Yummy Gluten Free Oat Bars

I have created a very yummy gluten free oat bar for you guys to try.  It also got ginger in it to help fight cancer cells!

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Gluten Free Oat Bars – Recipe

Ingredients:

2 C gluten free oats (not steel cut)

1/2 C sliced almonds

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp gluten free oat flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp Vanilla extract

10-12 tbsp raw organic unpasteurized honey

Instructions:

Mix together in a bowl until thoroughly mixed.  Spoon into a small glass dish and smash down until evenly distributed.  I just made it up so feel free to let me know how to improve it!

Enjoy!

I was talking with someone today who is gluten intolerant and has a girlfriend who is diagnosed celiac.  He was telling me that gluten definitely has an effect on him.  Not only does he not feel good after ingesting gluten, but he also gets brain fog and depression exactly 3 days after eating gluten.  And his girlfriend is extremely sensitive to gluten and feels the effects after ingesting gluten.  Then he told me something very intriguing.  He said that they visited a bakery in Napa that only used ancient wheat grains in making their artisan bread.  Apparently the bakery had enough of a compelling story that the wheat they were using was from way back prior to the GMO phase, or “franken wheat days” that they both tried it.

Guess what???  None of them had a reaction to it!!!  Wait!!  What??!!  How could that be?  I wonder if the GMO wheat is the component that makes us all react horribly?

Although, I was talking with another celiac person the other day and they said that one of the first cases of celiac was about 100 years ago before the GMO days – gotta wonder.  It’s worth looking into though in my eyes, this whole GMO thing.  I try and not eat anything that has been genetically modified.  Thoughts?

I was talking with a friend of mine’s wife and I was telling her about the benefits of going gluten free for people that have Multiple Sclerosis (MS) like my friend has and she said that he had tried gluten free food a while ago but didn’t like the taste.  I explained to her that the gluten free foods these days are very tasty and that there’s such a variety of foods to choose from now that it’s well worth the effort to try again.

Another story along the same line was my Mother-in-law was up this way a few months ago and we went to Whole Foods where she bought some gluten free chocolate mini muffins. When we got home she tried one and said, “Oh Boy!  These are good!  I didn’t think they were going to be that good!”  Whereas I replied, “Oh yes, there’s so many really good gluten free products out there that you really have to be careful not to overeat!”

Over Christmas time I made some absolutely delicious gluten free ginger-molasses cookies!  Here’s the recipe:  Yummy!

http://www.pamelasproducts.com/soft-and-chewy-ginger-molasses-cookies/

GoMacro bars

So my husband brought home a new brand of gluten free bars for me to try called GoMacro Macrobars.  The GoMacro representative gave him 6 different bars for me to try – Thanks GoMacro!  So I tried one of them right then and really liked it.  They were chewy and very tasty.  And they do not have any corn products, which I also must avoid.  Another nice thing about the GoMacro bars are they don’t have any sugar alcohols like maltitol or any fake sugars.  They use infant-safe organic brown rice syrup which is 100% fructose free so it won’t spike your blood sugar.  They are certified organic, certified gluten free, NON-GMO verified, certified Vegan, and macrobiotic.  Some of their bars pack over 12 grams of protein!  Check them out at www.gomacro.com or buy a bar at your local health food store.  My two favorites are Sunny Uplift and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip!  Yummy!

Hallmark

Saw this on the internet today – I actually did see this card at the Hallmark store in San Mateo, California last week and felt bad because even the greeting card industry, namely Hallmark Cards, is making fun of people who NEED to NOT eat gluten for their health.  Who else is going to jump on the “Let’s bash the gluten free people” bandwagon?  Geez.

I don’t see any cards saying, “Oh, you want something peanut free?  My ASS is peanut free!”  Now some people will say, “Well, people with a peanut allergy could die if they eat it.”  I realize and acknowledge that – but what people need to understand is that people with Celiac get really sick if they ingest gluten.  And it causes a host of other problems in the body.   Read up Hallmark!  Stop making fun of people.

It’s funny – I’ve noticed myself occasionally apologizing to a waiter for having to be gluten free.  I think it’s because of all the negative press the gluten free industry is getting – that maybe people don’t really need to be gluten free.  Some say that it’s in “fashion” to say that you are gluten free even if you aren’t for medical reasons.  And some are even stating that even with the diagnosis of gluten intolerance that maybe you can eat gluten every once in a while!  Can you believe that??  A lot of people (and including my doctor) say that if you need to stay away from gluten for medical reasons, then you need to stay away from gluten altogether!  Seems logical to me – I don’t know why other people can’t understand that.  You know what I say to those people when they say to me, “Oh, a little bit is not going to kill you!”  I say, “Well, here’s some rat poison – a little bit won’t kill you, here, go ahead, have some.”  They don’t have much to say after that.

