Gluten Free Goodness

 

If you haven't heard, the Evans family is gluten free. Not by choice, but due to health issues, we stopped consuming gluten as well as a list of other foods in November. Right away, I felt better. Like 100x better. Apparently my leaky gut has been allowing gluten to pass through for, like 35 years? Because now I know how normal people's stomachs feel, in a word, GOOD!

 

Part of the challenge of going gluten free was replacing our gluten filled food items. Luckily for us this is a new era in food, and with many people going gluten free there are tons of food choices and resources. Unfortunately, a lot of gluten free products are full of other crap, which they put in to make the products taste good. So while there are a lot of ready made gluten free products we don't eat many of them. That left it up to me to make foods that I felt good about and that my kids would eat.

 

I went to my favorite place in the world, the library, and checked out tons of cook books. Then I set about testing recipes from each to decide which ones passed the muster and which ones were just no. I mean no *shudder!* I also had an invaluable bread baking lesson with my friend Christina and have picked her brain so many times for trouble shooting and ideas.

 

Through all of my testing, I have found one book that I love. I haven't had a recipe from it that my family and I haven't all enjoyed. I then went out and purchased my own copy, and I recommend you do to. Seriously, you won't be disappointed.

 

 

 

There's also a volume one but I haven't tried it yet and so can't attest to whether it's the bomb or not ;)

 

I use this book's flour blend to make bread, and I love it, but like many gluten free breads it's really best toasted, and I wanted to find something I could send in the kids' lunches. Also, I was feeling a little guilty about the white rice flour content, and I figured the least I could do is try the whole grain flour blend. The recipe is kinda persnickety, but it's that way for a reason. Follow the steps exactly so you get a loaf of bread you will eat, not a brick or a half cooked loaf. Trust me. There's a ton of info on every recipe about why they use the ingredients and techniques they do, but I'm not adding those to this blog. This cookbook is from America's Test Kitchen and just trust that they really test every process, so we don't have to. Bless.

 

I made the whole grain loaf and it's good. I mean it tastes like regular bread, which is crazy to me. The only caution is that this loaf dried out more quickly than the white loaf. I always put my bread in a bag in the fridge (without preservatives, this is the best way to keep your bread good for a few days), but usually I cut the whole loaf before doing it, next time I'll try cutting as I go to see if it will help keep it fresh longer.

 

This recipe calls for a smaller loaf pan, to help with rise. Ummmm...it rose alright! I haven't tried it in a larger pan, but this pan made giant bread slices. It's too much for me to have two slices in a sandwich. But I'll take this over the bricks I made starting out anyday!

 

 

This loaf was made using the book's whole grain flour blend. I made a half batch and that was just about right for one loaf, I wanted to try it before I made a larger batch. Now I'll make the whole recipe or two times the recipe so the blend is ready and in my freezer for the next few weeks. Just a reminder, keep your gluten free flours in the freezer, and let them come to room temperature before baking.

 

Here's the flour blend recipe:

 

24 ounces (5 1/4 cups) teff flour

8 ounces (1 3/4 cups) brown rice flour

8 ounces (2 1/3 cups) ground golden flaxseeds

5 ounces (1 cup) sweet white rice flour

 

Whisk all ingredients together in large bowl until well combined. Transfer to airtight container and refrigerate for up to three months, or freeze for up to six months. Bring to room temperature before using.

 

The book has multiple recipes that use this flour blend, but I used it in:

Whole Grain Sandwich Bread

 

17 ounces (2 cups plus 2 tbsp.) warm water (110 degrees) *I make my water between 110 and 130*

2 1/4 tsp rapid-rise yeast

3 tbsp. plus 1 tsp sugar (I use turbinado because we don't do white table sugar, but I think either would work)

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

19 1/2 ounces (4 1/3 cups) ATK  Whole Grain Gluten-Free Flour Blend (see above)

3 tbsp. powdered psyllium husk

1 1/2 tsp salt

 

