I have been reading all your comments and questions. I love all of them – keep them coming! A running question I keep coming across is the expense of gluten free food and how to make this lifestyle work on a tighter budget. I HEAR YOU. Believe me, this whole process and learning experience has hit my pockets as well. A gluten free, HEALTHY, gluten free life is not always easy. In effort to prove this lifestyle is possible on a budget me and The Troops decided to do some investigating. While Franklyn and I took to the market, Boop stayed behind to do further research.
Detective Franklyn preparing for “price investigation”
Boop in research mode
We came out with some suggestions and even a recipe for you and/or your family to make tonight!
First lets talk an inexpensive and healthy way to get protein. Beans!!!!!!!!! Low in fat and high in soluble fiber which can lower cholesterol. They also have insoluble fiber which combats disease such as colon cancer, constipation, and many other conditions of the intestinal track. We know how important a healthy digestion is, especially with celiac disease or a gluten allergy. Please note, sometimes you can go through a tough time with your digestion, in which case you may want to stay away from too much fiber. With Celiac your digestive system is working hard to digest as it is, that adding even more work with heavy fiber content may not be right for you at that moment. If your not experiencing digestive issues then beans are a wonderful, nutritious and inexpensive way to eat gluten free.
At the market, Franklyn and I found there was a sale on LENTILS (loaded with calcium, iron, folic acid and vitamin C). I remembered a soup my grandfather use to make when I was a kid. It was lentils with pasta and veggies. I would climb up on the counter to look into the pot (I must have been 7 or 8). I would watch all these wonderful colors blending and cooking. When it was done I would put half a pound of Parmesan cheese on top and dip in my crusty Italian bread in to the dish. OH GOD YUM!!!!! Well, this recipe comes from those wonderful days watching my grandfather cook. I made my version with rice instead of pasta and eliminated the dairy. But I did make a delicious crusty gluten free bread to boot! That recipe I promise will come later. For now enjoy this beautiful, healthy, gluten free, dairy free, vegan pot of love. Just like my grandfather use to make!! The best part besides eating it, is the whole meal cost only $12.00 and can easily feed 4.
Here is what you will need:
1 cup green lentils
1 med onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
3/4 cups of mushrooms (I used a mixed assortment)
2 cups spinach and or kale (I used fresh but frozen can be more cost effective and just as nutrious)
1 bay leaf
1 tbls of salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbls olive oil
5 cups of water
2 cups rice or gluten free past optional! (cook rice or pasta separately)
Add to dish upon serving
Cut up onion, carrots and celery and put in a med stockpot with the 5 cups of cold water, lentils and bay leaf. Cook on a medium heat for about 30 minutes. Add salt, pepper, spinach (or kale) and olive oil. Reduce heat to low and stir a few times. When the spinach starts to wilt down (about 10 minutes) turn heat down to a simmer and let sit for another 10 minutes. Serve hot over rice, gluten free past or alone. I drizzle a little more olive oil on top as well. You can top with Parmesan cheese if you are not dairy intolerant. Great the next day as well, if you have any left over. Just add some more water and heat!! Enjoy!!
Ever Onward,
Jennifer Esposito
Hi Jennifer,
Thank you so much for this website and for sharing all the research you have done. I can’t wait to read your books when they come out. I was wondering if you were also vegetarian or if there would be any meat recipes in your book?
Thanks,
Raquel
Hi there
So glad you like the site! I will keep bringing you recipes and info for years to come until everyone is aware of the perils of that nasty gluten.
I seriously LOVE animals. So I have been a vegetarian in the past. I find it incredible hard to continue that lifestyle now that I have this disease and other allergies to food. Getting protein is so important and I found being a vegetarian i just wasn’t getting enough of it. In saying that, many of my recipes are vegetarian or can be. There will be some meat dishes in the book as well. I hope you keep joining me here until then.
Ever Onward
Hey there Jennifer,,,,God Bless you for all you are doing for yourself and others in the world.
I enjoy this diet more than gluten ,my body does as well.
I would like to have your recipe for the crusty Italian Bread please. And you are so very right that food is tied to memories…FYI, I too have lost my loved one Buddy.So sorry part of your Troop is no longer with you. xoxo
Also a shout out to Blue Bloods,,,you are all awesome!
