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his has been a fun week with the new release of Mom’s Island Bakens and it now being available
on Amazon! One of the first people who bought my book, author Mamie Adkins, has
emailed me and asked me if I would suggest this book for people with Celiac disease.
Thank you, Mamie, because that is a great question and I think other people may
wonder the same thing. Celiac is a disease in which eating gluten triggers an
immune system reaction in the small intestines and overtime causes mal-absorption
of some important nutrients. Following a gluten-free diet can help manage the
symptoms and promote intestinal healing. While Mom’s Island Bakens is not written specifically for those with
Celiac disease who are needing to become gluten-free, it does include in most of
its recipes that use grains a substitute flour mix suggestion that is
gluten-free. There are also a few delicious gluten free recipes using other
gluten free grains than suggested in the gluten-free mix.
Likewise, the ingredients included in a few of the recipes in Mom's Island Bakens may have
dairy products listed but usually also will include suggestions for non-dairy
alternatives like almond or rice milk. I almost always use almond milk in all
the recipes. And best of all, Mom’s Island Bakens takes a look at other important things to consider in your
ingredient lists like how to make a recipe nutrient dense and have every bite
packed with as much nutrition as possible. There are times that I select to
forgo making a recipe absolutely dairy-free (even though most of my recipes
include suggestions for doing so if you are allergic to dairy) because I want to
make sure the nutrient density is as high as possible.
An example of allowing for milk products in a recipe to
increase nutrient density is seen in the chocolate cream pie recipe on page 99 of
Mom’s Island Bakens. I noticed
tonight that for the chocolate pie recipe (I made one as a birthday gift for a
family member) that I have listed as one ingredient a cup of almond milk
thickened to kefir consistency using organic non-fat dried milk. The dried milk
makes this recipe not absolutely dairy-free. However, you can make this recipe without
using the non-fat dried milk and instead add two more tablespoons of cornstarch
to thicken the almond milk. Since cornstarch has no nutritious value what-so-ever,
I prefer to use dried milk as a thickener when possible. Of course, you would
need to consider your own health needs to make this decision. I have cooked
this pie both ways and it is delicious either way!
And yes, there are a number of recipes that are gluten free
in Mom’s Island Baken’s. However, if
you would like to simply have the gluten free baking mix recipe that I include
in Mom’s Island Bakens, I am happy to
give that out freely. Just use this mix to substitute 1 to 1 for wheat or other
gluten flours in any of your favorite recipes and enjoy good health:
1 cup certified gluten free organic millet flour or certified gluten free oat flour
1/2 cup organic almond meal
1 cup potato starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
So back to the original question, is Mom’s Island Bakens a good cookbook for people with Celiac disease?
My answer is yes, because it is written to help everyone consider how to make
ingredient substitutions for good health. And if you would like to consider not
just how to substitute ingredients to make your diet gluten-free, but also how
to have your cooked food higher in nutrient density, lower on the glycemic
index, using all heart healthy oils like olive oil, and more digestible as a
more alkaline diet, then you would certainly find Mom’s Island Bakens helpful. I suggest Mom’s Island Bakens to anyone as a helpful guide in making an overall
more healthy diet change through learning to alter recipes for gut and heart health. And surely, you
will find a number of Mom’s tried and true recipes not only healthy for you but
also very delicious.
