Busy month

It's been a BUSY month....the first weekend in April I traveled to MN with my sister to my good friend Rosalee's bachelorette party...the second weekend in April I ran my first half marathon...the third weekend in April Jeremy and I traveled to MN to attend Rosalee and Bobby's rehearsal and wedding....whew! So, I haven't been blogging much.

Highlights...

~gluten-free chili at the bachelorette party on Saturday, April 4 made by Rosalee's older sister Nicole who awesomely made it with me in mind
~delicious sangria at the bachelorette party (GF, of course! :))
~I FINISHED a half marathon on April 11th....in under 2 hours! The snacks afterwards, however, were lacking...the only thing I could eat were the bananas and apples! Ok, I realize this isn't exactly suffering ;), but when everyone else is stuffing themselves with Papa John's pizza it's easy to feel sorry for one's self! I said to my sister, as she bit into a hot piece of pizza, "I am THIS close to eating a piece of that! It looks awesome!" I was serious, too. Well, she took one look at me and said, "Let's get you out of here then" and made a bee line for the exit to the food area. Good idea, sister! Remove me from the situation :). So, yahoo for sisters ;)
~I had some of the BEST gluten-free meals EVER the weekend of Rosalee's wedding...the rehearsal dinner at the Hubbell House in Mantorville, MN was AMAZING (walleye, baked potato, and wine...can't go wrong, really.)...and the wedding food was great too! The caterers were SO helpful (Roz had talked with them beforehand) and I had a yummy plain chicken breast (it really was rather good!), potatoes, green beans, fruit and ice cream (in place of the ice cream cake the guests had)...not too shabby! So, yahoo for Rosalee, MN, and gluten-free weddings :)
~Rosalee's step-mom Joleen made AMAZING gluten free monster cookies in the little out-of-towner goodie bag she had for me and Jeremy at the hotel we stayed at. Can we say amazing?!??!

Needless to say, GF life isn't treating me too badly right now. This girl loves her food! ;) Sheesh, I sound like a fatty!! ;)

Yummy!

I love cooking...and as I've said before, "re-learning" how to cook post gluten free lifestyle has been somewhat of a challenge. Tonight, however, I made a yummy meal for us and our good friends, Josh and Laura. I thought I'd share the menu because I want to remember it...it was yummy and I'd love to re-create it sometime!

Appetizers:
~Sliced Cabot New York sharp cheddar cheese (a new cheese Jeremy picked out; it was decent!)
~Hummus (I used a gluten free mix that you basically add your own water and olive oil to) with broccoli and carrots

Salad:
~Butter lettuce (a newish discovery, thanks to meals at Laura and Josh's...this is just a bag of Fresh Express lettuce and we love it!)
~variety of do-it-yourself toppings (diced hard-boiled egg, black olives (ew, not for me! Jer loves them, though!), Mediterranean cheese blend, Craisins, sliced almonds, and Texas Toast croutons (NOT gluten free...not for me! We had a bag that we needed to use up ;))
~variety of dressings (light Caesar, ranch from Avanti's here in town (Jer's favorite dressing!), oil and vinegar, and gluten free poppyseed dressing (from Whole Foods)...YUMMY!!

Main Course:
~Chebe cheese rolls...DELICIOUS gluten-free rolls made from a yummy mix. Available at Meijer and Naturally Yours here in Bloomington. I LOVE these rolls! The others enjoyed them, too! They are made from a tapioca flour base and are so soft on the inside and crisp on the outside. I would DEFINITELY recommend them...even if you don't need to eat gluten-free!
~Parmesan mashed potatoes....Recipe:
4 lb. red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2 cups chicken broth (I used Progresso; it is gluten free)
1-8 oz pkg 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese, cubed
3/4 cup Reduced Fat/Light Sour Cream
3 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese
4 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. garlic salt

Put potato chunks in large saucepan. Add broth; cover. Bring to boil on high heat; simmer on medium heat 15 min., stirring after 8 min. Uncover; stir potatoes. Simmer, uncovered, 5 to 6 min. or until potatoes are tender and most of broth is absorbed.

Add cubes of cream cheese. Reduce heat to low. Mash potatoes slightly until cream cheese is melted. Add sour cream, butter and Parmesan; mash until potatoes are smooth and heated through.

YUMMY!!!!

