Rudi's Gluten Free Bread

So we have potluck lunches every so often at work (usually my idea ;). I head up the "Fun Committee" at work...a very boring, very vanilla name for a group of co-workers who tries to come up with fun ways of promoting a more exciting workplace and making relationship-building a priority)...

Obviously potlucks are really no place for gluten allergies, or food allergies of any kind for that matter. Usually I can eat what I bring...and maybe 1-2 other things, if that. Really, it doesn't bother me much...if at all. 2 years ago when I started this "journey"...I usually got annoyed. Once I even skipped a work lunch because pizza was being served and I really didn't want to deal with sitting there and being the only one who wasn't eating pizza. It probably sounds completely lame...but it was really hard for me to be the "odd man out."

So, yesterday we had a potluck. My co-worker, Debra, signed up to bring bread (the "main dishes" at this particular potluck were a variety of soups). In addition to a loaf of "normal" ;) bread...she brought a loaf of multi-grain gluten free bread made by Rudi's...a company I'd never heard of until that moment!

IT WAS DELICIOUS!

If you've ever tried gluten free bread...you know that most gluten free breads leave more than a few things to be desired. Taste. Texture. UGH...gluten free bread is usually pretty nasty and similar to cardboard or styrofoam.

Rudi's though....delicious! Really! I ate two slices dipped in my carnitas taco soup (made by me ;)).

Check out the website: Rudi's Gluten Free Bakery

I am not sure where Deb found the bread...but I looked on the website, and they do carry it at Naturally Yours here in Bloomington! WOO HOO! :) You can search on the site under the "where to buy" option and search for locations near you where you can buy this yummy bread! Apparently they are a few different varieties...the one I tried was the multigrain, and again...I'd completely recommend it! :) Two thumbs WAY up! AND...FYI, it's dairy free as well! :)

I am already looking forward to my toast in the morning...complete with homemade cherry jam from my friend Jami! :)

Why does eating GF have to be so gosh-darn expensive!?

So tomorrow we (the Bloomington Easter Seals SLPs) are having a baby shower for our dear friend (and fellow SLP :)), Abbey. I am bringing dessert. Usually I like to put forth some valiant effort when it comes to hostessing/baking/cooking to entertain or for a party...but I am feeling tired and cheap lately. And, my husband informed me we have met our budget for June and can't spend any money until July (which, thankfully, is just two days away ;)). So, what to make for dessert....I decide to go to Cub food and decided ahead of time that I would be making a NON-GF dessert (I don't care that I can't eat it!)...I ended up buying a funfetti cake mix (mmmm! I used to love those! And they are super girlie and fun! Haha!!!) and a big container of vanilla frosting...for $2.82. What?! I know, I know...to all of you non-GF folk out there, that surely doesn't sound too impressive. But $2.82 for a whole, big dessert that will feed a lot of people!? Unheard of! I haven't been able to pull that off in the past 18 months since going GF! I am pretty proud of my frugal-ness today :).

Ok, Abbey...if you are reading this ;)...you are TOTALLY MORE THAN WORTH a fancy, expensive dessert...and I apologize for being a slacker!!! ;) I am sure you know how it goes, though, being tired and cheap every now and again! ;)

I am totally looking forward to the shower, though!! :)

I love get-togethers like that!! :) I am so thankful to work with such fun, sweet women...I love spending time with them!

Bring on Tuesday!

DESSERT!

So, as I previously mentioned, I slaved away ;) for the past 13 months in some classes. Some of the students enrolled in this program traveled from hours away to participate in these classes. During the past 2 Julys, when classes were the most frequent and intense, the students who traveled from far-away-places to be a part of the program "lived" in hotels here in Bloomington (the class also had members up in the Chicago area; students attended whichever location was more convenient for them and we had class via Polycomm, which was kinda annoying). Tuesday night this week was the last night that these students would be staying overnight, so the 8 of us here in Bloomington went out for dinner/drinks together. Amelia, a fun girl I have become friends with, ordered "Gooey Butter Cake" at Baxter's Grill here in town...and they all analyzed it (I couldn't try it, of course) and decided it wasn't gooey at all and wasn't even really that good. So, I googled a recipe for Gooey Butter Cake and adapted it to be GF and made some to bring to class on Wednesday! It appeared to be a hit!
Here's the recipe:

1pkg yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker's gluten free yellow cake mix)
1 stick of butter
1 egg
-Mix the dry cake mix with the 1 stick of butter (melted) and 1 egg; press into an ungreased 9x13 pan

Then Cream Together:
1 brick cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla
-Pour over cake mixture, spreading to the edges. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

I served it plain...but classmates (who are from the St. Louis area, where apparently this dessert originated) suggested sprinkling powdered sugar on top of the cooled cake, or serving with fruit or a variety of dessert sauces. YUM! Another classmate said that she wondered if brown sugar sprinkled on top would be good...I think that sounds great! Maybe I'll try that next time :)

News....

