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Gluten-Free Nutty Buckwheat Pancakes

They have a pleasing aroma, brown color, and a hearty bite. Buckwheat is famously healthy, strengthening blood vessels and supplying essential vitamins and minerals. Note: buckwheat is not a grain or a member of the wheat family. Rather, it is the seed of a vegetable and belonging to the rhubarb family. Early settlers named these nourishing, native seeds ‘buckwheat’ because they could be used like wheat when ground into flour.

Ingredients
  • 1 cup GF buckwheat flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
  • 1 scant teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon fructose
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup of milk or substitute, such as rice milk or soy milk
  • 3 tablespoons oil (safflower, corn, olive, canola)
  • 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)
Equipment
  • A medium bowl.
  • 1 griddle or large, metal skillet.  Unless it’s non-stick, your griddle or skillet should be rubbed with a small piece of paper towel dipped in cooking oil when the pan is warming, but not yet hot.  This procedure removes any film that would cause the pancakes to stick.
Process
  1. Preheat the griddle or skillet to 375 if electric, otherwise on medium high heat. Grease lightly with oil. Pan is ready when a small drop of water sizzles and disappears almost immediately.
  2. Mix dry ingredients together.  Mix eggs, milk and oil then add to the dry ingredients and mix.
  3. Pour 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake onto hot surface.
  4. Cook about 1 1/2 minutes or until the edges are cooked and bubbles form on the pancake surface. Flip, and cook the other side another 1 1/2 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with maple syrup, honey or fruit spread.
Freezes up to 2 months.
Microwave 20 seconds each to reheat or place in a toaster oven.

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Gluten-Free Easy Skillet Meatloaf


Description

Cooking the meatloaf in a skillet rather than in the oven means your kitchen stays cool and you’ll have a rich, tasty sauce. The addition of nutrient, fiber-rich rice bran and flax take the place of breadcrumbs, keeping the meat moist and soft.

Ingredients

1 pound ground meat  (meatloaf mix of part beef, pork, and veal or beef chuck or turkey)  

1 egg

3 tablespoons tomato sauce

2 tablespoons Romano cheese or other hard cheese

1 tablespoon flaxseed meal

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup leeks or onions, chopped

2 tablespoons rice bran

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 to 2 cups white mushrooms, sliced (optional)

2 tablespoons tomato sauce in 1 cup water 

4 medium potatoes with eyes removed, scrubbed and cut into 1 inch cubes

16 baby carrots halved or 4 carrots scrubbed and quartered into 16 pieces

2 tablespoons cornstarch or rice flour mixed in 1 1/2 cup water

Equipment

Large skillet with  sloping sides to allow flipping the loaf, and lid.

Process

Heat electric skillet to 250 degrees, or if using a regular skillet, use medium heat.

Into a medium bowl, add egg, parsley, salt, pepper, rice bran, flaxseed meal, leeks or onions, 3 T tomato sauce and cheese.  Mix ingredients with your hands.

Add meat, mix well with your hands (good to use thin plastic disposable gloves) and form a flat oval shape 2 inches thick.  Drizzle olive oil around center of skillet then place meat loaf in center of skillet.

Slowly brown loaf for 15 minutes.  Using a large spatula, carefully flip and brown other side 10 minutes.  Add mushrooms after turning meat, and sauté  till golden brown, stirring occasionally.  Add combined 2 T tomato sauce to 1 cup of water and add to skillet.  Add potatoes and carrots and cook til tender, about 10 minutes.

At this point you could make a non-starchy side vegetable such as broccoli, kale, green beans, or squash.  Applesauce or a salad also would go well.

Remove meatloaf and vegetables to heated platter.  Stir cornstarch mixture into pan drippings and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste.  Pass the gravy. Serves 4.

 

Gluten-Free Apple Dumplings

When Apple Dumplings are baking, their unmistakable aroma fills the air. Much more satisfying than apple pie, everyone is sure to appreciate them.

 

Ingredients
  • Pastry for 2 pie shells (see below)
  • 6 medium tart apples (Jonathon, Pink Lady, Winesap, Granny)
  • 2/3 cup raisins
  • 2/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 6 tablespoons fructose or honey
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoons butter (optional)

 

Ingredients for syrup
  • 2 cups apple juice
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

 

Equipment
  • 13x9x2 inch glass baking dish.

 

Process
  1. Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Lightly grease bottom of baking dish.
  2. Make the syrup: in a medium pot, mix together the apple juice, honey, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and clove.  Bring to boil, then turn down to low and cook 3 minutes.  Set aside.
  3. Prepare the pastry dough, or see below for our recipe. Divide pastry into 6 balls, then chill.
  4. Pare and core apples.  Mix together raisins, nuts, fructose or honey, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Evenly fill apples with this mixture and add a half teaspoon of butter. 
  5. Make the dumplings.  One at a time, roll each pastry ball between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to form an 8 inch circle.  Remove the top piece of plastic and place an apple in the center of the circle.  Bring the edges of the pastry to the top of the apple to enclose it, then press to seal.   Peel away the bottom piece of plastic.  Repeat with the remaining 5 apples. Space the dumplings evenly in the baking dish and pour the syrup over each one. 
  6. Bake 40 minutes or until crust is golden and syrup has lightly carmelized or thickened. 

