Chickpea's and Coconut BreadCrumb Cake

Today I was checking my pantry to see what I was running low on and realized I had managed to dry and save a ton of gluten free breadcrumbs. I figured there had to be something interesting I could cook with bread crumbs. After browsing a number of recipes I found a few vintage recipes for breadcrumb cakes. I believe a few were dating around 1920. Up until recently(last 20-30 years) most people could not afford to waste food and I thought trying to make a cake using breadcrumbs would be interesting..

I have been wanting to make a frosting that did not involve powdered sugar for awhile and figured while I was in a creative mode this would be a great time to give it a try.

The cake turned out tasty, different but good. It clearly is very textured and dense. It was also sweet, and moist. I think if I make this one again, I might opt to add some fruit or sweet potato to the mix and spice it up a bit.. The fact that it is basically egg, bread crumb and and sugar- well it turned out great.

Now, the icing that was great on all sorts of levels. The only unfortunate part was that I did not have as many roasted chickpea's as it should have had. I probably had 1/4 cup chickpea's but wish I had a full cup to add.

Overall a great experiment. The frosting especially will come handy for future cakes.


Ingredients:

4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 tsp salt
1/4 c coconut milk
1 1/4 c sugar
2 1/4 c oven dried and toasted gluten free bread crumbs

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Grease a cake pan.
2 Briskly beat together the eggs, extract,coconut milk, and sugar. Stir in the bread crumbs.
3 Put batter evenly into cake pan. Bake for 1/2 hour.
.


Coconut and Chickpea Icing
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup white sugar
3 egg yolk, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
1/2 cup spectrum palm shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract(homemade)
1/2 cup chopped roasted chickpea's
1 cup flaked coconut

Directions:

In a large saucepan combine coconut milk, sugar, egg yolks, coconut oil and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and stir in chickpea's and coconut. Spread on cake while still warm.

Gluten Free Pita's (No puff!)

(Not for Abby! She wanted just hummus in her pita, and that just doesn't make a pretty picture! So threw some fresh tomato's and basil from the yard into these)


I have made what seems like a zillion gf pita's- with a huge failure rate(really huge!). I am apparently cursed to never get consistent puffing of my pita's. So, instead of fighting failure I embraced it. Can't beat um, join them. I let these rise enough to be fluffy and then baked. Once cooled I cut in half and slice them open. The pita will be elastic and tolerates cutting well.(I used a small bread knife to cut them open). I like to throw them in the oven to warm before serving.


3 cups gf flour blend
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon guar gum

1 packet yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water

1 egg
1 cup warm water.


Proof yeast with 1 Tablespoon sugar and 1/2 cup warm water.

In large bowl, combine flour, salt and guar gum. When yeast is proofed add egg to yeast and mix. Pour egg and yeast mix into flour. Mix, add 1 cup water. (you want it soft but firm enough to shape, so add more water if needed).

Allow to rest 15-20 minutes.


Form into aprox 8-10 balls. Roll out each into a round about 1 inch thick. Place on greased cookie sheet and cover with saran wrap. Allow to rise in warm place till fluffy.(aprox 1 hour)

Preheat oven to 500. Bake 8 minutes. Flip and bake another 3-4 minutes till golden. Allow to cool until you can handle them. Cut in half and then using serrated knife cut each half open into a pocket. Make sure you cut them while fresh and still warm. Gf breads tend to dry and crumble over time, and these will not cut into a pocket as easily the next day. Store in airtight container. Always best on the first day, but fine for a couple. We like to warm them in the toaster oven before serving.

Gluten-Free "Rye" Bread (dairy free, corn-free, nut-free)

(Fresh "fake" rye bread, fresh sprouted alfalfa sprouts(always have something sprouting here),fresh garden tomatoes. I dressed it with coconut yogurt ranch dressing we make. A couple homemade pickles to finish the plate. Abby used hummus and no tomato!)
Easy one.

