Sunday, December 05, 2010

Gluten Free Trial

For awhile now I've been noticing that frequently I get a migraine after I eat some white breads and other white flour based products. I was tested for celiac well over a year ago and supposedly the test results said I wasn't (my doctor at the time, though highly recommended, wasn't actually very good) but I wasn't convinced. I've been really tired and foggy headed and headache-y lately, so I decided that a gluten free trial was in order. Today is day 7 and I had a migraine on the first day and the 2nd and 3rd day I had teeny tiny migraines that lasted less than an hour and went away without medication. Sad to say that it seems quite likely that I'll have to quit gluten. Mostly I'm okay with this, but I love good bread and tofurky roasts and so that makes me sad. But not getting as many migraines would be awesome. (Right now I'm considering eating tofurky roasts for special occasions). Additionally, since going gluten free I dropped a few pounds.

So what have I been eating? As to be expected, I did buy a bunch of GF products at the store. Van's GF Waffles, Erewhon Crispy Rice Cereal (it has honey, I know), Bob's Red Mill Chocolate Chip Cookie mix, Bob's Red Mill GF All Purpose Flour and GF Bisquick.

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Here are the Bob's cookies made with Earth Balance and cornstarch as the egg replacer:

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They're pretty good! I undercooked them a little because I read somewhere that they get overdone quickly. Initially they were a little moist in the center but as they cooled they became crispy around the outer edges and nicely chewy in the middle. Livi took a bite and said she didn't like them but then said she wanted some later. My head feels a little foggy right now, but I did eat 4 (the bag says it makes 24 cookies but I made 32 - 4 cookies gave me 370 calories and 14 grams of fat so I don't think I'll be doing that again!). I'm going to try freezing the rest and defrosting/microwaving 2 at a time when I feel a craving.

I also got Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook from the library the other day and made the potatoes and green beans with a miso dressing (no arugula). Yummy!

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5 comments:

Carissa said...

Your food looks good even though you have to go gluten free now. SOrry bout that :( I know how it feels to get migraines all the time. My sis in law and mom in law are both gluten free for health reasons as well and they look and feel great now!

Sarah said...

Thanks Carissa! And good to know!

Terri said...

I've heard that there are varying degrees of gluten intolerance, so I'm guessing that it's possible you could have a milder case of gluten intolerance that wouldn't show up on a blood test.

Are you able to tolerate seitan? Since it's basically concentrated gluten, it might be a good way to test your theory that you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance. I've never had any problems with wheat products before, but I made seitan for the first time a month ago and basically ate it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks all weekend. I got so, so sick from it with all the classic symptoms gluten intolerance. So now I know to eat gluten containing foods in moderation, lol.

MeloMeals said...

I definitely feel better when I don't eat gluten. I'm going to post my gluten free pizza dough recipe this week once I get it written down.

Anonymous said...

I also tested negative for celiac multiple times, but with my digestive problems, have gone gluten-free anyways b/c I figured it couldn't hurt. I've found it really easy, and have no complaints. I still eat oats a lot, and very occasionally spelt, but pretty much no wheat. I never thought it would be so painless.