luvs2eat

I meant to add... she's an awesome singer. She used to frequent this karaoke place a lot and has sent me several mp3's of her singing and was able to put 2 of her singing on video onto youtube for her proud mama. She recently answered an ad in the paper and is the singer in a cover band. She's not quitting her day job (as a fitness and physical/occupational therapy gym trainer for special needs kids) but she's having the time of her life!

You may have hit the nail on the head, bartful! I know exactly what you're talking about w/ the bar sinks.

The poor kid is such an expert thrower-upper... which sounds like a good thing but is SOOO not!

My youngest daughter suffers from the most severe celiac disease of all of us (me and my other 2 daughters). After more than a year of seeing many different doctors (investigating things like refractive celiac, interstitial cystitis, and other things) this child finally found exactly 5 foods that she could safely eat and ate them for more than a year: white rice, apples, plain chicken (no spices whatsoever), cauliflower, and eggs. She lost about 40 lbs. but was finally able to start bringing one food at a time back into her diet. She can now eat a lot more but has many sensitivities still... things like certain nightshades, some oxalate foods, dairy, etc).

She went to an old favorite haunt in Portland, OR, on Christmas day/evening because they were having a karaoke contest and she'd won one there a few years ago. She had to sing 3 songs and the audience were the final judges.

She told me she had two (very mild) drinks and a soda and a water. She sang her first song and while she was waiting her turn to sing her second one, she made it to the bathroom to throw up all the liquid in her stomach. She sang her second song and while waiting for the third had to run to the bathroom and barf again. She sang the third song... won $100 and left to go home praying the whole way that she wouldn't throw up in the car. She made it home, threw up in the parking lot, and spent the better part of the night w/ a waste basket next to her bed. The ONLY thing she can think might have caused her sickness was the possibility of cross contamination with bar drink dispensers or maybe the bartenders having beer on their hands while they dispensed her drinks! Yikes!!

When she told me this whole story... she was laughing about her Christmas miracle... that she won $100 and didn't throw up in public!!

Ya gotta laugh!!

I'd consider an alert bracelet. I told my doctor once that I was afraid that I'd end up in a nursing home someday and the workers would be so mad at me for the horror of what would come out of my mouth and butt if they gave me wheat bread and I didn't know not to eat it! My doctor nearly had to pick herself up off the floor cause she was laughing so hard.

I had terrible reflux and often had what felt like heart attack chest pains. I took Protonix for a good while. Then I lost 20 lbs. and the reflux vanished. I was completely gluten-free but was eating too much and too late.

I'll give it a try. One of my fave gluten breads to make were beautiful challahs. My 3 daughters grew up kneading the dough (no machines). Now we're all celiacs. There's a gluten-free bakery in Portland, Oregon called New Cascadia that makes the best challah I've ever had. It had the perfect "bite" if you can appreciate that term. I have literally BEGGED them to share the recipe with me... I won't make them to sell... I just want to make them for ME!! So far... no luck.

You're right, love2travel. It's good, but it's not French bread or a baguette. It'll be better toasted!

Thanks!! I'll try the recipe tomorrow and let you know how it comes out!

I can't tell you how many times people have said to me, "Oh, you can't eat this because it contains whey." I just tell 'em whey is not gluten and I'm good.

Been to Red Robin. The manager told us that they all learn the ins and outs of gluten-free cooking/serving and take it all very seriously. They said they used Udi's buns and dedicated fryers. It was absolutely and positively one of the most out of this world delicious meals I've had in a long time!!!

I miss it more than any other gluten food. I've tried mixes that were kind of yucky and recipes that just don't measure up.

The best I've had are the Udi's baguettes, but they don't sell them where I live and to order them online comes out to about $5 per pretty SHORT loaf.

Has anyone made a really good one? I use Better Batter flour rather than the many small bags of mix-your-own flours, but I'll try anything if someone has a recipe that really works.

It's just all I can think about lately!!

After trying all of the premade ones, I found Namaste crust mix. It says it makes two 14-inch crusts but I make 5 or 6 smaller ones, bake them off, and then freeze the ones I don't use. It's delicious... light and airy, which the premade crusts are not. I live in the middle of nowhere and there are very few gluten-free offerings here.

