Gluten Free Choc Chip Cookies & update

This is the Gluten Free version of the Choc Chip Cookie recipe on my Quasior's HomeSchool Blog! It ends up being nicer than the gluten version, maybe a bit drier but they still melt in the mouth, or maybe it's just been so long ago I can't remember the difference. Anyway its a step by step recipe:

Gluten Free Choc Chip Cookies

Step 1: Cut up 125 grams of butter (nuttlex or butter substitute should be OK for the dairy intolerant) into squares so they'll melt fast in the microwave. (Easy to double/quadrupile/multiply recipe accordingly). They will probably be done in 30 secs.
Step 2: Add into the melted butter 1/2 cup of soft brown sugar and whisk lots. Then add a whisked up 1 egg into the mixture (should be cool enough by now). When it looks like syrupy caramel like above its good.
Step 2: Into another bowl have 3/4 cup each of Orgran All purpose flour/Self Raising Flour, nicely mixed.
Step 3: Gradually add wet mix to dry until it resembles next photo.

Step 4: Fold into mixture your Gluten Free Choc Chips or choc chip substitutes. It will look like below photo.
Step 5: Gently roll the mix into balls that are then gently pushed onto the tray so they look like these below. (Yes, its a pizza tray... I like it because of the widdle holes the warm air can move up through).
Step 6: Put in a non-fan forced oven at 180 C and bake for 10-12 minutes. This is important. The softer and more melty in your mouth you want is you take it out earlier. For example, these two cookies look the same on the upside. If you want a softer buscuit take out a full 2 minutes earlier.

On the underside of the cookies reveals the difference. The darker golden brown means its crunchier and drier, the lighter colour is still cooked its just softer and more moist. Its personal preference really. I prefer the lighter colour or next to no colour.

Again, if your preferences are like my mothers, then you'll want to leave them in for another 4 or so minutes. They should have a good go at breaking teeth at that stage. Her buscuits are frightfully heavy and dense. Some are the equivilent to small rocks. And she eats them. In saying that, she makes very nice slices, biscotti and truffles, only the biscotti is safe from gluten however.

The update is not so good actually. I've been stunted in my quest to lose weight, and my depression is a problem. I've got sleep issues. I've got joint pain. I've got bloating and pain. Lots of these I can pin on two reasons: Gluten sneaking in and/or an unidentified dietry sensitivity, and my anti-depressant/breastfeeding issues. Oh, that and it's winter. I have bad times during winter = want to stay away from people and stay rugged up and in bed all the time. I must be related to bears. (I know that is double meaning and I mean it)!

In other family concerns: Raven has finally been consulted by the paed at the RHH. He seems to feel he has both constipation and diahrea at the same time. He put him through the tests, stool and blood, and will be looking at possible markers for Coeliac Disease amongst a myriad of other possibilites. He won't find any nasty parasites though, not after being put through the rigours of Flagyl quite recently. He finds it concerning that there are such marked levels of intense growth in short periods and large periods of no or slow growth. We won't find out the results until mid way through July.

Dante still has the big D after the Flagyl incident. Monika has had constant D since the Flagyl too. Kai is silent, and Labyrinth always says she's fine (although her behaviour/attention span needs attention so she's going to a psychiatrist soon... but what if it's a digestive concern only manifesting in behavioural type symptoms?)

I'll update as I need to or add in recipes soon. I've been doing some baking/cooking so I'll at least add recipes.

We've Begun...

It's the horrible anti-biotic week - we are all taking Flagyl because Dante had Entomeba Protozoan in his stool sample. The doctor will still screen for Coeliac's Disease though.

I've not been very well over the last few days. Just a flu and a bit of depression. Other than that I've been OK. Bit of Reflux which I thought was history so maybe a tiny bit of gluten snuck into the diet somewhere but didn't have me in fits of pain. Who knows? It's hard to tell at times.

I've certainly had energy today, putting in a garden bed. It was hot work but it certainly was achievable, and instead of being stuffed for the rest of the day I've been quite busy, not fatigued at all. I can feel it in my muscles which is a good thing! I have bursitus in my left shoulder so it copped it a bit. I'm still doing physio to get it back to some semblance of normalcy.

I'm not sure what I weigh at the moment either. I weighed the children the other day though, and Dante is still on the thinner side, but Raven seems to have put some weight on (or the incredibly bloating his tummy had - it was tight and painful for him. - Honestly it is so normal for him to be feeling that way that he doesn't seem to know much different. Poor bugger. He's got that appointment at the paeds coming up early June. It couldn't come fast enough for me.

