Deep Dish Pizza - recipe

Yesterday's deep dish pizza attempt was a huge success, even with the non GF people in attendance at the foodie party.

So what exactly did I come up with?

Deep Dish Pizza Crust.

5 Tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 Cup warm water
2 packets of quick rise active yeast (I used 4.5 teaspoons SAF)
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 1/4 Cup GF All Purpose Flour (I used King Arthur because that was what was available at the store)

Grease a 9 or 10 inch deep dish pizza pan with 2 Tablespoons of the Olive Oil. You can also use a springform or cake pan.

• Combine the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl. Mix well.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm water with the yeast and add 1/2 cup of the flour mixture.
• Mix well and let sit until it is bubbly and smells yeasty. About 15-30 minutes.
• Add the remaining ingredients to the mixer bowl and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Spread the batter into the pan, pressing the dough up the edges. 
• Let rise for an hour.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F.

Before adding toppings, bake until light golden brown, about 30 minutes, but watch it since all ovens cook differently.


After the pizza dough is cooked, let cool for 5-10 minutes, or longer if needed.  This is great because you can make the pizza crust ahead of time and reheat later.

Since the dough is baked beforehand, your toppings should be precooked if you wouldn't want to eat them raw or mostly raw.

Our first GF Deep Dish Pizza - Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Bacon and Cheddar cheese - was inspired by Pizzeria Uno's pizza skins.

Spread cooked mashed potatoes on Pizza dough, cover with cheddar cheese and cooked, homemade bacon bits. Bake at 350-375F until the potatoes are warmed through and the cheese is melted and browned.

Enjoy!

Day 28 - Gluten Free

So far this whole gluten free challenge has been fairly easy.  Aside from reading labels our lives haven't changed much.  We just make different choices now. Day 28 without any cravings. That is still the biggest benefit I have noticed, on top of the weight loss. But day 28 arrives with a new challenge.  We've been invited to a foodie party. A pizza party. A deep dish pizza party. WE LOVE PIZZA!

The party throwers know that Mike and I are gluten free for this challenge, but invited us anyway and we are thrilled to be invited.  We have a history of being social hermits that we are trying to break free from.  But of course we would not expect them to make a special meal just for the 2 of us so when we accepted the invite we also confirmed that we would bring our own pie and dessert.

As you know, if you've read our past posts or even just browsed the titles, we've been experimenting with pizza, but they have all been thin crust pizzas.  Deep dish is a new challenge. A totally different process. And admittedly, until this morning I had missed the Chicago theme of the foodie event so I am completely unprepared.  Thankfully I am creative and fearless in the kitchen.

On the menu for today, GF deep dish pizza (or thin crust if the deep dish doesn't work out) and flourless chocolate cupcakes with a vanilla sauce.  If the recipes turn out well I will share them later. Can't share them now as I haven't made them up yet.

Isagenix Weight Loss Journey

Mike and I have achieved some significant milestones on our weight loss journey and I wanted to share with everyone.

Weight Loss Hall Of fame entry #200

In 2013 we are focusing on mental health. As difficult as losing weight is, healing a fat brain is more difficult.

From Focaccia to Panini

Mike, here.  Golly, but days off are very productive blog days.  Or, rather, they can be.  

So, during my last post (earlier today) about making Gluten Free focaccia bread, I spoke about turning the focaccia Kelly made into a sandwich, preferably a panino or two.  And that's exactly what Kelly did.  And I took pictures.

Start by slicing your focaccia bread the long way, preferably with a serrated and/or bread knife:

Pizza spice flavor on the left, pesto on the right

Meanwhile, preheat your infernal machine, er...sandwich press:

We use a Griddler from Cuisinart

Saute a chicken breast:

Kelly sauteed it in more Williams-Sonoma pizza spice.  This is why we're almost out.  

Liberally schmear some pesto on the bottom piece of each sandwich:

Be generous - it's pesto, after all

 Add some sliced, fresh mozzarella:

Homemade is best, but we used store bought

 Add a half slice of prosciutto:

The pig is a magical creature

  Assemble:

We've got greens, but we'll add them later

 Grill-n-Squish:

Watch for the ooey-gooey goodness

 When cooked, open each panino up and add greens:

I believe these were Olivia's Organic Spring Mix

Reassemble, and cut in half, then spread apart and go "Ooh":

This is mine, from the pesto side

And "Aah":

This is Kelly's from the pizza-spice side

Artfully arrange each panino for the money shot:

I'm no food stylist, but that looks good enough to eat

 Then consume:

*BRAAAAAAAAP*

 And that was that. 

Gluten Free Focaccia Recipe

This morning was a bit of an odd morning.  As always, Mike gets up first to feed the cats. LOVE that! And he turns on my work computer for me.  LOVE that even more. The morning was off to a great start, just like every morning, and there were no telltale signs at this early hour that anything would be different today than from any other work day. That is until I tried to connect to my work's VPN.  While we did have Internet connectivity at the house, enough to run our personal computers, it was not a strong enough connection to allow me to connect to, and stay connected to my office's VPN.  Sigh!

Now, I am not a network guru, but it doesn't take a genius to realize that the weather was likely responsible for our super fast Internet connection being super slow. Blizzards can do that.

So what was I going to do.  Well thankfully I was able to get an email through to my managers.  Hopefully they had Internet connections and were able to receive it.  Since I can't work, and Mike had the day off for President's day, we decided to play.

Sitting in the living room drinking my morning shake I asked Mike what he would like me to bake and he responded, most enthusiastically, sandwich bread.  I wasn't really surprised since this was the last of the 3 hurdles to living a gluten free life that we had initially identified when we first started this 30 day challenge.

So I turned to Google and began searching for sandwich bread recipes.  I found a bunch of interesting sounding recipes, that I will post about at a later date, and the pictures looked promising as well, but I ended up not making any of them.  Why?  Because they all contained sorghum flour and I have not been successful at locating sorghum flour locally. Maybe an Internet order sometime soon will correct this issue.

Not wanting to disappoint Mike, and not being willing to admit defeat so easily, I started thinking about other types of breads that can be used to make sandwiches. Focaccia immediately came to mind.  More Googling revealed several promising recipes, which I adapted to meet my needs.

