If gluten free was a superhero, it would be...GRAIN POWER

 

Book: Paperback | 210 x 133mm | 224 pages | ISBN 9780143186908 | 07 Jan 2014 | Penguin Canada

 In case anyone missed the point of this entire blog; I love food! I think it comes from my Mom and Dad, both of whom enjoy good food and they rarely went out to sit down restaurants without my brother and I in tow. We were not much of a fast food family and much preferred the quietude of a restaurant with service and varying menu. You could almost call us food snobs, but we did have the occasional fast food sojourn which was not as fun as our restaurant adventures and usually occurred due to convenience and time constraints.

It wasn’t until food stopped loving me and caused me absolutely nothing but grief in 2010 that I lost my passion for cooking and subsequently eating. I began existing on the things that would keep my stomach from aching, my energy levels from taking a sharp nose dive and my weight from plummeting. Even when I was off and on the gluten free lifestyle, while waiting for testing, I felt like a fish out of water not knowing where to turn, what to cook and eat for the best. It has been a series of trial and errors, up and downs and I am wishing that a book like Grain Power: Over 100 Delicious GLUTEN-FREE Ancient Grain & Superblend Recipes by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming existed then. It did not however, but I am so very glad that it does now. The biggest hurdle has been getting enough fibre and grains into my diet and it has not been easy. I have existed on mostly chia, flax and buckwheat and psyllium fibre with the occasional quinoa and amaranth thrown in for the last year, but now with this book I can become further educated on the other types of grains that exist for those of us whom wheat is no longer an option.

The first 30 pages of this book are a rich resource for those either just beginning their journey using these ancient grains or who wish to further enhance their knowledge. Each grain has a brief description written about them in the introduction, detailing their origins and uses, however it does not end there as it does in most other whole grain cookbooks. Each grain is then given the star treatment and Patricia & Carolyn give in depth details about how to use each grain, cook each grain, turn each grain into flour, the yields they produce and each grain has a checklist that describes their flavour, texture, gluten-free status, classification as seed or grain and whether or not they are a complete protein. A detailed nutritional chart is also included in this section as well as a how-to section on sprouting the grains. Every piece of information that you could possibly wish to know is in this section.

Beyond the introduction the reader then delves into the nitty gritty of the book, the recipes. When I first received the book from Penguin Canada I flipped the book open to a picture of a chocolaty concoction that looked too good to be true; Chewy Chocolate Granola with Cherries & Buckwheat (Pg. 52) and I knew that this would be the first recipe on my list to try. I had to pick up a couple of ingredients to make this, as my pantry was not well stocked at the time in either the proper ingredients or the suggested alternatives listed. The recipe instructions were easy to follow and all the nutritional information was at the bottom of the page. The granola really was as good as its picture made it out to be although I think the next time I make it; I will cook it a little longer and crisp it up slightly. Two different time allotments are in the recipe and chewy is the lower time allotment but there is no indication as to what type of chewy that would be. As it turns out it is no cook, chocolate macaroon chewy before they are set. A good baseline indication would have been helpful for the recipe as I prefer my granola in between chewy and crunchy. The other thing was the fact that the recipe calls for slivered almonds, but I noticed in the photograph that natural, sliced almonds are present. Anyone who does any baking will know the difference between the two and I guess it boils down to a matter of preference. I prefer natural almonds and generally have them on hand in my cupboard as a staple to any type of blanched almond.

The next two recipes that I tried after indulging my chocolate craving, were two things that went perfectly together and were a perfect winter meal and made enough for me to have it for lunch all this week at work. I made the Smoked Ham & Leek Amaranth Soup (Pg. 116) and the Cheddar Garlic Ancient Grain Biscuits (Pg. 104). The soup was really quick and easy to whip up and I even had the amaranth in the cupboard as I use it in another recipe. It was tasty the first night, but better the next day after the flavours had melded together. I made one major swap in this particular recipe and that was the cream. In order to keep my soup dairy-free I used an almond/coconut milk combination instead of the cream and it worked just as well without altering the flavours. The amaranth and the starch from the potatoes (I added a little bit of sweet potato too) gave the soup a split pea soup consistency which was pleasantly surprising and belly filling. However, soup without biscuits just seems wrong, so it did not take long to make the batter and add the cheese and parsley and bake them up. One thing did confuse me about the recipe and that was in the preamble when the authors state, “Potato starch helps keep them gluten-free and gives them a lighter flavour,” (Green & Hemming, Pg. 104) But all of my ingredients were wheat and gluten-free, so how does potato starch “keep” it gluten-free? An unseasoned gluten-free cook might also be confused by this terminology.