I simply used my favorite gluten free sandwich bread for the bread machine recipe and made the following changes-

Substitute 1-2 cups of buckwheat for 1-2 cups of your normal gluten free flour.(this loaf was a 50/50 blend)

1 teaspoon fresh ground caraway seeds
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon fresh ground yellow mustard seed

Substitute 1/4 cup pickle juice for an equal amount of water or milk in the recipe (I have recently posted a recipe for refrigerator pickle recipe- I used that juice)

I also used some maple syrup for some of the sugar(thought it would offer a richness since we use grade B Maple syrup)


Follow your recipe.


I am a HUGE fan of all things rye, unfortunately with 2 gluten free in the family it isn't something we get to make. I have always loved the caraway seeds throughout the bread, but the family isn't fond of biting into flavor packed seeds. I started grinding the caraway and found them more receptive.

Yesterday I was googling to see if there way anything else to add to our favorite fake Rye bread and a few of the Jewish Rye recipes called for pickle juice! Figured why not?

It turned out excellent. Packed full of flavor, and no seeds to avoid. Using buckwheat flour lends a great amount of nutrition and flavor to any sandwich loaf. It contains all 8 amino acids and quercetin which is a very popular supplement for those with allergies or mast cell disorders to help stop reactions. Here is a great link to WHfoods that shows you why should add buckwheat to your diet. For us, it makes a great substitute for the rye breads we have been missing.

I have made a few varieties of this with various bread recipes to achieve different textures and works great as well. We really like a sandwich bread with the fake rye flavoring though..

Caramel Chickpea Mudslide Sundae

As we move along learning to cook without Gluten,corn,dairy,soy, nuts, seeds, shellfish and the other zillion intolerances/allergies it is getting easier. I have learned to make enough staples that on any given day I don't have to always cook in order for Abby to eat.


This was a great example. We learned to make coconut milk vanilla ice cream and caramel early on(staples for every home, right?). Then we learned to make roasted,salted chickpeas. We now keep roasted chickpeas, roasted chickpea butter, usually some roasted chickpea butter frozen cookie dough in the freezer.

It has felt great to know that we have managed to sub, recreate our way to not missing any of the packaged foods. It gets easier.


Coconut milk vanilla ice cream
microwave caramel(I used my caramel recipe from the Samoa recipe posted a few weeks ago, I just did not add the coconut)
2 diced raw cookie dough cookies.(I freeze the cookies in balls)
1-2 baked cookies


We mixed the raw dough into the ice cream(reminded us of cookie dough ice cream minus the chocolate!). Then layered it. Easy.

TIP- cool the caramel a bit before putting ice cream on it! My ice cream was melting quicker then I could take a picture.

Yuca Dough (Gluten-free, Egg-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free, Corn-free)

I have run across recipes for yuca fritters a few times now. Popular in many South American Countries.

For the most part I have really enjoyed learning to cook with gluten free flours, except when it comes to rolled doughs. Wheat is just better for that... At this point when I see anything to do with pastry with a unique twist I usually have to give it a try. This one I wondered about. From cooking with yuca I have noticed it can be elastic, gluey and I have often wondered if it would help add elasticity to doughs.

This was great and easy dough. Messy, but good.

Out of curiosity I cooked the dough 3 ways. 1) Fried- the best. I am no fan of fried foods, but this method made them crisp, with some sourdough like elasticity - really remarkable.
2) Baked- they cooked fine(375 for 20minutes) but lost the great crisp and chewy I got through frying. They got very "crunchy".. I am tempted to play with this method a bit more to see if I can find a way to achieve a better texture.
3)boiled- just to see what would happen, I patted a thin piece of dough and pitched it into the boiling water. It held together well. The texture was different.. kind of like a boiled dumpling, but the tapioca starch when boiled left a "slimy" layer on top of the dough.. not sure about this method. It held very well in the boil so I may be tempted to re visit this to see if I can reduce the "sliminess" factor.

OF course now I am wondering if I can combine this yuca dough with other gluten free doughs to make a more elastic product.


I opted to pat these into thin pieces by hand. Next time, I will use a rolling pin to see if I can make a prettier finished product, or maybe not.. this dough was so good, no one in my family will need it to be pretty to enjoy it.


Yuca Dough:
Mashed yuca(smooth dry and chilled for at least 4 hours.)
Tapioca starch.
salt.

