Connecting With Jeannie

Anyone Suffering from Celiac Disease?

My husband has Celiac disease, {he calls it Silly-ass disease). He cannot eat anything gluten. My older son, Kevin, his fiancée has the beginning symptoms of it. We always wondered why she disappeared after eating? It was because she was having severe stomach pains. Why is this happening more and more these days, is it because of the foods we are eating? I'll delve more into this later on - how we changed our eating habits.

~This is for all who are suffering from Celiac disease~

I studied up on this and wondered what hubby can eat. He loved having sandwiches for lunch, but bread is out of the question these days - at least the bread that has gluten in it. Unfortunately he hates the gluten-free bread that you can buy, so I had to find an alternative to flour. Well, that means mixing different flours and starches together. Here is my favorite mixture if you want to bake bread for your loved ones. You can buy gluten-free flour now, but if you want to mix your own different flours and starches, just use the mixture below - then follow any recipe.

Corn Starch - 2 cups
Potato Starch - 2 cups
Rice Flour - 2 cups
Corn Flour - 1 cup
Potato Starch - 3/4 cup
Amaranth Flour - 1/4 cup {adds protein}
Instead of yeast you use Xanthan gum - Measure out 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
Whisk ingredients together until well blended, then put in airtight container.
Store in cool place.

This is hubby's birthday cake recipe. It's call Vanilla Sponge Cake which he loves. The best part, he can eat without having to worry about gluten. I found this recipe delicious as well. Try it, you'll like it, too.

Measure out 2 cups from the flour mixture above or any of your favorite flour.
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
7 egg yolks
3/4 cups cold water
7 egg whites
1/2 cream of tartar
2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325.
Prepare a 10-inch tube pan by cutting parchment paper to fit in the bottom of the pan only. Do not grease the pan!
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. In a large bowl beat the eggs and water on low speed until foamy. Raise the speed to medium and begin to add the sugar 2 tsp. at a time until incorporated. Continue to beat 8 minutes total until mixture is thick and gained in volume.

Whip egg whites until stiff but not dry.

Sift flour mixture over the egg yolk mixture and fold in until blended. Add in the egg white mixture slowly, folding in 1/4 of it at a time. Work gently until it's all incorporated.

Bake at 325 degrees for an hour. Test with knife, if it comes out clean the cake is done. Invert the pan, let it stand until completely cool. Then frost with your own frosting and decorate to your liking.

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp; but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne