Yummy dinner!

Thanks to JILLIAN for this awesome present...two boxes of gluten free mac and cheese from a recent trip to Trader Joes!! Jillian, a great friend I met at work, is just AWESOME and sooo generous! She always finds me little goodies...and I love her for it!!

I have a pot of water with one box of the noodles a'boilin' downstairs and can't wait to eat it! After that I am off for a pedicure...a silly indulgence, I know ;). It is in preparation for our trip to AZ on Thursday...my biggest trip yet while gluten free! It'll be an adventure, I am sure...but I am up for it! :) Time to go consume said mac and cheese....have a lovely night, all!

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.

Trader Joe's!!

Well, I finally got to experience the wonder that is Trader Joe's! Aaron had invited Jeremy and me to join him and Katie for a night in Chicago. He travels a lot for his job and has a bunch of free hotel points through Hilton. He and Katie had a hotel room at the Palmer House Hilton on Monroe Street (right downtown!) for Saturday night and were planning on attending a Smashing Pumpkins' concert that night as well (the concert ended up being postponed :(, but that's another story!). Jeremy and I just planned to tag along and I asked if we could find a Trader Joe's on the way back to Bloomington on Sunday.
Honestly, I didn't know much about Trader Joe's before Sunday...I had first heard of it while I was in graduate school at Purdue. Some of the girls would talk about LOVING it and would go on weekends to Trader Joe's stores in Indianapolis and/or Chicago. Lately, naturally, Trader Joe's has become more intriguing to me because they have many gluten free items. Well, we ended up passing a Trader Joe's on Ontario in Chicago during our wanderings about (we were shopping and just generally meandering about).
A friend from work, Jillian, was VERY excited when I told her I was planning to go to Trader Joe's...she even made up a shopping list of items she wanted me to search for and bring back for her! :) I ended up finding four things for her. I actually forgot to bring them with me to work today, so I will bring them to her tomorrow. I think she is pretty excited ;).
I ended up getting quite a few things for myself. The most exciting item, I think, that I walked away with was a case of 16 Peanut Butter Cookie Larabars (I posted about them previously!). I also got 3 each of Apple Pie and Cherry Pie flavored Larabars, some gluten free French rolls (a bakery package of 4), some chunky apple sauce, a jar of chunky spiced apples, a package of light string cheese sticks, a package of shredded Mexican cheese, some fruit leather-like bars, some boxes of chicken and vegetable broth, organic canned sweet potato puree, frozen salmon patties (also quite excited about these!!)...and I think that's about it. Good sounding stuff!
I tried the gluten free French rolls last night because I was very excited about the prospect of being able to eat a sandwich. I haven't had a sandwich in over a month! Can you imagine?! I am definitely cravin' me a sammich! ;) Well, it was kind of disappointing. It wasn't terrible...it is just an odd, dense texture...and it is kind of too sweet for my taste. Sure, I like sweet things...but this was kind of odd. Not exactly what I was looking for for a sandwich. Oh well! Now I know! I toasted it (I had read that gluten free bread is generally better when toasted) and spread some light cream cheese and some of the aforementioned chunky spiced apples on top. Not too shabby!
Today when I came home from work on my lunch break I decided to try my second of the 4 gluten-free French rolls. This time, I decided to split it in half, put some cheddar cheese on each half, and put it in my toaster oven on the broil function. As I said previously, I have been craving sandwiches....particularly grilled cheese. I even had some DELICIOUS gluten-free tomato soup (from Meijer, a local grocery store) to go with it! I was SO pumped. Well, as I mentioned before...the bread is kind of sweet. It wasn't exactly conducive to cheese and tomato soup. Oh well. It wasn't terrible...but it wasn't the same as my old favorite comfort food, either! The quest continues! ;)
Can I just say, thoughts of sandwiches are haunting me, plaguing me?! ARGH!
Ok, time for me to shower...we just got back from a swim...and get ready for bed. I have to be at work at 7am tomorrow! Sigh...
But it's ALMOST Thanksgiving! I am sure I will post lots of stuff about my Thanksgiving adventures! Here's hoping I can survive ;). I am bringing gluten-free pumpkin bars to our family celebration...but I am hoping I can eat some other things, too! We will see...I think my mom is going to do her best to help me out :). I am kind of nervous, though, about Thanksgiving! Not to sound corny, but I don't want to feel like an outcast!