So I finally broke down and made one of the "basic bread" recipes from the book Grain-Free Gourmet, and I have to say it isn't bad. It doesn't have that bread texture, that chewy goodness that breads made with wheat flour give you, but it is passable. It's almost like cornbread, but a little denser. I've been craving a grilled cheese sandwich, so maybe this will do the trick tomorrow. But for now it was delicious on it's own with a little butter.

Can't beat my meat... loaf!

So far I've had good luck with my grain free recipes. Grain free meatloaf was delicious! Only problem is that it doesn't have that texture I'm used to. My mom always made hers with oatmeal, and it added a texture that is appealing. The grain free version was way more tender, and fell apart easier, but the flavor was great. Plus it was very moist. Dry meatloaf is nasty.

My onion crackers turned out good. They don't have that cracker texture, but they are crunchy, and still make a good vehicle for cheese consumption. I had a couple with some cream cheese spread on them as a snack last night, and must say, what they lack in texture they make up for in how filling they are. The recipe said to bake them for 2 hours in the oven, but I found it was easier, and way less hassle, to use my food dehydrator. They were already baked anyway (you bake the mixture in a loaf pan then let it cool completely before slicing into cracker shapes), so you mainly just need them to be hard and dry. The ones done in the dehydrator turned out way better.

Being a diabetic who's had constant blood sugar spikes and difficulty getting it down, I'm happy to say that eating this way has really helped solve that problem. It isn't within what doctors would call "normal" range, but it's very, very close. I'm below 200 a lot of the time 2 hours after meals. My blood sugar was never that good, even on medication!  Plus I don't have the nasty side effects I suffered through while on medication.

Even though I really would love a meatloaf sandwich made with Dave's Killer Rockin' Rye bread, (and I may cheat once this week and have it) the cravings are mostly gone. It is easier to say "no" to shit I shouldn't eat, and I noticed I'm feeling satisfied way sooner. All good things! Going grain free is continuing to be a good choice for me.

Ah crackers...

One of the things I've been seriously missing after going grain free are crackers. There are just times when I want a crunchy, savory snack; crackers were my snack of choice. Today's culinary adventure was the making of grain free crackers. I used almond flour, eggs, some greek yogurt, onion powder and spices. It's a variation of the recipe for onion crackers in the Grain-Free Gourmet cookbook. I used the spices I know I like, and nixed the fresh chopped onion simply because, well... today I felt lazy! Turns out they have that tangy oniony flavor (thanks to the onion powder) that reminds me of sour cream and onion chips. You bake the dough in a loaf pan, let it cool completely, then cut it in half and slice into crackers. Next you have to bake them at a low temp for 2 hours. I tasted a bit of the loaf as I was slicing it into cracker shapes, and the flavor is great. I just hope the texture once they have been crackerized is good.

I'll know soon enough.

Go green and save your wallet as well as the planet...

Everyone can find little ways to go green. Composting food scraps saves the nutrients we didn't use by converting it into great soil. I use that great soil to grow more great veggies. Instead of filling a landfill I'm essentially filling myself with healthy vegetables. When I have extra I preserve them by canning them at home. The glass mason jars are reusable and waste a lot less than buying canned vegetables. It may be old fashioned, but you won't complain once you have a taste of summer tomatoes in January.

Bottled water is a waste of money and all those plastic bottles use up fossil fuels. Not to mention they take forever to decompose if not recycled. A Brita pitcher and stainless steel water bottle are my solution to bottled water. Not only does it save me a lot of money every year, but it's also saving the environment.

Plastics just aren't great for the earth, or our bodies, so instead of using plastic baggies, or containers, I purchased some Pyrex containers. They are sturdy, don't leak, and can safely go in the microwave without leaching chemicals into your food.

Going "No Grain" Is a No Brainer

With so many diets, and vastly different opinions on what we should eat, it can be tough for someone to figure out what works best for them. For years I've struggled with my weight, with type 2 diabetes, with hormonal issues, depression, anxiety, and that guilty feeling whenever I ate something I thought tasted good. With years of not so great doctor's advice under my belt, along with failed attempts at getting healthy, I finally had enough. Thankfully there is the beautiful thing called the interwebs! If you use a load of patience, some logic, and a dash of skepticism, you can find good information to help make your own health choices.