So things have been busy...but I should get back into my old "blogging" habit! :) Recent happenings include, but are not limited to the following:

I attempted the "CORE" Weight Watchers diet plan with my friend Jillian for a week...talk about torturous. I craved refined sugar like none other!

I met my first "internet friend", Kristin, in person

I made some delicious gluten free chocolate mint cookies and sent 62 of said cookies with Jeremy to work this past week for a "food day"....to rave reviews!

I sampled (TWICE) the new GF Valencia orange cake from Starbucks...it's so good, it's honestly crave-worthy, as evidenced by my need to get one on Thursday for lunch! HA! Not exactly a balanced lunch, but it was delicious!

I discovered that Naturally Yours here in Bloomington carries fresh baked goods...including a delicious raspberry muffin that I gleefully sampled

I am still asked quite regularly what gluten is

I've made a number of gluten free meals here at home for a number of guests

....I found out I do NOT have Celiac Disease.........yeah! Weird, huh?! Well, I have
"gluten intolerance" or "gluten sensitivity"...so really, nothing will change in the arena of my diet/current lifestyle. But the knowledge that I don't have an autoimmune disease is a good thing.

Ok, so I had my follow-up appointment post genetic testing with Dr. DeWeert, a GI here in town, on Tuesday.....and....I don't (yes DON'T) have Celiac Disease....I don't have either of those 2 genes that predispose people to Celiac Disease! 35% of the population has at least one of these genes in some form and I have NOTHING! When I first went in to see Dr. DeWeert a few months ago he told me that he was pretty darn sure the genetic testing would come back showing that I had at least one of the genes. I definitely have gluten intolerance according to Dr. DeWeert, though, and I am not arguing with that! Gluten is definitely key in whatever was screwing me up for so long...eliminate it and I am suddenly basically fine. Also, I can definitely tell if I had something that was "contaminated"...or at least I think I can. What if it is in my head?! Well, I don't think some of my....err...SYMPTOMS ;)...can be just "in my head". So, now I am in this weird non-Celiac but still gluten-intolerant population. I did some reading about this recently, too, when it became apparent that maybe this was the category I fell into. People talked all tragically about how they feel "forgotten" since they don't have the "label" of Celiac Disease but still have the same symptoms...just don't have the auto-immune disease component/etc. I don't plan on being that tragic about it ;).
Well, like I said though, nothing for me is going to change...I mean, it's obviously good to have this information and I may even try something glutenous (since I know it won't permanently damage me) at some point...but the thought freaks me out!!! I don't know if I can really bring myself to do it. I mean, sometimes it sounds really tempting (bread bowl from Panera anyone?!)...Obviously I know what I was like pre-diet-change and don't really want to go back to ANY of that suffering! Plus, there is a tiny percentage of Celiac's who supposedly DON'T have the genes ;). I totally recognize it's a long shot...but I could be in that ;). HA! I hope people don't use this news as some kind of excuse to be less careful around me. It's still totally obvious that I get sick when I have gluten...boy oh boy. I have to admit, though, sometimes I do doubt myself...like, am I just some kind of hypochondriac who made all of this crap up!? Then I remind myself....um, no...not likely! This isn't exactly FUN. It's been incredibly hard and it's definitely not about getting attention or anything like that. I don't even LIKE being the center of attention/having something "different" about me! Not to mention the fact that, well, there's no way that practically pooping my pants after eating gluten can be just IN MY HEAD! HA!
I just read on celiac.com : In some rare individuals, especially some men, a negative genetic test may not exclude the possibility of celiac disease anymore than a negative blood test. Men more commonly have negative genetic tests and blood tests, especially older men with long-standing severe disease.
Well...I'm clearly not a man. And definitely not an OLD man ;). But who knows!!!
Well, for not I am content....I don't have Celiac Disease, but my body still hates gluten. That's fine...with all of the support I've been getting, I've been doing pretty darn well. I am finding things to eat that I actually enjoy and I am not suffering by any means! So, bring on the rice pasta and the Chebe bread! :)

random food...

Ok, so here is the other "recipe"...if you can call it that ;)...I mentioned in the previous blog. I say it that way because I have kind of gotten in a habit of just throwing random crap together lately ;).

