FYI. If you live near a “Sprouts” grocery store, they are having a month dedicated to gluten free awareness month. A lot of their products are on sale. You might google and see if there is a shop near you.

Cheryl

My daughter and I just recently went in for our allergy checkup. I asked my doctor if they did testing for wheat. I was hoping I could get the testing done there and that it would be covered by insurance. He almost immediately became defensive. Wish I had never opened my mouth. He told me he had already tested me for wheat. (Everyone receives a sheet with everything they are allergic to; however, on the sheet it never mentioned wheat, which didn’t really matter because it was skin testing.)

The test I was interested in was a stool sample, but after my “wheat question,” I was unable to offer more than a nod or a one-word response. He asked me why I wanted to know about the wheat. I said I had been seeing a Naturopath and, based on my history, he felt that I was gluten intolerant.

You should have seen my doctor’s face!  “What is a (bungled word for Naturopath) and what kind of degree do they have?” “How many years of schooling do they have?” I did my best to define Naturopath, though I wasn’t quite sure how many years they go to school. But I do know they have extensive education in nutrition. He was rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Then the lecture began. Read the rest of this entry »

We went to a church picnic last night. I took at least one thing I could have. Knowing there would be a huge amount of things to choose from, I was feeling pretty confident. They had barbecue meat. Which was in a sauce. Since there was no one to ask what was in the sauce, I thought I would take a risk. I also ate cole slaw, potato salad, a spinach salad and fruit. Probably the only really safe thing was the fruit. Some of the other things probably had a lot of soy and the barbecue sauce may have had wheat in it. So needless to say I am paying for it today. I should have not been so brave. I probably should have not had the meat and took something with me as far as that goes. It is difficult when you go to something like that because not only does everything look amazing, and there is no way of asking what kind of dressing or sauces are on something. The only dessert I could safely have was fruit. Usually I am smarter and will take something, but I was under the impression the meat was going to be smoked or grilled. And I should have remembered from Christmas that too many heavy foods, that may not have wheat but soy in them, treat me the same way. Not thinking got me in trouble, or maybe thinking the wrong thing got me in trouble. Although there were many options (safe for others), very few safe options for me. Next time I am going prepared with some of my favorite things that are safe in a small cooler. Then if I am pleasantly surprised by overwhelming options that are safe for me, I will just save my meal for the next day. Still learning.

cheryl

I have a good suggestion for something easy and tasty. I start with bacon that is a good quality. It is minimally processed. Without preservatives and hormones. Cook your bacon and blot. Slice an avocado. Toast one slice of tapioca bread . And have one of your favorite flavors of cheese ready. I place the bacon on my bread, then avocado, then top with cheese. Back to the toaster oven to briefly melt the cheese . Very good. You could even use turkey bacon. I try to use cheese that is not processed and doesn’t have all the preservatives in it so that chemicals don’t bother my stomach. Also to much grease will bother me. But this seems to do well for me.

Cheryl

I just tried a new cereal called Nutty Rice by Perky’s. I really like it. It has a very mild flavor. No strange after taste. But what I really like about it, is that it is extremely crunchy. It is in the shape of really hard little balls. I don’t know if everyone would like it because it is a very mild flavor but I really enjoyed it. On the back of the box, it has a recipe for making a pie using the cereal as a crust. I am going to definitely try this.

Does anyone have a recipe for crackers that they could share with me? I tried one recipe awhile back and the dogs didn’t even want it. I think that is one of the things I miss the most. I have one cracker brand I can buy. By Blue Diamond. But it would be great to have a basic recipe for crackers.

Cheryl

I have a new favorite snack. It is Ener G pretzels. I don’t think if you told someone, that they would be able to tell that they are wheat, gluten, egg and milk free. In fact my girls like them better than regular pretzels. The only bad thing is they come in a very small bag. So you really do have to treat them as a special snack.

Cheryl

Last night we had taco’s. I haven’t been eating taco’s with my family but I separated my meat before I put in the seasoning and just ate it plain with the tomato and lettuce and cheese and shell. I am very careful to drain my meat. Greasy food is not a good option for my stomach. Anyway I did fine. That was definitely easy. If you are eating things like taco’s make sure you check the mix. Wheat is in a few of the mixes. Does anyone happen to know if when you go to a Mexican restaurant that makes the corn tortilla’s if they dust them with flour? I need to watch the next time I go.

I went to Krogers today. I was able to get noodles that are made with potato flour and whole eggs. Kinda expensive but I thought I would give it a try. I also got Chocolate Chip Macaroons, there were two brands one states it shares equipment that uses wheat. So it might not be good for someone who is very sensitive. It also contains other items that you might be allergic to so read carefully . I got some chicken broth, however it does contain msg. My favortie though is they had several varieties of pound cake. It is good but read label because it contains eggs and traces of nuts possibly. I believe these are items that may only be available at passover. But I am not certain of that. I also got Potato Latke mix and a sweet potato mix. I know these are available all year. They do contain partially hydrogized cotton seed oil. It is probably better to make these from scratch.  Just read labels carefully but you might be able to find a treat or two.

cheryl

My family went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch the other day. I decided I was going to give a try to some things that normally would have bothered me. Even though they had no gluten, they contained other things that I have had a history bothering me. One of which is onions and tomato sauce. I ate salsa with corn chips . It was wonderful and in the past it would have really upset my stomach. However it didn’t. I have been gluten free since the end of August. I believe there has been some healing and I can tolerate some things in moderation. However I know I have a long ways to go. It was a nice treat