Flours and granola

I did it ! I finally had my blood taken. It was certainly not easy, there were buckets for tears involved, But the relief of actually doing it and being that much closer to figuring things out, felt great.

So I decided that I am going to start creating that cookbook again. This time though, there will be obvious changes. No gluten, no dairy, and minimal refined sugars. I have been throwing myself into the world of gluten free living. There are so many little changes that have to be made when baking so that you don't end up with a foul tasting brick at the end. I never knew that you had to add different starches and flours together to some what replicate the texture/consistancy of glutenous flours. I was always under the assumption that brown rice flour would cut it every time... I was so wrong. I have a drawer full of these starches and flours now! White and Brown flours, Sweet sorghum flour, tapioca starch, potato starch and flour, millet flour, oat flour...

Speaking of oats... They are on the fence with many people with Gluten intolerance. They themselves are not usually the culprit, but the chances of them being cross contaminated with wheat and barley is fairly high. I tried out gluten free oats and they were great, no reaction... But I thought I would give it a shot with Quaker Oats, just to see if I was that small percent that doesnt have a bad reaction. For the first little while, they were okay. Then slowly everytime I ate them, I could feel my stomach not sitting right. I attempted yesturday, and that will be my last bowl of regular oats. I was half way through the bowl and my stomach ballooned up and I had stomach cramps. So I went out today and picked up some certified Gluten free oats. I have been craving Granola and yogurt (soy) for a long time, so I created this recipe...

Oat and buckwheat Granola

2 cups GF Oats
1/3 cup Buckwheat
1 1.5 Tbsp Brown Sugar ( I used Demerara sugar)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 cup Agave nectar
2 Tbsp Water
1 Tbsp Coconut oil

Preheat oven to 275

It a large bowl, mix together oats, buckwheat, sugar, and salt.
In a small saucepan, mix together agave, water and coconut oil. Warm through and pour into the oat mixture. Mix well and pour onto a cookie sheet.
Bake for 25 mins

While oats are baking, mix together 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut, 1/3 cup raisins, 1/2 cut slivered almonds and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

After the 25 mins are up, Mix in the "extras" and continue to bake for another 10-15 mins.
Cool completely before storing in an air tight conatiner.

( you can use a variety of different dried fruit and nuts for the "extras". This is just my personal favorite)

steps.

Where to start.

I finally went to the doctors this morning to get a referal to a nutritionist or a dietician to start figuring out why most food hurts me. I have spent probably 95% of my time awake, searching for answers and testing out food. I finally broke yesterday when I ate a golden delicious apple and experienced sharp stomach pains. An apple! I have always been able to eat apples and not feel like that. It just feels like it is getting worse.
The doctor sent me on my way with a sheet of paper. The paper is for a blood test. I hate(fear) blood tests. But, I am going tomorrow morning, because as much as I cant stand them, the idea of living with this frustration is far worse.
Through my own trail and error, I do know that wheat makes me ill. Right after eating it I usually have very painful stomach cramps, but notice it more the next day when I have zero energy, muscle aches, headache, and more recently I have noticed it severely effecting my mood. Before It was just the stomach ache, now I start to feel really depressed and quiet. Scary to think how fast things went from bad to the worst.
I have known I had lactose intolerance my whole life. When I was little, after I had dairy, my stomach would get really bloated and rock hard. So I have been drinking rice, soy and almond milk since then. I had still been eating butter and cheese though, which does not make any sense, so I have cut that out recently.
Alas, the search continues for a pain free life...