luvs2eat

Sometimes I don't cope so well and get really mad about not being able to have that pizza... to add insult to injury... I didn't eat pizza for 17 years cause it was the ONE food I couldn't even smell when I was pregnant. I finally started eating it again years after kids ... had just discovered Pizza Hut's pizza with the crust stuffed with cheese, when I was diagnosed.

OUCH.

Like others have said, you do find acceptable and then downright tasty alternatives, but let yourself be mad occasionally. It IS a lousy deal of the cards. Lucky for us, it doesn't have to be life-threatening.

By the time the hospital nutritionist called me back, I was giving HER information. Like other have said, I was one who loved to cook for many years and knew a lot about what goes into foods and recipes.

I went to a program at our hospital and was so surprised to see so many Celiacs in the room. This dopey woman spent an hour pushing her "feng shui" business and how our intestines would feel so much better if we embraced her "life wellness" crap. She fed us some really crappy gluten-free brownies and handed out a "forbidden foods" list. I left at intermission... but not before telling some people around me about the sources of info I'd found already.

I went home and wrote to the program director and asked, "Now, who's been diagnosed with celiac disease who doesn't ALREADY have a forbidden foods list??" Not to mention, I have way more detailed lists than she handed out!! They refunded my money!! I wasn't the only one who complained!

Wait... maltodextrin in foods manufactured in the U.S. are always gluten-free??

Yea, I had that conversation with my friend who has diabetes and just shoots some more insulin when she eats stuff she's not supposed to. I told her that there is no "shooting" for me. A little cheat results in MOLTEN ACID comin' out my butt... it's not worth whatever's being served!!

Sorry BamBam... I've not been in here for a while.... I did answer you via email, but for anyone else... I use the English muffin rounds all the time. I found that you can't HEAP the mix in there or you'll get a huge roll all puffed up at the top. I put in a heaping spoonful of mix and spread it so it's pretty flat across. It rises to just the right height and one mix makes about 12-15 rolls.

I cook 'em for the minimum time on the package and just watch them till they're nice and browned. When they're all cool, I package 'em up in zip locs and suck as much air out of the zip loc bag before I seal 'em up and freeze them.

Enjoy!

When I was newly diagnosed, I often took them twice a day. My doc told me they were not habit forming and to take them according to the directions on the package for as long as I needed. I didn't need them too long, but I too have bottles and packets in old pocketbooks and cabinets!! haha

Man... am I in the same boat... to the tune of about 25 pounds!! I started making the yummiest homemade risotto... who doesn't like cheesy, sticky rice??

I don't even want to FIND gluten-free goodies on the shelves!!

I'm a HUGE fan of Manna from Anna bread mix. I make it in English muffin rounds and have awesome rolls for sandwiches. It holds up better than any other bread I've tried!

I too feel your pain. I miss bread... homemade bread, made from flour, water, yeast, and salt... not 50 obscure ingredients that end up with each slice weighing a ton and so crumbly that it can't hold a sandwich!

I miss cracking open an ice cold beer.

Like my friend says... just cause the neighbor has cancer doesn't make your toothache hurt any LESS.

In the scheme of things... celiac disease is nothing... but I still miss bread and beer!!

Giving up the beautiful yeasty breads that I was so fond of making at home has been the HARDEST for me... so I feel your pain.

I'll have to echo an earlier poster. I'm a huge fan of Manna from Anna bread mix (www.mannafromanna.com). I've tried probably every store bought bread and 5 different bread recipes over the last 3 years and find them all gritty and they don't hold up well at all! Manna from Anna is great... but I still miss my wonderful homemade bread. There really is no substitute.

I recently used potato flour to make a white sauce (butter, flour, milk) and it was very good. The flour required was a small amount, so I'm not sure about substituting it for something as substantial as bread.

Bette Hagman's recipe for a good flour is not equal parts. Not sure what the amounts are as I don't have the book in front of me... but I do know there's a "recipe" for her usual flour.

Yea, I've only heard of it to predict a baby's sex. I'm thinkin'... if I did it over a Pizza Hut 3-cheese stuffed crust pizza... it would tell ME it was okay to eat!!!

Yea, Immodium is my friend too.

