MNBeth

Welcome Beth! Mine is still sitting in my cart, just waiting to be ordered, lol. Anxiously awaiting a review by anyone, lol.

Thanks, Donna; we'll see!

Hi All,

New to this thread; ordering my second sample kit. Does anyone have their Spring Berries lip gloss, yet?

Thanks,

Beth

I can sooooo relate to what you're saying. We went on a cruise in June, and while it was amazing and beautiful, it was hard to have every meal be stressful for me when for everyone else, food was a major part of the "relax and enjoy" factor.

But, yeah, mostly I'm just tired of feeling crummy. I have major "monthly" issues, too, and between that and the gluten intolerance and the who knows what else, I feel crummy more than I feel good. I spent about 8 years trying to figure out my fatigue/mood issues before getting the GI diagnosis last fall, and the lack of improvement in those areas has been a major disappointment. Add me to the list of people who would mind being gluten-free less if I actually felt better.

(I finally did start w/ major stomach upset before I was diagnosed, so in that respect I do feel better off gluten than on. But the longer term issues aren't much improved, and I am sooooo tired of trying to figure out what causes what.)

<Sigh>

Argh! I am a major airhead today.

The label actually just says Dutch Crunch Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips. Can't seem to edit my title, though.

Anyway, does anybody eat these chips? For some reason I had it in my mind that they were safe except for the dairy, which I've been avoiding. Since I'm doing better with dairy, now, I grabbed a bag. Naturally I popped one in my mouth and was chewing by the time I perused the ingredients, at which point I hastily spit out the chip and went to brush my teeth for half an hour. (Okay, it was only about 5 minutes.)

But now that I've calmed down, I'm not sure what to think, really. "Natural malt vinegar type flavoring!?!?" I know that malt vinegar is out, but they almost seem to be going out of their way to say that this isn't really malt vinegar. To make it more confusing, someone here posted a letter from Old Dutch (Oct.07) that did list these as being gluten free. The website FAQ gluten-free list however, does not, unless it means to include them under "Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips." But there is another product by that name that isn't part of the Dutch Crunch line, so I don't know whether they were condensing, or whether these really aren't gluten free. Then again, none of the Dutch Crunch flavors are specifically listed in the website FAQ list, but I've seen them listed several other places.

Does anybody know the real deal??

p.s. I did e-mail the company, but since it's Saturday and a holiday weekend, I'm not sure when I'll hear back.

Thanks!

I haven't had much luck making pasta salad with gluten-free pasta. When I do make it, I try to make just enough for that meal and eat it right away. With wheat pasta I would make it the day before and allow it to sit overnight for the flavors to blend. This doesn't seem to work with the gluten-free pasta and as a result, I think the salad doesn't taste as good. I also can't use the dressing I used to use. Might not be gluten that is the issue there, but other allergens.

I wonder if it would help to make the dressing a day in advance, so at least those flavors have a chance to blend, then put the salad together the next day.

I've just began my gluten-free diet and i had a bad reaction to some gluten a few days ago (terrible nighttime diarrhea and stomach cramps) and within 24 hours i noticed red bumps that look just like bug bites on my legs. so far i've counted 8 on my legs and 2 or 3 on my arms/armpits. the bumps are perfectly round, red and very ichy.

does anyone know if these bumps could be type of DH? i've never had any kind of rash before, with the exception of acne.

should i see a doctor or just wait for them to go away?

any advice is appreciated!

It doesn't sound like DH to me, though I'm not expert. Sounds more like hives, though. If Benadryl makes them go away, that's what they are, I'm pretty sure.

Amen to all of the above. Bread baking was my primary hobby for about 10 years before my diagnosis last fall, but I won't bring wheat flour into the house any more. After I went gluten-free I got sick just cleaning up my grain mill to give it away. Flour is just too hard to contain.

I know it is maddening when your family doesn't understand, but I don't think risking your health because they don't accept your situation is the right answer.