AND
~Crockpot Cranapple Chicken (recpie adapted from http://www.cookingcache.com/)

Crockpot Cranapple Chicken Breast Bake Recipe
4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I used just over three lbs of breasts)
4 to 6 green onions (I didn't use onions)
1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries (I used a cup since I thought I used more chicken)
1/2 cup chopped dried apple (I used one whole fresh apple, sliced...but waited to add it until about an hour before serving)
1 clove garlic very thinly sliced (I used 1 1/2 tsp of crushed garlic form a jar)
2 tablespoons brown sugar (I used four Tbsp.)
2 tablespoons water (I used 4 tsp)
1 teaspoon lemon juice (I used 2 tsp)
2 teaspoons butter (I used 4 tsp)

Place chicken breasts in a 2-quart (or larger) crockpot. Add remaining ingredients in the order given, dotting evenly with the butter last. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours. Serve over rice (I didn't serve with rice; Jeremy doesn't like rice very much. However, I think rice would've been great).

I think the cooking time was a little long; the chicken was a little drier than I would've liked, but all in all not too shabby!

Dessert
~fresh raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries (sliced) mixed together with a SMALL amount of sugar (just a tiny sprinkling on top as they sat in the fridge for a few hours)
~organic vanilla pudding (not instant; Jeremy loves the "skin" on the kind you actually have to cook ;))
~whipped cream

YUMMY!

We had a great time with our friends, too :). All in all, a great evening :)

I feel bad...

...and it is SO frustrating....

Sunday was Jeremy's 27th birthday...happy birthday (again), babe! :). For a while, I had planned on having a birthday party for him. I had one last year...a surprise! I had arranged for his best Bloomington guy friends to meet out at Medici (which was a new restaurant here in town at the time) for pizza and then come back here to our place for dessert, along with their wives/girlfriends/whatever if they wanted. I think Jer had a great time with his friends, and I was happy to have pulled off the surprise. I decided against the surprise this year and instead talked to him about what restaurant he'd like to go to and what friends he'd like to invite. I also decided against having just guys...because, quite frankly, I wanted to go too :). We planned this year's party for Saturday night (Feb. 28th) at CJ's here in town, not far from our house.
(I started this post on Monday and never finished it! I will finish it now--Sat 3/7!)
I suggested CJ's because I know they serve Jeremy's favorite Chicago-style deep-dish pizza in town. I KNEW it would be a struggle for me to sit there and watch him eat pizza, but I made the sacrifice, because it was his birthday and he LOVES it!! I know, I am being kind of dramatic...referring to it as "a sacrifice"...but in a way, it really was! It is NO fun to sit there and watch people eat pizza. It is one of the worst food issues I have.
Anyway, so I invited tons of his (mostly) local friends and said we would be having dinner at CJ's and then everyone was invited back to our place for dessert...
Well, we had a great turn-out...Chuck and Sarah came, Brooke and Jamie stayed for dinner (they were visiting from Rockford!), Aaron and Katie came, Jon (Jeremy's brother), Alec, and Josh and Laura. It was a great group of fun people!
We had reservations for 6:30, but we ended up hanging out by the crowded bar until a few minutes after seven because they never got a table ready for us. At one point (around 6:50), I went over to the hostess stand and asked some lady about it and if our table would be ready soon...pointing out, of course, that we had reservations for 6:30....her response? "Well, do you have a keg of dynamite? Because we're just waiting for some people to move so we can get your table together!" EXCUSE ME?! Yeah, she really said that. It was interesting.
Well...we FINALLY got seated ;) and started to look at the menus. EVERYONE ordered the deep-dish Chicago-style pizza. Awesome...or not. So, once the meal arrived I had to sit there and watch everyone eat that yummy-gooey-cheesy pizza. Let's just say, I was in a mood. HA! Oh, and before that, people ordered tons of deep-fried, breaded appitizers. So, it was pretty awesome to sit there and watch those being consumed as well. I know, I know...it was my HUSBAND'S birthday...and I tried to have a good attitude. I didn't, though!
Oh, and the waitress delivered those 4 awesome-smelling and looking pizzas...and realized she had forgotten my entree somewhere. Great. So, I sat there LONGER with no food in front of me to distract me! When she brought it out...it was pathetic. I had ordered the broiled cod and the darn cod fillet was no more than THREE inches long. Seriously. I had ordered it there before, so I KNEW that wasn't how it typically was. I was pissed...it was bad enough to be eating fish when everyone else had pizza, but the size of it was really pathetic. That darn 3" of fish cost me 13.99! Reeeeediculous.
Ok, ok, I'll stop ;).
I felt terrible sitting there and being so cranky and I kept telling myself to cut it out, it wasn't a big deal, etc., etc....but I kept getting MORE upset at myself for being upset at all so it was just one big upset, uncomfortable mess. I didn't even take any pictures at dinner because I was in such a foul mood! Silly me!
After dinner, though, things turned around. We all went back to our place (minus Sarah...she wasn't feeling well...she had just gotten back from an overnight trip to Atlanta to see Ben Folds and was hungover and tired ;)) and plus Adam and Jami who joined us around 11. I served the yummy-looking oreo ice cream cake I had made for Jeremy (again, sacrifices I made for his birthday! ;) It's one of his favorite desserts) and I ate some yummy Edy's vanilla ice cream with dark chocolate hot fudge on top. I wasn't suffering there! ;) ;) HA!
Hopefully next year I will be a big girl at Jeremy's birthday party. Good grief!
All in all, though, it was a great evening with friends...and I am DEFINITELY thankful we have so many fun and wonderful friends :)
Thanks, guys, for putting up with cranky ol' ME! :)

