Grain-free Muffins - Almond & Coconut Flour

I'm on day 38 of the specific carbohydrate diet. Ok - for 3 days I fell off the wagon (my birthday - and the two days following, because Lee baked delicious chocolate cupcakes and left 4 at my house!). I moved through them quickly in order to get back on the wagon :)

I'm not sure how much longer I'll stay on this diet, and I'm not recommending that others try it (unless the gluten-free diet isn't helping you manage all of your symptoms). It hasn't done much for mine, but I will say that my energy is much better, my mind feels clearer and I'm sleeping like a log. That, for now, is keeping me off the grains. The first 30 days, I stuck to the diet verbatim - but now I'm letting a few items like beans slip into my diet (I mean come on!!). 

Today, I baked using the SCD rule book for the first time. As usual, I made up my own ad hoc recipe (after cruising the net to get a sense or ratios using new flours). I came up with a super simple combo that led to delicious muffins that are high in protein and highly satisfying.

In a food processor with the paddle I put the wet ingredients in, pulsed and then the dry: 

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
4 eggs
1 small banana
1 cup ground almonds (with skins on)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup soaked and drained currents
1/8 cup dates chopped fine

Pour into muffin liners. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. This recipe made 8 muffins. 

Sending thanks to my Mum - who sent me home with these two new "flours" to try from her pantry. You can use almond flour (this was whole almonds ground with skins on). When you bake with almonds the whole house is lovely and fragrant.

Coconut flour requires plenty of liquid (eggs, fruit or other) as it absorbs like a sponge. These turned out wonderfully - but I'll likely keep experimenting to keep it fresh. 

I'm kind of stuck on my chickpea flour (forbidden on the SCD diet)...and also a great high protein/fibre alternative. You can read more about my super easy and forgiving muffin making technique HERE. I've also written about muffins with ricotta cheese, which can be found HERE. 

If there's a drawback to almond flour - it's the price. That said, a muffin is no longer a muffin but an extremely satiating food item that provides hours of energy. Almond flour doesn't have a long shelf life so - buy as needed and keep it in the fridge. Some might consider another drawback the fat content - but I'm a big fan of healthy oils and believe that they do the body good. 

When I start introducing grains back into my diet, almond and coconut flour will certainly add some new flavour, texture and variety to my repertoire! 

Specific Carbohydrate Diet - makes the gluten-free diet look like a cake walk!

I'm on my third week. No gluten-free pasta, bread, cookies, muffins... you know, the good stuff! Not a potato, not a grain of rice, not even my simple buckwheat porridge. The first 5 days I was ornery. With two weeks under my belt, I'm starting to get the hang of it. 

You might ask why someone who is already on a deleterious diet might consider taking things a step further. I ask the same question. This has been prescribed to me by my naturopath, because, despite being strictly gluten-free, I'm not without ongoing health issues due to other autoimmune conditions. 

The specific carbohydrate diet (or SCD) was designed by Elaine Gottschall who wrote the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle; Intestinal Health Through Diet. Essentially, the diet omits any sugars that are not monosaccharides, or single sugars such as those found in fruit, honey and certain vegetables. There are zero grains (including rice, potatoes, corn, quinoa... our gluten-free go-to carbs). There is no maple syrup (a recent addiction). There is no milk or yogurt. This also meant pulling off my milky-tea habit. 

I'm in no way recommending this diet - it's a temporary move on my part to see if it can help alleviate some symptoms and give me my energy back. If you operate well on a gf diet - I'd go no further. If you'd like to read up on the SCD diet, I've linked to the official website HERE. 

I'm writing about this experience because it has really helped me, once again to see that I get into a rut, and that there are some easy places to cut back on my sugar intake (like those enormous chocolate bars I'm magnetically drawn to in the grocery store). It's also always good to be reminded that there are others living on a more restrictive diet through necessity - and that gf (especially now) is pretty simple to adhere to. 

