Tori’s Writing Hole

I have begun to re-glutenify myself in preparation for a visit to a gastroenterologist. He/she will hopefully be able to take a sample during a happy-fun-time endoscopy and let me know if I really need to eschew wheat forever. Two separate sets of blood work showed no gluten intolerance/Celiac disease, so I’m still wondering about whether there’s a problem with the wheat at all. I am still ill most days to an extent, but even upon adding in the gluten again, I’ve still got more stamina than I’ve had in many a year.

As for my computer… ha! I’m on my desktop (well, the family desktop) due to the fact that my iBook kernel panicked two days after the last time I wrote about her. She should be on her way back now, from a third visit to the computer hospital, and hopefully all is well. If not, you should be able to hear my screams from space.

Technorati Tags: gluten, celiac, desktop, computer

Sometimes, I wonder about myself. I am very, very impatient. So it stands to reason that I’d be annoyed by the fact that I’m not feeling 100% from my new gluten free diet - and that I’d want to give up on it. Not an easy task, eating without gluten - especially when foods that you think would be “safe” by their very nature aren’t. I mean, who thinks of the fact that white rice at a Chinese restaurant might be steamed in the same pots/baskets as wheat noodles? Most people don’t even have to consider how their food is cooked when eating out (and probably would prefer not to!) - I can’t take anything for granted.

The thing is, aside from better digestion and weight loss, I’m still not feeling all that better on the fatigue and pain front. I can get up more easily in the morning, but my energy’s flagging by 10. I’d love to have an experience of a day where I get up, am able to perform the daily tasks of an average human being, and not want a nap in the morning. Will this ever happen? Is gluten even a part of this?

I feel like some sort of medical anomaly that will never be figured out. To look at me, you’d be like, yeah, she’s overweight and limps a little - but nothing severe’s going on. If only you (collective you, ie, the world) knew

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Technorati Tags: gluten, impatient, fatigue, pain

Well, out of necessity, I’ve been forced to find new ways to eat. I love to eat (evidenced by my size and the inordinate amount of time I think/talk about food). I’m a frustrated chef/baker, really, along with the million other careers I’ve considered.

So far, I’ve found Asian cuisine to be the most friendly to my GF (gluten free) diet. Many of the dishes are based on rice, and few require breading or flour to “hold” foods together. I’ve created a few dishes on my own - ones that are probably as far from authentic as you can get - and last night I tried this recipe for begedil which is an Indonesian dish using potatoes, beef, cilantro and shallots. Yum, but mine did not come out looking like the pics.

So anyway, here’s my recipe for nice, GF curry. Yummy, and I recommend it.

Technorati Tags: gluten free, curry, cooking, recipe

Here’s mine:

Funny thing about my new camera phone - I can take pics everywhere. Including on my bed when Julia’s fallen asleep next to me. The sound of the annoying fake camera shutter didn’t even make her flinch. Such a sweetie. She’s talking more and more, holding entire conversations with her Nana on play telephones. She makes sure to tell her all about the Backyardigans and Wonder Pets.

Julia’s also started singing along with songs she knows very well - if we sing one line of a Wonder Pets song, she’ll go ahead and sing the next. In tune. Wow.

She’s counting to 20 (not constantly, of course, but she can do it) and she’s actually begun to request her bedtime music when we switch on her iPod. So far, she likes to ask for “Einstein” (Baby Einstein’s Classic Lullabyes) “Ba Baluga” (Raffi’s Baby Beluga) and “Ellen John” (Elton John’s Love Songs). Such an amazing transformation, from just a few weeks ago when music was a favorite but not nearly as important as it is now.

Aside from exploring the wonder that is my daughter, I’ve also been cooking more and more gluten free foods. I plan to put up some recipes ASAP. I’ve also been writing poetry like a madwoman, although most of it ends up erased under the delete key quite quickly. Taking the advice of a friend, I’m not immediately assuming the poems I’ve finished are “done”. I’ve put them in a special lockbox (ie, folder on my desktop) and will return to them in a few weeks for further revision.

Trying to write fiction, but I have come up with more ideas for non fiction books. Arrgh. If only there was more time in the day.

Technorati Tags: baby, angel, sleeping, music, daughter

Ok, so I’ve had the opportunity to sample quite a few foods now that I’ve gone on this gluten-less journey. Here are my favorites and not-so-favorites:

• Bob’s Red Mill GF Chocolate Cake Mix - crumbly and dense, this cake reminded me of a regular cake that was missing some of the ingredients. The “garfava” flour (garbanzo bean and fava bean flour) left a distinctly beany aftertaste and Mom, who baked the cake, said the batter was horrid and required several different foods and drinks to get the taste out of her mouth. I can’t recommend this one.
• ‘Cause You’re Special Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins - these were great - smaller than regular muffins due to the use of potato starch and rice flour, they were yummy and consistency-wise, very similar to “normal” muffins. I will be buying these again. They can be made vegan if you use margarine and egg replacer. Biggest drawback was the price - $6 for 12 muffins.
• ‘Cause You’re Special Golden Pound Cake - at first, I loved this. Tasted just like real poundcake. However, you need to eat it within a day or so, because it went bad very quickly (dried out and got a funny taste). I’d recommend this for a family gathering (no one will know it’s GF - gluten free).
• DeBoles Rice Pasta - spirals - Ick. No flavor, bad consistency (I think under cooked, but still). Not going to purchase again - I’m trying the Tinkyada brand next.
• Chebe Pizza Crust - so yummy! Makes a great pizza, some springiness to the dough means it has a good mouthfeel. Just tapioca flour, along with seasonings, means this is great for any allergic person. You can make it with real eggs and olive oil/milk, or substitute for other allergies. The price is right too… at around $3 for the mix.

Well, that’s all I can remember so far. I will be trying to make my own bread (how I miss bread) once I get some xanthan gum. Damn, that stuff’s expensive ($13 for a package of 10 oz!).

Technorati Tags: gluten free, cooking, baking, pizza, pasta