Sunday, June 27, 2010

Camping, Gluten Free


I just got back from a family reunion down in Southern Utah. It was great! So beautiful and so fun to catch up with everyone. My favorite part, though? The food, of course!!!

My aunt and cousin have always had problems with wheat. Recently, my cousin has adopted the gluten free lifestyle, and she's helping her parents do it too. We've had many discussions over the last year or so about different aspects to the lifestyle.
Even more recently, one of my other cousins started having problems with her oldest son developing a horrible chicken-pox like rash. She has looked into exploring the food allergy possibility (she developed a gluten intolerance while she was pregnant with him), and wanted to try eating gluten free with her son while at the reunion.

So, there was a hefty order for gluten free goodies this year.

I brought the following items to share (which were enjoyed by all):
Vanilla almond flour cupcakes (with coconut and chocolate frostings, as well as strawberries)
Chocolate chip scones
Strawberry chocolate chip muffins (I still need to post my variations on this amazing recipe!)
Gluten free rolls (which I still feel like need some work before I post the recipe)
Decadent chocolate cookies (Ack! Another one I need to post!)

Some things I brought for myself:
Beef jerky (Target's store brand doesn't have any wheat in it, unlike most)
Lara bars (my fave flavor is the peanut butter cookie variety)
Mary's Gone Cracker's Sticks and Twigs snack
Glutino crackers (the ritz-like ones) w/ tuna packages
Some cashews and walnuts (softer on my braces than my favorite almonds)
Fresh fruit
Rice Works sweet chili rice chips

I enjoyed my aunt's amazing gluten/dairy free biscuits and gravy each morning (made with almond flour biscuits and almond milk gravy), as well as my new favorite food, of which I was sent home with a bagful: Gluten free bagels from Einstein Bagel Co!!! I enjoyed my first real bagel in 4 years!

Now that makes for one great weekend!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi there love the blog! It's great that you found what works for your health, I'm going through a similar thing myself the last few months. I had IBS for the last 4 years, with almost daily stomach cramps. I was also a long term vegetarian so ate a lot of legumes and cereals, I then adopted the paleo diet and my IBS has pretty much disappeared! It's so great! I chronicle my food experiences here:

http://foodfloraandfelines.blogspot.com/

I hope you don't mind me linking your blog up on it! Congrats on the bagel btw ;)
Take care,
Khrystyna

Stephanie said...

Hey Khrystyna,

Love your name spelling! Thanks for visiting. I'm glad that you have figured out what works for you as well.
Thanks for sharing your blog with me. You've got some lovely photos and recipes up there.

Stephanie

Unknown said...

Oh thank you! It's the Polish spelling as far as I know! You're camping post is in the nick of time, we just decided last night to go camping around Ireland for my boyfriends week off work, I might steeal some of your recipes and bring some baking for breakfasts! Buying proper food on the road is such a nightmare.

Stephanie said...

I hope you have a fun and successful camping trip! Eating on the road really can be tough! Good luck!

gfe--gluten free easily said...

Clicked over from Aubree's today, although I've visited your site before. :-) I love how the gluten-free eating is spreading through your family to solve health problems! We're big on camping so I had a to take a peek. I usually make a few things ahead of time like you and your family did, and focus on real food (naturally gluten free ... fruit, nuts, meat, seafood) for the rest. I buy very, very few gf specialty foods. But, I admit, I'd try an Einstein gluten-free bagel! :-)

Shirley