October 1, 2011

Grain-free Pecan Meal Biscuits - No: gluten, grains, dairy, eggs, and sugar

Pecan Meal Spiced Raisin Biscuits
My experience with the world of food sensitivities has been that when I eat a food too long, my body eventually revolts. 

I don't always know exactly what the culprit is, but I know something is amiss.  So it seems that now my body has decided it has had enough quinoa flour for the time being. 

You may be thinking to yourself well, Debbie, just how do you know these things? I'll share this story just because someone may be able to relate. Over the past year I have worked on creating many quinoa flour recipes. They took a lot of work and re-working.  We have enjoyed quinoa flour pizza crusts, chicken and dumplings, chicken veggy pot pie... ok you get the picture?

I ate quinoa all the time as a replacement for the gluten grains that my body didn't like. I baked and cooked and worked through the trials and error to have a working set of recipes my whole family would enjoy.

At the beginning of last summer, the boys spent a few days away at camp. Getting them ready, and preparing their meals for their time at camp, left me in an exhausted state. I didn't feel like cooking while I recovered, so I ate leftover chicken pot pie made with a quinoa flour crust.  Since no one was here to eat it up in a day, I ate it over and over for 3 days.Ha! That was the test!

I became really bloated and started having irritable bowels.  E-gad! How impolite of me to discuss this in front of the whole world!  If you a regular reader of gluten-free blogs, you know that most gluten-free bloggers discuss this topic more freely than they ever would in "polite society." Anyway, after the bloating, I had the energy crash that always seems to follow
elimination of foods that overstimulate my system. This has been the "sign" that tells me a change is needed.  My body communicates relief, and this time the energy letdown lasted for months.  It isn't easy to lose energy when you don't have any extra to begin with.

Once I realized that my quinoa needed to sit on the shelf for awhile, It was time to start learning again. This time it was learning all about pecan meal. I needed to make an easy bread that was FREE of grains, gluten, dairy, eggs, sugar, and today I want to share with you what I created.  For whatever reason, the learning curve was shorter this time, and I'm thankful for that. It is a good thing for my body.


Grain-free Pecan Meal Biscuits
   ~created by The Gluten-Free 'Dish'

Add ingredients to mixing bowl:

6 Tablespoons chia seed meal 
6 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons raw organic honey
6 Tablespoons organic unsweetened applesauce
5 Tablespoons organic palm shortening or coconut oil (You may need to add 1 T. more at the end of mixing if the recipe is too dry.)
1 Tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar

Mix well.
Add the following ingredients:

1 1/2 cup pecan meal
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2  tsp baking powder - grain free 
Choose one spice option:

1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
raisins
Or:
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano
Mix well. Add raisins if desired.
Shape with your hands to make biscuits. 

Makes 10-12 biscuits.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or greased with olive oil. 

Just a few more thoughts:

After realizing that I was developing new food sensitivities I began working with a functional MD to pinpoint exactly what I need to fine tune. Over the past weeks I have been in the process of many blood draws, and specialized lab testing to determine the next steps I need to take in my healing process.  I am ready for it. Fatigue and exhaustion have been a daily challenge, and I haven't been able to post here as much as I'd like to.

I know I still have changes to make to get to the place I need to be, but I can sense positive changes taking place in my body, and look forward to sharing more with you all more often.


Lot of love,
Debbie

9 comments:

  1. Just found your site today. So glad to see someone else cooking with healthy ingredients + gluten-free and sugar-free. Would love to share the recipes and ideas between readers if you don't mind: www.homecookedhealthy.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Debbie, I hope you're in the right hands now and will get some guidance so you'll be feeling much better soon. All those symptoms are no fun at all.

    These biscuits look delicious! I'm all about pecans in any form, and I love the other ingredients, too. :-)

    Big hugs for health, dear,
    Shirley

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Angela,

    I am really happy to meet you here! It is great to find like-minded foodies!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you, Shirley, You are such a dear and I think you will never know how much your support means to all of us! xo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Heather (Life, Gluten Free)rrOctober 5, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    Those sound very nourishing, especially with the chia seeds!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Debbie,
    I've been going thru your blog the last few months getting recipe ideas. I can't wait to try your pumpkin sauce meatballs! We have a lot of food allergies/sensitivities, mcs in our family also, my 3yr old son in particular. He sensitizes to foods very easily. About a year ago we only had 6 foods that he could eat. Anything mainstream was pretty much out of the question. One thing we have learned along our journey is how important a rotation diet is. For Josiah keeping foods on a rotation has keep him from sensitizing to more foods and we've also been able to reintroduce some things. The usual recommendation is 4 days, but his body needs about 6-8 days between foods, esp. proteins. We also did provocation neutralization testing and drops that seemed to help for a time and have been doing much more with probiotics. His diet is still very limited but we've seen much progress in him over the last year.
    Also one thing that really helped me was the NutrEval test from Genova Diagnostics. It will tell you all the different areas where you have deficiencies. I was eating a pretty healthy diet and taking a good multivitamin but i was still deficient in some key vitamins, minerals and amino acids (esp. my B vitamins). Also my detox pathways weren't working. Changing my supplement regimen based on this test has made a huge difference for me. My fatigue has gotten much better and I actually have some energy now. Anyways, those are some things that have helped our family. I just thought I would share.
    I love reading your blog, I feel like I can relate on so many different levels. It's nice to know there are other people out there going through the same struggles as us.
    Blessings!Celena

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Celena, How sweet of you to share with me some of the methods that have brought healing to your family. We do have many things in common and I think it is important for us all to learn and share with each other. It just magnifies our energy. I am so glad you are regaining some energy. It means so much to me that you took your time and energy to comment. I should post my updated version of the meatballs that I use now. It might help someone who can not have corn or use as a rotation like you mentioned. Keep us posted how you are doing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mmmmmm those sound really good. I bet the pecan gave it a really nice flavor.

    I have a bunch of chia in my fridg that I need to use up.

    ReplyDelete

I am made richer by your being here. Please leave us a comment.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin