With all the gluten-free diet rage, increased cases of celiacs disease, and gluten-migraine connection (which is SO real, folks–I’m a migraine sufferer who can trace each and every headache back to gluten consumption), doctors have been putting people on GF diets more than ever to help alleviate their ills.

BUT, there is something the doctors aren’t telling you . . .

Something that the food manufacturers don’t want you to know . . .

THE GLUTEN SECRET.

It is long and complicated, so let me break it down for everyone:

1. Gluten is a naturally occurring protein in the wheat grain that gives flour elastic properties when mixed with water, necessary to make a dough (otherwise we would just have crumbs)
2. The word “glue” derives from gluten’s name because gluten is basically the “glue” that holds the dough together (ever make papier mache?)
3. Bread manufacturers learned that adding extra, processed gluten to their bread would make it rise instantly and turn gloriously puffy, so to save time, they started adding TONS of extra processed gluten to their recipes (this is why store-bought bread can be squished and rolled into playdough-like balls. It is practically glue-bread!)
4. But, like all good things, gluten is unhealthy when used to excess. Added processed gluten in our food has led to increased cases of Celiac’s disease, migraines, attention deficit disorders, and a number of other ailments.
5. People who try swearing off of white bread find that their health doesn’t improve. Why? because even the most organic whole wheat breads have added processed gluten in them!
6. The answer to gluten sensitivity is not a gluten-free diet, but a NATURAL GLUTEN diet, whereby only natural (not added, processed) gluten is eaten. Gluten as mother nature intended it is actually quite healthy. but mother nature only put about a molecule of gluten in each wheat kernel–not the bucketloads of gluten being tossed into bread manufacturers’ vats every day . . .

So there you have it. The secret in a nutshell. Now when you go out shopping, stop to read the label on your bread, rolls, tortillas, and even %100 whole wheat pita breads, and notice how high “gluten” is listed in the ingredients. This is SO WRONG, because mother nature already put enough gluten inside each and every little wheat berry. The bread manufacturers just don’t want to sit around and let the dough rest and rise long enough for the natural gluten to kick in. Their shortcuts–as always–have serious repercussions on our health.

My solution? Bake your own bread and learn to eat mother nature’s healthier version of gluten!

Oh dear; the Baking Bites blog has a recipe up for HOMEMADE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES.

I bake–a lot. I am in SO much trouble now!

Rather than meat, this recipe calls for brown rice and beans. However, I think I would like to substitute wheat grains next time, because when they puff up, they resemble ground beef more than rice and beans do!

Ingredients:

1 tsp canola oil

1 chopped onion 1 chopped green pepper

1/2 c. shredded carrots

1.5 cups brown rice

2 cans navy beans (or smaller beans), drained

3/4 cup hickory BBQ sauce

1 bottle chili sauce

4 cups water

Optional: 1 cube beef bullion (for beef flavor)

Sautee oil, onion, carrots, and green pepper in a skillet until crisp-tender. Combine remaining ingredients in crock pot; add vegetables from skillet. Cook on low for 8-9 hours. Serve on buns, crackers, or alone.

 My kids liked their sloppy joes on buns; I preferred to eat mine on crackers, because I don’t do white flour anymore. These tasted great!

P.S. If you don’t want to buy ready-made chili sauce, here’s a recipe for you to make your own:

2 cups canned tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
Dash of cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped green pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt, approximately

Instructions:

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the tomatoes, onion, cayenne, cloves, cinnamon, sugar, and vinegar. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour. Add the green pepper and simmer 30 minutes more. Add salt to taste. Chill before serving.

Yield: 1-1/2 cups

http://melissaastle.blogspot.com/2008/05/tortilla-tutorial.html

I heartily recommend that you try this fabulous title, which I recently recommended to my sister-in-law’s book club!

The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken: A Search for Food and Family

Laura Schenone’s book is hard to categorize. Certainly, it is a foodie’s delight: the story of her adventures as she travels to Italy in search of her family’s authentic ravioli recipes. Yet this book is more than a cooking chronicle; it is also a touching memoir, one so real, so well-written, that the reader just cannot put it down (I sure couldn’t!).

If I had to write about my life or family, I would want to write it like this! It is a fun, delightful, inspiring, and at the same time instructive book. I have recommended it to several friends and family members, who all reported back to me that it was the best book they had read in ages!

But the the strategies employed by the boy’s father and grandparents were spot-on, resulting in some breathtaking results in a court system that tends to favor mothers! Not only that, but the tale of their journey is so gripping that you won’t be able to put it down! To learn more about this book, click here.

*Side note: my mother is a personal friend of the author’s; believe it or not, this book doesn’t even cover half of this woman’s bizzare attempts to use her child as a weapon against her ex. If you read this book, PLEASE comment here, and tell me if you were not as shocked as I was by what the author *did* reveal!