VioletBlue

Yep, I've found frying them to be problematic. I was told to hydrate them by dipping them in hot water with tongs. But then the suckers stick to themselves, and if they start out with a hole in them when they're dried the hole just gets bigger when you hydrate them. And of course the dipping them in water means they spatter like crazy when fried. And if I don't make them small so there's at least two layers of wrap they tend to tear when you try and turn them over in the pan

Somewhere I'm sure there's someone who's expert at working with them. I'm going to try the baking method next and see where that gets me.

Today I tried to make P F Chang's shrimp dumplings using gluten-free ingredientes. I got the filling almost right (I used gluten-free soy and fish sauce instead of the oyster sauce-- easy) but I am a bit puzzled about what to do for the wraps.

I got some galettes de riz from the market-- they are huge rice and tapioca flour spring roll wrappers. They come dried in the bag from Vietnam with no instructions on how to use them. After a bit of experimenting (that resulted in several dead and mangled wrappers) it seems that you have to rehydrate them with hot water and kind of one-at-a-time. But I think I still am doing something wrong.

Then came the fun part. I tried to fry them in sesame oil. Yep. Big mistake. Big mess.

So does anybody know:

A. how best to rehydrate these?

and

B. If there is some secret way to fry them?

Thanks!

Thank you for the explanations

Hagman's flour mixes are problematic for me. I cannot tolerate cornstarch or non organic corn flour, and potato anything is out for me too. I did just purchase some sorghum flour. Perhaps next time I'll try a mix of rice and sorghum with the tapioca. I've used bean flours before in breads, but I find the taste too strong, though it's a good flavor in wrap recipes.

One thing I will say about this bread, the smell is excellent. It's the closest yet to that real baking bread smell.

With the gluten free breads, protein is added to replace the gluten protein, and when it cooks, it becomes more rubbery. Usually the protein is egg, egg white, or milk or lactose free milk like yogurt. Xantham gum is also added to some recipes to add extra "stickiness" to the dough. Also, tapioca flour, when mixed with liquid, immediately gets somewhat sticky and then when baked can morph into something resembling edible caulk unless another type of flour or cheese protein is added to it.

Then the dough is either inflated with air bubbles thru the process of yeast feasting on sugars and giving off gas, or baking powder or baking soda interacting with the acids in something like yogurt or vinegar and starting to bubble. Then the trapped air bubbles further expand when heated in the oven, expanding the dough as it bakes.

Egg white is high in protein, the yolks are higher in fat.

I am so used to egg "everything" that I don't taste it the way other people do.

If I wanted to disguise the flavor, I would replace some of the rice flour with a little bit of sweet sorghum flour.

I broke down Bette Hagman's 4 bean flour mix to these proportions:

1/3 of gluten free flour #1, like tapioca

1/3 of gluten free flour #2, like cornstarch (preferred), potato starch, or rice

1/3 of other stuff , consisting of a third each of sorghum, almond meal, garbanzo bean flours, because that is what I have.

The sorghum flour has a good reputation for flavor, I grind my own almonds all the time in a dedicated blender to use in a lot of things, and I can't find garfava anywhere but I did find garbanzo and that seems to work for the bean flour. This works out to about 2 tablespoons of flour per cup of gluten-free 4 bean mix. I would imagine if you didn't like bean flour (again, apparently my taste buds are a dud with this stuff, or I just ate way too much hummus in my life, because I can't notice it that much. Maybe it is the fava beans that taste bad) you could just subsitute another type of flour, which would change the texture a little but not be a crisis.

The other thing you could do with the bread is add something else you like the taste of to mask the egg flavor, such as some grated cheese, some olive oil for the butter, or some herbs or spices. A pinch of cumin goes well with anything with beans in it, this seems to also work with gluten free bread as well as chile.

I've known some places to use soy sauce in certain types of sushi, so it's not impossible there was soy sauce in or on the prep area.

Also what brand of ice cream did you have? Some brands have an ingredient list a mile long and could include gluten, particularly barley.

what contains gluten in sushi? tempura? isnt that it?

Alright, I tried it. I'm so tired of trying bread recipes. Anyway, the texture is good B+ and the crust is good A. I made it as a round because I don't have a french bread pan. I was afraid it wouldn't hold it's shape if it just baked on a cookie sheet. But judging by the way it pulled away from the round pan I think it would hold it's shape. But I give the taste a C+. It's too eggy for my taste. Either there needs to be something, maybe a flour with more taste to counter the egg, or less egg white.

