summerteeth

From a Parade-type newspaper insert:

Mix 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, 2 tsp. cornstarch, 1/4 tsp. salt, 2 egg whites (not beaten). Should be thick enough to form balls; if not, add more sugar and/or cocoa. (I forgot the cornstarch, but they were still very, very good. I wound up using 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar.) Stir in 1 cup nuts. Form into 15 balls, place on parchment paper, and bake 16-19 minutes in a 300 oven until crackly and shiny. Cool completely. I had to bake a little longer before they were crackly. They have a sort of crisp-meringue outside, and a soft, chewy inside, and are made with things I always have.

That sounds so yummy... I would probably eliminate the corn starch, also because I try to stay away from corn.

I second that. It sounds delicious.

Me too! Fermented beets would be great (I love the pickled variety).

Also - coconut kefir? I was under the impression that kefir was somewhat difficult to make... please share!

A delicious dairy-free alternative is sorbet... The really good stuff is Hagen Daz, I love the mango or raspberry flavours.

Also want to mention that the info I found/posted is Canadian and the ingredients are sometimes different for the U.S.!

Another good dairy free alternative is So Delicious Coconut Milk ice cream - it is really good, too! I like the green tea flavor (different, but very tasty) and the mint chocolate chip.

I definitely get the stuffy nose - not the itchy lady bits, though -- I was unaware that casein could cause that!

Please let us know how the fermented cabbage goes - I would really like to try that, myself, since I can't have yogurt anymore.

Sometimes I somewhat inaccurately tell people I can't eat flour because I find that a shocking number of people don't think white flour is made from wheat!

Isn't it shocking how people don't know what is in their food?

And WOW -- that is a horrible attitude for a teacher to have! Food allergies and intolerance are serious problems. Definitely not something you can "just have a bite of".

Hi guys, it has been exactly a year since going gluten free. First I want to say that this is a serious auto-immune issue---let me tell you the symptoms I had

1. Severe constipation---found out peristalsis almost stopped

2. Severe pain and bloating

3. Severe bruising---every little bump caused bruising

4. Amemia

5. Severe medication resistant insomnia

6. Severe medication resistant bipolar symptoms and panic attacks

7. General retention of fluid ankles, faces, bra area, etc.

1. For intractable constipation

Gluten free---HOWEVER, NO GLUTEN FREE breads,corn tortilla cookies, pasta, rice...NOTHING GOOEY---even with drinking lots of water, ANYTHING dense, that "packs" will flare up the bloating, gas, and pain

3. I have a minor intolerance to rice, corn, and dairy...small amounts are OK, but if I overeat, the bloating flares up

Oddly, I have a lot of similar symptoms. Bloating and constipation were a huge problem for me - so bad that I have ended up in the ER multiple times for this. Luckily, I have gotten away from laxatives.

Corn and rice are a big problem for me, also, especially in regards to bloat.

And water truly does help a ton when I'm feeling crappy.

What if you just laugh at her when she says something like that? "that's very funny! You can't fool me! I know white flour is made from wheat?". Or "Ha! ha! You don't really think white flour doesn't come from wheat?". Being a small office, you can't get too mean. I think you already realize she's mean and not the fastest truck in the lot!

Haha that is a really good way to put it... she is kind of a, um... odd duck.

It just gets so grating, you know?

Thank you for the advice, though, I will try that next time she tries to pawn chocolate cake off on me.

I was diagnosed with celiac almost two years ago. I find that when I explain it to people, most of them at least understand it a little bit (as in, they understand I absolutely cannot eat gluten but maybe they don't understand why).

That being said, I have working in my current office for a little over a year (but I have worked at this company for almost three years. There are employees in and out of my office every day (I work for a trucking company) but there are three of us there: my boss (the president), an older lady who does secretarial work (but has been there for three decades) and myself (I am in IT).

