Another Gluten Free Blog

...With some great-looking recipes! I have her carrot cake in the oven right now, made with Ener-G egg replacer. (The girls helped me make it for my birthday today.) And I plan to make the coconut frosting as well. Yummy!

A great Gluten summary

From my friend Staci...

Gluten

OK, everybody. Staci asked specifically for this info, but I've had SO many conversations with people recently about gluten, that I figured I would post it. I hope it is helpful to some of you.

First, our story. I got pregnant with Audrey when Hannah was only 8 months. By 11 months, I was so exhausted from being pregnant and breastfeeding together, that I made the tough decision to wean her earlier than I planned. We put Hannah on a combination of raw goat's milk, rice milk and water, she LOVED it, and we moved on. After 6 months on that formula, Hannah began to look kind of yellow. People would comment about it all the time. She also had a huge round belly, loose stools, and constant temper tantrums. She was also a baby that was hard to communicate with - she refused to make eye contact, even though I worked with her. She did not laugh until 6 months old. She seemed very "OCD", even as a baby. She would line things up all the time and get very upset when they were messed up.

At that time we took her to Dr P. He looked her over, tapped on her belly and said it was very swollen, and said we should take her off the goat's milk. She was 15 months old and I was 8 months pregnant. Her symptoms disappeared overnight. Two weeks later, a friend was feeding her child and shared a pretzel with Hannah. All the symptoms returned. I was confused, so I called Dr P. "You will have to keep her off gluten," he said. "Many times an allergy to casein, the protein in milk, and gluten, the protein in grain go together." "For how long do we have to keep her off gluten?" I asked, as I realized what that meant. "For a very long time." "Oh."

And that's where the journey began.

The symtoms of gluten sensitivity are very strange, because it seems to effect people hundreds of different ways. Here is a fantastic FAQ on gluten. Actually, just read the whole site. Here are testimonials where people tell about the terrible symptoms they had that went away on a gluten free diet. The distinctive telltale symptoms of gluten sensitivity are red, flushed cheeks, and digestive problems.

On a personal note, I have gone gluten free myself in the past couple of months. I am feeling better than I have in a very long time. I was having constant aching in my arms and legs, and often felt despressed for no good reason. When I stay off gluten, I have more energy, I do not ache, I feel happier and more stable, and my stomach feels great. Thursday night I ended up eating out and the restaurant where we went did not guarantee any gluten free food. I did the best I could to order well, but I still had a terrible day yesterday. I ached so badly! No food is worth that, no matter how good it tastes.

I should say here also - gluten is not the only allergy that can cause problems. I also have an egg allergy that is so intense, if I eat even a bite of bread with egg in it, I'm sick 10 minutes later for 12 hours. I avoid egg like the plague! I and my family are also allergic to all dairy (except I can get away with a little goat's milk yogurt and cheese now and then), most of us to soy, and several of us to corn. Hannah and I are also allergic to yeast - which incidentally is a common cause of Colitis.

So what do you eat, you probably want to know? Here's a common meal plan in our house:

Breakfast:
turkey sausage (make sure it's GF! Shelton's is very good.)
cooked rice cereal with pure maple syrup and rice milk
fruit

Lunch:
open faced turkey sandwich on 1 piece rice bread w/ avocado
sweet potato chips
strawberries

Dinner:
Chicken with stir fried vegetables
Brown Rice

Snacks:
applesauce cups
Larabars
rice crackers
fruit
organic hot dogs
almond butter on toast

You get the idea. There are lots of options, you just have to know what they are. For the most part, it is all fresh - no "easy" packaged food. In fact, there's nothing easy about this. But in my opinion, life is too short to be sick all the time if there's something you can do to change it. I've said it before, but I'm fairly convinced that Hannah could have been diagnosed with Autism if we hadn't caught this. She's a different kid on gluten. By the way, here's an article about the gluten/autism link.

One last thing, because this post is really long. You have to do this for several weeks to see if it works. If you decide to "kinda try it" for a couple weeks, and hope there is some improvement, don't waste your time and energy. This is all or nothing, unfortunately. Dr P told us that with Hannah, one trace of gluten will set her back 7 -10 days. Some people it takes a year or more and then suddenly their body feels incredible. We noticed a difference after one week, and an even bigger one after about two months. And your body will feel even a trace of flour - eating out, except at a select few restaurants, is not safe. You're also better off getting rid of all gluten in your kitchen, cleaning out your toaster (crumbs, you know), and feeding your whole family gluten free. Cross-contamination is very hard to avoid. Get your husband on board with you first!

I don't mean to discourage you from trying this - I really hope any of you with unsolved health issues will do it, I just don't want to give you a false picture of what it's like. Imagine - feeding your family healthy, fresh food. Being healthy and strong... It's worth it!

Traveling

Nick grew up in a town of 30,000 people called Kearney, in Nebraska. Life is simple there. Nebraska has a funny culture - people talk about leaving the state as if they're going to some alien planet. Honestly? They kinda are... :) People live quiet lives. They farm, they attend their church, they do their job...

