gluten freedom and buckwheat pancakes

I have been away from public blogging for awhile now, not feeling so hot and focusing on my family. I did some soul searching, listening to my body, getting frustrated with doctors, having some tests, and ultimately determining I am unable to consume or use wheat products. Wheat exacerbates and creates many unpleasant symptoms for me, from allergies and asthma, to skin troubles and chronic anemia to debilitating fibromyalgia pain. It's only been a few weeks, but I'm already feeling better. Gluten freedom hasn't (and won't) fix all my symptoms, but it's helped tremendously, and I'm convinced this has gone on a long time (I believe wheat allergy played a role in my asthma, too, which started severely when I was 18 months old). I'm also convinced my fatness (and gender) contributed to doctors not catching this. Ask me about my anger at the medical community, sometime. Or don't. You probably shouldn't.

Anyhow, my lack of energy led to a complete disinterest in cooking and baking, and I'd only been making the bare minimum. I wasn't baking much because it was really starting to make me feel awful, and the energy expended and resulting pain wasn't worth the pleasure of a baked treat. I've gone away from fresh vegetables (except for simple salads), which is especially tragic now that we live in the bay area, where there's farmers markets nearly every day of the week somewhere nearby, and there are great stores that sell delicious produce, too. Now I've got to re-commit to healthy, fresh, delicious food.

Today I made buckwheat pancakes. I was searching for gluten-free vegan recipes online, and most recipes either use a pre-made flour mix, or only use rice flour. I like rice flour, but it seems too gritty to use without something to off-set that texture. My first attempt resembled concrete. Whoops! Then I decided to think simpler. These are not as flat as crepes, but they're definitely not big and fluffy pancakes. More baking powder (and/or a little apple cider vinegar) would probably help this. Maybe next time. I think they came out pretty well, though. They're high sugar for a pancake, I don't deny.

Buckwheat Pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 cup almond (or other nondairy) milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp maple syrup (or agave)

Instructions
Preheat (I used cast iron) skillet over medium (or just below medium) heat. Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and dry in a large measuring cup or small bowl. Add wet to dry and mix really well with a fork. Go ahead and over-mix that bad boy, because it's the wheat gluten that makes pancakes tough. Over-mixing wheat-free flours actually develops the shorter non-wheat-gluten proteins and helps with binding and structure.

I used a quarter-cup measuring cup to scoop batter into the preheated oiled pan, making two at a time, two minutes per side. I used canola oil out of laziness, but coconut would have been a better choice in hindsight. Makes 10-12 dollar-sized pancakes. (I think I'll double it next time.)

Happy VeganMoFo!

My poor, neglected cooking blog!

Actually, I haven't neglected you. I've had a rather rough month, despite my birthday (I turned 32, which really isn't exciting but birthdays are always good!). I was going to spare you the gory details, but I think I might subject you to a few in honor of this not-about-cooking post.

This month is, apparently, the third annual VeganMoFo (Vegan Month o' Food). I remember hearing about the first two, but I've never really felt like part of any vegan communities, even online. I love to cook, and i love to eat, and i love to share cooking and eating with loved ones (and anyone who'll listen!), but I've never been very good at fitting in. So I did my own thing. This time around, I'm using it as encouragement to really pick up the pace with blogging, for a few reasons.

First, though, in case you'd like some more mofo info, you should check out this nice VegNews interview with Isa Chandra Moskowitz, as well as this *very* comprehensive list of other vegan bloggers who are participating in VeganMoFo.

So let me tell you a little about me: I have fibromyalgia and chronic back pain (due to spina bifida occulta, spondylolisthesis, two bulging discs, and osteoarthrits), all of which interfere with my life to varying degrees, even changing from day to day. It makes me annoyingly unpredictable when it comes to making plans, including simple tasks like making dinner. (Hint: you may be seeing more Rachel Ray style "30 minute meals" here in the future.) Luckily, moving to California has been really great for me, in that I've found an amazing doctor who is sending me to specialists to answer questions that have been unanswered for many years. While there are no cures for the low back pain or fibromyalgia, they can be managed, and other previously ignored issues can be addressed.

At the beginning of the month, I had to go through the unfortunate hell of a bone marrow biopsy to try and determine the cause of my elevated platelets and white blood cells. The biopsy pain triggered a fibromyalgia flareup, so I spent a good deal of time in bed. Then I got the flu (which may or may not have been H1N1). Then I got bronchitis. Then I got the results of the bone marrow biopsy: I have low iron stores in my marrow, and will need at least 6 weekly IV infusions of ferrous gluconate (iron), and then we'll re-assess the situation. As of today, I've had two iron infusions, and developed phlebitis at the IV site. Luckily, it's improving, or I wouldn't be typing so damn much right now!

Note: One of the biggest myths about veganism is that a vegan diet is low in iron and that anemia is very common among vegans. Just to be clear, my serum iron levels are normal (which is an indicator that I actually get adequate iron in my diet), and it's the iron stores in my bone marrow that are low. This is likely a genetic problem. I've had problems with anemia since I was a child, just like my mother. A genetic problem will not be cured by eating the flesh or organs from cows or other animals. This problem has been going on for so long (at least 5 years) that in order to compensate, my bone marrow started producing whatever it could to take the place of the missing iron in there, which resulted in elevated white blood cells and platelets. Good nutrition is extremely important for everyone (no exceptions!), but it's no cure for bad genes. Once these infusions get my iron stores back up, eating a healthy vegan diet with plenty of iron-rich foods and taking a vegan iron supplement should keep me away from those evil large-bore-needle-wielding hematologists.

I've decided that September 2009 was just a craptastic month all around, and now that it's October, things MUST improve!

So I'm going to improve things by writing more here. I originally set out for this to be strictly a cooking and recipe blog, but VeganMoFo (and my determination to forgive this past month) are inspiring me to write a little bit more than usual and about more than just what goes on in my kitchen. I hope you keep checking in. I promise I have some recipes in store for this month, too!

Bay area locals, you might want to check out the World Veg Festival Weekend in San Francisco!

And here's more info about today, World Vegetarian Day, kicking off World Vegetarian Month.