Going gluten free
I’ve been on a gluten free diet now for about 4 months. My mom was recently diagnosed as a Celiac and I decided I better cut out gluten too as after becoming pregnant I found that anything with gluten in it wasn’t making me feel very well (putting it mildly). I’m still fairly new to gluten free cooking and think this will be a great way to share meal ideas and recipes with other Celiacs. I haven’t been formerly diagnosed yet as I’m pregnant and it is recommend to do the tests after the pregnancy. This is definitely something I will pursue though. I have a science background and just going with how I’m feeling is not good enough for me. Perhaps I’m a bit in denial, but I want to see the blood work and have a scope done before I resign myself to what I feel is a most probable glutenless fate. 
I don’t mean to sound negative – gluten free cooking hasn’t been that bad – but I do miss my baked goods and though I’ve found some good gluten free foods nothing quite compares to a fresh baked bagel with cream cheese or a butter tart with flaky flour pastry! The recipes that have turned out well for me however I will post on this site. And if any one has found a good gluten free bagel or butter tart – please share!!!
Danelle said:
Hi,
If you are going to get tested you need to keep to a regular diet. If you are going gluten-free right now the test may come out as a false negative.
GF bagels – I get the ones from Kinnick Kinnick – the sesame ones are good toasted.
GF buttertarts – Pane Rizo in Vancouver makes very nice GF tarts. Also see the recipe in Canadian Living online for GF buttertart bars.
I love to bake and have been GF for 18 years. I bake a lot of tortes and cakes, etc. My fave cookbook is Moosewood’s book of desserts. I substitute GF flour for regular flour (plus 1 teaspoon xanthan gum for every 1 cup of gf flour). I also use the gf flour mix suggested by gluten free gourmet books by Bette Hagman.
dragonfly said:
Thanks Danelle! I will be going on a regular diet for shortly my doctor recommended waiting a little since I’m still healing from 3rd degree tear from child birth. So I’m sticking with gluten free for now. Your tip on how to use xanthan gum is really helpful. I purchased a package a while ago after seeing it in several recipes but was unsure how to use it to adapt regular recipes!
I remember my mom doing a lot of cooking out of the moosewood cookbooks. They definitely have some good recipes!
Thanks for giving me some hope that my baking days aren’t up yet with this new diet!