A connection between gluten sensitivity, and a super-clean home?

Oldways sent a reporter to the International Celiac Disease Symposium, a gathering of 1500 scientists, doctors, and dietitians from more than 30 countries, to get the real scoop on the hubbub surrounding gluten. A few of her findings...

While as many as 8-10% of us may need to avoid gluten, 90% or more of us can enjoy a crusty fresh loaf of wheat bread.

Donald Kasarda, a USDA researcher, surveyed data and found that gluten levels in wheat have stayed pretty much the same for more than 100 years. Kasarda does note, however, that the use of vital wheat gluten as a food additive has increased three-fold in the last 15 years. (Like to read medical study reports? Here ya go.)

And here's the paragraph that contains the news I really love:

Scientists at the conference mentioned several factors that seem to increase our risk for celiac disease: Increased use of antibiotics, which wipe out good bacteria and bad in the gut. The rise in Caesarian deliveries, which bypass the mother’s usual transfer of bacteria to the baby. Introducing gluten into babies’ diets too early or too late (4-7 months seems ideal). The hygiene hypothesis, which theorizes that our immune systems don’t develop properly anymore because our super-clean homes don’t give them enough early exercise.

Hurray! A positive, scientific benefit of not keeping an immaculate house! I'm vindicated at last!  :)

Super-simple creamy Italian dressing

Creamy Italian is one of my husband's favorite salad dressings. It's getting harder to find in the grocery store, and the ones that we had tried tasted so fake and sugary -- the side effect of making pretty much all your salad dressings from scratch.

Then I found this one! The original recipe is on AllRecipes, but I've tweaked it to make it my own; I reduced the sugar and made a few other minor tweaks.

Tried it; loved it; it's a keeper!

I made it as a spread/dip for homemade submarine sandwiches a couple nights ago. My husband still misses a sub that Pizza Hut used to have on the menu, which had a similar spread on it, and this recipe is a good fit. Then the next day for lunch, I had a sub-sandwich-inspired salad (shown in the photo above). Romaine lettuce with diced ham, pepperoni, and salami; mozzarella cheese, and diced tomatoes. And pickled onions -- which are also a great sandwich topper (recipe coming soon).

It's really quick and easy to make. Tastes best if you make it a few hours or a day ahead, but I've made some notes in the recipe about how to adapt it if you need to serve it right away.

Yay! No more store-bought creamy Italian dressing!

Creamy Italian Dressing (low or no sugar)

 1 clove garlic, minced
 1 T. olive oil
3/4 cup mayonnaise
 1 T. red wine vinegar
 1 T. water
 1 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. granulated onion
 1/4 t. white sugar*
 1/4 t. Worcestershire sauce (optional??)

Place the minced garlic and olive oil in a small dish and microwave for 30 seconds.

Combine this and all the other ingredients in a 12 - 16 oz. jar and shake well.

Refrigerate for a few hours; better overnight.

*If you will be storing it 24 hours before use, you might skip the sugar. If you are living sugar-free, you can leave it out or replace it with your favorite sweetener. If you will be serving it right away, you might want to reduce the vinegar slightly and increase the sugar to taste.

Timetable for roasting vegetables

I have previously posted this in recipe form, but since I work out a detailed timing schedule for all of my cooking on Thanksgiving and keep it in a file on my computer,* I thought I'd share my schedule for making a large batch of roasted vegetables for a crowd.

This schedule assumes you'll be serving the meal at about 12:30. Adjust as needed.
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Roasted vegetables cooking schedule

earlier** - chop carrots, onions, peppers and zucchini
10:30 - preheat oven to 400 F; cut potatoes
10:50 - put carrots and potatoes in oven; snap the asparagus
11:10 - turn carrots and potatoes
11:35 - take carrots and potatoes out; put onions and peppers in
11:45 - turn onions and peppers
11:55 - take onions & peppers out; put zucchini in
12:05 - add asparagus to zucchini; toss; put back in
12:15 - take veg's out of oven

The full recipe.

Make-ahead tip: The vegetables can be roasted and kept at room temperature up to 2 hours in advance or refrigerated up to 1 day in advance. Reheat from room temperature at 350° F to 400° F. Do they taste as amazing as roasted veggies fresh out of the oven? Not quite, but still delicious!

*This makes me sound super organized in the kitchen. Ha! The REASON I spell all this out carefully and keep record of it is because, while I can (and do) get by with winging-it in the kitchen for daily cooking, holidays and parties require more organizing than I can do in my head. And I find that the less info I try to store in my head, the less wigged-out I get trying to stay on top of it all!

**For all the veggies except the potatoes, you can chop them earlier that morning, or do them the day before and store in the fridge, grouped according to what goes into the oven together.