A few products I love & a few to try....

 These are a few my go to pasta's. They are always more affordable and, to me, they taste similar to real pasta. There are a lot of different brands out there that are gummy, cook with a funny odor, and have a weird looking water when your done cooking it, but these two do a great job at minimizing these. In fact, the gummy part and odor is no more with these, in my opinion. Both brands make other types like penne, linguine, and elbow pasta's that are great too! 

Side note: The Ronzoni brand is usually with the other regular pasta's, not the natural food sections.


  Hands down, my favorite Gluten free bread. A little tip when your trying out gluten free breads though, always heat it in some way. If you expect to take a piece out and use it straight out of the bag, it's going to be super dry, and a little like card board. I always toast it or wrap in a paper towel and microwave it for 10-15 seconds before I use it. If I want a sandwich for lunch later that day, I toast it, let it cool, and then prepare the sandwich. It's not "toasted" by the time I eat it, but the steam and initial toasting really helps it taste good and like bread! This is also the kind I use at any holiday meal to make stuffing if you don't want to try the next product. (I'll post that recipe soon!)

This was awesome this year when my aunt made it for our family holiday dinner. I don't know the cost but it came from William Sonoma, so it may be a bit on the pricier side. That aside, it tasted fabulous!!!  Some even liked it better than the regular kind!

Now this one has become my absolute favorite brownie mix! Also from my aunt and fabulous! She got it from William Sonoma for $12.95, not too bad, but I just found it at Sprouts for $8.95 instead! Even better! If you have not tried it, please do! It wasn't gritty and it had a fudgy quality I have really missed in brownies. Cup 4 Cup has other products too that looked interesting, I just haven't tried them yet. Since this one is so good, I bet the others are pretty great too!

These next two pictures are also William Sonoma products that I just bought because I thought they looked yummy! I have not gotten a chance to try them but I'm excited to give them a go! (The cup cakes were on sale for only $2.97 a piece but usually they are $16.95 and the cookies were $19.95. So hopefully that means they will taste really good! Definatly not something I would buy a lot at those prices, but maybe they will be so good that the price won't matter! I'll let you know!) William Sonoma has some other gluten free items I'd like to explore and some REALLY yummy, but expensive, looking baked goods you can order if you want to try them. Please tell me if you do and what you think!

  Lastly, I came across this a few days ago and I'm so happy I did! This is a bundt cake shop that just started doing a gluten free mini bundt cake! I just had one and it was oh so yummy! I will defiantly go back!! Also, it was the same price as the regular mini's! Love it! It's not listed on the website but if you want to see some of the stuff they do or locations go Here.

Cross contamination, Intentional Slips, and Genetics

Living totally gluten free is hard. To be honest, anytime you eat you are at risk of cross contamination, even if you made it. I have to admit, after being so strict for so long, I can get a little lackadaisical and I shouldn't. For someone with celiac disease, it is essential that you maintain no gluten in your diet. The short term issues can include abdominal pain, bloating, joint pain, fatigue, headache,  damage to dental enamel, anemia, constipation or diarrhea, gas and acid reflux. You could experience some or all of these, it's different for each individual. But there are more long term issues to be concerned with. Some of the following are side effects of this disease if you don't follow the "rules":

According to the mayo clinic:

• "Malnutrition. The damage to your small intestine means it can't absorb enough nutrients. Malnutrition can lead to anemia and weight loss. In children, malnutrition can cause stunted growth and delayed development.
• Loss of calcium and bone density. Malabsorption of calcium and vitamin D may lead to a softening of the bone (osteomalacia or rickets) in children and a loss of bone density (osteoporosis) in adults.
• Infertility and miscarriage. Malabsorption of calcium and vitamin D can contribute to reproductive issues.
• Lactose intolerance. Damage to your small intestine may cause you to experience abdominal pain and diarrhea after eating lactose-containing dairy products, even though they don't contain gluten. Once your intestine has healed, you may be able to tolerate dairy products again. However, some people continue to experience lactose intolerance despite successful management of celiac disease.
• Cancer. People with celiac disease who don't maintain a gluten-free diet have a greater risk of developing several forms of cancer, including intestinal lymphoma and small bowel cancer." Mayoclinic
• Other Autoimmune diseases.

So as you can see, it is very important to continue your diet as it is the only way to prevent these things. That last few are the scariest for me! I have lots of cancer related deaths and other autoimmune diseases in my family history, so honestly, this is a great little reminder, even to me, that I should never be lackadaisical.

