BlessedMommy

I miss fig newtons a lot. I also miss having a good pizza. Being both gluten and dairy free, it's a challenge to make pizza. One thing that I miss, is being able to eat other people's cooking. I would like to find a celiac who would cook dinner and invite me over! It would be great to be able to eat something made by somebody else and not worry.

Going gluten free has definitely widened my horizons. One food that I make now that I never used to is sushi! (probably technically California Rolls, since I make them with veggies and rice only) So easy and delicious!

These carob chips are produced in a dedicated gluten-free facility.

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ETA: I just read elsewhere that their facility does not handle wheat, but is not certified gluten free. 

Thanks for the replies. To the best of my knowledge, I don't think that I've ever been glutened in this fashion, but I started wondering about it. I don't want to be fanatical, but I do want to be careful.

I had a situation in the past where I rewashed dishes because of seeing visible crumbs sitting on them. I guess that common sense is the best guide.

I found this link:

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Vegan gluten free buns are not really common to find. I can see why buying commercial wouldn't be an option. Even if you wanted to provide a gluten free wrap, the teff wraps have no eggs in them, but still have honey and thus are not vegan. With baking, though, since flour remains airborne for many hours, it is very difficult to produce gluten free bread in a mixed environment.

I do appreciate the effort to provide vegetarian gluten free options and I'm sure that the celiac vegans appreciate it even more. (I'm ovo-veg and not vegan, but I've heard that vegan and celiac is a very difficult combination) Living as a strict gluten free vegetarian, it does feel like a "niche" sort of group, where it's so specific, that there are fewer options than I would like.

What about providing a veggie wrap with collard greens as the outer shell or something similar?

That makes sense and is a good rule of thumb to follow.

The reason why I asked this is that a friend babysat my kids for me tonight and when I picked them up, she offered me a snack. (gluten free chips from a sealed bag, a whole avocado, salsa, and  grape juice) She doesn't have a dishwasher. I accepted them and used her plate but then wondered if that was a glutening risk. 

So, I know that the protocol is wash your own dishes with separate cloths (or throw them in the dishwasher). But if you are over at your friend's house and they give you something that is definitely safe (fresh fruit, gluten free chips out of an unopened bag, prepackaged gluten free food, etc.) or you bring over your own food, will you eat off of their dishes? 

I just figured that farmer's market veggies would be more likely to have worms, that's why I asked where you bought them. I'm shocked that frozen veggies had a worm in them!

I do get my produce from a farm a couple hours away via a weekly subscription box though, and the quality is awesome! If you have farmer's markets, CSA's, or similar things, it's an awesome way to get amazing veggies!

Wow, what a bummer! I grew up as a farmer's daughter and I remember worms floating in our pot of broccoli and my mom skimming them off the top, so apparently worms really like broccoli. Did you get that from a regular store or a farmer's market?

Also, Pinterest has some great "no sandwich" lunch ideas.

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Which thermos did you try? We tried a thermos once and had a disaster with it shattering all over. (interior was made out of glass or fiberglass, IIRC)

We purchased a genuine Thermos brand made out of stainless steel this time and haven't been disappointed, it does an excellent job of keeping food warm and is durable and safe. Even picky kids will usually enjoy stuff like meatballs, gluten free spaghetti, chili, lasagna, etc. 

Each doctor seems to have their own way of diagnosing. It seems like if there is a conflict between the information gained between the tests, the trial gluten free diet should be tried. I know of someone who had, if I remember right, symptoms of celiac, negative bloodwork, positive genetics, and a mildly positive biopsy, or something like that. The doctor told him to try gluten free for 8 weeks. The guy did and started having symptom resolution and feeling better, then eventually tried gluten again and was in the bathroom all day. The doctor DX'ed him with celiac at that point.

The increased constipation definitely could be a sign, especially since it's such a big deviation from his normal pattern.

Chances are very good that your gluten eaters could be contaminating you. I had a relapse of neurological symptoms, a few weeks after my kids started their gluten challenge. My kids will eat food, drop crumbs all over, and touch gluten free food without washing their hands first. Or they will come and kiss me with their sweet little gluteny lips, rub their gluteny face all over mine or put their hands all over my face.

For my health and sanity, I absolutely can't have large amounts of gluten in the house. It raises my stress level too high to always be reminding my kids to not touch my food without washing their hands first. I have more important things to do and keeping a substantially mixed house is not worth my energy.

Try Pamela's bread mix, my gluten eaters love it! They also love my scratch recipe too.

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Also, one alternative to sandwiches for school and work lunches, is to send hot foot in a thermos, or pack food to microwave in those little glass pyrex dishes. (pyrex portables)

Did you actually have celiac ruled out, via a negative test? Or did you go gluten free with no testing?

I suspect I could be celiac (have severe neurological symptoms from gluten) but can't get tested because there's no way I can tolerate a gluten challenge. Thus, I don't consider myself "not celiac," as much as I consider myself "not diagnosed, but definitely not touching the stuff." 

Here is a DIY option:

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That's up to you. I wouldn't think that frozen fruit would be a big glutening risk, though, especially since it's not even processed in the same part of the facility. 

Yep, coconut oil is good. If you have any warehouse club memberships, Sam's and Costco both carry it in a large container.

Are they tasty? What do you use them in? How do they compare to the flavor of other noodles?

One way that I keep the cost of bread recipes down is by grinding the special types of flour myself wherever possible. Certified G.F. millet bought in bulk is way cheaper than millet flour. My Vitamix makes flour out of it in about 60 seconds, so it's really not time consuming to do.

Gluten free bread is pretty easy to make anyway, because of the lack of having to knead the stuff. I bought a bread maker and found that I barely use it, because it's easy enough just to mix everything up by hand.

I did a rough cost analysis for the ingredients of my homemade recipe and my estimate was that my price per loaf for ingredients was $4. 

I've noticed that since going gluten free, I have a much more survivalistic attitude about eating. I view eating basically as a necessary life activity and often find that I do so a bit mechanically and methodically.

I wonder if some of that stems from having to say no to so many foods and often having to eat very simple foods to avoid being glutened. (it's a good thing that I like plain veggies, baked potatoes, and hummus!) I mean, desserts are not an option at most places, unless I made and brought them for example. Nor can I eat at potlucks, so my meal ends up being simple and quite a few less items than the average person since I brought it all myself.

I've also noticed that I rarely overeat anymore. I'm not sure if wheat actually has any effect on appetite or if that change happened mostly because of the afore mentioned less variety situation.

Has anybody else noticed any changes in how you relate to food?

Fun! We actually already have sledded this year, but the snow melted, so I'm looking forward to another snow so that I can take the kids out again.

That's fantastic! Congratulations on your new job!

Yeah, it's hard when you don't have something in your area.