On the weekend Chris and I visited my Mum's side of the family for my baby half brothers second birthday (yes, he it the cutest thing ever). I was having a chat to my Mum after she served up gluten free rolls for herself and one of my aunts - who is gluten and lactose intolerant - as well as a gluten and lactose free cake. Which was amazing.
But forget the cake. I was talking to my Mum about her decision to cut out gluten from her diet. I'm not sure how strict she is about it, but she says she feels so much better when she does. This got me thinking about whether it's something that I should consider. I often feel tired, lethargic and bloated, even though I eat healthy (for the most part), get plenty of sleep and exercise daily. Perhaps this might help? I have considered cutting gluten out of my diet before, but always decided against it due to the effort involved. Chris must have been thinking along the same lines, as he was the one who put it to words. So we are giving it a try!
Yesterday was the beginning. We aren't going to be ultra strict about cutting gluten 100% out of our diet, but rather focus on reducing the amount of gluten we do consume. For instance, we are still having oats for our breakfast, even though contain traces of gluten, they are only in minimal amounts (or so I have read. Correct me if I am wrong!).
Last night we had lentil burgers for dinner, so I decided I'd try my hand at making some gluten free rolls to go with them! I have no idea about gluten free flours, so after spending a good 10 minutes staring hopelessly at the gluten free section of the supermarket I opted for a basic homebrand gluten free flour. I made rolls using a basic white roll recipe, and they turned out... okay. They didn't rise very much, and were a bit dry and dense. But I have gathered this to be a bit of a norm for gluten free baking. Any tips?
So fingers crossed we can stick to it and start to see some results! Any advice on the gluten free front would be fantastic - flours? Simple recipes? What's cheap (with car rego and christmas on the horizon, money isn't flowing haha)?
Reanna.
Have you tried spelt? I used to buy spelt bread from the organic shop and it is deeelicious! It doesn't have that depressing crumbly texture of "gluten-free" bread. I highly recommend it if you can find it. I only ever bought pre-made spelt products so I don't know how to bake with it, though.
ReplyDeleteI had spelt flour for a little while earlier this year. It is quite nice! I never really baked bread our anything with it though. I think it contains gluten, but only in low quantities so I might try it out again. Thanks!
DeleteHere is a great spelt recipe to try:
Deletehttp://www.inkedincolour.com/good-food-strawberry-and-spelt-sticky-bread/#.UmCXFzanrow
I haven't eaten any wheat since Sunday. Loving it. I also started exercising twice a day again. Feeling pretty amazing :)
ReplyDeleteThat's great! I think I have failed already, but at least I have cut back - I'm not eating any bread, which is a good effort considering I work at a bakery haha!
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