Overall the book is put together and organized well. Most of the recipes have corresponding swaps suggested by the authors in case you do not have something on hand and most have an accompanying photograph that tantalises the reader in to wondering what to make next. I am already trying to determine that myself and I am intrigued about trying to make my own crackers. I am glad this book has found its way into my collection and I have a feeling that it will be put to good use. Kudos to Patricia & Carolyn for putting Grain Power into the hands of those who need it and those who just want to experiment with different types of whole grains.

 

 Chewy Chocolate Granola with Cherries & Buckwheat

 

 

Soup before the ham

 

 Biscuits, before the oven

 

Biscuits, after cooking

 

Supper!

 

I curl sometimes when I am not eating...

So last week my mixed curling team went to Middleton to play in the NS Club Mixed Provincial Championship. The curling, unfortunately, was not the highlight of the weekend. It is too bad really because we are a fairly good team, although I am little biased. We have a 9-2 record within our club league and the two losses came to the same team. We discovered that we are all basically foodies. When I heard that we were going to the Annapolis Valley my heart sank a little, because I knew that eating was going to again be a huge issue. I am the only team member with issues and it would have been just so easy, albeit time consuming, to take everything with me and eat in the motel or just grab a salad and some chicken from the local grocery store. However, I knew I needed to be a little more social, so I made the best of it. I packed my wheat free oats, protein powders and bars for the morning and took snacks to get me through the afternoons.

We stayed at the former Mid-Valley Inn which has been "renovated" and renamed the Middleton Motel & Suites. It was a clean place to put our heads and shower, other than that it was overpriced and nothing spectacular, considering where we were and the time of year that it was. That evening before our game we went to the Capitol Pub where the all day breakfast menu said to inquire about their GFO (Gluten Free Options), so I asked if I could have GF toast as an option and they did not have toast, but said they might start carrying some in the freezer. I am not sure what the actual options were, so I had a greasy omelette with a side of ham and sliced tomato in place of toast and hashbrowns. It was not picture worthy at all.

The following morning the Middleton Curling Club had their monthly community breakfast and it was freewill offering. Plates were heaped with sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, and pancakes plus toast and beans on the side. The club does a community breakfast up right. I took my oatmeal with me and had that with some bacon and eggs. The lady at the counter proclaimed that they were the best scrambled eggs in the Valley and she was not lying; they were really good.

We were not very hungry after our game that day and we had made reservations to go out to the Perfect Pear restaurant at the Falcourt Inn in Nictaux that evening before our next game. I had looked at the menu online and was prepared to have my standard salad and chicken but when we got there, our server said that the chef was aware of food allergies and sensitivities and placed a variety of different items on the specials. I was able to have a three course meal with wine and coffee for $40. The best part that not only was my meal gluten free, it was absolutely amazing and I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

The following morning we played our final game and stopped at the Green Elephant in Kingston. I had the best Soy, Vanilla Latte ever and I was able to have eggs and ham with GF toast! I think the bread was from the Saraj Bakery in New Minas but I forgot to ask. So eggs were the recurring theme of my weekend. The plate was beautiful, but I was so hungry that there was no time for a picture. :)

Gluten Free in Search of Joy and Joyous Health

When Penguin Canada contacted me in the New Year about reviewing two books for them, I was a little flattered and more than just a little scared. One of the books, Grain Power by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming is a collection of gluten-free, ancient grain recipes and Joyous Health by Joy McCarthy is a lifestyle enhancement book meant to bring peace, balance, harmony and joy back to your life through the use of not only food, but mindfulness of body and spirit as well. It is this book that particularly made me feel beyond my scope. While I may have been an English major at Acadia University back in the day and I have taught my junior high students how to write, I did not feel prepared to write a review on a subject I knew very little about and knew the review would not fit the standard mould of fictional writing reviews; however, as I began reading Joy’s book I knew that it would not matter whether the review fit a mould or not because the book itself does not fit a mould either.

