Gretchen F. Brown - Fast and simple gluten-free: 30 minutes or less to fresh and classic favorites

Gretchen combines tasty ingredients with simple steps to make gluten-free living less of a duty and more of a delight! Her approach will leave your belly full and your family and friends wondering how eating gluten-free could get any better! Brandy Wendler, R.N., M.S.N., A.C.N.P., founder of A Spoonful of Wellness and Mrs. Alaska International 2012 Fast & Simple Gluten-Free will fill your kitchen with great smells and your tummy with delicious food! Beth Hillson, author of Gluten-Free MakeoversFAST & SIMPLE

It is not intended to replace the advice of a physician or medical practitioner. Please see your health care provider before beginning any new health program. Contents Introduction For as long as I can remember, I have loved to be in the kitchen. It is a place of nourishment for our bodies, souls, and minds. The food we serve from our kitchens turns strangers into friends; evokes memories of people, places, and experiences; brings joy and light to our senses; and nourishes and energizes us throughout our lives. My love affair with food started in my mothers kitchen, extended through college in Food Science kitchens as a dietetics student, landed me in a test kitchen for a major magazine and cookbook publishing house, and then allowed me to turn my home kitchen into my office as a freelance recipe developer, food stylist, and food photographer.

You can imagine my shock and disappointment to learn after countless years of constant stomach pains, fatigue, and other health problems that the problem was coming from my own kitchenspecifically, the gluten in my food. The registered dietitian in me recognized the symptoms, but the food lover in me was in mourning. Suddenly my kitchen was a foreign, scary place to be. I mentally ripped all the baking chapters out of my many cookbooks and struggled to accept that all pizzas, baked goods, and sandwich breads I could safely consume for the rest of my life would come from frozen, overpriced packages. But wait... I loved my kitchen.

My will and my taste buds werent going to settle. Even though we are accustomed to using gluten-filled wheat flourweve been cooking and baking that way for thousands of yearsthat certainly doesnt mean it is the only option. It is just a matter of changing our way of thinking. And it is so much easier to think clearly and embrace changes when you physically feel so much better. Without gluten, not only did I not feel sick every single day, but I was also becoming a pioneer in a new chapter of the book on food. Suddenly it was not about what I was not allowed to eat, but about what I could eat and how to prepare the dishes I knew and loved in a brand new way.

I was creating recipes just as comforting, mouthwatering, and soul-feeding as always, only now prepared with a few different ingredients on the list. This is precisely why I have written this book. Food is one of the biggest parts of our livesit is a big part of our every day. And as gluten-free eaters, we need to know we can still hold on to what we crave and love from our kitchens. We, too, deserve to have foods that make us sing, foods that still instantly bring back those old memories, and foods that awaken and delight our senses. None of the beauty and wonder of food needs to be whitewashed over because gluten has been removed from it.

Bon apptit! BEFORE WE DELVE INTO THE RECIPES, LETS FIRST TALK ABOUT THIS LITTLE DEVIL, GLUTEN. Gluten is a protein found in some grains, including wheat, rye, and barley. This would include traditional breads, pastas, baked goods, and some other unsuspecting foods, like soy sauce, salad dressings, beers, and licorice candies, for example. For some people, this little protein is powerful enough to cause a whole spectrum of symptoms and problems, ranging from migraines and skin rashes to severe gastrointestinal illness. The diagnoses related to gluten can come in a few forms, which I will outline briefly here. Celiac disease (CD) is a lifelong autoimmune disease; therefore, it is more commonly seen in people who have or have had family members with other autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or thyroid disease.

When someone with celiac disease ingests gluten, it creates a toxic physical reaction, causing the body to attack its normal tissues, damaging the villi of the small intestine and preventing the absorption of nutrients. A strict gluten-free diet is required to allow the body to heal and prevent further damage and disease. As many as 3 million Americans have CD, which is estimated at 1 in 133 people; possibly even 1 in 100. Because of the broad spectrum of approximately 250 symptoms, a tremendous number of people go undiagnosed, even as long as eleven years from the first onset of symptoms. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a bit different. Unlike celiac disease, there is no damage done to the intestine when gluten is ingested, therefore causing no nutritional deficiency.

On the other hand, gluten ingestion does cause similar gastrointestinal pains and discomfort and can affect other parts of the body as well. It is estimated that 15 percent of Americans suffer from NCGS. Like celiac disease, a strict gluten-free diet is mandatory to remain healthy. There are other groups of people who also must adhere to a strict gluten-free diet as well, including those who have an allergic histamine response to gluten that may cause rashes, swelling, hives, and even anaphylactic shock and those with gluten-related diseases and disorders, such as Menieres disease, Raynauds disease, autism, and a host of others conditions.

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