From Mrs. Cog's Corner

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. It is becoming increasingly common for people to discover they cannot properly digest and tolerate modern day gluten. The controversy rages between two polarizing extremes of benevolent intentions to better feed the world with hybrid grains versus the anti-GMO, health conscious consumers who claim gluten in this form is poison. More and more studies come out confirming the latter and recently, many doctors have joined the chorus to proclaim gluten is not good.

A few years ago, our teenager returned home from traveling for several weeks complaining of ongoing stomach aches. After observing her for a several days we became increasingly alarmed. When trips to the local doctor, an Urgent Care facility and finally a large prestigious hospital some distance away brought no answers, it was clear the doctors were indeed "practicing" medicine and throwing darts at the board. Many tests, guessed diagnoses, specialists and tears later, we still had no answers.

Finally, out of the mouths of babes... the child herself suggested that since I had several aunts and uncles who'd tested positive for Celiac's that perhaps she was gluten intolerant. Upon removing any and all wheat from her diet, she began to feel better within days. The following week, she felt better than she had felt in a long time.

This began an education for our entire family on multiple levels. Not only did we become informed as to why gluten made our kid sick, but we learned many times gluten intolerance creates symptoms other than digestive problems and we were actually lucky that her belly hurt and that directed us to look at her diet. After further study, it seems modern wheat poses multiple health risks and problems for most people whether or not the connection is ever made to gluten in the diet.

But we learned other valuable lessons too. Many people do not believe that she HAS a "gluten sensitivity" because the experts cannot prove it so with a test. Only one out of fifteen people who have a gluten sensitivity actually test positive for Celiac's disease (if the doctor even thinks to run that test). In most cases, there is no test other than to stop consuming it and watch the results. It was yet another alarming wake up call showing the dependence upon authorities to tell people what to think instead of thinking for ourselves.

Here is some of the most relevant information I found about gluten in our diets. Whether or not you have identified this as a problem, or just want to keep your body in the healthiest possible state, more doctors are sounding the alarm that modern wheat is like a poison because in it's genetically modified state, our bodies recognize it as a foreign invader.

Read more:

Those people are often told it's all in their heads after testing shows up negative. But traditional gluten intolerance blood testing looks for only one of six polypeptides in wheat, gliadin. There are five others: wheat germ agglutinin, glteomorphin, gltueinin, prodynorphin, and omega gliadin. Any one or a combination of these five can cause anyone to have reactions to wheat. Read more: Six signs you may have gluten sensitivity and not know it.

Either you have celiac disease, in which case even a small amount of gluten will send you running to the bathroom in three seconds flat, or you don't, and you can chug down beer and bagels without fear. This "all-or-nothing" view has led to some doctors telling patients that suspect they're sensitive to gluten but test negative for CD that they're simply imagining an affliction that doesn't exist. It turns out those doctors are wrong. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kresser/gluten-intolerance_b_2964812.html

How do you recognize the symptoms of gluten intolerance? Research indicates that sensitivity to gluten, whether mild forms of gluten intolerance or the more serious celiac disease, affects approximately 15% of the U.S. population. Are you one of these people? http://glutenfreenetwork.com/symptoms-treatments/gluten-intolerance-symptoms-how-do-you-know-if-gluten-is-making-you-sick/

The idea that gluten and carbohydrates are at the root of Alzheimer's disease, anxiety, depression, and ADHD has now reached millions of people. It is the basis of a number-one bestseller written by a respected physician. What is it worth? http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/12/this-is-your-brain-on-gluten/282550/

It raises a crucial question: Just why is wheat such a ubiquitous ingredient in so many foods, from ice cream to French fries? That’s easy: Because it tastes good and it stimulates appetite. You want more wheat, you want more of everything else to the tune of 400 or more calories per day. More calories, more food, more revenue for Big Food. Wheat is not in cucumbers, green peppers, salmon, or walnuts. But it’s in over 90% of the foods on supermarket shelves, all there to stimulate your appetite center to consume more . . . and more and more. http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2011/07/wheat-belly-frequently-asked-questions/

To find out if ANY food is gluten free:  http://www.gfoverflow.com/

And about the NEWEST GMO wheat?: Experts warned that eating the wheat could lead to significant changes in the way glucose and carbohydrates are stored in the human body, which could be potentially deadly for children and lead to serious illness in adults. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/04/23/gm-wheat.aspx

As usual, corporate interests are taking advantage of a problem that was created by…you guessed it…corporate interests – back when they toyed around with wheat and irrevocably changed it to the toxin being sold today. Now they are “solving” the problem by charging quadruple for processed items that don’t contain government subsidized wheat, and they are taking advantage of people who’ve become ill from eating their previous incarnations of processed foods. http://www.theorganicprepper.ca/how-to-go-gluten-free-without-contributing-to-the-billion-dollar-big-food-rip-off-02222014

Please continue reading and let us know your thoughts, tips and recipes.

Going Gluten Free

Gluten Free Recipes

From Mrs. Cog's Corner

Move over Campbell’s, I am now and forever more ruined and must insist upon fresh tomato soup. As I am racing to process tomatoes faster than the garden produces them, this week I took a day to try my hand at an old childhood favorite. Not only did it turn out well, unlike a few recent domestic disasters, but I was able to use several of my new kitchen toys to get the job done.

I used a number of different types of tomatoes for the task, the only requirement was each one be healthy and ripe. After cleaning 6 flat boxes (as shown in the photo above) of ripe tomatoes, I cut out the tops and sliced them into half, quarters or eighths depending upon their size.

With my new Victorio Food Strainer secured to the counter top, I began cranking. This machine magically separates the seeds and skins from the juice and pulp. It reminded me of the play dough plastic spaghetti making machine we used as children. What fun! Filling the hopper half full with tomatoes, then squishing and cranking, I emptied the juice and pulp bowl into the big kettle (Pop’s Pot) every time it became more than half full.

When I was finished straining the tomatoes there was more than 3 gallons of puree in the kettle. I took the opportunity to hose down the counters and wash the equipment as the longer it all sat, the stickier it became.

Next I broke out the instructions for my new food processor. I have never owned one before and after using it I’m not sure how I made it this far in life without one. Better late than never. This was one of those purchases where Cog was looking over my shoulder as I watched YouTube videos on how to make tomato concoctions and he began researching through Consumer Reports to find just the right one. Before I knew it, he had ordered me this.

After reading the how-to’s and do-not’s I proceeded forward with great confidence. Again, what fun. First I pureed several onions from the garden. No tears! Next after cutting it into large chunks I pureed a whole bunch of celery. As these liquified garden vegetables were created I added each to Pop’s Pot, which was now simmering on the stove.

I added a cup of white sugar (some recipes call for brown sugar, some white), 4 Tablespoons of canning salt and a few shakes of ground cloves. Bringing this to a gentle boil, I decided it passed the taste test. (Perhaps a tad more sugar next time?)

This recipe made 22 pints of soup. As it contained low acid vegetables such as onions and celery, it required 40 minutes of processing in a pressure canner once the gauge reached the appropriate pressure for my altitude.

As an added bonus Cog decided my staying up until wee hours to continue processing extra batches of chili in the canner had gone on long enough. This past week he duplicated my pressure canning set up, as described in my Chili is a Gateway Drug article, and bought another ceramic burner and 23 quart Presto pressure canner so I could run them in stereo when my batches were large enough to warrant. As you can see in this image below of the corn being processed, I needed to run the two pressure canners on different electrical circuits. So I located them on either side of the new kitchen setup.

I had to wonder if the laws of physics differed from one side of our kitchen to the other. Why would two of the exact same products filled with identical contents and turned up to the same setting at the same time reach the desired pressure at different rates? Always thinking out of the box, Cog surmised the amount of heat given off by the ceramic burners differed slightly, enough to cause the difference resulting in the two canners reaching their targeted pressure at different times.

Pressure Canning Tip: Food safety rules state that flour and butter/dairy products should not be included in recipes for items that are canned by either water bath canning or pressure canning. While these methods do make foods safe for long term shelf life, they are unable to kill food borne pathogens which hide in and can survive within flour or dairy ingredients. For that reason, to err on the side of caution, I have left out the roux for the tomato soup recipe.

A roux is simply a thickening agent, in this case to make your tomato soup creamy. It is equal parts butter and flour. A tablespoon of each of these can be quickly whisked together in a sauce pan before adding a jar of tomato soup to heat up and in minutes you have creamy homemade soup. I have substituted gluten free tapioca flour for all purpose and it works fine.

Do you have a variation to this recipe? We'd love to hear from you.