Too Much Too Fast: Muffins

Somewhere around January Shauna James, blogger over at Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef and author of several cookbooks with her husband, Danny, wrote about giving up both xanthan and guar gum because it was giving her "digestive issues." (That's code, people. As she puts it, "Nothing says love like explosive diarrhea.")

She relaized that, despite being GF, she wasn't feeling very well. Through trial and error, she discovered her body didn't deal well with gums. Although all her cookbooks and previous blog recipes include xanthan and guar gum, she said, "You know what? These recipes don't need gums. Use them if you want to, but me, I'm leaving them out."


She listened to her body and changed her mind.

I am not a celiac. Twice I've had the genetic testing, and both  genes test negative. Still, I feel better without gluten. And yet... I don't feel as physically well as I think I ought. I have some recent bloodwork that says, "Well, no wonder," but nothing conclusive.

Long story short: I've decided to try the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which means eating no disaccarides -- no grains, no processed sugar, and a few other interesting caveats you can read more about if you like. And I have felt a lot better for doing it. I have had to change my mind about things... and now I'm not sure what I think.

It makes it kinda hard to do a GF baking blog, you know?

I never set out to be a nutritionist, but I've had to become one. Still, there is so much I do not know. I don't know why the incidence of food allergies and intolerances are on the rise. I don't know why people who are not celiacs still can't handle gluten. I don't know what the appropriate strains or balance of gut flora is, nor what genetic markers gut bacteria can trigger. But I do know this: it doesn't matter what diet you're trying to follow -- you need a good muffin recipe.

I developed this recipe when I was on an extremely strict yeast-free diet. I later tweaked it to work as a GF muffin, and I've recently tweaked it to be SCD compliant. This recipe can be made egg, dairy, sugar, gluten, and wheat free, plus vegan. I confess, I haven't tried all of these at once, but I suppose you could. I can think of at least five flavor variations, but three -- vanilla, fruit, and spice -- will give you the blueprint for anything else you can think of.

The flexibility and deliciousness of this recipe delivers the message best: listen to your body, do what you need for health, and don't be afraid to change your mind.

3 cups of (choose 1):	almond flour (SCD) GF flour blend	To make these SCD compliant, use almond flour alone or a combination of other SCD legal nut flours. For GF, use your favorite flour blend. For flavor I like a blend of half nut half GF flours, but I'm being SCD, so it's all nut for me.
1/4 to 1/2 tsp	salt	Or leave it out
2 tsp of (choose 1)	baking soda (SCD) baking powder	With SCD, soda is the only choice. Almond flour is not inclined to rise high anyway. If you're using a GF or wheat flour and yogurt/buttermilk, a combination of baking soda and baking powder is appropriate; otherwise, just baking powder is fine.
3/4 tsp	xanthan gum	not SCD compliant; by all means, leave if out if you like.
a total of 1 to 1 1/2 tsp (choose as many as you like)	cinnamon nutmeg starch-free baking spice blend	Or leave them out.
1 tsp	vanilla	Or leave it out.
1/4 cup (choose 1)	sugar honey (SCD) maple syrup 3-4 packets sugar substitute	SCD is honey. There's also nothing wrong with leaving out sweeteneer entirely and doubling down on the flavoring components. Honey can scorch, so the temperature and timing can vary in your oven.
1/4 cup (choose 1)	coconut oil butter vegetable oil	Whatever you prefer, but do melt the coconut oil and butter first.
choose 1	1 whole egg 2egg whites soaked flax/chia seeds for egg equivalent	The flax or chia seeds are vegan, but not SCD compliant.
a total of 1 cup (choose as many as you like)	mashed fruit SCD yogurt appleseauce fruit juice coconut milk milk water	SCD yogurt plus a banana or mango is very tasty. Coconut milk alone can also replace the fat, but check to see if it contains gums. Fruit juice and applesauce can replace sugar. Check to be sure your liquids are SCD compliant.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake papers.

Combine dry ingredients and stir; combine wet ingredients and stir. Add wet to dry. You're looking for a consistency that glops off a spatula; if it sticks, add a bit more liquid.

Divide among the muffin cups and place in preheated oven for 14-18 minutes. Time varies on your oven and ingredients. Many ingredients will affect the finished color, so be sure to press the tops of the muffins, which should spring back. A toothpick should come out clean.

Let cool completely before freezing.

Snacks: The Drama Llama Strikes

My taxes are being held hostage by an accountant who tells me her son is sick with H1N1 and refuses to answer my email and calls. The local grocery is closed for remodeling and I have to drive to a different store, which is always irritating because the shelves are arranged differently. Contractors with pneumatic nails guns are crawling over the back of my house putting up a new deck. And there's one or two other things I could mention, but nobody needs those images -- trust me.

The drama llama has struck and I'm starving and I don't have time to be fixing special snowflake food.

Having appropriate snacks in a crisis is important. Stress can make us hungry as well as give us the urge to gnaw on a fencepost out of frustration. Without having provisions, you're liable to end up eating crap that doesn't fill you up and only makes the stress that much worse. The psychological aspect of an appropriate snack is also key. In the history of the world, no woman has ever had her heart broken and said, "I just want to sit on the couch and eat carrot sticks!"

Healthful, filling, psychologically satisfying. You can do this.

Avocados: They contain fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid. Their healthy fats make them deliciously creamy. More importantly, if you mash them up with cocoa powder, soaked dates, and a few other ingredients, you get chocolate mousse.

But if that seems like too much trouble, then go light: slice the avocado in half, remove the pit, squeeze a bit of lemon or lime on each half, and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

Turkey roll-ups: Forget about the tortilla wraps and wrap your fillings in a slice of turkey -- a teaspoon of salad dressing and lettuce leaves, a bit of hummus and a green onion, or just plain spicy brown mustard and a bit of cheese. Turkey is is low in fat and high in protein, a great source of iron, zinc, phosphorus, potassium and B vitamins. Just make sure your source is gluten-free (YES they put wheat in deli meat. Usually as part of a cheap spice blend) and doesn't have a lot of weird chemicals and sweeteners.

Boiled eggs: The Incredible Edible Egg -- The ultimate in portable snacks! A good source of riboflavin, Vitamin B12 and phosphorus, and a very good source of protein and selenium, if you're worried about saturated fat and cholesterol, don't eat the yolk. Dip them in salt-free herb blends.

Have you seen the cute bento egg shapers? Smacking an egg and peeling it is a great tension reliever!

Nuts: Plain, raw nuts. Almonds, specifically, but also pecans, walnuts, and Brazil nuts from the shell (the ones you buy in bulk are old and rancid. If you think you hate Brazil nuts, that's probably why)Nuts are a higher-fat food,but it's mostly heart-healthy unsaturated fat, and they have protein. Two tablespoons of almond butter with a drizzle of honey and cinnamon feels like a very decadent treat.

There is a difference between stress eating (OMG CHEEZY POUFS!) and having a snack because the activity of your day has worn you down and you need fuel.Some might say that these are (*gasp*) high-fat foods and you will gain weight! But when you are really stressy and hungry, you need more than a carrot stick. I keep my portion sizes small on all these snacks -- one avocado, one slice of turkey, one egg, or 1/4 cup of nuts.

Food doesn't solve anything except hunger, and more is not necessarily better. When things are stressy, you need to stop and take breaks. Sometimes creative visualization can calm your nerves... like imagining how you'll shave the drama llama and knit a sweater.