About Me

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San Francisco, CA
Satisfying stoner munchies in SF is easy, but being a college student with intense food allergies can be rather difficult! Luckily, I have gotten really good at finding awesome things to eat around the city at reasonable prices... and learned how to make some killer dishes for myself and friends on a low-budget! Mmmmm gluten-free foodie magic!

What it means to be Gluten-Free!

Many people are likely beginning to notice a rise in gluten intolerance amongst the general population. Whether it is knowing more people who are intolerant, or noticing more “gluten free” tags in grocery stores while you’re shopping, it has definitely become more of a trend. So what is gluten exactly, and what does it mean to be allergic, or intolerant, to foods containing gluten? Quite simply, gluten (named for the Latin word for “glue”) is a protein composite (made up of gliadin and glutenin) found in foods processed with grass-related grains, such as wheat and barley. Gluten remains after the starch is removed and gives dough its elasticity and consistent texture. Celiac’s Disease is the most common form of gluten intolerance. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a gluten allergy, but rather the inability to properly break down the gliadin in foods, which results in an adverse reaction on the immune system. The only way to combat Celiac’s, or any form of gluten intolerance, is to maintain a gluten-free diet.
According to the Celiac’s Disease Center, about 1:133 people in the US are diagnosed with gluten intolerance; a decade ago it was roughly 1:2500 worldwide. The most prevalent ethnic groups to be diagnosed are North Americans, followed by the Irish, and other European cultures. Because of the increase in numbers over the years, many parents are beginning to experiment with gluten-free diets for their families. Newer research also links other serious health issues to gluten intolerance, so doctors are beginning to test for it more on patients who are also lactose intolerant, have thyroid disorders, dermatitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and other dietary health issues, as well as Arthritis and Osteomalacia and other bone-related issues.
Many symptoms of gluten intolerance can go undetected for years and are just recently being linked to it, such as low bone density and Sporadic Ataxia (cerebellum damage with an unknown cause). Common, immediate symptoms of gluten intolerance can include constipation, bloating, gas, diarrhea, fatigue, joint pain, headaches, and skin rashes (http://gluten-intolerance-symptoms.com/gluten-allergy-symptoms/). This is due to the immediate effects of eating gluten containing foods on your small intestines, in which the little hairs (villi), wear down and makes it more difficult for you to break down all foods over time. The longterm result is a variety of serious health issues: vitamin deficiencies can damage your nervous system, brain, liver and bones, which can eventually result in more severe health problems such as diabetes, malnutrition, and osteoporosis.
Celiac’s Disease has very serious symptoms, especially prevalent in children. These can include abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, intermittent diarrhea, gas, weight loss, vomiting, growth issues, Dermatitis Herpetiformis (itchy blister-like irritations under the skin that are similar to cysts). Other common health conditions which have recently been related to Celiac’s (but not 100% proven to be directly linked) include Juvenile Arthritis, peripheral neuropathy (tingling feelings in your feet and legs), Type 1 Diabetes, and Autism (http://gluten-intolerance-symptoms.com/celiac-disease-symptoms/). The full symptoms list for adults with Celiac’s is rather extensive. A lot of symptoms are similar to the intolerance symptoms, but also include Ataxia, Anemia, Arthritis, bone loss, bone pain, infertility, mouth ulcers, seizures and Epilepsy, foul or bloody stools, hypoglycemia, hair loss, lactose intolerance, teeth and gum problems, osteoporosis, depression and irritability (referred to as Celiac Depression).
Aside from Celiac’s Disease, another disorder which can result from gluten intolerance is Candida. Candida is a natural fungus in the body, however it can grow out of control when it reacts to too much gluten. The result can be a variety of horrible body malfunctions, including vaginal yeast infections, skin irritations, white swollen patches in the mouth, fatigue, numbness of the hands and feet, joint and muscle pain, eczema, bladder infections, and constant headaches (http://gluten-intolerance-symptoms.com/symptoms-of-candida/). If any of these occur, it is important to take anti-fungal medications immediately and treat all symptoms promptly as it can spread to the bloodstream and become a serious medical emergency.
As I have already stated, gluten intolerance, and related health issues, can only be combated by avoiding eating gluten. At first it can be very overwhelming, looking at the list of gluten containing items and realizing it consists of everything you love to eat. However with the increased awareness, the alternative foods are becoming more prevalent as well, and grocery stores as well as food manufacturers are beginning to market more gluten-free items so as to maintain their customer base, such as Barbara’s, Malt-o-Meal, Kashi, Nature’s Path, and Quaker, who make a variety of corn, oat and rice cereals (http://homepage.mac.com/sholland/celiac/GFfoodlist.pdf). Meat and vegetables are naturally gluten free, as well as potato chips and popcorn, chocolate, and dairy substitutes, so other than looking for the “gluten-free” signage, maintaining a gluten-free diet is just knowing what is and what isn’t naturally gluten-free! Most questionable food items also clearly label on the ingredients any cross contamination warnings as well, so when grocery shopping for gluten-free items, there is usually no question about what you’re considering purchasing.

