Gluten Free Saved This Author!

I know all the rage has been going gluten free, but it really did save my life as a writer!

And I'm NOT the one in my family that went GLUTEN FREE!
As a writer, I'm constantly talking about how I never sleep. It's true. Writers barely get enough time alone in their heads to have a real conversation with a non-make believe person, especially in their sleep.

I wake up in the middle of the night with my characters poking my brain, telling me about why they had to kill someone in their book or how come they had to have big hips and not the perfect size six. It's true! I even keep a journal next to my bed to write down some of the things they say so I will remember it in the morning. Plus my husband snores, which is a double whammy for me!

I use to love this game show!

Anyways. . .last summer I took a road trip with my author friend Heather Webber (aka Heather Blake). She is gluten free for a variety of reasons, but some of her symptoms struck a chord with me. Migraines, aches, pains etc....

I don't get headaches, much less migraines, but my dear husband does! I wonder if he needed to be gluten free? He gets about three migraines a month. So the more I talked with Heather about it, the more I wanted to tell my husband. What did he have to lose?

So I got this big idea that I would put him on gluten free. Of course everyone and their brother thought my husband had this family disease (which he does not) and was so concerned that he went on gluten free to help with any symptoms of that. But we tried to tell people that he didn't have the disease, but they were still leery, or nosy, so we let them believe what they want.

After a couple months of gluten free living, the unthinkable happened! Not only did his migraines completely stop, HE STOPPED SNORING! I was in between novels, and my characters had settled down a little bit. I STARTED TO SLEEP MORE THAN FOUR HOURS A NIGHT!

I was waking up refreshed and more creative than ever! My husband may not be allergic to gluten, but being gluten free has helped my writing career.

Have you tried gluten free? What has been your experience?
(BTW....gluten free is NOT calorie free or low fat!)

Twelve Days of Giveaways Day Four!

On the fourth day of giveaways, Tonya gave to me. . .a gluten free TURKEY!

WOW! I'm so excited to have Indie Author Sibel Hodge on the blog for our fourth day of giveaways! She is truly a cross genre author! She has written award winning women's fiction, children's books, and now a cooking book! I will be giving away one ebook copy of A GLUTEN FREE TASTE OF TURKEY to one lucky comment! Trust me, it's not just for gluten free people! You will love it!! The winner will be announced at the bottom of tomorrow's post! 

OK, so it's nearly Christmas and you're thinking about what to cook over the festive period, but how about trying a different kind of Turkey this year? Here's a recipe from my new gluten free Turkish cookbook A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey. It's for Turkish-style chicken soup, but you can also make it from leftover turkey - yum!

 Chicken Soup

(Tavuk Çorbası)

There’s nothing like a comforting bowl of chicken soup, is there? It’s probably the number one folklore remedy for treating colds and flu and other illnesses, and I remember my nan cooking it for me when I was a kid if I was feeling ill. It did always seem to perk me up afterwards so maybe there really is something in it!

The thing I like about this recipe is that you can use chicken or veggies left over from a Sunday roast (or Xmas din-dins!) and you’ve got another delicious meal in no time at all.

Ingredients:

·        1 large onion – diced

·        2 cloves of garlic – crushed and chopped

·        1 leek – sliced finely

·        1 chicken/turkey breast – diced (or left over chicken/turkey)

·        1 cup of green beans – chopped

·        ½ cup of garden peas

·        1 cup of broccoli florets – chopped

·        1 tablespoon of oregano

·        1 tablespoon of paprika

·        1 tablespoon of thyme

·        ½ teaspoon of dried red chilli flakes (optional)

·        1½ pints of gluten free chicken stock

·        1 carrot – peeled and grated

·        2 medium potatoes – diced

·        Salt and pepper to taste

·        Olive oil for frying

Method:

1.      Fry the onion and leeks until soft.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil, then simmer for 45 minutes. Blitz in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth. Add the chicken and cook for another 10 minutes.
3. Pour into bowls and serve.

Serves 4

This is just one of the many recipes from A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey...

If you're suffering from coeliac disease, gluten and wheat sensitivity, or you simply want to sample delicious and healthy Turkish food, then this book's for you.

A gluten free diet doesn't mean you have to sacrifice taste. Today it can be eclectic, vibrant, and adventurous. After cooking for her coeliac husband for over a decade, author Sibel Hodge now combines her knowledge of tasty, easy-to-cook, and nutritious Turkish food with gluten free recipes in A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey.

This mouth-watering collection of dishes includes meze, soups, salads, egg dishes, pasta, vegetable dishes, meat dishes, seafood, desserts, bread, and drinks. It features over 80 recipes and photos of traditional Turkish favourites like Moussaka, Oven Cooked Kebab, and Calamari, along with dishes that have a Turkish Cypriot twist to them, such as Cypriot Olive Bread and Hellim Pasta, plus her own creations of Red Lentil and Rocket Soup, Caramelized Roast Vegetables with Feta, Spiced Mushroom Rice, Turkish-Style Shepherd's Pie, and Choca Mocha Walnut Cake.

Turkish cuisine is considered among the world's best because of the variety of dishes, the use of natural ingredients, and a huge mixture of tantalizing flavours and tastes. It's also a very healthy diet, with lots of vegetables, grains, beans, herbs, olive oil, spices, and fruit.

Who says gluten free cooking has to be boring? Have you ever had anything gluten free? Or are you gluten free?

Experiment. Eat. Enjoy!

A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey  is available from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Kobo, Smashwords, B&N

Happy Christmas!

Sibel XX 

Bio:

Sibel Hodge is the author of bestselling romantic comedy Fourteen Days Later. She has 8 cats and 1 husband. In her spare time, she's Wonder Woman! When she's not out saving the world from dastardly demons she writes quirky romantic comedies, mysteries, and children's books (with the odd thriller thrown in). Her other books include My Perfect Wedding, The Baby Trap, The Fashion Police (Amber Fox Mystery), Be Careful What You Wish For (Amber Fox Mystery), How to Dump Your Boyfriend in the Men's Room (and other short stories), It's a Catastrophe, and A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey.

Her work has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize 2008, Highly Commended by the Yeovil Literary Prize 2009, Runner up in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Comp 2009, and nominated Best Novel with Romantic Elements in 2010 by The Romance Reviews. Her novella Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave has been listed as one of the Top 40 Books About Human Rights by Accredited Online Colleges.

You can find out more about her at http://www.sibelhodge.com/