I am sensitive enough that if I get even the tiniest crumb of something on a plate I will have a reaction. I pretty much immediately get a headache that starts on my forehead right in between my eyes. This lasts for 20-30  minutes then turns into a full migraine with nausea and light and sound sensitivity. This lasts anywhere from one hour to four hours depending on how soon I catch it. Within the next day or so I start having digestive issues. For the next two weeks I suffer from severe brain fog and anxiety. This sort of reaction is not something I am willing to risk by eating in restaurants. Most of the time I don’t miss the luxury of restaurants but I certainly have my days. Especially recently.

This past weekend my parents left to go back to New York. Before they went we wanted to get together. We decided to go to a restaurant. Originally I was just going to go and sit and talk with them. Definitely not planning on eating.  After a little debating I decided to bring my own food so I could eat while they were. This is something I feel sort of weird about. I am never sure how people at restaurants are going to react to me bringing my own meal. No one at the restaurant said anything about it which was a relief. The only problem I encountered that night was remembering how much I enjoyed the social setting of eating out. I never knew how much I missed it. So now that I remember what I am missing I am trying to decide how to move forward.  I would love to be able to go out to have dinner with friends but I still feel weird about bringing my own food. I know I can’t eat in a restaurant that has any chance of contamination, I have yet to find an entirely gluten free restaurant in Colorado, but I am not sure that I am willing to miss out on things like this anymore.

I would love to hear about your experiences with dining out. Do you do it? If so do you worry about contamination? How has this sort of thing affected your life?

Thanks for reading!

~Chelsea

Here is an article I stumbled across about the cost of gluten free living. Anyone on this diet knows that it is significantly more expensive than any other diet. Being gluten free requires being smart about your grocery spending.

“The fall 2008 issue of the Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research recently published the findings of a study designed to assess the differences in the costs of gluten-free foods compared to “regular” foods. Anyone on a gluten-free diet knows that a gluten free diet costs more than a traditional diet. But how much more? You may want to sit down.

The study was conducted by the Dalhousie University Medical School, Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics. University researchers compared the unit cost of 56 gluten-free foods and “comparable gluten-containing foods” from the same food group at two large grocery chains in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Unit costs per 100 grams of food were calculated in dollars.

What the researchers found:

• The average unit cost of the gluten-free product – $1.71
• The average unit cost of the gluten containing products – $.61
• Gluten-free foods, on average, cost a whopping 242% more than regular, gluten containing foods!

What can you do to avoid the exorbitant cost of gluten-free foods?

First of all, avoid gluten-free junk foods. Cookies, chips and other gluten-free snack foods flooding the market are expensive- and most are made with highly refined cheap starches. Read the nutritional labels carefully before parting with your hard-earned money! If they are loaded with refined carbohydrates, sugar and not much else, are they really worth the price?”

Here is the link for the original article:

The High Cost of Gluten Free Living

Here is the recipe for my lasagna rolls, as I have decided to call them.

1 box Tinkyada Lasagna

1 jar Spanellis Pasta Sauce

1 zuchinni

1 carrot

1 cup of frozen spinach

2 garlic cloves

1 cup of Pacific vegetable broth

Rice cheese ( or any other cheese substitute)

2 Applegate Farms sweet italian sausage.

Pre-heat oven to 350

Boil water, once boiling, add pasta. Cook until mushy. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water. ( I have found that rinsing the pasta with cold water is really important with rice pasta)

Cook the sausage and chop up.

Chop the carrot, zucchini and garlic. Put in a microwavable bowl with the frozen spinach and the vegetable broth. Cover and microwave for 5 minutes

Take one piece of pasta, put some of the veggies and sausage in the middle and roll it up. Repeat until all pasta and veggies are used.

Cover with sauce and sprinkle cheese on top.

Bake for 45  minutes and enjoy!

Now I know I could have just made lasagna, but if you are one of the lucky few who have Whole Foods who carry the jumbo shells try this recipe with them, and then mail me some of the shells

Thanks for reading

~Chelsea

I have already begun that process by starting my own gluten free Meetup.You can check that out here: http://www.meetup.com/The-Denver-Gluten-Free-Gang/ My goal with this group is to create a place for fellow celiacs to share stories, frustrations, recipes and support. I am really excited for this!

I am also going to try to commit more time to my blog. I really want to turn it into a one stop resource for everything and everyone looking for gluten free information.  I have added a resource page. This page is going to be full of websites that I find useful.

My other gluten free goal for 2010 is to create my own recipes to post here, so check back for those.

As always, thanks for reading! I appreciate the support

~Chelsea

This year I was determined to make it different! I invited my entire family came over early in the day so they could help cook.  This time everyone felt involved.

