Well, in an intesting turn of events, it seems that we now have one more family member with a food allergy. Hubby has been dealing with some dairy issues, off and on, for quite some time. A long time ago I suggested doing a 30 day dairy elimination challenge, just to see what would happen, but he wasn't ready yet to consider that possibility. However last week he was finally driven over the edge into readiness. His body is trying to tell him something. So dairy-free challenge; here we come!
Three days in and his issues are subsiding, so hallelujah for that. He's all in for the full 30 days. After that time, when the dairy has completely cleared his system, he will try to re-introduce it and see what happens. That will let us know definitively. On the one hand, that would be awesome if we were finally able to uncover the root cause of the problem. On the flip side, entertaining the idea that dairy might not be his friend, in fact, it might even be his arch enemy, has been difficult, and there are a wide range of feelings associated with that.
Strangely, I never had a single moment of grief or loss when I found out what gluten was doing to me. In fact I was SO grateful to finally uncover the root cause of ALL my health issues (painful, cyctic adult acne, autoimmune thyroid disease, anxiety, irrational fears, GI and abdominal issues, joint pain....I could go on all day) that I felt nothing but pure JOY to be able to live a healthy life, free, once and for all, of all these ills, simply by saying good bye to gluten. It was not a tearful, regretful parting, but more of a "good riddance! Get the heck out of my life forever!" type of parting. I was like: "Later Gluten! Don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!!" No looking back. No sorrow, or feelings of loss--nothing at all, except gratitude. I never knew what it was like to be well before. These last 3 1/2 years gluten-free have been a whole new life, better than I ever thought possible--thank you Jesus!
But not everyone feels the way I did when they discover a food allergy. Most often it's grief stages of shock, anger/irritation, feelings of loss, sadness, and finally acceptance. So I'm really going to try to baby my Hubby through this process with some fantastic, yummy, dairy-free food that he will love, and that, more importantly, will love him back.
Quinoa Apple Crisp
The recipe I used is from Ali Segerston and Tom Malterre's excellent book, Whole Life Nutrition. But it is similar to one found on their website right HERE. I used more fruit: 5 or 6 apples and a cup of frozen blueberries...I used only 2 T. sucanat in the apples, and 1/4 c. sucanat in the topping, for a 9x13 pan. And it was plenty sweet. I used double the aarowroot and lemon juice, and only 1 tsp cinnamon plus spice blend. I omitted the vanilla, and added 3/4 c. chopped walnuts.
I chose this recipe because # 1 my hubby loves apple crisp, #2 I've STILL got a ton of apples to use up! Gluten is found in wheat, rye and barley, but also in oats...even certified GF oats can be a problem for most gluten intolerant people. I've tried soaking and everything to be able to eat oats, but the bottom line is I just can't eat them. Even GF oats are a huge problem for me. Oats have a very similar protein to gluten. So similar my body reacts almost the same as if it were gluten. So, I substituted quinoa flakes. They tasted pretty good, but (sigh....) my body was still not a big fan. So next time, we'll probably just go with a nut-only topping. If you can eat oats...hooray for you! This recipe is divine with oats, so go for it, and eat some for me, ok? ;)
You know me...as long as dishes are dirty, I'm darn well gonna make 'em work for me! Instead of just one apple crisp I went ahead and made 3--the extra two I made into apple crisp "kits" for the freezer. The blueberries are local...I froze them in season when they were ripe, cheap, and full of summer sunshine. Oh how I love reaping the benefits of that now that it's cold and bare outside! However, now I may have to re-do the topping to be nut only, but at least the apples are done and ready to thaw and bake. I have never frozen apple crisps before, but I see lots of freezer recipes for it, so I'm guessing it will work. I think these kits will be nice to have when we have company, or maybe over the holidays. One less thing to mess with.
Here are the apple mix, blueberries and topping, bagged separately...
I grouped them all in another ziplock with instructions written outside to make it easy when I go to use it.
*UPDATE 12/5/13: Well I thawed one of these freezer kits in the fridge, then dumped it in a 9x13 and baked it up. It has benefits and drawbacks. Benefit: It took about 10 seconds to have this dessert in the oven! Open bags, dump into pan. Drawback: the apples were a bit soft in texture for my taste. There was definitely a difference that I could tell. The fresh version apples were firmer more "al dente", and the texture was just better in my opinion, but the flavors were all the same--I could tell no difference in the topping or blueberry aspects. The softer apples in this frozen version were not too big a deal. Especially if you are serving this with ice cream, then it probably makes no difference what-so-ever.
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