Delicious discoveries!

Just found these blogs...they look to be helpful, and chock-full of awesome recipes and tips!

http://myglutenfreecookbook.blogspot.com/

http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/

YUMMY!

ALSO...a great GF bakery that ships!

http://gfgreatbakes.com/viewproduct/3//

SWEET! Literally ;).

Love is...

...sticking up for your wife who can't eat "normal" food.

I was reminded again today of how much I love my husband. An awkward food-related situation arose today (and I don't want to go into too many details because I don't want to be mean) and Jeremy totally went to bat for me and stuck by my side.

I love this man! Honestly, I don't know how I could deal with all of this crap without him.

Sure we haven't exactly completely converted our home to a "gluten free zone", but there is significantly less gluten-containing food here. I still buy him "regular" pasta, but he is tolerating some rice pasta. In addition, I do buy him "regular" buns for his hot dogs/hamburgers/BBQ pork. There is also some wheat-containing BBQ sauce here, as well as some cans of his favorite soup...Cambell's Bean with Bacon (gross!!! ;)). However, for the most part...everything in our house is stuff I can eat and stuff that won't make me sick if I accidently ingest a few crumbs of it or something!

I love you, Jer!

more party-time and FOOD! :)

Thursday night I had some good friends over for a fun party...I hosted a Thirty-One party at my house. I had met the consultant, Lindsay Hale, at a group home-party consultant party at The Lodge in Bloomington back in December and booked a party with her then. It was a ton of fun! I LOVE entertaining. In fact, my only lament with the house we own right now is that I would love to have a BIGGER place to be able to have more people over! I LOVE the cooking, even the cleaning, and just general preparation and excitement that goes into having a group of fun friends over. I love spending time with a group of fun people doing anything, really!

Naturally, the gluten-free diet has necessitated quite a few changes in my "entertaining" plans!! This was actually the biggest get-together I'd had, post gluten-free lifestyle change. The guests were: Sarah and Jami (fun Bloomington friends!), Katie Fanello (newly-engaged Augie friend; she is engaged to Jeremy's old college roommate. Katie is in grad school for SLP at ISU right now), Abbey (a newer Blo-no friend; she works with Jer), Dawn and Stacy (2 fun SLP girls that I work with at Easter Seals), and Pam (Dawn's sister from out of town who was visting). It was so much fun!! Lindsay was a really fun consultant, too, so it was nice to get to know her a bit more as well.

Enough babbling, on to the important stuff...the menu!! I made gluten free brownies (I used the Gluten Free pantry mix that I briefly mentioned previously; I made them for the first time when we were visiting Jeremy's parents' place in Raleigh), gluten-free mini-cheesecakes (a recipe I made up after compiling some ideas I found online), had some white corn tortilla chips with a dip I made, and some yummy buttery home-made popcorn (that Jami loves!! :)).

Here are the brownies (or half of them, anyway!) after most were eaten :). (another nerdy reason I love the entertain is I LOVE to use all of my fun Longaberger products!! :) Haha!!). I thought they were delicious, but Jeremy informed me that they weren't as good as the ones I had made before in NC. I informed him that the mix was identical, but he told me that I just "must have" done something differently. Honestly, I might have overbaked them a bit (oops!) because they weren't as gooey as the first batch. Oh well...I still thought they were great and would definitely recommend the Gluten Free Pantry brownie mix that I used to create them! A mix that makes an 8x8 pan (I combined two boxes and used a 9x13" pan) costs about $3.50 at Wal Mart...yeah substantially more than the $1 you can get many non-GF brownie mixes for! Frustrating!!


Gluten-free and Fabulous Mini-cheesecakes
3 8-oz bricks of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream (I used Daisy brand light sour cream; it is GF)
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (make sure it is GF!)
Mi-Del brand Gluten Free ginger snaps (or may substitute any gluten-free cookies!)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line muffin tips with paper or aluminum baking cups (I used paper).
3. Place one cookie in the bottom of each baking cup.
4. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
5. Fill baking cups approximately 3/4 full with cream cheese mixture (I used a cookie scoop for this; less mess and worked wonderfully!)
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.
7. Cool completely before storing in a tightly covered container in your refridgerator.