Tomato-y Chicken and (Rice) Pasta ;)

1 box gluten-free tomato soup (I used Imagine brand; I really like this. It is available at Meijer, for you Bloomington-ites ;))
1 can tomatoes and green chilis
Chicken breasts (I used 3 large breasts)
Rice pasta (any shape will do!)

Basically all I did was put the still-frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of my crock pot, pour the soup and tomatoes/chilis on top and let the whole thing cook on high for 3 hours and then low for 3 more hours. At dinner time I boiled up some yummy rice pasta (I used spaghetti-shape; obviously you can use anything that suits your fancy!). When the pasta was drained, I returned it to the pan and put a little butter and garlic on it (you can omit this or use olive oil or whatever). Next, I put some noodles on each plate and covered each plate of noodles with one chicken breast and some of the tomato sauce from the crock pot. You could serve this with cheese on top or with parmesan to shake on top...but we didn't add any cheese. We are actually cheese-a-holics ;) so if we think a dish is fine without cheese, it probably really is! HA!

Today I stopped home for a quick lunch again and am currently chowing down on leftovers from last night. I made a box of Trader Joes' Gluten Free rice mac n' cheese and added a flaked pre-cooked salmon fillet. I found the salmon at Cub Food's here in Bloomington in the refridgerator section by the other seafood....it said "gluten free" on the label, so of course that piqued my interest ;). I am a marketer's dream ;). HA! Anyway, it was simple and oh-so-yummy!

Jeremy and I are going to a wedding this weekend; it will be my second gluten-free wedding reception experience ;).

Have a good day, all!

Rachel

Excuses...

I haven't felt much like blogging lately. On April 10th I started getting harassed by some crazy guy on one of my blogs. It started out not-s0-harassing (or so I thought) and ended really badly. I guess it was my fault, I kind of perpetuated it. Without saying too much about specifics, because it has to do with a good friend of mine....here is an explanation on why now all of my blogs aside from this one are "private" (again, if you happen to be someone who was reading my silly meanderings, let me know and I will enter your e-mail address as one of the approved people to read the blogs!)....
I have a blog on which I was trying to post a different picture every day of something I was thankful for. Ok, I recognize that this may sound entirely lame...but that's what I did ;). A "new year's resolution" of mine was to be a more grateful, thankful individual. I have so much to be thankful for and I don't want to ever take anything for granted. Anyway, I thought a little blog chronicling a year of my thankfulness would be cute (for my own use) and, of course, I could use it to share with friends/family, etc., the ways in which I was thankful for them. Well some random (or maybe not random) guy started leaving me messages after a post about one of my good friends...it started out by asking if I wanted to hear some information he had about her. I had turned on comment moderation, so I received an e-mail telling me that I had this message. He kept sending me messages through my blog and I never accepted them, for obvious reasons. I just kept reading them...and he gave me his e-mail address so I could contact him that way. For some reason, now that I think of it, he never responded to my e-mail; he only sent me messages on the blog. Anyway, it started to get totally creepy and weird and it was beyond anything I can really describe in this kind of forum. So, my blogs are private now. There you have it. Whew! I have kept this one public because, if I ever have anything that is useful in the realm of gluten-free-living tips/etc., I want to be able to share that information with whomever wants to access it. I know I always google random gluten free crap and end up at random peoples' blogs and have, on more than one occasion, gotten some really great information via blogs. So, on the off chance that anyone is in my boat, googles something gluten-free, and comes up with my blog and gets some helpful advice...well, then, my work is done! :) HA! And, speaking of which...if you are reading this blog and ever get any helpful advice, by all means, let me know! :) At some point I want to start having little contests and things, too, like I've seen some other bloggers (what a silly term..."bloggers"!) do. So, there's an incentive to read my blog! HA! Contests to win some yummy gluten free items! Speaking of which...seeing as this is a gluten free blog, I should be posting about THAT and not about some lame blog-stalker guy trying to complicate my and my friends' lives! :)
I'll start again in a new, fresh post.
Ta ta for now!
~Rachel

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 made it!!

We are HOME from AZ and had a wonderful wonderful trip! Absolutely fantastic...and I wish we were still there! Well, kind of ;). It is of course, always nice to be home. There's nowhere quite like home, is there?! :)

I was SO nervous during the weeks leading up to the trip...I had basically resigned myself to the fact that I would get sick at some point during the vacation. In my mind it was inevitable. Between eating out and eating meals at Eileen and Dave's house (our hosts) it was bound to happen at some point.

I am so thankful to report that I needn't have been so worried!!