There is, as you might expect, a shortage of health food stores. And restaurants with gluten free menus. There is a tiny health food store in Kearney called "The Health Barn." It's literally a red barn in the middle of town. There's only two other health food stores in the state, as of the last research I did.

Last time we went, I literally planned every meal for Hannah for the whole time we were there. Breakfast was cooked-at-home sausage warmed in the microwave. Lunch was turkey sandwiches. Dinner was...I can't even remember.

One thing they do have in Kearney, is fast-food. Everywhere. Everything you can think of. So, last night I started looking up gluten-free fast food. Several thoughts here...first, gross. Second, relief. Did you know that McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Sonic, Hardee's, Chick-fil-a, and Burger King all have gluten free information online?

Now, I do not intend to feed my kids fast food for every meal while we're there. But once or twice would be okay, seeing as how they've never had it before in their lives. And, I'm dealing with a new challenge because after seeing Dr P last weekend, I am now eating gluten free, egg free, dairy free, soy free and yeast free. Amazingly? I can get pretty close even with fast food. Most fast-food places even have gluten-free fries, because they only cook fries in them, not other fried foods.

So, I can plan a couple of meals a day, and we can still eat out with Nick's family (because they like to). Now I just have to stomach the fact that I actually know what's in all that "food."

Enzyme for Gluten?

Thought those of you in the GF world might find this interesting. What do you think, will it work, or will it just be another drug that causes different issues?

Thanksgiving Dinner

Dinner was a smashing success, I must say. I should have followed my instinct and turned the heat up on the sweet potatoes so they were a little softer, and it was difficult to have everything more than just lukewarm by the time it was on the table, but it was....delicious. And completely gluten-free!

Turkey, gluten-free bread stuffing with dried cranberries and water chestnuts, fresh cranberry sauce, green beans with sauteed almonds, maple-orange mashed sweet potatoes, and gravy with thyme and thickened with rice flour. Not pictured here was another dish - maple thyme acorn squash.

The most amazing thing about all of this is, Nick and I keep saying how we can eat a ridiculously full plate and we don't feel sick! Thanksgiving is a day to be sick, right? I mean, what's Thanksgiving without feeling bloated and gross and almost achy afterward? You can make delicious food that is good for you!

Anyway, if there are certain recipes you're interested in, let me know. I almost always find things online and then adapt them.

Hope you all had a great dinner, and great time together as a family!

Thanksgiving

The Gluten-Free Girl has once again written a beautiful, helpful Thanksgiving blog. I love her attitude toward having to be gluten free. Rather than seeing it as deprivation, she is grateful to be well, and she does gluten free in such a delicious way that no one will miss the gluten.

Gluten

Hannah had another gluten episode this weekend. It's been a very long time, yet it was still discouraging to me. Every time she goes for a while, I start to hope it's going away, or that God healed her, or that she's growing out of it, or something along those lines. We had lots of temper tantrums over the weekend. I have to remind myself those happen because she's not feeling that great. It's hard. She seems to be better today, which means we managed to avoid another exposure while eating out with my family this weekend. Always a good thing.

Today we're going to pick up the things we need to make gluten-free playdough. You wouldn't think of it, but playdough is made mostly of flour. As easy as it is to eat, and as quickly as fingers get stuck in the mouth while covered with just about anything, gluten-containing playdough is not a good idea. Thankfully, you can find recipes for just about anything on the internet. I'll have to post pics. I'm sure Hannah will have a blast.

Restaurant Survey

I've been tagged!

Here's the rules:
1. Name and link to the person who tagged you.
2. Name the state and country where you reside.
3. Name your five favorite local restaurants.
4. Tag others.

Kyla,
I get SO bored with the places we eat out! We have to have gluten-free choices, of course, and it has to be at least relatively cheap, plus, we are lazy here and don't like to drive more than a few minutes to go eat. On top of this, I find the thing I like and order the same thing every time we go somewhere. You locals, please, rescue me from restaurant boredom!

1. Cracker Barrel. This is comfort food. I get grilled chicken tenderloins and carrots, green beans and sweet potato casserole (that last one they only have on Thursdays). They have a wood-burning fireplace in the restaurant, and it is a nice place to go when it's 20 degrees and snowy outside. They also have this chocolate Coke cake in the winter that is to die for.

2. Qdoba. Not as spicy as Chipotle or Baja Fresh, but same idea. I usually get a naked (no tortilla) chicken burrito with mango salsa, guacamole, and lettuce. Hannah loves to eat a bowl of chicken, black beans, and rice. Easy!

3. Whole Foods Market. Yes, it's a grocery store, but ours has a hot food area. It's nice because Nick can eat pizza if he wants (good pizza, too) and we can get Hannah rotisserie chicken and brown rice, and I can have chicken salad or BBQ beef, or whatever looks good that day. They have a nice heated outdoor patio area where nobody cares if our kids yell a little.

