Gluten Free Year Two

My history with a gluten free diet is long and sordid. When I was a baby my two year old brother was diagnosed with Celiac disease. The diagnosis came after suffering with a distended belly and not being able to properly digest food for months. Once my parents eliminated gluten from his diet he immediately improved. This was in the early 80’s when not much was available for people who couldn’t eat wheat. It was a hard road for him. I grew up with a lot of wheat alternatives in our home but still ate wheat. My mother explained to me that I had a wheat tummy and my brother had a rice tummy.

Fast forward to my 20’s, I decided to try an allergy elimination diet. I was into trendy, healthy life style stuff and thought I would see if my stomach aches, acne, etc. might be related to food allergies. A lot of my friends were trying this at the time so I thought I could try it too. One of my friends had found out he was allergic to eggs and once he stopped eating them his chronic acne went away. I did not have the same issue but was curious what it might do for my overall health.  

In an elimination diet, you take 3 weeks and refrain from eating all the foods that are common allergens.  These foods are eggs, wheat, dairy, peanuts and corn. After the 3 weeks is over you re-introduce the foods one at a time in a concentrated form. For example when reintroducing dairy you would drink a glass of milk while testing dairy, verses eating a cookie with milk in it. Then you wait for an hour to see if you have an allergic reaction. These reactions can be tricky and varied. One reaction is swelling, soar throat, flu like symptoms. Another is digestion issues, stomach cramps, nausea. Another allergic symptom is sores that can develop on the insides of your lips after eating the food. The first time I did this diet it was really hard to tell what was an allergic reaction. It seemed like all the common allergy foods made me feel high and fuzzy. Eggs seemed to have a stronger sensation but it was hard to tell. The only one that had no side affects was dairy. Luckily dairy and my stomach have always been friends.

After doing this diet once and having such varied results I ended up feeling like it was a waste of time and just went back to eating whatever.

Enter pregnancy a few years later. My body completely changed, even the way I digested food seemed to change for the better. I had suffered for a time with stomach ulcer like symptoms pre-baby, post baby the ulcers resolved. After having the baby, Sweetpea, I was over joyed and super focused on her more then myself. However, I did notice while nursing Sweetpea that wheat bothered me. It was hard to pin point why but I could tell after eating wheat I did not feel good, more lethargic, more sores on my lip, and sometimes hot or burning sensations. I really noticed the symptoms when I was on a trip to Italy. Italy as a country actually has a lot of Gluten Free (GF) options. At the time, I was not restricting my eating and enjoyed lots of pasta and bread. Everyday I felt more and more out of it. My head got really itchy, something inside me kept saying, “this is related to wheat” but I didn’t want to hear it.

 A few years passed after the trip. Over new years, a friend and I decided to set some resolutions around our health. I wrote, “get to the bottom of any health issues” I had. I started this resolution with a 40-day allergy elimination diet. This time I was going to pinpoint the foods I suspected I was allergic to, eggs and wheat. Forty days with no wheat or eggs was rough as most prepared foods contain both these ingredients. Most prepared GF foods have eggs in them, so it was almost all home cooking for me.

I was diligent this time, not eating the foods I knew I shouldn’t and letting go of the random wheat and egg treats that are prevalent everywhere.  I just did not partake.  A pleasant experience from this is I lost about 10 pounds; the random treats really did add up.  I was hoping to lose my baby weight from my second child, Little Pickle, so I was able to check off two new years resolutions at once, score!

A memorable moment in the allergy elimination phase was at an office party where everyone was having decadent cupcakes. I had forgotten about the party and busted out my sunflower butter and jam rice cakes that I had planned to have for lunch. Everyone felt bad for me but I laughed it off explaining my new diet.

After 40 days I re-introduced eggs, whites then yolks. Absolutely no allergic reaction! I was very pleased to see this. On to wheat, I ate half a baguette for lunch. Right afterword I felt woozy. My lips started to sting my throat was sore. The rest of the day was a blur and the next few days I felt like I had the flu. It was terrible and a big wake up call. My body was fighting off an allergic reaction every time I ate wheat. It was inflaming my back, giving me chronic back pain, it made me gain weight and made me feel like crap.  It was time to stop eating wheat.

Sense the initial elimination of wheat and subsequent weight loss, things slowed down into a routine. The first year was all about experimentation, trying new GF products and figuring out how to eat happily with my wheat eating family. Thankfully I was somewhat skilled in this having lived my childhood with my GF brother. Often when I cook I just cook GF for everybody. My husband will do things GF for me as well but sometimes I just eat my own meal. One of the health benefits I noticed was less back pain. I was working with a cranial sacral therapist to help with this as well. I think wheat was inflaming my back and not eating it anymore made my body feel less irritated and tense.