Eileen had stocked up on some gluten free goodies that she had for me in the guest house where Jeremy and I stayed...check it out! She had even gotten my favorite granola! (accidental! She had no idea!). She also got me some pretzles (not shown; they were in my bag ready to take with to the baseball game!). The yellow box of Trader Joe's mac and cheese was one I'd brought from home (one of the boxes Jillian got for me!). I survived! ;)

Eileen also went way out of her way to prepare many gluten free meals for me during our stay. The woman is truly a saint. She and her husband Dave used to be neighbors here in Bloomington of Jeremy's parents, but moved to Mesa sevenish years ago when Dave was transferred with State Farm (he is a vice president of State Farm; in charge of auto claims out there in the AZ area. Big stuff ;)). I had never met them before, but they were two of the most accomodating, loving individuals I had ever met. I can't wait to see them again someday! I cannot thank them enough for their kind generosity! In a future post, I will share two recipes from her: a soup with pork, green chiles, and hominy (phenomenal!!) and a margharita lasagna (she made mine with rice noodles!!). Both were sooo yummy!!!
Jeremy and I had read that there was a Red Robin in Mesa; however we had forgotten to check the address before embarking on a journey to find lunch on Monday. We ended up "happening upon" Red Robin and dined like kings! ;) Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE Red Robin!? YUMMM indeed!

Jeremy just loves it when I take "pointless" photos of him ;). HA!

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!

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! :)

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"!

WIMP!

Last night we had dinner at J Buck's, a nice restaurant here in town, with Sarah, Chuck, Alec, and my brother Dan and his girlfriend Laura. I was really looking forward to a nice night out, but unfortunately I had a darn stomachache after eating my grilled chicken and "smashed" potatoes. I know it's really my own fault. I am a wimp! I wasn't absolutely clear with the waiter about all of the details (cross contamination on the grill, with utensils, etc)...and I am sure that's why it happened :(. I need to get more assertive! It's MY health, after all!

It was frustrating...I hate making a scene or causing problems...I know it shouldn't be a huge, obnoxious issue, but it sure feels like one! Anything that makes you feel "different" from anyone else, especially your friends, is really irritating. We ordered around 8pm, and it wasn't terribly busy, but I still felt bad taking a lot of time from the waiter to explain my diet. I told him I couldn't have wheat or gluten and asked him to check for me to see if the grilled chicken sandwich (sans bun of course!) and french fries would be ok for me. He checked, and told me the french fries weren't because they were lightly breaded, but that the smashed potatoes and some other sides would be ok as substitutes. That was really good of him to check and find out. Still not enough, though.

It was fun to spend time with friends, but it was annoying to have to deal with the side effects of cross contamination (including a lovely trip to the restaurant bathroom before we were done).

Sigh.

I just want a NORMAL day...one in which I don't have to talk about Celiac disease and my "problem". I am tired of living a life ruled by food.

Some days are really pretty easy, others are irritating and difficult. Yesterday was one of the latter!

FOUR THINGS...to be thankful for (yesterday's thoughts)

I spoke with my mom on the phone yesterday and shared with her the following three wonderful things that had taken place yesterday, for which I was very thankful!

1) HUMMUS: A friend from the Peoria Easter Seals office, Stephanie (a PT) sent me a facebook message on Friday saying that she was going to be passing through Bloomington tomorrow (which was Saturday) on her way back home to Peoria and wondered if she could stop by and give me a present. Totally unexpected and fun! So, we made plans to meet up for a few minutes in the Sam's Club parking lot (per my suggestion, since it wasn't far off of the highway and she was eager to return home!) where she gave me her present...A few months ago over lunch at work (when I was still at the Peoria office), we had gotten into a conversation about hummus and how much we both liked it. She told me about her favorite two places in Chicago that have homemade hummus that she LOVES (she is originally from the Chicago area and still has family there). Well, for some reason she decided she would bring some to me...so I could have a nice little gluten-free snack, as she put it! How sweet was that?! I tried it as soon as I got home, of course...and it was DELICIOUS!!! That stuff is awesome. I was floored by her kindness...I love random stuff like that! It was such an encouragement to me...and a reminder that I need to turn around and show others kindness like Stephanie did to me!