My mom got to decorate my house and help cook here and there.

My grandma go to make her candied sweet potatoes and stuffing, and my grandpa got to peel all the mashed potatoes.

My dad even got in some really good reading time.

We also had a new addition to our Thanksgiving this year. Our dinner would not have been successful without her. She figured out how to move the racks in my oven. She was such a great sport. She helped out wherever she was needed. As she said it, she had never heard her name so many times. I’m so glad she was here this year to spend Thanksgiving with my family.

The things I was most grateful for this year were spending the day withe people I love, enjoying an absolutely amazing gluten free dinner and having my family take part in cooking the meal.

You can check out more pictures from  Thanksgiving here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39957977@N02/sets/72157622963133104/

So far I am planning on cooking:

Turkey (I am still trying to find a gluten free brand)

My grandmas sweet potatoes (best things Ihave ever tested, Trying to figure out how to do it gluten free)

My moms mashed potatoes (Trying to figure out if rice milk will work to replace the whole milk)

Stuffing (This is the big one. Most gluten free stuffing I have found either has corn or sugar in it, so I am still working on finding stuffing cubes I can use)

Lemon Bars ( I have an amazing lemon bar recipe, I am so excited to make these again)

Pumpkin Pie (I am still looking for an amazing gluten free pumpkin pie recipe)

As I get closer to Thanksgiving I will post recipes to these as I find them.  If anyone has any recommendations for any of these recipes that would be awesome.

Thanks for reading

~Chelsea

Scitimes Video: A Profile of Celiac Disease

Enjoy!

Here’s the recipe. (once again, I don’t really measure things so all of these are estimates, the batter should be pretty thick or else it doesn’t cook properly.)

2 zucchinis shredded

1/2 onion shredded

1-2 eggs

Shredded Cheese ( I use rice cheese)

1/2 cup- 1 cup Gluten Free Flour Blend ( I use Aunt Kay’s flour blend)

Put the zucchini, onion, salt, pepper, cheese, and egg in a big bowl. Mix them, then add the flour.  Depending on how big the zucchinis are you may need to add the extra egg and the extra 1/2 cup of flour. Like I said, you want the mix pretty thick.

Try and make the patties pretty flat, rather than round before you drop them into the oil to fry them. They cook more evenly this way. Spoon in a few patties at a time, fry until golden brown, then let them cool and drain.

I squeeze lemon onto them, you could always eat them with ranch dressing, or some other sort of dressing.

~Thanks for reading.

My absolute favorite baking mixes are the Namaste mixes. I especially love their pancake mix (add blueberries!) and their brownie mix. For the brownie mix I usually use all whip one of the egg whites to stiff peaks and add it with the rest of the eggs. This makes the brownies a little lighter.

My favorite:

Pasta- Tinkyada brown rice pasta

Soda- As of yesterday it is now Oogave Soda. The ginger ale is a little intense, but I’ve heard great things about the cola.

Sausage- Applegate Farms Italian Turkey and Chicken Sausage. Soooo good!

Bread- Debys Italian Bread.

Cereal- Lundberg Farms Creamy Rice Cereal.  This is great on cold days with brown sugar or maple syrup and butter in it

Chocolate Chips- Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

My favorite place to purchase gluten free products in Denver is Debys Gluten Free Bakery. www.debysglutenfree.com. There noodles, bread, and waffles are absolutely amazing!

Like I said, I am in the process of coming up with a complete and organized list of gluten free products that I love, but here is a start. If you have any products you love and think I should try let me know.

Thanks for reading

Here is why I personally celebrate my gluten free lifestyle:

My health: I feel like I can enjoy so much more now because I don’t feel sick all the time.

My sanity: I don’t feel crazy for feeling so bad all the time, I now know it wasn’t all in my head

Eating on Purpose: I feel blessed to have to think about what I put into my body. I can no longer mindlessly eat fast food and junk food.

The Education: I feel like I have learned so much about health, our bodies, and the true impact the American lifestyle has on our bodies. I love learning about Celiac disease and other peoples experiences with it. I also love being able to pass the things I learn onto other people who may not understand what we go through

Getting Creative with Food: When I first went gluten free EVERYTHING tasted the same. 2 years later I can now cook some great gluten free dishes and I love learning and creating new recipes all the time.

Getting Creative with my Social Life: Because I don’t eat at restaurants anymore I have to put thought into meaningful and fun things I can do with my friends.  This may not sound like a good thing, but I feel like I spend more quality time with people now, we don’t default to eating out in order to spend time together.

All and all, even though it hasn’t been all fun I really truly enjoy the gluten free lifestyle. I feel like it is a blessing in my life.