Pour a bunch of tapioca starch on a board or your counter. Scoop about 1 cup at a time of the mashed yuca onto the starch. Then start kneading it. It will be outrageously sticky at first, and you will think for at least the first couple minutes that there is simply no way this will work, but it does- just keep kneading and kneading in the tapioca starch till you get a nice pliable ball of dough.


I simply grabbed about a golf ball sized piece and flattened it into a thin round with my hand. I filled it with feta and olives, I filled a few with "pizza like" fillings,(like dumplings, don't overfill and put the items that are more angular on the bottom and the softer stuff on top). I filled it,folded it in half and sealed with my fork(if yours won't stay sealed you can brush the edge with water to get a better seal).


I then fried these for a few minutes on each side in grapeseed oil(just a couple inches in a saucepan). They don't brown as much as wheat they will get crisp with a bit of golden brown.

Cannot Fall for the Snake Oil from Traditional Medicine or Alternative

Where previously our efforts to move forward with Abby felt like digging a hole through a Mountain with a teaspoon, now I feel we have hit a split in the road.


After a terrific visit with the family Dr. I am still left with the constant question- Primary or Secondary? I "know" it is secondary, and I have finally admitted to myself I won't rest till I find the Primary. It haunts every moment of my days and nights. It is bordering on obsessive. I want to make sure when we hit the medical road again I don't make the same mistakes again. That I pick the right Drs for Abby and honestly, the ones who will not immediately hate me for questioning EVERYTHING. I feel like I am preparing to walk into a battle, but not able to see my own failings well enough to make a great battle plan.


In many ways traditional medicine has failed Abby. It is possible she was blown off for years because I refuse to be dramatic,or maybe because she is tough. Maybe that form of medicine has failed because I have ALWAYs parented my children in a gentle way(I have no problem being the black sheep if it makes healthier happier children). When Abby had that tired body and face then no school, no social events, no dragging Abby around..Or maybe traditional medicine failed Abby because in my opinion, all Drs. should be much smarter then us and know everything! Of course that is so not fair of me to expect they know everything, but many could have done more. I grew up in a family with weird symptoms that held a few people in my family hostage but many of the odd symptoms we all learned to compensate for, so when the drs. repeatedly blew Abby off, we sucked it up and did the best we could. I have gotten over my anger and disappointment,though I admit I still have a smoldering anger that is hard to hide. I have learned to hold it in check. The general belief that modern medicine can fix everything and Drs. all know more then their patients-has been proven false too many times for me not to be upset at some level. I am upset with myself for falling for the stereo type and I am mad at them for not trying harder to be as big and smart as we need them to be.

Alternative medicine is hands down a kinder form of science. In many ways they see every issue as a whole body issue and many find it very important to find out all of the issues..Most understand that if a patient is spending the money to come see them, odds are they do not feel well and odds are they have found no answers through traditional Medicine. They believe nutrition is key. Of course they use lots of folk remedies that I actually already believe,and I appreciate that they have studied how each body system impacts the next, that you MUST find the primary, and not simply drug and cover the symptoms.. Unfortunately there are as many bad alternative Drs as there are traditional medicine Drs. The only thing that matters to some is lining their pocket.

I get it, we all need to make a living.. but you know what I am talking about.

Frankly a lot of patients who end up turning to Alternative Medicine are the many many patients who are sick and no Dr. is willing or able to help. The good alternative medicine Drs. understand often they are the last resort. Honestly, I talk to families daily who have found far more success with alternative medicine, but I am scared. In today's culture we are taught to trust the Traditional Drs and to distrust the Alternative Drs. I already don't trust Traditional Medicine, is it even possible for me to trust a different type of Dr.?


I am suspicious of ALL new Drs. 18 years of less then adequate medicine has made that a new part of my personality. Do I continue down just one path, or the other, or is it going to work if I blend both?

My biggest fear is that I am too anxious at this point to take the next step,to find a new team that knows how to help folks like us. We have turned our home upside down, I have learned to make everything(from bread to our own sausage,to coconut cheese!) and I do make everything down to her pit stick- I can keep reading,we have seen traditional Med Drs from the west coast to the east coast and many in between, but I really need a leader, I am not qualified to push for the next steps in her journey, but after 18 years I have learned that despite my lack of qualifications, I may be the only one who has the time and passion to take the job.


