luvs2eat

My youngest daughter spent more than a year eating exactly 5 foods. She'd been to doctor after doctor who blew her off and she had to do her own research and fashion her own elimination diet. She ate eggs, plain cooked chicken (no spices at all), apples, cauliflower, and white rice. After that very long time, her gut was so much happier and she began to bring one (ONE) food back at a time for days and days. Now she can eat almost anything w/o gluten, dairy, some nightshades, and some high oxylates. She's super sensitive still but is so happy to have been able to bring back so many foods.

My fave comment was, "OMG... what on earth do you eat???" I'd look down at myself and say, "Um... do I LOOK like I'm starving?"

We just don't eat out anymore. I've talked the talk and ordered a plain salad only to find a random tortilla strip or fried Chinese noodle buried in there. Last month I did go to a Red Robin in Miami, FL where my daughter's been many times and always has a conversation with the manager... who told us just how gluten-free aware they are. The burger bun was so pretty and tasted so good, I was almost afraid to keep eating it and kept asking, "Do you SWEAR that this delicious bun is gluten-free??

I love PF Changs and know their gluten-free service is good but mistakes can be made with the very best of intentions and I don't EVER want to go thru a real glutening again.

I've read many reviews about this new cookbook. Many were great but lots were really bad citing the same complaints you have... following the directions to the letter and baking bricks!

I love her first book and swear by Better Batter flour but I'm not remotely interested in buying all that new and expensive stuff. There's no shoestring going on there!!

Some of the worst reviews of the book were from people who say they've been baking gluten free for years and consider themselves very well experienced.

I was diagnosed with just a blood test. I had an endoscopy years later which confirmed celiac but my gastro MD said the blood levels I had were some of the highest he'd ever seen. I went gluten-free the next day. THEN... a few months later, I scarfed down a huge thick slice of homemade bread (w/ gluten) and had NO reaction whatsoever. Holy cow... I spent days thinking about all the cool things I could "cheat" with... maybe once a month or something like that. I didn't do it. Fast forward several years and an accidental glutening produced some not-so-nice symptoms. The last accidental glutening was so horrible I'll never forget it!

I heard a fascinating program yesterday about leaky gut and one parent's experience with her son who was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. She wrote this article for the NYT, which I read. The most depressing part for me was reading the comments... about how a "diet" probably didn't do much and putting such information in the NYT was a disservice. Geez... it made SO much sense to me and even tho I don't have leaky gut, I see the benefits for all of us celiacs.  Read this!!

Hmmmmm... the link won't copy and paste. Google NYT and leaky gut for the article The Boy with a Thorn in his Joints.

copy and paste the entire thing into google. A bunch of articles come up that should help!

That's how I used to describe my BMs before and soon after the gluten-free diet... as shooting "SHOOTING" molten lava... ha ha ha.

This may be completely random.... but I've started "oil pulling" with organic, unprocessed coconut oil... and have suggested that my daughter, who's had dental issues all of her life, do the same. I've noticed an almost immediate improvement in my own gum (gingivitis) issues and tooth discoloration/whitening in the few times I've done it and can't believe how awesome it is. I've only been able to manage 10 min. during a shower, but the positive effects have been quite remarkable.

My daughter and I just had to deal w/ something like this. Her father was so proud to show us all of the gluten-free stuff he bought for her graduation party and wouldn't let us... who've been living w/ celiac for 10+ years... buy what we know is good. People who aren't gluten-free think that if he says gluten-free on the box, it's good. So not true. There can be so many other issues.

I'm in the lunch in my own lunch box crowd. I simply tell people that while I so appreciate their concern and effort, I simply can not eat food that I don't prepare.

I know what you mean about the aggressive tone, but think of it this way. When I was a newbie (10+ years ago) I mentioned that my symptoms were not so bad that I couldn't remove a burger from the roll or remove croutons and blow off the crumbs. To say I got lambasted is an understatement. I was so angry, I deleted the celiac forums from my favorites. A few weeks later I thought to myself, "Who's the idiot here? Me, or the people who are telling me EXACTLY how foolish my behavior is?" I came back w/ a new perspective. There's no p%$#@#-footing around celiac disease. Avoid gluten forever, or suffer the consequences.