SOOO easy...and sooo delicious!

NOT the best photos...but here are my little cheesecakes! I made half with chocolate chips sprinked on top, and half plain. They would also be fabulous with fruit sprinkled on top. One of the recipes online showed mini-cheesecakes baked with one madarin orange segment baked on top of it. That could be yummy as well. The possibilities are endless! Next time, I want to adapt the recipe to be pumpkin mini-cheesecakes, with some pumpkin puree baked in! Perhaps in place of the sour cream...we'll see.

terrible photo...but you get the idea...


These little delights were SO easy to make...and SO worth it! Yum-yum-yummy! The are the kind of things that don't taste "fake" or make you feel like you are still deprived from the "real thing"!

University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center

Well...I decided to e-mail Dr. Stefano Guandalini at the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center today...and he responded already! I basically wanted more information and to see what my next step should be...I sent him a VERY lengthy e-mail describing my symptoms and "adventures" with various doctors/diagnoses.
Here is the response I got from him:

Dear Rachel,

I read carefully your story and I feel there is indeed a high chance you have celiac disease. Unfortunately, as you clearly understand now, the whole diagnostic process (that should have promptly begun years ago) was not handled properly and is now jeopardized by your diet.

In essence, I now suggest the following:
1) Have a genetic test done, looking at the presence of HLA-DQ2 or DQ8.Any doctor can request this simple blood test to Prometheus Laboratories; or you can have a swab test from the inside of your cheeks that has the same value and is offered by Kimball Genetics (if you choose this, write to our program director Ronit Rose at rrose@peds.bsd.uchicago.edu and she can have one sent to your home). If the genetic test is negative, you can stop here: there is no risk of being celiac. If it is positive, then proceed with:
2) Reintroducing some gluten in your diet (about half a cracker per day would be more than adequate to trigger the immune response while hopefully causing minimal or no symptoms) for at least 3-4 months, then have an EGD with biopsy done.
In any case, if you want first to be seen, I -although being a pediatrician - can also see adults and occasionally do this for suspect celiac individuals. So you may contact my receptionist and ask her to see me either here in Hyde Park or in my outreach clinics in Matteson, IL in a date that is convenient for you (I do warn you,though: I may be booked up for quite some time..! :))

Stefano Guandalini, M.D.
Professor and Chief,
Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Founder and Medical Director,
The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center
University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital

Very informative! I am going to e-mail the program director and ask for the swab test right away....I wonder how much this costs? We'll see! :)

I am going to consider trying to get an appointment with him, too. I can't believe the thoughtfulness of this guy for e-mailing me back...and so promptly, too! Wow!!

Snack foods?

Ok, the Merry Masticator (whom I suspect to be my good friend Rosalee...who else would call themselves that?!) requested in a comment on a previous post that I post a list of my favorite GF snack foods.....so here we go! A lovely list of delicious crappy snack foods a Celiac (or a normal person!) can enjoy!

~Basically any 100% corn chips. Tostitos are easily accessible. I try to get brands that say they are non GMO and crap like that...but, quite honestly, it's usually easiest to get Tostitos so that's what I do most of the time! I do enjoy blue corn chips the best, but like I said...it's usually easiest to just find Tostitos.

~I enjoy said chips with a variety of things...CHEESE (nachos) is always a good start. I can't have lots of the canned nacho cheese stuff (many have gluten and/or MSG)...so I go for the "real" stuff. I also love hummus and refried beans. All delicious and GF.

~ICE CREAM! Many ice creams with no obvious gluten (cookies, brownies, cones, etc) are ok...but I always check to be sure. For example, Breyer's vanilla and mint chocolate chip are both all good.

~Candy: Swedish fish, sour patch kids, York peppermint patties, peanut butter/peanut/plain M & Ms, Raisnets

~Pistachios! (a new obsession...YUM!)...also any other nuts are good, too

~Stretch Island fruit leather

~Larabars

~fresh/frozen/dried fruits...grapes, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, Craisins, raisins...anything, really!

