BlessedMommy

A new pasta machine, right? . I can't imagine getting the one we had for gluten pasta really clean.

Carry on.... Will be interested to see what people come up with.

Of course! It gives me shudders just to think of using a used one. 

I'll be interested to see of anyone has tried this.

I technically didn't survive my tests--I ended up in the ER of the hospital 10 days after I started eating gluten again and we all decided that it wasn't worth it for the sake of a DX. So I'm on a strict gluten-free diet for life with no diagnosis. At this point, I know that eating gluten for 3 months would likely kill me or disable me, so it's not something that I will ever do. So unless medical science figures out a way to get DX'ed without a gluten challenge, I won't be getting DX'ed. (and even if they do come up with a DX method, I'm not sure that I would bother anyway, since if I got DX'ed, they would just tell me to do what I'm doing already, which is being 100% gluten free)

I don't recommend that, though, so if you can get through at least a long enough gluten challenge for a biopsy, that is probably better. 

My #1 advice is do not overdo the gluten. One slice of bread a day is plenty! My #2 advice is to use common sense and get medical supervision, especially if symptoms are getting serious. Don't ignore them and do what I did. 

Has anyone tried making fresh pasta with a pasta machine? Is it worth it? 

LOL!!

Also, what is the difference between the cheaper and more expensive ones?

Where did you find the cheap salad spinner, cyclinglady? The only option at the store that I looked at yesterday was $30. (OXO brand) I'm sure that it's great but getting DH to fork out $30 for a salad spinner would be a hard sell.

Congrats on getting the diagnosis! So glad that she doesn't have to do a gluten challenge.

Best wishes for good and improving health on the diet!

Okay, now that I've found a bread recipe that's solid, I'm ready to move on to making buns! Anybody have any recipes to toss my way?

Just a heads up to the other hummus lovers, Aldi's now has a variety hummus tray. It is clearly labelled as gluten free and is so yummy! It has garlic hummus, original, cilantro jalepeno, and red pepper. 

Open Original Shared Link

I get a ton of green leafy vegetables (I belong to a program called FarmBox, which is similar to a CSA) and I'm wondering, how do you dry off your greens after washing? Do you use a salad spinner? Or some other method? I try to dry them with a towel, but it doesn't really do as good a job as I would like. 

I got glutened at a Celiac Support group meeting in my area where everyone in our group was a celiac except for two people. I had figured if it was good enough for them, it's good enough for me.  It's more of a gamble than anything.  You are just playing Russian roulette with your health.

There are celiacs who aren't very careful. I knew a celiac (biopsy dx'ed, fwiw) who would go ahead and eat peanut butter and other condiments that had been dipped into by gluten eaters. He said, "I'm not THAT sensitive."

Some celiacs don't understand that even if they aren't having symptoms, it doesn't mean that damage isn't being done. 

Yes, the Guido's pizza offers gluten free pizza! And they take precautions not to CC it!

That's weird. What motel chain is that? I would think all have them by now. 

It wasn't a chain motel, just a local privately owned one.

I think that until DH and I put out the money for a power inverter for the car, I'll bring along a folding chair on my road trips to put any cooking implements on. Then we can still enjoy making hot meals on the road and can avoid any cleanliness issues. We love making spanish rice & beans on road trips!

Thanks for the feedback, sometimes it's easy to overlook important details. 

Our hotel must have been the odd duck, no microwave in our room or in the breakfast area. Probably most do have a microwave though.

Isn't it great?

When I go to the exclusively gluten-free places, I feel like I can finally let my guard down and relax and be able to eat out without worries. It's very nice! I'm glad that you found a place that you liked.

It was not in a highly trafficked area, but I can see your point, Irish. Maybe next time I'll bring along a blanket next time to put underneath it and then chuck the blanket in the wash when I get home.

No, I didn't plug it in in the restroom. The central common area between the bathrooms had a number of electrical outlets. 

I was very impressed with this place! Sadly I got there too late for a sub sandwich (the deli part closes at 4 PM), but we'll be coming back! It was awesome to look at a menu and know that anything was gluten-free and there was no cross contamination worries.

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Awesome example for the newbies   Thanks for posting!  Next time we go on a vacation, I think I am going to buy a hot plate and a small skillet to make real meals with... the hotel doesn't have to know, LOL!

Is it against policy to make meals in your room? This morning I cooked breakfast in my hotel room. 

It's so great! I also have made great meals with my rice cooker and waffle iron on the road too. Sure beats risking CC or starving!

Just thought that I'd post a photo from our recent road trip. It's so easy to whip up some food on the road and cheaper (as well as reliably gluten free) too!

This particular cooking implement is a toaster with an attached egg cooker. We stopped at the rest stop, found a plug in, and sliced up some of my home baked millet sandwich bread on my flexible plastic cutting board and then boiled up some eggs at the same time as the bread toasted. With some spreads for the bread, some mixed nuts, and some veggies and fruits, it was a complete meal.

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If you are looking to save money on healthier foods, have you checked out Aldi's? They have some awesome produce specials each week and great prices on a lot of other staple foods. My Aldi's even has some gluten-free foods and some delicious hummus for a great price.

Thank you for the thoughts. I would rather know now before I drop money on something.

I love my silicone utensils and oven mitts, but maybe it's not the best material for everything.

So far, I'm happy with baking in glass bread pans anyway.

Thanks for the link, Irish, I will check that out.

I think that for the future, I'm going to keep on looking for alternatives to teflon pans, because it seems like they don't stay nice very long and things start sticking to them quickly and ruining the finish. 

Irish, what do you use for a cookie sheet?

Anybody use these? What are the pros and cons? How do you like them?

It's possible to be strict with your diet without having a fully confirmed DX. I'd be the first person to say that if you can get one, do it, because it makes things easier, but as an adult, you can still maintain a 100% gluten free life without one. I don't even have positive bloodwork, as I got hospitalized in the process of trying to get there and my doctor agreed that gluten caused the hospitalization, so my family and I feel that it's more prudent in my situation to just stick with 100% gluten-free.

Most people are not going to ask or care about the details of your lab tests, just let them know that it's imperative that you stay away from all traces of gluten and stick to preparing and bringing your own food. Talk to family and try to educate them if you can.

My inlaws are supportive of my diet and they went so far as to buy a brand new separate grill (voluntarily out of their own pocket!) for the gluten free people, to avoid cross contamination. I also keep a flexible plastic cutting board at my IL's.