What is Gluten?
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I have a confession. No, I’m not a three-headed Hell-hound…. or a Mermaid from the Pacific… or a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist on the beam…
I am gluten intolerant.
But, I wonder how many people even know what gluten is? I mean…
Well, you can go read this very scientific article that will explain what gluten is, but the short version is that gluten is a protein found in wheat, oats, barley, rye and many other grains.
It gives dough it’s elasticity and when combined with Yeast
and it fluffs up to make this really yummy stuff…
the stuff that causes the dough to rise.
It’s what makes everything delicious about bread delicious.
And that Ann? She certainly knows her way around the kitchen… just take a look at this heavenly glazed orange bread that she made recently…
or these mouthwatering blueberry buttermilk mini donuts from Keri…
or this deceptively simple beer bread from Melissa…
All that yummy-nummy breadalicious stuff that I can’t {or shouldn’t } eat.
What causes Gluten Intolerance?
There are a variety of reasons why one is Gluten Intolerant…from Celiac’s Disease to a straight-forward Allergy. And it certainly makes cooking for your family a total pain in the neck.
So, I’ve decided to share with you a little insight into our lives about how we deal with this issue and what we eat.
I’m not a fancy cook and I don’t enjoy grocery shopping. That ‘s putting it mildly.
So, there won’t be gourmet meals plastered all over these here web-pagers, but a real-life chronicling of what I come up with and put together for my family.
Some days I feel like the only gluten-free momma on the planet, so I hope, if you have loved one or friends that are gluten free, you’ll share these posts with them and encourage them to join in the conversation!
Mwuah, my Bold Ones! Here’s to living a healthier {and gluten-free} life!
And if you’re not Gluten Free, go ahead grab some Bread Flour
and enjoy Beth’s Soft Pretzels: The Amish Way
I won’t give you the evil eye… much.
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Thanks for sharing, Gwen! Though my donuts may say otherwise, I am always looking for simple, healthy meals and I can’t wait to see what you share 🙂
Thanks, Keri! I am really looking forward to sharing this part of my life. It’s VERY simple, but I think so many people don’t know where to begin when they discover they are Gluten Intolerant, so hopefully, I can help a little!
And thank you so much for allowing me to use the photograph of your amazing donuts! They look incredible…
May I ask how you found out you were gluten intolerant Gwen? My youngest son has been having a lot of issues and we thought he was lactose intolerant at first but that doesn’t seem to be solving his problems. I was researching gluten and started to think I may be intolerant of it as well as him! Really looking forward to this series, thank you for including my beer bread!
I started having some digestion issues and just never felt good…tired and irritable. I was tested for allllll sorts of crazy things. I even went to an immunologist. No body could figure it out! Then one day I found a book about it and it described what I was going through to a tee… So I tried eliminating it from my diet, and I got better!
Then when little Morgan was born, he threw up everything that had gluten in it. So I knew what was going on. He was tested for Celiac’s, but it came back negative {but blood tests can do that}. We went to an allergist, and he tested negative for the bad allergies, but our allergist said that there are many, many kinds of allergies that they can’t test for, and that he probably had an allergy to it. They only test for the allergies that result in anaphylactic shock.
The best test is to go on the Caveman diet and then add one thing back in at at time to see if it affects digestion or whatnot… That’s what I did WAY back when! I think more people are affected by Gluten Intolerance than we know…
I hope that helps and that you can figure out what is going on!!! And I’m always here if you need me!
You go girl!! I’m intolerant as well and am always looking for great recipes!! Can’t wait to see what you got!
I thought you were! Maybe we can cook something up together sometime…har-har-har…
i love all the glueten filled stuff up there! YUM!!! thanks for sharing the glueten free too. 🙂
Tell me about it! Those girls sure know how to make some yummy bread, don’t they?
hahahha oops, i can’t spell gluten!
