Grain Free Pizza Crust!

Rob has been wanting pizza for a while, but since pizza crust has grains in it we haven't been able to find it.  Well he went to walmart this morning and came home with all the toppings/cheese etc for pizza...I think it was a hint :-)  So we found a pizza crust recipe that is grain free!   It turned out WAY yummy, but the next time we want to try and let the dough rise a little first.  For toppings we had homemade pizza sauce (1 can tomato sauce, seasoned with garlic/onion powder, italian seasoning, and parmasan cheese), sharp cheddar & mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, bratwurst (sausage) seasoned, olives, sauteed mushrooms and more cheese.  We love toppings!

GLUTEN-FREE & WHEAT-FREE PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

This crispy pizza crust tastes so delicious that your guests won't know it's wheat and gluten-free.
You can hold a slice in your hand and it won't crumble! You may also shape the dough into four individual pizzas.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon - Gluten-free dry yeast
2/3 cup - Brown rice flour or bean flour
1/2 cup - Tapioca flour
2 tablespoons - Dry milk powder or non-dairy milk powder*
2 teaspoons - Xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon - Salt
1 teaspoon - Unflavored gelatin powder
1 teaspoon - Italian herb seasoning
2/3 cup - Warm water (105 degrees F)
1/2 teaspoon - Sugar or 1/4 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon - Olive oil
1 teaspoon - Cider vinegar
Cooking spray

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In medium bowl using regular beaters (not dough hooks), blend the yeast, flours, dry milk powder, xanthan gum, salt, gelatin powder, and Italian herb seasoning on low speed. Add warm water, sugar (or honey), olive oil, and vinegar. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. (If the mixer bounces around the bowl, the dough is too stiff. Add water if necessary, one tablespoon at a time, until dough does not resist beaters.) The dough will resemble soft bread dough. (You may also mix in bread machine on dough setting.)

Put mixture into 12-inch pizza pan or on baking sheet (for thin, crispy crust), 11 x 7-inch pan (for deep dish version) that has been coated with cooking spray. Liberally sprinkle rice flour onto dough, then press dough into pan, continuing to sprinkle dough with flour to prevent sticking to your hands. Make edges thicker to contain the toppings. Bake the pizza crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Spread pizza crust with your favorite sauce and toppings. Bake for another 20-25 minutes or until top is nicely browned.

Serves 6.

Crust only: Calories 138, Fat 1 g, % Fat Cal 8%, Protein 2 g, Carbohydrate 30 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 286 mg, Fiber 2 g Exchanges - Carbohydrate 2, Fat 1/4

* Dairy Alternative: 2 tablespoons tapioca flour or sweet rice flour in place of the 2 tablespoons dry milk powder or non-dairy milk powder. However, the crust won't brown as nicely. Source: Special Diet Solutions - Carol Fenster, Ph.D.

Entire meal on a waffle iron

Coconut & Almond Flour Pancakes

Today's Variation:  Coconut/Almond Flour Waffles

Coconut Flour Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 T virgin coconut oil or butter, melted
2 T milk (can use coconut milk)
1 t sugar (we used Zsweet instead)
1/4 t salt
1 T sifted Coconut Flour
2 T Almond Flour
1/2 t baking powder (we used this substitution)
capful of Vanilla

Method:
Blend together eggs, oil, milk, sugar & salt.  Combine coconut & almond flours with baking powder & thoroughly mix into batter.  Heat 1 T coconut oil in a skillet (we've found about 375 on an electric skillet works well for pancakes.  Spoon batter onto hot skillet making pancakes about 2 & 1/2 to 3" in diameter.  Batter will be thick, but will flatten out when cooking.  Makes about 8 pancakes.

***We quadrupled the recipe and it made us several yummy waffles.

Today we are having Strawberry or Raspberry Freezer jam on it:

Strawberry or Raspberry Freezer Jam
1 16oz bag of strawberries or Strawberries took a hand blender to them
Agave Syrup to taste sweetness
Ultra Gel Modified Food Starch (thickener), as we didn't want to use Pectin as we didn't think it would set up right without sugar.

Coconut Flour Pancakes

Coconut Flour Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 T virgin coconut oil or butter, melted
2 T milk (can use coconut milk)
1 t sugar (we used Zsweet instead)
1/4 t salt
2 T sifted Coconut Flour
1/2 t baking powder (we used this substitution)
capful of Vanilla

Method:
Blend together eggs, oil, milk, sugar & salt.  Combine coconut flour with baking powder & thoroughly mix into batter.  Heat 1 T coconut oil in a skillet (we've found about 375 on an electric skillet works well for pancakes.  Spoon batter onto hot skillet making pancakes about 2 & 1/2 to 3" in diameter.  Batter will be thick, but will flatten out when cooking.  Makes about 8 pancakes. 

***We quadrupled the recipe and it made us several yummy waffles.

Lemon Garlic Dill Tilapia

Tonight for dinner we had Tilapia Fillets with Cheesy Brococli & a nice Salad complete with tomatoes, cucumbers & feta cheese!
For the tilapia fillets we sauteed them in butter, with a little lemon, garlic & onion powder, salt & pepper, and dill.  It was VERY good!