To start with, most of the recipes were primarily made from Gluten Free All Purpose flour.  I didn't have any on hand because I had used it all last week, but that didn't stop me because I had the ingredients I needed to make up my own GF AP Flour and that's just what I did.

Gluten Free AP Flour blend.


3 cups brown rice flour
1 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca flour/starch
Mix it all up and put in an air tight container.

Focaccia.


5 Tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 Cup warm water
2 packets of quick rise active yeast (I used 4.5 teaspoons SAF)
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 1/4 Cup GF All Purpose Flour (recipe above or use your favorite blend)
Seasonings and or toppings of your choice

Grease a 9 x 13 in pan with 2 Tablespoons of the Olive Oil.

Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Mix well.
In a mixer, combine the warm water with the yeast and add 1/2 cup of the flour mixture.
Mix well and let sit until it is bubbly and smells yeasty. about 15 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients to the mixer, with the exception of your chosen toppings, and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Spread the batter into the pan.
Let rise for an hour.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375.

Just before baking, drizzle the dough with olive oil and add the toppings of your choice.
Bake until light golden brown, about 30 minutes, but watch it since all ovens cook differently.
Cool for 5 minutes and enjoy :)

Note: Toppings I used.  On half the pan I drizzled extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled pizza seasoning (Williams Sonoma). On the other half I spread homemade pesto mixed with enough extra virgin olive oil to make it easily spreadable on the delicate dough.

Later today I will attempt to turn the focaccia into sandwiches.  Grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella, pesto compound butter and mixed greens.  Sounds good and if it tastes good we will let you all know.

Have a great day!

Crunchy Sandwichy Goodness

Mike, here.  Had the day off, due to a couple of dead presidents (no, I didn't bribe my boss, I'm talking about a certain holiday).  And because of a rather nasty blizzard that's been raging outside for the last day or so, we have a rather spotty internet connection as well, which means Kelly's VPN session was unable to stay connected to her home office (she telecommutes) for longer than a few minutes, so she finally threw in the towel as well.  Snow day!  Woo!

What to do?  Well, what else would we do?  We bake, of course!  So, when Kelly asked me if there was anything special I would like her to research on our gluten free baking quest, I responded with two simple words: sandwich bread.

Ahh, yes, sandwich bread.  The Holy Ghost to our Father Pizza and Son Pancakes.  I believe we have mentioned those three items repeatedly in the past.  If we can pull this off, nothing is impossible.  Kelly tried a week or so back with an almond flour bread recipe, and while it was very good, it wasn't something we could really see ourselves slapping in a sandwich press and using to make panini.  It was, however, quite good toasted with peanut butter, especially once the PB soaked into the bread a little, so it wasn't a total loss.  But the quest for a gluten-free sandwich bread recipe continued.

Today, it seemed, was the day to resume our crusade.  So Kelly got to work.  And quickly discovered that there was a common theme to all of the "good" GF sandwich bread recipes out there: sorghum flour.  Which we don't have.  Recipe after recipe mentioned it, and specifically recommended it because of the taste.  "You can use a finely milled brown or white rice flour," more than a few of them said, but they cautioned that the taste would not be as satisfying.  

OK, so today was not the day for a true slice-able sandwich bread.  OK, what recipes were there for other kinds of bread?  Hmm.  How about focaccia?  

Well, now.  

We have made a "thumbprint" focaccia bread many times in the past, with herbs, oil, garlic, etc, that is fantastic.  It contained wheat, of course.  So how would a GF recipe measure up?  

Kelly was up the challenge of making it.  I, selfless martyr that I am, was up to the challenge of eating it.  Kelly had some leftover basil (got a big bunch of organic basil at the Shop & Save in Presque Isle), so she made a nice homemade pesto (I got to eat the leftover parmigiano reggiano bits...you know, the stuff that won't go through the grater?  I love that stuff.  Smells funky, like...well, you don't want me to say anything specific.  But it tastes fabulous). And for the sake of variety, she did half of the focaccia with oil and Williams-Sonoma's pizza spice (it's really good.  We're almost out.  That could be a problem).  And baked.  

Came out of the oven looking kind of dry.  We thought it was overcooked.  We tried it anyway.  We're happy we did.

Very crunchy.  But not tough at all.  The garlic and spices give it kind of a sourdough-y flavor.  And the taste is fantastic.  I honestly would pit this against any wheat-based focaccia out there.  I preferred the pesto side slightly over the pizza-spice side, while Kelly was the other way around.  But we both agreed that all sides were fantastic.  In fact, I would put this up to a taste test compared to a gluten-based recipe and dare your average wheat-eating person to tell which one was GF.  It was that good.  

It's really, really good on its own.  But wait!  Slice it horizontally with a serrated knife held parallel to the cutting board, and you get...sandwich bread!  Aha!  We haven't done this yet, but we have the following ingredients:

• Chicken
• Prosciutto
• Fresh mozzarella
• Pesto
• Salad greens

I don't know about anyone else, but to me, that sounds like a killer sandwich.  Especially if we press it, and make panini (that's plural, remember.  Singular is panino.  Don't screw it up and make the Italians hate you.  If they ever rebuild the Colosseum, they're going to amuse themselves by siccing lions on everyone who mangles their language).  If/when we do that, we will report back.  

Hopefully with pictures.  :-)

Oh, the recipe?  It's right here.  We seem to enjoy blogging in tandem; this is the second such experiment and it's pretty funny how we end up discussing the same topics, from a different point of view.  Expect more of that from here on out.  

Gluten Free P...

Bet you thought I was going to say "Pizza" again, didn't you?  Admit it.  

Mike, here.  Cappuccino in hand (well, it's on the desk, but not too far from my hand, but you get the idea).  We just finished Sunday brunch (OK, it's not completely finished, as I'm still sipping my coffee, but...say it with me..."I digress!"  Sure.  I knew you could).  And I am happy to say that another hurdle to Gluten-Free Nirvana has been crossed.  

