

Cost: E 15.00,- for 500g exc. sending costs (E 6.75,-).

I am looking forward to enjoy them again!

Cheers,

Kati xxx

I don’t know about you but I am so disappointed with my endocrinologist telling me each time that there is no way to lessen my symptoms because there is no cure for Hashimoto’s, an  autoimmune thyroiditis.

Problem-Solution

This chronic disease causes inflammation of the thyroid gland and slowly destroys it. This is why the thyroid cannot produce hormones anymore. Instead, the patient needs to take synthetic T4 thyroid hormone for the entire life.

So simple ?

It seems logical and easy but it just doesn’t work. Most of the patients complain about their symptoms and additional symptoms appearing as a side-effects of taking the synthetic pills for a long time. Unfortunately, nothing changes about the therapy. The medical world doesn’t go forward fast enough.

• The antibodies in a Celiac’s intestine disappear once gluten is removed from the diet. However, the antibodies attacking the thyroid gland don’t disappear when one takes synthetic hormones. Most of doctors do not know how to get rid of the antibodies attacking thyroid. The prescribed hormones are supposed to eliminate the consequences of the lack of the thyroid gland. Nothing else.
• Another issue is that the synthetic thyroid hormones are not well absorbed by Hashimoto’s patients.

Some reasons of bad absorption 

• Reduced absorption in the intestines due to the lack of intestinal villi – celiac disease;
• Inflammation/Antibodies’attack in the intestines – if the pill contains lactose/casein or gluten (in case a patient is intolerant to it);
• Allergic reaction to other ingredients in the pill;
• Consuming dairy (especially in the morning) – reduces absorption process;

What else you can do

Many patients try to find help beyond the endocrinologists, most of whom openly admit to have no clue how to help us. Here, especially the alternative medicine, new lifestyles and new diets come forward.

How patients fight with Hashimoto’s

• Hormones
  • Some people feel better after taking the natural desiccated pig’s thyroid gland;
  • Many patients claim to feel better after taking a combination of synthetic T4 and T3 thyroid hormones;
  • Exceptions feel better after taking the synthetic T3 hormone only;
  • Others feel better when taking the hormones in the evening rather (2 hours after the last meal) than in the morning;
  • Balancing female hormones might be very important too;

• Supplements
  • The crucial minerals for good thyroid functioning are: selenium (which proves to reduce the antibodies), zinc, iron, magnesium (and possibly iodine (still controversial)– although some opinions are that as long as your thyroid is still active you shouldn’t supplement iodine);
  • Vitamins supplements – especially vitamin D;
  • Omega 3 supplement;
  • Good quality multivitamin might be helpful as well;
  • Probiotics;

• Diet
  • Gluten free diet (many Hashimoto’s patients have celiac disease);
  • Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (it proved to be successful at many patients);
  • Removing hormones containing foods like conventional meat (especially fat pieces as fat is the storage of these compounds), soy (phytoestrogen), tap water (showed presence of high level of female hormones; the hormones are not filtered from the water);
  • Diet rich in healthy fats (fish, olive oil, avocado, eggs), proteins and carbohydrates from root vegetables (beets, carrots, sweet potatoes)
  • Organic food – fruits and vegetables clean from synthetic pesticides (among other proves: recently on TV you could see a documentary about children born in Argentina near the fields sprayed with synthetic pesticides – they were born with serious health problems);
  • Including see foods in the diet – they are a good source of natural selenium and omega 3 fatty acids (despite Mercury – it’s healthier to eat fish than not to eat it);
  • Limiting processed foods and highly refined food ingredients (containing residues of solvents);
  • Supporting the good micro flora in your guts with probiotics and prebiotics (kimchi, kombucha tea, sauerkraut, supplements);
  • None or reduced caffeine intake – some level of adrenal fatigue  is very common at Hashimoto’s patients;
  • Limiting refined sugar intake might help balancing hormones together with the blood sugar level;
  • Overall anti-inflammatory diet;
  • Poor digestion and low stomach acid is very common at Hashimoto’s patients. Eating slow and chewing well might be helpful here. Other option is supplementing digestive enzymes;

• Limiting toxins
  • Detox from toxins – for example steam sauna, consuming organic food;
  • Using good quality product for personal care like e.g. shower gel or deodorant (without parabens, aluminum, formaldehyde, petrochemicals);
  • Spend more free time in nature rather than city;
  • Limit using plastic food containers and bottles;
  • Limit using synthetic fragrance and air fresheners;
  • Make sure you don’t suffer from infections. Literature lists Pylori,Yersinia, Epstein-Barr & Lyme disease as most common infections occuring at Hashimoto’s patients;

• Change your lifestyle
  • Reduce daily stress (sometimes it even means to change a job);
  • Introduce mild physical activities like walking, yoga and avoid excessive sports and long lasting stagnation;
  • Think positive;
  • Organize;
  • Plan and prepare;
  • Practice gratitude;
  • Laugh and have fun;
  • Appreciate life with all its small and big things;
  • Make time for your hobby and find new ones;
  • Meditate;
  • Cuddle with your loved ones and/or with your pet :)
  • No pet? Get one!
  • Exercise your brain, challenge it – or just do sudoku ;-)
  • Be creative;
  • Don’t forget to get some fresh air and sun (if possible);
  • Eat regularly;
  • Don’t skip meals;
  • Look for the good side of everything;
  • Do whatever relaxes you every day!

According to my research, these are the things that helped other people with Hashimoto’s. I just started with bio-selenium supplement and I am curious if it is going to help against the thyroglobulin antibodies (currently 1000-2000  IU/mL).

Thank you for reading,

Kati xxx

I spent the Valentine weekend with my partner in one of the Landal Parks – Landal Heideheuvel in Beekbergen, near Apeldoorn (The Netherlands).

The search criteria’s for our destination were following

• Dogs allowed
• A bungalow with a kitchenette
• Gluten free catering
• Private sauna and a fire place
• Away from pollution (city)
• Clean air and the amazing smell of forest

The bungalow we rented had a modern and stylish interior. We had a steam bath with a solarium in the house and a real fire place. I was especially impressed by the floor made from real wood. The kitchenette was equipped with everything that one needs, even a dish washer and a coffee machine.

What about gluten free catering

I did a research and I came across a webpage (here) promising ‘Gluten free menu card’ in Landal Parks. Later, I found a positive review of the park on another blog (the review). With these high expectations I was awaiting our Landal experience. Before we left, I emailed info@landal.com to book a table in the restaurant. Despite all the positive reviews, I wanted to warn them about my gluten and dairy free requirements and give them an extra time to prepare (just in case). Soon, I received a confirmation by email.

Food bag

I like to be prepared and I really don’t like to be hungry so I gathered some food to take with us.

• Gluten free crackers, Genius bread
• Hummus, ham, bacon, boiled eggs, Unox knackwurst sausages
• Pesto, refined-sugar free jam, rice-chocolate spread
• Vegetables: cucumber, sauerkraut, avocado, snack carrots
• Fruits: Mango, bananas, plums, grapefruit
• Snacks: popcorn, lovechock, corn chips
• Mineral water, rice milk, tea, Senseo coffee pads (we read that there is a Senseo coffee machine in the bungalow)
• Fresh salads from AlbertHein for lunch

As I expected that I won’t be able to order any cake for a dessert in the restaurant, I baked my own cake at home and took it with us to the park. It was worth it!

Besides, I never leave without my own toaster, a small frying pan, a small cooking pot and a plastic cutting board.

Local shop at park

In the park there is a mini supermarket. I went to investigate it. Although I didn’t see any certified gluten free or dairy free products I found fresh meat (without spices or marinade), fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, Alpro Soy ‘milk’ and pudding, rice, eggs, smoked fish and Unox sausages and pate (without gluten). If you happened to take no food with you, you could fix yourself some tasty GF meal from these fresh ingredients.

Dinner at the restaurant

The staff in the restaurant is young and very friendly. They had a note regarding my diet. I asked if they were aware of contamination and they replied positive. To give an example, they keep a separate oil to fry the French fries.

At the restaurant we ordered our drinks and we were patiently waiting for the famous gluten free menu card. But the card never arrived. Instead, we got a ‘random’ menu card and I was told I could choose anything from it, which would be ‘adapted’ to my diet requirements. Honestly, I have heard it a couple of times before in my life and it just NEVER makes me feel comfortable. I read the menu and I chose the safest dishes, which I thought had the least chances to go wrong: salad with grilled vegetables and a salmon with vegetables baked in the oven (in a sleeve). We also got the gluten free French fries with mayonnaise (I asked if the mayo was safe and they said yes). The waiter was wearing gloves when he served our food. I took it as a good sign.

The salmon ‘package’ contained the fish, cougette, pumpkin and fennel. It was accompanied by a sauce that looked (to me) as not free from dairy so I didn’t eat it. My partner had a carpaccio and a mixed grilled meat (no photo, sorry). The food was truly delicious.

The other days we preferred to cook ourselves at the bungalow from the fresh ingredients that we bought in the local shop. We decided to enjoyed the dinner in front of the fire place.

Snack bar

On Saturday we went to buy the gluten free French fries again but now from the snack bar. There, I asked about the mayonnaise and they said it wasn’t gluten free (?!). I only hope it was a different mayo than the one they gave us at the dinner (the restaurant and the snack bar are connected and kind of share a kitchen). Another possibility is that the young people working there weren’t aware of what is and what isn’t gluten free. Unfortunately their English wasn’t fluent either and my partner had to translate all my questions.

Despite some small disappointments about the catering, we had a lovely stay in the park. The entire Valentine weekend was sunny and we had great long walks with the dog in the forest. Evenings spend in front of the fire place were romantic and steam bathing in sauna was not only detoxifying but also MEGA relaxing. We sure go visit the other Landal Parks in the future.

P.S.

1. The Park offered a lot of activities for children (entertainment, mini-zoo, swimming pool, free guided activities etc.) so it is a great place to go for families.
2. If you are especially interested in sauna – it is available in bungalows marked with ‘L’, like e.g. 6L (6-persons luxurious).
3. Your car can be parked just next to your bungalow.
4. If you don’t travel by car, there is a bus stop about 2 minutes walk from the Park.
5. Unless you are very patient and don’t mind waiting for your food loong time – try cooking something in the bungalow ;-)
6. If you forget to pack your book, kitchen towel, soap or anything else – you will be able to find a substitute in the local shop.

I hope the review was informative to you. If you want to have some short/long get away – I recommend the Landal Heideheuvel.

Cheers,

Kati xxx

Ingredients 

(for about 12 small patties)

• Fresh fish e.g. cod – about 400 g
• Gluten free bun (or bread slice) – 1 or 2 (I used 1 Genius bun)
• Fresh parsley – as much as you like
• Garlic – 1 clove
• Spices: salt & white pepper *
• Gluten free flour or paneer (I used corn flour)
• Fat for frying

*White pepper fits with fish much better than the black pepper but if you have only black one at home, just use black pepper.

Necessary appliances

• Food processor (to grind fish)
• A kitchen bowl (to mix everything)
• A cutting board and a knife (to cut the parsley)
• A garlic press
• A frying pan & a spatula

Preparation steps

• Cut fish into blocks and grind it in a kitchen processor.
• Chop parsley.
• Wet a gluten free bun and drain the water away (just give it a good squeeze in your hand).

• Place ground fish, drained bun, cut parsley in a bowl. Add pressed garlic clove, salt and pepper.

• Mix everything together and form burgers.
• Paneer the burgers in a gluten free paneer or simply in gluten free flour of your choice. I recommend corn flour (not too finely ground).

• Fry the burgers until golden brown on both sides.

Recommended :-)

Kati

To not spoil such a beautiful snowy day with boring shopping we went to get food for the next week in Germany.  A fun trip. On the advice of Veronica (in a comment to the post on shopping in the German supermarket Real), the choice fell on Kaufland in Kleve.

From outside, the supermarket didn’t look very big but once inside we quickly realized that we will be able to buy anything we need in there. There is a bakery (nope, not gluten free) and a café inside, also a stand with delicatessen, tapas and things like that. In the middle part of the shop, we found food department, drugstore department, baby stuffs department, department with things for animals, clothes, kitchen accessories, other household stuffs and many more. In one word, everything!

Before I even show you what I bought, I will note that we paid much less for a full basket of food than we paid in Real. We bought a lot of organic vegetables and fruits, a couple of gluten free (some even biological) flours, quite big amount of meat and still, we ended up with a dream-bill. The only thing I didn’t like in Kaufland was no gluten free department as such. The gluten free products were distributed amongst all the other products. It took us some time to walk through the alleys and try to spot the GF logo. Also, the meat we bought in Real seemed fresher than the meat from Kaufland.

Sometimes, the GF logo (and lactose free) was depicted (as below) but not always.

Now, to the point. Let me show you the products that you might be especially interested in.

Bread like things

Flours and mixes

 Pasta

Processed meat &  Vegan Cheese

I am really happy with the wide assortment of gluten free products in Kaufland. I could choose products I wanted to buy as there were many choices for people who follow a gluten free diet. Besides, there were many lactose free product in the stock too. It was a pleasure to shop today!

Cheers,

Kati xxx

What would (gluten free) Rick want to have when he woke up in an abandoned hospital and realized that he is not in his safe gluten free zone (home) and all shops are closed? A Nakd ! That’s right :D He would like to have backup food!

It really helps to be prepared and always have a backup plan. That is why I want to share my tips on:

How to stay prepared for unexpected

1. Research gluten free restaurants and cafés in cities (countries) where you, your friends and your family live. This way, if someone spontaneously suggests ‘Let’s go out for a dinner’ or ‘Let’s grab a coffee’, you will know a place where you can eat safe. A spontaneous idea seems much less scary then, right?

2. If you enjoy having an occasional drink and like spending time in pubs – make a list of alcoholic drinks that you are allowed to have. As long as you don’t plan to eat – you can have a drink just about anywhere (assuming that you tolerate alcohol).

Gluten free alcohol list

3. Always carry snacks in your bag. They are very useful; for example when your colleagues choose the coffee room (with no GF options). My advice: big cup of coffee and your favorite (raw) chocolate bar (mmmm lovechock).

4. Stock your freezer with muffins and/or a cake! When dining out or visiting friends you will be offered ice-cream and fruits (most of the time). Now, you can take a muffin with you (e.g. to a birthday party) and this way enjoy some kind of baked goody too. Unless you are fine with ice cream and fruits.

5. Have an extra package of GF crackers at home. The next time you won’t have time (or forget) to bake/buy GF bread or boil your vegetables/grains (if you don’t eat bread) – you can snack on crackers.

6. Learn which processed foods are gluten free. The next time you are away from home and hungry, or you are too busy to cook from scratch – get to the nearest supermarket and purchase what you can eat (hummus, GF crackers and snack vegetables you guys saved me so many times!)

7. Stay hydrated and carry a bottle with mineral water. We often confuse hunger with feeling thirsty and we do function better when being well hydrated.

8. Keep a list of GF hotels (holiday resorts) that you occasionally hear about. When you don’t have time or will to research on your own, you can always choose one of the recommended destinations to enjoy worry- and gluten- free holidays.

9. Make sure that your fridge (and freezer) is always stocked up with food. Even better – plan your meals (check my post) for the entire week ahead and make sure to have all necessary ingredients in stock.

10. Keep 1 or 2 ready meals in your freezer. When something comes up and you come back home really late and hungry or you are feeling bad, you can open your freezer, take that frozen lasagna you made last weekend (or the left overs) and warm it up. You will have a satisfying meal within no time!

With these tips you are prepared and ready for everything! ;-)

Cheers,

Kati xxx

I am not an expert in making gluten free dumplings. This year I made GF dough for dumplings for the first time. I was lucky, it worked out very well!

Ingredients for dough (for about 20-25 dumplings)

• GF flour mix – 200 g (I used the one from Celiko to make pasta. It contains 65% rice flour and ~35% potato starch)
• GF flour mix for bread *– about 1 cup (I used Doves Farm flour mix for brown bread)
• Any GF flour for covering the working space on which the dough was rolled (about half cup)
• 2 eggs
• 4-5 spoons of water (20 ml)
• 1 spoon of oil
• Pinch of salt

*The flour mix for bread from Doves Farm contains Xanthan Gum. I believe that this hydrocolloid made the dough strong enough to form dumplings of it. If you plan to use other flours in your recipe, makes sure your flour mix contains a gum as well or adds some to it.