I always tell folks that if I can't read all the ingredients that were used to prepare something, then I can't eat it. And I bring rice crackers and rice cakes with me most of the time!

I can't tell you how many times I've been told there's no wheat in stuff... I went to a party where the hostess insisted there as no wheat in the soup and I went to ladle it out and there was PASTA in it! YIKES!!

I just read that there appears to be a small window where, if you feed your baby wheat/gluten... at about 4-6 months... you may be able to PREVENT future celiac disease???

I told my kids that they were screwed... cause I went out of my way NOT to give them foods that are common to allergies. I didn't give them eggs, wheat, milk, citrus, or meat until they were a whole year old.

It's an interesting idea and I'll look forward to reading more about it. Has anyone else heard about this??

Our favorite appetizer at our fav mexican restaurant is a cheese and sausage mixture that I recently found a simple recipe for.

Just brown up some chorizo sausage and crumble it in the bottom of a pie plate. Cover it with lots of shredded meunster cheese and broil till the cheese is bubbly and browned.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Delish!!!

Don't forget good 'ole rice cakes. I used them for bread for a long time. They work well in lunch boxes too... easy to spread a little tuna or egg salad on!

Count me as one who's gained weight! Ugh!

Eating out will be a challenge... especially if you're not a cook and don't know how things are made.

But eating at home can be easier. Just cruise around this site and read lots of different posts. Folks here have great ideas and have done so much of the work FOR us! There are even lots of convenience type foods that we can still have.

Think about learning to cook too! You can start your own gourmet club!

Hey frenchiemama... I wanna grab all those little faces and stick in my pockets!!!

It only took about 3-4 months before I wasn't eating Immodium like candy, but it took a whole year before I found my bowel function to be "back to normal."

And now... I do not move my bowels as often... sometimes it's 2 or 3 days before I have to go.

You're so right... bowel discussions are hard... hahaha.

I make my Manna from Anna bread in English Muffins rounds. When they're cool, I freeze them in as airtight a ziploc as I can manage. I can take one out, slice it, and make my sandwich and pack it for work. When it's lunch time, my "sammy" is defrosted and YUMMY.

soft boiled eggs, or scrambled eggs on rice cake, or fruit and yogurt. Yum

I attributed my lack of weight loss to my early diagnosis. I only had diarrhea for about 2 months when I was tested and went gluten-free immediately. When I told people about Celiac disease and they asked me the symptoms... I said, "Unexplained weight loss..." and I'd sort of look down at myself and say, "Um... I didn't GET that one!"

Other people would ask me, when I told them the dietary restrictions, "Oh my... WHAT do you eat." Again, I'd look down at myself and say, "Plenty of stuff!"

I'm not chuckling about it anymore tho. I've gained about 25 lbs. since diagnosis and hate it!! I know that when I was diagnosed, I sort of went off the deep end eating foods I COULD have... like potatoes and rice (risotto is my fav food!!). Now I'm trying really hard to be low carb... more lean meats and fresh fruits and veggies.

UGH!!

My ONLY symptom that sent me looking for answers was diarrhea. Like you, Imodium was part of my daily diet. I had no abdominal pain (lots of NOISE, but no pain) or any other symptoms. It was reading about all the things that can happen down the road that convinced me that going gluten-free was mandatory.

I've been completely gluten-free for almost 3 years now... and almost 3 years later, I'm noticing new and different symptoms cropping up... arthritis-like pain in my joints (yea, it could be age, I'm 52) and I've had blood work to rule out Lupus.

celiac3270s list of other diseases related to Celiac is awesome. A must read.

Good luck.

I think I'm going to make up a card that says:

No gluten means don't give me anything that contains any kind of flour or food starch.

That would be a huge help. Ya can't just say wheat... cause people offer you WHITE bread... it's not wheat bread. Yikes!

After I'd been gluten-free for a year, I gobbled a thick slice of the beautiful crusty loaf of bread I'd made and always loved. The repercussions were so negiligent... that I started dreaming about scheduling cheats... maybe a Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza one month... a Subway hoagie another month... but the planned cheats never happened.

Now, I've been gluten-free for going on 3 years... there are no cheats for me. The smallest accidental glutenizing and I'm a hurtin' cowgirl!!