May 20, 2003

• Before I get into today’s
  nutrition lecture,
  a little clarification on clothing stains, for the “Laundry Queen”, Riott, and the rest of you impeccable dressers:

  
  

  This stained Disney shirt I love so much goes with a pair of longjohns (now so baggy on me that I’ve woken to find them around my knees a few times) to make comfy pajamas.  I’d never wear stained clothing out in the world.

  
  

  I have an elegantly simple gray turtleneck tunic, bought new at (what to me seems) great cost.  It has long been my favorite “town clothes”.  Once, at Wal-Mart, a greasy hand-grip on a shopping cart made an ugly black smear on it.  I made such a fuss about having to go through my day’s shopping all besmirched that they gave me a new shirt.  I bought liquid detergent and pre-treated the stain as soon as I put on the new shirt.  I got the stain out. 

  
  

  Another time, a taco shell broke and spilled orangey-greasy taco filling down the front of my gray tunic.  I got that stain out, too.  I can still wear that shirt to town, but if it ever gets a permanent stain, it will become comfortable home clothes and I’ll have to find a new town favorite. 

  
  

  Wear stained clothes out of the house and yard (or this laid-back neighborhood)???  Mama would die!!!  …oh, right, she did that already… well, it’s just not done, anyway.  But I’m never as comfortably at-ease all dressed up for town as I am in some old holey, grungey thing that by rights belongs in the rag bag.  The reason for that is simple:  anxiety that I’m going to get “dirt” on my clothes.

  
  

  ---

  AND NOW–
  Meal-in-a-Muffin
  This is version 5 or 6 of my gluten-free bread recipe, and I promised around #3 somewhere that I wasn’t going to continue the search for ever-better muffins.  That was true, but a few accidental discoveries and substitutions turned out to be improvements, so I’m sharing the latest recipe.

  
  

  First– the gluten-free rationale:
  Gluten is the sticky, stretchy substance in wheat, oats and some other grains.  It is an addictive substance (see nutramed.com/eatingdisorders/addictivefoods) and also poses problems for anyone in the “A” blood group or with a history of yeast infections.  Yeast (Candida) nests in it, it adheres to the lining of the gut, where the yeast feeds on the sugar in your food, robbing you of the carbo energy, and producing toxins.  Think of that the next time you enjoy a donut. 
  **Ha!  If I can’t enjoy donuts, nobody should.**

  
  

  Preheat oven to 425°

  
  

  This recipe calls for a total of 3 1/2 cups of flour.  My preference is:

  
  

  
  

  1 1/4 cup garbanzo bean or combined fava and garbanzo flour  (for protein and fiber)
  1 cup sweet white sorghum flour (for flavor–yum!)
  1 cup whole grain brown rice flour (vitamins, fiber, and combines with bean flours for complete protein)
  1/4 cup tapioca flour/tapioca starch (It takes only a small amount of this to sweeten and lighten the bread.  A little touch makes a big difference.)

  
  

  Whisk together flours and:

  
  

  
  

  Up to about 3 cups “protein powder”.  I use:
  2 cups non-instant, non-fat dry milk (You could substitute whey powder, or a greater amount of the bulkier instant dry milk, about enough to make 3 quarts of milk.)
  1 cup soy protein powder (This was one of my lucky discoveries.  I had the vanilla flavored drink mix, but didn’t like the drink or the mess it made in preparation.  I only wanted to use it up and not waste it, but I loved what it did for the bread.)

  
  

  1 teaspoon xanthan gum (Another small touch that makes a big difference:  it takes the place of gluten in holding the bread together.  Without it, you have a crumbly texture.  Be sure it is well-distributed in the flours.    Handle your batter quickly, because this stuff is instantly sticky, and the batter will rise a lot faster than a gluten dough would.)
  1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  2 teaspoons salt
  2 teaspoons Chinese five spice (This was another serendipity–I had been using cinnamon, but ran out.  I was looking over my spice shelf, sniffing this and that, thinking I would use up some of the older bottles I don’t use often.  Five spice smelled good, included cinnamon and ginger–two of my favorites– and was the oldest thing in my spice shelf.  The result was marvelous.)

  
  

  In a separate bowl, beat:

  
  

  
  

  2 large eggs,  and add:
  1/2 cup vegetable oil (I prefer light-flavored olive oil.  Oil in the recipe is very important, especially for anyone with reactive hypoglycemia, insulin resistance, or any other blood-sugar instability.  Without the added fat, bread is too highly glycemic.  Less oil would make a prettier, more cake-like bread, but would not be as healthful.)
  2 cups low-fat plain yogurt (This adds protein, calcium and other nutrients, and reacts with the soda for leavening.  Nonfat is too glycemic.  Use only plain, unsweetened yogurt.  The combination of yogurt with fruit, according to the naturopathic protocols of food combining, is to be avoided.  Fruit and dairy ferment toxically in the gut when combined at one meal.  Yogurt in the batter came about as yet another happy accident.  I found a 3# tub of it in the back of the fridge, out of date and needing to be used.  It made 3 batches of muffins over the course of about six weeks and I used the last of it today.)
  1 cup water (The recipe requires 3 cups of liquid.  It can be all water, all milk, all yogurt, or any combination.  You could use soy milk or rice milk, etc.
  2 tablespoons honey (optional)
  2 teaspoons vanilla (can be omitted–not needed with my vanilla drink mix)

  
  

  
  

  Bake in muffin pans that have been oiled or sprayed with non-stick vegetable spray, or lined with paper baking cups.

  
  

  Bake in preheated oven at 425° for 12 minutes.

  
  

  The recipe makes 2 dozen muffins.  I pack them in a big 3# coffee can with a tight lid, or they could be packed in a zipper freezer bag.  I keep them in the freezer and nuke  …umm, I defrost one or two a day in the microwave oven.

  
  

  Today I was successful, for the first time yet, in baking a batch of these without eating too many of them as they cooled.  Until this time, I would munch down three of them hot and fragrant, get a glycemic response and then realize that I had overdosed.  I now know that 2 is OK, 3 is OD.

  
  

   

  • 3:30 pm
  • 15 Comments