I've seen a few recipes around the internet (you can google recipes) and I've wanted to try them but I haven't. I so miss matzoh... for the times when there's lots leftover (I used to buy 5 one-pound boxes when the kids were smaller) for one of my fave treats... matzoh spread with cold butter!! I've not yet had any of the Yehuda as it's about $10/one-pound box!

My youngest was looking for a roommate and put in her CL ad that she would ONLY talk to completely gluten free candidates. Spending a year living w/ a roomie who didn't get gluten-free and left gluten stuff all over the place made up her mind that she'd either live alone or only live with someone who takes being gluten free as seriously as she does. A dating site might not be such a bad idea.

It took me years of tip-toeing around pot lucks before I finally said, "It looks great, but if I don't cook it, I can't eat it."

Hope you feel better soon!!

I'm a fan of "shoestring" too as I love the Better Batter flour. I have one of her cookbooks as well.

My middle daughter was a vegetarian for many years... not super strict but she didn't eat meat. Soon after she was diagnosed, she brought meat back into her life as it seemed most of her protein sources were no longer allowed. I know you're asking about nutrition but my daughter's response to the whole thing was, "Holy crap... I forgot how good steak tastes." And bacon??? Hallllooooo!!

I've finally come to the realization that if I don't cook it, I don't eat it. We've gone to dinner at a neighbor's who is incredibly sweet about making me a separate dessert and being very careful but it's still such a gamble and not one I'm willing to take. I love cooking the meal and even if it's just the hubs and me, we'll eat at home. One neighbor is coming and maybe another.

No... ha ha. We scarfed 'em all up! I'll take photos next time!

Thanks for your comments and help! I made the dough, pinched off 4 small pieces, and put the rest of the dough in the freezer. I let them rise, fried 'em up, rolled 'em in sugar (I'll add a little cinnamon next time), and stuffed 'em with jelly (we only had grape but I'll use strawberry or raspberry next time). Hubs and 2 neighbors gave them an enthusiastic "thumbs up." They were delicious!

I can't wait to make the rest! I used the yeast raised recipe on the gluten-free on a Shoestring blog cause I use Better Batter flour. They were easy to make and will totally rock our Hanukkah!

If you've never felt worse... something's not right. You said that all other allergies are out of the picture, but something's not making you feel good. I can only relate my youngest DD's celiac beginning. She was intolerant of seemingly EVERYTHING and spent more than a year eating exactly 5 foods... until her gut healed. She lost about 40-50 lbs. and had to force herself to eat her paltry food list to survive! A few years later, she can eat so many more foods but still has quite a list of intolerances.

Are there foods you eat that cause no problems? Focus on those. My daughter ate: apples, white rice, cauliflower, absolutely plain chicken, and eggs. That's it. It was terribly difficult for her but after working with doctors who pooh-poohed allergies, dieticians and nutritionists... it was her own extensive research that helped the most.

I hope it gets better!!

One of the many reasons we just don't eat out anymore, sadly.

I think you should take me with you as your personal assistant. I'll be happy to do your food shopping and cooking and pave the way for you with restaurants!!

How do I deal with servers? I don't either. I've had too many experiences where I've talked to the server and the manager only to have the cook/chef mess it all up... flour tortilla strips in a salad that isn't supposed to even have tortilla strips in it (like Malibu salad w/ fruit as opposed to taco salad)... assurances from the server that there is NO wheat/gluten in the salad only to find fried Chinese noodles covering the bottom of the bowl (after I'd eaten 1/2 of the salad) ... ordering rice pudding and having the server almost knock the spoon out of my hand as I was putting the first bite in my mouth to tell me the rice is really orzo pasta (and the server who took my order was supposedly a celiac). With the best of intentions, they will poison me. If I don't cook it, I don't eat it.

BUT... I love visiting my daughter in Portland, Oregon. I've had many delicious gluten-free meals in restaurants there. They totally "get it."

I was pissed off for a LONG time. Baking artisan breads was my passion. I actually cried in the grocery store once because there was wheat flour in something I wanted. There are still foods I miss and things I don't bake anymore because the difference in taste/texture is still as fresh in my mind as if I could eat them yesterday.

Thanks for your help! I'll make a batch but only make a few to see how it works and then freeze the rest of the dough and fry them up on party day. I'll let you know how it comes out!