 

Pie pastry from our recipe file:
  • 1 1/4 cup white rice flour
  • 1/4 cup GF millet four or sorghum flour
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
  • 2 large eggs, beaten

Blend dry ingredients – flours, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt.  With a pastry blender, mix in the shortening till it resembles coarse meal.  Lightly mix in the beaten eggs just until the dough pulls together. Makes 6 dumplings.

 

Gluten-Free Nutty Buckwheat Pancakes

They have a pleasing aroma, brown color, and a hearty bite. Buckwheat is famously healthy, strengthening blood vessels and supplying essential vitamins and minerals. Note: buckwheat is not a grain or a member of the wheat family. Rather, it is the seed of a vegetable and belonging to the rhubarb family. Early settlers named these nourishing, native seeds ‘buckwheat’ because they could be used like wheat when ground into flour.

Ingredients
  • 1 cup GF buckwheat flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
  • 1 scant teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon fructose
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup of milk or substitute, such as rice milk or soy milk
  • 3 tablespoons oil (safflower, corn, olive, canola)
  • 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

 

Equipment
  • A medium bowl.
  • 1 griddle or large, metal skillet.  Unless it’s non-stick, your griddle or skillet should be rubbed with a small piece of paper towel dipped in cooking oil when the pan is warming, but not yet hot.  This procedure removes any film that would cause the pancakes to stick.

 

Process
  1. Preheat the griddle or skillet to 375 if electric, otherwise on medium high heat. Grease lightly with oil. Pan is ready when a small drop of water sizzles and disappears almost immediately.
  2. Mix dry ingredients together.  Mix eggs, milk and oil then add to the dry ingredients and mix.
  3. Pour 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake onto hot surface.
  4. Cook about 1 1/2 minutes or until the edges are cooked and bubbles form on the pancake surface. Flip, and cook the other side another 1 1/2 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Serve with maple syrup, honey or fruit spread.
Freezes up to 2 months.
Microwave 20 seconds each to reheat or place in a toaster oven.

 

Gluten Sensitivity (Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity)

Gluten Sensitivity is an umbrella term defined as “any and all problematic health responses to gluten in any body system.” (Recognizing Celiac Disease, p. IX)

Anyone can experience Gluten Sensitivity as a normal immune response to the abnormal presence of gluten in blood or body tissues.

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity can develop if gluten, or rather, harmful partially digested fragments of gluten, wrongly pass through the small intestinal lining into our bloodstream.  From the blood, these protein fragments can harm any of our body tissues.

Factors Leading to Gluten Sensitivity Reactions

Two important factors that may subject non-celiac people to a gluten sensitivity reaction are high gluten load, and increased permeability of the small intestinal lining, also called “Leaky Gut Syndrome.”

1.  High Gluten load

A high gluten load simply means we are eating a diet that contains too much gluten. Of course, the more gluten we eat, the greater is the risk of protein fragments entering our bloodstream.

2.  Increased Permeability of the Small Intestinal Lining (Leaky Gut Syndrome)

Gluten may drive the immune system, even outside the gastrointestinal tract (extra-intestinal), to cause other diseases that we don’t call celiac disease, but which are still derived from gluten.1 Studies reveal extra-intestinal manifestations with positive blood tests for anti-gliadin antibodies without evidence of celiac disease.  This finding indicates gluten entering the bloodstream via increased membrane permeability of the small intestine.

Increased Intestinal Permeability (Leakage)

Increased permeability of the small intestinal lining, also called hyperpermeability, refers to alteration of the complex barrier system that separates what’s in our gut from the rest of our body. This protective system determines what substances may be allowed to cross from the inside of our small intestine to our bloodstream. An abnormal barrier allows harmful substances to “permeate” into deeper layers of the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream.

The major defense of the barrier system against permeation by harmful substances is comprised of tight intercellular junctions. Tight junctions (TJ) refer to the regulated spaces between enterocytes (cells forming the surface lining of our small intestine), causing these cells to closely adhere to each other, side-by-side. Disruption of TJ allows harmful substances such as gluten fragments to slip through them.

Only a single layer of epithelial cells separates the contents of our small intestine from the lamina propria (underlying tissues of the small intestine) and the rest of our body. Breaching of this single layer of cells can expose effector immune cells located in the lamina propria to a myriad of microorganisms and food antigens, leading to immune reactions.2

Breakdown of the barrier is implicated in the pathogenesis (development) of acute illnesses such as bacterial translocation leading to sepsis and multiple organ failure. It also has been implicated in several auto-immune disease, including Celiac Disease, Type I Diabetes Mellitus, Autism, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and atopic disorders such as Asthma, Rhinitis, Eczema, and Allergies.3

Factors Other Than Gluten That Disrupt Tight Intercellular Junctions?