Yes, the P-word I am referring to this time around is...PANCAKES.  We tried a packaged mix some weeks back (Bob's Red Mill, I believe), and while it looked and smelled...somewhat good...the taste was...um...lacking.  A good IsaBuddy recommended putting a scoop of IsaPro in it to improve the flavor, and we do plan to do a recipe for something else (we won't tell you what it is until we have concrete results...especially if it doesn't come out being the texture of concrete, if you know what I mean) that uses IsaPro and takes advantage of its vanilla-y goodness, but at that point I believe we had already ditched the rest of the mix.  Oh well.  

In this case, Kelly got the brilliant idea of, instead of looking up an entirely new recipe and trying that, like we have done with other recipes, why not take the tried and true recipe that she has been using to make stacks and stacks of nummy pancakes over the years, and simply swap out the glutinous flour for a gluten-free alternative (but leave the rest of the recipe intact)?  

So she did.  And, true to form, she also did her refrigerator-velcro act, pulling in what was handy by way of flavors and such, and the results?  Well, take a look for yourselves:

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...Triple Chocolate Pancakes.  Yep, you heard me right.  Chocolate...times three.  Oh, baby.  3/4 cup of chocolate milk (Houlton Farms, natch), and both semisweet and white chocolate mini-chips (Ghirardelli, I believe).  Served with a generous splash of maple syrup from down the road in Smyrna, Maine (buy local, peeps!  If there were a chocolatier in the area, we'd be getting our chips from here, too), and the aforementioned cappuccino (stove-top espresso pot, organic/fair trade coffee, Houlton Farms milk again, and regular sugar; we tried the Stevia in the coffee and it just didn't taste right.  You gotta pick your battles).  

And it was f***ing brilliant.  Oh.  Em.  Gee.  I hate to say it, but I think they were better than the glutinous pancakes.  Of course, it could have been the fact that there were (did I mention this?) three kinds of chocolate in the recipe.  Yeah, that's probably it.  But suffice it to say, they didn't suck.  Not by a long shot.  They were extremely lacking in suck.  

So, in summation: gluten-free pancakes are totally doable.  The recipe is available in a separate blog post (for both the flour and the pancakes).  Give it a try and let us know what you think!  

Home Made, Gluten Free, Triple Chocolate Pancakes

Pancakes are an obsession for me.  It is one weekend ritual I really look forward to all week. When Mike and I decided to try this 30 day Gluten Free Challenge, there were 3 food items we felt would make it difficult for us if we could not come up with tasty GF alternatives; sandwiches, pizza and pancakes.  The next challenge will be to make them healthier by omitting all/most of the starch.

Well....last weekend I did make a very good pizza and this weekend I made awesome pancakes.  If I didn't tell you they were gluten free I doubt that you would be able to tell. But don't take my word for it, try them for yourself.

I started by making my own Gluten Free All Purpose flour mix.
I'll need to work on this to decrease the starch, but this is what I used.

Home Made, Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

3 cups brown rice flour
1 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca flour/starch

Mix it all up and put in an air tight container.

Pancakes.

Mix together dry ingredients.
1 1/4 cups Gluten Free AP flour
1 tablespoon sugar (or substitute)
1 Tablespoon GF Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Xantham Gum (will try with less or even without next time as the pancakes were very thick)

Mix together wet ingredients.
1 1/4 cups milk (plain, chocolate, etc. You could even try alternative milks such as almond or rice). I used reduced fat chocolate milk
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly.
Add whatever add ins you like, blueberries, chocolate chips, etc.  I used Ghirardelli mini semi-sweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips.

Mix wet and dry ingredients together and let sit for while your pan/griddle heats up.

Cook like regular pancakes.


Note that mine were very thick and so they didn't get the telltale bubbles that pancakes normally get telling you when to flip so I guessed.  I cooked mine at 325F for about 4 minutes on the first side and 2-3 minutes on the second side.  I usually test to see if they are done by poking them lightly.  If they spring back they are cooked.

Next challenge....making these healthy.

Sorry, no picture!

More places where gluten hides

Some Foods Which May Contain Gluten:

Brown Rice Syrup - If it isn’t labeled gluten free it might contain barley.

Bulk Section Foods - Scoops could get crossed or containers switched and not well washed beforehand.

Buckwheat Noodles - Not all are 100% buckwheat & may contain wheat flour.

Candy - Licorice, hard candies, etc.

Canned Goods - Baked beans, soups, & veggies canned in a sauce. Chipotle in adobo, vegetarian chilies  etc.

Caramel Coloring - Made in US it’s GF, elsewhere is is not guaranteed GF.

Cereals - Many rice & oat cereals have wheat flour added, are made with oats that are not gluten-free, or contain malt flavoring.

Chips - Flavored chips may be hiding gluten.

Chocolate - Some may be sweetened with barley.

Condiments - Mustards, sweet & sour sauces, hoisin, etc.

Dish Soaps, Household Cleaners, & Laundry Detergents - Check for gluten-free labels.

Drugs & Medicines - See glutenfreedrugs.com for a list of gluten-free ones. Items such as cough drops, Beano, etc. may contain gluten. Please talk with a physician.

Envelopes, Stamps, & Stickers - Believe it or not, gluten may be hiding there.

Flavorings - Vanilla, hazelnut, almond, etc. Make sure yours is labeled gluten-free.

Fried Yumminesses - May be cooked in same fryer with breaded foods.

Health & Beauty Aids - Shampoos, Body washes, & Moisturizers – many use wheat germ.

Malt - Extracted most of the time from barley, but sometimes from other grains. Check to see if it’s gluten-free in the product you’d like to enjoy.

Miso - Some types are made with barley. If you’re looking for a soy-free miso, South River Miso has what you’re looking for.

Mouthwash & Toothpaste - Some brands contain gluten.

Non-Stick Cooking Sprays - Check the labels to ensure it’s gluten-free.

Pancake syrups - You might just wanna stick with good ‘ol 100% maple sryup.

Rice Mixes - The flavor packets of some boxed rice mixes may be hiding gluten.

Roasted Nuts - Emerald Backyard Grill Glazed Walnuts ‘n Almond & Emerald Dry Roasted Walnuts contain gluten, to name a few.

Salad Dressings - Some use gluten as a thickener.

Sauces and flavorings - Soy sauce, Worcestershire, bbq, liquid smoke, teriyaki, hoisin, etc.

Spice Mixes - Some contain flour to prevent sticking – such as white pepper, 5 spice, pie spices, mustard powder,hing/asofeotida, etc.

Starch*, Food Starch, & Modified Food Starch - As of 2006 companies are required by law to list ingredients as “containing WHEAT” if the starches do contain in. Check with the manufacturer just to be safe. (*Unless otherwise stated on the food label, the single word “starch” in an ingredient list means corn starch.)

Tea - Bigelow brand chamomile mango, cinnamon spice, blueberry harvest and Celestial Seasonings’ roastaroma contain gluten.

Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) - Check the labels! Some brands contain wheat flour (Bob’s Red Mill has gluten-free TVP & TSP).

Toffuti Sour & Cream Cheese* - * while tofutti contains no added gluten in their cream cheese and sour cream, they cannot guarantee the flavors used in their products are free of gluten. some have reported being tolerant and others have reacted to their products; ultimately it’s up to you.

Tomato Paste - Some brands use wheat flour as a thickener.

Trail Mixes - Some brands which contain dates may use wheat flour to prevent sticking.

Veggies - Those frozen in a sauce may contain gluten.

Veggie Burgers - Many brands contain wheat gluten to bind them together.

Wasabi Peas - ????

“Wheat Free” Foods - Products labeled “wheat free” are not necessarily gluten-free. Wheat free does not = gluten-free – don’t be fooled!

Wine Coolers - Malt flavoring is usually made using wheat.

No more flakes

Can it be?

For the last couple of weeks I have been 'not' noticing something that used to bother me a lot.  No more white flakes on my sweaters. In the past I've tried various natural solutions to get rid of them including rinsing with vinegar after shampooing, but nothing seemed to get rid of them for very long, especially in the winter when it usually seemed worse.  But for a few weeks now I have not needed to brush dandruff off why shoulders, and it's winter.  Something is working, but what?

I am embarrassed to admit that it took me over a week to clue in.  The only thing that has changed is that we are now gluten/wheat free. So of course I had to do a little research.  Is this even possible?

Yes, yes it is possible.

Healthy diet tips and sample menu for dandruff - http://www.dermaharmony.com/dandruff/antidandruffdiettips-samplemenu.aspx

Well at least I wasn't suffering from some of the other skin and hair issues that can be caused by a gluten intolerance, such as alopecia or eczema, but if you are unfortunate and experience these maybe you should consider giving gluten free a try.

Some other skin conditions linked to gluten intolerance include acne, rosacea, psoriasis and panacea.

My first attempt at homemade gluten free bread

I've always been known for my bread.  When invited to potlucks I am inevitably asked to bring the bread.  Homemade, with an airy crumb and a nice crispy crust, always freshly baked.  This type of bread baking usually takes the better part of a day, sometimes longer for breads such as ciabatta.  It involves mixing ingredients, kneading, rising, punching dough, maybe 1 or 2 more rising and punching down steps and then shaping and rising and baking.  Traditional, gluten containing bread baking is a very time consuming process so I never would have attempted it on a weekday afternoon.

But this bread is not like that.  This bread is more like a quick bread, in every sense of the word. First, it doesn't have any yeast in it.  Second, it's texture was more like a banana bread than a baguette and third, it took only a few minutes to fix up and get into the baking pans and into a preheated oven. Truly very quick.

The recipe I used can be found here. http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-bread/

This is a typical bread found in many paleo cookbooks and paleo recipe sites.  No grains of any kind. Lots of nuts, seeds and eggs.

So I mixed up the ingredients and popped the pan into the oven, set the timer to 30 minutes and waited.

The first difference I noticed between this bread and wheat bread is the smell.  The smell of this bread was nice, but there is nothing to compare to the smell of wheat bread baking.  This smell was sweeter and a little nutty.  Not unpleasant at all, just different.  Maybe someday wheat free breads will smell as good to me as wheat breads do.  

The next difference I noticed was that the bread didn't rise very much.  It was a much denser loaf of bread.  Again I will compare it to banana bread.  It had the same type of crumb and even a similar smell, sans bananas. 

Lastly was the flavor.  This didn't taste anything like one of my crusty French baguettes, but that doesn't mean it wasn't tasty.  To go along with the smell, it was indeed a little nutty and a little sweet.

Mike and I enjoyed some for dinner tonight.  I made sandwiches.  Fried egg, ham and cheese sandwiches, cooked like a grilled cheese, and accompanied by a big green salad.  The eggs were organic, the ham uncured and the cheese very sharp cheddar. Mike said it reminded him of a Monte Cristo.

While it was OK in a savory application, where I think it will really shine is in a sweeter application. Toasted with some butter and jam, or maybe with some peanut butter.  I think this is what this bread will excel at and I am looking forward to trying it this weekend.  Possibly with a homemade, stove top cappuccino. Stay tuned for that review later this week.

Gluten Free Pizza Redux!!!!

Mike, here!

We are very persistent when it comes to a thing that we really want to see succeed.  I think we both knew that, in order for a gluten-free lifestyle to be truly feasible, we would have to be able to find a way to either:

1. Find a really good recipe for gluten-free pizza dough, or
2. Enjoy a gluten-based pizza every once in a while.  

Now, I have heard it said that the longer you go without consuming gluten of any kind, the less tolerant your body becomes to it.  I do not know if this is true, but it kind of makes sense.  In much the same way you build up a tolerance to, say, alcohol, that tolerance tends to diminish when you don't maintain it.  "Absence makes the sot grow drunker," so to speak.  I can definitely speak for alcohol, and it doesn't even take that long.  Friday was the first glass of wine I had since going gluten-free, and that was only a week and a half.  And I was loopy!  I'm a 200-pound boy; I can drink a lot of people under the table.  Not Friday.  

But I digress. As usual.  The point I was trying (indirectly) to make is that, if we go a month or two without consuming gluten, and then Kelly makes her usual homemade pizza recipe (which makes not one, but two pizzas, both of which we usually snarf down), that could very well be the equivalent of a one-year AA veteran suddenly sucking back a beer bong (note: beer has gluten).  Or a reformed crack smoker suddenly deciding to cook up and mainline.  Or, or, well, you get the idea.  I don't think we'd enjoy it very much.  Or, rather, we'd enjoy the first few bites, before our stomachs exploded with all the force of a chest-burster from Alien.  OK, that's a little graphic, and most likely absurdly silly.  But without that gluten tolerance built up, I think we might become very, very sick.  I don't think I would enjoy that very much.  