The subtitle of Joyous Health is Eat and Live Well Without Dieting and Joy herself states in her opening of chapter one that, “Diets are not sustainable, period.” (McCarthy, Pg. 1) I found myself smiling at this and began thinking just how much I loathe the term “gluten free diet” like it is some kind of fad meant to be embraced by celebrities and their fan base and then discarded when something comes along that is bigger and better leaving those of us with Celiac’s Disease and Gluten Intolerance looking like we are just picky eaters without a legitimate reason because celebrities and social media have made a mockery of our lifestyle. I tell people straight up that I am gluten free, period. It is not a diet; it is a complete lifestyle overhaul which has left me with a lot of anxiety when it comes to eating out, both in restaurants and in the homes of friends and family. I have managed to bury some of the anxiety, but like all things it eventually makes its way to surface and it is not pretty when it does.

Joy McCarthy is a CNP (Certified Nutritional Practitioner) and an RNCP (Registered Nutritional Consulting Practitioner). She is also the Holistic Nutrition & Health Expert to Global TV’s The Morning Show, and she is co-creator of Eat Well Feel Well, Toronto’s first integrated nutrition and yoga program. She makes herself relatable as an author and as a nutritionist by detailing her own struggles with health and nutrition. I found myself nodding in agreement quite often through chapter one as she gives hints about her philosophy and beliefs surrounding food and nutrition and the fact that it is not just physical nourishment that we need but emotional nourishment in the good sense as well. It is the emotional nourishment that we need in order to make the strong, healthy choices that will guide our physical nourishment throughout our lives.

Joy does not give herself the air of standing on a pulpit, preaching to the masses about how to live their lives. Her approach is more of a genuine, heartfelt, nurturing approach with most of what she talks about in chapter one being more along the lines of old-fashioned common sense; the kind we use to hear and follow before the days of convenience took over our lives in the forms of fast, cheap, and plentiful food that resembles and tastes like the cardboard it comes in. She gently guides us through her reasoning for her suggestions and has the proof to back up her claims. The book is laid out in an orderly fashion and goes step by step for the reader and tackles one problem and suggestion at a time. Joy herself says, “Ideally it should take you six weeks to work through this book. However, you can take as long as you wish. Go at your own comfortable pace.” (McCarthy, Pg.5) She includes numerous recipes to try and I really appreciated the fact that they are colour coded just below the title so that I can quickly scan to see if it is a gluten free recipe and make any adjustments accordingly, by quickly scanning for offending ingredients if it is not.

I am glad that I was given the chance to review this book, as I am not sure that it is one that I would have bothered to peruse or purchase otherwise. I am looking forward to my six week or longer journey, eventually reorganizing my kitchen and discarding any gluten free items that do not serve their purpose or are little better than “healthy” junk. I have been on a journey for the last three plus years and I am looking forward to the one that will lead me on the path to joy and joyous health.

Anyone who wishes to find their way to health or their way back to health then this is the book. With an entire section of recipes, detailed explanations of how to select foods for joy and health and how to practice mindful eating, it is like having a nutritionist on hand, complete with an example of how to keep a food and wellness journal. I think I would much rather have a consultation with Joy herself, but until the day that that dream comes true, this will have to do.

 

Book: Paperback | 210 x 133mm | 224 pages | ISBN 9780143186915 | 07 Jan 2014 | Penguin Canada

 PS: Stay tuned for my review of the aforementioned Grain Power. I am making a couple of the recipes and snapping a few pics for my next blog entry.

