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Vegetables
- Combine vegetables only with either proteins or carbohydrates. Never combine with fruit. Never combine with both proteins and carbohydrates.
- Vegetables include all the obvious, as well as edamame and all soy products, but not potatoes and yams.
Carbohydrates
- Combine carbohydrates with vegetables, but never with fruit or proteins.
- Carbohydrates include potatoes, yams, rice, bread, beans, etc.
Proteins
- Combine proteins with vegetables, but never carbohydrates or fruit.
- Proteins (for vegetarians) include nuts, seeds (like sunflower), peanut butter, and eggs (cooked but not baked).
The meals in this book are correctly combined with the exception of a few that use nuts incorrectly. In those cases, the nuts are optional. If you use very few nuts in the recipe, be sure to take a digestive enzyme pill after the meal.
The food combination chart looks like this:
Wheat/Gluten substitutes
Most of the baked goods recipes in this book come from one of Bette Hagman's books (The Gluten Free Gourmet). I recommend any and all of her cookbooks. Rarely can you substitute one type of flour for wheat or white flour. It takes a combination of flours, all of which are available from the co-op or Whole Foods, and some from Rainbow and Cub. In the baking section, I'll refer to the following mixes:
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For 9 cups
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For 12 cups
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Gluten Free Flour Mix (basic)
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Rice flour (2 parts)
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6 cups
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8 cups
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Potato starch (2/3 part)
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2 cups
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2 2/3 cups
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Tapioca flour (1/3 part)
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1 cup
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1 1/3 cups
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Light Bean Flour Mix
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Garfava bean flour (1 part)
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3 cups
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4 cups
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Tapioca flour (1 part)
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3 cups
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4 cups
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Cornstarch (1 part)
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3 cups
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4 cups
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Four Flour Bean Mix
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Garfava bean flour (2/3 part)
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2 cups
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2 2/3 cups
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Sorghum flour (1/3 part)
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1 cup
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1 1/3 cups
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Cornstarch (1 part)
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3 cups
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4 cups
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Tapioca flour (1 part)
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3 cups
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4 cups
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French Bread/Pizza Crust Mix
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For 6 cups
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For 12 cups
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White rice flour
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3 1/2 cups
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7 cups
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Tapioca flour
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2 1/2 cups
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5 cups
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Xanthan gum
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2 T.
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1/4 cup
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Unflavored gelatin
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2 packets
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4 packets
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Egg Replacer
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2 T.
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1/4 cup
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Maple sugar
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2 T.
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1/4 cup
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Stevia Powder
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1/4 t.
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1/2 t.
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I make these mixes ahead of time and place them in large sealable containers for ease of use.
Egg substitutes
According to Dr. Alloca, author of "Essential Nutrition for Anti-Aging and Anti-Cancer," most people who are allergic to wheat and dairy are also allergic to eggs. The eggs used in the baking recipes can be easily substituted.
Sugar substitutes
Caution! There are many ways that manufacturers say "sugar" without using that exact word. Most mean the same thing. Here are the words that I read regularly that still mean some form of processed sugar:
- Evaporated cane juice or organic evaporated cane juice
- Corn syrup (or any other kind of syrup)
- Fructose
- Maltose or maltodextrose
- Dextrose
Another way to fool the consumer into buying sugar is to use two forms of the sugar listed above so that, overall, it falls later in the ingredients label making you think there's hardly any sugar in it. Read carefully.
Dry Substitutes:
- 1/8 t. Stevia Powder = 1 T. sugar (half of this if it's going to be cooked with other sugar substitutes)
- Maple sugar (1/2 to 1/4 of amount called-for)
Liquid Substitutes
If using these, reduce other liquid somewhat.
- Raw Honey (will add weight, don't use equally)
- Maple Syrup (don't need much, very sweet)
- Juice Concentrate (not yeast-free, can be used in equal proportion to other liquid without adding weight, citrus juices will add a slightly sour taste as well as the sweet, all will add the distinctive taste of that juice, so it must fit-in with the rest of the recipe)
- Juice (replaces water)
- Organic unsulfured Molasses (use sparingly and only in recipes in which the molasses flavor is essential to the recipe, like ginger or rye recipes)
- Brown Rice Syrup (very mello sweetness so you can use full amount, but it will add heaviness and stickiness to the recipe)
- Coconut milk (light sweetness but distinctive flavor)
- Coconut cream, (especially good for smoothies, adds a fruity, textured flavor as well as the coconut flavor, can be used at 1/2 of the usual amount)
Usually it's best to use a combination of substitutes, but never equally to the sugar amount called for when you add up the total substitute. Liquid substitutes are replaced at almost equal to 1/2 the amount, while dry substitutes are replaced at 1/2 to 1/4 the amount called-for) in regular recipes.
Dairy substitutes
Dairy Substitutes vary greatly depending on whether or not it will be cooked. In most cases, soy is a troublesome substitute for cooked recipes because it adds a lot of weight to the recipe and tends to fall heavily to the bottom. In the case of soy cheese, it becomes rubbery when cooked.
You'll probably notice that I write "butter" a lot in the recipes. It's because most people I know, myself included, who are allergic to dairy, don't react to butter. Since it contains the same amount of fat as margarine and the latest studies say that it contains the same amount of cholesterol, I use it. But feel free to substitute.
Cheese
- Uncooked Substitutes: Soy cheese is great for toppings on sandwiches or chili. You can even toast it in the toaster oven, but don't use it alone on pizza where it's really baked in.
- Cooked Substitutes: Almond cheese or 1/2 almond and 1/2 soy. Almond cheese is lactose free but not diary free.
Yogurt
- Uncooked Substitutes: Soy yogurt is available from most coops and is very similar to dairy in taste. If you want to avoid sugar, read the label carefully
- Cooked Substitutes: Rice sour cream or soft tofu
Sour Cream
- Uncooked Substitutes: Tofutti Soy Sour Cream
- Cooked Substitutes: Rice sour cream (usually available in coop only)
Cream Cheese
- Cooked and uncooked Substitutes: Tofutti Soy Cream Cheese (this has sugar in it, however)
Ricotta Cheese
- Uncooked Substitutes: Goat cheese with seasoning
- Cooked Substitutes: Firm, silken tofu that is mashed and mixed with appropriate spices (like in Lasagne recipe - basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and parsley flakes)
Mayonnaise
- Uncooked and Cooked Substitutes: Soy mayonnaise in equal proportion to specified amount.
*Note: there's no dairy in many regular mayonnaise brands, but there's lots of eggs and sugar.
Butter
- Uncooked Substitutes: Spiced olive oil (see recipe), Almond/peanut butter, Apple butter, All-fruit spread, Margarine
- Cooked Substitutes: Margarine
Cream
- Uncooked Substitutes: Soy half n half, Goat's milk, Sun-soy milk or other soy milks that are sold as refrigerated because they are whiter, thicker, and have less soy taste, but they usually contain some sugar.
- Cooked Substitutes: Soy half n half, Goat's milk (cannot be boiled! Tends to have an aftertaste)
Buttermilk
- Cooked Substitutes: Soy milk in equal proportion with 2 teaspoons of vinegar per cup of milk. Optionally, add 1 teaspoon of buttermilk powder (which is not dairy free).
Milk Powder
- Uncooked and Cooked Substitutes: Soy baby formula.
Milk
- Uncooked and Cooked Substitutes: Soy milk (West Soy plain is unsweetened, otherwise they have sugar in them unless otherwise specified, good milk replacement for plain uncooked, and for soups) Rice milk (a whiter milk when it matters in recipes. It's a good milk replacement for baking). Almond milk (a nutty tasting milk, very good plain, doesn't last more than 3 to 5 days). Goat milk (a tasty milk that's very close to cows' but leaves an aftertaste when you drink it plain or in a recipe without other strong flavors, good substitute for soups, doesn't last more than 3 to 5 days).
Meat substitutes
- Boca burger, Boca crumbles, Boca chik'n nuggets. There are other brands, but read the label to see if they contain wheat or gluten protein.
- Gimme Lean - sausage or hamburger style.
Miscellaneous Tips and Substitutes
Measuring
- In this book, I use "t." for teaspoon, "T." for tablespoon, and "c." for cup.
Soy Sauce:
- Use Tamari Soy Sauce. The best are from Asian food stores.
Tortillas
- El Popocatepetl (Limpieza y Calidad)- from Rainbow (sometimes), but freshest from the Mexican Bakery on Nicollet Avenue between 37th and 38th Street.
Pinto Beans
- These are also better (in dry or canned form) from the Mexican Bakery.
Condiments and Salad Dressing
- Read the labels! Most contain sugar and many contain dairy.
Saccharin, Aspartame, Nutrisweet
- Personally, I'm allergic to them. In general, they are cancer-causing chemicals. Furthermore, I find that when I consume products with artificial sweeteners, I am more likely to crave sugar and eat more.
Gluten-free baking tips
- There are certain nontypical ingredients required for baking (otherwise baked goods tend to be hard as rocks and crumbly). You can get all of these from a co-op: xanthan gum, egg replacer, instant potato flakes, and unflavored gelatin or agar agar (gelatin is an animal product, and agar agar is a seaweed, but I'm not sure if you can substitute the latter in equal proportions - you'd have to experiment).
- To use a bread machine for baking bread, you'll need to get a programmable one and change the settings. I use 15 minutes warm up, 1 kneading cycle (you don't need more), 1 rising cycle, medium crust setting, 60 minutes baking time. I don't recommend using the warming cycle at the end because non-wheat bread can dry out quickly.
- Unless otherwise stated, you have to let gluten-free bread cool completely or else you'll only have one good slice while you watch the rest of it cave in, creating a chewy center and dry outside.
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