No, to go gluten free means you have to really go gluten free.  For good.  Finite Glutatem.   (Yeah, I made that up.  But I wonder if Harry Potter has a spell to banish the gluten from your body?  Probably scourgify would do it).  So going back to my two options, above, Option 1 is really the only choice.  

A week ago, last Friday we tried the packaged GF pizza mix from Bob's Red Mill.  It wasn't bad, taste-wise, and the crust was OK on the edges, but we found it too dense and undercooked in the middle.  Well, Kelly wasn't about to give up after one go.  So she doggedly researched other recipes and options.  And she came across this gem from King Arthur Flour.  Made it today:

Toppings were sauteed chicken tenders (diced), sliced green and red bell peppers, sliced red onions, and Sargento Four-Cheese Pizzaria Blend (I think).  Sauce was Buitoni Pesto.  Tried to go sparingly on the ingredients, but as you can see we ended up loading it up pretty heavily.  

And it was awesome.  Obviously not as good as Kelly's homemade (gluten-based) recipe, but it was very, very good.  Texture was excellent, the buttermilk powder gave it a slight sourdough flavor, and it had a nice crunch around the edges.  This was as awesome as last week's effort was mediocre.  

OK, there's hope.  This is definitely one of the must-haves in order for us to really go gluten-free and stay there.  Kelly has one more recipe she wants to try; she just needs to get some unflavored protein powder (unfortunately, IsaPro only comes in vanilla these days, dang it).  Finding one that we trust is going to be tricky, but she has a source she's looking into.  

The other must-haves?

• Pancakes (King Arthur has a recipe for those, too)
• Sandwich Bread (got some almond flour; gonna try that soon as well).  

Not too shabby, really.  

Decadent Gluten Free Dinner

Tonight's dinner was delicious.  Mike and I (and 2 out of 3 cats) all agree that I can make this again.

Shaved Fennel with Blood Oranges, Pecorino, and Pomegranates, by Mario Batali.

This salad could be served as an appetizer as well, but I decided to serve it with the main course as my vegetable.

Yield : Makes 4 servings

2 large round fennel bulbs, trimmed, and several fennel fronds set aside
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 large blood oranges, peeled and segmented
1 cup pomegranate seeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
An 8-ounce chunk hard pecorino, such as sardo or toscano, for shaving

1. Using a mandoline or other vegetable slicer, shave the fennel crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Place in a bowl and toss with the lemon juice and olive oil. Add the blood orange segments, pomegranate seeds, and fennel fronds and toss gently to mix. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Arrange the fennel salad on four individual plates. Shave the pecorino in long shards over each plate, and serve.

Notes
Segmenting Citrus

Using a paring knife, cut off the top and bottom of the fruit to expose the flesh. Stand the fruit upright on the work surface and, with your knife, carefully remove the skin and bitter white pith, working vertically from top to bottom and following the natural round shape of the fruit, turning it as you go. Carefully trim away any remaining pith.



Roasted Cod and Potatoes with Thyme, from Quick from Scratch Herbs & Spices. 

Serves 4


1 1/2 pounds baking potatoes (about 3), cut lengthwise into 8 wedges, wedges cut crosswise in half
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
15 thyme sprigs plus 2 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 pounds cod fillets or steaks, about 1 inch thick

1. Heat the oven to 450°. In a large roasting pan, toss the potatoes with 3 tablespoons of the oil, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Scatter the thyme sprigs or 1 1/2 teaspoons of the dried thyme on top. Roast the potatoes for 10 minutes. Stir and continue cooking for 10 minutes longer.
2. Meanwhile, coat the fish with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 1/2 teaspoons of the chopped fresh thyme on the fish.
3. Remove the pan from the oven. Stir the potatoes and push them to one side of the pan. Put the fish on the other side of the pan and return the pan to the oven. Roast the fish and potatoes until just done, about 10 minutes longer.
4. Remove the fish. Toss the potatoes with the remaining 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, if using. Serve the fish with the potatoes alongside.

NOTES Variations: You can use other firm white fish fillets, such as scrod,
halibut, or haddock, in place of the cod in this recipe.

Dining Out - Gluten Free - Easier Than You Think

Mike, here...

So, today Kelly had the car, so she picked me up from work at 4:30.  She had emailed me earlier, saying, "dinner tonight will be cod, roasted potatoes and pomegranate, fennel and blood orange salad."  Well, you can imagine I was pretty excited about that.  Sounds like a pretty sexy gluten free spread, yeah?  Plus since she had to cook it after we got home, it would mean snacks beforehand.  Fresh veggies and hummus.  And, well, hummus is yummus.  

So you can imagine my surprise when, as we are pulling out of my employer's parking lot, she says, "You know, I think we should eat out."  She didn't actually say that, but I can't remember exactly what she did say, and, well, close enough.  But I digress.  

At first, I wasn't really up for the idea.  Fresh out of a 2-day cleanse, actually below 200 pounds for the first time in several months, didn't seem like a good way to start the weekend.  And then she made it even more interesting by saying, "how about Ruby Tuesday's?"  

Well, at first, I'm thinking, "Chain restaurant.  Gluten free?  AYFKM?"  But then I thought harder, and realized that she was on to something.  Sure, the burgers are out, and most of (turned out to be all, but I'm getting ahead of myself) the appetizers are nuh-uh.  Not much fun, right?  

But their salad bar...aha.  And they have ribs.  Pretty damned good ribs for a chain restaurant, actually.  And steak.  And fish.  Hmm, maybe this isn't such a bad idea, after all.  

And, let's face it, we have to be able to live with our dietary habits.  And we do like to eat out.  We almost love the social aspect of it even more than the food aspect, but the food weighs in pretty heavily.  We like to eat.  Always have, always will.  It's just the way it is.  So, sooner or later, we're gonna eat out.  That being the case, any lifestyle, gluten-free included, is going to have to be restaurant-friendly.  

We've done almost 2 weeks of gluten-free eating.  And, truth be told, I still think it's been a cake walk.  But, I thought to myself earlier today (ironically enough, this was still with the thoughts of a home-cooked meal in my head), this was because we hadn't eaten out yet.  I said last weekend that, well, weekends would be a true test.  Well, this is another test: can we dine out and remain gluten-free?

So, anyway, I threw caution to the winds, and we headed over to our local Ruby Tuesday's (one of the only chain restaurants in Aroostook County that we will eat at.  KFC?  No thanks.  Taco Hell?  Um, I've had real Mexican cuisine before.  You're not even close.  And you share the same building as KFC.  WTF?  And contrary to popular belief, I am not thinking Arby's.  McDonalds and Burger King?  No.  Freaking.  Way.  Subway is about the only other chain I will eat at up here, and, well, after reading about their bread, I'm not such a fan anymore.  And, well, we're gluten-free now.  Subway is about as compatible with our diet as an all-you-can-eat southern barbecue joint is with a vegan's).  

But I digress.  Again.  I suppose you're used to it by now.  If not, well, expect it.  Anyway, we sidled up to the bar (we almost always eat at the bar.  More fun that way).  Usually at Ruby's, I order a beer (they have Sam Adams on tap.  Nom).  Oh, wait, beer is brewed from malted barley.  Definitely not gluten free.  OK, a bottle of wine for the lady and I.  No problem, we can work through this.  

"How about an appetizer?"  asks Josh the bartender.   Yeah, some queso and chips would be great!  Surely that doesn't have gluten in it, does it?  "Oh, by the way, we've gone gluten free," we casually mention, expecting people to start looking at us like we've sprouted extra heads.  To our surprise (well, Kelly knew this already, but I was surprised, so there), they actually produced a gluten-free menu for us to peruse.  Hey, cool!  But, wait, there are no appetizers on here!  Did they forget to include those?  

The bar staff consults with the kitchen.  And comes back to us.  "Actually, none of the appetizers are gluten free."  Oh.  Well, crap.  That means we can't get our queso and chips.  And here's where a very interesting thing happened.  Kelly and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and said, "Oh well, we'll get the salad bar instead."

Stop for a moment.  This is mind-blowing.  We love, love, love a good appetizer. And the queso is one of the biggies.  Yet the fact that it was technically off limits to us now did not bother me one  bit.  I had absolutely no problem passing it up.  A year ago, we would have turned a blind eye to our principles and eaten it anyway.  But now?  Not so much.  We made a commitment to go at least 30 days without consuming any gluten that we knew about, and now that we knew the queso and chips were not gluten free, we really didn't want to go down that road.  I don't know about anybody else, but this is huge. 

So we forewent the appetizer.  And, yes, a lot of the options were not available if we wanted to stay gluten free.  Most of the sauces are bechamel-based, meaning they're thickened with flour.  BZZZZT.  Nothing with tortillas.  Nothing with buns.  And, *sigh*, no garlic cheddar biscuits.  And, worst of all, no asian-glazed anything.  Noooooo!  But we will persevere, dammit! 

In the end, we both got the same thing: A half-rack of Memphis-style ribs (Dry rub), a loaded baked potato, and a veggie (green beans for Kelly, broccoli for me).  And, oh yes, we both hit the salad bar and loaded up on things...except for the croutons, of course.  And all their salad dressings (except French, I believe) are gluten free.  

And it was awesome.  Every last bite was fantastic.  It didn't hurt that the service was amazingly fast (especially considering that it was a Friday evening in the middle of happy hour).  And we're friends with most of the bar staff, so that didn't hurt, either.  

End result?  Total win for gluten-free dining out.  And from a chain, no less!  They even have a complete allergen-conscious menu online that covers all sorts of allergies, gluten being one of the smaller ones.  Check it out here (it's a downloadable PDF).  Ruby Tuesday gets high marks for being gluten-free friendly.  That is so cool.  

The real test will be going to Cafe Sorpreso for lunch.  Their panini are the shiznit.  And their quiche doesn't suck either.  I'm sure the soup and salads will be totally satisfying...but the bread...the bread!  So we're not strong enough to do that yet.  Maybe in a month or two...

Impromptu Meal Planning

Just got back from grocery shopping. I seriously just went in for chicken and cheese, but while I was there I planned out meals for the next week and bought everything we needed (I hope).

Fresh cod with roasted potatoes and a salad made with fresh fennel, blood oranges and pomegranate. 

Pizza with pesto, chicken, roasted red peppers, red onions with a green salad

Frittata with mushrooms, onions and fresh thyme. Also with a green salad. 

Pot roast with carrots, onions, rutabagas, potatoes and fresh herbs (in the slow cooker). Possibly with a side of roasted broccoli since I have some and I have to use it somewhere. 

Snacks - GF corn chips with salsa, GF hummus with fresh veggies, GF crackers with cheese, Organic Greek yogurt and of course various nuts. 

All gluten and wheat free.  

Usually I like to plan my meals at home, create a shopping list and then go to the grocery store.  This was completely backwards for me and I was worried that I would end up buying too much food.  I think I did OK, but still prefer my usual method.

I will post recipes once I have created them and had a chance to taste them.  Don't want to share anything that I don't like the taste of. 

Shopping list - naturally gluten free foods

Because many people have been asking, this is the list of foods I recently ordered.  I plan to use these foods to create some fabulous, naturally gluten free baked goods including bread.  I love a soup and sandwich meal.  

I will post the recipes I end up trying with these ingredients later, along with objective reviews.

Nuts. com

Organic Coconut Flour (Gluten Free) - 1 Pound Bags

Raw Cashews - 1 Pound Bags
Georgia Pecans (Raw, No Shell) - 1 Pound Bags
Raw Almonds (No Shell) - 1 Pound Bags
Arrowroot Powder - 1 Pound Bags
Organic Golden Flaxseed Meal (Gluten Free) - 1 Pound Bags
Organic Chia Seeds - 1 Pound Bags
Almond Flour - 5 Pound Bags

Amazon.com

Psyllium husk powder - 1 pound
Raw sunflower seeds - 12 x 8 ounce bags

The downfall of buying gluten free

A little over 1 week into our 30 day gluten free challenge and Mike and I have now gone grocery shopping a few times and we have also ordered staple ingredients online. These experiences have left me truly impressed with the wide assortment of gluten free foods available in stores, large and small, and certainly online. Almost limitless replacement products for everything from bread, pizza dough, cookies, crackers and even personal hygiene and makeup items. What I am not so impressed with are the ingredients used in these gluten free foods.