Gluten free baked goods really can be very good. Not, in my opinion, yeast breads, unfortunately. I really only likes really good yeast breads before I went off gluten, so gluten-free yeast breads just aren't worth the calories to me. Quick breads, cookies and cakes, however, can be barely distinguishable from their gluten counterparts. I just made a Texas Sheet Cake this weekend that everyone was crazy about and no one could tell was gluten free. I make muffins all the time, and cookies, too. Mostly I've just adapted my own favorite recipes from before. I'm pretty picky about my baked goods, but have been really happy with what I've been able to do.

It would be good, though, to use these months to play around and get your recipes tweaked to your satisfaction. Then when the holidays roll around, buy some good bread and make gluten-free everything else.

And if, after all that, your family still insists on having gluteny baked goods, they are welcome to make them themselves. There is no reason for you to feel obligated to accomodate their unreasonable demands.

Hi all,

We are just back from our first cruise. It was a fabulous experience in many respects, but the food situation was a bit disappointing.

We were optimistic, having read reports of great cruise experiences, with knowledgeable dining staff helping people navigate menus and buffets. In our case, everyone was kind, but not necessarily knowledgeable. The head chef clearly knew his stuff, but his staff didn't do a great job of keeping our orders gluten-free. We had to send back several plates that had fries or hash browns, as well as some dishes of ice cream that came garnished w/cookies. (The hash-browns were the deep-fried triangles you'd get at Mc Donalds or in a school lunch - disappointing in itself!) The manager of the more casual buffet-style dining room said, "Sure, sure, you eat here whenever you want and I will take care of you!" But he didn't usually offer to help when I came in unless I asked, and in many he cases he told me to avoid lots of dishes because he didn't know whether or not they were gluten-free. Some of them I probably could have eaten if he'd bothered to check it out, and it was frustrating to have to be even more limited than I needed to be.

He did recommend something on the buffet line that was later served to my son with the tongs from the breaded fish. So, no, we didn't feel too safe in there, and mostly ate plain chicken, fruit and plain salad. Not terribly exciting. There were also many other food spots that were simply off-limits, like the burger, taco bar by the pool and the various special event buffets like a huge dessert buffet they set up one night and the "Alaskan Barbecue" on our last at sea day. We just had to skip those, because no one was there who could tell us if anything was safe for us.

The chef in the main dining room would adapt menu items for us, but no-one gave us any recommendations, and often the adaptations meant we'd get the featured item without the sauce that gave the dish it's only interest. They did have on hand gluten-free bread, blueberry muffins, and english muffins - all Kinnickinnick, I think, and that was nice for my son. I don't eat that stuff. But while our pre-cruise paperwork allowed us to choose three desserts to have on board, the only thing they had was a totally stale, dry, freezerburned chocolate cake, and it was cheerfully served to us twice a day unless we asked them not to bring it. Ugh, it was nasty. There were other desserts that looked like they might be safe, but, again, nobody seemed able to tell us. We had also requested cereal pre-cruise, but they didn't have that for us at all.

On the last night we both ordered a pasta w/Italian sausage dish. The main steward wasn't sure they would have gluten-free pasta, but I knew they did - my son had had some once already. When I got mine and started eating, I thought the sauce tasted awfully starchy. My brother-in-law agreed, so we asked them to check it out. Turns out the chef had made a special sauce for my son and me, but the person who dished it up used the wrong kind. Fortunately my son got his well after I got mine and didn't eat any. I never got a very clear answer as to what, exactly, was in the sauce - only that it wasn't completely gluten free. I'm still not too sick, though - to my very great surprise. It's been about 48 hours. I haven't gotten glutened in several months, so I'm wondering whether there was too little gluten in the sauce for a few bites' worth to make me sick, or if it's going to just take longer now for it to hit me, or if God really did a miracle in answer to my sister-in-law's prayer at the time.

When they did finally bring out our genuinely gluten-free pasta dishes, there was no sausage - but no one had bothered to tell us that the sausage pasta dish would be sausage-free if it were gluten-free. I'd certainly have chosen something else.

Anyway, it may be that another Holland America crew might handle gluten-free fabulously, but our experience wasn't too hot. Very limited options, always a certain amount of stress involved in getting meals, and the constant need to be very watchful definitely detracted from the whole cruise experience.