Post Christmas in the New Year

So my Christmas vacation is coming to a close and pretty soon the days of sleeping in and wandering aimlessly, day in and day out will come to an end as well. I am looking forward to getting back into my routine though, I won't lie. Especially that I now have a juicer making my days fairly exciting and fresh. The trick is to now incorporate my juicer into my work a day life. It will probably take a bit of planning and prep but I am up for the challenge, I think. I want to have a fresh veggie/fruit concoction once a day. That is my goal. So far I have done well with the exception of one day where I was out and about and barely home. But this is one thing that I am going to endeavor to do and I have already played with a number of combinations. I have looked at a few recipes but I much prefer to experiment. This is not so much a resolution for me but rather a resolve to get more fruits/veggies and the nutrients that go along with them and I would much rather do it in a raw format than a cooked one and hopefully decrease the amount of vitamin supplementation that I seem to require. Below is a list of my combinations thus far, they have all been really good and range in taste between tart, earthy and really sweet. My favourites so far have been day 2 and day 5. I never thought that beet juice would be something that I would take to, but I am truly addicted to its earthy taste and deep rich colour.

Day 1 (Dec 29^th)

1 apple, 1 carrot, 1 satsuma mandarin, 1 piece of ginger root

Day 2 (Dec 30^th)

1 cup of cranberries, 1 lemon, 1 kiwi, ginger root, 1 carrot, 1 cup of pineapple and 1 celery stalk

Day 3 (Dec 31^st)

6 strawberries, 2 mini cucumbers, ½ a personal watermelon, 1 cup of spinach, 1 pear, 1 satsuma mandarin and 1 cup of pineapple

Day 4 (Jan 1^st)

1 beet, 1 cup of spinach, 1 kiwi and 1 carrot

Day 5 (Jan 3^rd)

2 beets, 1 cup of spinach. 1 and a ½ carrots, 1 lemon, 1 cup of pineapple and a large piece of ginger

Day 6 (Jan 4^th)

1 cup of spinach, 1 cortland apple, 1 large navel orange, 1 piece of ginger root, 1 cup of cranberries, 1 and a ½ carrots

Day 1

Day 3

Day 5

Day 6

 

The other thing that marked my break was the amount of baking that I managed to complete. I will have to share the recipes in a separate post, but needless to say that I made a lot of treats for Boxing Day dinner at my place. Instead of one big dessert, I made numerous small ones including; Rum Cake, Besan Barfi/Burfi (Indian Chickpea fudge), Chex Muddie Buddies, Fudge Brownies, Marzipan Squares, Shortbread (my great-grandmother’s recipe), Date Balls, and Spiced Pecans and they were all gluten free. I cannot remember the last time that I baked that much or even attempted to and to be able to complete it all gluten free this year was a major accomplishment for me and it was all so yummy and I still have a lot leftover.

Clockwise from left: Shortbreads, Spiced Pecans, Fudge Brownies,

Besan Barfi,  Date Balls and Marzipan Squares

 

Speaking of Christmas and Boxing Day, I really adhered to the “Buy Local” movement this year. Most of the things that I bought were either manufactured/conceived or purchased locally or will help people regionally. Most of my nephew’s gifts I purchased at the Thomas the Tank Engine Experience by Ambassatours in Saint John. I also purchased books for him from Woozles and an Eastcoast Lifestyle hoodie. I bought my parents sweatshirts from the Lost Cod Clothing Co. and treats from Pete’s Frootique.  My sister-in-law received a clutch from Maggie Pearce and a necklace from the Shy Giraffe, while my brother received a tie from Prostate Cancer Canada. So my brother’s gift was not locally bought but I know that the money spent on it will benefit prostate cancer patients regionally. I participated in Movember this year, so the gift was well intentioned.

When you really stop and look around at places like the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s, DalPlex Christmas Craft Show, Christmas at the Forum and all the other unique places in the Downtown areas of any Maritime city including Halifax; you will find stuff that is better than anything that you can buy at any big box store. Beauty part is that it is unique stuff. There is no way that I would ever have been able to give my mother a little piece of her history if I had never been able to buy her a sweatshirt from Lost Cod Clothing Co. She can now proudly display her Sea Nymph Fish Foods Hoodie; knowing she once worked for A.M. Smith & Co. at the Smith Wharves.

Okay, so I clearly need to blog more often. I have so much to say some times that I cannot fit it all in. Next time, I promise to talk about my gluten free baking and share my recipes; as I started this blog to talk about being gluten free in Halifax.