Wheat is relatively high on the glycemic index, higher than table sugar and most other foods. Eating wheat causes insulin spikes for most of us. This can lead to sustained elevated levels of insulin, which can eventually lead to decreased insulin sensitivity and diabetes. Not to mention that elevated insulin leads to elevated cortisol, which encourages your body to store visceral fat. That's the dangerous fat around your organs. And both of these can cause increased inflammation throughout your body leading to symptoms as wide ranging as headaches, arthritis and even symptoms associated with various auto-immune diseases such as lupus.

Given this information it would seem that substituting wheat with anything at all would be great for people who are sensitive to wheat, and still very beneficial for everyone else. Sounds like a good idea, except when the ingredients used instead of wheat are even higher on the glycemic index. And such is the case with nearly all widely available gluten free foods currently on the market. Most of these foods replace wheat with various gluten free grains and large amounts of various starches.  Popular starches used in gluten free foods include tapioca, potato, rice, and others. Sometimes these starches are the first ingredients, and rarely are they less than 30% of the ingredients. These starches are higher on the glycemic index than wheat. Eating these foods will certainly help with gluten and wheat sensitivity symptoms, but may result in weight gain and increased inflammation due to them causing exaggerated insulin responses.  This is like trading one set of problems for a different, but just as troublesome set of problems.

So what is a person to do?  Find better options that are lower on the glycemic index, or lower net carb.

I searched the Internet and found sources that I feel are looking to help people navigate the gluten/wheat free lifestyle in the most healthful way possible.  I am looking to these resources to help me learn how to create my very own gluten/wheat free future.  The resources that I am using are listed below.

I am listening to their advice and soon I will be trying their recipes.  Later, once I have more experience, I will tweak and adapt everything to meet my personal goals.

Resources

Wheat Belly, by William Davis, M.D.
Wheat Belly Cookbook, by William Davis, M.D.
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/
http://mariahealth.blogspot.com/
http://www.elanaspantry.com/

Not as health focused as the others, but still very helpful.
http://glutenfreegirl.com/

And of course I have a pinterest board dedicated to our gluten free adventure.
http://pinterest.com/crazycaper/gluten-free/

We survived week 1

Today is the start of week 2 being gluten free, so I thought I would post about what week 1 was like.

Mike and I found week 1 fairly easy, in fact it was much easier than we anticipated.

What we ate.


Almonds and other nuts
Cheese
Creamy Mexican Chicken and rice casserole

• http://isaisenough.blogspot.com/2013/01/creamy-mexican-chicken-and-rice.html

Fruits
Ham
Omelets
Organic Greek Yogurt
Veggies

Gluten free products 

(either marked gluten free or we checked the ingredients to make sure since they are not whole foods)
GF Cinnamon Raisin bread - Rudi's
GF Corn Chips - Garden of Eatin
GF crackers - Crunch Master & Blue Diamond
GF granola - Udi's
GF pancakes - Bob's red Mill GF Pancake mix
GF pizza dough - Bob's Red Mill GF Pizza crust mix
GF Salsa - Newman's Own & Muir glen

Isagenix Products

Cleanse for life
Isadelights
Isagenix Snacks
Isalean Shakes & Bars
Fiber Snacks

Mars Venus daily Cleanse
Mars Venus Shakes

Vitamins and minerals

What we noticed. Smaller bellies, better sleep, increased libido. Energy was really good as well, but that has been normal for us since we started with the Isagenix products. 

What we didn't notice. CRAVINGS :) 

The Importance of "Plan B" (or being fast on your feet)

Mike here, again.  :-)

Today was a bit of a test for us.  Generally, on weekends we like to do a brunch for our main meal (bookending the day with 2 Isagenix meals - our Mars/Venus cleanse and shakes in the morning, and an IsaLean[Pro] shake in the evening).  Yesterday, we had a three-course extravaganza, and we found it to be wholly satisfying.  

Today, not so much.  One of Kelly's specialties is pancakes, which we inevitably do most Sunday mornings.  Obviously not gluten-free.  So we tried Bob's Red Grain Gluten-Free pancake mix.  I thought it was okay, given enough maple syrup, and managed to finish 2 pancakes.  Kelly couldn't even get one bite down.  So, gluten-free pancakes?  EPIC FAIL.  

And, after reading some of the info in Wheat Belly where it indicates that most mixes with starches are even worse for me (a Type II Diabetic) than gluten products, we have decided that we would rather have the real thing, only very occasionally (like once every couple of months, as a treat), than a substitute.  

OK, lesson learned.  And we had some more of the Rudi's Cinnamon-Raisin bread with some organic peanut butter and coffee a little later.  I was more or less satisfied.  But I had managed to eat 2 pancakes, so I was actually full.  Kelly, on the other hand, didn't get any kind of a decent meal today, and it is Super Bowl Sunday, a day where we traditionally make "fun" foods, so the cravings were starting.  And they were physical and mental, which makes it even tougher.

So, what do you do in a time like this? 

You need to have a Plan B.  Always.  Or, barring that (since we did not, sadly, have a plan B), you need to be able to think fast on your feet.  So we quickly hopped in the Mike-N-Kelly-Mobile and went to the local Chop & Shave (Shop & Save for you out-of-towners), in hopes that we would get inspired.  This is a 50-50 proposition.  Sometimes it works.  Sometimes it doesn't.  

This time, we got lucky, and scored big, with ingredients for a monster "cobb" salad (called that because we didn't toss it).  We started with bagged Romaine lettuce, and to it we added:

• Breakfast ham (organic, uncured, bought in slices and diced)
• Red bell pepper (bought whole, sliced into strips)
• Seriously Sharp cheddar (shredded)
• Chickpeas (organic, canned)
• Carrots (organic, bought whole and slivered)
• Non-gmo blue corn tortilla chips, crushed (these were the "croutons")

Kelly made a dressing from Champagne Vinegar, Blood Orange Olive Oil (picked up when we were in Arizona visiting my dad last summer), and a dash of Fuego.  We sat down, had our pills (we are IsaJunkies, after all) and dug in. 

