summerteeth

I've only had their spaghetti noodles and I didn't like them too much.

Cheesecake sounds good - I am kind of frightened of baking with alternative flours because my handful of experiences with them have been disastrous. I need to bite the bullet and try again one of these days

My mom had this great idea to roast some chicken wings and bring three different sauces. I kind of like this idea, but around here packs of chicken wings are kind of pricey -- and I'm not too fond of them myself.

My other idea was to make something with squash because it is on sale everywhere here - like a squash side dish.

I've never had the Tinkynada noodles before (they don't sell them around here). The only gluten-free lasagne noodles I've seen here are DeBoles.

I like the ham idea though.

Thanks!!

My city puts on a festival every labor day weekend and this is the first year I noticed poutine... it was more popular than chicken on a stick. The friends I was with that night were absolutely horrified/intrigued by the phenom that is poutine.

Man, do I love the Midwest and our cuisine.

I stumbled over to this thread and saw poutine! It has made it's way to the midwest! I saw it at a local fair a few weeks ago and it is a hit here...

I'm a newbie to the boards... so hello to all!

Article on MSN today about food allergies/intolerances with a link to an explanation of celiac disease and gluten free diet

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I wish more people knew some of this. Celiac disease is not an allergy! But I must admit that I have said, at a restaurant, "I have a gluten allergy" or "I am allergic to wheat, rye, barley, and oats". I think people take "allergy" more seriously because the repercussion of, say, a peanut allergy are well known. But getting the word out there is always admirable in my opinion because maybe, just maybe, one more person will get tested and realize that all of their health problems are intertwined - an article was the reason I got tested, after all!

My fiance's family is having a family reunion Saturday. I just found out yesterday from his mom. Knowing that there will be few, if no, options for me I am prepared to bring my own goodies. No problem there. BUT! I have to make a dish to pass. I was thinking chocolate garbanzo bean cake... but am kind of maxxed out on that because I made one last week for a friend at work. I need to broaden my gluten-free cooking horizon. Any (relatively easy) ideas?

I get really bad anxiety after a glutening. I get shaky and what my fiance calls "crazy-eyed".

Anxiety was actually the symptom my doctor saw that caused her to test for celiac, oddly enough.

My mom often sends food items to my brother and sister in law in Australia. The rules constantly change. Sometimes peanut butter is okay to send. Other times, no. Same thing with, of all things, Ranch dressing. She is not sending anything illegal, but it is very hard to tell what is okay and what is not.

I agree with the above poster, "hide" some of the stuff (i.e., my mom would take a book and put packets of tuna between the pages or wrap items in clothing).

Kettle Brand Thai Spice chips... that was not a fun next morning...

Also, "gluten free" mostacolli and red sauce from a local restaurant. I was sick for 2 weeks!

Then of course my own airhead moments like dressing (I figured it couldn't be gluten free... boy was I wrong!) and Amy's corn crust pizza (not technically my fault... and I noticed before I ate it).

I found this on the Hooters website FAQ section:

I didn't realize it was that easy. Can't have gluten? Avoid foods that typcially contain gluten.

That is probably the least helpful thing to read. There are a lot of foods that one would not think gluten is in. Like salad dressing. That can be awfully ambiguous. And plain potato chips. Ugh. That is not a sufficient allergy statement, IMO.

"Tough love is not an effective treatment for chronic illness."

So succinct! I may have to use this response when certain members of my family make me feel like a hypochondriac.

Also, I know how you feel with your in-laws. Unfortunately, some of my blood relatives are that way. My fiance and I were over at my aunt's house back in May and the ONLY thing she made that I could eat with steak. Fine... I am not going to complain. She saw my plate and said "You're trying to lose MORE weight?". Uh... no. She then said "Well, why can't you eat the salad? Can't you just pull the croutons off?". HA!

Ugh... not in Illinois then!

I went to Utz's website and cannot find a store locator. I have never had this chips before but I think I have seen them somewhere way back when (but with so many different chip options I could be mistaken).

I really want to try these, but are they online order only?

Hi all, My little girls is joining girl scouts this year as a daisy. I would love for them to add a gluten free cookie to their large sales. I contacted them and they said there may not be enough of a market for them.

I figure the more people contact them the more likely they well consider adding gluten free cookies as an option.

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that's there contact page. Hey I want the world to be as friendly as possible for my little girl.

