Wheat Allergy Sufferers can Find Help with Their Slow Cooker

A few years ago my daughter and I discovered we were allergic to wheat—not the Celiac version, but an allergy that causes annoying symptoms and aches and pains. Each individual who discovers they have a wheat allergy has to find out what works for them. Some sufferers must totally avoid gluten, the spongy substance found in wheat and other grain that helps hold bread together as it rises. Other people find they can eat rye or oatmeal which has some gluten. Teff is another wonderful alternative. In Ehtiopian cooking, the fine grain is ground and allowed to ferment like sourdough for two or three days before its baked into a flat bread called injera. Injera makes a wonderful accompaniment to many slow cooker dishes. You can slip spoonfuls of lentils or other grain dishes into pieces of injera and roll up tiny bite-sized burritos.

While browsing the internet, I have found many resources and recipes  for helping my daughter and I live with this dietary challenge. Although spelt has a bit of gluten, it doesn’t have the same allergens as many wheat products so some sufferers are able to tolerate this grain. But wheat-free bread can be very spendy. I’ve seen spelt bread on market shelves for as high as five dollars a loaf.  Recipe Net has a helpful, tasty recipe for making spelt bread in a slow cooker without too much work. http://www.recipenet.org

Another web site I frequently visit is Suite 101. There you can find many helpful articles to teach you to deal with any food allergy and also find many slow cooker recipes. Here is a nice easy-to-use list of recipes http://food-allergies.suite101 .

For a yummy alternative to traditional wheat noodles found in most lasagna, this lasagna recipe found at Dianne’s Dishes calls for rice noodles. The article and recipes provide links to several reputable online stores where you can purchase gluten-free products. http://www.diannesdishes.com. She invented her recipe for lasagna on a hurried Sunday when she had run out of time, so she wanted to share it with her readers because it was easy to make. It looks delicious spooned from the slow cooker, as if it were baked in an oven. The dish cooks up quickly, too. The writer mentions that cooks need to check their crock pot now and then to make sure it doesn’t burn. For this reason making the lasagna on a Sunday, when the cook is doing chores at home, is a good idea.

Finding out that you have a wheat allergy can feel a bit overwhelming at first. Luckily, in a global marketplace, we have access to grains like quinoa, teff, and spelt. And with a slow cooker, some creativity, and a willingness to scour your library and internet for tasty new recipes, you can take the challenge head on, and feel better in a matter of weeks.