Oh.  MY.  GAWD.  Heaven.  It was sooooo good.  And it was just a freaking salad, man!  And, best of all, it was still gluten free.  But naturally gluten free, not something that was made gluten free, knowhutimean?  

Bonus: We had leftover chickpeas, so we grabbed a roasted chickpea recipe from Food Network and are baking the rest even as I write this.  Hand-drying chickpeas with a towel is not fun (I'll take Kelly's word for it on that one).  But I believe it will be worth it.  

Next weekend, we will plan backups.  This week is already covered:

• Monday/Tuesday - Curried Chicken with Cashews over Basmati Rice
• Wednesday/Thursday - 2-day deep cleanse
• Friday - Leftover Creamy Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole (frozen from last week).  

We'll plan Saturday/Sunday on Friday.  Lather/Rinse/Repeat.  But if we try new things, you can bet we'll have Plan B items in place this time around.  Read about it then! 

Gluten free grains

Amaranth
Buckwheat
Corn
Millet
Montina (Indian rice grass)
Oats** see below
Quinoa
Rice
Sorghum
Teff
Wild Rice

**Oats are inherently gluten-free, but are frequently contaminated with wheat during growing or processing. 

Trying to get educated

Let me just start by saying that I am shocked by how little I knew/know about wheat in any and all of its forms. I am trying to educate myself and I can honestly say that what I am learning makes so much sense, too much sense, that I can't believe I haven't stumbled across this until now.

Friday evening Mike got us electronic copies of the book "Wheat Belly" by William Davis, MD. I absolutely love ebooks. You buy them and you have them available immediately.  As a result, I have been reading this book since Friday evening and I just can't put it down.

The most important thing I have learned so far is not to replace wheat with gluten free products that are mainly made of starch (potato, rice, tapioca, etc) if weight loss is a goal.  WHY?  Because these types of starches are some of the very few foods that have a higher glycemix index than wheat. Slaps hand on forehead.  This should have been sooooooo obvious because these starches are a more easily digestible carbohydrate than wheat.  But it wasn't obvious at all.....Glad I am reading this book so early in my attempt to go gluten free, and now wheat free.  I don't want to gain weight and most gluten free foods will do just that because they are primarily made with high glycemix index ingredients.  I had even been warned by a friend and still fell for it.  SIGH!

The second most important thing I have learned so far is how much wheat can affect every cell in your body negatively and the long list of symptoms associated with even mild gluten intolerance, that are completely not associated with celiac, making gluten intolerance so hard to diagnose.  But based on what I am reading, if you have any pain or discomfort in your body, you should try eliminating gluten for 4 weeks to see how you feel.  If you feel an improvement then likely you have a gluten intolerance.  Why wait for an official diagnosis. Just take control.

Saturday Brunch

Another happy weekend custom that Mike and I enjoy is brunch.  You've seen me post that I didn't think I could live without pancakes, well cinnamon raisin toast/English muffins with peanut butter are right up there as well.

Thursday, when Mike and I went to the local grocery store to scope out what they had for GF products, we found Rudi's GF Cinnamon Raisin bread in the freezer.  Umm....BRUNCH!

This morning, Mike and I started brunch with broiled grapefruit.  Yes, broiled.  Slice a grapefruit in half, segment it as you would to eat it out of the skin, place on a cookie sheet cut side up, put a little brown sugar on top and broil for a few minutes, until the grapefruit is warm and the sugar is bubbly.  Broiling intensifies the grapefruit's peppery-ness.

Next up, scrambled eggs with onions, red bell pepper, uncured ham and reduced fat cheese.

Lastly, a cup of home made (stove top, no fancy equipment) cappuccino and toasted cinnamon raisin toast topped with natural, creamy peanut butter.

We are pretty happy :)  The GF toast taste different than regular cinnamon raisin toast, but they were still delicious.

Gluten Free - In the Beginning.

After deciding to go gluten free for 30 days, the first thing we did was go through the house and find everything with gluten in it.  Read the labels carefully.  We dumped a lot of stuff, but for those of you with family members that will continue to eat gluten, move the gluten containing foods to a separate location from gluten free foods.  My thought, having them separate will make it easier to know what you can and can't have without having to read the labels each time.

We were especially careful with condiments, sauces, salad dressings and processed foods.  After the purge, we took stock of what was left and asked ourselves, "Can you be happy with eating just those GF items or are there items in the gluten containing pile that you just don't think you can live without?"  For me the answer was, right now I can't live without pizza and pancakes.  Expect to see GF recipes for both of these from me in the near future.

What we tossed. 

Grains that contain gluten: Wheat, barley, and rye.

What we kept.

Grains that do NOT contain gluten: Corn, buckwheat, rice, amaranth, millet, quinoa, sorghum, and teff. 

Click the link for a more complete list of both gluten free and gluten containing foods. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gluten-free-diet/my01140

Aside from grains, all whole foods are gluten free as long as they are not processed on equipment that also processed gluten containing grains.  YAY!  

Advice. 

Yes, even though it hasn't even been a full week I still have some words of wisdom to share. 

If you think you will have difficulty going gluten free avoid foods that might trigger your cravings until a few weeks being gluten free.  GF equivalents will rarely have the same taste and texture, but can be just as good, if not better, than the gluten containing equivalents.  However, the difference in the 2 may be enough to drive you back to your favorites if you don't first give your body a chance to adapt to GF. 

Resources.

Great blog with recipes and the science to help us understand how to live to be healthier. 

http://mariahealth.blogspot.com

Another great blog with gluten free information and great recipes. http://glutenfreegirl.com/

A third blog which I have just discovered that I think will be a good resource.

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

More advice.

Do not rush out and buy all the gluten free products without also checking the ingredients and nutrition labels since many GF foods can be higher in fat and sugar.  Pick the healthier ones and pass on the nutrient deficient products.  Pinterest is a great source to find alternatives as well.  Just type in gluten free.

Isagenix :)  

The only Isagenix products that contain gluten are the Slim cakes and the Isa Greens, though I have heard that the greens do not actually contain gluten any more.