Sunday, September 18, 2011

Going gluten-free

As of August it's been six years since being diagnosed with gastroparesis (delayed stomach emptying) and in that time I've learned what foods my body can handle and which I should steer clear of. But as time goes on I'm noticing that certain foods with gluten (a protein from wheat) are upsetting my stomach. Things like pasta, bread, and certain ice creams causes me horrible stomach cramps the following day. To test my worse fear, I went gluten free for two weeks and didn't have a single problem. I don't think I'm allergic to gluten because I think the symptoms would be more severe, but I do believe I have a sensitivity to it and need to eat it sparingly.

Keeping that in mind, I tried three new gluten-free recipes this week with great results. The first was a garlicky shrimp and rice casserole that we both loved. It was seasoned rice mixed with garlic shrimp, spinach, and cheese. It was so good. Last night I made a southwestern enchilada casserole that was a layer of corn tortillas covered with a mix of seasoned shredded chicken, artichoke hearts and cheese, another layer of tortillas and a sauce made of chicken broth, rice flour, hot sauce and mild green chilies. Then the whole thing is topped with more cheese.
It was tasty, other than I wish I'd used a mix of marinated artichokes and frozen to make it more flavorful. Then, for my Sunday baking for work I made gluten-free cranberry and white chocolate rice crisp bars. They're a mix of rice crispies, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, peanut butter, cranberries with a white chocolate drizzle.
They're in the fridge right now setting up. I hope they like them, because you expect the taste of a traditional rice crispy treat and that's not what these are. First of all there's peanut butter in the mix, but secondly the sweetener is brown rice syrup with is sweeter than melted marshmallows. They're different, but still good. They'd better be for all the hunting I had to do for brown rice syrup!

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