We are suspicious and vulnerable right now- not a great spot !

Yesterday, Abby's family Dr. was exactly what he needed to be. We asked for his leadership(of course within our rule book! LOL) and he did it! He is one of the few that has taken a deep breath and decided that though we are a red hot mess, and he cannot help the way he normally would(prescriptions)he can help us, and he does. He listens! He doesn't minimize. He tries so very hard to understand that we aren't dealing with a garden variety issue, that we as her parents know more about Abby, and he has to trust and double check our findings at the same time. Certainly no easy role to play in a patients life, I find it incredibly remarkable.

The journey isn't over. It is time to get moving again.. "find the primary, find the primary..."

I need to know. I need to know how to fight this, to keep control. I need to know what parts of this illness I cannot fix. I need to know how to help Abby understand what to expect from her funky body.

I won't however, put her through months of weekly appts again, or biopsies that stole so much precious energy again.. She cannot afford to drag her too tired and sensitive body to one appointment then to the next appt- each appointment steals from her precious stash. A wasted appointment sucks a little bit of life from her, I won't let that happen again.

If I want a different outcome this time, I MUST make different choices. The question is; what do I need to change to get a different, and more informative and helpful outcome?

I am still hopeful. I still believe we will figure out how to give Abby a more normal life. I know we have made the right choices since she has been far more stable since we opted for the long road by digging that road through the mountain with a teaspoon to help her. We made a great choice to quit blindly following the pack for the sake of not feeling alone.

But, it is time to either pull out that teaspoon and start digging at the mountain again, or time to think out of the box and create a new solutions.. I need to think, not react or a combination of both. I need to trust, but not blindly follow. I need to "see" Abby and know when to push and when to not worry, I need to be strong.

Thinking one hand can hold the teaspoon and keep digging, while the other hand scrolls articles on the computer.

We are doing a bone density test, just to make sure that what is occurring to her teeth isn't occurring in her bones. We are taking a closer look at her shrinking feet(down 2+ sizes despite stable weight- weird huh?) we are doing a "full" nutritional panel.. We can do this again, and we can and will do it better this time.

When I Fail... From Failed to Extraordinary

(Messy casserole or bread pudding is a-okay with us!)

If you have baked with Gluten Free flours you will know that there are a couple issues. 1) gluten free dough can be tough when you try to make shaped breads and pastries. 2)It goes stale so fast!


Last month in the Food Network Magazine they shared a multi purpose sweet yeast dough recipe. Then they shared a few different ways to use that dough. One recipe was a lemon poppy seed twist. Boy, did it look delicious! Plus, one seed Abby can handle is poppy seed. She also does well with Lemon.


This weekend I decided to tackle it to see if I convert the recipe to gluten free, corn free, dairy free etc. They were "okay". As predicted they were pretty good right out of the oven, but once cooled the dough was tough and they staled by the next morning. I admit they were just ugly sad little buns :-) Ugly doesn't bother me if they taste amazing, but this was definitely something I would call a big fail on my part.
(sad buns aren't they? Far from the beautiful twists in the magazine!)


After the work I put into them I could not bring myself to just toss them, after all, the lemon glaze and homemade poppy seed filling were really delicious, it was just that(very) tough bread and ugly presentation.


For years now I have seen "overnight french toast" recipes everywhere. Really, it is just bread pudding when you look at the ingredients.

I figured why not?

We are sooooooo glad we decided to try save those tough,stale rolls- because soaked overnight and baked this morning it created an AMAZING and EASY breakfast custard.



Best, no waste! Plus, what was what I considered a failure, with a little engineering became a huge success!

You could use any stale roll, bread, danish. Since these were already quite sweet when I mixed the "french toast batter" I skipped adding any additional sugar.