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!

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.

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 :).

SUCCESS!

WOW...the pizza was phenomenal! Really! About a year ago Jeremy made it his mission to perfect his own recipe for a home-made Chicago-style pizza (a good friend of his gave him a deep-dish pizza stone for a wedding gift, along with a Chicago-style pizza recipe book, a big pizza cutter, and some Parmesan/pepper shakers). More recently he took it upon himself to attempt a gluten-free version...totally his idea. WOW, I guess this guy must really love me for some reason! ;) He made the dough for the crust last night and left it in the fridge overnight to rise...and then prepared the rest of the pizza today. The sauce and cheese were both the best they've ever been on his attempts, too! It was amazing. Words cannot describe it, really. Gosh, you don't really appreciate something until you can't have it...and then get it back!

I have the best husband...ever!!
Here is the blessed thing before cutting in...

A little pumped! (wow, what a flattering pic! HAHA!)

Jeremy cutting the beautiful masterpiece

Love in pizza form!

{contented sigh}

AMAZING! The crust was a bit of a funky color (made with a blend of gluten free flours; I think the funky color came from the sorghum flour)...you can't tell in this pic, but it took on a greenish/greyish hue at some points! HA! Oh well, it tasted PHENOMENAL...seriously. This was some of the best gluten-free food I've eaten in my 3+ months of eating gluten free!!! Way to go, babe!

On labels and anger

It's weird having a label. I am a "Celiac" (well, until proven otherwise). It's strange. I guess I shouldn't let that define WHO I am, though. It's hard, though, when it's basically part of my every waking thought. It comes out in many conversations. I don't try to hide it, it's really nothing to be ashamed of. Sure the symptoms were/are disgusting, but it wasn't anything I could help, was it? If it is really genetic, then it's just the way I was made...Wait, WHY?

Which leads me to anger. Yesterday I found myself getting very angry. Jeremy just cracked a joke (as he often does!)...he was upset that we didn't have any "normal" noodles because he wanted macaroni and cheese (he worked late and wanted something to eat when he got home). I said, "You could have some rice noodles, they are actually quite good." Jeremy said, "If God wanted me to eat rice noodles, I'd be the one who had Celiac disease!"...he really meant nothing by this. He tries his darnedest to say off-the-wall things to catch me off guard or get under my skin (not in a mean way!)....and this one just made me mad! Not at him, at the situation. WHY do I have this?! Sure it's not the worst thing ever, I could have it FAR worse; many people are dealing with medical issues I can't even fathom. But, I am a selfish person (aren't we all, at times?!) and it was a ME moment. Why do I have to deal with this, why can't I eat normal food and enjoy PIZZA and GRILLED CHEESE? Why do my friends and family members get to run around doing whatever they please in regard to food?! Ok, really, I don't think like this most of the time. I know it's not rational or reasonable, really. Things happen for a reason, but we don't necessarily understand or know the reason immediately. I just need to accept that.

I am a Celiac...and I will be fine! I WILL get healthy this year, I WILL get the genetic test, I WILL have a healthy pregnancy (God-willing!) in the not-so-distant future.

