JennyC

Thanks guys...she's not grandmother material. My son barely knows her and I was trying to change that, but obviously she is not putting in much effort. I was so annoyed because she was talking behind my back about my food, which everyone else liked. I can take positive criticism but this was not what was going on. She should just be happy that her grandson has a mother that loves him enough to put massive amounts of effort into his diet. We, as parents of children with celiac disease, put so much caring into our children's' food and lifestyle. I think that she has officially received her last dinner invitation, at least for a while. Although I must admit that I would not be too excited to accept an invitation from her either because the last time we did she had tons of store bought cookies everywhere. Their family never thinks about my son. I know it is not necessarily their obligation, but he is family so they should want to!

About the double gene...I wish I knew. But it seems very likely.

My son has been on the gluten free diet for five months now, and nearly everything that I make is gluten free. I feel that I'm getting pretty good at cooking and baking gluten free. My MIL lives 10 minutes away, but we never see her. I thought that we should involve her more, so I invited her over for dinner. I served a good dinner, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, etc. At the end of dinner she says "sometimes you forget how good gluten really is." I made lemon meringue pie for dessert with a gluten-free graham cracker and pecan crust. It really was delicious. She only ate half her piece and said that she would take the rest home. As she was leaving one of my other guests asked if she wanted to take it home and she said no.

What I'm most mad about was her behavior at my son's forth birthday party yesterday. I made a gluten-free chocolate cake which I worked REALLY hard on and I even decorated it by myself, my first time ever, when she stood me up. At the party she said about my cake "I'm not sure if I like the texture...The texture's kind of weird. It's really rich" in a snobby tone to her friend. On top of that she didn't interact with my son, and she didn't even bring a card..let alone a gift. Not meaning to sound superficial, but if I was her I would at the very least bring a card for my grandson on his birthday! What did she come for, to criticize my food?!

I guess it is everything adding up that is making me so mad. It's hard enough that my son has to eat gluten free and feel different. He was not going to feel different at his party, and for her to talk bad about the cake that I put SO MUCH effort into really makes me mad and hurts my feelings.

My son's birthday was yesterday. I got some good ideas from this site. They have pictures of homemade cakes.

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Thank you so much for posting! My son's going to start school in a year! How do I get a 504? Can he pediatrician request one?

Thanks.

I was unknowingly glutening my son by using an Oral-B brand toothpaste. I just thought I'd throw it out there. (Colgate toothpastes are gluten free. )

I think Argo brand says gluten free. It's available everywhere here.

I usually use about equal parts of corn starch, rice flour and cornmeal. I love chicken this way! It's very crunchy and the skin stays of chicken well throughout frying.

Thanks guys. I think I'll buy one soon. I bet that it would be great for family outings too!

This is a link to an interesting recipe that I found. I have not tried it yet. It is a french chocolate cake recipe and the only grain used in it is cornstarch, so your coworkers would probably have all the ingredients needed to make it in their pantry, well except for all the chocolate.

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As with many things there are conflicting answers to this on the internet so I'll see what I get here.

I thought the body produced the antibodies and they mistakenly attack the body causing villi (and other) damage. In other words, villi damage follows antibody production. I have seen some things that imply that villi damage releases/causes the antibodies.

Any opinions?

Ok, I can't resist commenting on this topic anymore! I think the molecular biologist in me annoys people sometimes.

If you are allergic to gluten, then you have an allergic reaction to gluten involving antibodies, such as IgA or IgG. There are at least four types of allergic reactions, and the allergy can fall into any of those categories, but type II is common amongst people with nonanaphylactic food allergies. During a type II reaction, B-cells release antibodies and subsequently macrophages and perhaps natural killer cells are activated which release their harmful components, which can actually damage our own cells.

Celiac disease is obviously incredibly complex, and I don't think anyone would claim to fully understand it. From what I understand, tTG alters the gluten molecule making it more easily recognized by T-cells. I believe that tTG can also cross-link gluten molecules, but anyway the body also becomes reactive against tTG. Once the T-cells become activated they release interferons, which are the molecules that initiate intestinal damage.

So gluten allergies involve Ig's and B-cells, while celiac disease involves tTG, T-cells and interferons, in an incredibly over-simplified nutshell!

Here's a FANTASTIC link that does into great gorry details about the molecular biology of celiac disease:

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I called Hidden Valley a couple of months ago, and the original ranch is gluten free, but some of the variations are not. I stick with the original ranch...it's so good!

My son is going to start school next year, and I really like the concept of these lunches. Are there any out there that would be appropriate for a five year old? How big are they...they can't be bigger than he is! Do they keep food warm and cold?

Thanks!