Ingredients for filling

• Sauerkraut (mine contained carrot)
• Mushrooms
• Onion
• Salt and pepper

Preparation steps – Filling

1. Boil water in a pan.
2. Drain sauerkraut and place it in the boiling water for about 10-15 min. Afterwards, drain in very well.
3. Cut mushrooms in tiny pieces and fry on ghee.
4. Cut onion in small pieces and fry on oil.
5. Cool the boiled cabbage and cut it so it doesn’t contain long strings of cabbage.
6. Mix cabbage, fried mushrooms and fried onion together. Use salt and pepper to adjust the flavor to your own taste.

Preparation steps – Dough

1. Place 200 g of GF flour mix to the bowl. Add 2 eggs, 4 spoons of water and 1 spoon of oil. Mix together.
2. Slowly keep adding the flour mix for bread to the dough and keep kneading with your hands. Don’t add the entire cup of flour at once. Knead for about 5 min. In the end you should obtain an elastic ball of dough. If necessary: add more flour or water.

Preparation steps – Dumplings

1. Boil salty water in a pan.
2. On a surface covered with Gf flour roll the dough into a thin layer (about 5 mm thickness).
3. Cut circles in the dough using a cup.

4. Take one circle and place it in your hand. Using a spoon place small amount of the filling in the middle of the circle. Then, form half-moons filled with the cabbage. Grab the edges together between your fingers and stick one to another. It needs to be done gently as the dough is not extremely strong. It is strong enough if you handle it with care.

5. The formed dumplings place gently in a simmering boiled water (keep the fire low). Let them boil like this for about 3-5 min. Make sure that the dumplings are well sealed and don’t open in the boiling water.

6. Hot dumplings can be served with cut into small pieces and fried onion or it is possible to fry them after cooling them down.

*I didn’t freeze my dumplings but I did store them in a closed container in a fridge for 2 days and they were fine.

Have a Merry Christmas <3

The cake is wonderfully moist and soft. The texture does not fall apart or does not crumble. It has a typical (for the poppy seeds cake) gorgeous flavor.

Ingredients

• Poppy seeds – about 200 g of dry seeds (after soaking and draining water – it needs to be at least 400 g)*
• Nuts – 200 g (I used walnuts and almonds 100g +100g)
• Plant based margarine – 250 g
• Eggs – 8
• Sugar – I used ½ cup but the original recipe called for 1 full glass (my cake wasn’t very sweet; just the way I like it)
• Hot water – a couple of liters, for washing the poppy seeds

*On the pictures you can see 400 g of dry seeds being soaked =)

Necessary utensils

• Kitchen processor or grinding machine
• Pre-heated to 180ºC oven
• A kitchen bowl(s) and spoons/spatulas
• A cotton kitchen cloth
• A kitchen mixer
• A kitchen balance

Preparation steps

1. Soaking of poppy seeds

Place dry poppy seeds in a big bowl. Pour about 1 liter of boiled water on top of the poppy seeds and let it soak for 5-10 min. Afterwards, drain the water from poppy seeds and repeat the procedure two more times. Let the soaking seeds stand in the water for about 12 hours (I let it soak overnight). After soaking the poppy seeds, I drained them very thoroughly using a cotton kitchen towel. The poppy seeds will remain wet. The total weight you need to add to the cake is 400 g. Before adding the poppy seeds to the cake, they need to be ground first.

2. Grinding nuts. I used one of the kitchen machines to grind nuts. They became fatty and moist but it is okay. They don’t need to be ground very finely.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 180 ºC
4. Mix the ground poppy seeds and nuts together.Melt plant based margarine in a pan and let it cool down.                                                          
5. Now it is time for eggs. Separate egg whites from yolks. Beat the yolks with sugar using a kitchen mixer.
6. Beat egg whites very well. The better beaten egg whites the higher the cake will raise.
7. Add cooled margarine to the beaten egg yolks and mix together.
8. Next, add the poppy seeds with nuts to the mixed yolks.
9. In the end, very gently add beaten egg whites to the rest of the ingredients. Slightly mix all together using a spoon. Try not to destroy the network formed by egg whites.
10. Place the mixture in the baking form (or as I did it – to the glass dish with a baking paper on the bottom of it) and bake at 180ºC for about 45 minutes. Keep watch (mine was done after 35 min)!

Tips

• If you share oven (it is used for dishes with and without gluten) you can use a glass dish with a glass cover. I used a closed dish and my cake still became nicely golden brown on the surface.
• If you don’t have a machine in which you can grind nuts, you can use already milled nuts or one of the nuts flours, for instance almond flour.
• You can modify the amount of sugar or replace it with some other sweetener. I wanted to use honey but I was afraid that my cake won’t rise as it is made without baking powder or baking soda.
• The traditional poppy seeds cake contains raisins. You can add raisins (or cranberries) to the poppy seeds.

The original recipe comes from HERE

I wish you fun baking and a delicious treat after!

Cheers,

Kati

Last Thursday, I went to the center of Arnhem to find Christmas gifts for my parents. I found gifts and I bumped into Bagels & Beans (B&B Arnhem). I knew the brand quite well from reading stories on other blogs. Excited, I decided to check if they had gluten free bagels.

First, I asked if they had gluten free bagels as well. The girl working there seemed very confident and quickly replied that yes of course they have. I was already giggling and jumping inside!

She said also that they are taking care of gluten contamination. She asked if I was intolerant. I said that I had coeliac disease and she recognized the term. Now we were talking!

It wasn’t really a right time for lunch or dinner or even a snack so I took 4 bagels with me to enjoy them at home. I chose the frozen bagels as I thought that the less it was moved around the less chances of contamination. I paid 6 euro for 4 gluten free bagels. It is a good deal as far as I’m concerned.

My bagels were unfreezing for the entire night. They were fine in the morning, perhaps just a little bit too hard. I cut one half and placed it in the hot oven. It still felt a bit hard after but it was nicely warm. It had a nice sweet flavor. On the package there was no label and I forgot to ask about ingredients. Something to do the next time. In my opinion, they are made of soy flour or/and with lupine flour addition. There are sweet types of lupine and their flours are quite yellow (just as was my bagel inside) due to the high content of beta-carotene.

I didn’t take pictures of my dressed bagel. I ate it with a tiny bit of mayo, smoked salmon and sauerkraut. (The latter I eat 3 x per day to rebuild the micro flora in my guts. It seems to have a really good effect on me).

To conclude, the bagel had a very good taste. The texture was good as well even though they were frozen before. I blame my poor ‘handling bagels’ skills for the bagel to be hard. I am giving it another go. But the next time I let the girls in Bagels & Beans prepare it. Only then I will judge if it is still hard or not.

In the past I was always having my lunch in Manu (my review) once I was in the city (Arnhem). Now, I can add Bagels & Beans to the list of safe places to dine in Arnhem. Happy  :-)

Bagels & Beans

Koningstraat 69 
6811 DJ ARNHEM
T. 026-3701445

• Monday 12:00-17:30
• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9:30-17:30
• Saturday 10:00-17:30
• Sunday 11:00-16:00

• All food purchased outdoors pre-packed and not pre-packed (if it is a supermarket, restaurant, market stand, bakery, cafe or canteen) is required to have included allergens information,
• No more random, misleading ‘gluten free’ terms on food packages will be allowed (only with a GF certificate)
• And hopefully better awareness in horeca with regard to food allergens as it is not acceptable anymore that we receive no answer to our question ‘Is your product/food gluten free?‘
• Other changes
• *Specific for fish

The 14 allergens (and products thereof) that must be labelled or indicated as being present in foods are:

1. Cereals containing gluten such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt or khorasan

Except:
(a) wheat-based glucose syrups including dextrose
(b) wheat-based maltodextrins
(c) glucose syrups based on barley
(d) cereals used for making distillates or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin for spirit drinks and other alcoholic beverages

2. Crustaceans for example prawns, crabs, lobster, crayfish
3. Eggs
4. Fish

Except:
(a) fish gelatine used as a carrier for vitamin or carotenoid preparations
(b) fish gelatine or isinglass used as a fining agent in beer and wine

5. Peanuts
6. Soybeans

Except:
(a) fully refined soybean oil and fat
(b) natural mixed tocopherols (E306), natural D-alpha tocopherol, natural D-alpha tocopherol acetate, natural D-alpha tocopherol succinate from soybean sources
(c) vegetable oils derived from phytosterols and phytosterol esters from soybean sources
(d) plant stanol ester produced from vegetable oil sterols from soybean sources

7. Milk (including lactose)

Except:
(a) whey used for making distillates or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin for spirit drinks and other alcoholic beverages
(b) lactitol

8. Nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macadamia (or Queensland) nuts

Except:
nuts used for making distillates or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin for spirit drinks and other alcoholic beverages

9. Celery (including celeriac)
10. Mustard
11. Sesame seeds
12. Sulphur dioxide (>10mg/kg or 10mg/L) expressed as SO2 -a preservative found in some dried fruit, wine, sweet breads with dry fruits and meat products
13. Lupin
14. Mollusc for example clams, mussels, whelks, oysters, snails and squid

The layout of food labels will change. On the pre-packed products the allergens have to be emphasized using a typeset that clearly distinguishes it from the rest of the ingredients, like different font, bold,  style or background color. It i snot allowed anymore to include additional box with the list of allergens. This is supposed to simplify the labels.

The business selling the not pre-packed food (for example restaurants, deli counters, bakeries and sandwich bars) is required to have a detailed knowledge on presence of food allergens in the food that they distribute. This information can be communicated:

• on external informational boards 
• on menu card
• spoken information

It is not acceptable anymore that the horeca personnel cannot provide allergy information that one requires. They need to know which ingredients are present in the dish that they provide. Unfortunately, there is more to it (read below).

Be aware!

The current change in food labelling does not cover information on possible cross-contamination. The processed food is still a bit of a Russian roulette for people with strong food allergies and intolerances. It is very possible (especially for the not pre-packed foods but also for pre-packed products) that small amounts of the allergen come into contact with the ‘free from allergen’ food. You still need to be very careful when buying such food (unless you are not very sensitive or unless they are marked by a certified (in case of Celiacs) gluten free logo).

Not required on the label

• Manufacturers often use phrases such as ‘may contain’ to show that there could be small amounts of an allergen in a food product because it has entered the product accidentally during the production process. It’s not a legal requirement to say on the label that a food might accidently contain small amounts of an allergen. Only some manufacturers label their products in this way to warn their customers of this risk.

• It is important to understand that different manufacturers (if labeling their food with *may contain) can choose to use different phrases to warn of allergen cross contamination risks. These different phrases describe how the risk arises, but are not indicative of the severity of the risk. For this reason, none of these warnings should be read as being more or less serious than another phrase.
  • May contain x
  • Made on equipment that also processes x
  • Made in a factory that also handles x

* For the sensitive Celiacs as myself: Manufacturers are not obligated to inform consumers about the possible cross-contamination of the products. Multiple random tests on food with naturally gluten free ingredients performed worldwide to detect gluten contamination showed gluten content above the safe (for some) threshold value of 20 ppm. This means that not all processed foods are safe for sensitive individuals with allergies and/or food intolerance(s). Only certified gluten free products are assured to contain gluten below <20 ppm.

*Main source: https:///www.food.gov.uk/  **I claim no rights to the pictures used in this post.

I hope that the information included in this post was helpful to you.

Cheers,

Kati

Do you know those Advent calendars that hide for example chocolates inside?  You get to open one chocolate every day as a countdown to Christmas.

Together with a group of ‘glutenfree’ bloggers from The Netherlands and Belgium, as from tomorrow we start a glutenfree blogging Advent Calendar for you. Just, as there are 32 of us, our Calendar lasts from the 1^st December 2014 till the 1^st January 2015! How great is that :-) Every day, one of us will blog about December and glutenfree living. We already know whose blog will be posted when, but we want to keep it as a surprise for you. Each day, you can read on our blogs, Facebook or Twitter who the blogger of the day is.

Have a wonderful December full of peace, love, hope and joy. We will do our best to bring you a little bit of inspiration every day for the entire month.

• Our logo is designed by Bakers and Fakers (link below)
• The GF blogging Advent Calendar is initiated by Ik ben glutenvrij (link below)
• We use the #decemberglutenvrij tag in social media for the entire month
• Click on the gifts under the tree to find out the post of the day. Every day, you can find here a new gift! Don’t forget to check it out :-)

The blogs that participate in the #decemberglutenvrij relay-race

Bakers and Fakers
Creatief Glutenvrij
Da’s andere koek
​De gezonde kok
De glutenvrije man
Dion glutenvrij​
DIY for you and me
Foodless
Glutenfree Amsterdam
Glutenfree Guide
Glutenfree Lady
Glutenvrij hoort erbij
Glutenvrij reizen
​Glutenvrije blog
Glutenvrije mama
Glutenvrijers
Glutenvrijheid
​Gluuts
​Home of comfort
Ik ben glutenvrij
​Kids met allergie
​Laurien is
The Dutch Celiac
​Mainly Marlot
​Meer dan Glutenvrij
​Met Zonder gluten
Miss Glutenvrij
Rijstwafel
Stories of a Coeliac
Young and Wild and Glutenfree
Your daily intake
Zusjes Glutenvrij

I am looking forward to read all the stories! Stay tuned and watch our posts,

This year, I made my own gluten free kruidnoten (so called Spice Nuts) (which will be further referred to as pepernoten becauce everybody calls them like that). Actually, it is the first time ever that I made any pepernoten! Honestly, I never even liked the pepernoten from supermarket before my diagnosis unless they were surrounded by a thick layer of chocolate. But Oh! How was I surprised when I tasted our homemade gluten free version of these cookies. Lovely crunchy and smooth at the same time texture guaranteed the melting in my mouth feeling.   

Ingredients

1. Schar Mix C – 200 g
2. Brown sugar – 125 g
3. Vanilla extract – 1 spoon
4. Baking powder – 1 spoon
5. Speculoos spices* (Cook kruiden) – 2 spoons
6. Egg – 1
7. Butter – 100 g
8. Almond milk – 1.5 spoons

*Spices used in speculoos are cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom and white pepper. 

Necessary appliances

• An oven pre-heated  to  175ºC
• A baking tray and baking paper
• A bowl – to mix all ingredients
• A fridge (~4ºC) – to cool the dough
• Optional: a board and a knife to cut/shape the pepernoten

Preparation steps

1. Place the flour (I used Schar Mix C), sugar, vanilla extract, baking powder, cook kruiden in a bowl and mix together.
2. Add one egg and cold butter (cut in small pieces) to the dry ingredients and knead it well with your hands.
3. If the ingredients are too dry to form the dough – add the almond milk (in my case one and half spoon of liquid was enough). Knead until the dough is developed.
4. Put the dough in a plastic bag and cool it in the fridge for a couple of hours until it is really hard (I left mine in a fridge for 4 hours).  Before placing the dough in a fridge – shape it in a way that it is easy to cut in smaller pieces when it is cooled and hard.
5. The hard dough is easy to cut in squares of desired size. I didn’t make round pepernoten because I wanted to keep the dough as cold as possible. Forming round shape with my hands would warm up the dough and I really wanted to avoid it.
6. Place the cookies on a baking tray (on a baking paper) and bake for about 15 minutes at 175ºC.
7. Cool the pepernoten before serving.

Tips

• If you want your pepernoten round, you could try to shape them first and then cool them in a fridge.
• If the dough is shaped in long rolls it is easier to cut it into pieces after cooling (they will be round then as well).
• The Shar Mix C can be replaced by another GF flour (the texture will be different though and I really liked the mouth feel here).
• It is possible to put the cooled pepernoten in a chocolate bath to further spoil your palate.
• Butter can be replaced by plant based fat (margarine) to make 100% glutenfree and dairyfree pepernoten.
• The almond milk can be replaced by dairy milk or other liquid (sweet water)
• It is popular to use buckwheat flour to make GF pepernoten.
• I bought my cook kruiden in EkoPlaza from Het Blauwe Huis (koek kruiden).       

Enjoy baking your own gluten free Pepernoten/Kruidnoten,

Kati

I’ve read many stories about failing to reproduce a recipe from a cook book or to replace one ‘rice’ flour with another ‘rice’ flour. There is one main reason why it is happening. The flours have different properties and therefore they can’t just replace one another in a recipe without a couple of adjustments first.

In my previous post (First Step Towards Glutenfree Baking) I mentioned that the gluten free flours are derived from various foods

• Starchy vegetables /roots
• Beans
• Nuts
• Gluten free grains
• Seeds
• Fruits
• Even dairy

Each of these flour sources has different composition. The presence and the ratio between the individual compounds (like protein, carbohydrates or fats) present in the flour source are responsible for the final behavior of the flour during baking.