~carrot sticks with hummus

~THINK brand bars (nut and fruit concoctions)

~kettle cooked (no reason really, other than they are greasy and delicious!) potato chips

~Daisy brand sour cream (some other brands are ok as well, but this one stands out in my mind)
~Gluten Free Pantry brownies and muffins (mix available in the cake mix aisle at wal mart!) Their muffins are seriously to die for...Jer even loves them!

I am salivating! ;) (AND I sound like an absolute fatty!!)

Is that enough ideas, Merry Masticator?!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jeremy and I went out for dinner last night to celebrate Valentine's day...I had one of my favorite gluten-free meals: Farfalle Alfredo at Biaggi's! This dish is phenomenal. I loveloveLOVE it! We also ordered the Messina salad as an appitizer to share...mixed field greens with olives (obviously I picked that part out!), tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta cheese with red wine vinegar and olive oil. DELICIOUS!!! Of course I had a lovely glass of prosecco (one of my favorite wines!) to go with it. It was nice to go have a little date together and eat some yummy food :).

The pasta in the farfalle alfredo dish is so delicious that I asked the manager to check on the brand for me so that I could order some. Check out the website here I believe the kind that Biaggi's served was the green spinach/rice pasta noodles. SOOOO yummy!

I have leftovers to enjoy later...YUM!

Biaggi's actually has a pretty extensive gluten-free menu, which is just fantastic! I have been there 3 times since starting my gluten-free lifestyle. I would definitely recommend it! Speaking of which...this reminds me....I am 4 days away from the 4-month mark of being gluten-free. Crazy! 1/3 of a year already! WOW.

Baby Raef

ok, this is not food/gluten related...but I wanted to share this with anyone who happens by this blog:http://littlemamaplustwo.blogspot.com/
This blog belongs to our friend Kara who gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Raef, on February 6th. Raef was born 12+ weeks early, weighing in at only 2 lbs, 3 ounces.
Please send prayers/thoughts (whichever your style may be) the way of Kara and her husband Reid...they are obviously going through a lot right now.
Thanks!

Swinger's Grille

Friday night, Jeremy and I met up with his dad and brother at Swinger's Grille in Normal...we had never been there before and it was fun to try someplace new. I realize the name sounds somewhat trashy...it is actually attached to a golf store and driving range, hence the "swinger's" reference. :)
After, of course, conversing with our waiter about my gluten/wheat issues, I enjoyed a side Caesar salad...and instead of the "no croutons" as I requested...it came complete with a Parmesan-crisp "crouton"...gluten free and delicious!! For my entree, I had salmon on a bed of pureed sweet potatoes with a apple cider reduction glaze and baked apples on top. It was phenomenal! I really, really enjoyed it...how fun to try somewhere new that had entrees as unique as this one!
We would definitely return to this restaurant...and I think it is the kind of place that I would bring out-of-town guests to!

Muffins!

I made de-licious banana muffins tonight! :) YUM! I purchased a muffin/scone mix made by Gluten Free Pantry tonight at the grocery store...added 3 frozen bananas (when my bananas start to get old, I put them in the freezer to save for recipes/baking) that I thawed in some warm water...and then added a bit of extra tapioca flour since the bananas seemed to make the batter pretty thin. They are awesome muffins! I would definitely recommend this versatile mix...muffins bake up light and fluffy, just like the box says!

YUM! :)

Shout Out! :)

The other day, my friend Abbey (a fellow SLP) sent me an e-mail at work asking me about what I could/couldn't eat...pertaining to getting me a "special" meal for her wedding reception in May! How amazingly sweet and kind was that?! She is so thoughtful...another reason I love where I work. I work with some really special, kind people :). Thanks, Abbey!

Also, similarly, an old friend, Rosalee, sent me a text this week saying "gluten free meal coming your way on April 18th!" April 18th is her wedding day (I am a bridesmaid!)...and she met with the caterers recently and they told her that a gluten free meal wouldn't be a problem.