If you enjoy cooking for yourself and would like to try gluten-free flours, there is quite a tasty list of alternative flours to try: bean flour, brown or white rice flour, corn flour, corn meal, corn starch, nut flours, potato flour, tapioca flour, coconut flour… to name a few (http://gluten-intolerance-symptoms.com/gluten-free-pantry/). An excellent brand of certified gluten-free flours is Bob’s Red Mill, though it is expensive, but can be found at any grocery store or in bulk online. They even make “all-purpose” flour! Of course, since the gluten is what gives the dough its texture and elasticity, you need to add a gluten substitute to your flour as well, such as xanthum gum, guar gum or pre-gel starch (also available in grocery stores). There are a number of gluten-free cooking websites and blogs available as well, http://www.glutenfreemall.com, http://www.glutenfreeclub.com/, http://glutenfreegirl.com, http://myglutenfreecookbook.blogspot.com/, to name a few. Even more cookbooks are available on Amazon and in bookstores as well.

My decision to go gluten-free was a long process. I first discovered the intolerance when I was in my teen years. I had always had skin problems and eating carb-filled meals such as pasta made me unbelievably exhausted, so my dad suggested I try maintaining a gluten-free diet for a week and see how I felt. Within a matter of days, my skin cleared up and I felt as if I had been ill for years and was suddenly cured! Of course that was over 10 years ago, at the dawn of the Atkins zero-carb diet, and that was all the mainstream food world knew of gluten-free. So I made the conscious decision to limit my wheat intake until last year when I moved to San Francisco, and discovered the abundant awareness people have of the intolerance here. I have since cut gluten from my diet entirely, with the rare dessert exception here and there (I love cake), to which I immediately notice the negative reaction eating gluten has on my body. In doing the research for this paper, I concluded that my intolerance is likely Candida, as I show many of the symptoms for that specifically, especially when I do eat even just a small cookie or a bite of pizza - it’s really awful!
In conclusion, if eating certain foods makes you sleepy, or you feel bloated after grains, or you have digestion issues, or lactose intolerance, unexplainable headaches or joint pains, sporadic acne issues or skin irritations, perhaps you should consider cutting gluten from your diet for a week and see how you feel. The result can really surprise you, as I was when I realized that it is in fact not normal to feel sleepy, nauseated and gassy from macaroni and cheese! You can also talk to your doctor about gluten intolerance tests, which are becoming more commonly available, though only administered when severe symptoms are showing up. It is likely that as time goes on, more people will find that their bodies are unable to properly process gluten and more long-term effects will be linked to intolerance and Celiac’s. I only hope that with the growing popularity of gluten-free lifestyles, more restaurants and food brands will take on gluten-free practices to meet the needs of their growing customer base. Until then, there are a plethora of websites offering a myriad of information on the subject for you to stay educated and informed.

Bibliography

http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/celiac/CF-HOME.htm
http://gluten-intolerance-symptoms.com/
http://homepage.mac.com/sholland/celiac/GFfoodlist.pdf
http://www.celiac.com/articles/1164/1/Celiac-Disease-Statistics/Page1.html

8.06.2011

Challah!

Shabbat Shalom!  Yesterday I discovered that my favorite gluten free bakery, Mariposa Baking (located inside the Ferry Bldg) sells challah on Fridays!  So I bought a loaf to try... well, its not as awesome as I would have hoped... in fact, it was kind of dry, even coated in my honey apple butter (love my TJ's spreads)!  So I decided to cook it into french toast, something I haven't made in a VERY long time!

French toast is so easy... eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, coconut milk (or regular milk, if you prefer) and stir it up!  I like tons of cinnamon, so I just add a ton to the mix, and about a teaspoon of vanilla, maybe a 1/4 cup of milk for fluffiness.

I had cut the challah into pretty thick slices, so I let each piece soak in the egg for a few mins to make sure it got all gooey on the inside!  I used butter on the pan and threw the egg-soaked slices onto the already hot pan and kept flipping until they were nice and brown.  Being the glutton that I am, I also cooked the extra egg mix with the slices to make them extra tasty... and then I ate the sweet scrambled eggs with the toast.  Excellent decision, really.

The picture doesn't do the taste any justice.  Turning this semi-dry challah loaf into French toast was the best idea ever!

7.29.2011

Ike's Place!