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. As soon as oven reaches 200 degrees, turn off. This will be your warm proofing box for dough. Do not begin step 2 until oven has been turned off. *but I do anyways because I'm a rebel like that ;) I just don't mix the yeast until the oven is ready* Spray 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray. *we don't use spray so I use a brush to coat the pan with olive oil.*

 

2. Combine warm water, yeast, and 1 tsp sugar in bowl and let sit until bubbly, about 5 minutes *I have an irrational fear of my yeast dying so I use more sugar as fuel for them. In this recipe I used 1 tbsp. (3tsp) sugar* Whisk in eggs and yolk, and melted butter.  Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour blend, psyllium, baking powder, salt, and remaining 3 tbsp. sugar together on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Slowly add yeast mixture and mix until combined, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and beat until dough is sticky and uniform, about 6 minutes. (Dough will resemble cookie dough).

3. Using rubber spatula, scrape dough into prepared pan. Using wet hands, press dough gently into corners and smooth top. Run finger around entire edge of loaf, pressing down slightly, so that sides are about 1/2 inch shorter than center. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, place in warmed oven, and let rise for 10 minutes; do not let plastic touch oven rack.

4. Remove pan from oven and let sit on counter until loaf has risen 1/2 inch above rim of pan, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350 degrees.

5. Remove plastic and spray loaf with water. Bake until top is browned, crust is firm, and loaf sounds hollow when tapped, about 1 1/2 hours, rotating pan halfway through baking. Turn off oven and leave bread in oven for 15 minutes longer.

6. Remove bread from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Unmold bread onto wire rack and let cool completely, about 3 hours. Serve.

 

Enjoy!



An Update on Claire-Bear

October has been, in a word, crazy! I have definitely been living up to my blog name, and then some. You've probably seen lots of posts and photos on Facebook, but I haven't had a chance to share what happened at Clara's appointment, and lots of people have been asking for updates, because let's face it, she's way more interesting than I am.

 

A little history...Clara has been just fine, dandy, and sassy for the past 5 years. Yes, minor illnesses here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary. In July of this year she got a UTI. I wasn't surprised, because as she's 5 she's not the best at making it to the bathroom, and she had spent the week at horse camp, so I figured she didn't go when she needed to and yada yada. She was terrible about giving a urine sample and she got pretty sick, but she eventually gave the sample and was started on antibiotics.

 

August comes, and she gets sick again. This time, the vomiting starts pretty quickly after her complaints of feeling sick, and again, no urine sample. This time we went to the doctor's office and sat in a room giving her 5ml of fluid every 15 minutes until she could pee. Yep, fun huh? But the doctor needs to know what kind of bug is there so they know they're prescribing the correct antibiotic. After Clara finished her round of antibiotics we tested her urine to make sure she was actually clearing the infections, and I discussed further testing with her doctor.

 

I had had problems with UTIs and kidney infections as a kid, and I just felt in my gut something wasn't right. The doctor agreed to an ultrasound, but didn't want to go further as more testing would be invasive and her ped didn't want her to be traumatized. I get it. I got it. I still didn't feel right, but I'm not the doctor and I didn't want to over do it just because my "gut" was saying there was more to it.

 

The ultrasound was pretty clear, nothing of note, and we went on our merry way. At least until September. After school one day she complained of being tired. It was a dance day and I asked if she wanted to skip dance, she said no, she was up for it. She went into dance and came back out with a fever and feeling sick. I asked if I hurt when she peed, she said yes, and my heart sank. I knew it was another UTI. It was after hours but I called the doctor's office and asked if they could look at her history and please prescribe something. Of course the answer is no, not until you bring in a urine sample, call tomorrow for an appointment. I swear they put the cold hearted doctors on call, because I can't really picture my actual doctor telling us that. But who knows? Long story short, Clara got very sick during the night. She ended up in urgent care, then the ER, and one more trip to the ER. She had a UTI as I thought but she just couldn't keep anything down, so they had to give her fluids and the meds she needed through an IV. 