Yahoo for wonderful friends...and yahoo for not just picking at lettuce leaves at their wedding receptions :). We have a couple more weddings this spring (Jeremy's friend Kelly (May), Jeremy's friend Scott (June...and we have to travel all the way to CA for this one! Jeremy is a groomsman), and Jeremy's friend Ken)....I haven't decided how to address these issues. In my trusty Gluten Free Bible, Jax Peters Lowell tells the reader to address these issues with the bride/groom and that in most cases it really isn't a big deal at all. The other option is just to eat beforehand ;). How uncomfortable, though, must that conversation be! A wedding is SO not about the guests...it's about the bride and groom! I hate to be the person to add one more concern to their plates on that special day.

Sigh. We'll see...

Great article (old, but good information)

Gluten for Punishment; Better Eating Puts Celiac Symptoms on the Shelf

Top ten...

Here is a "top ten" list...that is ever-evolving:
The Top Ten things I have learned in the past 3.4 months (in no particular order!):

10. Hard boiled eggs are a wonderful protein-rich "staple" to have on hand in the refrigerator. Of course it can't hurt if they are organic/free-range eggs ;). I figured if I was eating more eggs, I should probably cough up the little extra to be sure I wasn't getting extra hormones and crap during the day.
9. Larabars are fantastic...and come in a variety of delicious flavors! Minimally processed, just a few ingredients (nuts! fruit!) in each...obviously gluten free, also non GMO, Kosher....many reasons to love them! My personal favorites are Cashew Cookie, Peanut Butter Cookie, and Key Lime Pie...and Jeremy loves the Cherry Pie ones (and I love that he eats them with me...instead of getting all of that nasty high fructose corn syrup in his old standby, Quaker granola bars!). I think the cheapest place here in Bloomington to find them is at Kroger on College ($1.49 a bar), but you can also get them at Naturally Yours and Meijer (they are around $1.69 at both of those places). In addition, you can also buy them in bulk at Amazon.com!
8. Favorite gluten-free and EASY breakfast...Stoneybrook Farms gluten-free low-fat vanilla yogurt with frozen berries on top. I buy the large containers and divide it into four servings and sprinkle frozen blueberries/raspberries/strawberries/blackberries on top. I send one serving with Jeremy when he leaves for work in the morning and I take one for myself. Sometimes we sprinkle nuts on top. Delicious...and healthy!
7. a gluten free grocery shopping guide is a necessity. The two that I own are available online:
Cecilia's Marketplace and
Triumph Dining
6. Don't make any assumptions. Don't assume things are gluten free without researching it(I made this mistake with a mocha at a deli...and paid for it later that morning in a small airplane bathroom). Don't assume people know what Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance is.
5. Be prepared for unsolicited advice (from people who have no idea what you are going through or what it is like or what the best thing to do in your situation is....as well-intentioned as they may be!)...and do your best to smile, nod (and ignore! HA!). They aren't being evil, they are trying to help...
4. Finding a polite way to explain your dietary restrictions in restaurants to waiters/waitresses is a must. It is SO uncomfortable for me to discuss these things and to be "different" or "difficult"...that I (as Jeremy informed me recently) sound really forced and rude. I am making an effort to make it a more light-hearted polite conversation....practice makes perfect!
3. The Gluten Free Bible by Jax Peters Lowell is a fabulous resource...and my favorite Celiac book I own so far! I love love LOVE it! She covers everything...from diet, to doctors, to dining out, to cooking/baking, to (yes, truly!) sex and fertility. She tackles all of these topics and more with a great sense of humor...she's a lady I would love to have a glass of wine with!
2. Jeremy told me tonight at dinner (after another conversation about something random screwing with fertility issues...my latest obsession)..."you need to stop worrying and start living"...I need to adopt that mantra and go forward with my life! The more I try to control everything in my life, the more I realize that I am not in control at all. After all, why are we really here at all...but to live?!
1. Life is good :). I have wonderful friends and family...and a husband who is more than I ever dreamed a husband could be, really. I have so many friends/family members who have gone out of their way to prepare gluten-free meals/snacks for me and to make sure I don't feel ostracised at get-togethers. It means the world to me, it really does. For some reason, in the midst of this craziness God is still good :).

