Virtually There: Gluten-free Mondays

I've decided, on the spur of the moment as I devour another gluten-free cheese bun that I baked this morning, to start a new series on the blog: Gluten-free Mondays.

I've been eating totally gluten-free for two years next month. I was dragged kicking and screaming into a gluten-free diet after almost two years of ongoing and sometimes serious health issues revealed that gluten-free was the only cure for my many issues. You can read about my health journey to this discovery here.

Since then I have found and developed a lot of GREAT gluten-free recipes. My mantra when I started out was that if it wasn't as good as the wheat version, I wouldn't eat it (or make it again). I've been able to stick to that and in some cases, my gluten-free version is better than the original wheat version.

We now have a completely gluten-free household. Emily and Hope showed signs of gluten-intolerance about a year ago and have been GF since about then. Henry has shown signs for a while and has been GF for about two months. I'm still not convinced that this is the answer for him or that he is truly intolerant but given that gluten-intolerance is hereditary, there's a good chance that he is, even if it isn't solving his current issue.

John decided to join us as the last man standing and after reading an article that scared him off modern, North American wheat for at least a while, if not a lifetime.

I've only just started to convert my own recipes over to a GF version recently. More often than not, I scour the internet for an already tested recipe. I find that if I do choose to convert, my best luck happens with muffins, quick breads, pancakes. I still haven't mastered a from-scratch homemade bread recipe. Bread still eludes me. It is the toughest thing to replicate given that it is reliant on gluten to make it 'bready'. If we want bread, I buy a tolerable version at Costco or get the Bob's Red Mill everyday bread mix.

Several of my friends are starting to consider going GF because they have ongoing gut issues etc. And they have asked me for recipes. Instead of putting all my links together, which would take me a LONG time. I've decided to feature one of our favourite GF recipes here each Monday. Most often it will be taken from someone else's website or a cookbook. So, kudos to all those people out there who have mastered recipe conversion. My family benefits daily from your perseverance.

This morning, as I mentioned above, I baked cheese buns. These are not normal buns. They're called Chipa and they're common to South America. My sister-in-law, who is from Brazil, makes these often. Their texture takes some getting used to - they're very chewy inside. We're totally addicted over here. They need to be eaten the same day they're made so if you aren't going to eat 48 little buns in one day, put some of the batter in the fridge to use the next day. That's what I normally do and it works great.

I found this recipe on Mennonite Girls Can Cook's gluten-free page. It's become one of my go-to GF recipe sources. I've only had one recipe not work out (bread, of course). And of course, being Mennonite, they appeal to my desire for traditional Mennonite recipes converted to GF. This week I'll be trying their wareneki recipe from their cookbook. Can't wait!