 

 

Pitiful Girl

 

After the third UTI Mike asked me to make an appointment the nurse practitioner at the doctor's office so we could talk to her about more tests. Then after I made the appointment he said he couldn't make it (as my dad would say, who's the dumb one?) and I went alone. Before I went I called a specialist in Chicago and made an appointment with them, as well as confirming the need for more tests.

 

And that last sentence there is a big one. Why? Well, I'm a Christian and I have a whole hearted belief in the love of the Father. Sometimes, he lets us work our own ay through struggles, and sometimes he sends earth angels into our lives to help us along when we need it most. I've recently been blessed with spending more time with one of the ladies from my church. The more we talk, the more we find out we have in common. When I found out I have EDS, she was the first one with suggestions for food ideas, since her family steers clear of gluten, processed food, and a lot of the things I have to cut from my diet. She's even offered to shop with me and brought me "legal" food that tasted great to show me I wasn't giving up flavor for life. Then when I was frustrated with Clara's illness, she shared her contact at Comers Children's Hospital, as her daughter had also had similar if not the same issues. I know not everyone believes, but I can't live in a world where that is all coincidence, and this is my chance to publicly say thank you. To God, for walking through life by our sides and for Christina, for holding my hand when I was at a low point.

 

A-hem...I'll go ahead and discretely dry my eyes and continue, to less mushy parts. So we got the referral for the next test, got it done (which let me tell you, sucked), and then took all the info to Chicago last Monday. I met with the doctor and talked about Clara, and then he went out to look at the disks I brought. He was back in within 5 minutes, which I thought meant this was very good or very bad. (Spoiler, it's in the middle, so don't break those tissues out again quite yet!) Dr. Gundeti sat down and asked me if I was sure this was the first time she'd had issues with UTIs. Of course I said yes, and he said it was surprising, and she has a birth defect often found on ultrasound scans while in utero. Her ureter on one side doesn't close when the urine fills the bladder, so it can go right back up into her kidneys. Then her body, being a super body, decided to grow an extra ureter to fix the problem, which as you can see, didn't.

 

The good news is we know exactly what the problem is, and it's fixable. The bad news is that she is going to need surgery to repair the issue. She's scheduled to go in mid December, and she'll be in the hospital one or two nights. It's a minimally invasive procedure so very low chances of side effects. The other GREAT news is that normally kids her age with this issue have scarring on their kidneys from repeat infections, but her kidneys look great and she should have no lingering effects after the surgery.

 

She's not excited for the surgery, but she is excited to have a week off of school to spend with me ;) And I'll be so happy for her to be better that I'll think I'll enjoy the week too.

You have WHAT?

This one's long, if you read it to the end I'll mail you a cookie.

Last week I was driving the girls home from school, and I felt a spider on my elbow. A SPIDER y’all! Normally, this would cause thrashing and a blind panic, but it’s a measure of how shell shocked I was that I calmly pulled over and tried to find the offending spider. When I couldn’t, I just got in and drove home. This is the same me who a few years back saw a spider on her window, drove across town, pulled into the garage, and refused to get out of the car until Mike came out to give the all clear that said spider wasn’t waiting right over the door crack to jump on me and wrap me in its web all Arachnophobia style. *shudder*

                But things are blunted, and especially that day. This has been a rough few weeks, with Clara having the UTI from heck and me basically wishing I could switch spots with her as I sat by her in the ER for two nights. This week she had more testing done and in two weeks we go to see a specialist in Chicago. I’ve been a little preoccupied, to say the least.

                So I hadn’t been thinking too much about an appointment I’d been waiting for since May. Ever since I saw a table at the Sunburst and I stopped and had a conversation with the volunteers. These wonderful women introduced me to a world I had only been very partially aware of, and initiated me into the tribe. At least they were a loving tribe ;) But no matter how much they said I may belong, I had my doubts. I saw my primary care doctor that same week on Monday, and she referred me to Dr. Collins, THE local (and perhaps regional) specialist on EDS.