It gets more complicated. There are thousands varieties of e.g. white potatoes (starchy vegetable). They contain different types and amounts of e.g. proteins and carbohydrates. These differences have consequences in the quality of the final flour; they create certain properties/functionality of the flour. What is more, these grains/nuts/beans/vegetables are being processed into flours. To make flour its source is subjected to different steps, like e.g. wetting, drying, and milling. These processes modify the structure and in a consequence the properties of the starches, proteins, fats and fibers (to name a few). Food industry is very advanced in modifying the flour constituents and can create flours with wanted properties, like e.g. high/low viscosity, high/low solubility. Besides, each brand fractionates their flours on their own production line and according to their own refinery process.

The properties of flour will depend on

• The source of the flour (almonds, amaranth grains etc.)
• The type of the source (there are more than 1000 different types of white potatoes; there are three types of lupine species cultivated: yellow, white and blue – each has different composition)
• The environment in which the flour source was grown (amount of sun it was exposed to, quality of the soil etc.)
• The composition of the flour source (presence of e.g. starch and fat, amount and ratio between the individual components like proteins and carbohydrates, etc.)
• The structure/properties of the individual compounds (different types of proteins and dietary fibers)
• The manufacturing process (dry fractionation/wet fractionation, drying technique, but also induced chemical reactions)

Some of the flour characteristics

• Water retention
• Dispersibility/solubility
• Viscosity/elasticity
• Aggregation/gelation
• Foaming
• Emulsification
• Particle size
• Smell and taste

Considering all the above points, we can’t fully predict flour behavior during baking/cooking. Knowing flour source and the composition can give us some ideas on what is the best application for the particular flour. But the rice flour from the brand X will always (more or less) differ from the rice flour from the brand Y. The only way to find out flour properties is to start experimenting with it. Now, there are cook books available on the market where the recipe will call for 100 grams of e.g. buckwheat flour. A big chance is that (unless the brand of the flour used is provided) your final effect will differ from the expected result. Of course, the oven quality and the quality of all the other ingredients used will contribute to the differences but when it comes to the flours – they are a key ingredient in most of the baking recipes.

There are some general guidelines on how to use the gluten free flours but to be able to create a reproducible product some more details on the flour properties are needed.

Generally, nut flours will most likely be used in sweet recipes and bean flours (due to their distinctive smell) will most likely be applied to the savory recipes. Flours rich in starch are great to thicken things e.g. sauces/puddings. Soy flour, as it contains no starch, has a huge potential to form strong protein network and they are actually quite well known for its aggregation properties. They already proved to work very well in gluten free breads and buns. Or, any flour that has high fat content (almond flour) will be expected to create rather crumbly texture, such as in cakes.

There are, however, situations when a glutenfree meal needs to be prepared in a not glutenfree environment

• when you need to share kitchen with people who do consume gluten
• when you decide to prepare a meal for your glutenfree guests yourself
• on holidays
• or in a restaurant

Glutenfree cooking is easy once you get a hang of it. The beginning might be difficult though, especially if you are not used to cooking with raw ingredients.  Most of the ready foods and food ingredients (like sauces, marinades) are not suitable for making glutenfree meal. The second obstacle is when one needs to prepare such glutenfree meal in a kitchen where gluten is used. The chances of contamination are huge but it is possible to avoid it when the following rules are followed.

How to prepare a gluten free meal in a shared kitchen

1. Find a dedicated corner/ piece of kitchen space/table where you can work.
2. Clean the surface really well. Use hot water, soap and sponge/brush. Gluten is very sticky; think of it as you would need to remove glue from the surface.

3. Even better, use a clean, made of non-porous material and dedicated only for glutenfree cooking kitchen board/tray.

4. You will probably use your sink – I suggest cleaning it first. Keep separate glutenfree dish sponge and kitchen towels (e.g. paper towels).

5. It is easier to prepare raw/ not cooked meal. Make sure that knives, plates and other kitchen tools/utensils that you are going to use are very well cleaned (again: think of removing glue from it). Important, you can’t use the same toaster for both breads, with and without gluten.

6.  The best option would be to keep dedicated utensils. Now, that can save you a lot of time if you know that you need to prepare such meals more often (otherwise you will spend additional hours on cleaning).

7.  In case you need to prepare a dinner, keep in mind that your sticky frying pans are not suitable here. The traces of fat are the best hiding spots for gluten. Choose recipe where frying is not required or buy a new pan.

8.  The oven is another risky zone. Avoid it or use an oven dish which can be closed during baking. Make sure the lid is sealed; wrap it in aluminum foil if necessary.      There are oven-suitable baking bags in shops. It’s alright to use them.

9.   Cooking and steaming (as long as in metal, glass or plastic utensils) are safer cooking techniques. The pots/surfaces are rather easy to clean.

10.  All kitchen utensils made of plastic, glass or metal can be used. Wooden utensils are porous and thus not safe (unless new).

11.  Remember of keeping your hands clean. Try not to touch any gluten during preparing the glutenfree meal and if you do – wash your hands.

12.  Before choosing a menu, you should be informed if there are other food intolerances that you have to take into consideration. (Celiacs often can’t tolerate dairy and other grains).

13.  Since gluten is a cheap and highly functional food ingredient, it is used in 99% of processed foods. It is safer to prepare the gluenfree meal using whole foods like meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, eggs, nuts and seeds. The same counts for spices – try to use pure herbs rather than pre-packed spice blends.

14.  The products marked with a glutenfree certificate/logo are safe to use (unless they contain another allergen that is not tolerable by your guests).

15.  Keep in mind that the jars with jam, pesto or anything else in your fridge that was already used (assuming initially glutenfree) is already contaminated. Unfortunately, you need to purchase new jars if required in the recipe.

16.  There are many blogs and websites posting glutenfree recipes (my glutenfree recipes). To save yourself time and trouble – you can just use some of them. Paleo recipes are totally safe too.

Easy Breakfast Idea

•       Glutenfree cornflakes (not certified ones are not glutenfree) with almond/soy milk and fruits
•       Glutenfree (fresh Genius*) bread with boiled eggs

Easy Lunch Ideas

•      Gluten free (fresh Genius*) bread with smoked salmon, hummus or avocado
•      Salads (without shop bought dressings)

Easy Dinner Ideas

•       Homemade soups (without bullion blocks)
•       Potatoes with homemade prepared meat or fish and salad (without shop bought marinades; important: soy sauce is not glutenfree unless certified)

Easy Dessert Ideas

•       Sorbets / Fruits
•       Glutenfree Genius muffins**

*Glutenfree Genius bread is available in AH supermarkets at the bread department. It is fresh thus excellent without the need to toast it (my review).

**Glutenfree Genius chocolate muffins are available in AH supermarkets at the bread department (my review).

I used Genius’s products in my suggestions only because they are easily available in all AH supermarkets in the entire country (in The Netherlands). They can be easily replaced by any other certified gluten free products.

If you have any doubts or questions, feel free to contact me. I am always happy to help!

Kati xxx

Waffle is a kind of dough baked between two hot plates and it tastes divine. The last time I was visiting my home town I could only ‘enjoy’ the smell of it. When I saw a waffle making machine while shopping a couple of months after, I put it in my shopping basket immediately (here, you can see where I bought it). You should smell the air while the waffles are being baked. It is just one more thing I refuse to miss out on. I am not going to allow the celiac disease to take away waffles from me!

Ingredients

• Eggs – two
• Honey (or sugar) – 4 spoons (optional; I enjoy them when less sweet as well)
• Vanilla extract – 1/2 spoon (optional)
• Almond milk – ½ cup
• Gluten free flour – 1 cup of Schar mix C OR 2 cups of almond flour (they have different water holding capacity thus different amounts are needed)
• Salt –  a big pinch
• Baking soda – ½ spoon
• Baking powder – ½ spoon

Necessary appliances

• Waffle making machine
• A bowl
• A spatula
• A kitchen mixer
• A spoon to transfer the dough to the waffle making machine

Tips

• If you want your waffles crunchy – use the Schar’s mix C
• If you want your waffles soft – use the almond flour (it contains more fat thus forms softer texture)
• It is possible to use other flours; these two are the only ones I tested so far. Flours have various ability to hold water, depending on the content of the flour, different amounts will be needed
• I allow my waffles a slightly longer time in the machine for more crunchy texture
• Great idea for a quick dessert – without the need of baking a cake; plus if you use fat free flours – it is milder on your digestive system

Preparation steps

1. Beat the eggs with salt, honey/sugar and vanilla extract using a kitchen mixer
2. Afterwards add the almond milk and mix all together
3. In another bowl mix flour with the baking powder and baking soda
4. Add the flour mixture to the eggs and mix all together
5. You can add extra water/flour to obtain ideal consistency (it should be more dense than the dough for the European pancakes)

Instead, I am absolutely amazed by these peanut butter cookies. They are perfect!

• Soft
• Don’t crumble
• Not too sweet
• Without flour
• Without added refined sugar
• Free from dairy
• Free from gluten

Ingredients

• Peanut butter – about 300 ml (I used the bio pindakaas from AH)
• Egg – one small
• Banana – one small
• Baking soda – 1 spoon
• Vanilla extract – ½ spoon
• Optional: oat flakes (I used about 3-4 spoons)
• Optional: chocolate chunks (I used the pure choco chunks from Heel Holland Bakt)

Needed appliances

• A bowl – to combine ingredients
• A mixer or spatula and strong muscles
• A baking tray
• Baking paper
• Pre-heated oven (180ºC)

Tips

• It is possible to add less or more peanut butter. The amount is not really strict.
• I added the oat flakes for extra fibers and I believe it added some volume to the cookies.
• Adding banana was a bit spontaneous. I wanted to add sweet flavor to my cookies. Perhaps grinded dates would work even better. Something to try next time.
• I combined everything using mixer but spatula and strong muscles would do too.

Preparation steps

1. Start heating the oven (180ºC)
2. Cover a baking tray with a baking paper
3. Beat/mix in a bowl: one egg, baking soda and vanilla extract
4. Add to it one small banana (or a couple of dates) and peanut butter, then mix everything together slowly for 1-2 min until smooth
5. Optional: add oat flakes, chocolate chunks (or sugar) and combine all together
6. Spoon the blended ingredients on the baking tray and flatten into cookie shape
7. Bake in pre-heated oven for about 10 minutes
8. Remove the cookies from the oven when golden brown and let them cool down

I love them. My family found them not sweet enough. If you don’t mind sugar or like your cookies extra sweet, you can add honey (or sugar) instead of banana for the sweeter taste.

Enjoy making your own cookies,

Why do I make my own pesto?

• I use organic basil
• I use the best quality, organic olive oil (raw, organic, cold pressed, not filtered, in a dark bottle)
• Homemade pesto is pure and tastes better (no unnecessary additives)

Needed kitchen appliances

• A food processor
• A kitchen bowl
• A knife

Ingredients for one pot (250 ml) of pesto

• Basil – one basil plant (about 2 cups of fresh leaves)
• Olive oil – half cup (choose oil with the best quality: raw, organic, cold pressed, not filtered, in a dark bottle)
• Pine seeds – 1/4^th cup
• Garlic – 2 big cloves
• Sea salt- a big pinch
• Optional:(not Paleo) cheese, olives, nuts, pepper, cayenne pepper

Preparation steps

Place all ingredients in the kitchen processor and pulse-grind until desired consistency.

If you decide to give it a try – I am sure you will love it!

Cheers,

I thought of trying millet since it is a good source of some very important nutrients, including copper, manganese, phosphorus, but especially magnesium – a mineral that acts as a co-factor for more than 300 enzymes, including enzymes involved in the body’s use of glucose and insulin secretion.

The phosphorus from millet participate in the structure of every cell in the body. It plays a role in formation of the mineral matrix of bone. The phosphorus is an essential component of numerous other life-critical compounds including adenosine triphosphate or ATP, the molecule that is the energy currency of the body. Phosphorus is an important component of nucleic acids, the building blocks of the genetic code. In addition, the metabolism of lipids relies on phosphorus, and phosphorus is an essential component of lipid-containing structures such as cell membranes and nervous system structures.

Highlights

• Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nuts free
• Only 2-3 main ingredients
• Nutritious (rich in magnesium)
• The meat-filled balls are a good source of iron
• Very easy to make

Ingredients (for 3-4 persons /about 20 balls)

• Millet – 400 g (1 ½ of a cup)
• Water – 2x the volume of millet – 1 ½ of a cup of millet needs 3 cups of water
• Tapioca flour – a couple of spoons for dough (depends on consistency of the boiled millet; I used 3 spoons) and about 1 cup for rolling the balls
• Optional: egg – one raw
• Salt – ½ of a tea spoon to the dough
• Filling: I used ground meat (around 250 g) with dry herbs but anything would do – stay creative!
• Fat – to fry ground meat
• Salty boiling water to cook raw balls after they are formed

Appliances

• A bowls – to mix the dough
• A plate – to form and store the balls
• A spoon – to scoop a dough to your hand
• A kitchen pot – to boil the balls
• A slotted spoon – to fish the boiled balls out of the boiling water
• A kitchen processor – to grind boiled millet (you can also use fork or your hand)

Tips

• It’s very important to wash your millet before cooking. Otherwise it can end up quite bitter!
• If you don’t have kitchen processor you can mash the millet with your hand or fork
• You can replace tapioca flour with potato starch flour (or any other starchy flour)
• You can probably make them from mashed potatoes with gluten free universal flour but then they are less nutritious

Preparation steps

• Boil water and add washed millet to it. Wash millet under cold running water. Afterwards, wash it with hot tap water. Only then, you can boil millet in a clean batch of water. Use 3 cups of water per 1 ½ of a cup of millet. Let it boil on a small stove burner until millet uptakes all the water (about 10-15 min). Afterwards switch off the fire and let it rest under the cover for another 10-15 minutes.
• In a meantime, fry the meat (if that is your filling). Do not forget to add spices/salt.
• Place the boiled millet in a kitchen processor and pulse it a couple of times. You should obtain smooth mashed dough.

• Place millet with one raw egg and 2-3 spoons of tapioca flour in a bowl and mix together (use your hand or a spatula). If the consistency is too lose you need to add more flour. You should get in the end elastic sticky dough.

• Take a big plate and cover it with tapioca flour. Take some of the flour in your hands (sorry, you need to get a bit dirty when making this dish :D). Then, scoop some of the dough (you could use spoon or your hand) and flatten it in your palm. Try to make it round and not to thin/not to thick. Sprinkle some of the tapioca flour on both sides of the round ‘pancake’ in your palm.
• Scoop some of the filling (like the fried ground meat) in the middle of the dough and try to close it. Slowly and gently make a ball out of it. After a couple, it will be very easy. Keep going until all the balls are done. Make sure, the surface is well sprinkled with flour.

• In a meantime, boil a pot of salty water.
• Place gently all balls in the boiling water and boil on a small stove burner. Wait until the balls start floating just under the surface of the water. It is a sign that the balls are ready.

• The meat-filled balls taste best with a sauce or with fried onion.

Have fun making your own filled millet balls :-) You won’t regret making them! Let me know how it worked out for you,

 Highlights

• Gluten free, lactose free, soy free, refined sugar free
• Suitable in the vegetarian diet (who eat eggs) and the Paleo diet
• Breakfast/Lunch/Snack/Dessert
• Easy to make

Ingredients

• Almond flour – 150g (or any other gluten free flour(s))
• Bananas – 3 (the best are the really ripe ones)
• Eggs – 3
• Honey – 5 spoons
• Desiccated coconut – as much as you like (I added 5 spoons)
• Nuts – as much as you want (I used ½ of a cup of walnuts)
• Baking soda – 2 tea spoons
• Salt – a pinch
• Optional: chocolate pieces, raisins, dates or other dry fruits, cinnamon, vanilla.

Tips

• You can use kitchen processor to blend bananas with eggs or you could also first -beat the eggs with a fork, and then – mash bananas with a fork and in the end- combine them together.
• It’s possible to substitute almond flour partly or fully with another gluten free flour(s) of your choice.
• To sweeten the bread – you can use honey but also dates or other sources of sugar.
• Sift baking soda into flour using a small sieve; this way it doesn’t form any clumps.