It was definitely worth it all, though, for our day in Glacier Bay! What an thrilling place that was!! :-D

p.s. I should add that the head chef did come to our table and apologize very graciously and without excuses when we got the pasta with the wrong sauce. He also said that it was completely unacceptable, and that the person who dished our plates would no longer hold that position. I appreciated that, and don't know what more he could have said.

So then these threads didn't help?

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

I had read through those threads, and found that most of the recommendations were either too far from our hotel (we won't have a car), or too far above budget for our large family.

I'm glad I went back to double check, though, as I had missed one thing that looks like it will work. Thanks!

Beth

Hi folks,

We are heading for Vancouver, BC next week to catch our Alaskan cruise ship. We'll be coming in the day before departure, and would appreciate any recommendations of places to eat near our hotel. We'll be staying at the Century Plaza on Burrard and Nelson.

We are a family of six and are NOT looking for high-end dining. ;-) I've seen a list that's been linked to, but there is too little information about each restaurant to be really helpful - most of them just say "call and ask."

Also, from what I've seen, the airport itself looks to be a no-dining zone for celiacs. Tell me I'm wrong?

Thanks!

Beth

Good thought, Julie. Thanks; I'll give it a try.

<Bump>

We'll be staying at the Century Plaza on Nelson and Burrard. Anyone??

Hi folks,

We are heading for Vancouver, BC next week to catch our Alaskan cruise ship. We'll be coming in the day before departure, and would appreciate any recommendations of places to stay/eat relatively near the port. We are a family of six and are NOT looking for high-end dining. ;-) I've seen a list that's been linked to, but there is too little information about each restaurant to be really helpful - most of them just say "call and ask."

Also, from what I've seen, the airport itself looks to be a no-dining zone for celiacs. Tell me I'm wrong?

Thanks!

Beth

just quit cashews because I read they can cause gas (and are a bean, when I thought they were a seed...insights?)

Cashews?? Cause gas??? I'm amazed at my own inability to sort my symptoms by dietary changes. Yes, I have had lots more smelly gas the last week or so. I thought it was eating more veggies, but I'm also almost halfway down the Costco jar of cashews! Sorry, family.

Crispix is gluten-free? I didn't know that!

I don't believe it is gluten free. Here's the ingredients list from the Kellogg's website.

Ingredients

MILLED CORN, RICE, BROWN SUGAR, SALT, MALT FLAVORING, BAKING SODA, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), IRON, NIACINAMIDE, TURMERIC COLOR, ZINC OXIDE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), VITAMIN A PALMITATE, FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B12 AND VITAMIN D.

As I understand it, malt flavoring is off limits.

I called Tyson a couple of months ago to ask about their sausage patties that I bought at Costco and they told me that they will disclose any gluten in the ingredients list. The key is to look up the company website, then find their contact information. I know it's a pain. Costco is not very helpful, which is why I try to avoid buying their Kirkland brand food on a matter of principle.

I did go to their website and call, but they were closed, so I e-mailed. If they are so careful to disclose gluten in their ingredients, I wonder why the person who responded to my e-mail wasn't aware of it. Makes me nervous.

On the other hand, I've always gotten prompt answers from Costco about Kirkland products. Guess it all depends on who you talk to - though it shouldn't!

Last week I found some Tyson Polish Kielbasa at Costco, and tried to find out whether it contained gluten. There was no phone # on the package, so I called Costco. ( From inside the Costco ;-) . Those are big stores and I was faaaar away from the customer service desk!) Anyway, they didn't know a thing about it. So I called my husband and had him check the website. No info there, either, but a phone #. Called that; they're closed on Saturday.

So later I sent an e-mail through their website asking if their Polish Kielbasa sold through Costco contained gluten. Following is the completely unhelpful response I received:

"Thank you for contacting us via the Internet regarding Ingredients in

our Tyson Foods, Inc. products. In order to verify ingredients in our

products we must have a product UPC bar code(proof of purchase). I

apologize, but we do not maintain a list of products free of allergens.

Although, in an effort to improve awareness of potential food allergens

we have initiated a proactive step towards identifying and labeling

packaged products that contain known allergens.

