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Back to Basics
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summarized by Jim Lyles
In February we held an informal "Back to Basics" meeting. TCCSSG
president Mary Guerriero led the discussion, with contributions from
several other experienced group members. This article contains some
highlights from that meeting.
Shopping
* Newly-diagnosed celiacs will find it easiest to shop around the
perimeter of the grocery store, concentrating on fresh vegetables,
fresh fruits, fresh meat, poultry, and fish, and frozen vegetables.
* Use the shopping guide, but double-check the ingredients from time
to time; sometimes formulations do change.
* To save money, buy flours at Indian and Asian grocery stores.
However, if the store packages its own flours, make sure the scoops
are cleaned between uses to ensure no cross-contamination.
Kitchen/Pantry
* If possible, a newly-diagnosed celiac should go through the kitchen
and pantry and get rid of all the gluten-containing items.
* Mark gluten-free (GF) items with a special sticker, so that you or
your celiac child will know what items in the cupboard and
refrigerator are safe. (It also helps Grandma, the babysitter,
etc.)
* Keep condiments GF, either by having separate condiments for the
celiacs in the house, or by making sure that all household members
know not to "double-dip" their spoons and knives in condiments after
contacting gluten bread.
Baking
* Store-bought (or mail-order) GF breads can be quite good, but
nothing beats good home-baked GF bread.
* Bake in large quantities, and then slice and store in freezer-safe
containers. You may want to separate individual slices with paper
towels, sandwich bags, etc.; to make it easier to get one portion
out without having to thaw the entire container.
* GF bread only requires one knead and rise cycle, not two. If your
bread machine is programmable, then you can change it to eliminate
the second knead and rise cycle. If it is not programmable, then
let it run empty through the first knead cycle and add ingredients
before the second knead cycle.
* 1/4 cup of egg whites can be used in place of one egg in bread
recipes, but not in cookie recipes.
* Liquids should be about 80 degrees F for bread machines, and 110
degrees F when baking manually.
* Use English muffin rings to make hamburger buns.
Miscellaneous
* Be selfish with your GF items. Allow others to taste them, but not
to use them up. Remember that your GF items are expensive, and
cannot be easily replaced by a quick trip to the nearest convenience
store.
* Try to cook GF meals for the entire family, instead of cooking
separate meals for the celiacs and non-celiacs. It minimizes the
chances of cross-contamination, and the celiacs won't feel left out
or "different" from everybody else.
* The Bette Hagman cookbooks are highly-recommended. The third book
in the series, The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy, is
particularly useful with its time-saving mixes, faster preparation
times, and lower-fat recipes.
* Back issues of The Sprue-nik Press, complete with an article and
recipe index, are available online at
<http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/#nwsspn>.
* If you have a pre-tax medical spending account through your
employer, you can submit for reimbursement the extra cost of GF
items. For instance, if 5 lbs. of wheat flour is $1.25, and 5 lbs.
of rice flour costs you $3.00, then you can submit the difference
between these two prices, i.e., $1.75. Items which are "extras" in
baking, such as xanthan gum, can be reimbursed entirely.
* Watch out for ingredients in some lipsticks and other lip products;
if it goes on your lips then some of it will end up going into your
digestive tract.
* Don't lick stamps and envelopes; the glue is sometimes wheat-based.
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