One week down, four to go...

Week one of my allergy-free diet and lifestyle is behind me, and I feel good. I'm not saying that I suddenly leap out of bed at 5am (unfortunately that's what time I have to get up for work) every morning and bounce around all day with a huge grin on my face instead of eczema, but I do feel better. One big difference I have noticed is that I'm much more focused and able to concentrate better. I don't feel as stressed, either. And I'm not really missing any of the things that I've cut out of my diet. I thought I'd be craving bread and chocolate, but it's not really bothering me. I think that's because I'm eating the right stuff so my body doesn't feel the need to crave the bad things, but whatever the reason it seems to be working.
This week my aim is to cut back on caffeine even further than I have done already. From tomorrow I'm replacing my morning filter coffee with decaf, so it'll be interesting to see how I cope without the caffeine fix and if I cave and go and buy a real coffee from the coffee shop in my office.

Xantham Gum

One of the discoveries I have made during my cooking and baking experiments is that xanthan gum is a great alternative to eggs. For those of you that can’t eat wheat or gluten, it also comes in handy for making gluten-free bread as it binds the mixture together better. Xanthan gum is used as a food thickening agent and as a stabiliser in things such as cosmetic products. It can be derived from sources such as corn, wheat, dairy, or soy, so you do need to check the label carefully before you buy it. Doves Farm www.dovesfarm.co.uk sell a great vegan, gluten-free xanthan gum that even comes with a recipe for gluten-free bread on the side of the tube.

Xanthan gum comes in the form of a dry powder, and as a general rule I use ¼ tsp for every egg that the recipe calls for. You do have to be quick when working with xanthan gum, as it starts to set as soon as you add it to anything liquid. For this reason, I would recommend adding it at the end of the recipe wherever possible. If you’re using xanthan gum in place of eggs, I also find that adding a splash of soya milk provides the moisture that you lose when using the dry powder.