I think the wheat industry is also purporting a lot of negative press – big surprise there!  It’s their entire industry we are staying away from and it hurts their bottom line.  Funny, but I don’t feel bad about saying that I have to be corn free – they seem to be a bit more empathetic about that one.  Last night the waitress said, “Oh, you’re gluten free AND corn free?” Anyway, I’m not apologizing anymore!  It’s poison to my body and if they don’t understand that, then tough cookies (g-free of course)!

So my husband and I went camping in August, yes, with a tent, in Big Sur, CA.  The weather was perfect and it wasn’t too cold at night.  We also bring all of our own food and, of course, it’s gluten free!  My husband isn’t celiac or gluten intolerant but he goes gluten free for the 5 days with me!  The only thing he’s not too keen on is gluten free beer.  We brought two gluten free beers with us – one Ale, and one dark ale.  The brand from Green’s is the best in my humble opinion because it’s not made with sorghum.  They are pretty good but just a bit different from regular wheat beer.

Here’s a picture of McWay Falls, Big Sur, CA – it was a beautiful day.

Anyway, living gluten free while camping is not that difficult.  All you need to do is some up-front planning.  What will you make for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?  We cooked eggs for breakfast but one day we made pancakes with oat flour – so yummy!  Lunches you will need to purchase g-free bread like Udi’s.  Dinner – meat and vege’s.   Let me know if you need help with planning.

Gluten Free Pizza Recipe

So we tried a new pizza dough recipe – we are always looking for a great gluten free pizza dough that’s not blah and flat.  And one that doesn’t have corn since I’m super sensitive to it too!  I happened upon a yeast free pizza dough recipe that is gluten free (I’m sorry I don’t remember where I found it to give credit).  We tried it the other night and it was really good.  The crust wasn’t flat and it had lots of flavor!  Here’s the recipe:

Gluten Free Pizza Crust

The crust is really quick to make and you don’t have to wait for it to rise!

Ingredients:

1 Cup gluten free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all-purpose flour)

1/4 Cup potato flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free potato flour)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder (I used Bob’s Red Mill aluminum free baking powder)

1 large egg

1/2 Cup milk (I used Fat free milk and it was fine)

1/8 Cup olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a pizza pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, add all of the dry ingredients and whisk lightly until well combined.

In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together egg, milk, and oil.  Take note of how much liquid there is.  You need one cup of total liquid so if you need more, add extra milk.  Slowly add the liquid into the dry ingredients.  Stir rapidly with a wooden spoon until well combined.

Place dough into pan.  Work gently with hands to spread evenly on bottom of the pan.  Brush dough with olive oil and top with desired toppings.  Place on top rack of oven and bake until dough is crisp and golden and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes.

We made ham and pineapple on one side and turkey pepperoni on the other!  Yummy!  Bon appetit!

As I have written before, travelling always brings out a certain, well, uncertainty in where I might find my gluten free food choices.  It was no different as we travelled up North to Seattle, Washington.  I, of course, travel with plenty of emergency food items in my purse.  My new favorite is Pamela’s Oat Cranberry Almond bar.  At 140 calories, it packs so much flavor and satisfaction with every bite.  I also brought dried Montmorency tart cherries – great as an anti-oxidant!

So the first day we were there, we decided to take a walk up to Pike Place Market.  It was a beautiful day and everyone was out and about.  We stopped at a few places; my husband bought a cup of chowder and I bought a banana.  While strolling along the street, I saw a bakery, but what really caught my eye was this red tape around the section marked, “Gluten Free.”  I’m not too much of a baked goods eater, but I asked the store manager about the way they baked their cookies, rolls, etc.  They talked about dedicated pans and spatulas, etc.  She also mentioned that there was another bakery down on another street below the market.  And that this new bakery also served sandwiches.  Yum!  Her directions were a series of signs and landmarks.  How fun is that?

Here’s the directions she gave us:

Head inside the market and when you see the neon sign that says, “Rotary Grocery,”

go down the hallway past the Pike Place Bakery …..

all the way to the elevator.  Take it to the bottom floor and then turn right.  There you will see the 1500 Coffee & Specialty Bakery.

Step inside and see all of the gluten free goodies.

Ask for a sandwich if you like.

Here’s a picture of one of their very happy gluten free customers!  She’s enjoying a very yummy cinnamon roll.