Every year I say to myself, "THIS will be the year I do up the garden right!" Ha ha. Last year I was away for 2 (TWO) days and when I came home, the tomato horn worms had completely denuded most of my tomato plants! Is it any wonder that when I find one, I STOMP on them... and guess what? They're insides and guts are green! My mint, in a big flower pot, seems to have died, but I have the feeling it'll come back if I leave it alone. Strawberries seem to be just waiting for sunny days and warmth... 3 year old blueberry plants should finally produce a good crop this year, the huge rosemary bush thrives, and I hope to get a bunch of asparagus this year... if I can keep the roots in the ground while I try to remove the weeds! I have 6 raspberry plants coming and I'm trying to figure out where to put them! Can't wait for warmer weather!!

I took a long telephone survey years ago (PAID, I might add) about a new medicine that was being marketed as a pill that would allow you to eat gluten occasionally or would lessen the repercussions of eating gluten. She kept asking me if I would take such a medicine and I kept saying, "Absolutely not, and if you market this to celiacs who then THINK they can be well by lessening gluten, I would think that might be criminal!!!"

If you're feeling sad and lonely, you're NOT being too sensitive. Being the smart ass I am, I'd want to say something like, "You know... your comments are so insensitive, I kind of want to wish celiac disease on you so you can experience what it's like... but I'd never wish this on anybody... so go suck an egg."

When I was diagnosed... 10+ years ago... I spent the next year filling myself with the things I COULD eat to make up for the things I could no longer eat. I gained about 40 lbs! The only thing that takes the weight off for me is to cut out the obvious carbs... bread, pasta, baked goods. I just eat lean protein, veggies, fruit, and not a lot of cheese. Seems like all of our "bread" options have more calories (and a higher glycemic index) than regular wheat breads.

GO you on the exercise!!

I don't have a recipe for you, but if you google gluten-free pate a choux, you'll find lots of recipes that work well w/ gluten-free flours. Then you can proceed to the ricotta, cherries, and orange slices?

If you find and eat gluten free French bread... please come back and tell us everything... so I can drool all over my keyboard. My sister (who lives there) tells me that gluten-free eating/cooking/products are showing up everywhere.

One of the ingredients I stayed away from for a long time was "modified food starch," which is in a lot of things... until I learned that if the product is manufactured in the United States, modified food starch is NOT wheat unless it specifically says it is.

I've read these articles and the scientific study posted in the Publications forum. It's SCARY. After reading them, I vowed to go GMO free, organic, to raise chickens for meat and eggs, to grow most, if not all, of our veggies. A few days later, when I'd calmed down a little (haha)... and found organic eggs at the grocery for FIVE DOLLARS a dozen... I've decided to begin to replace our staples slowly. I found a great list of GMO free foods and many/most are available at our health food store. Plus, the 365 brand at Whole Foods is GMO free and reasonably priced. I can only get to Whole Foods a few times a year, but will begin to replace and stock up on better foods. I gave up the chicken for meat and organic eggs idea, but AM going to start making my own awesome fertilizer for my garden with worms! I'm also going to start asking questions at the summer farmer's market and see if I can't get veggies I don't grow to can/freeze.

Geez... potatoes baked in the crockpot, microwavable veggies and a rotisserie chicken could feed everyone, including the celiac. Frozen French fries, fried eggs on top of steamed or creamed spinach is a meal everyone could share. Anyone can boil up gluten free spaghetti and dump a jar of sauce on it and make a salad. My kids would make the spaghetti noodles and toss them w/ sautéed (canned) diced tomatoes w/ garlic and sprinkled w/ pine nuts. There are tons of super easy recipes you should be able to hand them. Time for them to step up!! Get mad mom!!

Not that I'm aware of. Pacific makes a delicious tomato soup in a big carton but it's not condensed.

I like it! But next time I'll add a little less sugar. Texture is spot on! Thanks!!

I was on Protonix for several years... and then I lost 20 lbs. and my GERD disappeared. Dunno if that applies, but it was a game changer for me!

My wooden spoons work just fine since the hubs is totally skeeved out my the feeling of holding/using a wooden spoon... so they're ALL gluten free... haha.

Seriously, Dianaw!! I was almost teary at the thought of being able to have a burger (w/ a Udi's bun) AND fries.