2) BREAD: My friend Catherine called me yesterday afternoon shortly after I picked up the hummus from Stephanie...as I was running some errands about town. Catherine has a friend, Starla, who has Celiac Disease...and has known she has it for like 10 years (so she is an expert! ;) ). Well, Catherine told me that she had been thinking about me and my plight to find bread so that I could once again enjoy a grilled cheese sandwich...well, Catherine told met hat she had spoken with Starla about where to find some decent/delicious bread. Starla told her that her favorite bread can be found at Whole Foods (a grocery store in the Chicago area) in the freezer section...and that the first time she discovered it, she ate the whole loaf in about a week, it was just THAT good! Awesome!! I can't wait to try it. So, yahoo for another great friend and the great kindness and great help she showed to me :)

3) BOOKS: I had a book to return to Barnes and Noble, so I went there yesterday, returned the book, and perused around for another to get in its place. I found...The Gluten Free Bible...check THIS out for a book review! This book is truly awesome! There are tons of topics...from initial diagnosis, to cheating, to pregnancy, to recipes, to suggestions of doctors! I LOVE this book and spent a good amount of time yesterday looking through it. I can't wait to read it all! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone living a wheat-free/gluten-free life!! I am so thankful I found it...I love good, new books...and especially ones that pertain to my life and can offer help to me! :)

4) CHILI'S: This last thing to be thankful for happened later last night, and post the conversation with my mom...but of course is worth noting! See the previous post for a full description :)

Have a wonderful day!

Gluten-Free Goodies!

We had dinner at Los Potrillo's (again, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, and probably just one of our favorite restaurants ever in general!) with Adam and Jami last night. It was great to see them and catch up a bit...it had been a while since we had hung out the four of us! We had a great time and of course the food was delicious. Jeremy and Adam thought our service was terrible last night (which is very out of the ordinary for Los!), but I didn't even notice. I was just happy to be having a good time with fun friends! I was relieved that I was done working for 12 days, that lunch wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be (thanks to two awesome co-workers, Deb and Christina...our boss was buying us pizza for lunch, but obviously I wouldn't be able to eat it. Deb and Christina ordered me a burrito bowl from Chipotle and went and picked it up so I had something delicious to eat during the holiday lunch and wasn't just jealous of everyone and their pizza! Of course I was still a bit jealous ;), but that's just because I am obsessed with wanting pizza! ;) ), and I had gotten everything done at work that I needed to. It was just a wonderful feeling, and I was very relaxed and ready to have a great evening with Jeremy and our friends.

Also, Jami brought us each a Christmas tin with some goodies she made for us! She made us two separate tins, one for Jeremy with "normal" Christmas cookies and the like, and a gluten-free tin for me! Mine had buckeyes and scotcharoos, both things that I love! I ate some right away last night and I am not ashamed to admit I already ate some today and I haven't even had lunch yet! HA! Half of my leftover meal from Los is in the toaster oven right now heating up for me to eat as I curl up in front of the TV and am lazy for a bit.

I am still in awe of how awesome my friends have been through all of this crappy gluten-less-ness of my life! Jami has been great...especially now with these Christmas goodies! The cookies/sweets part of Christmas has honestly kind of sucked! I know, I know, that's not what Christmas is all about ;). It is still hard, though, to sit by when people are eating delicious looking gluten-ous Christmas cookies and treats! It was nice to have some yummy things of my own to eat. Thanks, Jami! Of course my other friends have been great, too! Sarah has given me TONS of tips (she is a healthy eater and food-purchaser and knew about gluten-free living type things way before I started in on this new lifestyle)...and has made a number of yummy things when we go over to their place. Brooke made a delicious Mexican casserole that she adapted to be gluten free when we visited them in Rockford in November. On December 16th when we had a Youth Leaders' meeting at Josh and Laura's home, Laura made an entirely gluten-free (and DELICIOUS!) meal for all of us there. Jeremy's mom makes me a gluten free meal when we go over there for dinner at least once a week. My mom is making lots of gluten free things for when we visit for Christmas this weekend! Jillian made sure I had things to eat on Saturday when we went to her place prior to her Christmas concert in Peoria (she kept some BBQ pork separate for me so it wouldn't get contaminated, and even bought me some of my favorite yogurt! She also had veggies and hummus I could eat!). I love my friends! I know it's probably such a pain for them...but I am so thankful for their kindness and love!

Yahoo for good food, good friends, and...most of all, Yahoo for CHRISTMAS!!!

Thanksgiving with friends

Last night we had our friends Jami and Adam over for a mock Thanksgiving dinner. I made a turkey breast roast, pumpkin bars, and had cranberry sauce (just Ocean Spray from a can...gluten free, of course! ;) ). Jami brought mashed potatoes and green beans and helped me make gravy when she got here (I don't like gravy...so I am no expert in the matter!). It was delicious...and I could eat all of it! I will have to share the pumpkin bar recipe...it was fantastic! Jami shared it with me. Thanks!!

Party Time!