Some good things though... I've been trying out different recipes for pancakes as I'm concerned about the cost of cereals (particularly when we got GF as a family). So I've tried the pre mixed versions of Organ and Freedom Foods. Andrew didn't like Orgran (Apple and Cinnamon mix, which I quite liked) and I didn't like Freedom Foods so I decided to check it out online. Well, some fantastic guy says he has a whole lot of pancake mix made up of a brand I don't much go on but I like the idea of it being made up and ready to go so it is just a matter of measuring X amount out and mixing in the wet ingredients. So, Andrew agreed and so now I am trying out different recipes.

Todays:
1/2 Cup Buckwheat
!/2 Cup All Purpose Gluten Free Flour (mostly maize)
1 tb GF Baking powder
1 egg
1/2 Cup Rice Milk
2 tb olive oil
ended up adding in another 1/2 Cup Buckwheat

blended it up and cooked on a medium heat. Incredibly light and fluffy and tasty, or so I thought. The children also loved it. Unfortunately Andrew decided he didn't so I'm going to give a different recipe a go. (I hope its just not his over refined personal tastes getting in the way, as I and my subjecting the children to various GF foods have developed ours.) I'm going a recipe including Quinoa flour next time. Yummy Quinoa... It's the main ingredient to my favourite breads. They stay fresh for up to 3 weeks, and don't have some of the problems that are inherent in many GF breads.
I'm also looking at baking breakfast cakes and rice or quinoa porridge too. I'm still considering alternative options to the sugar covered gluten containing ones.

Yeah, I'm guilty of being unable to eat in my allotted 100 Miles, Quinoa only grows in the Andes, and without rice where would my diet be??? I guess I'm doing the right thing and growing as much as I possible can though (or am attempting to).

Pizza Night. Not quite Zen Pizza.

Something we didn't want to lose as a family tradition is family pizza making nights. Yes, we always scratch cook it. Last time we cooked pizza it was a disaster (using the bread mix that's more like paste) and it became one with the baking paper. This time I didn't take any chances, we used Orgran's Pizza/Pastry mix. Using my beautiful new Kenwood Chef, we mixed the pizza dough, it needed the olive oil and yeast. It rose quite well and made a yummy pizza base. Won't call it perfection, but certainly edible and pleasant. We also made a chewy smaller base out 1/3 of it for a garlic/parmesan cheese pizza instead of garlic bread which obviously I can't eat anymore. It was OK. Definately lovely flavour just a bit on the chewy side. Here's some pics:

1. The Garlic/Parmesan number.

2. The Gluten Free/Lactose Free Pizza. Toppings include: Diced Tomato, chicken, bacon, green and black olives, red capsicum, mushrooms and crumbly sheeps fetta.

3. The non-allergy pizza for everyone else (this may change if/when one of the children is diagnosed with CD.) Your traditional pizza base, tomato, bacon, Tasty cheese, chorizo, chicken, green/red capsicum, mushrooms, green and black olives.

Poor Dante was complaining that his stomach hurt after. So we decided to measure/weigh them all. They all seem to fall fairly OK over the charts. Even little Raven has gained weight. However, playing at a park today we ran into a friend. She was surprised about my diagnosis a little, but stated that young Dante looked very thin and very pale. We'll see what my Dr says on Thurday when we've got an appointment for young Dante. She also said I'd lost weight. If I have it hasn't been noticable on the scales, I'll be checking tomorrow and post then. I do know I look different and my tummy looks flatter, my double chin as I've said seems smaller.

Dante has grown a centimetre in a month! Raven the same. They are the two I am most concerned with - but Labryinth I think is also a bit of a worry. She's quite heavy. I wish I could just get the tests done quickly, this waiting drives me batty!

Lots of positive's though, and hopefully things can start improving sooner than later for them as it has so much for me. I've been discussing my history with my partner, Andrew. He wanted to know if Gall Stones are related (second pregnancy I got gall bladder disease and had the microscopic surgery when I was week 22.). Every pregnancy excepting Kai's I've had more and more auto immune/other related problems emerge... First thing was the "IBS" with the first, then the Gall Bladder Disease (very nasty that was!), Kai's pregnancy uneventful for me even though they were harrassing me constantly searching for what was causing the pregnancy to have 1/3 extra waters and his subsequent largeness - they thought it was gestational diabetes but it wasn't, then blamed it on my obesity - not looking for the underlying cause of it all. Raven's pregnancy was asthma, and hayfever with Monika. Not just ordinary hay fever either... constant throughout the whole pregnance to the state I looked like I had black eyes some days. All of these auto-immune responses plus tonight after further research looks like I might be able to lay my scoliosis at the feet of CD too. My shoulder burstitus and joint pains are also related. Can't blame my astigmatism though. About the ONLY thing.

BRAIN works. Memory beginning to function better. Not nearly as tired. Energetic sometimes. Kids happy with me for being less irritable. But NOT happy that Andrew brought a Roast Turkey with gluten for Friday! No, it was really OK, I got to enjoy corn-fed chicken legs instead which is better!