Thanks,

Suzanne

I emailed them just now. I think it would be a really good idea for them to include a gluten free option. There are a lot of us out there, and I for one was a girl scout fifteen years ago (and the cookies were amazing). I remember last year having to say no to all of the little girls selling their cookies and it made me kind of sad (for them especially... but also for me... hehe )

I emailed Dr. Bronner's about their lemon lime lip balm (it's amazing, by the way) & in addition to replying in literally 5 minutes, this is what I got:

Hello Monica,

Thanks for writing. Yes, all our products are gluten free, including those

you have listed below.

Please let me know if I can be of further help.

Take care,

Erin Trudeau

Customer Service Manager

Dr. Bronner

That will definitely come in handy! I like to shop at Aldi but am kind of weary on some of the products... this will help clear some of those questions up.

Thank you!!

i know this may seem obvious... but:

When you called did you confirm that it was indeed a gluten free pasta that you were ordering? if so, then yes i would call because they did something wrong and they should know before it happens to someone else. you could also inquire aboutn the handling, cooking, delivery etc. where cross contamination is VERY likely

Yes, when I called I told the lady who answered I had celiac disease and it was very important that I got the gluten free pasta. She told me that I had the option of a salad as a side. I asked her which dressings were gluten free and she was unsure, so I said no side was necessary.

Wow - after reading this, I realized that I went down a shoe size... I never realized that that could be from water weight lost after going gluten-free. Weird how you have an "epiphany moment" like that sometimes...

And that I was urinating more often, too, after my diagnosis. It's weird how you don't think of these things that are so glaringly obvious until months after the fact.

My fiance, my sister, and I decided we were going to order food out on Saturday. I don't usually do this because I am very weary of getting glutened, but we decided to celebrate because my sister was in town. The restaurant we ordered from boasted "gluten free garlic pasta and gluten free mostacoli in red sauce" (I saw this on my area's celiac support group's website).

So I ordered the mostacoli in red sauce (fiance and sister shared a regular gluten-filled pizza - fiance doesn't get to eat that too often). I ate it Saturday evening and immediately got sleepy. So I went to bed, woke up yesterday (Sunday) and was horribly irritable all day and had the D. I got a headache in the late afternoon and went to bed about an hour earlier than usually. I wake up this morning, and I have the worst brain fog, chills, migraine, and have the ever lovely bloat.

I have been gluten free for just under a year. I have been unintentionally glutened a handful of times in the last year - I know how this goes.

But my question is do I call this restaurant and ask? Or should I just assume this was self-inflicted (I tend to eat pretty clean and don't really buy gluten free goodies - I like fruits, veggies, and plain meats mostly - but a girl has got to splurge once and a while )

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

- Monica

I'm actually from northern Illinois (just south of Beloit, WI), but my parents have a place in Hazelhurst & we go to Hayward a lot (Grandma Ferdon's is awesome). Let me just say you Wisconsinites have much better gluten-free shopping than we do here (unless I trek to Chicago).

-- Monica

I have to say... I read what you were going through and this upset me so much, and my fiance (someone who does not have celiac disease) was also upset about this. I am so glad that you stood up, said something, and got your point across. CONGRATULATIONS!

There are a couple of us in the far NW burbs in Mchenry county...

Like in Harvard?

Anyone in north central IL? Maybe Rockford, DeKalb, Sterling... even Beloit, WI?

Ugh... stuff like this makes me upset. I was a waitress when I was 18. I had no clue what celiac disease was... but I remember more than one patron that had cited celiac disease (also Crohn's, soy allergies, and corn allergies). I was more than happy to run back and forth to help them out because I figured that was my job - I was getting paid to make sure they enjoyed themselves. Now, four years later, I have been diagnosed with celiac disease and I am on the opposite end of the conversation. And I can't express enough gratitude when someone genuinely wants to make sure my meal is satisfactory.

All these "celiac is a hoax" articles are really leaving a bad taste in my mouth. So I can't eat everything that you can? So what? I didn't realize I was such an inconvienence to journalists/bloggers...

I love them. Their pizza spice is amazing and makes a really good easy pizza sauce. When I asked them about gluten-free they also recommended avoiding their cocoa mixes. Not sure if that has changed since I asked.

Ooh, good to know about the cocoa. I really like the tellicherry black pepper and the green goddess dressing mix.