dani nero

Hi--my friend gave me permission to share the recipe, saying she got it from someone 15 or 20 years ago!

2 C gluten-free oatmeal (not instant, though), uncooked

2 C water

Soak for 1 hour then add

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 C grated onion

1/3 C salter roasted sunflower seeds

(or, in place of the onions and sunflower seeds use 2/3 raisins)

Continue soaking 1 more hour

Spread in a well-greased 9 by 13 pan and bake in a *preheated* 350 degree oven for 45-55 minutes, until slightly browned.

She said that when this is done correctly (and I did not do it right the first time! lol) it is sturdy enough for sandwiches!

Thanks so much to you and your friend :-) I'll consider this recipe a treasured "secret" ;-) I won't be able to try it for three more weeks though. Decided to cut oats for a month (based on recommendation)

I don't think ryegrass is the same plant as rye. It should be fine. Open Original Shared Link

"Ryegrass should not be confused with rye, which is a grain crop." Thanks Skylark :-)

Thanks for your help everyone. This will be my first big "test" of having to stand my ground and not eat anything under peer pressure.

From my experience people can completely surprise you.

My aunt who's always been so sweet to me tried her worst to force me to eat chicken that was sitting on a piece of bread because she believed it was all in my head, while a friend who's basically a know-it-all control-freak and never heard of gluten was completely understanding and utterly supportive when I visited her at her new house party. You never know what these friends will be like, but it's good to make the best of it anyway

Just a short update about my bun's food. I emailed the company producing his hay asking what types of grass it contains, and here's their reply:

"Our hay contains stuff that grows on leys (grassland), such as grass of meadow fescue, perennial ryegrass and timothy. So no grains."

Unless I'm allergic, the ryegrass with no grains should be safe right?

Hi Dani, I wouldn't worry too much about the amenorrhea coming back while you are on the gluten-free diet. I'm a fair bit older than you, I think, (47) and early menopause is more where I am heading if I am not careful, but I've had my period every month for 6 months, bang on time, since going gluten free, even though I've had ups and downs along the way. My last period even kept going through a nasty glutening which kept me either in bed or the bathroom over the weekend.

My feeling is that amenorrhea is a symptom of full-on untreated celiac rather than something which is sensitive to the day to day ups and downs of complying with a strict gluten-free diet. Maybe someone else has another perspective though?

Fascinating story about your bunny. I hope you can find a way to deal with it. We have a WE chinchilla in a cage, and I can feel the slightly wheaty cloud around her cage when I walk past (I suspect I am wheat allergic). I don't think there is anyway to manage this for a chinchilla (I did look for alternative pellets), so I just try to steer clear. It's not good for her though, as I was the main person looking after her and bringing her out for cuddles and treats etc. My poor old husband has to do it now, and he doesn't really have the time or the inclination. It's an issue I don't like to think about too much as it is upsetting.

You have no idea how glad I am to read that. Thanks so much for sharing your experience, you've made my day and put my mind to ease :-)

The best way to deal with the bun's pellets is by gradually replacing them with a variety of fresh veggies until I can get my hands on the pellets kareng provided a link to. Pellets make only 20% of his diet so it won't be a very big change, but they do make feeding a little easier since I would otherwise have to combine just the right amounts of different types of vegetable to balance out his vit intake.

Sorry to hear about your chinchilla. Indeed it's very upsetting.. I sadly don't know much about them or their dietary needs to be able to suggest anything, but I found that the wheat-free brand which kareng linked us to provides chinchilla pellets as well Open Original Shared Link

A question that pops up though. Although I've been having symptoms (not as severe as before), and amenorrhea was the major problem I had from ingesting gluten, I still got my period last month. I thought that even the smallest trace can cause full-blown reactions.. so why did I get a period! Could it have been a one time fluke

My kitties prefer a dry food that contains wheat, so I use a scooper--no contamination, as a result. As long as you don't physically touch the food, there should be no contamination.

my bun LOVES being pampered by eating from our hands so I touched them all the time. I also gave him some to munch on while I brushed him on my lap. They're all over the place. I'm upset at myself for not checking, but I wiped most of the surfaces that could have been a source of cc (light switches, knobs, the sofa) and hope it's under control now.

Rachelle lives in the US so I don't know if that feed is available where you are.

thanks so much for this link kareng. I'm sure Im can find a pet store willing to start distributing these.