Needed appliances

• A bowl and a spatula (to mix all ingredients)
• A tea spoon (to measure baking soda etc)
• A kitchen processor (to chop nuts and blend bananas with eggs)
• A baking form
• A baking paper
• Optional: a pan to melt chocolate (for a topping)
• A pre-heated to 170 degrees oven
• Optional: kitchen balance

Preparation steps

1. Switch on the oven – 170 ºC.
2. Prepare a baking form; spread baking paper if necessary.
3. Chop nuts into smaller pieces and put them aside.
4. Place bananas and eggs in a kitchen processor and blend until smooth consistency.
5. Pure the bananas-eggs dough into a bowl and add to it other ingredients: flour(s), baking soda, salt, coconut, nuts, honey.
6. Optional: you can add other ingredients like pieces of chocolate, dry fruits and spices.
7. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and pure it to the baking form.
8. Bake your banana bread for about 40 minutes at temp 170ºC (the duration depends on the oven).
9. Afterwards, when your bread cooled down a bit, you can spread a topping on it. I used chocolate and almond flakes.

This bread-cake is amazing! I fully recommend it :-)

Cheers,

A couple of months ago, the Jumbo supermarket began to sell fresh gluten free bread Yam. I found it inconvenient that it had to be pre-ordered. You couldn’t just go to a shop and buy a loaf of bread. It had to be planned ahead. One more thing to occupy my already busy mind – no, thank you.

It is such a joy that since 25^th August (2014) the AH supermarket sells fresh gluten free Genius bread, buns and muffins (products and prices). No pre-orders necessary. We can enter (almost)any AH supermarket in the country and get our fresh loaf of bread. It feels so good!

Besides, the number of gluten free products provided by the AH increased. Amongst others, products of Crazy Bakers (contain wheat-derived ingredients not suitable for sensitive Celiacs) or Livwell are now accessible (btw. the pita breads from Livwell taste so good!).

Genius Breads and Buns and Muffins are WHEAT FREE and DAIRY FREE !!! 

There are 4 types of Genius breads available in AH

• White bread
• Brown bread
• Multi-seeds bread
• Sweet bread with fruit

We can choose between two types of buns

• White buns
• Multi-seeds buns

Besides, there are chocolate muffins in the assortment.

So far, I tried 5 products of Genius: the white buns, the multi-seeds buns, the sweet bread, the chocolate muffins and the multi-seeds bread.

How do I grade the above four products

Nr. 1 – the multi-seeds bread (great texture, amazingly good taste, smells good, well tolerated by my body)

Nr. 2 – the multi-seeds buns (great texture, great taste, rich aroma, well tolerated by my body)

Nr. 3 – the chocolate muffins (good texture, perhaps just a tiny bit too dry, taste is okay, well tolerated by my body)

Nr.4 – the white buns (typical poor gluten free texture, crumbling a lot, terrible taste, well tolerated by my body)

Nr.5 – The sweet bread (very good texture, wonderful taste and cinnamon aroma, gave me terrible headache and other symptoms). I am truly disappointed in my reaction to this bread. It was the best gluten free bread (from a package) that I have tasted so far. Another explanation to my bad reaction could be gluten contamination of the bread. This product was the only one (that I tried)  which wasn’t in a sealed package. I have read on forums that in some shops the bread bags weren’t well closed while laying in a bread department. I might give it another go in a while again. (An update: I tried it one more time and again I got i terrible migraine). If my body wouldn’t react to it so bad – it would be a candidate for a Nr.2 :-)

Overall, the Genius breads contain mostly starchy flours. The list of ingredients of the sweet bread is suspiciously long. But yeah, it has to feel ‘fresh’ for at least 1 week, if I remember the expiration date correctly. Such easily available breads are handy from time to time but I know that I am not able to tolerate such ‘heavy’ cocktail of functional food ingredients on daily basis. Unless I want to walk around with inflamed tummy (read: balloon).

Did you already try new gluten free products from AH? I am curious what you think about them.

Cheers,

Highlights

• Glutenfree and dairyfree
• Eggfree, soyfree, nutsfree
• Paleo
• Vegetarian
• Just 4 ingredients
• No baking

Ingredients

• Avocado
• Ripe banana
• Honey – I used 1 ½ tea spoons (make it as sweet as you like it)
• Cocoa – I used 3 tea spoons

Needed appliances

• A bowl
• A fork or a kitchen blender
• A spoon

Tips

• You can add to it whatever you like e.g. berries and other fruits, nuts, puffed rice/quinoa.
• The more ripe your banana, the less honey you need to add.

Preparation steps

Mash avocado with banana and honey. Then add cocoa powder. Mix all very well until smooth consistency.

Enjoy,

Although buckwheat flour is usually used to make savoury crêpes, I prepared sweet pancakes of it. By adding a pinch of sugar and cinnamon they gained new delicious aroma and flavor. They tasted best with apple pure, fresh berries and sprinkled with chocolate-orange sauce.

Highlights

• Glutenfree & Lactosefree &Soyfree
• Paleo / Vegan/ Vegetarian
• Breakfast/ Lunch/ Supper

Ingredients (for 2-3 persons)

• Buckwheat flour – 1 cup (160 g)
• Almond milk – 1 cup (250 ml)
• Raw egg – one (big)
• Salt – a pinch
• Sugar – a pinch (optional)
• Cinnamon – ½ tea spoon
• Fat to fry pancakes

Needed appliances

• A bowl (to mix all ingredients)
• A kitchen blender/mixer (I used immersion blender)
• A soup/sauce spoon (to apply the dough on the frying pan)
• A frying pan and a spatula- to turn the pancakes

Preparation steps

• Weight or measure 1 cup of buckwheat flour to the bowl
• Add raw egg, salt, sugar and cinnamon
• Blend everything for about 1-2 minutes until liquid-ish dough with a smooth consistency is obtained
• Preheat a frying pan with a small amount of fat
• Use soup/sauce spoon to transport the dough on the frying pan
• Fry each side for a couple of minutes. You can use spatula to turn the pancakes around unless you are good with flipping them around in the air ;-)

They were best when still warm but I enjoyed them cold too and still had an amazing meal. My favorite additives are: apple pure, fresh fruits and chocolate sauce. Roasted almond pasta is a great pancake spread too, or homemade raspberries sauce, homemade berries jam etc.

Cheers,

Highlights

• Gluten/wheat  free and dairy free
• Protein rich
• Vegetarian
• Satiating
• Lunch/Dinner

Ingredients

• Boiled Chickpeas  – 2 x 350g
• Chickpeas flour –  4 or 5 teaspoons
• Onion – 1 big or 2 small
• Garlic – 1-2 gloves
• Fresh parsley
• Salt – big pinch
• Cumin – 2 teaspoons
• Corn grids or amaranth flakes – for ‘breading’
• Fat – to fry
• Optional: one raw egg

Needed appliances

• A bowl (mixing)
• Two plates (breading, de- fatting)
• A spatula (mixing, frying)
• A kitchen processor (grinding chickpeas)
• A (frying) pan
• A kitchen paper towel (de-fatting)

Preparation steps

1. Peel onion and garlic
2. Dry boiled chickpeas on a paper kitchen towel
3. Blend dried  chickpeas, onion, garlic, parsley in a kitchen processor (see picture)
4. Add chickpeas flour, salt and cumin (optional: raw egg) and mix all together
5. Form small balls and ‘bread’ them in amaranth flakes
6. Fry falafels until golden brown
7. Serve warm or cold

Enjoy your meal,

Two days ago, we made very popular, so called ‘law-salted’ pickled cucumbers.

Pickling is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine (or vinegar). This procedure gives the food a salty (or sour) taste. The most commonly consumed pickles are sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers and peppers.

Brine is a solution of salt (sodium chloride) in water.

Although the pickling process was initially invented to preserve foods, nowadays pickles are made as a delicacy. Pickling improves the nutritional value of food by B vitamins produced by bacteria. The flavor of the pickled vegetables is determined by the type of the dominating microorganisms developed. The latter depends on the acidity or salinity of the brine, the temperature of fermentation (pickling), and the lack of oxygen.

Highlights

• To preserve/prepare vegetables
• Nutritious (rich in vitamins B)
• Contain good microflora
• It’s very easy

Ingredients

• Young cucumbers – about 10-15 small ones – the amount depends on the size of your glass pot
• Salt (without iodine)– one spoon
• Water – 1 liter
• Garlic – 5-7 gloves
• Dill – whole stems including roots and flower buds
• Horseradish – one root or a couple of leaves (horseradish greens)

Tips

• In the Netherlands, small cucumbers can be found in Eastern shops e.g. Turkish supermarkets
• It is better to mix dry and green stems of dill for the ultimate taste
• It is possible to replace the horseradish root with horseradish greens or add both
• Cold water can be used for brine instead of boiled water
• Instead of a glass pot you can use a stone pot

Needed appliances

• Big glass pot (with a cup) to pickle cucumbers in it
• A kitchen pot to boil water
• A knife

Preparation steps

1. Boil one liter of water and dissolve one spoon of salt in it
2. Wash cucumbers and cut off the ends
3. Wash the horseradish and dill
4. Peel garlic gloves
5. Place greens and spices (horseradish, dill, garlic) on the bottom of the pot
6. Place the cleaned cucumbers vertically in the glass pot

To make so called low-salt pickled cucumbers

7. Pour the brine solution to the pot until all cucumbers are covered by the brine and let it stand overnight partly covered by the cap (but do not turn it). Make sure you have about one tea cup of the brine left.
8. The next morning, pour the rest of the brine to the pot with cucumbers until all the cucumbers are covered and let it ferment for about 15-24 hours before consuming. It is important that all cucumbers are covered by the brine.

OR

To make strongly fermented pickled cucumbers

7. Pour the hot brine until all cucumbers are covered. Close the pot, turn the cap until sealed. Place the pot upside down and let it rest for 24 hours. Afterwards turn the pot upside up and let it rest for a couple of days longer (2-3). They can be stored even for a couple of months. The longer time of fermentation, the richer taste of your pickles.

Have fun making your own pickles :-)

Highlights

• Preparation within 30 min
• Very easy preparation
• Gluten-free & dairy-free
• Egg-free, soy-free, corn-free
• Delicious and nutritious

Ingredients (for 3 normal portions / two normal and two small portions)

• Chickpeas – about 150-200 g
• Zucchini – 1
• Leek – 1
• Carrots – 4
• Rice – 2 cups
• Coconut milk – a tin
• Curry spices* – 1 tea spoon
• Salt – a pinch
• Fat to fry – one tea spoon
• Optional: fresh ginger, parsley

*Coriander, Fenugreek, Turmeric, Cumin, Black Pepper, Bay Leaves, Celery Seed, Nutmeg, Cloves, Onion, Red Pepper, And Ginger. (Or you can buy ready mix like I did ;)

Tips

• To save time I used pre-soaked chickpeas in a glass pot
• By using organic vegetables  you can decrease amount of consumed pesticides
• I used ghee for extra flavor

Needed appliances

• Cutting board
• Knife
• Bowl
• Frying pan
• A pot/steamer (to cook rice)

Preparation steps

1. Start boiling water and cut vegetables

1. Place rice in a pot and cover it with boiled water. Boil rice till ready (the cooking time depends on rice, I always try it from time to time until I like its texture)and drain it.
2. Warm up the pan with a little bit of fat and fry first: leek and carrots. When they become soft, add zucchini and chickpeas.
3. When all vegetables are soft-ish, add coconut milk and (curry) spices. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Enjoy your meal,

I encourage you to try this easy and quick recipe for homemade cookies/snacks made of buckwheat flakes with fruits. They are absolutely tasty-licious!

Highlights

• Glutenfree & lactosefree
• No refined flour and sugar
• No oats
• Without eggs, butter, dairy
• No unnecessary additives
• Preparation 25-30 minutes
• Breakfast/Lunch/Snack/Dessert

Ingredients

• Buckwheat flakes – 2 ½  cup
• Banana – 1 or 2
• Apple pure (apple sauce) –  1 ½  cup
• Nuts – 1 cup
• Berries – a small cup or half
• Apple – 1
• Optional: powdered sugar to sprinkle the cookies

Tips

• Pre-heat the oven before you start mixing all ingredients
• No need to be very strict with the recipe; it is not a problem if you add more/less of just about anything in the recipe

Needed appliances

• A bowl
• A spoon
• A baking tray
• A baking paper or muffin forms
• A preheated to 180ºC oven

Preparation steps

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC
• Prepare baking tray and muffin forms

•  Mix all ingredients together

• Fill the forms (I use the ice scoop and it works like a charm)

• Bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes in 180ºC.

• Leave the cookies to cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional)

Enjoy,

• Not a boring cabbage dish
• Supports healing of intestinal lining (cabbage contains anti-inflammatory isothiocyanates)
• Dinner or lunch
• Preparation time about 1 hour

Ingredients

• Fresh cabbage (you can use any type of white cabbage)
• Carrot –  1 big or 2 small
• Fresh dill – as much as you want (I added two small boxes from AH)
• Tomato puree – one small pot/tin
• A piece of raw or smoked bacon – as much as you want
• Pepper –  a pinch
• Salt – a pinch
• Laurel –  1-2 leaves
• Dry dill
• Allspice (English pepper) – 4-5 seeds
• Optional: a couple of fresh tomatoes cut in blocks, onion

Needed appliance

• A cutting board
• A knife
• A frying pan
• A spatula
• A cooking pot with a cover
• A kitchen rasper

Tips

• I often make a vegetarian version – without bacon
• You can add fresh tomatoes (for a richer taste)
• If you don’t have fresh dill, you could use only the dry one but the taste is much better when you use the fresh herb
• My mum would add dried mushroom to it but I don’t fancy it that much
• If you don’t have or you don’t like bacon, you can use other meat like pork or beef
• After steaming your cabbage stew, let it cool down overnight
• Eat it warm
• You can eat it with bread or boiled potatoes or on its own

Preparation steps

1. Cut cabbage in thin stripes
2. Place cut cabbage with dry dill, pepper, salt, laurel, English pepper in a cooking pot. Add 1 and ½ cups of cold water, cover and stew for 20-30 min on a small gas burner. Mix it from time to time
3. In the meantime, fry bacon
4. Cut dill, and rasp carrots
5. When cabbage starts losing water (after 20-30 min), add rasped carrots, fresh dill and fried bacon
6. Mix everything together and add tomato puree
7. Stew everything a bit longer (another 20-30 minutes)
8. Ideally: let it cool dawn (the best is to leave it overnight in a fridge). <or enjoy it immediately>
9. Before serving, warm it up
10. Enjoy on its own, with bread or with boiled potatoes

Since I know that I have coeliac disease, I see cakes, donuts and muffins and cookies everywhere around me. Everyone seems to snack something that I can’t; half of the shop’s space is occupied by shelves with pastry!

And the worse of all, I have missed the unforgettable day of my life: the last day of eating ‘with gluten’! Somehow, when I have heard that I have celiac disease, the news froze me and I couldn’t take even one bite of ‘gluten’ anymore. Gosh, was I a silly sausage. So many good things to treasure for the last time: a crunchy French baguette, a warm croissant, a spongy donut, a thick slice of bread with a crunchy crust. When I was a kid and mum send me to the bakery for bread, I would eat almost the entire crust from the loaf on the way back home :x

But also, as a woman I can not imagine a house that doesn’t know the smell and taste of home baked goodies. They contribute to the ‘home’ feeling. I have so many memories of home made cakes made by my grandmother that tasted like nothing I tasted before or after. Every woman needs to have her own secret recipe to pass on next generations! Well, I never thought that in my case it will be gluten free recipe but alright, I will pass further the gluten free recipe ;-) And you know what? It is going to taste special and be unique. My family and friends will associate it with me, forever :-)

Reasons to learn gluten free baking

1. It allows you to control the content of your flour mix (in case of allergies or avoiding of some ingredients)
2. It allows you to control which baking additives to use (if you don’t tolerate e.g. gums well)
3. You can modify the taste of flour mix by adding your favorite flours (some are sweet, some are savory)!
4. You decide how much starches or fibers you want in your diet (whole grain flours, more starchy flours)
5. You can design your secret recipe which will be remembered by generations! (Ahh, that grandma’s cake that tastes like nothing else!)
6. You might want to teach your daughter how to bake one day

Side-effects

1. You will gain a new skill
2. You might gain a new hobby
3. You might become good in something new

All told, I am super motivated to master the gluten-free baking skill. Before I run to the kitchen, a short overview:

WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT {GLUTEN FREE} BAKING?

• Wheat flour is unique. I could write a couple of pages to explain why it has such exceptional properties but in the end it all goes down to gluten and its rich functionality.