Lessons Learned

All the news of Rob's health finally hit me today, have had a VERY upset tummy :-( I know we will get through this together, but it's still so worrisome.....and I'm a worrier, I get it from my Grandma Briggs & my Mom :-) Makes me wonder what lesson HE wants us to learn from this besides quit eating crappy foods full ...of bad things...hmmm...I think that's it! What a wakeup call though.

It is now 11pm and I have taken a nice hot bubble bath, soaked for about an hour and a half, even dozed off for a bit, until my cat Mercedes was either lapping the water or sniffing my ear...scared me to death lol.  My tummy still hurts and is upset, feels like someone is kicking me in the gut repeatedly.  (No I'm not pregnant).  Rob suggested some sleepytime herbal tea, so am going to go make me a cup....here's hoping it works!

Steak Fajitas

Tonight for dinner we had Steak Faijitas
Sirloin Steaks Cut into thin strips & cooked in pan w/a little EVOO & 
Fajita Seasoning (we had McCormick but it's getting tossed as after I used it I checked and it has cornstarch in it EEEK!!!)  Does anyone have a great Fajita Seasoning Recipe?
 --Saute' 1/2 an onion & Bell Pepper again using Fajita Seasoning
I also added some cheese to it.  

Then we also had Green Beans/Diced Tomatoes/Bacon again easy as pie...can of green beans, can of diced tomatoes, crumble bacon in with it.  Rob tells me we normally put onion in it as well, but I forgot....so will remember next time.  We can't forget the salad...with shredded carrots, radish and Ranch Vinaigrette dressing :-)

Which Sweetener to use?

So the Dr told us not to use Sugar, Splenda, Sweet N Low or Aspartame sweeteners, he also told us not to use Agave as he said it causes never issues (still researching on that one), but to use Xylitol (which is toxic to animals so not sure I want it in my house) or Stevia. Here is an article ab out Xylitol and dogs: http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp  Besides Xylitol is a sugar alcohol and those really do not agree with my tummy (gives me EXTREMELY stinky gas)  So it looks like we have some research to do, we just bought a gallon of Agave on Monday :-(  We love the taste of it, and the fact that it doesn't have an aftertaste.  We did buy a 'pure' Stevia Extract where 1 teaspoon = 1 cup of Sugar and yes it's true it is that strong.  But it's like $20 for 3oz, so we'll see.  Which sweetener do you use?  I'd love to hear from you :-)

Most sweeteners have calories and carbohydrate — Examples are table sugar (sucrose), honey, brown sugar, molasses, fructose, maple syrup, cane sugar, agave nectar and confectioners sugar.
Sugar alcohols
Reduced-calorie sweeteners or "sugar alcohols" include erythritol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol. Sugar alcohols contain fewer calories and less carbohydrate than the other sweeteners. The calorie content ranges from 0.2 calories per gram to 3.4 calories per gram (compared to 4 calories per gram for sugar). Many of these are used in foods labeled as "no sugar added" such as ice creams, cookies, puddings, and candy.
Artificial sweeteners
Low-calorie or artificial sweeteners such as ascelfume potassium, aspartame, saccharin and sucralose. You’ll find these in many food products including diet soda, baked products, light yogurt and candy.
Stevia
Rebaudioside A (rebiana also known as reb-A) is the sweetener derived from the stevia plant and is considered generally recognized as safe for use as a general purpose sweetener. This means the FDA has permitted the sweetener to be sold as a food additive and you may see it sold or listed on labels with brand names such as Truvia and PureVia.

The Results Are In....

We went to the Dr today to talk about Rob's bloodtest results and the results were not so good....
1-  Diabetes Mellitus Type 2
2-  Fatty Liver Disease
3-  Microalbuminuria (early kidney disease/damage) Only showing up in urine right now his BUN/Crea levels were both low or low normal.
4-  High Cholesterol not the 'regular kind' but the LDL & HDL are either high/low
5-  High Triglycerides
6-  Severely Vitamin D Deficient "Critically Low"
7-  Heart Attack Risk Extremely High (C Reactive Protein)
8-  High Hemoglobin ALC which means his Glucose has been consistently high over the past 3 months.
9-  Chronic Inflammation  (Elevated WBC but no other CBC levels were elevated)
10-  Insulin Resistant

The Dr does think the Fatty Liver Disease, & Kidney Disease, Cholesterol are reversible with dietary changes (that we've already made), and supplements, and medications.  Now mind you Rob had previously been going to a different PCP Dr who didn't give a rat's butt about his health, Dr. Jones (Alpine Clinic) has been wonderful....now all the supplements and stuff he wants Rob on are about $300 a month!  Eeek!  The good news is our insurance covered 100% a great glucose tester, the test strips, the lancets, so that was nice, and the 2 new prescriptions he was put on are on the Walmart $4.00.  The Dr seemed most concerned with the EXTREMELY low Vit D (5 normal is 80-100) which puts him extremely high risk for lots of things like Rickets, Cancer and more.  The Low Vitamin D explains several of his issues: poor wound healing, increased muscle, joint, back pain, depression, diabetes, allergies, inflammation, high blood pressure, it also puts him at 3x the risk of Multiple Sclerosis.  If you haven't ever been tested for Vit D, I would strongly recommend it, I am deficient as well and feel much better since taking it.