Better Coughing & Apple Pie

[jesse_the_k]

Better living with upper respiratory infections

I had a nasty head cold, it descended into my chest, I was making scary scary pertussis type noises and scaring myself. Then I saw my acupuncturist, and everything turned around. I went from scary to smiling.

• Her treatment made a big difference, of course, but also she taught me that ...
• My body knows how to cough. Coughing is a proven survival strategy for humans; don't fight it; don't gasp against it; try to breathe out slowly through nose
• Typical coughing position is hunched over, all one's energy falls out of the mouth. Instead, be erect, tighten core, splay one hand on chest, providing a flume to concentrate the cough energy.
• With a fist bobbing freely on the wrist, gently tap the chest to loosen mucus
• Don't use cough suppressants: gaufenesin is an expectorant-only medicine, available as a tablet. Follow label for dosing.
• Drink more liquid than you can even imagine
• Maintain maximum looseness in torso, with intuitive exercise that maintains an open chest. I did propped backbends; hands at sides and front making gentle wrist circles and when I was stronger up and out in figure 8s.

Gluten Free Pie Crusting: An Observational Study

Last week MyGuy did apple pie SCIENCE! He bought a pack of two frozen GF crusts, nestled in artisanal aluminum foil. He then made cover crusts with two kinds of GF flour, providing ample comparison tasting opportunities.


And now, the results:

1. "Wholly Gluten Free Pie Shells by Wholly Wholesome" brand frozen GF bottom pie crusts purchased in aluminum foil pie plate tastes like cardboard & a total waste of $5


2. Top crusts made with America's Test Kitchen "How can it be gluten free cookbook" recipe. Generally, MyGuy uses half butter & half shortening, but given the uphill climb without gluten, he used four ounces of butter plus sour cream for each pie


3. King Arthur all-purpose equal measure GF flour = sturdy, not a hint of crumbling or flaking, and no butter taste!


4. Bob's Red Mill all-purpose equal measure GF flour = slightly crumbly, no flakiness, definitely tasty.

Conclusion: Frozen GF pie dough—at least Wholly Wholesome's—is pointless. The America's Test Kitchen cookbook feels like a chemistry experiment, not baking (they're all about making the one perfect exemplar).

None of the three crusts make much of an improvement over a bowl of great applesauce (especially with cream on top). Next time, make great applesauce. Or eat a Divine Dark Chocolate bar (my #1 choice).

Nevertheless, two pies were ready at 9pm Tuesday; one piece left at 4:40pm Thursday.

URP.

Comments

Not a pie crust, but ...

[capri0mni]

I bet it would be yummy.

Here's a recipe for chocolate chip cookies with a batter made only of chickpeas, nut butter of your choice, brown sugar, vanilla, baking soda, and salt (just leave out the chocolate chips).
http://www.createliveblog.com/2012/01/recipe-chickpea-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

(and maybe lessen the sugar)

Imagine pressing that into the bottom of a pie pan, pre-baking it, and then, baking again with your filling. It wouldn't have a top crust, but maybe you could make a brown Betty type crumble for it, maybe out of oats.


Not at all like a traditional pie crust, but a whole lot less boring than a bowl of apple sauce.

Re: Not a pie crust, but ...

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks for the recipe.

That's a fascinating idea. The better-tasting Bob's Red Mill flour's main ingredient is garbanzo flour! I need to give those cookies a try.

Re: Not a pie crust, but ...

[capri0mni]

My pleasure!

(I've listed "impromptu confectioneries" as one of the interests in my D.W. profile).

As I type this, there's a quarter-batch (experimental size) of cookies, based on this recipe: No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies, only I:

substituted cream cheese for the peanut butter,

substituted unsweetened, diluted, cranberry juice for the milk (and upped the sweetener a bit), and

swapped out finely ground walnuts for the cocoa powder.

The mix tastes great. Just not sure that they'll set up completely... may have to lower the proportion of liquid to cheese. Also, I used quick oats instead of old fashioned rolled oats, and did not boil for five minutes -- I heated it to just below boiling in the microwave.

If I tweak them to my satisfaction, I may mail a batch to my cousin for New Year/birthday (She's an Aquarius).

Re: Not a pie crust, but ...

[jesse_the_k]

That is totally my kind of cooking. I'm a descant chef: I proceed against the recipe (I hope in harmony) instead of plodding along on the melody.

Re: Not a pie crust, but ...

[capri0mni]

I like your terminology/metaphor.

BTW -- they did not set up as firmly as I was hoping. They're basically small lumps of cranberry-flavored cream cheese frosting, made a little firmer with oatmeal. ... Not that there's anything wrong with that. ;-)

Re: Not a pie crust, but ...

[jesse_the_k]

Cranberry flavored anything Is Just Fine By Me. I love cranberries, and fortunately they're highly available (Wisc is #1 cranberry growing state.)

If you like no-cook items, may I commend to you the wonders of almond flour? It's super finely ground almonds, which somehow turns into not-very-gritty powder instead of almond butter. ("they" claim one should grind it oneself, but I don't have a magic machine like that.) Anyway it adds body and flavor in a flour-like dimension that doesn't require heat.

Although almond butter on sliced apples with plenty of salt was also a wonderful lunch.

Damn, even though I just ate some of the best chocolate icecream in the world
http://chocolateshoppeicecream.com/node/387
I've managed to make myself hungry again.

Re: Not a pie crust, but ...

[capri0mni]

I have tried almond flour, yes (Bob's Red Mill). And actually, that's very much like the walnuts turned out, in today's experiment. If I'd doubled, or quadrupled them, my "Cranberry Cream Cheese Truffles" (as I've decided to rename them) might have been more cookie-like.

I used the Magic Bullet blender: https://www.getmagicbullet.com/

It pretty much works as advertised, except:

"10 seconds or less" is an exaggeration

The microwave-safe blending/chopping cups are impractical -- once you heat something up in them, they're too hot to handle. I heat my ingredients in some other container, and transfer the contents to the "party mugs" for actual blending/pureeing.

It purees better than most things I've tried (including an immersion blender) but sometimes, bits get lodged under the blades, so it's not 100% even.

small amounts of whatever also get stuck around the four reinforcing ribs.

But the blades are super easy to clean (just hold them under running water) and I really like the screw-top storage lids.

[badgerbag]

HEarty endorsement for the chest tapping! And gentle karate chop on back in between shoulder blades. And guaifenesin tablets in giant doses (way more than you would be drinking in gross robitussin type of liquids)

[jesse_the_k]

Thud thud thump thump gakkk.

How much guaifenesin have you taken at a time? Does more help? (Please enable my random drug-taking habit.)

[sonia]

Glad to hear you're feeling better and you got effective help!

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks. And the first snow has fallen, so it's just in time to catch more colds. /pessimist