The top eight major food allergens are:

Shellfish

Milk

Eggs

Peanuts

Fish

Soy

Tree Nuts

Wheat

Thank you,

Leslie Hickman

Consumer Relations"

I responded by pointing out that I don't plan to purchase the product first and then find out whether I can eat it. And that it was hard to see how following labeling laws constituted "initiating a proactive step," and that gluten isn't covered by the law in any case. And that celiacs were a rapidly growing and well-connected community that keeps track of the helpful vs. the unhelpful food companies. Probably won't make a difference, but you do what you can.

I had read here that Tyson was a "safe" company that labeled their products for gluten, but I can hardly believe that's the case if even the customer service representative can't tell me the status of a product w/o a bar code.

Argh.

Okay, I have been gluten free for about 1 month. Most of the gluten free cereals I have tried I don't like. Dose anyone eat mainstream cereals? I hear fruity/cocoa pebbles are gluten free...I would love some feedback about any gluten free cereals

I'd love to help, but "good" is such a relative term - what I think is really good, you might not like at all. I think if you could tell us what your favorites used to be as well as some new things you've tried and not liked, we'll be better able to make some relevant suggestions.

I'm pretty new, too, but so far I like a combo of sorghum and millet, with some starches added, but not nearly as much as most recipes recommend. Here's my weird method:

For about 3/4 of the flour called for I'll use roughly two parts sorghum to one part millet.

For the last fourth I'll use some combination of tapioca, corn, and/or potato starches. Haven't sorted those out very well, yet. I'm getting rave reviews using this combination in my old favorite muffin recipes. In my experience so far, even w/an Authentic Foods flour blend, the rice flour is gummier than I like in muffins and such.

(And if you can do soy, soy yogurt is great in muffins - I use it to sub for buttermilk in one recipe and also in my favorite Cook's Illustrated muffin recipe, which calls for yogurt. Obviously we're also dairy free, at least for now.)

I'll probably play around with some other things eventually, but for now I'm too relieved to have found a system that works consistenly for me.

Hope you get there, soon!

How about a big fruit salad? It's not exactly an inspired idea, but it usually gets eaten!

For those of you in Minnesota, I just went to Rainbow (Coon Rapids) this morning, and they have the gluten-free Rice Chex at $2.89 for a 12.8 oz box PLUS you get $5.00 off if you buy five boxes. Which, of course, I did!!

Please forgive me if this is a stupid question, but she's not using the hand sanitizer instead of washing her hands, is she? If she had gluten on her hands, the sanitizer wouldn't take care of it. You probably knew that.

Are we talking about real Rice Chex? If yes, YOOHOO!

Yes, ma'am!! But watch carefully - gluteny ones are still VERY available. But the gluten-free ones say so right on the front of the box.

Good for you for push, push, pushing when you needed to! That can be so hard to do. I wasn't too good at that, and ultimately ordered tests for my son and I myself through Enterolab. Then, of course, I had to convince my other doctors that the test was valid, but being on the diet has been undeniable proof. I'm not feeling wonderful yet, but, boy, do I get sick if I get gluten.

So far the tally in my family is as follows: Paternal grandmother we're pretty sure; my father, his niece and nephew, myself, my oldest son, my sister, her oldest daughter. Sadly, no one else in my large extended family has been tested so far, including my other three kids. (Well, one of those is adopted, so the odds are more in her favor!)

Mostly it's been the unreliability of the blood tests and the expense of the Enterolab test that have prevented our testing the other kids who don't have significant symptoms.

There's so much to consider, isn't there? I will say, the camaraderie of learning about it together with my sister has been very helpful. Hope your family will be able to support one another that way, too!

Found some! (At Rainbow in Coon Rapids, MN, if anyone cares.)

The Health Valley ones are also more expensive for me, and my sister and I both sort of concluded that we didn't feel great after eating those. I've always wondered why they don't say gluten-free on the box.

Anyhoo, I haven't opened my Chex, yet, but I have used the HV ones crushed to bread chicken tenders, and we thought they were pretty good.

I'm loving the marshmallow treats idea - hadn't thought of that! Might even do PB ones and quit buying those pricey Envirokids bars for the boy.