I didn't think about possible cc from hay either as I thought it was mostly timothy. Sheesh! Thanks again :-)

Hi all. My bun's pellets contain wheat X( I checked everything in the house but completely missed them. They've probably been CC the whole house. I'm feeling devastated. This has obviously been the cause of all my symptoms. I blamed it on so many things and even thought I was imagining the symptoms at some point. I put myself on this elimination diet thinking it must have been some other food or my thyroid when it's probably been this ever since I came back to sweden.

Anyway, anyone else have a bunny? I'm hoping there are pellets out there that are gluten-free and not harmful to buns. I don't give him any of the pet-store cereals, just these particular pellets because they mostly contain timothy hay and make his fur shiny. He's completely crazy about them as well, but I sadly have to start gradually taking them off the menu and replacing them with more veggies. I just don't want anymore contaminants in my home.

Why are you starting the diet? Did you get diagnosed or you suspect you're intolerant?

If you're suspecting it, it might be better to go to a doctor first to get a diagnosis before going on the diet.. because doing the the diet first means you will have to eat gluten again to get positive diagnosis if you ever end up needing the doctor, which could be very troublesome for you.

First most important thing is to get your kitchen cleaned up from all gluten. It won't help to be on the diet if you keep getting yourself glutened through contamination.

As for the diet. It is always the hardest in the beginning because you're changing your eating habit. Basically the only thing that made it feel better for me was cooking really interesting meals that were filling, and contained some of my favorite ingredients. I don't need to read labels because I cook everything from scratch. It takes more time and work but it's worth it for the piece of mind and avoiding doubt.

I'm on a strict elimination diet right now so I'm basically banned from eating everything except greens, meat, and I just added citrus fruit a day ago. I ate charcoal grilled salmon with avocados for lunch, then clementines for desert. Really yummy. Yesterday I had chicken grilled with sweet pepper and a garlic/onion dressing. It was amazing with a salad. Be patient. I promise that after a week or so the new routine will start feeling more normal and less hard to live with.

take any old test results with you

prepare a list of questions you want to ask, I got to see the head of department for my daughter and I wish now I'd prepared because there were things I never for to ask

a family history if there are autoimmune conditions - on my husbands side there is crohns, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, anaemia and our pediatricians said that combined with positive genes and diet response is enough to convinced him she has celiac

Thanks. I'll put together a family history :-) Knowing what to ask is why I'm posting here.. What type of questions do you wish you asked at the time?

It seems I'm getting that appointment with a new doctor soon, but I'm worried about being sent home for the third time while being told, and I quote "eat less bread and pasta and you'll feel better" without even asking what I eat.

It would be really nice to get some heads up and tips on how to convince them to take me seriously in case the doc is as horrible as the previous one. What questions should I ask, and what should I be aware of?

I put together a list of my symptoms which I plan on taking with me

amenorrhea

constipation

muscle weakness

anxiety, depression & panic

elevated heartbeats

shallow breath

fatigue

bloat

rash

bent nails

yellow teeth

brain fog

non-stop sinus and cold symptoms

swollen lymph nodes (on and off)

sore throat (on and off)

dry eyes

angular chelitis

Scalp & other "place" itch (on and off)

dry skin

Oh, I draw cartoons and comics. Nothing special. I was making gift-art for people over the weekend--as in, people who can't draw were requesting that I draw their fictional characters for them, that kind of thing.

I'm an illustrator too! :-) Well.. illustrator in the making, to be more accurate. Do you have an online gallery?

Hi there,

Has anyone found information on Celiac in Spanish? We have an amazing babysitter whose first language is Spanish. I never know how much detail she understands in English, so I want to make sure I provide her with guidelines for keeping the kids safe in her language. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

this is not a very good fix because it might produce errors, but you could try copying english information off a page and then using google translate so she can read it in spanish. That or asking a friend who can speak spanish to translate for you?

Here's some more venting... on Saturday I was feeling great, had lots of energy, went out to the park, did some climbing and cycling and picture-taking. Cleaned my flat. exercised. did some gluten-free baking.

then on Sunday I ate food as usual, nothing special, slept in, did some art during the day, stayed in. Was surprised by a sudden onslaught of watery D, depressive thoughts. My whole body started throbbing and I had sudden urge to sleep. Slept for 4 hrs, got up, still depressed, went back to bed with sleep medication until morning.

today I'm having bad headache, upset stomach, D (but not as bad), muscles more sore than usual after a workout. mood is generally ok but my physical addiction to pain is back and causing me problems. luckily I'm very sore from my workout/climbing over the weekend and can use that to satiate myself rather than actually causing damage to myself.

found white powder in the grocery bag with my buckwheat flour but it's more likely that it was leaked buckwheat flour and not some mysterious celiac-anthrax.

no idea what happened, no idea if it was something I ate. been cutting back on gluten-free processed foods this week, replaced my morning skittles with blueberries, main source of food this week is bananas, rice, eggs, canned fish and veg, and a GAPS-inspired homemade veg soup with homemade beef stock. And some brownies from the mix Gemini so graciously sent me.