Stale Gluten Free Failure Bun Custard

1 1/2 cup coconut milk(rice milk etc)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract(homemade)
dash or so of salt.
(if using unsweeted rolls or bread, 1/2 cup granulated sugar to batter as well)

Preheat oven to 350

I cut the rolls in half to make sure they would absorb all the milky goodness. I layered them in a greased 8 x 8 pan. I beat together the coconut milk, eggs,vanilla and salt and poured over the rolls. Covered and left in the fridge overnight. This morning I pulled it out and left it on the counter for about an hour to allow to warm up to room temperature. Baked in the 350 oven for 30-35 minutes. Sprinkled with powdered sugar(wasn't necessary,but pretty!). A hit! Or shall we call it an extraordinary save?

Holy Basil Pepper Salsa(tomato free) and Corn-free Tortilla Chips(gluten free, egg free, corn-free, dairy free)

It is nearly summer and the garden has all sorts of fresh peppers, and herbs..

Chips and dip are such a standard here in Texas. Honestly, half the time you go to a Mexican restaurant, you are satisfied with the chips and salsa before your meal even hits the table!

No tomatoes or cilantro for Abby. Did not stop us from making salsa though! I had planted Holy Basil this spring and it is flourishing. Holy basil has a slight peppery taste to it which I thought would substitute beautifully for the cilantro. Holy Basil is a known anti-inflammatory and has a lot of other really impressive health benefits, and it loves to grow in Texas! We often use roasted red pepper sauce in place of tomato sauce, so we figured why not a pepper based salsa?


Tomato-free Salsa-

1 finely diced Green Pepper
1 finely diced Red Pepper
1 finely diced small Onion
2 finely diced cloves of fresh garlic
2-3 finely diced Jalapeno(we leave the seeds and membranes, but we like hot!)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 dashes salt
2 dashes Pepper
1 Tablespoon Lime juice
1 Tablespoon Lemon juice
1/4 cup water.
1/4 cup fresh chopped holy basil
OPTIONAL: green onions. Abby doesn't like them so we skipped it today.

Place all ingredients in saucepan. Cook on medium/high heat until the veggies start to lose a bit of color, but are still crisp. When cooled place in fridge and serve cold with corn-free tortilla chips.(recipe below)

Corn-free Tortilla Chips-

1 cup gluten free flour blend
1 cup chickpea flour(no need to toast, it is going to be cooked twice, beany flavor is very mellow)
1 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon guar gum(if you are just making tortillas you should use it, but if you want to make chips with tortillas you can skip)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon pink himalayan salt
3 tablespoons palm shortening
3/4 cup cold water, plus more as needed

(Oil,salt, and additional flour also needed)

Mix together in bowl, gf flour,chickpea flour,sugar,guar gum,baking powder, salt. Cut shortening into flour until you get pea sized dough. Add water till dough holds together, and is a bit sticky still. Allow dough to rest 20 minutes covered.


Form 8-10 sized balls. I sprinkled my hands liberally with gf flour to keep the dough from sticking. Cover balls.


Heat 10-inch cast iron skillet over high heat. On a piece of parchment paper sprinkle it with gf flour. Place ball on floured parchment and smash down. Sprinkle top of smashed dough with a bit more gf flour. Cover with another piece of parchment. Roll till thin(thin tortilla's make better baked chips.)

Peel parchment apart(my dough generally sticks to the top piece.). Flip parchment onto hand and place dough side down into hot skillet. Gently press down the edges of the tortilla through the paper(caution, it is hot, move fast!) Give it a second or two and carefully peel parchment off dough. It should release easily. Cook for aprox 1 minute(till you see the surface bubble)and flip. Cook on other side aprox 1 minute.

To Make Chips: Preheat oven to 350
I cut each tortilla into wedges. I place the wedges on a cookie sheet. I spritz each piece with grapeseed oil and some
fresh ground salt. Bake for 6-7 minutes on the first side. Remove from oven and flip pieces. Oil and salt and put back in oven for additional 6-7 minutes. (watch after 5 to make sure they are browning too much.)

Keep in airtight container.
NOTE: I find I am able to reuse just 2 pieces of parchment to make all of the tortilla's.

A Cookbook-Team Lissy Loo

A family that is on a few of my various support groups has taken the time to put together a cookbook. They collected recipes from many in the Mito Community.(I missed that part!)


I admit, I just cannot resist a cute kid- and when they asked if I would like to buy one? How could I not?


Team Lissy Loo- We all wish you the very best!




