Ok I have been promising a wellness page for a while so here is the start of the Bettygohard Wellness Section - please send me recipes, information and anything else you would like to see in here.........

Dr. Brenda Gill Wellness Articles....

Spring Detox

Hemp Hearts

General Information

COOKING AND BAKING WITH ALTERNATIVE FLOURS

& Tips for the Gluten Intolerant

If you are allergic to wheat and/or gluten, you can substitute other starches and flours to make breading, sauces or baked goods. Each flour has certain strengths and weaknesses.

• Mild Flavour: Amaranth, Arrowroot, Tapioca Starch Brown Rice, Light Buckwheat, Ground Nuts and Seeds, Quinoa
• Strong Flavor: Dark Buckwheat, Chickpea, Millet
• Breading: Amaranth, Dark Buckwheat, Light Buckwheat, Oat, Potato Starch, Corn
• Browning: Amaranth, Dark Buckwheat, Oat, Potato Starch, Corn
• Thickening: Arrowroot, Chickpea, Oat, Tapioca Starch, Corn Starch
• Baking: Brown rice, millet, amaranth, kamut, rye, oat, potato, nut and seed, arrowroot, buckwheat, chickpea, corn, quinoa. Spelt is an excellent baking flour and can be substituted 100% for wheat - it does contain gluten but is tolerated very well by those who are only wheat allergic.
• Baking: Amaranth 25% (with brown rice and oat flour)
• Amaranth 75% and quinoa (for grain free)
• Brown Rice 75% (25% ground nut or 50/50 with brown rice and oat)
• Light Buckwheat (similar to brown rice)
• Chickpea 25% (with other flours)
• Nut and seed 25% (reduce oil in recipe)
• Oat 80-100% (or 50/50 with brown rice flour, or others)
• Potato flour 25 or less% (with brown rice flour, millet)
• Corn 50% (with oat, amaranth, arrowroot, rice)
• Quinoa 50% (with oat, amaranth, arrowroot, rice)

Gluten Free: Amaranth, arrowroot, brown rice, buckwheat, chickpea, corn, quinoa, millet, legume, potato flour, ground nut and seed flours, teff

Gluten: Found in wheat, rye, oats, barley, kumut, spelt, durham, semoil, triticale

You may want to invest in your own electric flourmill. There is no comparison to the taste of fresh flours. Rancidity in non-bleached commercial flours is common so care must be taken when buying to ensure freshness. Use your nose to detect any rancidity or taste a small sample. Once you have baked with rancid flour you will quickly learn to recognize it. Store any preground flours you buy in tightly sealed containers, and refrigerate, or grind your own only as you need it.

Hints: For now buy a $20 coffee grinder that is suitable for spices, and use it to grind rolled oats, amaranth, quinoa, flax, millet or other soft grains into a course flours. Rice, spelt, legumes, corn and wheat berries are hard grains and difficult to grind at home so these are the ones to buy preground. Millet, flax and amaranth flours are difficult to buy fresh enough in a preground state.

Wash brown quinoa well as it contains a bitter endospore on its surface, or buy the white (shelled) variety. Millet flour tends to make baked products dry and is best mixed with small amounts of potato flour which holds moisture. Too much potato flour will make the product gummy.

GLUTEN FREE DIET

Avoid all flour and grain products containing gluten. Various grains contain different amounts of gluten and some can be tolerated better than others. Gluten is found in wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice, millet, spelt, and corn. Some people cannot tolerate amaranth or rice. Some of these grains may be re-introduced to the diet after a period of complete avoidance.

Those with gluten intolerance, poor starch digestion or Celiac disease often respond favorably by taking amylase enzymes when consuming gluten and grain. For some the difference when taking this enzyme is profound.  Available through NaturPharm, Toronto, Ontario - Product is called M2.

A List of Foods containing gluten: (not a complete list)

Ale, beer, gin, whisky, coffee essence, instant coffee, cocoa, chocolate, malted beverages, milo, ovaltine, postum, tomato juice. All commercial breads, cakes, cookies, crackers, bakery goods, pancakes, waffles. All breakfast cereals containing gluten grain. Chocolate, chewing gum, malted milk, cheese spreads, synthetic cream, custard powders, instant desserts, lemon powders, prepared mixes, commercial salad dressing, mayonnaise, fish cakes and sticks, fish sauce, baby foods, gravy thickeners, ice cream, cones, wafers, wieners, luncheon meats, meat loaf, breaded and battered meats, macaroni, noodles, spaghetti, commercial sauces, horseradish, ketchup, pickles, potato chips, french fries, salted nuts, cheese spreads, meat spread, sandwich spreads, peanut butter.

Bread Alternatives for the Gluten Intolerant:

Use flours from the grains that test well for you and learn to bake with these (see flour list). Raised yeast breads are very difficult to make without gluten flours. Use baking powder breads to give you some carbohydrate options - ie corn bread using corn meal and corn flour or ground quinoa, biscuits, muffins, or coffee cake style recipes substituting the gluten flours for ones you tolerate. Without the gluten the baked products will tend to be crumbly. For better results beat the batter for extra time and add the baking powder at the end. See the cookbook "Gluten Free Gourmet" for many delicious recipes. Consider rice crackers, rice flour crepes, corn tortillas, homemade grain waffles or pancakes instead of bread.

6 eggs

10 oz. sweet butter

10 oz good quality semi-sweet baking chocolate

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

Grease and flour a springform baking pan and put it into the freezer

Separate eggs. Beat the whites and yolks in separate bowls additing a half-cup of sugar slowly to each while beating.  Do not overbeat the whites—they should form light peaks

Over a double boiler melt the chocolate, vanilla and the butter.  Mix and then fold into the egg yolk mixture.  Then fold in the egg whites.  Do not over mix.  Put the batter into the pan./  Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes

Joanne