As for regular food, it's best to stick with the brands that will clearly list their gluten. I'll post a link to a large list of those brands. I gave this list to my son's childcare provider and it made her life so much easier. There are also companies that maintain gluten free lists online such as Frito-Lay, Newman's own, Heinz/Ore-Ida and Hormel. If there are specific foods that you love that you think might be gluten free, then it's best to call the company directly. I wish you luck with the diet change, it does get easier. It doesn't seem hard at all when I go shopping now, and we are only five months in.

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Sounds great! I will definitely try it soon. I only made muffins once and it from a Glutino mix, and they were really dry.

We got the Breadman Ultimate Plus bread machine with the gluten free and low carb settings. You can add fruit and nuts. but I don't know about french bread. I've used it once and it worked good!

I'm so happy to hear the news! You must have been so worried.

My son did not care for them, and I thought they were a bit small for the price. I tasted one of the Cocoa Loco ones, and it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. I don't think I'll buy them again.

My comments exactly. If their cookies are individually wrapped, then I might try those for convenience, although my son and I make our own goodies for the most part.

It is really hard to figure out what you can eat in the beginning. I'll give you a link to a list of manufacturers that will not hide their gluten. When you look at the ingredients if you don't see it , then it's not there. This is the best way to shop in my opinion. I do have a few manufacturer gluten free lists, but the following list is the most helpful. (Thank you again to whoever posted it originally!) Just remember to read every label every time. You'll get the hang of it soon. Also Walmart brand products say gluten free if they are. Safeway also has a good list, and they will email it to you if you ask.

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I basically got the same response from Kroger/Fred Meyer. Although they do have a list now, but it's small and useless. I just try to stick to the safe brands. Safeway has a fantastic list, it was very helpful in the beginning and they also carry lots of gluten-free cereal.

Virtually all mainstream oats, and I imagine oat flour as well, are contaminated with gluten. This occurs during growing, storage, and manufacturing. Oats are distinct from wheat, barley and rye, but they are almost always contaminated. There are certified gluten free oats, but there are mixed opinions about them. It is estimated that about 10% of people with celiac disease react to uncontaminated oats. If you decide to introduce them into your son's diet, you should wait at least 6 months so that his intestines can heal. There are only a couple brands of certified gluten free oats available, so any oats that you can find in a mainstream grocery store are likely contaminated.

Regular floam is likely gluten free too, but the company won't confirm or deny its gluten status. Soooo... Apparently these guys will. Gluten free is right in the catalog's description. I would just prefer to support the company that knows what gluten is and will confirm their products' gluten status. That's all.

I see. I like to support those companies as well. I know there's a gluten free play dough as well, but I don't remember the name of the company. I think that I'm going to make my own play dough. Most recipes tell you to color it with Kool-aid, but I imagine it gets rubbed off on little hands, so I might leave that step out.

When I called Floam a few months ago I got the "what's gluten?" response. I had them read off the list of ingredients in Floam and the ingredients seemed to be gluten free. Floam consists of Styrofoam balls and chemicals that only an organic chemist would recognize. I let my son play with Floam and he has not had any problems, although he has not played with it very many times. What ingredient contains gluten?

You can do a nut crust! There are plenty of recipes online. I use pecans. I prefer to mix finely chopped pecans with Kinnikinnick gluten-free graham cracker crumbs, but you could also just use nuts. It was a wonderful flavor! I have used the crust with a lemon meringue pie and a cheese cake.

I've only used coconut flour in the following recipe. The recipes require lots of liquid because coconut flour is very high in fiber. As a general rule you can replace up to 20% of the flour used in recipes with coconut flour. It is supposed to improve the texture of baked goods.

Coconut Country Biscuits

When you take a bite of these flaky biscuits, you won't be able to stop thinking of all the ways you can eat them!

Ingredients:

3/4 c. White Rice Flour

1/4 c. Organic Coconut Flour

2 Tbsp. Potato Starch

1 tsp. Sugar

1 Tbsp. Baking Powder

1/4 tsp. Sea Salt

1/4 c. Butter

1/2 c. Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450

My son is three and he also had all the classic symptoms and very high tTG values, three times the normal value for his age! The blood tests were ordered by his pediatrician and when she gave the results over the phone she told me to go gluten free and make a GI appointment. My son's symptoms completely disappeared and he started gaining weight immediately. One month later when we made it to the pediatric gastro he would not "officially" diagnose him without a biopsy. He did not try to educate me, he spent the entire 20 minutes pushing me into a biopsy. I refused the gluten challenge. I refuse to literally put my son through hell to satisfy his curiosity. It was a hard decision for me. I did want the official diagnosis, but my son's pediatrician is great and she will order any of the tests needed to check his progress. In my opinion, positive blood work along with dietary response is proof of celiac disease. I understand that the diet is a life long commitment, but positive blood work is very accurate, and the dietary response confirms it.