No worries! I can’t speel muuch off anithink… haha!
i think that would be so hard…. i m not intolerant, but i notice sometimes an acidic feeling in my stomach from it. like when i eat wheat bread… weird. it is not enough to stop me though.
Tisn’t a piece of cake..haha!
You sweet thing! Thank you for the shout out…and I think living gluten-free is one of the hardest things ever. A good friend of mine from my old job has Celiac’s Disease. She is very diligent. The one thing I admire is that she doesn’t act like it’s a curse…which it really is (in my opinion.) She can’t even receive Communion at mass. I’m looking forward to your Friday posts and think this is an excellent idea for a blog series. Happy Weekend!
Oh, you are welcome, Ann!
It’s not always easy to be gluten free, but there many more options now than there were 15 years ago!
I usually skip communion as well. It’s kinda sad, but what do you do?
That’s funny you said sometimes you feel like the only gluten free mama on the planet because sometimes I feel like the only non gluten free mama! I need to learn more about this, these days several of my inlaws are gluten free.
Bliss
Oh, I’m sure you are not! But there is a great deal of awareness now, I think. 15 years ago? Not so much. So, it’s way easier these days to find alternatives. Though nothing can do what gluten can… no matter how you try to doctor it up!
I have a friend who has chosen to go gluten free. She makes awesome recipes both for dinner and dessert. However, many of her recipes substitute nut flours for the wheat flours and my son is anaphylactic to all nuts. So we will not be attempting gluten free unless the recipes are also nut free; at least until he moves out of the house. I look forward to reading about how you deal with this challenge.
Yup. Lots of the gluten free mixes use nut flours. We are rice free, so that also limits us b/c most all the gluten free stuff is made with brown rice flour.
Nut allergies are rough, too! Nuts are everywhere!!!
All these awesome pictures are making me hungry…for something gluten free of course 🙂 Thank you for such an easy educational post on gluten. You explained a lot of things I didn’t know!
I know! Aren’t those recipes incredible??? I do what I can, but it’s not easy sometimes!
I don’t envy you Gwen. I can’t imagine how hard it is to plan your meals around a gluten free diet. I have made flourless peanut butter cookies before that were pretty darned tasty. They still have sugar in them (which I’m trying to avoid these days) so I’m thinking I’m going to try making them with Stevia.
We LOVE flourless peanut butter cookies! Life is much better know that awareness is up and there are so many gluten free products available.
I’m sugar and rice free as well, so I feel your pain! I use Stevia in just about all my recipes that call for sugar and it does pretty well, I think!
A bunch of my cousins are gluten intolerant too (or their kids are, so the whole family eats gluten free). It’s really amazing all the things that have gluten in them that you wouldn’t even realize, but it’s also amazing all the gluten-free options that are out there!
It’s amazing how many people are gluten free… SO many prepared foods have gluten in them. You really have to read labels!
There are TONS of gluten free products now! It’s great!
OK, seriously? Can you just sit right down at the computer and start writing your posts about this like right now? I think a lot of people are probably gluten intolerant and don’t know it. I’ve sometimes wondered if I am, and I sooo look forward to you sharing some really straightforward tips on how you deal with it. I’ve been too lazy to really look into it much until now!
Ha! I’m working on it… Like I said, I’m not gourmet cook and I like easy, easy! So it’s going to be ridiculously simple… but I’m looking forward to it as well.
I know I feel sooooo much better when I’m gluten free. It’s crazy!
I am also gluten intolerant. We use spelt flour (not gluten free but low gluten) for all our baking, we eat a lot of rice and brown rice pasta only. Bob’s Red Mill sells an awesome Gluten Free Flour mix we’ve used as well. Costco sells it for a great price. Excited to get on your email list 🙂
Hey Jennifer!
I did use spelt for a while. It does really well. I’m a huge fan of Bob’s Red Mill and use it all the time! I’m sharing my top three fav’s of theirs next Friday…
To add insult to injury, we’re rice free as well… so that really limits us with the gluten free mixes…ugh!
