A Few of my Favorite Things

Hey again! Are you wondering what is good in the gluten free aisle? Craving chocolate but you can't have lactose or dairy? I will tell you what my kids and I have found and love, and some we can't live without now that we've found them!
These are our absolute favorite:
Excuse me for saying these K-Toos are actually better than Oreo's. Even my husband thinks so and he isn't gluten-free. Pick these up in the store and you will thank me later.
My kids love these Kinninnick animal cookies, the only bad thing is they don't last long between the three of them.  This is truly a treat for them.
These are my go-to cookie for chocolate cravings. They are bite size so you don't over-indulge and feel guilty later.  However, any of Pamela's brand cookies are delicious.
Anything Canyon Bakehouse is like taking a time-machine back to when you could eat gluten bread.  It doesn't give you that gross wine-type taste like a lot of other GF breads.  But then again that's my family's preference, some people may like that taste. If you do, find the X at the top of page. Just kidding.
Moving on:
Udi's muffins. Just yes. Buy them and taste the amazing quality. Be forewarned, if you're allergic to cinnamon watch out for the blueberry ones.
We love this Chebe pizza crust mix. I always put cheese in with the crust, it's optional but it makes the crust taste really good.  If you're really hungry though and feeding more than just yourself, you'll need two boxes.
The Aldi brand 'Live Gfree' brownie mix is surprisingly good. I've tried some of their other products and wasn't very impressed.  I was pleasantly surprised that this actually tasted good.

Skinny Pop popcorn.  No description necessary, it pretty much speaks for itself.

 Boom Chicka Pop popcorn, highly recommend.  Hard not to over-indulge with these.

These are my favorite snacks, especially the honey-mustard onion ones.  You can't go wrong with pretzels, and they're Snyder's.  I should be getting paid for this.

So that's all she wrote! I hope this will help you if you've been looking for a new snack or dessert to try.

What is Celiac Disease? What is gluten?

Many of you may have stumbled across this blog and are wondering, 'What in the world is Celiac Disease and what do I need to know about it?' Or you may have just been diagnosed with it and no one has explained to you what you need to avoid, or how you need to eat now.  I would love to take you down this journey to make you more knowledgeable about it so you can get your body healed and stay healthy!

After I was diagnosed, my wonderful GI doctor and dietician explained a lot to me, however I still had questions! I simply did a google search and found this image (I'm a visual learner) which proved very helpful to me to see what damage gluten was doing to me and why I was in so much pain!
Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease where in ingestion (also airborne, but that's for another day) of gluten causes damage to the small intestine. Because it damages the villi, your body isn't able to get the nutrients that it needs so weight loss from malnutrition is common at first. If you are diagnosed with Celiac disease and you continue to eat gluten, you can die.  There's also a high risk of getting lymphoma, a type of cancer.  This is a very serious disease and it's to be taken seriously.

Now for the second question (I get this question a lot).  What is gluten?
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye.  There is a lot of things I didn't realize that was made from barley, for example malts.  This saddened me greatly when I found that out.  So yes, no more malts or malted milk balls if you have Celiac.  Also there is a great debate among the Celiac community about if oats are truly gluten free. The reason for this debate is the oats are planted on the same field as wheat.  And living in Wisconsin, growing up with a family who are farmers, they most likely share a harvester as well. I always get a Celiac reaction to oats even if they claim to be gluten free.  So if you're still having a reaction and can't figure out where it's coming from, check the ingredients of your favorite cereal or snack. I also have made energy bites for my kids with gluten free oats and they get reactions from it as well.  So we avoid oats altogether.  It isn't worth feeling crummy and doing damage to our bodies! One drink I recommend to help you heal your gut is aloe vera drinks.  Those helped me immensely when I was first diagnosed to feel better faster.  Just don't drink too many or it'll give you diarrhea.  That's not really the desired result!

 The last point I want to make is this;  I have found a wonderful support group of friends who help me in the practical things of life, and I recommend you finding this as well.  If you have a Facebook there are lots of support groups on there or find one in your community!  You will be surprised to find how refreshing it is to have others who understand you and to be able to talk candidly and honestly with one another.
There is more to life than being miserable.  God has given us these bodies and we need to treat them the right way! I feel so strongly about this, and it's one of the reasons I wanted to start this blog.  I want to share what I've gone through and what I have found that actually works.  It upsets me when I see Celiacs who still eat gluten and complain when they keep getting sick. I think of this scripture verse, and I think this is a great mission statement for this blog;

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

'Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price.  Therefore, honor God with your bodies.'

Gluten Free Medications

If I’m at a doctors office and they say they’re prescribing me this certain drug, I always tell them it needs to be gluten-free.  Most doctors give me a quizzical look and tell me they have no idea gluten is even in drugs! When I first realized that, it scared me! So I started doing my own research and found this awesome website that lists a lot of medications that are either 1) gluten free or 2) gluten free but not sure if a chance of CC (cross contamination).
I’ve learned that pharmacists are my best friends! They are extremely knowledgeable on many, many medications. I’m always double checking to see if it’s not only gluten free but lactose free as well. Never feel afraid to ask questions of anyone, it’s not worth getting sick just because you’re afraid to bother someone. You’ll get better at voicing your questions the more you ask them.