That's celiac for me. Feeling good then feeling sh*te with no dietary change accounting for it.

been gluten-free one year. I only had symptoms for one year before diagnosis so I wasn't misdiagnosed for ages with tons of damage going on. I'm young and otherwise quite healthy.

I effing hate celiac.

peace.

Really sorry you're feeling poorly :-( Xoxoxo

Maybe it was CC at a public place.. You were out at the park, and someone (maybe a child with a biscuit or a sandwich) and touched a spot before you did.

This is something that we risk every time we leave the house, but we live with this imperfection in our lives because otherwise we won't be able to have lives.

I really hope for your fast recovery so you can go hiking and taking photos again :-) What kind of art do you do by the way?

Thanks for the reply, as it was the cramps lasted for 4 hours and then eased, thankfully! Today it's all very swollen but okay, after 4 years and no mistakes I am very wary of that happening again. I haven't really utilised these forums but will do from now on. Thanks againa nd good health to all!!!

When I got glutened drinking a lot of water to get everything out of the system asap was recommended to me. Hope it helps, and hope your symptoms disappear quickly

LOL! I'd recommend a typical kitchen all-purpose cleaner rather than only water. Don't you use a little soap or spray on your counter?

Yeah the counter has been soaped.. but the fridge shelves (as well as the things that were on them and washable) I only took out and rinsed with hot water. Was that not enough :-O

ah, I missed the "zero" part up there. I myself don't do fake sugars because I cannot stand the taste (splenda and saccharin are the worst, but aspertame sucks too). I wouldn't think such a chemical concoction would be good for an elimination diet, but hey if you don't get symptoms, good on you.

you didn't mention if you're off ALL sugar, such as the sugar in, say, strawberries, or just cane sugar/added sugar. I often substitute blueberries when I get a skittles craving. a handful of nuts or berries or something like that could do for a substitute for movie theatre candy anyway.

I'm off all sugar. Really good suggestion on the berries though, thanks :-) I was thinking of adding rice next but I think it's better to start with fruit... Which makes me wonder, when I add berries, means I can have all berries? or all fruits?

Whenever I do have a soda, depending where you are you can find Sierra Mist Natural or Pepsi throwback cola. They are made with real sugar. I also like Crunchmaster 7th Ancient grain lightly salted cracker. It has no corn, no nuts or soy! I'm not sure if you're eating any graines, but this has been the best for me.

Nope no grains.

I set food on my counters, so I wanted them clean. I also super-cleaned all the drawers and their accumulation of crumbs.

I mean cleaning surfaces as if rats have been there... If a rat was in my kitchen I'd soak it in chlorine! I think its enough to just clean with water

A new question popped i my head, for anyone with experience in this.. whether it's my thyroid or lack of iron/b12.. should I be taking easy when I'm experiencing muscle fatigue or can I go on doing as I please on my bicycle :-D

Assume you found mice in your kitchen. Clean everything you think the mice might have touched and peed on.

Is it really that bad? o.O I rinsed all surfaces and items with warm water. Isn't that enough?

No I don't think diet sodas contain corn syrup.. I can't do any sugar or corn.

I also live in sweden, we don't have Izze soda but perhaps there is something close to it :-) Thanks!

yay movies! My newest favorite gluten-free munchy: Bangkock Sweet Chile Rice Chips by Snapdragon. Our kids love Pirates Booty (but I think it has corn, so double check the ingredients list). For a more healthy choice I love jicama slices. Jicama can be sweet and crunchy and has lots of water in it! Jicama, like carrot, is a root, so I'm not sure your throat will like it.

Instead of cola/soda could you find a more "natural" soda like a ginger ale?

Have fun at the movies!

Thanks, sounds yummy! I hope it won't cause any problems :-)

I wasn't sure which forum to put this post in since it's not about recipes or about restaurants. Sorry if this is the wrong place.

My husband has been wanting to go to the cinema since Friday, and I've been putting it off, basically because I had no idea what snack to take with me while I'm on the elimination diet. To me part of going to see a film is having munchies. I basically eat veggies (no corn, and carrots or peppers since they make my throat sore) and meat.

I was thinking.. would it be a bad idea to have a coca cola zero? :-(

Anyone else have a bad experience from cola or any type of diet soda?

Any ideas on interesting snacks I can take? :-)