All those years doctors kept telling me to "Eat low fat! Eat lots of whole grains!" the number on my scale went up and up. My health got worse, my mental state trudged down into the dumps, and I felt like absolute ass. Calorie restriction, insanely restrictive eating plans, more cardio exercise than I would ever inflict on my worst enemy... none of it worked! I would tell doctors what I was eating, and they wouldn't believe me since the scale was going up. They just figured I was trying to convince myself that I was really eating healthy. The truth of the matter is that I really wasn't; at least not as far as my body was concerned.

So what caused all this pain and anguish? Grains. When I load up on carbohydrates, even those found in whole grains, my body simply can't handle it anymore. After years of spiking glucose levels, my body was literally saying "Fuck you! I'm done!" and my insulin stopped working to counter the abuse. When I found out I was diabetic I did the "right" thing (after I freaked out of course), and started eating the types of foods doctors recommended for diabetics: lots of oatmeal, veggies, not much fruit, minimal amounts of meat, low fat, low sodium etc etc. I cut out sugars, stopped drinking soda, juice, coffee, or anything remotely sweetened. I weaned myself off sugars to the point that now I can drink plain tea and it tastes sweet to me. Weird huh? But did it work? Nope...

After researching how the body uses glucose (and awesome sophomore biology classes that included how cells create energy via ATP etc), I figured out that although doctors were trying to give me good advice, they were wrong. I was still eating too many carbohydrates in the form of whole grains. Turns out we can get enough carbs from eating vegetables alone. I could go on and on about this topic, but I'm already rambling enough. The short and skinny: we don't need grains which are addictive, cause glucose spikes, and over feed our bodies carbohydrates. There is plenty of literature on this topic on the interwebs. Dr. Mercola's website has a lot of interesting articles based on research findings. It's a decent place to start.

Giving up grains wasn't easy. I love to bake homemade bread. The smell of fresh baked bread is intoxicating to me. When you go no grain the first thing I've heard most people say is "I miss pizza!" The first thing I missed were sandwiches. I love Dave's Killer Bread. Their "Good Seed" bread toasted with a little butter is heavenly.

Unfortunately if I keep eating it I'll end up in glucose hell...

In September of 2011 I gave up grains for the first time. I must admit it was painfully hard that first week. I cheated a lot simply because my grain fed brain simply didn't know how to cope with the lack of sandwiches for bag lunches. However there was a wonderful change! I started sleeping well, my feet stopped hurting all the time, I had energy to burn, and I was happy! People noticed I had a glow about me. After a couple weeks I no longer craved pizza and bread. I noticed I ate less, but was totally satisfied. I got to have eggs for breakfast, with some sauted spinach and maybe even some homemade lean sausage without guilt. A small steak was no longer a horrible sin! The pounds finally started to shed themselves.

Then the holidays hit. Tis the season for baking, relatives visiting, and special treats. I started eating bread again, had the occasional cookie, and couldn't pass up homemade stuffing. Luckily I didn't gain much weight back, but I did feel lethargic, my sleep was non existent, and I felt like ass again. Plus my blood sugar was through the roof. So two weeks ago I started my grain detox again.

The horrible cravings for pizza and bread were bad, but this time only for about 4 or 5 days. You would not believe how much I obsessed over my want for crackers during that time! With more research I've found recipe ideas that can help with that "what to pack for lunch" problem. My savior? Almond and coconut flours, and Crepes! Yes you heard me right. I've never had them before, so the grain free kind are all I know. However they are tasty. They make good sandwich wraps. Hell they even make good enchiladas! My next endeavor will be to make some crackers out of the almond flour. It will be a lot of work, but that crunchy, slightly salty crackery goodness will be mine.

Grain Free Crepes

1/4 cup almond flour (fine ground not almond meal)

1/4 cup coconut flour

6 eggs

1/4 cup cream

1/2 tsp salt

butter or coconut oil for pan

Beat all the ingredients together until smooth. If the batter is very thick add a little more cream. Take 1/3 cup batter and pour into a 10" non-stick skillet that has a little butter or coconut oil melted in it. Swirl the batter around in the hot pan until a thin layer coats the bottom. Cook for 1 minute and with a spatula gently flip the crepe. Cook for 15 seconds. Stack crepes on wax or parchment paper so they don't stick together, and let them cool if you're using them for sandwich wraps.

These things have been my saviors. Roll them up with some roasted turkey, a little shredded cheese, mustard, romaine, and some salad sprouts and you have a tasty sandwich wrap. Today for lunch I used leftover turkey breast, some shredded cheddar, and a little salsa to make mock enchiladas with them. They were delicious!