Durham's Gluten Free Network

Just a quick post today.  I'm amazed that people who comment on the economy, including Bernie, aren't talking about a huge change in banking practices that is killing the US economy.  Simply put, banks are not offering savings options that offer at least a 4% return on investment.  That means that savings accounts and CD's are no better than putting money in your mattress.  And this has been going on since the 2008 economic crash which took out the better part of the auto manufacturers, when they needed a bailout to keep functioning. The trend of lower and lower returns on simple investments has been going on for decades though.

What's interesting is that even when the problem with savings accounts is mentioned, it's talked about as if it's a new idea that only happened three years ago (2016) when in fact the trend has been like this for decades.
It's nearly Chistmas and I have one wish. That the banks would get real. So as a person who has to buy expens…

It's the eve of Thanksgiving in 2019 and I think it's time to discuss gratefulness.  I"m grateful to be alive, for every bit of my health, and grateful to have had such a loving family while I was a child, and for my current family including my husband, my stepson, my grandchild, extended family, and all our friends in the entire country.  I don't say these things lightly.  Not only is gratefulness an important part of good mental health habits, but in my life, things could've gone badly if loving people weren't right there, ready to step up and support me at critical moments. I'm grateful to the USA for taking in a mother and child and giving us a chance at a better life.  Thanks to the USA for  allowing my mom and I to succeed, her in business, me in college. 

    *   *   *
But there are things I'm thankful for that are related to Celiac disease also.  I've learned so much from this disease.  
I'm Grateful That Celiac Disease Taught Me...
 …

Tired, achy feet? Itchy? Dry? Strange neuropathies in your feet? Fibro feet? MS feet? Feet that burn or ache at night? Well I have some suggestions based on real science, and they actually work. These ideas may be used by anyone, and are especially appropriate for those who work standing and senior citizens.  If you want to skip the why's and wherefores, scroll down to the techniques section.  But first, a story.

My father in law suffered a stroke and soon afterward he had difficulty maintaining a good self care routine. Both my in laws are very responsible about their feet because my mother in law has a rare condition called Charcot Feet, and my father in law had frostbite in WW2. I'm guesstimating that since their 60's they've had a routine of self care with their feet. But it's easy to let it slip when you're suffering the aftereffects of a stroke. And the slower immune system of seniors can lead to a rapid progression from Athlete's Foot …

Another experimental recipe today, part of the learning curve for a bread machine.  Gluten free, no diary, high fiber bread.  I brought up the hydration a whole lot and increased the baking time accordingly.  I added the refinement of a baking alarm after the normal bake was complete, to tell me exactly how long I have to bake it.  This recipe is about the limit in how many cups of flour you can add to a 3 lb capacity machine, about 8 cups if you include the flax, chia and collagen in the flour calculation!

There is no psyllium powder in this recipe so if you're sensitive to that, need to stay psyllium free, then this is a good option.  The top did rise, but it formed a valley soon after, probably due to me messing with it too much.  The dough was more like batter and when it rose it was easy to lose air from it by just bumping the machine a bit.  I wanted to try just chia and flax though, to see how it works without psyllium.

I was concerned that the top wouldn't brown, so I …

So here I am again experimenting with a West Bend Hi-Rise Bread Machine!  This one has two paddles and mixes much better.  However still not as nice as having a mixer, but for the reasons already mentioned, bread machines are the way I want to go for now. As always, this is NOT an affiliate link or any other kind of ad.  It's what I use. I'm happy to shine a light their way though, because this is a great appliance, worth the money.

I have three loaves to show you and an experimental recipe for one of them.  One of the nice things about having your own machine is that you can use oat flour, if you tolerate it.  Only about 10% of people with Celiac have a gluten reaction to avenin, the "gluten" in oats.  And oats have a familiar flavor that many people like.  GF bread manufacturers don't use oats because it's risky.  Most farms rotate from oats to wheat or barley and back again on the same land.  And no matter how good the weeding, a few gluten grains get mix…

Taking a tiny break from bread machine recipes to present a Stand-Mixer bread recipe today.  I also want to talk about Amylose and what vinegar has to do with gluten free bread.  In the previous articles in this series, I discovered that mixing is a big problem for most bread machines.  That ends today with a Stand Mixer.  I will go back to a bread machine soon, for all the reasons I've already listed, but let's explore the mixer option a bit first.

Today the Kitchen Aid is the standard in baking mixer machines, but I decided to go with a budget model instead since it got rave reviews just last year.  Few bells and whistles, but an excellent mixer.

Since gluten free recipes use flours that absorb water more slowly and they have to form a gel "hydrocolloid", not gluten, usually this means bread machine recipes call for more water than you might expect.  As a result, the bread's structure may suffer, and there is a rush to bake the bread during the first rise (t…