Now this older lady, let's call her C, is a loud mouth character who is sometimes (begrudgingly) referred to as "an institution" (as in she has been there so long people request she pick up the phone and ramble off incoherent vulgarities). I have explained AD NAUSEUM my situation. I have brought in pamphlets on the disease. We get a lot of food from customers. Today, it was Pizza Hut pizza. With a piece, in hand, not two feet away from me, C TELLS ME I can have some because it is not made from whole wheat crust.

Okay, I am not trying to be oversensitive. And I could laugh it off it it only happened once in a while. But, like I said, it is almost daily. And, trust me, I have no desire to eat Pizza Hut. But my question is how do you explain celiac to people who just don't get it?

Sorry for the rant - I am just extremely frustrated with this...

Cecilia's Marketplace has a grocery guide that was extremely helpful to me when I was first learning how to read labels - they have updates every so often on their website if a product changes (ie, no longer gluten-free). This can be hard though because products change all the time!

Breakfast was hard for me, too, at first. I pretty much just eat a bowl of fruit with a protein (like a piece of chicken or turkey) for breakfast. It is cheaper than most of the cereals and I don't have to worry about CC. There are also rice cakes (Lundberg are for sure gluten-free, the new packages of Quaker say gluten-free on the back).

Good luck! This site is a very helpful resource.

Yoplait, Stoneyfield Greek yogurt, and Lifeway kefir are all good... I don't purchase Dannon because they have been so evasive about their ingredients.

This is a double-edged sword for me. On one hand... I can't WAIT for the bisquick... I've missed dumplings in stew! On the other hand... I don't need ONE excuse to embrace convenience food!

I'm with you there! I love having the option, though, especially around the holidays!

Thankfully I was one of those who had no withdrawal symptoms at all. But my sweetie, who has diabetes, spastic colon, is a smoker, also has had 1 heart attack and open heart surgery tried to go gluten free with me. Bad bad gluten withdrawals to the point he finally said to heck with it. He now knows he has a gluten problem but refuses to go gluten free because it was so bad. He said he'd rather suffer through another heart attack and open heart surgery before going through that again.

Same here - I didn't have withdrawal symptoms with gluten. Milk products were another story - I CRAVED cheese.

My fiance, on the other had, cannot go a day without gluten without feeling crappy. Luckily it doesn't bother him - he has a problem with some fruits and vegetables, and also nuts. He has to have his multigrain sandwich thins. He is also the same with protein or he'll get sluggish-- but for me, I could go without meat (I eat it though).

We are quite the pair with our problems with food!

An update:

I went to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls walk yesterday and it was GREAT. My fiance and I drove three hours from Rockford, IL. and it was worth it! The ladies who ran the group were extremely friendly and made us feel at home. We also left with a backseat full of free samples (many items which we cannot purchase in Rockford - including Go Picnic packs and Katz products). They had many raffles and my fiance won one of them!

They also informed us that Iowa will be having a statewide meeting in October and we have decided that we will be attending that (I was told that Peter Green may be speaking there).

I am so glad we went!

I actually live in Rockford, but I went to college in Lincoln Park and my sister still lives in Ravenswood.

I like Jewel's selection of gluten-free products. And like Trader Joe's too (I go to the one in Naperville). Also Marcello's has AMAZING gluten-free pizza.

What do you usually tell your waiter before ordering out? is there a quick way of telling them all of the details without scaring them off : )

I have my dining card from Cecilia's Marketplace. I usually ask the waiter or waitress to show it to the chef and/or cook. It has helped IMMENSELY - especially since I was kind of shy about mentioning it when going out to eat. I bought two - my fiance carries one in his wallet and I carry one in my purse.

Adding to the already great ideas --

* make your meals a head of time and wrap them in foil - that way you can just heat them when you are ready. I did this last summer with fried potatoes, peppers, onions, and cut up kielbasa. My gluten eating friends even wanted some!

* Kinnickinick makes gluten-free "graham crackers" called Smore-a-bles - gotta have s'mores when you are camping

* fresh fruit & veggies are easy - you can cut them before hand and put them in tupperware for a snack

* I always bring my own dip and put a BIG label on the lid and the side that says DO NOT CONTAMINATE so no one dips their glutened crackers in it

I pretty much just bring my own of everything, even items like potato chips, condiments (peanut butter especially), and snacks -- just to be safe.

