Recipes

Even though these recipes are gluten free does not mean you have to be gluten free. You can quickly and easily change by using regular flour/bread crumbs/bisquick/soups instead of gluten free options.

Being gluten free does not necessarily mean you have coeliac disease. You can test negative for coeliac disease but you can have a gluten sensitivity/intolerence which causes symptoms similar to coeliac disease. For me gluten causes a flare up of my IBS with bloating, excessive gas and constipation.

Being gluten free/sensitive/intolerant means making changes to recipes. It can be expensive if you purchase ready made items, especially bread products.

You have to be vigilant in checking out the ingredient lists on prepared foods and restaurant foods. Restaurants may offer gluten free options but be aware that they usually aren’t prepared in a certified gluten free kitchen and will be exposed to wheat, especially toast which is more than likely prepared in the same toaster as regular toast.

Watch out for the “may contain” labels!

I’m a plain and simple cook, not a lot of sauces or spices. I am re-visiting all my recipes and making them gluten free. Sometimes it is as easy as

using gluten free flour instead of regular wheat flour
using gluten free Bisquick
switching out cream soups in recipes for my own gluten free bechamel/white sauce

Buying naturally gluten free items and preparing your own food will save you money and you will have the satisfaction in knowing exactly what is in your recipe.

I use home made soups, chilis, and casseroles instead of store bought ones as I can control what goes into them.

I have become a label reader and have learned that wheat/gluten products hide under lots of different names. Watch out for soy sauce, and yeast extract.

I keep a food diary, including symptoms, and this really helps to determine what foods my system doesn’t like.

But some products are gluten free, like oatmeal, but may not be prepared in a gluten free environment and may be exposed to gluten products. Some but not all have the “may contain” label. Does this mean they are prepared in a facility that has wheat products?, does it mean the person preparing the food might of consumed a wheat product?, or does it mean the facility/manufacturer has not done the testing required to have the gluten free label? Using these products is a choice you have to make.

Gluten free recipes for meals:

using mason jars for storage containers are c raftygardener.ca

*** Hint: The lids from grated cheese containers fits mason jars and Classico sauce jars (which are like mason jars). This makes a great addition if you use these kinds of jars for storage.

Gluten free veggie recipes:

While veggies are usually naturally gluten free it is what you add to the recipe that just might contain gluten. Watch out for flour, bisquick, some condensed soups, coatings, and granola.

I do buy chickpeas in a can and love to roast them in the oven using this recipe and it is delicious using honey and cinnamon.

zucchini recipes:

Did you know that botanically speaking zucchini is actually a fruit along with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans and others that have seeds inside them. But we call them all vegetables.

Gluten free recipes for desserts:

apple rhubarb crumble at craftygardener.ca

making baked bananas at craftygardener.ca

I’m a soup lover, and make all my own soups so that I can control the ingredients. I make sure I use gluten free stock, avoid barley and other products that have wheat products in them.

*** Hint: Waste not want not.

I frequently save the liquid from cooking veggies and potatoes to use as stock for my soups. I also poach chicken in water and save the liquid to use as a base for my chicken soups.