4. P.F. Chang's. Yay for Asian with brown rice and no MSG. My mom and sister and I had lunch there last week and sat outside on their patio in the sunshine. It was wonderful. I get lemon chicken. Banana Spring Rolls for dessert. Yummy.

5.Ted's Montana Grill. A little old-timey, with wood floors and dark booths. Fun date place because it's quiet and private. They serve bison as well as beef, and it's really good. Especially their pot roast. I get pot roast sometimes (it's on the expensive side) or usually grilled chicken with avocado and a fried egg on top, and a sweet potato.

I wish there were more locally owned restaurants on this end of town. There probably will be in the next few years.

I tag (I say doing this in a comment is fair):
Saraw
TC
Flo
Liz T
Anybody else who wants to, chime in!

This is scary...

Did you know the FDA has decided to allow ranchers and farmers to sell meat and milk from cloned animals? Unless you buy stuff labeled Organic (which has always and continues to have higher standards), you won't even know, because they aren't required to label it. Who knows how this will work? Just as an example, I've been doing lots of research on celiac disease, since Hannah has a gluten intolerance. It seems that celiac wouldn't even exist if we weren't constantly eating hybridized grains. Over the years, companies have produced grain that was stronger, better able to grow during droughts, resistent to disease and insects, etc. This has changed the genetic makeup of grain, and therefore it no longer matches what our body recognizes and digests. Bad news. Now they're doing the same thing with animals, except to a greater extent. What new problems will this cause, and what new drugs will they produce to "cure" it? Yuck. Read this for more info.

Gluten: the bane of my existence

If you didn't already know, my little Hannah has a gluten intolerance. Lost of people ask me if that means Celiac Disease. The answer is, I don't know. She's never been tested. The only reason I know not to feed her gluten, is my nutritionist, Dr. P, told me so.

If all started when I got pregnant with Audrey. Hannah was only 8 months old and I was still nursing her. To my credit, I hung in there three months. It. Was. So. Hard. I was sick, tired, cranky, and Hannah became a fan of pinching and squirming. So, when she was 11 months, I gave in. I told my nutritionist that I felt I needed to wean her. He agreed with me, and gave me instructions to find raw goat's milk. A little of that, a little gluten-free rice milk and some water in a bottle. Hannah LOVED it. NO problem weaning whatsoever. And for a while, she seemed even healthier than before. I don't think I had much milk left at that point.

Fast forward six months. Close friends and family members started remarking that Hannah seemed kind of yellow. Her stomach, which had always been kind of round, seemed to get bigger every day. I started to worry. Her moods were very explosive and she was not an easy kid, especially before and after meals. Finally, we took her to Dr. P. He tapped on her stomach, testing to see how bloated she was. Very. "Take her off the goat's milk." He said. Easy enough. She got a ton better within a couple weeks. Then, one day, a friend was feeding her son pretzels and offered Hannah one. Her stomach became extremely swollen again within hours. I didn't understand yet, so I called Dr. P. "You have to keep her away from gluten." Okay, great... What is that? After LOTS of research, I know a little about it finally.

Basically, it's the protein in wheat, rye, and barley. In someone with intolerance, gluten causes the person's immune system to attack their own small intestine, damaging the lining. This damaged lining can then no longer absorb nutrients and break down foods. This creates a domino effect, making the person really, really sick. At this point in time, the only known treatment is a life-long avoidance of gluten.

Most people who have problems with gluten can tell when their body reacts. Hannah is too little to tell me yet. Therefore, the only way I have to know we're doing okay is whether her little tummy is round or flat. It's miserable. And according to adults who do have celiac disease, any tiny trace of gluten can cause a reaction. We're talking about food cut on a cutting board with bread crumbs on it. One lady told a story about getting sick from kissing her boyfriend who had just eaten bread. This is serious, people. And it takes about three days for the reaction to go away.

I suppose there are good things coming of this. For one, I'm learning to cook. My family has always eaten out a ton. It is something my mom, especially, loves to do. Now, eating out is a gamble. There's just no way to tell somebody at Cracker Barrel, "please don't let this come in contact with any..." what should I say? Most people don't know what gluten is yet. It wouldn't even be fair to cause the issue, I feel like. I can order Hannah grilled chicken and steamed carrots, but it doesn't mean she won't be exposed. And if she is, there's no way to tell but by looking at her tummy. But she'll be cranky, and I'll know she can't absorb nutrients for a couple days.

To add insult to injury, Audrey has some issues as well. Since I'm breastfeeding her, Dr. P suggested I stay off gluten to help straighten her out. I've been trying SO hard. For about three months. But sometimes, I just need to have some chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant. Or a bite of thanksgiving pie. Or cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning at my parents'. It is so easy at home, and so impossible as soon as we leave.

I've been eating carefully for 9 1/2 years, and it was nothing compared to this. I get really discouraged sometimes.