Our month is up and it's been an extraordinary adventure. Our eating habits completely changed as a result of going one full month without gluten in our diets. Yes, it was the shortest month of the year, which we highly recommend for challenges like this. Twenty-eight days later, we eat more leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. We eat a lot less bread-type foods like sliced bread, pizza dough, biscuits, and cookies. And we feel much better, but that has to be because we now make much healthier overall choices rather than because we haven't been eating gluten.
The dietary challenge resulted in some experimenting in the kitchen, as well. Here are my new favorite gluten-free recipes:
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
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| Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies |
2 c. lightly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 TBS warm water
3 c. gluten-free all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 c. chocolate morsels
1/2 c. chopped pecans
Cream the butter and brown sugar. Stir in the eggs, vanilla, and water. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and thoroughly mix. Stir in the chocolate morsels and pecans by hand. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
Gluten-Free Savory Biscuits
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| Gluten-Free Savory Biscuits |
1 1/2 TBS sage
1 1/2 TBS thyme
3 c. gluten-free all purpose flour
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
2/3 c. milk
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
Combine onion, sage, thyme, flour, sugar, and salt. Use a fork to fold in the butter. In a glass measuring cup, still together egg and milk. Stir baking powder and cream of tartar into the egg-milk mixture. Stir the liquid mixture into the flour-butter mixture. This will make a pasty, moist, lumpy mixture. Turn it out onto a clean surface dusted liberally with gluten-free flour. Roll out to about 3/4-inch thickness. Use a floured biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits. You might need a small metal spatula to lift the cut biscuits onto a floured baking pan. Brush with melted butter. Bake on top rack of a 450-degree oven until edges begin to brown. Brush again with melted butter immediately after removing from oven.
To be posted soon: We also came up with a few new non-bakery, gluten-free, healthy eating recipes!
Micki Bare, mother of three, wife, daughter & writer is the author of Thurston T. Turtle children's books.
Email: mickibare (at) gmail.com
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