                So, what in the what is EDS? Come on, I know you secretly watch American Ninja Warrior! Remember the man whose wife was in a wheelchair with this connective tissue disorder? Well, that’s EDS. Or one of its many faces. EDS stands for Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. It’s a connective tissue disorder and there are six types, with symptoms sometimes crossing types but mostly contained in the primary type. It’s also a spectrum disorder, which is why I have been living with it for 30 years (okay, 30 SOMETHING years) and didn’t realize it. Some people can have severe symptoms and are easily identified, and then there are others who have all these symptoms but never connect it back to the root cause. I could give you statistics and whatnot but suffice it to say, you probably know one, or more people with EDS, and they may not know it. As Dr. Collins said, “did you answer the foot phone as a child?” If you have NO idea what we’re talking about then you can’t come into the clubhouse, since that’s pretty much our secret handshake.

                But I should back up. How did I get from a table at a race to a life altering (mostly for the better!) diagnosis? It started when I was back home in Tucson for a visit when my mom was sick. This was the time before she passed where all the kids came home and she was out of the hospital by the time we arrived. I think there was some definite God work there, we all got to spend time together as a family one last time before my mom was gone. What a special time….

                We were all hanging out in the backyard and my brother was like, “Oh hey, watch this cool party trick!” (which isn’t even close to what my brother sounds like but it was years ago, so I have poetic license). Then he proceeds to pull the skin up on his arm like a curtain. I’ll try to insert an image link here but if it doesn’t work google EDS skin images. He then tells us he had been self-diagnosed with EDS, and he thinks it’s a tissue disorder, etc. I was like, “oooookkkkkaaaayyy… You’re weird! And I think you made that name up” (on the inside of course). Then I proceeded to completely forget all about Ken and his “EDS.”

Stretchy Arm

Ken is way less hairy and more stretchy if memory serves.

So years later, this has to be at least 4 years now, I walk up to the Sunburst to pick up my race packet, and I see this table for Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. And a light bulb clicks, I’m all, wow, my brother had that, or I think that’s what he called it, let me talk to these ladies. I’m chatting with them, and telling them about my brother, who’s really bendy and has weird skin, and one of the ladies, Anne I think, looked at me and was like, “so no one else in your family has EDS?” And quite blithely I replied, “nope!” Oh self, I’m cringing at your ignorance. As a health care professional maybe you should have looked it up when your brother told you he had it? Oofta!

                Then I find out it’s an autosomal dominant inherited disorder, which means one of my parents had it and they passed it on, there’s not a way to be a silent carrier like some diseases. And we chat more, and they ask more questions, and, not to diagnose me, but Pam told me right then and there that she thinks I DO have EDS, it’s just that mine looks very different from my brothers. I had a doctor’s appointment that Monday scheduled because my gut is a wreck, and I told them I would talk to my primary care doc about it (they then shared gut issues are a symptom of EDS). They gave me the name of the EDS doctor in town, which is a miracle, because EDS isn’t that well diagnosed, and I can guess there aren’t a ton of specialists out there.

I had my appointment with my GP (who, incidentally, is awesome! Hi Dr. Weston!!) and she thought my symptoms could definitely point to EDS, but I needed to see Dr. Collins to be officially assessed and diagnosed.  How diagnosis works is this, if you have certain types of EDS, you can get genetic testing to confirm. Other types it’s by clinical diagnosis. My type of EDS is hypermobile. Basically I am very bendy and stretchy. Yes, I thought everyone could touch their wrist with their thumb. Apparently not so much. If you think about it, connective tissue is everywhere, it makes up your body systems as well as, um, connecting things. My brother has super stretchy skin, I have baby soft skin (I totally got the good end of that symptom). My brother also has dislocations of his joints pretty frequently, where as if I dislocated something you’d have to pick me up off the floor.  Just for fun, here’s a list of symptoms someone with hypermobile EDS might have. Not exhaustive, just the ones I could get down as I was talking to the doctor.

Migraine-Um, hello! Yes, this is an EDS symptom. And with the correct supplements this guy may never have to take another med and may never suffer another migraine. You are reading that correctly people.

Tummy issues-We’ll just say, to be polite, EDS’ers tend to get backed up or flow too quickly. And see above as to my reason for visiting my GP. Again, totally treatable with diet & supplementation.

