Progress

So I have been doing this GF thing for about a week now.  I have been reading anything and everything I can find I have been baking...a lot, and most of all trying to convince my family that GF does not mean it can't be good.

Throughout the week I have had some ups and downs as I am trying to get used to all things GF.  I have still been feeling overwhelmed but I do feel like things are manageable.  I can tell I am going to need to do menus for sure because if I want bread with dinner I will have to make it, if I want hot dogs or hamburgers I have to make buns.  Sure you can buy all that stuff but the expense is somewhat outrageous, not to mention it is dry and tastes...well it tastes GF.  I have made 2 different breads now and they were both amazing, soft and delicious.  (I got both recipes online on one of my favorite websites, food.com, I like it so much because I can import the recipes directly to my recipe manager and almost every recipe I have used on that site has turned out to be delicious.) * In addition to being GF we are also corn free, any recipe that calls for corn starch is substituted 1:1 with tapioca starch.

The first bread I made was GF Flax Bread this one was similar to a white bread and the flax gave it a great flavor with some nutty and buttery undertones.  It was moist and has been great for sandwiches as well as toast.  All in all a great replacement for your typical sandwich bread.  As this was the first loaf of GF bread I had made I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.  Since you do not knead GF doughs it is so much easier than traditional bread making.  Just mix it up, pour it into a bread pan, bake and your done.

The second bread was GF French Bread.  Dare I say that I liked this version better than it's glutenous counterpart available in your local supermarket?  I am a sucker for eating french bread with soups and stews, a huge part of my diet in the fall and winter seasons.  This bread is so soft inside and crunchy on the outside, I ate it plain, I made Garlic bread, when it was gone I wanted more.  I am definitely going to be looking into how you freeze yeast doughs, so I can have some on hand and ready to go.  Amazing.

FACT OF THE WEEK:  (re: Gluten Allergy/Intolerance) "There is often a co-allergy/intolerance to the dairy family (most common) and corn."  Jones (ND), Carrie Going Gluten Free!, 2008  Loved this because it describes my son to the "T", totally gave me new insight to how his little body works!