• Functions of gluten in baked goods

1)   Forms an elastic network

• which after baking and cooling holds the bread (or a cake) together
• which is responsible for chewiness, creates elasticity, makes it possible to stretch the dough (property required in bread, not needed in cakes, pasta or cookies)

2)   Traps the carbon dioxide gas that is produced by yeast during dough fermentation. This gas causes the gluten network to expand and loosens the structure of bread so it is not dense (rising, formation of air pockets)

3)  Absorbs and retains moisture. It can absorb up to 200% (2 times its own weight) water

• There are 4 types of wheat flours:

1)   Cake flour mix

• Contains little of gluten 6-8%
• It is bleached which weakens protein vitality
• Main function: to keep the structure together

2)   Bread flour mix

• Highest in gluten flour 12-14%
• Not bleached, vital gluten
• Main function: to form network and rise (trap gas)

3)   All – purpose flour

• Contains 9-12% gluten
• Cheaper than the ‘baker’s bread flour’
• Suitable for home baking

4)   Pastry flour

• Gluten content 9-12%
• Less starch than in all-purpose flour

• Gluten substitutes suitable to form a network

(*some ingredients require specific environment/conditions) (required for bread, pizza dough)

1)    Gums like xanthan gum, guar gum
2)    Alginates (e.g. Sodium alginate)
3)    Whey protein* (link)
4)    Soy protein
5)    Casein– milk protein*

• Some of the gluten substitutes listed above can cause gastrointestinal symptoms (especially when consumed in large amounts)

•  Gluten substitutes suitable to induce ‘binding’/gelation/water-retention

(required for cakes, cookies, pasta)

1)    Eggs
2)    Soy protein
3)    Gellatine
4)    Pectin
5)    Flax seeds
6)    Psyllium seeds
7)    Chia seeds
8)    Whey protein
9)    Starches (e.g. potato starch, corn starch, tapioca starch)
10)  Fats (after cooling; too much might cause crumbling)
11)  Sugar
12)  Carrageenan and locust bean gum
13)  Agar-agar
14)  Glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour)
15)  Glutinous rice (sweet rice)
16)  Rice flour (absorbs more water than wheat – add extra water)
17)  Dietary fibers
18)  Methyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose
19)  Coconut
20)  Fruit puree /banana
21) Konjac Glucomannan

•  Combination of few substitutes is usually the most effective in mimicking gluten property

•  There are many gluten free flours

1)   Gluten free whole grain flours (considered ‘heavy’ or ‘medium’)

• buckwheat flour
• corn flour
• millet flour
• oat flour
• quinoa flour
• teff flour
• sorghum flour
• brown rice flour
• mesquite flour
• montina flour (made of rice grass not grains)

2)   Gluten free starch-based flours (considered ‘light’)

• tapioca flour (cassava flour)
• corn starch
• potato flour
• potato starch
• arrowroot flour
• glutinous  flour (sweet rice flour)
• white rice flour
• sweet potato flour
• kudzu starch (kuzu root starch)

3)   Gluten free bean – derived flours (considered ‘heavy’ or ‘medium’)

• chickpeas flour (garbanzo bean  flour)
• soy flour
• peas flour
• lupine flour
• fava bean flour

4)   Nut flours (considered ‘heavy’)

• Almond four
• Coconut flour
• Chestnut flour
• Hazelnut flour

• Due to the various content – the gluten free flours have different properties and not all are suitable for the same applications.

There is more information that I want to collect before I start my baking experiments. I can save myself many mistakes and wasted ingredients by understanding the properties of the flours a bit more. If you like to learn baking together with me or you are already good in gluten free baking but you are curious about my approach, stick around for more posts!

You can also read: The Second Step Towards Glutenfree Baking

Cheers,

• Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nuts free
• Only 2 ingredients
• 5-10 min preparation time
• Filling quick meal
• Breakfast or Lunch
• Endless variations

Ingredients

• Eggs – 2 big (or 3 small)
• Corn flour – 2 full spoons
• A little spoon of sugar
• A pinch of salt
• Fat for frying  (ghee gives a wonderful flavor to it)
• Whatever you want to put on your omelette (my choice: almond pasta and homemade raspberry puree or fresh fruits)

Needed appliances

• A bowl
• A fork
• A spoon
• A frying pan

Tips

• You can use vanilla sugar for extra flavor or add a pinch of fresh vanilla to the ‘dough’
• Or you can skip sugar for a more salty version and add herbs of your choice (this version goes well with cheese on top)
• The consistency of the ‘dough’ should be thicker than that of a ‘dough’ for pancakes
• Variation: I added a couple of spoons of puffed quinoa to the ‘dough’
• If you are like me from a couple of months ago – you will probably skip the ghee and use oil for frying; it’s fine but your are missing on something really good! ;-)
• You ca try to use other g-f flours but I think corn flour fits best

Preparation steps

1. Beat eggs in a bowl using a fork
2. Add corn flour, salt and sugar
3. Beat all ingredients together until smooth ‘dough’
4. Fry your omelette like a pancake

Enjoy your meal,

A delicious, multi-coloured salad is my favourite lunch. Especially, when it contains avocado. Below, a couple of salads I managed to photograph before enjoying them!

Why it is healthy to eat salad every day

• Vegetables are a great source of dietary fibers
• Vegetables contain powerful antioxidants like vitamin C and E, folic acid, lycopene, and alpha- and beta-carotene. Antioxidants protect your body from damage caused by free radicals
• Addition of avocado, olive oil, seeds & nuts increases a ratio of healthy fats in a diet! They also help your body in absorption of the protective phytochemicals
• Easy and tasty way to consume the big part of the daily vegetable intake. A delicious (homemade!) dressing will guarantee that you enjoy your salad!
• It will boost your energy
• Italian research showed that eating raw vegetables and olive oil reduced mortality among people above 60!

TIPS

• Use as many colors in your salad as you can
• Add small amounts of seeds and nuts (one small handful is enough!)
• Don’t be afraid to splash some good quality olive oil there
• I use lemon juice in each and every salad
• If you add avocado – you don’t even need to make a dressing
• I add legumes (beans, lentils) for additional proteins
• Both: raw and boiled vegetables should have a place in your daily menu – it’s tasty to add boiled vegetables to your salad too
• Boiling vegetables containing beta-carotene will increase its absorption from 2-5% to 70%!
• My regular dressing: juice from half lemon, few spoons of olive oil, sea salt. Simple and healthy.

How to make a perfect salad dressing (source: unknown; found somewhere on net)

Recently, I added a pineapple to my salad (featured picture) and it turned out a great additional flavor!

Highlights

• Gluten free, wheat free, dairy free and soy free!
• Easy to make
• 10-15 min preparation & 15-20 min baking
• Suitable as lunch or dinner

Ingredients

• Flour mix – 375 g of Pizza & pastry multimix from Orgran
• Dry yeast –  7 g
• Sugar – 1 tea spoon
• Warm water – 250 ml (I use warm tap water)
• Fat in a liquid state – 20 ml
• Gluten free flour – a couple of spoons (to sprinkle the bowl/board used to knead the dough)
• Red tomato sauce or tomato puree (I used a pre-made red sauce AH Excellent because I was out of tomato puree at home ;)
• Anything that you want to put on your pizza dough (I used: champignons, yellow and red peppers, tomatoes, arugula (in Dutch: rucola), cheese)
• Optional: ketchup or garlic sauce

Ingredients of Pizza & pastry multimix from Orgran: Maize starch, Potato starch, Maize flour, Raising agents; Glucono delta lactone, Sodium bicarbonate, Pea flour, Salt, Stabilisers: Xanthan gum, Carboxymethycellulose, Methycellulose.

* The Orgran gluten free flour mix for pizza contains more food additives than conventional (wheat based) pizza flour. As much as I found it very delicious, it is healthier to use it in moderation (just like any other foods).

Needed appliances

• A bowl
• A measuring cup
• A spoon/spatula or a sushi stick
• A cutting board
• A knife
• A baking plate
• Baking paper
• A pre-heated to 200 oven
• Optional: a kitchen balance

Tips

• If you do not have any red sauce at home or tomato puree – you can use ketchup.
• You can easily make your own red sauce by heating some tomatoes on a pan together with Italian herbs and garlic.
• According to the recipe printed on the Pizza flour box – the oil should be added to water with gist and then all together added to the flour BUT I have messed up the order (my partner was helping;) and we added oil to the flour directly. As you can see – it made no difference!
• If you cannot tolerate even small amounts of cheese (dairy, lactose intolerance) – you can skip cheese or use a lactose free version
• If you are in a hurry and don’t feel like cutting your vegetables – through some slices of g-f ham on your dough and you are ready to go!
• If you like to have pizza dough edges filled with cheese – make them before applying the sauce (between the steps 10^th  and 11^th )

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Preparation steps

1. Switch on the oven, set it on 200 ºC
2. Cover the baking plate with baking paper
3. Wash and cut the vegetables
4. Measure 250 ml of warm tap water and dissolve one tea spoon of sugar in it
5. Add the dry gist to the sweet water and allow the gist to activate for 5-10 min before you add it to the flour
6. In a meantime, place the flour in a bowl
7. Now it is time to add the liquid fat to the activated gist solution
8. Combine the liquid ingredients with flour and knead for 2-3 min
9. When the dough becomes too sticky – sprinkle some gluten free flour on it (I used a leftover of a brown bread mix)
10. Now spread the dough on the baking paper using your hand (sprinkle the dough with some gluten free flour)
11. Apply the red sauce on top of the dough
12. Decorate your pizza with anything you like
13. If you want to use yellow cheese – I suggest to place it on top
14. Now, place the raw pizza in the oven for 15-20 minutes

Enjoy your meal,

• Arnhem – Emmerich (32km)
• Arnhem – Kleve (40km)
• Arnhem – Rees (50km)

Real (Grüttweg 42, 46459 Rees, Germany)

Why we shop in Germany

• It is cheaper than in NL
• Bigger choice of products (e.g. endless types of meats, thousands different brands)
• New gluten free brands/product
• A big choice of lactose free dairy products
• The biological vegetables (and other bio foods) are cheaper there
• German vegetables are famous for containing less pesticides
• It is fun like a mini road-trip
• Our car is very efficient so the travel does not cost us much

The first thing I acknowledged – LACTOSE FREE & GLUTEN FREE SIGNS!

The second thing I acknowledged – THE ALLERGY-FRIENDLY SHELVES ARE FULL!

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

The third thing I acknowledged – THINGS ARE SO CHEAP!

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

What I bought

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

..also some cheap kitchen utilities

• Waffle maker (39.99,-)
• Toaster (9.99,-)
• Brush (0.99,-)
• Cream piping bags (1.00,-)

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Definitely recommended !

Highlights

• Gluten free, Wheat free, Lactose free and Soy free
• Very easy recipe (from Schar, on the package of the flour mix)
• 10-15 min preparation and 20-25 min baking
• 5 ingredients

Ingredients

• Mix A Margherita from Schar (500 g)
• Eggs – 4
• Butter (ghee, coconut fat,duck fat or any other) – 125 g
• Milk (lactose-free, almond milk, or other substitute)- 60 ml
• Fresh fruits: apple (1), rhubarb (in Dutch: rabarber)(2)

Ingredients of the Mix A from Schar: sugar, maize starch, potato starch, thickener: locust bean gum, raising agent: glucono deltalactone and sodium hydrogen carbonate, emulsifer: mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids. Soy-free, wheat-free!

Price: about E 4,- for 520 g of the mix. 

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Needed appliances

• A bowl
• A measuring cup
• A kitchen mixer
• Muffins form
• A preheated to 180°C oven

Tips

• Actually, I had left 460 g of the mix A (I used some of it before) and it worked out really well
• Eat in moderation :-) The mix A from Schar contains simple, refined sugar and muffins contain heated fats (how to choose foods good for Celiacs)
• You can use any fat that you like/have (best for baking are fats from animal sources)
• I used lactose free milk but almond/rice milk would be fine too
• Cut your fruits in small, thin pieces and add as many as you can – they make the cake feel moist and delicious
• The taste reminds me of my grandma’ s cake with berries. Next time I replace rhubarb and apple with blueberries.

Preparation steps

1. Start heating your oven ( 180°C)
2. Prepare your muffin forms
3. Place the mix A in a bowl
4. Add half of butter (or 125 g of any other fat)
5. Add 4 eggs
6. Measure 60 ml of milk (of your choice)
7. Mix everything using a kitchen mixer for 5 minutes
8. Peel and cut your fruits in small pieces
9. Fill the muffin forms with the dough
10. Decorate the tops of muffins with pieces of fruits (press the fruits slightly so they are partly hidden in the dough)
11. Bake muffins till golden brown (about 20-25 min)

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Enjoy your meal,

• Suitable as lunch/dinner
• Tasty and filling

Ingredients

• Fresh pumpkin
• Three potatoes
• One root parsley
• An onion
• A cup of boiled chickpeas (or ready to use from shop)
• A piece of fresh ginger root
• A pinch of salt
• Optional: bullion block(s)

Needed appliances

• A cutting board
• A knife
• A pot
• An immersion blender

Tips

• It is possible to add other vegetables like carrots, celery;
• If you don’t have chickpeas – you can skip them (they add some proteins to your meal though)
• You can add a spoon of soft goat cheese to your plate with soup for extra flavor
• Additional bread or crackers can complement the meal

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Preparation steps

• Peel and clean pumpkin and cut it in small blocks
• Peel other vegetable (root parsley, onion, potatoes) and cut them is small blocks
• Place washed vegetables in a pot and cover with cold water (I add as much water as it is needed to cover all the small vegetable blocks)
• Put the soup on fire
• After 10 min add salt (optional: bullion block) and keep boiling
• When the vegetables are getting soft, add the boiled chickpeas and squeezed piece of fresh ginger root
• Boil everything for 5-8 more minutes
• Switch off the fire and blend the vegetables in a pot with the immersion blender

Enjoy your meal,

• Gluten free
• Lactose free
• The same procedure as making bread
• It is so simple, everybody can do it!

Ingredients

• Brown flour mix – 500g  -I used 3 different mixes : 200g of Doves Farm ‘Brown bread’,200g  of Finax ‘Coarse flour mix’,  100g of Vers van de molen ‘Quinoameel’
• Oil – 4 spoons
• Warm water – 450 ml
• Dry gist – one small bag
• Salt – a pinch
• Sugar – a pinch
• Pumpkin seeds – a cup
• Egg white – from 1 egg  (to coat buns)
• Optional: Sesame seeds (to decorate buns)

Tips

• If you have open bags with bread mixes containing leftovers after bread making, this is perfect time to use it and make free space in your kitchen shelf. You can just mix them all
• It is possible to mix white and brown mixes together
• Instead of oil, you can use other fat e.g. melted butter or coconut oil
• Oil can be used instead of egg white to coat the buns
• Sometimes I use sunflower seeds instead of pumpkin seeds or both
• You can add olives or herbs to buns instead of seeds, it gives a wonderful flavor
• Keep experimenting and improving the recipe. Your kitchen – you are the boss!

Needed appliances

• A kitchen balance
• A small bowl to weigh your ingredients in it
• A bowl to mix dough
• A cup/ bowl to mix water with gist
• A spoon to mix water and gist (I use a wooden sushi stick)
• A baking plate and baking paper
• Optional: a kitchen brush to coat the buns with egg white
• A pre-heated oven to 200ºC

Preparation steps

• Measure 450 ml of warm water (can be warm tap water)
• Dissolve gist in water
• In another bowl measure flour mixes
• Add sugar, salt and oil to the flour and mix it
• Add the pumpkin seeds to the dough
• Form buns with wet hands (make them as round as possible)
• Place the buns on a baking plate (covered with baking paper)
• Coat the buns with egg white and sesame seeds
• Place the buns in a warm place (or just somewhere aside) and cover all with a kitchen towel
• Let it rest for about 30 min
• Place the buns in the preheated to 200 ºC oven and bake for about 20-30 minutes (mine were brown already after 20 minutes but I left them for 5 minutes in the switched off oven)
• Cool the buns

Enjoy your meal,

• Initially developed as a breakfast but turned out to be suitable even as a ‘cake’ with your tea/coffee
• Breakfast/Lunch/Snack/Cake/Dessert
• No added sugar
• No sophisticated kitchen accessories needed

Ingredients

• Oat flakes – 2 cups
• Almond milk – 1 cup
• Raw egg – 1
• Nuts – 0.5 cup (I used Brazilian nuts ‘Dutch: Paranoten’)
• Apple – 1
• Pear – 1
• Banana – 1
• Frozen forest fruits  – 2 cups (I used one box of the frozen fruits from AH)
• Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
• Cinnamon – 2 teaspoons
• Fat to coat the oven dish (I haven’t used it and the bottom was a bit stacked to the dish)
• Optional: dry fruits (I haven’t used them)

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Tips

• Oat flakes could be replaced by buckwheat flakes
• Instead apple & pear – it’s possible to use fruit puree
• I used homemade almond milk – recipe

Needed appliances

• A bowl to mix ingredients
• A spoon
• A fork and a small bowl to beat the egg
• An oven dish
• Oven preheated to 190ºC

Preparation steps

• Place 2 cups of oat flakes, cinnamon and baking powder in a bowl
• Beat an egg and mix it with almond milk in another bowl
• Mix the content of both bowls together (oat, cinnamon, baking powder, egg and almond milk) and leave it for 15 minutes so the flakes can absorb the moist
• In a meantime cut nuts, apple, pear and banana in small pieces.
• Mix everything together and put it in the (optionally: coated with fat) oven dish.
• Distribute the frozen fruits on top.
• Place the dish in the oven and bake it 25 minutes in 190ºC.

Enjoy your meal,

• reat option for a meatless meal
• Suitable for breakfast, lunch or dinner
• No processing , cooking

Ingredients

• One tuna in a tin
• Red bell pepper
• Olives
• Fresh parsley
• Optional: lettuce (in Dutch: baby sla)
• Gluten free ciabatta
• Olive oil

Tips

• Don’t be scared to introduce variations (onion, corn etc.)
• Ciabatta can be replaced by other gluten free bread or buns
• It can be consumed without bread/buns too

Needed appliances

• A knife
• A cutting board
• A spoon
• A bowl
• Optional: tin opener (depends on a tin that you purchased)

Preparation steps

• Open the tin with tuna and place the fish in a bowl
• Wash the bell pepper and parsley and chop it
• Add the bell pepper, parsley and olives to the bowl with tuna
• Mix all ingredients
• On a plate, place lettuce and the tuna salad
• Poor good quality olive oil on gluten free ciabatta

Enjoy your meal :-)

Luckily we can influence (partly) and reduce the negative processes that take place in our body. We can do it by making responsible choices of foods (a few good tips in my previous post).

Every food product has pro- and anti-inflammatory properties. It doesn’t mean that we have to eliminate the pro-inflammatory foods but learn how to use them correctly. It is possible to eat everything (almost) by keeping equilibrium between the pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory substances in the body.

Factors deciding whether food is pro- or anti- inflammatory

• Amount and type of fats

– Monounsaturated fats (olive oil, olives, avocado) are better than saturated fats (animal fats, dairy).
– Trans-fatty acids (chemically altered by heat or hydrogenation) like margarine or deep fried foods disrupt cell functions and the balance between fatty acids; they are strongly inflammatory.
– Grape seeds oil, sesame oil, walnut oil, sunflower oil – have very high ratio of Omega6 to Omega3 which makes them inflammatory foods.
– Best amount of nuts / day is just one handful.

• Antioxidants

– Antioxidants (e.g. vitamin C and E, selenium, beta-carotene) neutralize free radicals and thus fight the inflammation.

• Vitamins

– Vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid have an anti-inflammatory effect due to suppressing activity of the amino acid homocysteine (which is an inflammatory factor).
– Vitamin K reduces inflammation (e.g. kale, broccoli).
– Vitamin C is a water soluble antioxidant thus neutralizes free radicals.
– Vitamin E is soluble in fat (nuts, oils, seafood, avocado) neutralizes free radicals.
– Beta-carotene (precursor to vitamin A; fat soluble) in sweet potatoes, carrots, leafy greens, squash and melon – neutralizes free radicals.

• Minerals

– Selenium – neutralizes free radicals, acts anti-inflammatory.
– Zinc – it is a helper nutrient that supports action of antioxidants.

• Phytochemicals

– Foods with anti-inflammatory compounds (e.g. turmeric, ginger, chili peppers, garlic, and curry) strongly reduce inflammation.

• Amount of sugar and how fast it is metabolized

– Sharp spikes in blood sugar can create inflammation in the body.
– Serving size is very important. Desserts should always be eaten in moderation.
– Fruits high in sugar are inflammatory (especially juices!). However, full fruits are also great sources of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. On the inflammation free diet, 2-3 fruits / day are advised.

• Preparation technique (cooking and processing alters all above factors)

– Deep fried foods should be avoided.

Fatty acids promoting the cellular anti-inflammatory chemicals

– EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid from Omega3 family) – salmon, tuna, herring;
– DHA (Decosahexaenoic acid from Omega3 family) – salmon, tuna, herring;
– GLA (Gamma-linolenic acid) – seeds of the evening primrose and borage plants;

Fatty acid enhancing production of pro-inflammatory chemicals

– ARA (Arachidonic acid from Omega6 family) – eggs, dairy, organ meat;

In a post ‘Gluten-free grocery shopping’, I have listed a number of food products which should benefit a Celiac’s health. I also pointed out which nutrients (fibers, proteins, fats, phytonutrients etc.) support the healing process and which might inhibit it.

*Please, keep in mind that everyone’s body chemistry is different. What is considered healthy for one person might not be healthy for another person. Each person has its unique sensitivity level to the gluten contamination or other food sensitivities. I suggest to listen carefully to how your body reacts to individual foods.

Inflammation is a totally normal reaction of our body to invasion by bacteria and viruses. It protects us from infections. Besides, it is one of the body’s healing powers. For instance, when you injure your ankle, it hurts and it swells. The pain is a signal from our body to stop what we are doing. The collection of blood and fluids in the injured area immobilizes the injured place. Nutrients transported by the blood begin the repair process. This kind of inflammation is a natural healing process.

However, we do want to eliminate the chronic and excessive inflammation that occurs in bodies of people with autoimmune conditions. The inflammation in a Celiac’s intestine is not a healing or protecting process. Existence of a chronic inflammation increases the risk of life threatening diseases.

Conditions characterized by excessive inflammation

• Heart disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Cancer
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Autoimmune diseases (like Celiac or Hashimoto’s)
• Asthma
• Allergies
• Arthritis
• Prostate disease

Inflammation vs our diet

The cells in a human body produce a variety of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory chemicals using nutrients from food we eat, specifically from fatty acids. Most of fatty acids derived from Omega-6 fats are converted into pro-inflammatory substances and fatty acids from Omega-3 fats are used to make anti-inflammatory substances. The right balance between consumption of Omega-3 and Omega-6 plays an important role in maintaining a balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory reactions in the body.

The modern society, in highly developed countries, consumes about twenty times as much Omega-6 as Omega-3 fats. Most of us eat too many sweets, starches, empty calories, and highly processed foods. Consequently, these dietary habits contribute to our problems with inflammation.

Some make a link between the worldwide epidemic of inflammatory conditions and increased consumption of cereal grains, the oils produced from them (high in Omega-6 fatty acids), and decreased consumption of vegetables and legumes.

The fact that the diet of our livestock has followed the same trend, leads to production of meat, milk and eggs with lower Omega-3 content and higher Omega-6 content. Similarly, the farm-raised fish is fed with a grain-based feed. (I won’t even discuss that inflamed intestine of the farm-raised fish caused by the presence of soy proteins in their diet).

What can you do

To support your body in fighting inflammation (celiac, Hashimoto’s) you can start with eating a balanced diet and reduce consumption of Omega-6 fats. Reduce but do not eliminate, your body needs these fats too. The correct ratio between Omega-3 and Omega-6 is 2:1. Fats like olive oil (cold pressed, organic, raw, extra virgin) or avocado are a good choice but in moderation and shouldn’t be used for cooking in high temperature. From my experience, for baking it is the best to use fats like butter (bio, from grass-fed cows), duck fat or palm fat. Coconut oil has many good properties too if your body can tolerate it; mine can’t. I avoid frying on plant based fats.

Also, reducing consumption of refined flours, sugar, and hydrogenated fats is very important. The latter are present in margarine, biscuits, cakes, frozen meals, fried foods, sweets, crisps, fish fingers and many dairy products. Besides, consumption of Omega-3 sources (fish oil and chia seeds) and other anti-inflammatory foods (ginger, cayenne, turmeric, ginkgo biloba) is beneficial for people with a chronic inflammation.

Based on ‘The inflammation free diet plan’ by M.Reinagel, other and my own experience.

*Please, keep in mind that everyone’s body chemistry is different. What is considered healthy for one person might not be healthy for another person. Each person has its unique sensitivity level to the gluten contamination or other food sensitivities. I suggest to listen carefully to how your body reacts to individual foods.

ought the bread baking machine Panasonic (SD-ZB2502). It works great although it has 27 baking programs out of which I use only one – the 12^th ‘gluten free program’ ;-).

I bought my machine on the webshop Bobshop.nl. I buy most of my household accessories there. They simply have the sharpest prices, deliver products fast, and give a professional service.

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

The baking form and the stirrer are coated (btw. I’m not too happy about this). That means that spoons and spatulas should not be used upon handling it. They would easily make scratches and destroy the coating. For the same reason, it is also important to clean the baking form and the stirrer with water and soft sponge only. There are two different stirrers included to the Panasonic machine, one is suitable for strong dough (containing gluten) and the other (picture) is best for weak dough (like gluten free).

Yesterday, I was testing the flour mix for brown bread from Glutafin. The box contains 500 g of the flour mix and a bag of dry gluten free gist. Funny, I noticed it only after making the dough since that was something I haven’t expected. Most of brands do not include gist with the flour mix. Personally, I found it a little annoying that there is 500 g of flour when the recipe requires only 375 g of it. But no worries, the rest goes easily to the multi-flours dough for baking the buns (recipe).

Ingredients for Glutafin’s bread

• Glutafin flour mix – 375 g
• Warm water – 300 ml
• Dry gist -6 g
• Salt 7 g
• Oil – 13 g
• Optional: seeds  – 1 cup (I added sunflower seeds)

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Needed appliances

• A measuring cup
• A spoon (I use wooden sushi stick)
• A kitchen bowl to weigh ingredients
• A kitchen balance
• A bread baking machine

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Preparation steps (with important tips)

• Disconnect the baking form from the baking machine
• Make sure the stirrer is well attached
• Pure 3oo ml of warm water (you can use warm water from a tap) to a measuring cup
• Add the dry gist to the warm water and mix it well until it dissolves completely
• Pure the water with dissolved gist to the baking form
• Weigh 375 g of the Glutafin’s flour mix into a kitchen bowl
• Weigh salt and oil to the kitchen bowl containing the flour
• Add the flour with salt and oil to the baking form containing water with gist (don’t mix it)
• Assemble the baking form with all ingredients to the bread baking machine
• Close the machine and set the program (Panasonic machine: the gluten free program (12))
• The gluten free program does not allow you to control the bread Size thus don’t bother with it
• Set the Crust on light, medium or dark (I always go for dark, it’s nice and crunchy)
• You can press the Start button
• After 2-3 min of mixing, open the machine to add seeds (You can add the seeds before you start the program too)
• The program runs for 1 h 55 min and the machine will beep when the program is over (I hear it even when I’m upstairs)
• Disconnect the baking form with bread immediately after the beep (use gloves!)
• Now, keep your gloves on and shake the bread out of the baking form so it can cool down
• It is easier to cut slices when the bread is still slightly warm – you can slice it and freeze it (I rarely freeze it; fresh is good for at least 3 days)

• Anti-inflammatory
• Refreshing
• Delicious

Ingredients

• A piece of a ginger root
• A few slices of a lemon
• Water
• Optional: ice cubes

Tips

• Addition of the fresh mint leaves

Needed appliances

• A knife
• A glass

Preparation steps

• Peel a piece of a ginger root and cut it into small pieces
• Wash one lemon and cut a few slices
• Fill the glass with water, add pieces of ginger and slices of lemon
• Give everything a good stir

Enjoy,

• ten free
• Delicious
• Greatly filling meatless dinner

Ingredients

• Gluten free pasta lasagna
• Red sauce
• Vegetables (I used what I had in a fridge: onion, carrots, paprika, cauliflower and champignon)
• Fresh parsley and garlic
• Rasped cheese

Tips

• You can use any vegetables you want or currently have at home
• You can make your own red sauce if you like or use a bought (gluten free) red sauce
• You can add ground meat or beans (e.g. chickpeas) to the sauce
• You can leave the cheese out or use lactose free cheese

Needed appliances

• A cutting board and knife
• A pan/frying pan to pre-cook vegetables
• A spatula to mix vegetables
• An oven dish
• A soup serving spoon
• An oven

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Preparation steps

• Pre-set the oven to 180ºC
• Wash and cut all vegetables
• Stew (fry/wok) vegetables; I started with carrots and onions and after 2 minutes I added the rest of vegetables
• When the vegetables are soft – add the red sauce to the pan (when using pre-made one like me)
• Add a cup of water to the sauce to decrease its viscosity (in the end it shouldn’t be dense). Stew all for 5-10 minutes
• Take the oven dish and pure some of the sauce (choose the liquid without vegetables) to cover the bottom of the dish
• Place the dry pasta on a thin layer of the sauce & cover the pasta with more sauce and vegetables (Repeat it few times so in the end you will have 4-5 pasta layers)
• Cover the last pasta layer with sauce and rasped cheese
• Place it in the oven (180ºC) and keep for at least 40 minutes

Important: Recently, I noticed that my oven works faster than other ovens. It’s possible that you need to prolong the baking time. You can stick a fork in the dish after 40 min to check if the pasta is soft.

Enjoy your meal,

• luten free & dairy free
• No sugar added
• No blender required
• ~15 min preparation + 18 min baking

Ingredients (for 12 muffins)

• 2 bananas
• 1/3 cup of honey
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup of melted coconut fat
• 200 g oat flour
• 1/3 cup of cacao
• 1/4 cup coconut flour (I used coconut crème powder)
• A pinch of salt
• A teaspoon of baking powder (or baking soda)
• Optional: vanilla extract, pieces of chocolate, walnuts, etc.

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Tips

• Instead of oat flour you can use almond flour or any other gluten free flour
• Instead of flour you could use oat flakes or buckwheat flakes
• You can probably skip the coconut flour
• Instead of coconut fat you can use another fat or avocado!

Needed appliances

• An oven pre-heated to 175 ºC
• A muffin forms
• A bowl and a spatula to mix the ‘wet’ ingredients
• A second bowl to mix the ‘dry’ ingredients
• A pot to melt the coconut fat in it
• Optional: a kitchen balance

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Preparation steps

• Pre-heat oven to 175 ºC
• Take a bowl and smash two pilled bananas in it
• Add honey, eggs and melted coconut fat to bananas and mix well
• Take a second bowl and weight 200g of the gluten-free flour
• Add the rest of the ‘dry’ ingredients: coconut flour, cacao, pinch of salt and baking powder to the g-f flour and mix together
• Mix all the ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ ingredients together
• You can add chocolate pieces or other optional ingredients (nuts etc.)
• Fill the muffin forms and bake the muffins for about 18 minutes.

For a version with chocolate frosting – ala cupcakes: melt glutenfree chocolate with a couple of spoons of butter and decorate your mini-cakes.

Enjoy your meal,

• Only 3 ingredients!
• Preparation ~ 20 minutes!
• Gluten free, lactose free and soy free!
• Easy and tasty!

Ingredients

• Rice noodles
• Biological bacon pieces
• Fava beans (I use the beans in a glass pot from AH) (in Dutch tuinbonen)

Tips

• You can use the type of rice noodles that don’t have to be boiled. To prepare these noodles – all you need is to boil water and let the noodles soak in it for ~ 10-15 minutes!
• Of course, you can use any gluten free noodles/pasta.
• You can use frozen fava beans instead of these in a pot (e.g. from AH).
•  You do not need fat for frying. The bacon fat is more than enough.
• I do not add salt or any spices – bacon is usually salty enough and gives a wonderful flavor!
• Instead of fava beans you could also use Brussels sprout.

Needed appliances

• A frying pan and a spatula
• A pot/kettle to boil water 

Preparation steps

1. Boil water
2. Add rice noodles to the hot water and let it soak for ~ 10-15 minutes
3. Heat a frying pan and fry bacon pieces
4. Add fava beans (drained) to the fried bacon
5. Mix drained noodles with bacon and fava beans

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Enjoy your meal,

The adrenals participate in keeping a right balance between DHEA (DHEA is a natural steroid and precursor hormone produced by the adrenal glands), estrogen, testosterone and progesterone. This is necessary in order to avoid PMS and infertility. Besides, these hormones participate in regulating blood pressure, blood glucose level and in preventing dehydration.