Todays menu will give you a sense of what this diet looks like in action: 

Breakfast - a smoothie made of spinach, a banana, frozen cherries and pumpkin seeds. I was having this for breakfast a lot last summer, but lost interest in the winter when warm carb-filled offerings were more appealing. 

Lunch - tuna with green onion, parsley, olive oil and chopped avocado wrapped in radicchio leaves (image above). These were strangely satisfying and will stay on the roster long after I move off this diet. Lettuce wraps are an excellent solution when you can't get gf bread. Simply mix up tuna or egg salad and wrap into little spring rolls. Radicchio is lovely and bitter which adds a different dimension than typical greens.... plus, they look so pretty!!

Dinner - tomato and meat sauce with onion, spinach and parsley on top of spaghetti squash. While I prefer pasta, this was certainly satiating. Simply cut the squash in half, scoop out seeds and place face down on a tray in the oven for 35 mins at 375 degrees. 

Remove from oven and scrape out the spaghetti like strands onto your plate and top with sauce (or just butter and parmesan cheese). 

Snacks - organic apple sauce (almost everything I'm eating these days is organic), medjool dates, toasted almonds, apple slices with cheddar cheese (which is strangely allowed) - as is WINE! 

When the doctor told me that wine, cheese, nuts and olives were allowed on the diet, I figured it wasn't as torturous as some others I've been on. Regardless of how this all turns out in the end, it's been an excellent reminder to think beyond the bun, pizza, pasta, muffins... and grains in general. I always eat pretty healthy - but tend to cram a decent amount of unhealthy sugary carbs in between the healthy stuff. 

If nothing else, this experience will help me understand if there are foods beyond gluten that cause my system distress. 

Of course - I'm chomping at the bit for gluten-free cookies. Luckily, I know I'll be able to find them pretty much everywhere these days when it's time to start slowly re-introducing foods into my diet. 

gluten free weight loss

Are you kidding me? 

Gluten-free has been touted as a great way to lose weight... but let's be clear, you can't eat gluten-free substitutes of "regular" baked goods and lose weight. 

To make them tasty, gf goods are typically chock full of extra fat and sugar - which also helps to bind them together.

I'm seeing gluten free blogs created by trainers and triathletes. People going gluten-free in preparation for a marathon. Some people, who are only reading the headlines, may believe that a gluten-free diet is the wonder drug for losing pounds. I agree that it is good for you... and that many people likely feel better without gluten. I've been to the celiac conventions. There are some skinny folks there - but most of us? We struggle with our weight just like the rest of society.  

If one more person tells me how "lucky" I am to be celiac because I'm not tempted by the pastries on the kitchen counter at work - I might just scream. I have to curb my enthusiasm for lots of great tasting goodies (and junk food!) just like everyone else.

This recent interest on the part of "regular" people going gluten free, appears to be an offshoot of two other famous diet trends: the Atkins diet (which spiked in popularity and then like most diets.. crashed) & the Paleo (or caveman) diet. In a nutshell: zero carbs. This is not just gluten-free... for the most part, this is carb-free.

While I'm all for cutting back on the carbohydrates and building meals around protein and lots of vegetables, I'm concerned that this is not always an educated niche market. People selling gluten-free goods are NOT always going to regard gluten-free as a zero tolerance situation. 

If the baker at the market thinks - gf products are selling like hot cakes... I'll make a cake with rice flour (but dust my pans with pastry flour)... We are going to have a problem. If the waiter thinks you are watching your waist he may not take your questions about whether the risotto is prepared with pasta water very seriously either. (I don't mean to feed your paranoia. I'll save that topic for a future post.)

The more prevalent the gluten-free market becomes, the more I urge you to ask questions before taking the words gluten-free for granted. If you have celiac disease, I encourage you to let people know that for us, this diet is not a trend, but a prescription of living (ideally you can share this news without coming off as too much of a drama queen!). 

The word "diet" is a bit of a misnomer. If we want to lose weight on the gluten-free diet... we are going to have to cut back on the Pamela's peanut butter cookies, as well as the chocolate bars, ice cream, french fries and wine, too. Bummer.