Rainy Day Comfort Food

One of the toughest parts of giving up gluten and dairy is that you have to give up lots of foods you’ve loved your whole life. Bread tops that list for many people. Banana bread is one thing that conjures up warm, comforting feelings. Today we had some crazy thunderstorms here, so it was a great time to whip up this yummy treat.

I decided to try a bread recipe from a cookbook I just picked up yesterday, Cooking Free, by Carol Fenster. So far, I’ve found it to be a great resource for cooking without gluten and casein (Fenster also features recipes that contain no eggs or sugar).

Both kids and adults alike in this household LOVED this bread. I was concerned about the bread having an aftertaste (some GFCF breads are known to have an aftertaste), but this was really good. Honestly, I think I like it even more than banana bread made with traditional all-purpose flour. It had a lightness that I enjoyed. And the kids said it was very moist, and it had a cakey texture.

Banana Bread
(Source: Cooking Free by Carol Fenster, Ph.D.)

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
3 Tbs. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups Flour Blend (see below)
½ tsp. xantham gum
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. each ground cardamom and mace (optional)
1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas
½ cups chopped nuts (optional)
½ cups raisins (optional)

Note: I did not use the cardamom, mace, nuts, or raisins when preparing this. My kids are finicky about spices, and my daughter does not like raisins; so, there you go.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x5-inch nonstick loaf pan.

Cream sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla with electric mixer in medium mixer bowl. Mix together flours, xantham gum, salt, baking powder, and spices in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, alternating with bananas. Stir in nuts and raisins (if using).

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool thoroughly on wire rack before cutting.

Flour Blend
(makes 4 ½ cups)

1 ½ cups sorghum flour
1 ½ cups cornstarch
1 cup tapioca flour
½ cup corn flour

Note: you can experiment with a few different ingredients on this. For example, potato starch or amaranth starch can be substitutes for the cornstarch, and almond flour, bean flour, or chestnut flour can be substitutes for the corn flour. This makes it edible for those out there who have corn allergies.

Why I Do What I Do

In the four years since I started cooking gluten and casein free, family members, friends and people I’ve met along the way have had tons of questions. “Why do you do it? How can you not feed your kids stuff like bread, cheese, and ice cream? Man, I couldn’t live without that stuff!” is usually how those conversations start. Truth is, cooking without gluten or casein is a challenge—especially at first. Learning to tweak favorite recipes takes time. And believe me, it takes a lot of patience, time at the health food store, and many hours at the library and online. For me and my family, the extra work does not outweigh the benefits of this way of eating.

I started researching the GFCF (gluten-free/casein-free) diet as an intervention for the treatment of autism after my daughter was diagnosed. I began to look for any information I could find on the subject, and started finding ways to modify recipes for foods I already made that would be suitable for the whole family. For the sake of simplicity (as well as my sanity), most nights dinner is gluten and casein free for everyone. I do make both traditional as well as GFCF breads and cakes for us; and truthfully, I do stock cheese in my house (I love me some yummy feta and Gouda). But I keep plenty of GFCF cheese on hand for things like grilled cheese sandwiches and pizza that my family enjoys.

I hope that readers of this blog will find valuable information. What I am really aiming for is to demonstrate that cooking and eating this way does not have to be a total downer. There are many dishes out there—even cakes and cookies and bread-- that can be made that still adhere to the GFCF diet. I’ll be posting recipes and photos of the foods I prepare; I’ll include the results of home taste tests (my husband and kids are very willing participants); and along the way, I’ll post links to websites and articles of interest about living the GFCF lifestyle.