I am gluten-free, on a budget, and absolutely love all this info, but I have a confession to make . . . I keep checking your blog to see more photos of the Troops!!! I love Frankie Beans and Betty Boop!! I have one trooper that helps me. “Chief” is a 110 lb yellow lab. He just loves my cooking experiments. If you want to see a photo of my helper, check out this post. http://gfbrooke.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/babycake-saturday/
the last photo of him attempting to sample my gluten-free cupcakes when he thought I wasn’t looking is my favorite.
Thanks again for starting this site (and not just because of photos of the Troops!)
Cheif is fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He looks like Frankie Beans! Don’t you just love having your friends in the kitchen with you? They truly love whatever it is you are making, whether they have tasted it or not, its good! Every time I make anything with banana or carrots they literally are under my feet. Well I so glad you are checking in, I will put more pics of them, believe me I have many! Also keep on making those gluten free treats with Cheif!
Ever Onward
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer and troops! I am a holistic health coach and spread the message to eat whole foods and loving our whole selves to be healthy and happy. You have found this key in your life. I love lentil soup and in fact just ate a yummy bowl of it today. Look forward to your crusty bread recipe. I have always loved your acting parts and was wondering if you have a movie/tv part in the hopper?
Be well and Be happy!
Hi
I saw the Letterman show where you spoke about opening a bakery! And I hoped that there would be a cookbook too…And now I read there may be a book? Please can you give the publication date? And will it be available via Amazon – I am based in South Africa and we don’t have a lot of freely available recipes books – and your muffin recipes sound divine.
thank you
Sharon
And it seems that you bake/cook relatively sugar-free as well – that is truly a find. Most of the gluten-free cookbooks available here call for sugar.
Yay!
Hi I’ve been gluten free for 20 years and love cooking with 4 bean flour I get it on amazon and it’s great …love your web site and just found it so will be checking in often …DD
Hi, just found your site scanning through some of Dr. Oz’s video’s. Gluten free caught my attention . I have been eating gluten free for 2 yrs. and I suffered also for many yrs. before my doctor did blood test showing that I was gluten sensitive. I love your site and look forward to reading your book. Thank you for making more people aware and also educating us all on being healthier and feeling good again.
i love u and u are positive view of a better world were diseases such as celiac like yours doesnt neccesary meants you should stop being healthy o happy with yourself….
becouse i alwyas said : si no sabes algo por que criticar lo que no entiendes o es nuevo para ti.
we should in make others feels weird or bad just becouse we dont get it u know…..
Hello, I saw you on a television show I actually never watch. I feel like it was destined I heard you talking about this disease. I felt your pain you have gone through in discovering your true issues. I have the same. I wanted to tear up hearing all your symptoms. Its hard for others to take you serious, when they do not have these issues. Some think “health finatic obsessed” but really we strive to fix this issue that really does effect us every day. Thank you! I know you have made my journey easier to getting it resolved, or easier to handle .An answer! Even better.
I am a busy young mom of 3, and wife. I don’t feel young at times when the food irritation gets outta control…. and I deserve to feel good! It’s a battle but we will conquer it through great whole foods and recipes. I look forward to all the recipes and whatever books you will come up with. I live in Arizona, so I will have to order via shipping from your bakery;)
Thank you! You have no idea how thankful I am for seeing you on that show today!!<3
~Tabitha Hope~
This was wonderful. Filling and easy. I polished off the cannelini and pasta while I whipped this up. Keep up the good work.
Lentils are also commonly used in Ethiopia in a stew-like dish called kik, or kik wot, one of the dishes people eat with Ethiopia’s national food, injera flat bread. Yellow lentils are used to make a nonspicy stew, which is one of the first solid foods Ethiopian women feed their babies.,.*^
http://www.caramoanpackage.comOur personal blog site
Hi, stumbled on this while I was looking for lentils that are easy to digest. I have only been gluten free for 2 months.
I lived in India for 8 months, in the South, and am realizing that the South Indian diet is perfect for gluten intolerance. We eat a lot of rice, different types, a lot of lentils, many varieties and lots of fresh veggies. The North Indian diet that is more familiar to people in the West has a lot of wheat in it.(Chapatis and naan).
I didn’t know about gluten until the gastro-guy suggested I go off it strictly for a while and see how I felt…. well, no question…MUCH better.
Find a South Indian restaurant and enjoy!