When the adrenals are exhausted (e.g. when one is gluten intolerant), they can’t function optimally. They simply have to choose between producing sex hormones and supporting the basic body functions.

Common Causes of Adrenal Stress

• Anger
• Fear
• Worry
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Guilt
• Overwork
• Physical or mental strain
• Excessive exercise
• Sleep deprivation
• Light-cycle disruption
• Going to sleep late
• Surgery
• Trauma
• Injury
• Chronic inflammation
• Chronic infection
• Chronic pain
• Temperature extremes
• Toxic exposure
• Malabsorption
• Maldigestion
• Chronic illness
• Chronic-severe allergies (or celiac disease)
• Hypoglycemia
• Nutritional deficiencies

Associated Symptoms and Consequences of Impaired Adrenals

• Low body temperature
• Weakness
• Unexplained hair loss
• Nervousness
• Difficulty building muscle
• Irritability
• Mental depression
• Difficulty gaining weight
• Apprehension
• Hypoglycemia
• Inability to concentrate
• Excessive hunger
• Tendency towards inflammation
• Moments of confusion
• Indigestion
• Poor memory
• Feelings of frustration
• Alternating diarrhea and constipation
• Osteoporosis
• Auto-immune hepatitis
• Auto-immune diseases
• Lightheadedness
• Palpitations
• Dizziness that occurs upon standing
• Poor resistance to infections
• Low blood pressure
• Insomnia
• Food allergies
• PMS
• Craving for sweets
• Dry and thin skin
• Headaches
• Scanty perspiration
• Alcohol intolerance

Balancing Your Meals for Blood Sugar Control

To sustain good adrenal function it is important to control the blood sugar level by:

• Eating small meals or snacks every 3-4 hours
• Eating within the first hour after waking up
• Eating small snacks before going to sleep
• Eating before feeling hungry to avoid low blood sugar (hypoglycemia = stress on the adrenal glands).

Based on:

• ‘Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome’ by James Wilson and Jonathan V. Wright
• ‘The Gluten Effect’ by Vikki Petersen and Richard Petersen

I make these cookies very rarely. Only because they are so tasty that we eat them within one day! And they are not the best choice for my inflamed intestine. The above picture was made last Xmas :)

• 3 ingredients!
• Delicious!

Ingredients

• Almond flour – 125 g
• Butter – 80 g
• Brown sugar – 50 g
• Optional: chocolate to coat cookies

Tips

• You can use any gluten free flour instead of almond flour (but it won’t taste as good!)
• Perhaps you can skip sugar and coat the cookies in dark chocolate instead to make it more healthy (I must try it once)

Needed appliances

• Pre-heated oven to 170ºC
• Baking plate
• Baking paper
• Bowl and spoon to mix ingredients
• Fridge to cool the dough
• Knife to cut the dough
• Optional: kitchen balance

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Preparation steps

• Weigh almond flour, sugar and butter
• Mix flour with sugar in a bowl (you will see on a picture a different technique but that is because it was made by my fiance..men and baking ;-))
• Add butter to the dry components and mix well (use your hand)
• Place the dough on a baking paper (aluminum foil/plastic foil – whatever you have) and roll it in a kind of a ‘sausage’
• Place the dough in the fridge for at least 30 min to cool it down
• Slice the dough (cut 0.5 cm slices)
• Bake the cookies for  10-15 minutes at 170ºC
• Cool the cookies
• If you fancy – coat cookies in chocolate and let them cool!

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Enjoy,

• Suitable for lunch and dinner!
• Rich in dietary fibers and proteins!
• A source of Omega 3 fats!

Ingredients

• Cod fish (steamed or baked)
• Rice (boiled or steamed)
• Egg (raw)
• Optional: half a cup of gluten free grain flakes (amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat or oat)
• Spices (I used: salt, lemon juice, parsley)
• Fat for frying
• Amaranth flakes for ‘coating’ the fish burgers

Tips

• Cod can be replaced with other fish e.g. zalm
• Grain flakes in a fish burger could be replaced with a slice of a gluten free bread
• The ratio between fish and rice should be 1:1
• Add two eggs if you make a big batch
• Other substitutes to bread crumbs that can be used (substitudes)

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Needed appliances

• Steam cooker or oven (to prepare the fish)
• Rice cooker
• Frying pan and a spatula
• Bowl to mix all ingredients
• A fork to mix all ingredients
• A plate for flakes to coat the fish burgers

Preparation steps

1. Steam the cod fish
2. Boil/steam rice
3. Tatter the fish with a fork
4. Add the rest of the ingredients (except egg) and mix well
5. In the end, add a raw egg to bind all the ingredients
6. Form burgers and coat them in amaranth flakes
7. Heat the frying pan
8. Fry the fish burgers
9. Serve the fish burgers hot or cold

Enjoy your meal,

• Only 3 main ingredients!
• Good source of protein, fiber and vitamins!
• No added sugar (enough of it from fruits)!
• Suitable for breakfast, lunch or a sweet tooth break!
• No blenders, no mixers needed!

Ingredients

• Gluten free oat flakes – 150 g
• Apple puree – 175 g
• Banana (you can replace it with two spoons of almond pasta and optional: some sugar)
• Cinnamon
• Optional: piece of fruits, dry fruits, dark chocolate pieces, nuts or seeds

Tips

• Instead of oat flakes you could use other gluten free but relatively large flakes like buckwheat flakes (quinoa and amaranth might not be the best choice here, their flakes are rather small)

Needed appliances

• Oven pre-heated to 180ºC
• Baking paper
• Bowl to mix ingredients
• Fork to smash banana
• Spoon to mix ingredients
• Optional: balance to weigh ingredients

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Preparation steps:

• Heat the oven to 180ºC
• Peel banana and smash it using a fork
• Weigh 150 g of oat flakes and place it in a bowl
• Weigh 175 g of apple puree and add to the flakes
• Add banana and cinnamon and mix all together
• Spoon ‘cookies’ on a baking paper
• Bake 30 min in 180ºC

Below a version of cookies made of buckwheat flakes with banana, apple pure, pieces of apple, blueberries, three types of nuts and sprinkled with sugar:

• Only 2 ingredients!
• Preparation time ~ 20 minutes with baking!
• Easy, quick, allergy-friendly and tasty!
• Gluten free, lactose free, even Paleo friendly (Some say that quinoa as a seed from a broad-leaf plant and not a grass-leaf plant is allowed on Paleo diet – in case you do care ;-)

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of puffed quinoa grains
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of sugar

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Needed appliances

• Oven pre-heated to 180ºC
• Baking plate
• Mixer to ‘beat’ eggs
• Bowl to mix ingredients in it
• Spoon to mix ingredients

Preparation Steps

1. Pre-heat oven to 180ºC (It will take longer to heat the oven than to make your buns’ mix!)
2. Mix well 2 eggs with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar using a mixer
3. Add two cups of puffed quinoa grains to the eggs
4. Mix quinoa with egg
5. Spoon the ‘buns’ mix’ into the baking plate
6. Bake the buns till brown-ish (In my oven it took 15 min)

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Inspired by ‘Amarantus smacznie i zdrowo’ by G.Koninska and W.Sadowski (you can find it here)

Enjoy,

Ideas for easy and healthy gluten & lactose free desserts

•        Dark chocolate
•        Nuts (almonds, walnuts, Brazilian nuts; optional: in dark chocolate)
•        Fruits (melons with optional: sorbet)
•        Fruit salad
•        Fruits with a touch of a dark chocolate (chocolate fondue)
•        Dates with roasted almond pasta (my fav!)
•        Chia seeds pudding (with almond milk and cacao; optional: honey)
•        Sorbet from frozen fruits with almond milk
•        Sorbet from frozen bananas
•        Smoothie
•        Bon-bones from frozen roasted almond pasta in dark chocolate (optional & not Paleo: puffed grains)
•        Apple slices with roasted almonds pasta and honey or chocolate sprinkles
•        ‘Ice-cream’ from roasted almonds pasta with blended bananas

Not Paleo:

• Baked rice with apple moose and cinnamon
• Cookies from cornflakes with dark chocolate

Road trip – map

Ustka

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Although, there is no fast connection between Arnhem and the north of Poland, a road trip with my partner and our dog is always fun. The 11 hours of driving from Arnhem to Ustka passed rather fast. Because of our dog we always stop every 1.5 hour to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. The hours in between are filled with chatting, laughing, singing and of course gluten –free snacking!

Food on the go

• Schar ciabatta’s with pate, ham, cheese and roasted almonds paste
• Homemade oat cookies
• Carrots, cucumbers
• Apples, bananas
• Nuts
• Kinder chocolate bars
• Tortilla chips
• Boiled eggs
• Water, tea and coffee

In Ustka a warm chicken soup was awaiting us. Since my cousin also has celiac disease, my mum knew the basic rules of gluten free cooking. She stocked up well on eggs and poultry from a local farmer and fish from local fishermen.

Egg Farm in a nearby village (at Grabno)

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

I found at home an impressive collection of vegetables, fruits, meat, fish and nuts. My mum didn’t know, however, that I am not supposed to eat dairy and she baked a delicious cheesecake with boiled potatoes (which looked so perfect that I had to sin and try it). The polish Easter celebration means a lot of eating and many traditional dishes. As you can guess, most of these dishes contain gluten but my mum did a great job on modifying each traditional recipe or preparing an alternative meal especially for me. Mums are wonderful!

Gluten free dishes on our Easter table (Everything homemade)

• Homemade pate
• Baked hams
• Baked turkey breast
• Baked wild zalm
• Meat and vegetables in a gelly
• Eggs
• Vegetable salad
• Carrot-apple salad
• Beaten salad
• Mushroom soup
• Chicken soup with rice noodles
• Fresh fruits
• Baked cheese cake with potatoes

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Besides, I found gluten-free food products (certified !) in almost every shop in Ustka. I will have to make a separate post about that :)

A following post about gluten free shopping in Ustka you can find here.

Previous research showed that taking an acidic substance (like hydrochloric acid) at the same time as the levothyroxine improved the drug absorption to the bloodstream. That inspired the latest research to investigate the effect of ascorbic acid on decomposition and absorption of the levothyroxine.

It was found that vitamin C improves the oral absorption of the levothyroxine (ref). The results showed that the presence of vitamin C improves the drug absorption. In consequence, the serum concentration of T4 and T3 improves and the serum TSH decreases and normalizes.

However, the patience who participated in this study did not have a celiac disease. Meaning, the damage to the intestines at celiacs (especially in the beginning of the gluten free diet when the intestine is not yet healed) is expected to play a role in malabsorption of the levothyroxine.

Ingredients

• Not roasted almonds – pasta (EkoPlaza)
• Water

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Accessories

• Shaker or blender
• Tea spoon

* If you have no shaker nor blender – just give it a good stir with a spoon. The pasta is easily soluble in water!

How to

• Fill the shaker or blender with a glass of water
• Take a spoon of almond pasta and add it to the water
• Give it a good shake/blend
• Optional: add some fresh or frozen fruits
• And enjoy!

Version with fruits requires a blender (see pictures).

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

The almond pasta is pricey, I know. But it will last for many glasses of almond milk.  What’s even more important contains NOTHING else but almonds. Another option is to buy almonds (if you leave them in water for a while, they will be extremely easy to pill) and make the pasta yourself. But if you buy biological almonds the end price will be identical (it just gives you an additional work!).

Enjoy,

The treatment of Hashimoto’s should actually be focused on treating the immune system. Such an overactive immune system that attacks the body’s cells needs to be calmed down. This is important. Some try to improve their health by using ‘superfoods’ but it seems that not everybody understands that ‘superfoods’ are highly functional ingredients. They can stimulate human organism and be beneficial to health but they can also be harmful when used incorrectly, especially for those who already developed some disease(s). Before using ‘superfoods’ it is good to research if the particular ingredient benefits our individual condition.

Literature shows that if the treatment of Hashimoto’s doesn’t direct the immune system but instead only suppresses the symptoms of Hashimoto’s, the immune system will attack other body tissues. The immune system is programmed to protect us. When it sees a threat it attacks. What triggers the imbalanced reaction of the immune system (and an auto attack) is still not fully understood. Recent studies suggest that the ‘leaky gut’ can be one of the reasons. It seems that once such an auto-attack is activated it cannot be stopped. It can however be reduced.

How to soothe the autoimmune reaction

Our immune system has two main arms: Th1 and Th2.
Th1 is responsible for the production of NK cells (natural killer) and T cells (lymphocytes = white blood cells), which are responsible for ‘killing the intruders’, whereas Th2 is responsible for the production of B lymphocytes, which point out the cell that must be destroyed.

Usually, one of the arms is more active than another and a suitable treatment should be adjusted accordingly. To define this, usually the level of cytokines is tested. Cytokines are small proteins used in cells communication, also in communication between the lymphocytes Th (helpers) and the immune system.
Cytokines are a bit like hormones. Too high level of cytokines Th1 or Th2 blocks thyroid receptors and does not allow hormones to enter the cells. This blockage leads to hypothyroidism.

How do we know which cytokines dominate (Th1 or Th2)

Cytokines of Th1:

• IL-2
• IL-12
• TNF alpha
• Interferon

Cytokines of Th2:

• IL-4
• IL-10
• IL-13

Balancing Th1 and Th2

Balance between Th1 and Th2 is essential to improve functioning of thyroid in Hashimoto’s patients. It requires adaptation of a new diet and lifestyle, aimed at calming the immune system.

It is necessary to support and balance the lymphocytes T (regulatory). What helps:

• Vitamine D (the highest safe level)
• EPA/DHA (Omega3)
• Glutathione (ref)

Besides, the weaker arm of the immune system should be stimulated.

Stymulation of Th1 (when Th2 dominates)

• Astragalus
• Echinacea
• Mushrooms’s Beta-glucan
• Mashroom Maitake
• Liquorice
• Melissa

Stymulation of Th2 (when Th1 dominates)

• Caffeine
• Green tea
• Grape seed extract
• Pine bark extract
• Willow bark extract
• Lycopene
• Resveratrol
• Pycnogenol

Modulation of Th1 and Th2

• Probiotics
• Vitamine A
• Vitamine E
• Colostrum

Lowering IL-1*, activation of Th1 and Th2

• Boswellia
• Pancreas enzymes
• Turmeric (Kurkuma)

*IL-1 = cytokines, which play a central role in the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses.

It sounds straightforward. But it seems that it is not that easy to test which arm of the immune system is weaker. Perhaps this is also a reason why it is not commonly practiced (it sounds pricey too). This is why, paying an attention to the body responses is very important. For example, how a person reacts to the stimulants associated with the particular arm, Th1 or Th2.

Also, it seems that in some cases, both arms Th1 and Th2 are equally dominant but the level of the lymphocytes T is low. That means that some antigen is stimulating the immune system. An antigen can be a fungus, virus, heavy metal, pesticides or gluten.

Figures 1-5

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Source: Tluste Zycie (Highly recommended if you can read Polish)

Literature shows that although Hashimoto’s is the most common form of hypothyroidism, it is still often misdiagnosed. The doctors conclude hypothyroidism based on increased level of the hormone TSH in blood and subscribe synthetic thyroid hormone T4. Often, they don’t bother to test the TPO and TG antibodies. Even if they do test the antibodies, the treatment doesn’t change. The cause of our condition is never investigated by the conventional doctors.

But a gland does not just stop functioning properly without any reason. It is a secondary condition. A human body consists of many organs that cooperate and communicate together. Each organ relies on other organs and their performance.  These are strongly affected by our diet, lifestyle, stress level etc.

What causes the low performance of the thyroid?

• A diet of too little calories
• Too intense training
• Not enough of carbohydrates in a diet
• Weaker performance of hypothalamus
• High level of estrogen
• High level of prolactin
• Low level of progesterone
• High level of testosterone at women
• Malnutrition
• Problems with digestion
• Chronic infections
• Diet rich in foods that cause inflammation like gluten, sugar, dairy, alcohol, coffee
• Stress
• High level of homocysteine
• Toxins
• Anemia
• Lack of Hydrochloric acid
• Instable glucose level in blood

The factors listed above influence the thyroid health directly or indirectly. Using a synthetic hormone to fix it might reduce some of the symptoms temporarily but after a couple of weeks the symptoms come back. Inhibition of one symptom does not solve the cause of the problem. In contrary, it leads to further imbalances like:

• If you already have high testosterone, and you start using the synthetic T4 hormone and the contraceptive pill, it results in too high level of estrogen.
• If you have a problem with digestion and thyroid, and you start using the synthetic T4 hormone, you are not improving the absorption of the nutrients nor the intestinal bacterial flora risking impaired conversion of T4 to T3.

