My mission is to provide concrete practical strategies related to learning. Most of the time the focus is 
on movement, reflexes, sensory integration, developmental patterns and supportive educational methods. For this blog, the spotlight is shifting slightly. We are going into the kitchen.
Why? With every shared cooking success on social media, I receive multiple requests for the recipe. So as we settle into the last week before Christmas, I want to encourage you with some of the yummy recipes we are enjoying this week.
Goldade Gluten Free Journey
About four years ago, due to illness, my family’s main food groups shifted from pasta-reliant to gluten free. Six months into what was supposed to be a healing journey, the sick one was still sick. What did we learn? When going gluten free, do not simply replace one processed food with another. Go deeper!
Eventually, we learned that many foods were mimicking a gluten response in his system. Eggs, corn, rice, oats, amaranth, teff, tapioca, yeast, AND sugar were next on the family diet’s chopping block. I spent many a grocery shopping trip with my head hung over the cart and tears smarting in my eyes. What was left to eat? Protein. Meat. Potatoes. (Most fruits and vegetables seemed to cause digestive distress.) We were blessed that dairy was still ok.
Over the last 3 years, our individuality has been repeatedly affirmed to us. One may vomit when gut health is disrupted. Others experience gut health through their skin, such as hives or eczema outbreaks or acne boils. Some get gassy out one end or the other–yes, excessive burping is a sign of gut imbalance in our house.
Celebrate
We have much to celebrate as we near the end of 2016….We are at a point where we can now go out to eat occasionally. Score! We can even leave the flax and chia egg replacer in the cupboard every now and then. Yeah! We can occasionally bake with real sugar. And we are mastering alternative sweeteners (Truvia, Pyure, xylitol, stevia). I prefer Trim Healthy Mama Gentle Sweet and Super Sweet blends. Yahoo!
The journey continues to be like a never-ending rollercoaster. We have learned about GMO’s, glysophates, DNA markers, genetic testing, and more! We know about the Vagus nerve, NUCCA adjustments, emotional connection to gut response, and more! We nearly memorized the Touch for Health 14 muscle balance. We are infinitely blessed to have restored some level of health.
Lucky 7 Gluten Free Recipes
Here is my LUCKY 7 list of gluten free treats that we are enjoying this Christmas!
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies TOP VOTE for 2016. I used real sugar and they are incredibly delectable! We used Betty Crocker Rice Flour Blend.
- Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookies We’ve enjoyed these for three years. They’re different, and different is good!
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (NOTES: chia egg replacer works well; may use 1/2 almond and 1/2 peanut butter)
- Peanut Blossoms can be found on All Day I Dream About Food. I used Hershey Kisses instead of ganache.
- Gluten-Free Christmas Sugar Cookies were super fun to use with the cookie spritzer gun. We skipped the glaze.
- Chocolate Orange Spritz Cookies Substituting 1:1 Pyure for Swerve resulted in too sweet of a cookie. The cookie gun worked well for this one, too.
- Lemon Coconut Truffles are deliciously tart and different from all of the chocolate sweets. They are FREE from eggs, sugar, and nuts.
Final Observations
When buying peanut butter, read ingredients. It should only contain peanuts. I buy Smucker’s Natural Creamy or Costco 2-packs.
Costco has raw almonds, which I grind into almond flour. They also sell a large bag of almond flour, which works well for baked goods.
Be prepared for messes and flops. Baking from scratch is way different than boxin’ it. I marked some of our goodies as “worthy for company” and then the “others” are in the cookie jar for family consumption. đ
Summary
Learning is not related to one isolated realm of our existence. Rather it is entwined with all of us…including but not limited to our emotions, sleep quality and quantity, intake (food) and output (poop/pee), sensory integration/processing, muscle tension, and development of the physical and mental selves.
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