AND, I love my husband...even when he makes silly comments...;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, I bought a great book over Christmas break...The Gluten-Free Bible by Jax Peters Lowell. Jax writes with a great wit and wonderful candor. I need to be more like her!
"The good news is, you're not dead. Not only are you not dead, you don't have anything that could be even remotely construed as fatal or life threatening, unless you cheat constantly, and you aren't going to do that, are you? Even better, your condition can be managed quite nicely without drugs, frequent doctor visits, and expensive hospital stays, nor does it require that you suffer any more bad news than you have already gotten....
The bad news? Well, you knew there'd be some. If you want to avoid some long-term complications, you've ordered your last pizza with everything on it. You've eaten your last cheeseburger on a sesame seed bun, buttered your last croissant, and bought your last frozen dinner, ice-cream come, slice of apple pie. The bad news is that from now on you have to think about every bit of food you put in your mouth. No more aimless grazing, nibbling, or grabbing something, anything, when you're hungry. You've got to plan meals and snacks and restaurant dinners. The bad news is that you are on a diet that allows no slack, one that will test your resolve and turn even the meekest among us into a serial killer (which, in your case, is spelled cereal)."--The Gluten-Free Bible; Jax Peters Lowell

Lovin' me some Flat Top Grill!

Flat Top Grill is a new somewhat-obsession of mine! On Saturday, December 6th I met up with an Augustana professor/friend, Kathy Jakielski, for some chatting and Christmas shopping in Peoria. When deciding where in the area to eat, on a whim, I suggested Flat Top Grill. I have been there in the past (it's a make-your-own-stir fry place) and enjoyed it...and for some reason remembered that they had RICE NOODLES and probably lots of things I'd be able to eat! Well, sure enough...they did! Tons of veggies, meats, rice, rice noodles, and sauces that I can eat! I can eat practically everything there...except the yellow noodles, most of the sauces (they have many, but I can only have 4-5 of them), and the BREAD ( :( Their bread is awesome...a greasy pancake-like thing...YUM!). Well, it was a yummy dinner...and I knew I'd be back...frequently!

Well, Jeremy found out that around Christmas time they had a special...buy $30 worth of gift certificates and receive $20 free. WHAT?! Well, my stocking from him came stuffed with $50 worth of gift certificates from Flat Top (so $50 worth of food there for only $30!!). Also, Jeremy's brother Jon gave me some gift certificates, too, so I had a total of $80 (that we personally only spent $30 on) for Flat Top from Christmas! WOO HOO!

Tonight we ate at Flat Top here in Bloomington with Jeremy's good friend Adam and his wife Ann. I suppose I should say OUR friends Adam and Ann! :) It was delicious!!! I loved it. One of my favorite things is the pineapple in the stir fry...I LOVE hot fruit. I know that might be kinda weird...but I really do!

Jeremy even enjoyed his meal tonight! :) He isn't the biggest fan of Flat Top, and isn't the biggest fan of vegetables in general ;). Well, he filled up his stir fry bowl with just POTATOES, CHEESE, carrots (to feel good about himself? ;) ) and some black-bean garlic sauce...and then had a big huge bowl of beef added to it. Well, he ended up really liking it :). That's a good thing...because we'll most likely be back. When he went up to the line for his second trip, he skipped the carrots ;), and had only POTATOES, TONS OF CHEESE, some black-bean garlic sauce, and tons of beef once again. He liked the second bowl even more. Sigh. ;)

YAHOO for being able to eat nearly everything on the menu...they even have a signal for allergies...you put a special white stick in your bowl to show that you would like your meal cooked in a separate clean wok instead of on the huge flat top grill with the rest of everyones' stir frys...so you won't get cross contamination during the cooking process! It's great!

I love Flat Top Grill!

Oh, and I should mention, too, that we had a great time with our friends! They moved to Brooklyn in August, so we don't have the opportunity to see them much :). They both have parents still here in Bloomington, though, so they have multiple reasons to visit :)

Dreaming and other musings

First, I have been DREAMING about gluten again. Really. It's fairly unsettling and quite annoying. Last night, for example, I dreamt about being at some big conference or convention or something of the sort and of course at lunchtime when they wheeled out the big buffet line of sandwiches and such there was nothing I could eat. For some reason, in my dream state, I "knew" the only thing I could eat was a hamburger bun (wait...bread? What?) with some cheese and lettuce on it. So, I ate it...pissed. When I woke up I realized how stupid that dream was. First of all, when I am in those situations (which I have been a number of times over the past 2 and a half months), I pack my own food. Second of all, I am pretty sure...even if I was able to eat anything on that buffet, it wouldn't have been a HAMBURGER BUN! Whatever.