Some new favorite products...and an old favorite as well!

First, a sweet treat: Mi-Del brand gluten-free ginger snaps! I originally bought these from our local Meijer grocery store with the intent of keeping them on hand to use to make a graham-cracker style crust for a pie or cheesecake (I had read that gluten-free gingersnaps are a good substitution for making a gluten-free version of these kinds of crusts)...but I ended up opening the bag out of curiosity and loved them! It's a pretty big bag of them, so I think they will last me a while ;). I do, though, plan on purchasing a fresh bag at some point in the not-so-distant future to try to make a crust for some kind of delicious dessert! Don't worry, I will keep you informed :).

Next, Blue Diamond Naturals' Almond Nut Thin crackers...Jeremy's mom had these on hand for me this past weekend during our visit to their house. I had previously tried the Cheddar variety, and they were decent. The Almond ones, though, are fantastic! I really like them a lot. The are light, airy, and perfectly salty. They are great plain, or with cheese or peanut butter. I would definitely recommend them! There are other varieties as well (including Pecan and Hazelnut), but so far I have only tried the Almond and Cheddar. They sound great, though, so I will probably have to indulge myself at some point!! :)

Third...here's tonight's dinner: De Boles' Gluten Free Rice Pasta and Cheese (or, gluten free macaroni and cheese!). Consensus? Not bad...in fact, it's pretty darn good! I am enjoying some right now as I type, in fact! This afternoon I was at a child's home that was literally down the street from Kroger, so I stopped in to buy some Boar's Head deli turkey (gluten free, all natural, and fabulous!!). I noticed that they had a natural foods section, so I meandered by and found tons of gluten free products, including this! I have seen, purchased, and enjoyed De Boles brand pastas before, but never the macaroni and cheese variety! I had high hopes and, while it's no Kraft ;), it didn't disappoint. This product, as with many other gluten free products, reminds me that I need to remember to separate the gluten free from the gluten-ous...meaning, if I tell myself "I am eating rice pasta with all-natural cheese sauce" and not "I am eating something that should taste like Kraft macaroni and cheese...but doesn't"...things really aren't that bad.

Last...also during my trip to Kroger, I found 3 new varieties of Larabars! I bought Banana Bread, Key Lime Pie, and Lemon Bar...we'll see!! :)

Have a lovely day, all! I am off to enjoy the rest of my delicious pasta!! :)

if anyone reading this is from Bloomington, note that the Kroger I am referring to is the Kroger on College, not Oakland....they seem to have a better selection! The natural foods are behind the produce department and the gluten free foods are mixed in with the non-gluten-free foods, for example the crackers are located in the "Crackers" section, and not in a specific "gluten-free" section, the pasta in the pasta section...and so on. Enjoy! And GO KROGER!! (They are cheaper than Meijer and Naturally Yours, too! :))

approaching 4 months

Well, we are quickly approaching the 4-month monthly "anniversary" (if you can even call it that...which you really can't) of my being gluten free. Yahoo for me ;). I did survive my first vacation, albeit just a mini-vacation. We got back from North Carolina and a visit to Jeremy's parents' new home out there around 4:30 yesterday afternoon. I did pretty well (GI-wise) until yesterday...on the plane...of course. It wasn't necessarily the most fun flying experience of my life, but it could've been a LOT worse.
Jeremy's mom did do a great job of having lots of gluten free food/snacks around the house for me...rice/almond crackers, rice pasta, pistachios, fresh fruit. I did survive! OH, and I did make some delicious gluten-free brownies, my favorite yet in fact! I will post about those later, as I need to get ready for work...but just thought I'd drop off a quick post before that. Happy February!
Hey did that darn groundhog see his shadow yesterday or not? I forgot to even pay attention! ;) Oh well, I can't even remember what it means if he does/doesn't...one way means more winter and one means spring comes soon, I think. Who knows! ;)
Have a wonderful day, all!