It is now year 2 of being GF. At this point it has become routine. Like a vegetarian I just know there are certain foods I can’t eat. I don’t even really miss them. I associate the wheat foods with the allergic symptoms and that really helps. I occasionally long for real Italian bread but I also know what will happen if I indulge. It is not worth it. It can be a bummer when you’re on a special diet especially when negotiating dinning out options with my family. One day I just let us go to the pizza place and I ate a hearty salad instead. Most of the time though, I can find something GF and tasty on the menu.

There are a lot of alternative baked goods out there now, but they vary in quality. I know to not eat most pre made GF muffins unless I want a dry, sandy overly sweet flavor in my mouth. GF frozen waffles however taste great. GF pop tarts- nasty, GF cinnamon sugar doughnuts-super tasty. I am very particular about the mixes I buy and alternative breads. Bob’s Red mill makes 2 great all purpose GF flours one is garbanzo based, a little healthier, the other is potato starch and tapioca based, it is not very healthy but gives the fluffy soft rise when making pancakes. We use these flours combined with almond flour for most things.  Canyon Bakehouse makes my favorite, whole grain GF bread so far. This bread is my indulgence at $6.99 a loaf but I love toast and eggs for breakfast each morning.

My brother had this disease from when he was a toddler. I watched him deal with this his whole life.  I am blessed to become GF in a time when there is a lot more information & products out there. I wonder how much of my allergy is celiac and how much of it is related to all the chemicals put into wheat and the genetically modified seeds that I am having a reaction to? I will eventually get tested for celiac; for now being GF is what works best for me.

What are your favorite GF foods? What have you figured out about this disease?

A Foodie Tour Of Northwest Arkansas

As you read the title of this post you might be wondering, foodie, Northwest Arkansas? What? I was a skeptic too but I can now safely say some of the best eats in the Mid-South come from this region of Arkansas. Now that I live in Oklahoma, I see Arkansas as a vacation destination. I would have laughed at this just a few years ago, but now living down here I can see why. Northwest Arkansas is rugged and beautiful, and home to the Ozarks,  green and lush and full of flowers, hallows and rivers. There are all kinds of recreation to be had but also fun, little, quirky towns, with cultural sights and charm galore. Believe me you will want to visit if you ever end up near the Mid-South. We took this tour sans kids as an anniversary weekend, though most of the places were kid friendly and I am sure could be enjoyed by families. 

Our foodie tour starts in the quaint college town of Fayetteville. This town definitely has a collegiate feel and also some fun, old Victorian, Southern bungalows and public art  making it feel alternative and funky. The restaurant we stop at is called "Arsaga’s At The Depot." Part cafe, part restaurant The Depot serves up indy, haute cuisine and drinks in a laid back Southern setting. An old train station that houses multiple stores, The Depot is behind the Chipotle and can be recognized for its large planters filled with herbs and veggies they use in the restaurant. Upon entering you are met by a staff in vintage dresses or casual, gender neutral clothing. This place feels like a little bit of Olympia, Washington with a Southern twist. We end up on the patio on a humid 100-degree day, but its shady and large and makes you feel like a southern belle. We order drinks, the Fairchild, perfect for a hot day, a peach, mint and coconut milk drink, and the Japanther, a Japanese cold brew coffee with fruit, both absolutely delicious.

For lunch I get the Redmond, a sandwich specially prepared on a buckwheat crepe since I don't eat gluten. The flavor combinations are exquisite in this sandwich, a combo of modern American, Asian and health nut influences that somehow meld together perfectly. The buckwheat crepe is light and crispy and provides a perfect side bread for the pickled sesame carrots topped with a creamy soft-boiled egg and miso infused sweet potatoes. There is a fresh green sauce that comes along with it and a field greens salad, fresh picked from the side of the restaurant. Daddy got their version of poutine or kimchi fries with brisket; we were blown away by the many combinations of “meal as fries” they had. So tasty! The place backs up against the old train track, which is now a bike path, we explore afterword, taking in the country scenery. This was a lovely city to start our food tour in. 