Torn cartiledge/etc-So remember when your fearless blogger had to go get hip surgery at the ripe old age of 32? And the only explanation was years of wear and tear? Well, here’s a new theory. Right about that time I started taking a cardio kickboxing class with Mike, and it was on awesome, impact absorbing, grippy floor. So when you pivot, say for a round kick, your bottom foot may not turn all the way around like it would with a proper round kick. Normal people would then be able to kick with the top leg so far. But my hip labrium were all like, “dude, we surrender!” and they just tore and allowed me to complete the kicks. Um, thanks? So years of working out on basketball courts and worn carpets have actually been protecting my joints until now. Who knew?

Light headedness-some people get POTS, look it up, but yours truly has neurally mediated syncope. Basically my blood pressure and heart rate, already super low (thanks EDS!) drop down so far that I pass out. Or at least in my case feel woozy until I grab some ground.

Small mouth & dental crowding-Hello 7 teeth extractions and braces for days…

Terrible eyesight-the optometrist told me last time I asked that “they don’t measure that high” so basically, blind. Along with this is difficulty seeing at night (which I have and which is why I hate to drive at night, but now I have a documented reason to bum a ride).

Insensitivity to local anesthesia-Yes, I hated the dentist for years, because whatever they did HURT. Then I moved here and got a decent dentist who gives me a lot of Novocain. God bless the Midwest!

Arm bumps-they’re just weird…again, should be able to get rid of them with the supplements

Depression & anxiety, difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, and always doing three things at once-basically, Dr. Collins explained that you can “rest & digest,” or “fight or flight.” I guess you don’t DO fight or flight, well, whatever you get the drift. Basically I produce a lot of adrenaline. So something that wouldn’t cause you to jump will give me an exaggerated response. Over time, my body’s like, man, this is SO wasteful (I hear my grandma Catherine in there telling me to wash the tin foil!) so it makes more receptors for adrenaline. Now I have normal levels of adrenaline, but way too many receptors for it. Guys, I totally have the advantage if a wooly mammoth is chasing my baby. But I don’t have the advantage when say, I need to get up in front of people and do something that scares me. Too much adrenaline=terrible job focusing and crazy heart rate/messing up. Oh, and I’m never able to sleep and I suffer from depression and anxiety but those things alone merit an entire blog post, so let’s table them shall we?

Bone tumors-“It’s not a toomer.” But then again, it was. The tumor in my jaw, what, 6 years ago? Thank you EDS.

And then pain. Oh yes pain. Luckily for me, I don’t suffer from this to a severe level. If I squat down to take pictures for eBay, my joints complain. My brother is in constant pain. So on the pain spectrum, I’d say I got off pretty easy. Over time, people with EDS can develop early onset arthritis, so that’s something to be aware of, but I’m not borrowing trouble.

There’s more. Of course there’s more. But those are the ones I’ve had to face and those are the ones I’m dealing with now. Now for some good news-I can run. Oh yes I can run! You’d think it’d be hard on the joints, but when you run you don’t hyperextend your joints, and that’s what I’m protecting against. In fact, staying physically fit and active will help to manage and maybe decrease symptoms. If you’re healthy, your whole body is happier. TRUTH.

I mentioned diet and supplements above, a LOT of my issues can be helped or completely alleviated with changes in those. Drastic, yes, but still an option. Let’s just say I’ll be getting rid of a few things none of us needs, like HFCS, food dyes, MSG, white sugar, and sugar substitutes. Then there’ll be those things that are a little tougher. Gluten, sugar (yes, I realize I listed it above, and still….), shelf stable processed/preserved foods, milk, and meats with hormones, and possibly tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers. I also now get to avoid grilled, fried, or toasted food. See yah George Foreman.  I’ve gone from taking zero supplements a day to a whopping 11 pills, BUT like I said above I may be able to drop the migraine meds, so even though it’s 11 vs 3, it’s an even swap in my book.

