Bread Is My Sun

I couldn't think of a better title for a Gluten-Free recipe blog. Seriously, I tried, I considered "Gluten-Free Is The Way To Be", "No Bread For Health" and even "Pasta Is Your Body's Sludge", but the truth of the matter is I love bread. Since I have become Gluten Free, I've realized how much I love it and how many of my thoughts throughout the day revolve around it. Sometimes it seems like bread is my sun, so I felt that title was fitting.

I have memories of eating bread as a child. (Yes, memories of bread). My mom would only buy us whole wheat, which was disgusting to me then and I CRAVED white bread. I had it a few times at restaurants or friends houses and it was all I ever wanted with every meal. One of my memories of bread is from when I was 13. I had an old TWA airline bag, it was red and ragged. I used to bring it everywhere with me instead of a backpack or purse.  My friends and I spent many weekends hanging out at the Galleria and I would always stuff a loaf of bread and a few cans of Josta soda in my TWA bag to bring with me.  (They have stopped making Josta since then) I don't remember if I ate much of anything else when I was out except bread and Josta.  Needless to say my moms efforts of trying to teach me to eat healthy did not take affect for many years later.

Fast forward 17 years and here I am, married and a mother of three, trying to force my children to only eat whole wheat. I have eaten pretty healthy since I had kids, that is really when it became important to me. Most recently though I've been paying extra attention to the foods I eat and how they affect my body. I have always had digestive issues. I will spare you any details, but it is important for people to be aware of the foods going into their body and what is coming out. Here is a link to an article I read that started me in the direction of a gluten-free lifestyle. I will let it explain all the details that I don't want to get into. ;) Click here for the link.

Once I realized there was a problem, I tried adding other foods to my diet to helps such as yogurt for probiotics or dried fruits and extra whole grains for regularity. I normally eat those foods but I tried increasing them, only to discover that I didn't see much of change. Then I thought, maybe it's not about adding more foods to my diet, but rather there is something I am already eating that is causing the issues.  After researching online, I discovered that a gluten sensitivity (different than an allergy I have learned) can cause digestive issues. As my own experiment, I cut out all gluten to see if I noticed a change and after 3 weeks of it I finally saw the Holy Grail! (refer to the link above)

Now I will admit, that I am currently breastfeeding and discovered in this time that my daughter is sensitive to cows milk and corn, so I have cut those out of my diet. I am trying a month of vegetarian (I will blog about that later) as well. So there are many factors at play, and I will have to slowly add back in foods to see what really is helping me but for now the point is, I feel good! I have also come up with many recipes to satisfy my bread, pasta and cupcake cravings! This blog will mostly be gluten-free, dairy-free recipes and some vegetarian and vegan. They're recipes I have found and copied, or changed up to make my own, but all tried and true and tested on people who truly love bread!

Here is my first recipe.

Gluten-Free Hummingbird Cupcake

Ingredients:

1 cup sweet sorghum flour
1 cup potato starch (be sure it's starch, not flour)
1/2 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum     (flour mix from glutenfreegoddess)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup butter (or 1/2 cup vegetable oil for dairy-free)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 bananas
1 teaspoon GF vanilla

4 eggs
2/3 cup vanilla yogurt (use plain coconut milk yogurt  for dairy-free)
1/4 cup crushed pineapple

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup milk (or vanilla coconut milk for dairy-free)

For frosting

2 pounds powdered sugar
16 oz. cream cheese
1 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 - 3 tablespoons milk

For Dairy-Free Frosting

2 pounds powdered sugar

2 cups vegetable shortening

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 - 3 tablespoons dairy free milk (I used vanilla coconut milk) 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cupcake pans, this makes 1 - 2 dozen cupcakes depending on how full you make them.

Sift together

1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup potato starch (be sure it's starch, not flour)
1/2 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum     (flour mix from glutenfreegoddess)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In separate bowl cream together
1/2 cup butter (or veg. oil)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add 4 eggs
Add 2/3 cup yogurt
Add 1/4 cup crushed pineapple
Mix in dry ingredients

Add about 3/4 cup - 1 cup of milk (to cupcake batter consistency)
Fold in 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Fill cupcake liners in pan about 1/2 to 3/4 full (these cupcakes puff up big)

Bake at 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool.

Frosting

Cream together all ingredients in mixer, slowly add milk until desired consistency.