We next head to Eureka Springs Arkansas. This city is pure magic, a tourist town but super funky, artsy and unique. Chiseled into the side of rock, steep hills make up the geography of a town filled with Victorian buildings, trolley history and eclectic characters. Deep magic pools of cold spring water come pouring out the side of the hills and into gorgeous mini gardens nestled in-between fun touristy shops. We spent our last anniversary here and wanted to come back even if it was just for a day. The town is known for its good dining. 

“Le Stick Nouveau” is a fascinating French restaurant that takes you into the basement of the New Orleans Hotel. All is dark purple, lush and sparkly. A man played an electric violin and we were surrounded by large, billowy curtains pulled back with golden ropes strung with the kind of tassels one always wants to yank. Our waitress was very friendly and recommended a yummy appetizer of thin slices of raw beef that had been smoked. When she came out with the order it was presented in a glass container filled with smoke. Something about the glittery purple ambience, the violin player and the lady in a black corset bringing us a bowl filled with smoke made me feel like I was in a magic show. It was very fun and made me giggle all night. They also insisted on putting daddy's sparkling water on ice and filling it up like a wine glass, which made us laugh. The dish that stuck out the strongest was the duck A LA ‘Orange. This was enchanting; each mouthful more pleasant then the last with potatoes au gratin I wrote the recipe down it was so full of yummy flavor.

We worked off our affordable, enjoyable, French meal with a walk to the Basin Springs Downtown Park. There we were entertained by a hippie kid named Crayola singing with a ukulele and a couple of tango dancers we met last time we were here. We would have spent the night in Eureka Springs but we had tickets to a Chihuly exhibit in Bentonville Arkansas, so we departed at sunset for our Bentonville hotel.

Weird, wonderful and Walmarty Bentonville Arkansas is the birthplace of Walmart. Don’t let that information stop you from checking it out. While the town does have a lot of Walmarts and even a Walmart history museum it is also an international city for business; all the companies trying to sell to Walmart have hubs in Bentonville making it a fairly wealthy and international town. Hence the Chihuly glass exhibit at one of our favorite museums to check out in the area, Crystal Bridges. This museum houses beautiful and classic works of American art. The modern section is on point and the building itself is fascinating. It was built in a minimalist fashion meant to represent mounds of earth surrounding a creek. The harmony of art, architecture and nature is a pleasure to behold. Also Crystal bridges main exhibits are free and a brand new children's museum was built next-door making it a very kid-friendly place to visit. Crystal Bridges is the best reason to come to Bentonville but there are also some delicious eats to be had while in the city.

That morning we awoke to the fact that our hotel did not offer free, continental breakfast. Looking at the menu and the price we knew we could do better. A quick yelp search led us to “The Buttered Biscuit”. As a gluten free (GF) person I was not sure this would be the best place for me to eat but let me tell you I was wrong! They had delectable GF biscuits and gravy on the menu. This place had a French kitchen vibe, all blue, white and gold with chicken imagery in the corners.  The wait was not too long and everyone was friendly, very family oriented, I played with a little boy who was waiting next to me in line. Daddy got The Rue, a hollandaise Benedict with corned beef. I got the Goat Trail, a goat cheese and veggie omelet with a GF biscuit. All was delicious and very filling for our museum day. It was perfectly topped off with Onyx coffee lab bottomless cups of drip coffee. Onyx is a very unique and fancy coffee bar in the downtown square of Bentonville worth checking out. Onyx Coffee Lab makes you feel like you are in a hip, urban city and has all the fancy contraptions for delectable gourmet coffee.

The last stop on our foodie tour is one of our all-time favorites. As I mentioned before Bentonville is an international town and there is specifically a large Indian population. There are many Indian restaurants to choose from but our favorite is called “Flavors Indian Cuisine.” It has all the trappings of good Indian place.  The restaurant is in a strip mall, out of the way, Indian television is playing, the majority of the clientele are Indian and not all the food is labeled in English. This place is a buffet, the grandest buffet I have ever been too. It goes on and on, with different types of food from all the different regions of India. You can get the traditional, northern tikka masala here but also three different kinds of dal as well as dosa, idli and sambar and at least ten varieties of Indian desserts. 

They always have a vegetarian side of the food warmers with such tasty bites as fried ridge gourd, bitter melon curry and banana flower soup. There is also a spicy eggplant dish I delight in. It is best to come to this place hungry and eat your heart out. It could really be a one meal of the day kind of place. As we suck candied fennel on the way home, chai spice still in our mouths, I am pleased to put a bookmark at the end of this foodie tour.

Go to Northwest Arkansas, it is beautiful, full of culture and an un-trampled area for exploring with a flair of southern hospitality and good eating.