So where am I now? I won’t lie. I’ve had some moments where I’ve felt pretty broken. Changing my diet so drastically is going to take effort. I love food. Chocolate cake is my buddy. We don’t hang out every night but I know I can call him on a Saturday when I’m chillin and he’ll come right over. But Mike and I survived the food month of 7 eating only 7 foods so I know I can do it. I keep telling myself this and pretty soon it WILL stick.

Exercise-well I can run, but what makes me sad are the exercises I DO have to give up. No yoga. No kickboxing. No Zumba. No workouts on real gym floors. I was literally hours away from starting to teach a “real” class again and had to give it up because of the excellent flooring. Seriously, where’s the frowny face emoticon when you need it? I need to start at the ground up and make sure all my form is spot on. My body will let me do things I shouldn’t, and then I’ll pay for it. So the master becomes the student? Or the advanced student becomes the student? Or, well you get the point.

I also have guilt. The girls will be changing their diet with me. We won’t know for sure until they’re older, but I’m 99.9% sure Olivia has it. Clara, I’m leaning towards no. But I feel like crap for bringing my faulty genes to the gene pool. I know there’s really nothing I can do about it, but as a mom I feel like I should have KNOWN and protected them. It’s kinda my job. But barring that I’ll be doing my best to protect them from here on out. I pray that they don’t get the worst symptoms and since I am aware of the EDS now, if they are symptomatic, I can help treat those symptoms quickly.

Having EDS isn’t ideal, but we’re in this together, and we ARE going to make it out the other side!

 

 

6 January 2015

 

My new Contigo mug. I LOVE it! After losing one in a Christmas swap game, and not winning enough on the lotto tickets I ended up with to buy my own, I waited until after Christmas. And it was worth the wait. Perfection!

5 January 2015

I've had a lot of friends in my life. I've gone through stages of bigger is better (aka, how many Facebook friends do YOU have?). I've gone through periods where I worked so hard to change myself, mold myself into someone that other people thought I should be. I've given up on dreams, doubted my abilities, and let other people dictate my worth.

 

As I grow older, I have a tiny piece of the wisdom that I hope to have in another 10, 20, 30, or 40 years. I've learned friends are like a fine wine, they take time to develop to their full potential, you always look forward to seeing them, and time spent in their presence leaves you feeling happier, warmer, and better about your life and the world you live in. Friends support each other. They are each other's cheerleaders, and when a friend stumbles a true friend stops, turns around, and offers a hand up.

 

I am blessed to have been sent true friends in all stages of my life. From Edna & Michelle, to Sarah & Julie, to Candace & Erin, to Sarah (again ;)), Maggi, Kathy, and more. At this point in my life I want to grow the true friendships. I want to get to know Christina & Deann more. I want to walk alongside Beth & Vanessa. I want to get to know my best friend, Michael, even better than I do today. To all the people who are special in my life, even if you don't see your name, thank you. Thank you for being authentic & vulnerable. For giving a piece of yourself to me, in the hopes that I would love you and not break you. Thank you for being patient with me as I do the same, sometimes reluctantly, but taking that chance in the end, the chance to open up and be opened up to.

 

And if you find yourself on the other end of that dark tunnel, looking down a rabbit hole of fear and doubt about being the true you. Close your eyes and walk inside. Yes, some people won't follow you in your journey. You will learn that the people who you thought were closest, are actually farthest away. But you will also find that others you may not have noticed have the capacity to love you more than you could imagine. You will find freedom in the joy of being...just being. You, authentically. You'll see that there are people in this world who love you just as you are, even if you're not exactly what they had imagined. Give them, and yourself, a chance. You'll be glad you did.

 

Here's a photo of two of my amazing friends at lunch today.

 

 

4 January 2015

Oh this face. Silly, sweet, smart, sassy. I got the privilege of being Clara's date to a skating party. Holding her little sweaty hand in mine, picking her up when she fell down, and watching her grin from ear to ear as she "skated." So glad God sent her to us, there couldn't be a more perfect Clara than the one we have.

3 January 2015

 

"There are few things in life more valuable than a friend who is always true. In fact the only thing that tops it is a true friend bearing pie. Made of nuts...."