I'm New

[Nora1219]

I just got officially diagnosed yesterday, after positive blood work and biopsy. Now i am confused, I don't know where to begin. I have to feed 2 children, a husband and myself, I'm the only with celiac and i don't want to punish them while changing my diet. so I will take all the advice anyone has.

[celiac-mommy]

I just got officially diagnosed yesterday, after positive blood work and biopsy. Now i am confused, I don't know where to begin. I have to feed 2 children, a husband and myself, I'm the only with celiac and i don't want to punish them while changing my diet. so I will take all the advice anyone has.

I wouldn't look at it as a punishment to your family. You should focus on all the food you can eat, not what you can't. It is SO overwhelming at first, take one day at a time. You and your family can have all the fruits and veggies you can handle, chicken, fish, rice, potatoes, steak--it's really a perfect time with all the fresh produce that's in right now. It's a much healthier lifestyle, we don't eat out near as much and I honestly don't miss it. I love to cook and I love to get creative, so it's been a fun challange. I realize it IS difficult, but it's much better to take as positive an outlook as you can and not focus on the negatives. Ou entire house is gluten-free with the exception of bread and cereal. We've never been big bread eaters anyway, but i tell you, some of the gluten-free bread I've made rivals any store bought bread I've had. My daughter actually asked me to never buy bread at the store again!! If you need help with recipes, support, advice, new friends, etc.. you've come to the right place!

[munkee41182]

Definately don't look at it like punishing your family. My Fiance has tried some of the gluten free foods and some both of us have liked, and others not so much. It's definately trial and error when you get past the meats and veggies and rice, but you'll eventually find things that your whole family will like. Once you get the hang of the "basics" (again, meat, potatoes, veggies, rice, etc) then start introducing some gluten-free breads/pastas/desserts. I stick to the basics during the week and the weekends are my trail and error days (as I have more time to cook and "fiddle" with recipes).

No need to worry, you'll get the hang of the gluten-free lifestyle. You know where to find us with any questions

[ravenwoodglass]

Welcome to the board. It does take some getting used to at first but the difference in the way you will feel and the diseases and conditions that you will avoid or that may go into remission if you have them makes it well worth the trouble. Chances are also really good that you are not the only one who is gluten intolerant in your family so please don't think of it as punishing them if you make your home gluten free. A gluten free home will not only help you heal faster but it will also help to pinpoint other family members who may have an issue. Many children have some strong behavioral effects on gluten long before gut disease sets in and it can also impair learning. You have come to a great place for info on a genetic difference that can have a real negative impact on our lives until we are diagnosed. Do expect some ups and downs the first couple weeks as gluten withdrawl can make us a bit irritable, like any other neurotoxin but this soon passes. Feel free to ask any questions you need to and read, read, read here. Vent also if needed, most of us have felt the frustrations that come with the lifestyle changes we need to make and we do understand.

[MELINE]

Hello Nora

There is a member of the forum who started this blog :Open Original Shared Link

Would you like to visit it? It talks about all the new things you have to keep in mind when you are new to all this....

Don't need to worry. Me too I live with non celiacs and the worst part is that they think that everything is in my head.....any way. You just have to start reading labels and avoid hidden gluten (balsamico for example has caramel colour and in some countries caramel colour has gluten).Also wine is not always gluten-free..or some nuts that are flour coated (I was glutened from all these things by accident....). Don't eat dinkel (spelt). It still has gluten. Try to eat clear food , I mean avoid things that have too many ingredients that you may not be sure if they are gluten-free or not. Check your cosmetics and your shampoo and your toothpaste (crest is ok) and your mouth wash. And read the articles in the forum, they will definately help you. Feel free to ask anything you want. Your questions may help other members too.

Hope you feel better after starting your gluten-free diet. It really isn't so hard....

[missy'smom]

Welcome.

Alot of us eat gluten-free as a family. I started with making all our dinners gluten-free because that's the time that we all eat together and eat the same thing. We went back to simple meals with few natural ingredients. Roasted chicken with potatoes and veg., meatloaf or meatballs with rice or pasta or mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese rice with ham, scalloped potatoes with ham and a veg. Ore-Ida has a list of their products that are gluten-free on their website. You can use an unsweetened gluten-free rice or corn cereal and process it into crumbs for use in meatloaf and meatballs. I used to make separate pasta for us but now we eat pasta less often and often we'll all eat gluten-free pasta. Many of our old dishes were easily adaptable to gluten-free without sacrificing flavor or texture.

Take it one step at a time. It is a process that takes time.

[ShayFL]

At first I worried about my family too. But it has actually turned out to be a really great thing for us!! Ive heard things like:

After eating some teff/almond butter cookies "Mom these are so good. I hope you are always gluten free."

And:

"Mom, I know why most kids dont like vegetables. They just never had vegetables cooked by you."

I have just gotten more and more creative. I have always loved to coke and bake some, but this is getting me more into it.

I found that Bob's free recipes are a great place to go:

Open Original Shared Link

I highly recommend the teff/peanut butter cookies (I use almond butter). Quick and easy and everyone here loves them.

I currently have a 100% gluten free home. I got a brand new kitchen 3 weeks into gluten-free. So my kitchen has never seen ANY gluten. It was completely gutted and remodeled including the appliances. I am so lucky with this.

But the way we have dealt with gluten for my daughter and Hubby is this. We put a microwave, the old toaster and the old refridgerater in the garage. There is a table out there too and they can open the garage and sit outside to eat their gluteny foods in chairs we have out there. My daughter only does this a few times a week.

The rest of the time she eats gluten-free. I have purchased gluten-free waffles for her, gluten-free oatmeal, gluten-free cookies, ice cream, chocolate. So she gets her treats. She could care less about breads, pasta, etc. She will eat the gluten-free pasta, rice, quinoa, buckwheat, etc.

When I cook my grains, I use gluten-free MSG free chicken broth. It makes them yummy everytime.

I made a 6 hour low heat pot roast a week ago and we were fighting over it.

There is so much more to life than gluten. You can make delicious foods your family will love.

We are here for you.

[Nora1219]

Thank you everybody I'm trying to learn as much as I can I made a trip to the grocery store last night and did some label reading and looked in the specialty section WOW some of the gluten free stuff is expensive so i think for a while i am just gonna stick to the basics of meat potatos fruit and veggies.

About how long before this abdominal pain is going to get better? !t is driving me crazy.