Second, I am still on a quest...to find a perfect gluten-free grilled cheese sandwich and gluten free pizza. These are my two biggest cravings. When we went to Trader Joe's in Chicago in November, I purchased some gluten free French rolls and attempted to make a pseudo grilled cheese sandwich in our toaster oven. Yeah, it didn't work. It was decent, but the bread was far to sweet and dense to really work out. One of the first Sunday evenings of my new "diet", I made a gluten-free pepperoni pizza using a Chebe brand pizza crust. It was decent...and I would probably try it again...but it wasn't the pizza perfection I was looking for. What do I REALLY want?! Just Pizza Hut, really! Jeremy and I DID discover, though, that Lou Malnati's in Chicago makes gluten-free crustless pizza. That is DEFINITELY on our list of things to go try...sooner rather than later!!! :)

Third, Christmas (in both the gluten-free realm and just the "in general" realm) was awesome! Jeremy got me 3 gifts (in addition to a few others) that will be a great help to me. Check out the Triumph Dining website. Even in all of my perusing of the internet and other resources, I never once came across this website! Jeremy somehow found it and ordered 3 products for me: a restaurant guide, a grocery shopping guide, and some handy-dandy dining cards that explain the gluten-free diet in a variety of languages. You are supposed to hand them to the waiter/waitress and explain them and then ask them to share the information with the chef and others who will be preparing your food. Awesome! He is SO thoughtful and I LOVE these gifts! What great resources to own!

Fourth, I've decided to pursue genetic testing for Celiac Disease, most likely through The University of Chicago. Here is information taken directly from their website.

"What is genetic testing and who can benefit from it?
There is a blood test or cheek swab test kit available to determine whether or not an at risk individual carries the genes responsible for the development of celiac disease. These genes are located on the HLA-class II complex and are called DQ2 and DQ8. Each case of celiac disease has been found to show these so-called "haplotypes"; therefore, a negative gene test indicates that celiac disease cannot develop in that individual.
There are two main reasons for using the genetic test when evaluating an individual for celiac disease. The first case is to "rule out" celiac disease, which is a medical term that indicates an individual does not possess a necessary risk factor for the development of celiac disease, genetic predisposition. Without this factor, it is impossible that the individual with a negative gene test will develop celiac disease in the future. People who test negative for the gene would not be required to have regular antibody screening for the remainder of their lives. For example, the children of an adult with celiac disease could have the gene test. The results would allow the parent to know which children need close monitoring.
In individuals with symptoms who have not had a biopsy to diagnose celiac disease, but have been on the gluten-free diet for a significant period of time, the gene test is often the only way to determine if symptoms could possibly be related to celiac disease. For a person who faces this situation, a negative gene test would indicate that symptoms are not the a result of celiac disease. A positive gene test, however, does not diagnose the disease but increases the likelihood that it is present."

I also learned through some additional reading that Celiac Disease, gluten intollerance, and wheat allergies manifest themselves in people by very similar symptoms. Since I never had the biopsy...even though my doctor REALLY believes I have Celiac Disease, we don't know...not beyond the shadow of a doubt. Naturally, I am not satisfied with this. Yes, I feel TONS better while on this gluten free diet...but I want to be sure that what is going on with me is truly Celiac Disease.

So, there you have it...my thoughts as of late. On another note...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! As far as resolutions go, I decided I should have a Celiac Disease/gluten-free living resolution for myself...my resolution relates to my fourth comment above: I resolve to undergo genetic testing for Celiac Disease at some point early on this calendar year in order to TAKE OWNERSHIP of my health and what is going on....and as a way to ensure I am doing everything I can (both for myself and my furture children) to be the healthiest person I can be.

My husband

Is amazing :). No one has been more supportive throughout this "trial" than he. (I've said it before and I will empasize it again...I don't want to be dramatic and make things sound so dire and terrible...I am fully aware things could be LOTS worse for me...but this hasn't been a very easy or fun "trial" to deal with)

Last night we went grocery shopping together...and the sight of him carefully reading labels on cans to check for "hidden gluten"...it was adorable. Ha! I sound like such a nerd. Seriously, though, the way he clearly cares is absolutely endearing.

I love you Jeremy Christopher!