  • Gastrointestinal infections from microbes such as rotavirus, parasites, pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli, Clostridium difficile toxins), and mycotoxins (toxins produced by fungi found in stored grain and dried fruit).
  • Fats such as rancid fats, sodium caprate, a medium-chain fat, and sucrose monester fatty acid, a food-grade surfactant, induce significant disruption.
  • Foods such as alcohol, lactose, caffeine, paprika, cayenne pepper, refined carbohydrates, some food preservatives and food additives.
  • Medications such as oral antibiotics, NSAIDS (eg, Aspirin, Advil), corticosteroids, and oral contraceptives.
  • Psychological stress, oxidative stress
  • Intense exercise
  • Aging

Restoring Tight Intercellular Junctions

Correction of the factors that cause Tight Junction disruption and eating a gluten-free diet with foods that have been shown to restore Tight Junction function after injury, such as:

  • EPA and gamma linolenic acid (omega-3 fatty acids).
  • Butyrate  (a short-chain fatty acid).
  • Glutamine (an essential amino acid).
  • Black pepper and nutmeg.

Health Problems That Can Develop?

Mild problems that may come and go include irritability, sluggishness, tiredness, achiness, the “blues”, fatigue, and disinterest in things that should cause interest. With less mental acuity and drive, a person with these symptoms may feel like a “couch potato.” Others may say things like, “What’s got into you?” or “You never want to do things anymore.” Or “You don’t take care of the house like you used to do.” Children may not pay attention, whine or cry alot.

Gluten can wreak havoc throughout the body if leakiness is severe or prolonged. Gluten can affect the mind causing problems like depression and anxiety. Thinking difficulties may develop such as poor attention, judgment and memory or outright confusion. Behavioral problems may include hyperactivity or inappropriate social interaction. In some people, psychotic symptoms can develop which may be reversed on a gluten-free diet. Read more…Symptom Guide.

Gluten Can Have a Harmful Effect on the Mind

When gluten is broken down in the intestines during digestion, peptides are formed.  Certain peptides, called Gluten Exorphine and Gliadorphin, mimic the effects of morphine on the brain if they abnormally enter the bloodstream.  People who are unable to break down these peptides may experience mental health problems.

The same gut-brain mechanism that allows oral medications used to treat mental problems, such as depression, to enter the brain also allows gluten to enter. Neuoroactive compounds [substances that affect the brain] derived from within the intestine can permeate either diseased or healthy mucosa, cross the blood-brain barrier and cause psychiatric, cognitive and behavioral disturbances.4 Both gluten and beta-casein in milk are neuroactive compounds that cross the intestinal lining into the bloodstream and cause the mental symptoms in susceptible people such as autism and schizophrenia.  When gluten is the cause of schizophrenia, studies show that symptoms disappear in 2 weeks but will reappear in 3 days if gluten is again ingested.

What other problems can develop from gluten in the bloodstream?

Wherever gluten goes, it alarms our immune system to react because it damages any tissue it touches. When our body surrounds and encloses it, we form granulomas. These hard nodules can develop in the liver, joints, and skin. Granulomas are like pearls formed by an oyster. Our body encapsulates gluten to keep it from hurting our tissues much like an oyster does a grain of sand that lodges inside of it.

The longer we eat gluten, the greater is our risk of developing other auto-immune disorders such as, Alopecia Areata (hair loss), Psoriasis (skin disorder), Addison’s Disease (adrenal gland disorder), Grave’s Disease (hyperthyroid disorder) and Auto-immune Hepatitis (liver disorder).

In auto-immune disorders, the development of anti-gliadin antibodies may be attributed to the response to food protein [from gluten] and is often not closely related with Celiac Disease. 1

What should I do if I think I have this problem?

If you suspect you have this problem, see your doctor.  He may want to rule out Celiac Disease because Leaky Gut Syndrome is a part of this disorder.  In either condition, blood tests for anti-gliadin antibodies can be done that specifically test for gluten.  Other tests that determine Increased Intestinal Permeability (Leaky Gut) include Breath Hydrogen Test and Sugar Absorption Test.  Both of these tests are simple. Read more…Diagnosis and Testing

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  1. Kamaeva OL, Reznikov IP, Pimenova NS, Dobritsyna LV. Antigliadin antibodies in the absence of celiac disease.
  2. Fahardi A, Banan A, Fields J, Keshavarzian A. Intestinal barrier: an interface between health and disease. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2003; 18: 479-497.
  3. Liu Z, Li N, and New J. Tight Junctions, leaky intestines, and pediatric diseases. Acta Pediatrica, 2005;94:386-393.
  4. Wakefield AJ, Puleston JM, Montgomery SM, Anthony A, O’leary JJ, Murch SH. Review article: the concept of entero-colonic encephalopathy, autism and opiod receptor ligands. Blackwell Science Ltd, Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2002; 16:663-674.