Wk 9, Day 3: Gluten test, oatmeal cookies

We tested gluten over our 4th of July weekend. I thought that would be a fun one to test, since I was fairly certain neither of us were going to react, and we could get all the benefits of getting to eat regular flour with the addition of crackers, toast, etc. We were gluten-free for a month or two earlier this year. After weeks of eating gluten-free, my daughters rash returned, so we stopped eating gluten-free as it seemed to have nothing to do with a possible gluten allergy. As it turns out, we both reacted to the test this weekend. I had a more stuffy nose, stomach gurgles and diarrhea, my daughter's rash flared up on half of her normal spot after the first day, and by the third day, her rash was full blown. She had stomach aches on and off, but no emotional reaction that I noticed. What is this about?

I had assumed that during the ED, we would go many weeks with no reaction to foods, maybe notice some emotional changes with some foods like sugar, but walk away with a very clear idea of what food(s) are causing the rash on her body and some enlightenment on foods that negatively (or positively) affect her moods and energy. At this point, the list of foods she might be allergic to is growing: gluten, soy, black beans, pineapple, pumpkin, squash, possibly cheese and other beans. It's difficult for me to believe she is actually allergic to all of these foods. This reminds me of my sister-in-law when she went through this process but didn't yet know she had Celiac disease. She tested high on an allergy test to a ton of foods because her body was reacting so strongly to the gluten allergy. Once she realized gluten was the issue, removed gluten from her diet and let her body clear out, she tested normal/not allergic to most other foods.

Despite our physical reactions, we did have fun getting to eat homemade tortillas, sandwiches, veggie burgers on wheat buns, and other gluten-filled goodies. On the 4th, we made red, white and blue scones with strawberries, blueberries and coconut sprinkled on top with regular flour.




























Oatmeal Cookies
I adapted a recipe from allrecipes.com, with some ED-friendly changes. The flavor was fantastic, but they fell apart very easily. I'm pretty sure I'll be trying these gluten-free sometime soon.

3/4 cup Canola oil
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 eggs (used egg replacer)
1 1/4 cup unbleached flour
2 3/4 cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 good shakes of cinnamon
1 shake nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1) In a large bowl, mix together oil, brown rice syrup and maple syrup. Whisk together egg replacer with water as instructed on the egg replacer box and add to mixture.

2) In a separate bowl, mix together flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg. Add to liquid ingredients. (note: this recipe came out a little wet for me so I added about 1/4 cup more flour and a sprinkle more oats. it ended up being very crumbly, so next time I might not add any more flour or oats).

3) Spoon onto greased baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.