I used to understand how wheat bread worked, but I don't understand the mechanics of gluten-free bread. Is the egg white part of the reason why the texture is so good?

Violet

Yeah, well, that was this time last year. Then they remodeled the local store into a "Lifestyles" store. They took out the gluten free baking section when they did that But the local organic store carries the same mix so I'll live. Who knows, your local Vons may still carry it. I know they still have it on their webstore. It used to be in the section where the flours were. At the time they carried Pamelas Mix as well as the chocolate cake and a few other things.

Vons has a gluten free chocolate cake mix?

What brand and what aisle?

Wow. You got a dog that will eat that stuff?

:lol:

You put salt and some oil in the cooking water, didn't you?

Then when the things are al dente, or just a little bit too firm, pull them off the stove and throw in the colander and rinse with cold water.

Then rinse the pan if you are going to re use it. Cooking the rice pasta releases the starch, which is sticky, so you need to get rid of it. Put a glop of olive oil or butter back in the pan before putting the pasta back in it, maybe sprinkle some more salt on it, too.

Sounds like it just boiled too long and lacked a rinse.

I swear they put those cooking times on the packages just so pets can get the first batches. Boil 14 minutes, yeah... sure.

LOL. Now there is a topic: The dumbest thing about being gluten free that's ever made you cry.

Lets see, so many to choose from. Ahhh, I'd been gluten-free about two months and I was grocery shopping on my birthday in Vons where I don't normally shop and I discovered they carried a gluten free chocolate cake mix. Yep, I started to cry standing in the aisle just from knowing I could make myself a birthday cake.

Goodness, I never thought I would need the kleenex, but being gluten-free for 3 months, I am definately seeing how i do need it. Last night the point was proven, when I started crying over a sandwich...Goodness..Anyhow, I am a little better now, still a little sad.

If I had known then what I know now the first thing I would have done after diagnosis was invest in Kleenex stock.

It's a bumpy road but it's so worth it. Avoid Food Network for a few months and try and tune out all food commercials if you can. Allow yourself to cry because you're grieving a loss. Be patient with yourself and give yourself time. You will not get this all down in one day; NO ONE DOES. Just do the best you can and move at your own pace. Do what you're able to do when you're able, not because someone else says you have to do this NOW. Some effort and success beats not even trying.

Lunch for me is usually a green salad with meat, or Thai rice noodle packets with meat and veggies added. For salad dressing I use vinegar and oil with herbs mixed in. Whole foods are the easiest way to go. Fresh vegetables and fruit don't contain gluten. Meat doesn't contain gluten. Eat foods as close to their natural out of the ground or off the hoof state as possible. Where the problem comes in with whole foods is in the marinades and sauces and flavorings they're prepared with.

Avoid grains until you're sure you've figure out which ones contain gluten. And be warned, you won't like gluten free bread right off the bat. I've been gluten-free for almost 13 months and I still don't like it. People around here keep insisting I'll come to love it one day, but it hasn't happened yet.

Violet

An average day is tough to answer. I also have other intolerances and allergies like nightshades, GMO corn, sulfites, sodium nitrites, cucumbers and sunflower oil. Someone without allergies to potatoes and nitrities has a lot more options than I do.

Best I can do is give you the most often eaten foods at each meal. I also sometimes have breakfast for dinner and vice versa.

Breakfast:

gluten-free homemade muffin

gluten-free waffel

Scrambled eggs or omlet and sausage or natural bacon

gluten-free breakfast bar

Lunch:

Green salad with meat left over from dinner the night before

Thai Kitchen rice noddle packet with meat added

Frozen homemade portions of spanish rice or enchiladas

Natural hot dogs with green salad

Rice with meat

Sushi made for dinner the night before

Green salad with tuna or chicken salad on it

Dinner:

Salmon Sushi

Baked Chicken

Green Salad

gluten-free pizza

Chow mein made with Thai rice noddles

Fried rice

Spanish rice

Enchiladas

Mexican caserole

Nachos

Steak

gluten-free soup

Deserts:

Ice cream, sometimes homemade

gluten-free homemade cookies

M&M's

Fresh fruit

Never cheated. I'm 45. I don't want to die young. Well, okay, some would say that ship has already sailed. But I don't want to die at fifty. There is way too much I want to do with my life to check out that early. My life depends on this diet, and I value life in a way I never have before. I don't know, maybe you do have to be closer to the end than the beginning to treasure every extra day you get.

Violet

1. My GP ten years ago ran a dozen tests that all came back negative. He said "I can't keep on testing you. Your insurer is liable to to cancel my contract with them because I'm costing them too much in "unneccesary" tests. My employer at the time suggested stress management training to deal with my non stop nausea and joint pain.