I hope this will be of some help to you!

And if you know of any more websites that list medications that are safe, leave me a comment below with the link!

Here’s the link:

http://www.glutenfreedrugs.com/list.pdf

Cross Contamination anyone?

I don't know about you, but it always gets my blood pressure up when someone else says they'll make me and my kids something gluten free.  In my mind I think, is it worth explaining to them that if a food package says "gluten free" that doesn't mean it's safe for us to ingest? There are too many variables involved that make my head spin! Have you washed all your cooking utensils, pans and counters, most importantly your hands! Here's the kicker, even if you have washed all those, there's still a huge risk for cross contamination. Now don't get me wrong, I have been blessed with the most amazing friends who understand the seriousness of this disease and all that goes into it. I have entrusted them with this monumental task of cooking for my family, and not only was the food delicious but we didn't get glutenized. So hats off to you gals!
Back to my point, most people won't understand why we have to be so careful about what we put in our bodies, and that's okay.  I usually tell them the symptoms are kind of like food poisoning, and it's not worth it for us to get sick over your gluten free pumpkin pie you made especially for us.  I've had to get good at saying 'Thank you but no thank you.'
I love it when someone comes up to me and asks me why I can't have what everyone else is eating.  That is how they become more informed and then when they come across another celiac they can say "I do understand why you are this way." You're welcome.
Another type of contamination I want to point out (I get a lot of peculiar looks with this one), is airborne gluten. Unfortunately a few celiacs I have come across actually get seizures from going down the bread aisle of a grocery store.  I get really sick if I'm in the same room as pizza, or pie, or anything that's super full of gluten. I can't begin to tell you how many get-togethers I've gotten sick at just from being in the same house and thought afterwards that it isn't worth the threat to my health anymore. So I mostly avoid any type of food gathering now. Let people think I'm anti-social or weird! I want to live to see my kids grow up, and I want them to be healthy too!

On a side note, why do we in America make every social gathering about food?!
And another thing, the very first thing I learned about cross-contamination; throw out your plastic colander.  I don't know the science behind it, but basically the gluten clings to the plastic and no matter how much you clean it, it's not going to be safe to use.  So if you're still symptomatic and kept your old plastic colander, let it meet your trash can.

Funny Story

So my 3 kids are gluten intolerant, I suspect (call it a mothers intuition) that my oldest is celiac.  This was our first holiday season being gluten free. We are lactose intolerant as well, we live in the Cheese State and when I first realized I couldn't have dairy, I cried. I love cheese, ask anyone who knows me. Then I did some research because I wasn't going to take this lying down! Guess what? Cheese is lactose free. I did my happy dance and all was well once again.

I have a funny story for you all.  For the sake of this story you need to know my hubby can eat gluten. Around Christmas this year, we went to my hubby's family get together. I'm not going to name names so I'll just say her name is Sally. Sally came up to me and handed me some candy canes for my kids.  Here's how the conversation went:

 Me: Thanks! Do you know what brand they are?
Sally: *gives me a strange look* No...why?
Me: Before I can safely give them to my kids I need to be sure they're gluten free.
Sally: *looks at me like I'm crazy* They're sugar...there shouldn't be any gluten in it.
Me: *patiently trying to educate her* I wish it were that simple, but a lot of brands of candy canes have gluten in them.
Sally: *starting to back away from me* Well I don't know, have your husband taste test them.

And it was then that I was first introduced to the ignorance of people to this disease. I was so stunned by what she had said that all I could do was laugh. Do people really believe you can 'taste ' gluten? 😆🤔

Gluten Free Apps

Have you ever been in the store looking at an item you aren't sure is gluten free? I've been there myself many times over. It can be so overwhelming and scary, especially when you're first starting down this journey of gluten free eating.  I have three apps on my phone that I love to use in a pinch.
(Now as a friendly reminder this doesn't mean you can be lazy and stop reading the labels! Apps are made by people, who sometimes make mistakes.)  The first app is called 'Is that Gluten Free?", it lists a ton of brands of anything you could think of and gives dates of when it was confirmed to be gluten free.  It does cost around $4, but I love it if I'm eating at a friends house and need to find out if the drinks they have are safe for me.
The second app that I love even more is called 'The Gluten Free Scanner'.  That's right, you read it right! You can scan items in the store and it will tell you if it's gluten free, if its gluten free and made on shared equipment, or if it's gluten.  Now this one is free, however, you can buy the full version.
The last app I want to share with you is for if you're out travelling and want to find a restaurant in the area that is celiac friendly. Real people can rate it and give feedback on their experiences. It's called 'Find me Gluten Free'.  I've used it multiple times and find it extremely helpful!

I hope this helps you feel less frazzled in your everyday life! Know you are not alone in this, and it will get easier as time goes by if you've been newly diagnosed.
Hang in there!