So I had an epiphany (always on random moments) on Monday night while watching How I Met Your Mother (btw, did anyone watched that episode?!?! The one with Lily & Ted on the rooftop? Sad and heart breaking).
I've been dealing with some allergies issue for the past who knows when. But lately I've been listening and paying attention more to my body. Recently, I've been eating more and more whole wheat grains and I have been baking with Whole Wheat flour more often... Well because it is known that increasing your whole wheat/grain intake is good for your heart, cholesterol, etc etc etc, right?
Wellllll... I've been noticing that my eczema, sinus congestion/allergies and colic/gas pain in my stomach are getting worse this past 3 weeks. I was like, "Hey... What's going on here?" So I did some research and found some correlation between eczema and wheat allergy. I was like, "OH HAAAAYYYY..." I did more research and now am reading "Wheat Belly" by William Davis. So far the book is making sense to me. I don't wanna go in depth, you can read the blog. While his main goal is about weight loss, for me is to see if I'm really allergic to wheat/gluten or not.
So, I'm going Gluten Free for 1 week to see if I'm allergic or not. I want to see if my symptoms decrease/disappear. Then I will slowly try to eat wheat products and see. I'm nervous.
And most of you know, I LOVE BREAD. If I was stranded in an island, I can survive on chocolate bread. Seriously. So I was pretty sad. It's like my health versus my mouth's desire.
Anyways, being the baker I am, I browsed around for Gluten Free stuff/recipe. I purchased The Blackbird Bakery cookbook too. So I went on a shopping spree to my local Sprouts Market (Thank God for that market. TONS of Gluten Free stuffs!) and decided to try out the Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix.
Since my lemon tree is giving birth to lemons like nobody's business, I decided to make Blueberry Lemon Muffins, just to try the mix out. The Flour mix is interesting. It's not as smooth as regular all purpose flour. It's pretty grainy. I noticed some brown grain which is almond meal. But it doesn't have any weird odor. But overall, the muffins turned out soft and moist. Yum in my department.
Gluten Free Blueberry Lemon Muffins
makes 12
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
- 1 cup of brown sugar - you can use white granulated if you want
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract- I'm not sure if the one I have is Gluten Free
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Zest
- 1/2 Milk - I use Silk Soy Milk
- 2 cups of Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix
- 2 tsp of Baking Powder - OK. I did not read the Mix but apparently it already has Baking Powder & Baking Soda in it (DUH it's a MIX, Rima! Read next time!) So you may wanna omit this... but I'm not sure how it will turn out. I was afraid I made a boo-boo, but the muffins were awesome.
- 1 1/2 cup of Blueberries
Preheat your oven @ 375F and line up a 12 pc Muffin Tin with cupcake liners, set aside.
If you're gonna use the Baking Powder with the Flour Mix, shift those together to a medium bowl, set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth & light. Add eggs, one by one, until incorporated. Add the vanilla, lemon juice & zest until mix well.
Then add flour mix to the butter, alternating with the milk.
With a spatula, fold in the blueberries. Then divide the batter on to the muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes. Once down, let it cool and voila... Gluten Free Muffins.
It was yummy straight out of the oven. I can taste the lemon, not to tangy, and it blends well with the sweetness of the brown sugar. I don't like my stuff too sweet.
I think this would be bomb if it was topped with some Brown Sugar Streusel, but I was lazy.
Any of you are on a Gluten Free diet or have problems with Wheat/Gluten?!?!? PLEASE SHARE AND HELP A SISTER OUT.
So far, I've been eating a lot of fruits and veggies, which is a good thing, no? Hehe.
moonbeams,
Rima
Ever since I was a teen I've been chronically tired (just in case you didn't notice, that's my own description of it) I can't sit down for more than 5 minutes without talking or I will absolutely pass out (Tim hates road trips with me!) I also get these weird large nodules on my elbows, that no doctor or dermatologist has been able to explain to me yet, once one tried injecting it with something, and it went away for a while, but then came back. They kind of act like psoriasis flare ups, but don't get dry and flaky. I'm pretty sure that all of this is somehow linked to a gluten allergy...but DUDE there's NO way I could go gluten free!!! I tried once, but was completely stumped at what the hell to eat :/ I can't afford special gluten free products, and I'm sure as hell not giving up cereal, I live off of that shit! Good luck to you!!! xo
ReplyDeleteHey there! I fear that if you really wanna know whether you're celiac or not, you're only chance to get a reliable result is to go to your doctor and make him do a blood test. Because only being gluten free on the basis of the idea of possibly being celiac is definitely not worth it. Once you're leaving your home, it's hard to stay to your diet (even in the US and even in CA - even though that was by far my best gf time). So since you're a nurse, I guess you already knew this but in the end, only a doctor can give you a definite result. And before the test, don't stay gf because this could ruin the result. If you decide or have to stay gf, don't hesitate contacting me - I can tell you the enjoyable brands I found during my time in CA. Since that stuff is horribly expensive, everything not so yummy is huge disappointment ;) Anyway: Good luck to you!! :) littlesun1@web.de
ReplyDeleteI got tested for celiac over the summer because I've had GERD issues for years, but the test came back negative. I hope that if gluten-free is the answer for you that it helps! The muffins you made look tasty :)
ReplyDeleteOh man, that's tough being potentially gluten free! I constantly think there are things my body is rejecting (esp dairy) but I can't pull myself away from it! I hope you have more luck with it than I do!
ReplyDeleteI get a reaction to certain types of alcohol. I've not bothered to pinpoint which it is though. But the palms of my hands and the bottoms of my feet itch and my face gets red. Asian Blush they call it. Good thing I'm not much of a drinker.
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