Favorite Gluten Free Bread

   I have decided to blog about my family's gluten free life.  Six months ago I was diagnosed gluten intolerant by a wonderful doctor.  She started me on my journey, and ultimately my family's journey, of a gluten free life.  With the papers she gave me I went home and started researching gluten and what it meant to be "g-free".  Wow!  I was shocked.  I had so many symptoms I never would have thought could be related to something I ate.  I thought it was all genetics. My symptoms included, fatigue, constipation or diarrhea and other issues dealing with that part of my body, bloating, anxiety (even with medication), chronic nasal allergies, mood swings, cravings for bread and pasta even after I ate them, and an overall sense of feeling like garbage.
    During my discoveries I realized that my oldest daughter had many symptoms as well.  Hallie is a wonderfully energetic, caring, smart, and fun 5 year old girl.  I had been a little concerned, however, because she was moody and at times aggressive. She still had "accidents" daily and we were going through two or more outfit changes a day.  She had hyperkeratosis pilaris (chicken bumps) on her arms, legs and cheeks that we could never get cleared up.  She was also always constipated and had been since she was about a year old.
   After a lot of research I decided to make my house gluten free.  My husband was extremely supportive of this decision.  We threw away or gave away everything in our house that had gluten in it.  The obvious; bread, pasta, cereal, crackers, cookies and the not so obvious; soups, spices, granola bars and everything else that had gluten in it. 
  After about one week on our new way of eating I had lost seven pounds and three inches in my tummy.  This was a wonderful  benefit I had not anticipated.  I was not bloated any more, had what I consider to be normal bathroom habits.  I had more energy too, I was not ready to go to bed at 3:00 in the afternoon.  I was feeling so much better.  Hallie is a happier little girl too.  She stopped having accidents about one week into the change.  Her hyperkeratosis pilaris is better.  She does not have them on her legs or face anymore and the ones on her arms are less. She is not moody or aggressive.  If Hallie does ingest gluten she has a bad couple of days.  She is very moody, weepy, aggressive and hyper.  She now questions everything she puts in her mouth because she told me "mommy, I don't want to have bad days anymore".
   The biggest challenge in our life was bread.  How could I make the favorite pb & j sandwiches without bread?  After trying many recipes and all failing I have settled on Pamela's Products Wheat-Free & Gluten-Free Bread Mix, 19-Ounce Packages (Pack of 6).  Until I have the time to test out bread recipes from scratch I will continue to use this bread mix.  I use a bread machine and once a week make up this bread.  My girls love it for their pb & j sandwiches.  I follow the directions on the bag and use either 2 extra large eggs at room temperature or 3 large eggs.  I also use the rapid white setting on my Breadman Pro.  This is not the least expensive way to make bread but the most convenient. For now this is the bread for us.