So I finally went to Ike's Place for a sandwich... and let me tell you how amazing it was!  I got a CA-BLT on the gluten free bread and it was absolutely phenomenal!!!  Though the sandwich cost about $10, you get with it a bag of dirty potato chips, which I ate while waiting for my sandwich... and then when the nice hipster brought me my bag, he said "Here's your gluten-free masterpiece!"  YES IT WAS.  Toasted and buttery rice bread heaven, with an absurd amount of bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomatoes stacked in between!!!!  It was so big, I ate half and saved the other for the late night munchies... mmmmmmmmm $10 well spent!

7.20.2011

Taking Time for Dinner :)

Last week I bought an eggplant at the farmer's market (the secret is to go at about 3pm when they're getting ready to close and everything is a dollar or less).  Of course, exactly one week later, after a long morning at work and just as long of a nap, I woke up with an urge to cook some real food for myself... but I awoke at 5pm and realized I had missed the market; thank goodness I still have an eggplant!  So here's dinner:

1 eggplant
2 cups of rice
3 porkchops
Always garlic!

I sliced the eggplant into rounds, and used my TJ's crushed garlic (in a jar, so cheap and saves sooooo much time in peeling and crushing it myself) and coated the eggplant with it.  I topped the rounds with crushed red pepper seasoning and pepper, and baked at about 350 for 20 mins, then turned it down to about 250 and left it in while I cooked the rice on the stove.  2 cups water to 1 cup of rice, cook with salt until finished.  I added cayenne and pepper, and when it was finished, some butter.  I had some leftover queso fresco (Mexican whole milk cheese) from our impromptu Taco Tuesday yesterday, so I sliced that and put a piece on top of each eggplant round.  I put the porkchops in a dish and seasoned with cayenne, garlic, salt and pepper, and tossed that in the oven, above the eggplant, turning the temp back up to about 375.  The cheese baked over the rounds, but didn't melt as I had hoped, though it was still tasty!  Probably use parmesan, cheddar, swiss or provolone next time.

Some notes for next time:
-Cook broccoli and onions with it too, or other veggies, to give the meal more colors and flavors.
-Start the porkchops (or chicken, if preferred), at the same time as the eggplant because it takes awhile to cook... :P
-Queso Fresco doesn't melt.

7.15.2011

Lunchtime=Awesome Pasta Magic!

So after a looooooooong morning at work with only my little muffin to eat the whole 5+ hours, I came home quite hungry!  Seeing my roommate's wasted spaghetti-o's in the sink gave me an idea... So I cooked up my quinoa pasta (my fave brand has been on sale @ WF the last time I went so I stocked up) and sauteed onions and whole cloves of garlic with some leftover ground turkey sausage patties I had frozen.  Once the sauteed mix was done cooking, I stirred it into some plain tomato sauce from TJ's and mixed that in with the pasta.  Quick, easy and AWESOME!  If someone were here to enjoy my lunch with me, I would gladly share... but alas, I will have to indulge by myself and store the leftovers for lunch @ work tomorrow!  Excellent.  :)

Happy Friday!

7.12.2011

Lazy snack purchases

I know it's more affordable to make food for myself... but sometimes I'm just too lazy to bake and its more convenient to buy pre-made bakery items... if I don't want to sit and eat them all in one sitting!  I'm really into picking up the Udi's muffins and pastries in the gluten-free freezer of WF.  They're not terribly high in fat or calories, and perfect for a mid-shift snack.  Plus, buying 4 @ $7 is better than buying 2 @ $6 in the Ferry Bldg while I'm at work... and they're soooooo good!!!  I love the lemon, bought the blueberry this time.  I'm sure they'll be excellent.  I have yet to be disappointed by Udi's.

Note: Lemon is better... the blueberry was slightly dry.

7.11.2011

Dinner - 7/11/11

Its been a really long time since I've eaten mac-n-cheese, and having bought the ingredients necessary for a gluten-free version weeks ago, I spent the whole day thinking about how to make it extra awesome for dinner!  Here's what I ended up with... (note that WF=Whole Foods and TJ's=Trader Joe's)

Ingredients:
quinoa pasta shells (WF)
pepper jack cheese sauce mix (WF)
raw ground turkey (Safeway)
frozen pearl onions (TJ's)
crushed garlic (TJ's)
cayenne and red pepper seasoning

So I made the pasta, sauteed the turkey, onions, garlic and spices, and mixed it all in with the cheese sauce.  Brilliant!

Directions are as follows:
Sautee turkey, onions, etc, while cooking the pasta.  Follow the directions to make the cheese sauce (I used coconut milk instead of regular milk).  Mix the spicy-meaty mixture into the cheese sauce and then stir the pasta into the mixture.  Really mix it all up so every bite is spicy and awesome!  You will be pleased, as was I... I bet it would make an AMAZING mac-n-cheese bake!  I'll try that after my next WF shopping excursion and let you know how that works out!  :)