Tonight I am having some friends over for a birthday party...my friends Jami, Abbey, Sarah, Laura, and myself all have a birthday within a month of one another! Mine was first, back on October 28, and everyone else's is between now and the end of November! So, we decided to have a little birthday party for us :).

So as not to have to deal with restaurants, I volunteered to play hostess and host the event at our place. We decided to do somewhat of a Mexican theme (so easy!). I volunteered to make the "main course": Chicken Taco Soup, as well as dessert: vanilla gluten-free cake with chocolate gluten-free frosting!

I got the soup recipe in a daily e-mail I get from a fabulous website, Gluten Free Checklist. Here's the fabulous-sounding recipe...

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup
Ingredients 1 onion, chopped
1 (16 oz.) can gluten free chili beans
1 (15 oz.) can black beans
1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 bottle of Redbridge gluten free beer
2 (10 oz.) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 package gluten free taco seasoning
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
Sour cream (optional)
Crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Directions
Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours. Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled and shredded. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.

I put the soup together last night and put the crock from my crock pot in the fridge....

This morning, I set up the timer for 5 hours (I turned it on around 7am), knowing I would be able to come home over lunch to shred the chicken. I shredded the chicken...and the soup smells great! Kinda spicy, but great :). Well, I am sure I will use lots of cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips with my bowl of soup to cool down the spicy-ness a bit! Oh, and I left out the onion...I don't particularly like onion and I knew there were enough flavors in all of the other things. I am sure it will be fine without the stinkin' onion. We'll see! So, now the crock pot timer is set to two hours, and after the final two hours of cooking it will move to the "warm" setting until we are ready to devour it this evening! :) I'm excited to try it!

After I had the soup safely in the fridge last night, I started in on the cake. I used a mix (how lazy of me! ;) ) because I also had to make my husband some cookies to take to work today, so I wanted to maximize what I could get done in a minimal amount of time. The mix, Arrowhead Mills' Gluten Free Vanilla, I purchased earlier this week at Naturally Yours, our local organic/health food store. All I had to add to the mix was oil, water, and eggs.

I sampled a tiny little crumb bite from the top of the cake after it came out of the oven, and it seemed pretty tasty!

For frosting, I used a great-sounding gluten-free chocolate frosting recipe on the back of the box...it was awesome (I licked the bowl after frosting the cake! :) ).

I am excited for tonight...I love hosting dinner parties! :)

Whew!

I am exhausted! Tonight Jeremy and I helped out at church with a concert our church hosted for our youth group. The event was publicized to other churches as well. Laura (my friend and the youth director's wife) and I helped out by providing the food. We were told to prepare food for 60 people.
We bought...
9 lbs (3 bags ) of frozen chicken breasts
10 lbs of hamburger
8 bags of salad blend lettuce
3 bags of shredded lettuce for tacos
18 cups of mexican blend cheese
2 large containers of sour cream
80 flour tortillas
24 corn hard taco shells
3 family size bags of Tostitos Scoops
3 large jars of salsa
1 large bag of rice
5 large cans of refried beans
10 packets of Ortega seasoning mix for the hamburger
2 jars of McCormick fajita seasoning for the chicken (yeah, this was way too much)
2 large jars of Ortega taco sauce
2 large bags of carrots
3 cake mixes
3 jars of frosting
...and some other random crap I forgot about!

The awesome thing, though, about preparing this meal was...I could actually eat with everyone and didn't have to worry about packing my own "special" gluten free meal! We made sure there was stuff for me...the chicken with fajita seasoning...gluten free. The tostitos...gluten free. Corn hard taco shells...gluten free. Lettuce, carrots, all naturally gluten free. It was great! Obviously, I wasn't able to eat dessert (the cake was not gluten free...just 'normal' Betty Crocker mix)...but I didn't even miss it!
It was great! It was an adventurous day,and it was great to feel pretty normal by eating what everyone else was eating! :)
Ok...now next Saturday I am pumped up to type "I made it a month"! (see 2 posts ago for an explanation ;) ).
For now, though...I survived my 23rd day of living gluten free (or, as gluten free as I could control!)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Check out my little gluten-free Halloween goodies! I made them and brought them to a party I went to at my friend Amy's house tonight!! :) I got the idea from my good friend, Jen, who made them....her's were lots cuter ;). I kind of rushed through it...made them this evening right before we went to the party! :) The idea is originally from the Betty Crocker website...although I didn't use any of the ingredients suggested, I had to substitute gluten free things :)
In case you can't tell...they are ghosts, Frankenstein monsters, and spiders...on top of brownie bases.

