Goodbye Gluten!

For the past 15 months, my life has been dairy free as Micah has a dairy allergy/sensitivity/intollerance that is pretty sensitive (as I have been nursing him.) In recent months, we have determined that he also has a problem with wheat or gluten. Additionally we have found that at least part of Noah's stomach problems are related to milk. So, overall our whole family has been eating mostly dairy free (cooking seperate things got old after the first month) and we found that it wasn't THAT bad.  (I would pay good money for a real pizza or cheesecake, but overall it's tolerable.)

Unfortunately, poor Micah keeps having reactions- thanks to food that gets dropped (picture a human puppy under the table after every meal) or food that his sister is "kind" enough to share with him. And these reactions entail days/weeks of crying all day and night and are incredibly frustrating for me (who has to get up with and deal with him), Bryan (who has to hear about it and deal with a perpetually exhausted wife), and the rest of the kids who either get yelled at because of what Micah ate or get little attention as my time is taken up by caring for the poor child. And then, of course, there is the fact that Micah is acting in such a way out of extreme misery. Which is totally not fair, if preventable. And, we think it may be.

So the short of it, is that we are removing all gluten and dairy from our house. This helps Noah who, being 5, cannot always stop himself from eating stuff that he knows will make hime sick. And it also, in theory, will help Micah who will not inadvertantly be exposed to what we THINK is making him sick. (The help from the doctors (or lack there of) is a whole 'nother story.)

And because living life dairy and gluten free is an incredible adjustmen,t and there's actually quite a large community of people living this way, I hope to be able to share more of our favorite recipes and finds.

Here's our first, Betty Crocker's gluten free chocolate chip cookie mix. We used Earth Balance for the butter and thought that they were definitely a winner. I don't think you would know they were gluten free if you weren't told.

Creme Brulee French Toast (overnight)

*This is not GF as written, and I have yet to try with GF bread*

1/2 C butter, melted (I use earth balance, works fine)

1 C brown sugar

2 T maple syrup

French bread sliced into 1 inch slices, enough for one layer in a 9x13

4 eggs

1 1/2 C half and half or milk (I use almond)

2 t vanilla

1) Combine the butter, brown sugar and syrup. Pour into bottom of 9x13 baking dish.

2) Add bread to fit over butter mixture.

3) Whisk eggs, milk and vanilla together and pour evenly over bread. Cover and refridgerate overnight.

4) (In the morning.) Preheat oven to 350*F. Bring to room temperature. (I don't always do this because of time but it does cook much better when I do.)

5) Cook until puffy and lightly browned, about 35-40 minutes. Cool slightly and invert when serving.



Never had it puff like this before!



Became "normal" again as it cooled a bit.



Finished product. No syrup necessary!