2. I took anti depressants for well over a year. In retrospect it probably wouldn't have been necessary if I'd been on a gluten free diet.

During your journey from sickness towards health, before during, after or without dx, have you ever been:

1) called a hypochondriac by close family/friends/loved ones? By all of them?

2) been offerred antidepressants for symptoms you were or are now certain were due to your gluten consumption or other REAL chronic physical condition?

My husband called me a hypochondriac this week, and my daughter is constantly implying my son is faking every one of his symptoms (so far he's mostly aspergers/bipolar, but i'm trying to wean him off dairy for now, due to constant stomach symptoms)

My favorite nurse-practitioner at my pcp's practice, who left that practice to join a wholistic practice, prescribed me anti-depressants for my fatigue . .. i never did try them, tho.

anyone else?

I use Pantene. Never had a problem with it. I can't do most of the "natural" or "organic" hair care products on the market because everyone seems to want to put sunflower oil in them. Whatever. If it's isn't one thing it's another.

Violet

Take a look at this thread and tell me what you think: Open Original Shared Link

Does that sound to like they're planning to sell this drug on down the line as an aid to help when people "accidentally" gluten themselves? "Do you dream about being able to eat pizza, pasta, cookies, cake and all of your favorite gluten-containing products again?" It doesn't to me. I sounds like they're invisioning a cure that involves a life long dependancy on a drug. Likewise, are the lactaid pills on the market sold for accidental lactose ingestion or are they sold to people with the understanding that now they can drink all the milk they want?

There is what the drug CAN be used for and then there is how a drug like this will evidtably wind up being marketed.

Violet

I completely understand that. I live in a small resort town. There's not a single Indian restaurant up here. I even had trouble finding the spices to make it at home. There's one so so quasi Thai place, one sushi place and dozens of Mexican restaurants and BBQ places. I'd kill for a Cuban place too.

I don't know which sauce you're talking about. I mostly use the Thai Kitchen sweet chili sauce for dipping these days. It's got a nice kick to it and it's gluten free.

Violet,

Sorry I can't answer your question, but where do you buy your rice papers?

Does anyone happen to know a gluten-free replica of the sauce that you dip them in?

I only lived "in the city" for about two years while I finished college, but I fell in love with certain ethnic foods while there. Normally, I live in a rural area, and our one choice is Mexican (which I like, but not everytime I want to eat a sit-down dinner out)

I also enjoyed Indian food (particularly the bread), but of course that is not an option now.

So, despite my years of being gluten-free, I am still looking for answers to certain questions: like so many of us.

Happy gluten-free baking! -Julie

Violet,

Sorry I can't answer your question, but where do you buy your rice papers?

Does anyone happen to know a gluten-free replica of the sauce that you dip them in?

I only lived "in the city" for about two years while I finished college, but I fell in love with certain ethnic foods while there. Normally, I live in a rural area, and our one choice is Mexican (which I like, but not everytime I want to eat a sit-down dinner out)

I also enjoyed Indian food (particularly the bread), but of course that is not an option now.

So, despite my years of being gluten-free, I am still looking for answers to certain questions: like so many of us.

Happy gluten-free baking! -Julie

Okay, this question is for anyone who's actually worked with rice papers. Gods but they're frustrating!

So, how warm does the water have to be to soften them? The first time I tried boiling water which is problematic because you've got to handle them. So is warm water that's not hot enough to burn your fingers warm enough?

Secondly, they're sticky little devils. Is there a trick to handling them once they're softened so they don't stick to themselves? They're worse than cling wrap.

Third, I've been pan frying them, but unless I make them small so there's a double layer of rice paper they tend to tear in the pan. I don't want a deep fryer in my home for a variety of reasons. Can spring rolls be baked instead?

Thirdly, what do you do with all the ones with holes in them? I hate the idea of throwing them out, but I've discovered that if I try and soften them to use they just tear right along the hole.

Violet

Well that sucks! Safeway owns Vons if I remember right. The local Vons does not carry Lundberg. I'm one of those that reacts to Quaker rice cake products. The local organic store carries only one flavor of the Lundberg. So it's that or nothing around here.

My local Safeway store carries Lundburg Rice Cakes. Sometimes they even have them on sale.

No, never, not worth it. How many drugs were deemed safe only to be pulled after millions of people took them? How many people have died, how many lawsuits have there been over approved medications that killed and maimed people? The pharmaceutical industry has repeatedly spun their own trials to get approval for drugs that wound up killing people.

I'd wait a good ten years just to see what the short term and long term effects are. And even then I probably wouldn't take it. What worries me more than side effects however is this attitude that if a pill can fix it we should all be taking the pill so we can become "normal". Normal for my body is gluten free. That is what my body has told me is the best for ME. I don't care about everyone else and what their normal is. I refuse to take a pill so I can be someone else's picture of normal.

Violet

This is hypothetical. What if an experimental treatment for gluten sensitivity (ex. AT-1001, the zonulin inhibitor) proved to be very effective in preliminary trials, but little or nothing was known about possible side effects or long term effects. Would you be willing to participate in the secondary trials?

I think that I would because I really hate having to be on a restricted diet. But, it often takes quite a while for such trials to be conclusive and to reveal any unpredicted/unpredictable problems. Also, if the drug is not completely effective in blocking the autoimmune problems associated with celiac, this alone could cause long term problems. I'd be willing to give it a shot? How about you?

Hmmm, tomato sauce, garlic, sliced tomatoes, artichoke hearts and gobs of warm soft goat cheese. I learned that one from an italian restaurant on Wilshire Blvd.

I went to the trouble awhile back to order rice papers from Amazon. The shipping is more than the papers. Then of course after that I discovered that my local Vons carries the exact same brand in the organic section next to the tofu and bean sprouts

I have looked for the rice papers and can only find egg roll wrappers. I even looked for a recipe for the rice papers but no luck. I am pretty far away from civilization and sometimes that is not a good thing.

I take a NatureMade D supplement that is gluten free. There are other makers like Natrol and NOW who's supplements are gluten free. There are a couple different kinds of D supplements. There is some research that says some absorb better than others. The best source of D I've been told is sunshine. The body manufactures D as a result of exposure to sunlight. People typically get most of their D from sunshine not foods.

Violet

I've just gotten back bloodwork that shows I am Vitamin D deficient.

The doc wants me to take supplemental vitamins for a couple of months and then re-test my levels.

Is anyone taking or aware of a Vitamin D pill that is gluten-free?

I am also looking for items to add into my diet that will help improve my Vit D. Not sure what's causing the deficiency...(oh, and I should mention, I don't really eat fish - I just dislike it.)

I'd really appreciate any input you can give me!

Thanks!

There are other people here with different types and levels of kindey damage. I've participated in a couple threads here on the subject. Perhaps if you posted under related disorders with a heading about Kidney disease you could flush some of them out. I have something called Thin Basement Membrane Disease which is a benign condition that allows protein and blood cells through the filtering membrane of the kidney and out into the urine. Others here have more serious issues.

Violet

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to post this separately from my other thread, just because it's a different subject. I went to see my Nephrologist on Monday. He has been treating me for Loin Pain Hematura Syndrome, which causes my kidney to bleed and causes chronic severe pain. He periodically tests my kidney function, and it has always been perfect. On Monday he told me that my kidney function has dropped to 35%. He told me that I'm developing chronic kidney disease, but not to panic. Obviously I don't need any more problems and I'm scared to death. Could this possibly be linked to my refractory sprue? I just don't understand why this is happening to me. Thanks for your help,

-Brian

I think it's pretty common. I also depends on how you classfy self diagnosis. I had done an elimination diet and found a problem with wheat. I read up on wheat allergies and came accross Celiac Disease. A huge light bulb went on over my head. I was what I would now call gluten light for about a month before I took the blood test and the antibody numbers were still significant. That along with my medical history was enough to convince me. The previous ten years of my life had read like a diagnostic manual for Celiacs with doctors unable to explain most of it. The blood test and the reaction to the diet and the anemia and GERD and what not were enough for me. The doctor would have liked to do a biopsy, but having already been through a kidney biopsy I had no desire to go through any kind of internal biopsy ever again. My rebound in the last year has been significant so I'm satisfied that I've come to the right conclusion without a biopsy.

The bottom line I think is that it's your body. If you want or need blood tests and biopsys then go for it. If you don't, if the reaction to the diet is enough just get on with your gluten free life

I love the lifestream waffels. I was amazed to find them in the freezer section at Vons of all places. I like their texture and taste better than Vans. No more going to the organic store for waffles, LOL.

I used the De Boles no cook noodles to make lasagna for the first time this weekend. It turned out rather well. I'm very happy with the product, and 45 minutes worked perfectly. The noodles had a nice texture. I was kind of dreading it because the other types of rice noodles I've used tend to have a toughness to them if not well cooked. But this was perfect.