And they were delicious, too! :)

The party was great! I am so thankful for wonderful friends and fun evenings such as this! I had a great time...and didn't feel "deprived" at all, as far as food goes. The hostess, Amy, had saved wrappers/containers of all of the ingredients she used for some of her goodies and went out of her way to be sure I would be able to eat some things at the party. I had some of her homemade spinach/artichoke dip with Tostitos, a meatball, and one of my silly brownie treats :). In addition, another one of my sweet coworkers, Abbey, made a big fruit salad with lots of fresh fruit and didn't add any sauce or anything to it so that she was certain I would be able to eat it. How sweet is that?!

Best of all...I had NO reaction to ANY of it!! :) This was the first night in a long time that I didn't really stress out about what to eat. It was amazing.

Happy Halloween!!

Ruby Tuesday's and more

Well, I met up with my friend Jami for lunch today at Ruby Tuesday's. I think it went pretty well. I stopped home before heading back to work (where I am right now) so I could drop off my leftovers in the fridge and I checked and responded to some work e-mail. I decided to jot down a quick post as well ;).
We each got the salad bar...I steered clear of the prepared pasta salads and potato salads and didn't use salad dressing or croutons (well that one is a no-brainer ;) ). We ordered burgers...I typically don't order a burger when I eat out but I was craving meat! Maybe I need some iron or something ;). I ordered a potato instead of fries since she told me they use the fryer for lots of things that are breaded, and not just fries. I checked to be sure the burger was 100% beef and didn't have grain additivies. I told her to be sure that buns were nowhere near my food and tried to explain a bit about my "allergy". I checked to be sure the butter was 100% butter and not margarine with lots of iffy ingredients (not even sure if that matters, but better be safe than sorry ;)) and since she checked and said it was, I ate it on my potato.
I discovered that my appitite was down! I thought I was soooo hungry but ended up having lots to take home.
On that same topic, I weighed myself this morning and I was down 4lbs. I typically fluxuate in my weight day to day, morning to night, etc...but this weight is below anything I've been for a long time!
I have a bit of a tummy ache...but I wonder if that's due to the quantity of what I ate (since it was more than I've eaten at most meals lately) and not necessarily what I ate...but who knows!! We'll see. No bloating or other issues.
Ok, enough outta me! Gotta get back to work.

Day one is (almost) complete!