Now, about what I said above, "anytime you eat you are at risk of cross contamination, even if you made it" I wasn't kidding. At any restaurant you will find not only people who don't understand the gravity of the situation, but it can be really hard to get every surface, every employee, every process perfect unless it's a 100% dedicated gluten free kitchen. Same goes at home! I cook regular meals for Jay and gluten free for me a lot due to the cost of my food. Sometimes switching from regular to gluten free, or vis versa, can inadvertently be dangerous. You must learn to make the gluten free first and if you make anything regular wash, wash, wash everywhere it touches! Hands, towels, sponges, counters, utensils, pans..... Wash it all really good! Some websites even discuss a whole different set of dishes, sponges, and pans for gluten free but I haven't quite done that yet. I just make sure to wash everything in the dishwasher, even the sponge, or double wash things with lots of soap/hot water.

"Slips" As in I just can't help myself, I have to have that cookie! Or when someone that doesn't know anything about your disease says, "Can't you just have a little?" Really, if you have read this far you can understand why I think this one is just silly. There is no such thing as just a little, or giving into a craving for things you used to love. I am understanding when someone doesn't know, but I defiantly don't give in. It is not worth my health, short term or long term. I encourage you to make that your priority too! 

Celiac disease is a genetic disease. Which means this can be passed to your children, and came from one of your parents or both. They don't necessarily have to have an active form of the disease though. It stays dormant until it is triggered by an illness, pregnancy, or surgery. So, it isn't a terrible idea to encourage your family to be tested if you have a positive celiac diagnosis. There is a blood test but this is generally not effective, so I wouldn't count that as the end all be all if you get a negative result. The best way to know for sure is the intestinal biopsy. This can be expensive, but is the only sure fire way to know one way or the other if you have celiac disease.

There is soooooo much more I could keep talking about, but this is enough for now. Just be careful out there! It gets easier over time, I promise!

Resturant Tips

Restaurants were a bit scary at first. I remember sitting in Texas Roadhouse feeling like I couldn't eat anything and just wanted to cry, I may have actually. (You can eat at Texas Roadhouse by way) There will be places that know nothing about gluten, treat it like a "choice" not a requirement, and even ones that seem to not care at all if you get a crumb or two of cross contamination. You just have to do a few more things before going out, especially if it’s a new place. This is what I do:

1. I check their online menus or nutritional facts for any direction towards a GF list or menu. Sometimes I even print it and take it with me if I have a printer available.

2. If there is no list or menu, I call and ask for a manager to find out what I might be able to have. It all depends on the type of restaurant with this one. If they don’t have a clue, I usually won’t eat there, but here are some of the questions I ask either on the phone or in person.

·         Mexican:

·         Do you make your own chips? If so, are they fried in the same grease as any other fried item?

·         Is your rice GF? Do you use any commercially made broths in your recipes to make the rice, beef, or chicken?

·         Chicken, is it marinated? Believe it or not, I have run into multiple places that use soy sauce, broth, or Italian dressing in the marinade.

·         Beef, check the seasoning. Also can use soy sauce for seasoning.

·         Italian:

·         Do you have any GF pasta available?

·         Bar and grill/Steakhouse:

·         Marinades for Chicken?

·         Seasoning on steak, fish & burgers?

·         Are your fries fried in a community fryer with other fried yummies?

·         If there are veggies on the dish, they often times have these steamed as the seasoning are sometimes contaminated.

·         Dressings, do you make your own or buy it in? If bought, can you check the label? If made, was wheat used to thicken it?

3. ALWAYS tell your server! I get embarrassed or forget sometimes and then it comes out with croutons or a bun and the whole dish has to go back. My husband or family has gotten good at reminding me sometimes if I don’t mention it. Just know that even though you will always have modifications from now on anywhere you go, its ok! This is medically important to follow so don’t be embarrassed to ask for them!

4. Take a good look around before eating! Make sure if you sent it back they understand that this is not a fade diet you’re trying, but a “severe allergy”, so don’t just pick off the bread and send it back to you. If it comes back out immediately I would be suspicious. Side note, even though this is not an allergy for us, it can be easier to explain & understand when talking to a server that may know nothing about celiac disease that it is a severe allergy than saying it’s an autoimmune disease. Sad, but true!