Dessert for Breakfast

the first strawberries of the summer, topped with turkish yogurt and honey... because life is just too short.

Better safe

Fruit salad hidden under soy yogurt, honey and warm toasted almond flakes

Yesterday I started cleaning, I mean really cleaning, my kitchen. Yeah, I'd thrown away everything with gluten or possibly contaminated away two months ago and replaced my cutting boards and wood spatulas with new plastic ones, but I guess it took me this long to absorb enough iron to have the energy for the kind of cleaning that is needed to be absolutely gluten free.

(Of course I'd cleaned as much as I could from the start)

That got me thinking that the best gift for any newly diagnosed celiac would be to help them with the cleaning. Maybe help them clear away all the food and things that need replacing. Then send them shopping for new pots and pans while having a couple of people clean the kitchen from top to bottom. Participating, in any way, would be a great show of support. And as it can take time to get our health and energy back, a great practical help too.

Yesterday, finally, I scrubbed my oven, so I can now bake without fear. I thoroughly cleaned most of the drawers, but there is still more to go. I have the cheapest new toaster I could find. I have new teflon pans, although I might move to another country in a few months and need to buy another set. Better safe than sorry - is my new mantra. No matter what the financial burden is.

And as I said to my friend yesterday, cursing as I realised I need to deglutenize my makeup bag too, thank god I only have to do this once. I guess I've moved on from hoping that when I wake up tomorrow this has gone away. Now I only hope that all the world outside would be gluten free too. <3

P.S. Karina has wrote an excellent guide on how to start deglutenizing your life, I wish anyone with friends or loved ones with celiac would also read it.

Shards of glass

Sometimes I think I started this blog to remind myself on all the delicious food I still can eat. You see, for the past few weeks I have been having a hard time adjusting. After the initial bliss of feeling better on a gluten free diet I've been feeling angry. Right on schedule, I am sure.

And today has been like having shards of glass in my stomach, all from trace amounts of gluten accidentally ingested yesterday. This shouldn't happen as frequently as it does. I need to be more careful. I need to be careful always always always.

So I am still into pureed food... Lots of hummus lately.

quick sun dried tomato hummus
a can of chickpeas
some sun dried tomatoes soaked and chopped
(I like the dry ones you can soak, not the ones in oil)
a couple of tablespoons of tahini
a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice

Puree the chickpeas and mix other ingredients. Adjust the amounts of ingredients to your liking and add some oil if you wish. Cool in the fridgerator before serving. This goes well with ricecakes.

Healing spinach coconut soup

It must be a coincidence I've had to go through two courses of antibiotics during my first gluten free month. 12 days of antibiotics in all. I feel like shit. But even that is better than in years. I can deal with sleeping twelve hours a day now that I know it is temporary, not terminal, like last summer.

Anyway, my stomach probably isn't doing it's de-gluten healing as quickly as I'd hoped so soup seemed like a good idea. I used this recipe as a guide but changed the proportions because I only had one bag of spinach and one head of cauliflower around. The added potatoes worked well and made it really creamy and probably more filling.

Coconut spinach soup
feeds four
1 or 2 onions
1 head of cauliflower (about 500g)
3 large potatoes
1 tbs rapeseed oil
1/2 liter gluten free veggie stock
1 bag frozen spinach (about 150g)
1 can of coconut milk
salt to taste
a pinch of cayenne pepper
a squeeze of lemon juice

Saute the chopped onions, diced potatoes and cauliflower florets in a little oil for about five minutes. Add the stock and spinach, and let simmer on a medium heat until the potatoes soften. Puree the soup and add the coconut milk and the spices.

I think I'll use two bags of spinach next time. Otherwise, this was perfect.

Happy 1st gluten free month!

...to me. (29.3 is the date, maybe I should celebrate it like an anniversary every year?)

Actually the cake was made for May 1st celebrations. As this was my first attempt on gluten free cake baking I wasn't brave enough to go for my favourite carrot cake recipe from The Voluptuous Vegan since it is such a thick cake and would probably end up raw and dense. I looked for another, flatter, carrot cake recipe and found this recipe from tofu for two which seemed more suitable for gluten free adaptation.

My alterations: I increased the amount of baking soda and baking powder slightly as I was afraid the gluten free version wouldn't rise so well. I also put less cinnamon and added some cardamom which I love in a carrot cake. I used almond flakes instead of ground nuts, because I only had those around. The cake was really moist, almost too moist to my liking, maybe slightly more flour or a longer time in the oven the next time. It was also a bit too sweet to my taste but all in all, really good for my first cake. Here's my altered recipe:

Carrot Cake

the wet mix:
1,5 dl plain soy yogurt
1 dl canola oil
2 dl dry sugar
4 dl finely grated carrots (about 3 medium ones)
2 tbs ground flaxseed
1 dl rice milk

the dry mix:
3 dl gluten free fine flour (1 used Semper's fine mix)
1,5 teaspoon baking powder
0,75 teaspoon baking soda
0,5 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
0,5 teaspoon ground cardamom
0,75 dl crushed almond flakes (or other nuts)

Mix the wet and dry mixes in separate bowls, combine the two and stir just until it's all mixed. I baked this in a greased and floured (with gluten free breadcrumbs) 22cm springform pan in 225 degrees celsius for 20 minutes (maybe more). I let the cake cool overnight before adding the icing.

the icing:
2 tsp plain soy yogurt
juice and grated zest of 1/2 lemon
confectioner’s sugar, added until the mixture starts to thicken but is still runny enough for spreading.
(sprinkles to garnish)

I let the cake sit in the fridge for a couple of hours after icing. Room temperature would probably be fine too. Enjoy!

Banana pancakes

These were my first gluten free pancakes and they turned out to be the best pancakes I have ever made. Maybe ricemilk was the magic.

Spring Sunday Pancakes
about six largish ones

1,5 medium bananas (use the half left over for decoration)
1,5 dl gluten free flour (I used the Semper fine flour mix)
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 dl ricemilk *
1 dl water (ran out of ricemilk)
1/2 dl sugar
a pinch of salt
(a bit of vanilla sugar or vanilla essence)
1 tbs oil or running margarine
margarine for baking
* 3 dl of liquids in total, you can probably substitute any milk you like.

Blend the banana until smooth. Add the liquids, salt and vanilla. Mix the baking powder with the flour and add to the banana mixture. Add the oil/margarine.

Heat a pan, melt some margarine, and bake the pancakes in medium heat on both sides. If the mixture gets too thick in the end, as the flour swells, add some more ricemilk.

Serve on a Sunday morning with berries and banana slices.