I made it! :) Day one is under my belt! Three cheers for me!! ;)
I met a coworker from our Peoria office at Panera here in Bloomington for breakfast at 8:30 and purchased 2 small fresh fruit cups (they apparently don't make the large ones anymore!) and rinsed off the fruit with the water in the soda fountain. Yup, I was THAT girl ;). Such a weirdo, such a spectical...but hey, I was trying to get as many gluten-containing molecules off of the fruit (ok, honestly, Panera is like gluten central! I know it's on everything, including the fruit...those crumbs get everywhere!). To further my weirdness ;), I also brought a box of cereal with me in my purse (yup, really! I have a big purse, what can I say?!)....these little flaxseed puff thingies. I sprinkled them on the fruit to make it a bit more substantial ;). I didn't eat anything before I left home, as I mentioned I might in my previous post...so bringing the little bit of extra sustenance (the flax puff dealios) was a good choice.
After breakfast I had class from 10-2. Due to ISU's homecoming today and what a mess it probably was on campus or anywhere remotely near campus, for that matter...we had our class at a hotel near Panera. So, I just hopped on over there when it was time for class! I have class the 3rd Saturday of each month until May. Last month was our first class meeting of this semester. At that point we signed up to bring snacks on class days. I signed up for the first day. I used the opportunity to bring lots of gluten-y stuff that I wanted to get out of the house! :) I also ate some grapes and a SoyJoy bar, something new (gluten free of course....raisin walnut flavored, or something along those lines). It has an oddly dense texture but overall wasn't too bad. It was better than the ThinkThin high protein peanut butter (also gluten free) bar that I tried later toward the end of class when I was pretty hungry...I honestly ate only one bite and shoved the nasty thing back in my purse. Maybe I'll try it again later ;) I also brought the gluten free brownies that I made last night...well, I brought a few small squares of them, anyway. I thought I'd share them with people so they could see what a gluten free item is like. They really weren't too bad...
After class I was STARVING. Really. I went to Naturally Yours again to look for more groceries and bought a few things to make an experimental chicken dish later and then I went to the gym. I just did the elliptical for 65 minutes and then called it a day. I probably should've done some weights but I was tired...and hungry!
I went home and ate some gluten free ;) baked sour cream and cheddar potato chips (I had purchased them previously from Naturally Yours...they are actually really good. I might even like them better than Baked Lays, actually! Speaking of which...I wonder if I can eat them or if they have a bunch of added stuff. Potato is generally good, it's just when they start adding gluten in spices, flavorings, etc. that it becomes a problem) and worked on making my first real gluten free meal ;). I made 2 chicken breasts...thawed the chicken, rolled in Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free baking mix (a mix of different flours), rolled them in egg, and last rolled them in rice "bread" crumbs. The, I put them in an 8x8 baking dish and sprinkled some butter and sliced almonds on top. The plan was to bring these with us over to Laura and Josh's tonight in case I couldn't eat what they were serving for dinner (they had invited us over, along with a few other friends, for an evening of "fall food and fall fun"). Josh had texted me letting me know what they were making and it didn't sound as if anything was "safe" for me and my silly diet...aside from perhaps the salad.
At some point early on in the day today I decided I need to come up with some kind of "guide" to e-mail out or mail out to all of our friends that we would be hanging out with in the near future and/or possibly eating dinner with them, particularly in their homes. I really don't want people to be offended if I don't eat some of their food or if I ask to know all of the ingredients in things. I also don't want them to be put out if I decide to bring a few "safe" items for myself...that way I know for sure I will have something there I can eat. I don't mean it personally, I just don't want a stomachache or anything worse! I know it's going to be tricky....both with friends and family...but I hope I can find that people are really open and not annoyed by having to deal with this along with me. I am NOT going to ask people to accommodate my "diet" when they have us over for dinner...I don't expect people to have to make food that will be ok for me! I can bring my own things! I just want to have everything out there in the open to minimize irritation and/or hurt feelings. So, I think within the next week I am going to type up a little mini guide of some kind to explain what exactly celiac disease is and how I have to live now since my doctor thinks there's a good chance that I have it.
Ok, so Jeremy and I headed over to Josh and Laura's home around 6...chicken in tow ;). I also brought some cheese dip and Garden of Eatin' blue corn chips (organic and made from non GMO corn...and gluten free of course ;) ) and the gluten free brownies I baked Friday night for myself to eat for dessert and for others to try if they were curious! Laura convinced me that the main course, cream of asparagus soup, was safe for me to eat. She told me that, instead of flour, she had used cornstarch in the soup. I was skeptical (not to be bratty, just because I need to be careful!) but I gave in...basically because I felt bad and didn't want to make a big issue out of it when some nice friends of us had made a really kind gesture and invited us to a fun event in their home! I ate the soup and some salad, forgoing the sweet potato casserole (even though I love sweet potatoes! It had graham crackers in the crumble topping), bread (duh! ;) ), and salad dressing....and dessert for the most part. Gosh, dessert is one painful thing for me to miss out on! I am such a major dessert junkie!!! ;) Laura had made these HEAVENLY-looking mini pumpkin cheesecake treats in individual muffin papers. They looked AWESOME! Pumpkin and cheesecake are two of my favorite things...combined?! I can't even imagine! Honestly, I am going to experiment soon, I think, and come up with a gluten free variation on that recipe! She also made some cookies...that I helped frost with Reid and Kara after dinner while the others watched the Illinois football game. I did, however, get to enjoy a do-it-yourself caramel apple! I checked the ingredients on the caramels and was fairly certain they were gluten free...so I indulged! :) Laura had bowls of crushed peanuts and crushed oreos that we could roll our caramel apples in...of course I had to avoid the oreos but I did take some peanuts!
All in all it was a very fun night...I put the chicken I brought in their fridge and brought it home later. I will eat it, reheated, sometime this week. I am sure it will come in handy. Aside from the fact that I am trying to avoid microwaves because I've learned what they supposedly do to the nutrients in foods! But I digress...
I did have a rather big stomachache after the soup and salad...it's hard to tell if it was from the meal (either from a forgotten gluten-containing ingredient or from cross contamination from another ingredient), because I still have lots of gluten left in my system that isn't gone yet, or from any other variety of causes. I didn't eat enough, really, to have a stomachache from TOO much food...so I think I can rule that out. It's a mystery! My stomachache, though, subsided before they usually do...and I ate my dessert (the brownie and caramel apple) without any repercussions.
All in all, my first day as a gluten-free woman was somewhat of a success. I know it's going to be a long road!
The first dinner party as a gluten-free woman was also a success...I am sure it's hard for everyone to go to that initial party, and the fact that it fell on the day of my first day of living gluten free was probably a good thing. I know I still have a lot of up-hill battling to do, but I am glad to have one day under my belt :)
OK....I am so tired. I am going to end this post now....more tomorrow, perhaps. Bring on Day Two! :)