Besides, lab results do not show what is really happening on the cellular level. Your TSH, T4 and T3 levels might be ideal while you still experience all the symptoms of Hashimoto’s.

The key to recovery is a good doctor ‘detective’, who looks into the level of TPO and TG antibodies and does not base the entire treatment on level of the TSH just to prescribe ‘suitable’ dose of levothyroxine.

Main source: Tluste Zycie (Highly recommended in you can read Polish)

In the Netherlands if you have celiac disease and Hashimoto’s you will regularly visit two different doctors. Your Hashimoto’s will be controlled by Internist (in Dutch also ‘Internist’) and the celiac will be under supervision of so called ‘Stomach – Intestine – Liver’ specialist (in Dutch ‘Maag- Darm- Lever’, MDL-arts).

Since a lot of the symptoms of Hashimoto’s and celiac are very similar, it took years before my celiac was diagnosed. It happened by a coincident after my Internist diagnosed me with the iron-deficiency anemia. Surprised by the low level of iron, she decided to screen my blood on celiac disease. First, I thought it was exaggeration; I had no suspicions of having celiac. When the results arrived and I received the phone call with the news, I could not believe and decided to run the test again in Poland (my home country). Well, it was positive for the second time.

Symptoms of Hashimoto’s

Most common

• Fatigue (99%)
• Dry, coarse skin (97%)
• Lethargy (91%)
• Eyelid edema (90%)
• Cold intolerance (89%)
• Decreased sweating (89%)
• Pallor of skin (67%)
• Cognitive changes like memory impairment (66%)
• Constipation (61%)
• Weight gain (59%)
• Loss of hair (57%)
• Peripheral (55%)
• Hoarseness (52%)
• Heavy (menorrhagia) or irregular menstrual periods (32%)

Other

• Muscle pain
• Stiff and tender joints, particularly in the hands, feet and knees
• Dry, thinning hair
• Yellowish skin due to inability to convert  beta carotene into vitamin A
• White discoloration of skin especially on upper arms
• Impaired fertility
• Problems getting pregnant
• Giving birth to a baby with birth defects
• Miscarriage
• Decreased libido
• Slowed heart rate
• High cholesterol
• Heart problems
• Shortness of breath
• Recurrent hypoglycemia
• Fluid retention (oedema)
• Swelling of the legs
• Puffy face
• Decreased sense of taste and smell
• Unnatural sleepiness
• Decreased concentration
• Slow though process
• Sluggish reflexes
• Diminish cognition
• Slow motor function
• Drowsiness
• Irritability
• Moodiness

Why some people have more symptoms than others? Check this video to find out the answer.

The thyroid gland makes two thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4). A nice video’s explaining the thyroid hormones production (video 1) and common thyroid problems (video 2).

Two brain structures (the pituitary gland (fig 2) and the hypothalamus) regulate the thyroid hormones as follows (video 3):

• The hypothalamus prompts the pituitary gland to make a thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).
• The pituitary gland checks the amount of T4 and T3 in the blood and releases TSH. If the T4 and T3 levels need to be increased.
• The thyroid gland secretes the needed T4 and T3. The more TSH the thyroid receives, the more T4 and T3 it secretes.
• The pituitary gland may stimulate the thyroid gland to make T4 and T3 but, in the case of Hashimoto’s disease, the thyroid gland can’t deliver them.
• The immune system creates antibodies that attack thyroid tissue. The thyroid gland becomes inflamed and thyroid cells become permanently damaged (can’t make T4 nor T3).
• In response, the pituitary gland secretes more thyroid-secreting hormone (TSH).
• Then the thyroid may enlarge (goitre).

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disorder, meaning the body’s immune system attacks its own healthy tissues. The immune system makes antibodies that attack cells in the thyroid and restrict the ability to produce thyroid hormones. Large numbers of white blood cells called lymphocytes accumulate in the thyroid. Lymphocytes make the antibodies that initiate the autoimmune process. Over time, thyroid damage can cause thyroid hormone levels to be too low. This is called an underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism. An underactive thyroid causes every function of the body to slow down, such as heart rate, brain function, and the rate your body turns food into energy.

Consequences of having Hashimoto’s

• abnormal calcium metabolism
• chronic constipation (risk of infection)
• reduced efficiency of the liver and gall bladder (also kidney)
• reduced production of growth hormone
• reduced metabolism and weight gain
• glucose metabolism disorder (slowly enters the cells having symptoms such as “brain fog” and causing hypoglycemia)
• elevated levels of cholesterol and triglycerides
• problems with correct functioning of the brain (mood swings, depression)
• abnormal metabolism of estrogen (this may lead to breast cancer, ovarian cysts)
• disturbed metabolism of adrenal hormones
• deficiency of progesterone and stopping ovulation
• anemia
• increased levels of homocysteine ​​and heart disease risk
• reduced body detox (thyroid hormones affect the phase II of the detox in the liver)
• reduced production of hydrochloric acid and impaired metabolism of proteins

Breakfast was, however, a bit disappointing because I got spoiled by all the kind people in hotels and restaurants who usually prepare for me a basket with different types of breads, rolls and muesli. This time, I was served only two slices of a gluten free bread.

Breakfast basket

• Two slices of gluten free bread

Dinner in the Zeeduin hotel restaurant, on the other hand, was delicious and from the menu of the day I could choose anything. They would use gluten free ingredients or offer alternatives. The latter is very common when dinning out and having celiac disease.

My dinner

• Tomato soup
• Codfish with baked potatoes and poached vegetables
• Freshly made sorbet – four different tastes (amazing!)

Callantsoog – Fletcher Hotel,  Badhotel 

Why Fletcher hotel? Because we (my fiancé and myself) can travel with our chocolate Labrador and she definitely loves hotels! As always, I emailed the hotel before our arrival and asked if they could prepare gluten free meals for me. I did not have to wait long for their response. They had no problem with my diet restrictions.

Breakfast at Badhotel

I got a special basket with gluten free breads:

• Ciabatta’s
• Two different types of rolls
• Slices of white bread
• Slices of brown bread
• Sweet bread with raisins
• Take away plastic bag

My choices from the breakfast buffet are described in a previous post.

Dinner at Badhotel

I could choose from the ‘special’ menu whatever I wanted to eat and they offered to use gluten-free ingredients or otherwise offer alternatives. I had a wonderful meal.

• Delicious, freshly prepared tomato-basil soup (instead of a soup of the day)
• Fried fish with baked potatoes and string beans (in Dutch ‘snijbonen’) (fish was fried without flour)
• Sorbet cake with strawberry sauce (instead of a chocolate cake)

More possibilities to dine in Callantsoog – you find here!

Are you on a road trip in Belgium or you are staying in Bruges but missing a real good gluten free meal? Oostende is a beautiful place, only 30 km away from Bruges. I had a pleasure to enjoy a dinner in ‘De Foyer’ restaurant. They have a gluten free menu card and can be found on the glutenfreeroads.com.

The staff was very friendly and caring. Not only were my portions huge but also delightful. The quality of the food was high. The meals were prepared from fresh ingredients, I could choose anything from the menu card and it would be adjusted accordingly to my diet wishes. In the end, I enjoyed a delicious fish with potatoes and vegetable fries. The sauce with the fish melted in my mouth! Apart of the ice cream dessert, I was served additional gluten free sweets. The latter being a courtesy of the staff. Many many thanks!

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Restaurant ‘Italia in Tavola‘ !

• Fair prices
• Excellent food
• Diet suitable menu (also lactose free, dairy free, egg free)
• Wide choice of the gluten free meals
• Home made pizza’s and pasta’s
• Freshly prepared meals
• Amazing taste and great food texture
• Very friendly staff
• Restaurant away from the busy city center
• Greatly reviewed by many
• To be found on glutenfreeroads.com

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

My apology for not taking any pictures for you. The meals looked lovely, it is just that I was so hungry I did not want to delay my ‘feast’!

PS. The featured image was found in one of the reviews of the restaurant.

* The above review is based on my personal perception. I wrote it out of my free will and have no profit of it. 

Prior to the arrival, I emailed the hotel and kindly ask if they could prepare a gluten free breakfast for me. Their immediate reply was ‘yes, of course!’

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Every morning a special basket with

• Ciabatta
• Mini broche
• Slices of bread
• Croissant’s
• Corn flakes

My choices from the hotel’s breakfast buffet

• Boiled eggs
• Mini butter from Quality
• Mini jam’s from D’arbo
• Mini honey from Meli
• Mini hazelnut chocolate spread from Nutella
• Natural yogurts and quark
• Fresh fruits (not cut)
• Cut vegetables (if not polluted in the kitchen-ask)
• Cheese (if not polluted in the kitchen-ask)
• Tea & coffee

Gluten free shoppings

Just few meters away from the Flanders hotel there is a supermarket ‘Smatch’ (Langestraat 55, Bruges) which offers gluten free products. You can buy snacks, breads, pasta etc. They sell products of Damhert but also local brands like e.g. Poensgen.

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Ah! Leonidas has some gluten free chocolates 

One thing that we, people with celiac, miss are the Belgian chocolates from Leonidas. There is, however, a tiny collection of gluten free choices (amazon.co.uk). After careful examination of my present – Leonidas’ Lollypop Duck, I found out that it is indeed gluten free :) (Thank you Dragica&Henry)

[See image gallery at glutenfreelady.nl]

Gluten free restaurants in Bruges

I did not find a restaurant with a gluten free menu in Bruges. All restaurants, however, were very eager to improvise a gluten free meal for me. Simple and safe!

My dinners

• Steak with fries and green salad – available at almost all restaurants (ask if they use the oil only for fries)
• Grilled salmon with rice and Greek salad –  restaurant ‘De vier  winden’ (Markt 9, Bruges)

• I email the hotel beforehand and ask if they can prepare gluten free breakfast for me.
• Always taking emergency bread/crackers along (long-expiration date, ready to eat, sealed package) or my own gluten-free muesli/flakes (not for people sensitive to dairy or using Thyrax (the thyroid hormones are not well absorbed in a presence of the dairy protein casein)).

What I eat from the breakfast buffet

• Boiled eggs
• Mini-jams from Hero (contain MSG)
• Mini-butter
• Mini-pate’s from Unox
• Babybel cheese from Bell
• Fresh fruits (not cut)
• Mini’s from De Ruijter:  jams, honey, peanut butter, dutch ‘appelstroop’, chocolate paste (made of the gluten free ingredients but not tested on contamination; I do not get sick after eating them)
• Milk and natural yogurts (the latter in the small containers)
• Cheese (if not contaminated in the kitchen –ask)
• Cut vegetables and fruits (if not contaminated in the kitchen –ask)
• Tea / coffee

Tips

• I always try to enter the restaurant just after it is open for breakfast. This way, I eliminate the possible contamination done by other guests of the hotel, who use e.g. the same fork to get cheese, ham and other products.
• Besides, the service is not yet too busy to prepare my gluten free bread.

– Info about products was obtained by emails with the manufacturers or www.livaad.nl.
– What is good for one person can be not good for someone else. Each person has its unique sensitivity level to the gluten contamination or other food sensitivities. Each body has its unique biochemistry. My story should not be seen as a medical guideline.

(Some of the listed products sometimes are made also from corn, potato, rice, arrowroot, tapioca or peas, which are inherently gluten free)

• Caramel color
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG) (initially it was produced from plant proteins like gluten; nowadays mostly from chemical synthesis and fermentation)
• Other taste compounds (e.g. meat-like taste added to snacks or meat analogues )
• Enzymes
• Ethanol*
• Glucose syrup
• Maltose syrup
• Fructose syrup
• Gluten
• Hydrolyzed wheat protein
• Maltitol
• Mannitol
• Xylitol
• Sorbitol
• Soy sauce
• Malt vinegar
• Bran
• Bran hydrolysate
• Cellulose from the wheat straw
• Dextrin
• Wheat flour
• Barley flour
• Germ
• Germ oil
• Maltodextrin
• Wheat protein isolate
• Barley protein isolate
• Wheat starch
• Barley starch
• Starch hydrolysate
• Yeast
• β-glucan from barley
• Brewer’s yeast
• Barley malt
• Malt extract
• Malt flavor
• Penicilin
• Ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
• Lysine

Food products that can contain ingredients from the above list:
(Some of the listed foods sometimes contain ingredients with the same/similar name but extracted from corn, potato, rice, arrowroot, tapioca or peas, which are inherently gluten free)

When I was diagnosed with celiac disease I wanted to know what exactly is happening inside of my body when I eat gluten and why is it so bad to me.

Every time gluten reaches my intestines, the enzyme produced in the intestinal wall called tissue transglutaminase (tTG) breaks down gluten into individual elements: gliadin and glutenin. The part of the immune system located in the gut, which is the gut associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), reviews everything that enters the digestive system for the possibly harmful substances. The GALT of people with celiac disease recognizes gliadin as a dangerous substance and produces antibodies to attack it. These antibodies, however, do attack not only the gliadin, but also the tTG that broke down the gluten in the first place. The tTG enzyme has another important role, it is responsible for holding together the intestinal microvilli.

Hence, when the antibodies attack the tTG, the microvilli can degenerate and disappear. Normally, the intestinal microvilli increase the surface area of the intestine and absorb nutrients. The lack of the villi, which assists the celiac disease, results in a ‘leaky gut’. In order to absorb nutrients, our gut is permeable to tiny molecules. Regulating that permeability is the basic function of the cells that line the intestinal wall. In celiac people, gluten can cause the gut cells to release zonulin, a protein that can break the tight junctions (TJs) apart. Disruption of the TJs leads to intestinal hyper permeability (the so-called ‘leaky gut’) (ref). That means that toxins, microbes and undigested food particles, among others, leak through the intestines and travel with the bloodstream. One of the things allowed to escape are the antibodies that the body produced to attack the gliadin. These antibodies confuse tTG with gliadin but also attack other organs. This is why having a celiac disease increases the risk of developing another autoimmune disease like (in my case) Hashimoto’s. Mechanism  of the disease

How you can avoid gluten contamination at home

• Prepare clean kitchen’ surface to work on
• Use clean kitchen accessories (cutting board, plate, spatula, knife, pot, frying pan etc.)
• Store food well protected – close it in a bag or in a box
• Keep the gluten containing food away (separate, lowest shelf; closed container/bag)
• Make sure your ingredients are not contaminated (butter, foods in pots)
• Clean the dining table and the table mats (the best are from a non-porous material)
• Do not drink water from someone else’s bottle/cup (nor share yours)
• Do not use someone else’s fork, spoon nor knife (do not ‘borrow’ yours)
• Make sure nobody transports its own food above your plate/meal
• Each dish should have its own spoon, take your food first – or ask your family to use the ‘drop it on a plate’ technique
• Once your food ‘escaped’ the plate – let it go
• Wash your hands after feeding the dog (dog’s food contains gluten)
• Kiss only washed ‘gluten-consuming’ lips of your loved ones  :-)

The gluten containing grains were listed in a previous post.

Keep in mind

• ‘Gluten free’ does not mean strictly gluten free, it means that the product contains <20 ppt of gluten.
• ‘Gluten free’ does not mean ‘Wheat free’. 40% of people with celiac in the Nederlands can not tolerate wheat starch.
• ‘Wheat free’ does not mean ‘Barley free’.
• Processed meat like sausages, lunchmeat, hot dogs, chicken nuggets etc. can contain gluten. Gluten is often used as a binder in these products.
• Packaged, marinated or covered with spices meat/fish/sea-fruits  can contain gluten. It is not, however, specified on the package.
• The wheat and barley derived food ingredients  are polluted with traces of gluten.
• 30% of grains that are inherently gluten free (like amaranth, buckwheat, oat) are contaminated with gluten.
• According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), testing done on a random wheat starch using the R5 ELISA found gluten in amounts up to 279 ppm.
• Wheat starch hydrolysates (e.g. glucose syrup, maltodextrin) were found to contain intact gliadin and gluten peptides, but the amounts were rather low (< 5 ppm of gluten for maltodextrin and up to 25 ppm in the glucose/dextrose samples).
• If you don’t see the word wheat on an FDA-regulated product containing maltodextrin, the food product does not contain wheat protein.

List of food ingredients that can be made of wheat or barely and their applications.