Kelly Curley
kcsmea@aol.com
Each cookbook is $10.00 plus 5.60 shipping and handling.



I thought 10.00 for a cookbook full of recipes given in support and friendship was a very fair price.


Cannot wait to see the recipes of what other folks eat, though kind of betting I won't find yuca,nofu or tamarind! LOL This very much reminds of all the great church ladies cookbooks I have collected. Same idea, they would collect their best recipes and make a cookbook and sell the cookbooks for fundraising. I have a few vintage books that have provided some of my very favorite recipes.

Make your own Pickles

To our surprise during project elimination we found that even Pickles are contaminated! Even if I find pickles that don't add colors or chemicals they usually use white vinegar and it is usually corny.

We make these now and then, delicious and so easy! They keep in the fridge for a couple weeks(if they last that long!)

Refrigerator Pickles

2 pounds small pickling(our favorite)organic cucumbers
1 1/2 cups Braggs apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons pink himalayan salt
12(or 1 head about) garlic cloves, peeled (4 per jar I like 4 per jar personally)
1 teaspoon dried dill seed per jar or use fresh, when I use fresh I jam a lot into each jar.
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Wash and slice the cucumbers.(cucumbers are hard to find that are corn clean, know your source.)

In a large pot, combine vinegar, water and salt. Bring to a low boil.

Arrange jars on counter and add garlic and spices to each. Pack the cucumber slices into the jars. You don't want to damage, but you do want them packed tight.

Pour the brine into the jar and put on lids.

When room temperature, place jars in refrigerator. Let them sit for at least 2 days before eating.

We do spears and slices. The slices don't stay crisp for long, so we try to eat those right away.

You can use whatever spice mix you would like.. this is just our favorite basic blend.

Train Wreck!

Things have been good for us this year with Abby. Apparently too good.

I had shared before the saga of the wisdom teeth(which she is keeping)

We have visited a number of dentists over the past 6 months. All of them instantly wanted to focus on the wisdom teeth. We knew she had some pit cavities and we had noticed significant changes to the color on her enamel, but when we would bring the subject up to the dentists it was always, "we can address that after we remove the wisdom teeth."

There are a ton of reasons not to have her wisdom teeth out. When she had the muscle biopsy and kidney biopsy and constant trips to the Dr. it was simply too hard on her body and we watched her get sicker, not better. After almost 2 years of intense work on Abby's part, we just "know" that wisdom teeth removal would set her back months...

So finally found a specialized dentist who referred us to another specialized dentist.. sounds familiar right?

Abby saw the new Dentist.


What we found out horrifies me. Her teeth are destroyed. Between last year and this year her teeth have simply started falling apart.


Of course my first thought was I am a terrible parent! Then I thought, what have missed in her diet? Then I thought fixing this is going to kill her... and admittedly I thought about the horror of having destroyed teeth. Let's face it, in America we all want those perfect teeth.. Religiously since she was 2 she had dental cleanings, braces, everything we were supposed to do.. Abby is one of those people who you may not notice until she smiles and she lights up, total transformation. Mega Watt smile. We have always worked very hard to keep the girls teeth in great condition. So you can imagine my horror.


The cost is mind blowing. The damage is mind blowing.

What caused it?

Acidity.

Abby always has a low PH, which means high acid. Now to find out why she has such a low PH. We were reassured that there is nothing absolutely nothing we could have done to have caused this.. not normal in a year, even if she ate batteries for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is only seen in the significantly chronically ill population.

After googling, and chatting with a few families, apparently this has happened to other patients who have mito and other various diseases.

Learn from us. Make sure you keep the acidity low in the mouth.

You can actually buy test strips to test in your mouth quickly to check. There are supplements to reduce acidity. Leafy greens are great to help reduce it. What you use for toothpaste can make a difference. As we move forward with this dentist I am sure we will learn many new methods to slow further damage.

Make sure to drink plenty of water.