I’m thrilled to have you subscribe! Thank you so much!
You know, I read an article the other day about how wheat has been genetically altered so much that it’s actually really tough on everyone’s system. We don’t have allergies to it (that I know of!) but it’s definitely something I try to cut back on. Looking forward to the series!
I do think that is probably true. Who knows what they are doing to the crops now with all of the genetic research. I wonder if that is causing all the widespread issues with gluten… who really knows!
I know I feel so much better without it, but it’s hard sometimes!
Gwen I’m not diagnosed as gluten intolerant but I try to follow Paleo/Primal ways of eating which exclude all grains. A lot of the Paleo experts believe that most people are intolerant to gluten and don’t even know it. It can cause inflammation in the body that is responsible for all sorts of health problems. I know when I am strict with cutting out grains my joints ache way less. Anyway the point is your not alone – I try to be gluten free by choice. Of course, when you post those delicious recipes it’s hard to stay on the plan!!!! 😉
PS Are you kids gluten free? I would really love to cut some out of my kids’ diet but they love their macaroni and waffles.
I’m very interested in Paleo. I read this great blog, https://paleoporn.net/, but I haven’t really gotten my feet wet yet… though most of what she does, I’ve been doing for years. We’re rice free, too, {and I’m sugar free for other reasons) so that complicates our gluten free life even more!
My oldest is Gluten Free. He vomited up every grain I tried to feed him as a baby. I knew what was going on due to my issues, so that saved me! I’ll be writing about what I feed the boys for snacks and stuff. Because Morgan is Gluten Free, Brendan is most of the time as well. We’ve been really negligent lately, so that is one reason I’m doing this new series… to help hold me more accountable. I feel like a different woman when I’m gluten/rice/sugar free!
My sister’s family is gluten intolerant which makes having them for dinner challenging but not impossible. I notice there are so many gluten free products in the grocery aisles now as this seems to be a widespread issue.
Holly Browning sent me over to check out your blog since we both live in Leesburg?
Mary Alice
You are right…it is challenging, but not impossible! There are so many products available now that is makes it so much easier…
Holly is so sweet! I’m actually in Lynchburg. It’s a bit west of Charlottesville. I love it here!
Thanks for sharing my pretzels, Gwen, but man it makes me feel guilty now, after reading this post! 😀 I have all sorts of belly issues, and I’ve often wondered if it’s caused by gluten. For an admitted carbaholic like me, just the thought of giving up gluten gives me the shakes. Deep down I know it would help, though. :sigh:
Thank YOU for allowing me, Beth! They look amazing!
I’m a total carb addict… I have some serious weak moments, that’s for sure! But when it comes down to it, I just feel so much better without it. blurg.
What challenge! I can’t imagine cutting out so much, I bet I would be healthier though. I hear so many people talk about Paleo and being gluten free, etc… maybe I should read up?
It’s not the easiest thing on the planet, but it could certainly be worse, right? I feel WAY better when I’m gluten/sugar free.
We struggle with the gluten thing – my son seems like an easier person to deal with when he cuts out gluten but he isn’t really interested in that. We chose to ditch processed flour in general so that helps, even though that’s not the same. Looking forward to some more gluten free guidance!
OH, it’s not fun, is it? Those boys are so hard to corral when it comes to Pizza and cookies and all that good stuff!
We’re NOT perfect, but we are definitely trying!
You are not alone, I’m a mom and also gluten intolerant. But in my case I’m the only one in the family; how I now it .. because we ran some blood test .
Sometimes is very difficult for me to explain to other people why I don’t eat that delicious home made cake or cookie. But i live one day at a time.
Thanks for sharing!!
That’s all we can do is live in the now, Rebeca! I feel so much better and I bet you do too!
Thank you!! I’m new to being gluten free and needing some wonderful and easy ideas.
Kayla,
I’m glad I could help you!
Gwen
Thank you!!
Kalya,
Thank you!
Gwen