Gluten and Me...Together Again?

 

Yummy! Some of my favorite foods have gluten in them and I've had to give them up...until now. You may be wondering why I would go back to eating gluten after I realized that it was making me sick. Well, I found out a very interesting fact the other day.

When I was tested for gluten intolerance, the results turned up negative even though I knew gluten and me were not getting along. Do you want to know why it came out negative? It's because I had started eating gluten free two months prior to testing. That is a big NO-NO! You have to have some type of gluten in your system for the antibody the doctor is looking for to pop up.

So, temporarily, I'm back to eating gluten until next Monday to try to build back up in my system a good reading for my blood panels. I'm introducing it slowly into my diet, but I can already feel the effects:

- fatigue

- headaches

- nausea

- abdominal cramping

- bloating/gas

- difficult bowels (if any)

-painful muscles and joints

Once I get my blood panels taken, I'm going right back to my gluten free diet. I will keep you guys informed when I found out the results.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe - My Review

Who knew these few ingredients could make such yummy cookies?

As promised a couple of days ago, I tried a recipe that I found on Gluten Free and You. Chocolate chip cookies are the one thing that I cry over not being able to eat since I've gone gluten free. Whenever I pass by the rolls of cookie dough at the grocery store, I swear I can hear their little voices laughing at and mocking me. Yeah, my misery is that bad. 

I've made homemade gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and they were not good. They tasted more like a dry cake instead of a cookie. Not sure what cookie mix it was but I must found out so that I will not recommend it to anyone. I've also tried the store bought cookies. They were soft, but tasted a little too salty. Over time though, the longer they stayed out, the less salty they were. It was weird. Well, my husband ate them so they did not go to waste.

Needless to say when I found the cookie recipe on Gluten Free and You, I was a little skeptical. But, really wanting a chocolate chip cookie I headed to my local Ingles (I'm so happy they have a gluten-free section) and bought Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix. The recipe was easy to follow and called for very few ingredients. Chances are you probably have all the ingredients already besides the baking mix. 

THE VERDICT

When I took my first bite, I believe I heard the heavens open up and sing out of joy! These are seriously good gluten-free chocolate chip cookies! They're soft, moist, taste like a cookie, and have the perfect crunchy to chewy ratio going on. I'm so excited that I found a great recipe to make my favorite cookie when I'm going through withdrawals. 

If you're interested in either going gluten-free completely or just testing the waters, head on over to Gluten Free and You and try out some of the recipes mentioned on there. I love trying new recipes. I'll have to find another one and review it :) If you want to try this recipe, click on the link below.

http://cbulife.blogspot.com/2012/05/gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hello everyone! Hope your day is going really well. Today I am determined to finally bake up a batch of Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. The store bought ones I've had in the past were nothing to write home about. They were either too dry or just didn't even taste like a chocolate chip cookie. So, I stumbled upon a blog called Gluten Free and You and she had a recipe for the cookies on there. They look really yummy! I'll leave a link to the post and put her recipe on here. Once I make them myself later today, I'll take pictures and let you guys know how they turned out :)

http://glutenfreeandyou.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-all-time-favorite-cookie.html

"My All Time Favorite Cookie" Recipe

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips  (I use 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chips and 1 1/2 cups white chips)
1/2 cup chopped walnut (optional)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

Yields approx. 20 cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla, then beat together. Add Pamela's Mix, chocolate chips and nuts, then mix thoroughly. Place scoops of dough (1 TBSP scoop) onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for fifteen minutes or until edges start to brown.  Let cookies cool slightly and use a spatula to remove from cookie sheet.

Finally prepare to amazed by what I think is the best chocolate chip cookie on the planet.