Have fun!

I am planning on attending the ninth annual walk in Waterloo on June 5 -- anyone else going?

Open Original Shared Link

I don't know if you have an Aldi around you, but they are GREAT. My fiance is not gluten or casein free, so we buy his cereal, yogurt, cottage cheese, block cheese, hot dog buns etc. there. They also have TONS of canned goods - beans, fruit, and veggies. I stock up on their beans especially for chili.

And they do respond to emails regarding product questions.

What saves me money is only buying what is in season and checking the three major stores around me for prices. I buy the majority of my food at one store (it is a produce store because that is what we eat the most of) and I check around for sales on meat, lunch meat, condiments, etc.

Basically the best advice I can give is to shop around and check up on the weekly sale ads, then base your meals off of those. For example, one store near me had ground chuck for $1.29/lb. I stocked up and froze most of it, but made apple and vidalia meatballs with some of it for the week.

i've had ongoing sinus infections, chronic bronchitis as well as pnuemonia 4x's despite taking meds properly. everything i've researched pointed to celiac being a possible link because of the chronic inflammation and poor immune system. have you tried the nettipot? that was surprisingly helpful to me.

i know there is quite a bit of sinus and stomach bugs going around in our neck of the woods ... hopefully yours will pass without needing antibiotics!

Agree on the Neti Pot - it really helps me during allergy season.

That being said, I used to get sinus infections all year long - and they would get very painful. I haven't had one in about a year and a half (I was diagnosed about a year and seven months ago). You may be on to something...

My fiance has free reign of one (large) cupboard - he barely uses it. He likes sandwiches, but other than that, he doesn't really eat much gluten. I have no problems with him having sandwiches or gluten containing items, but he knows by now that he has to wash his face & brush his teeth before getting close to me. He also knows that he cannot use my cast iron pans to cook grilled cheese. He has his own tupperware, one frying pan, a cutting board, and two cookie sheets.

We never really have problems in our kitchen.

Rice makes me bloated - big time. My mom and sister are the same way. I avoid it big time.

Yesterday around lunchtime I started having the worst celiac symptoms - worse than accidentally ingesting gluten (I have been gluten-free for almost 2 years). So I go back to my food log (I keep one for caloric purposes - and for just in case I start feeling sick). There is nothing on my list that puts up any red flags.

I have read that severe stress can trigger symptoms. Well... I have had some pretty severe stress the last few weeks (death in the family, job problems).

My question is: has anyone ever had this before? Do the symptoms seem overly severe (mine are REALLY BAD)? Any advice??

For those of you in or around Chicago, I found out this weekend that Marcello's has a gluten free menu! I ordered their pizza this last Saturday and it is absolutely delicious. They also offer a brownie pizza, various types of gluten-free pasta, and a few different salads. Also, Redbridge beer.

The server was extremely knowledgeable and told me he was very careful in avoiding cross contamination (this comment wasn't even prompted!) He also told me that they had recently gone through a rigorous training session on different food allergies, intolerances, and Celiac disease.

I had the pizza. I had the option of either thin or pan style - I ordered thin. I got a one topping pizza for less than $13.

They have three Chicago-land locations (Logan Square, Lincoln Park, and Northbrook). And their website is www.marcellos.com. If you are in the Chicago area, definitely try it out - their pizza was so good!

I am very excited to hear that Woodman's will start carrying Katz Products for me this a blessing untill now i had to order online and the shipping was sexpensive or drive 10 Minutes to the closest atore that carries their products, too bad they dont have matzho maybe next year,

THANK YOU for that information! There is a Woodman's here and I try to make it out there once a month - they really do have the better prices on gluten-free foods.

Boar's Head is gluten free and yummy.

Also Buddig says gluten free on the backs of their packages - great rolled up with cream cheese!