it can be done!

About 2 weeks ago, I bought all purpose gluten-free (GF) flour and had my husband stir up our first batch of GF cookies. They tasted great, but turned into a crumbly mess. At that point I was a bit noncommittal to this whole gluten-free idea, but after a couple of weeks on it, Rachel seems to be making less night time trips to the bathroom. With that realization, I feel energized to give this whole idea more time, money, and attention. I have asked some questions, looked at a kids GF cookbook from the library, bought more flours, and today attempted my first 2 GF recipes.

We do have priorities and at the top of the list is a gluten-free taco shell. Rachel turned her nose up at corn tortillas, so we gave this recipe a try.

Mock Flour Tortillas

Ingredients
1/2 c. brown rice flour

1/2 c. rice flour

1/2 c. potato starch flour

1/2 c. tapioca flour

1 T. xanthan gum

1 t. salt

3 T. shortening

3/4 c. hot water

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flours, xanthan gum, and salt. Add shortening and cut with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly like breadcrumbs. Add water and stir with a spoon. Form into a ball with hands. Divide the dough into 12 balls. Press with a tortilla press or rolling pin, with lightly oiled plastic wrap on both the top and bottom of the dough. Preheat ungreased griddle to about 400 degrees, if electric, or until a droplet of water dropped on the griddle crackles. Cook tortillas until bubbles form and the bottoms are lightly browned. Turn and cook the other side.

While time-consuming, this was an easy recipe to make. Most of my tortillas did not turn out very round, but the samples we tasted were very good. Taco night, here we come! The tortillas are waiting in the freezer.

Next we tried sugar cookies. These were awesome! I could not even tell they were gluten-free, and the kids gobbled them up.

These were leaving the plate faster than I could take a picture!

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

1/3 c. margarine

1/3 c. shortening

1 c. rice flour

1 t. xanthan gum

1 egg

3/4 c. sugar

1 T. milk substitute

2 t. baking powder

1 t. vanilla

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. tapioca flour

1/2 c. potato starch flour

Directions

In a large bowl, beat margarine and shortening together until creamy and well combined. Add rice flour, xanthan gum, egg, milk, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Beat until thoroughly combined. Add tapioca flour and potato starch flour. Beat until thoroughly combined. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 3 hours. Roll out cookies and use cookie cutters, or for round cookies, place by teaspoonful on cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 min. (depending on cookie size) until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool on wire rack. Keep unused dough in the refrigerator until ready to use.

This is not an inexpensive way to eat, so I'm also trying to come up with creative ways to save money and use less carbs for Rachel in general. Thankfully, she loves meat, fruits, and veggies. Popcorn and baked potatoes are great for snacks, too. Still waiting to see if this will help her with joint pain, but if urinary tract issues are clearing up, I have to wonder...