Make sure to find a terrific dentist. I am more then a little stunned by the lack of care by various dentists. To have so many not listen to our concerns and to fixate on the wisdom teeth(little money makers!) instead of being more concerned about not just her overall dental health but her overall health. How many times do we hear on the news that our teeth reflect our overall health? Yet so few Dentists practice what they preach. It is like Drs. on the commercials and talk shows talking about getting second opinions, nutrition, etc yet despite seeing hundreds very few practice what they preach are the best patient practices.

Make sure to have a saving account dedicated to dental care, right now we are looking at costs that exceed her medical care for the past 2 years.

Just like the journey so many of us have taken to more Drs. then we can count, dental care is no different. You really need to be an informed patient, you need to ask the tough questions and advocate for you or your child.

Gluten- Free Lefse(Potato tortilla/crepe)

(I draped a cold one over a glass to show how flexible these are)
I found after doing this recipe a couple times, it is hard to give you "exact" measurements. It will depend on the fats, and the moisture of the potato's. Despite my concerns about winging it, if you have made any other tortilla or pie crust gluten free before, this wasn't difficult.

These are AMAZING. Soft, they stay soft. Thin,flexible.. like a crepe because of the moisture, thinness, and flexiblity, but a tortilla because they were more sturdy and stretchy then any tortilla I have made. You could fill these with anything! Traditionally I think they are buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. We ate them almost as quick as I could make them. That good.

I found that rolling these between parchment paper worked the best. One thing I have learned while learning to bake with gluten free flours is that it just seems to dry out and crack very fast. Keeping the dough as wet as possible usually works in my favor. Rolling between the parchment allowed me to use less flour and get the dough very thin.


3-5 idaho potatoes(aprox 2 1/2 cup mashed)
2 Tablespoons coconut oil room temperature(or shortening, or butter)
1/2 cup coconut yogurt(or coconut cream, or dairy cream, or sour cream, just higher fat)
1/2 teaspoon of salt, plus more to taste
1 cup all-purpose gluten free flour
(Parchment paper, and you should leave the gf flour out, I needed more for rolling)

Peel and boil your potatoes. Mash. Add the coconut oil,coconut yogurt, and salt. Blend till whipped nicely.
Transfer the potatoes to chill in the fridge overnight.(at least 4 hours)

Lefse are traditionally made with some funky specialty equipment, but a standard rolling pin and plenty of parchment paper will do the job.

Mix the mashed potatoes with 1/2 cup of the flour. Be Gentle! Fold and stir it gently. At first this will be very crumbly and floury, but will gradually start coming together. Add second 1/2 cup flour. This should give you a soft sticky dough, but one that holds together.

(dough before shaping into balls to roll)
Making one at a time- I grabbed a golf ball amount of dough, and worked in enough flour to roll the dough into a ball.(you want moist,but not sticking to your hands)Place the ball of dough in the center of a piece of lightly floured parchment. Flatten slightly with hand and sprinkle a touch of flour on top. Place another piece of parchment paper on top so you are rolling the dough between the parchment sheets. I was able to roll mine very thin, nearly translucent.


Heat a flat pan(I used non-stick) over medium-high heat. When a bead of water sizzles when flicked on the pan, it's ready.

(rolled thin between two sheets of parchment.)
Roll dough thin, aim for making a circle, but mine had all sorts of odd shapes, still tasted amazing.

Carefully peel apart parchment, the dough should have either stuck to the top or the bottom(mine stuck to the top). Flip in your hand so the dough is facing up, to prevent gravity from peeling it off the parchment. Flip paper and dough over quickly into pan. Carefully to avoid burning gently pat the dough to the pan(move fast to avoid burns!).. After about a half a minute to minute, the parchment should peel off with care. I patted around the edges especially to make sure a section was ready to peel. Once you get it started gently pull, just watching to make sure you aren't ripping your Lefse. It always released for me, leaving it a little longer seemed to be key and making sure to pat the dough to the pan before trying to peel. Parchment paper won't melt or burn.

(separating the lefse from parchment)
Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side until speckled with golden-brown spots. Transfer the cooked lefse to a plate and cover with another clean dish towel.


This makes a lot... you can cut the recipe in half. Or use leftover mashed potatoes. They seem to work best with mashed that have chilled. Use the flour as you need to be able to roll out. I find when working with gluten free flours less is more.


(filled with jam to show how thin and flexible)