detritus

I diagnosed myself with Celiac's about a year ago, due in large part to the vast amount of information about it on this forum. It's been a rocky gluten-free year, but the health benefits I'm realizing at this point have made it all worth it. I feel SO much better. But of course, with self diagnosis, there's always a tiny bit of doubt, and the skepticism one sees of the faces of family and friends. Well, today my brother sent me an email, telling me that because of my self diagnosis for Celiac's, he took some tests that came back with a strongly positive indication of gluten intolerance. I've suspected that he had "silent Celiacs" because he never had symptoms. My sister, however, has all the same issues that I do, but insists on labeling it "IBS" and says that her IBS diet tells her to eat bread with every meal!!!!

I'm sorry that my brother will have to forego some of his favorite bread recipes, but glad that he can now start healing his body, and avoid future issues. Now if only I can convince my sister to get tested.....

My trigger was when I got pneumonia about 7 years ago and I was put on a strong course of antibiotics. Does it seem like 90% of everyone's triggers involve antibiotics?

Wow, that is so wild! I've been gluten-free for 1 year. Had all the usual symptoms before going gluten-free, but never DH. This weekend I must have gotten glutened, because I had the old D and horrible pain in my shoulder, BUT FOR THE FIRST TIME I got a rash at the base of my spine. And I recently started cooking and eating SEAWEED! Is it possible that the seaweed alone is making me feel glutened and giving me the rash? Is that the iodine's fault? Or does it mean that I must have been glutened and the seaweed I ingested in conjunction made me have DH for the first time? In all that I've read about celiac's this is the first time I've read anything cautioning about iodine. I appreciate any advice/answers.

-Megan

I was diagnosed 2 years ago at the age of 40. I had been quite ill for a couple of years with very vague symptoms. I was constantly nauseated, bloated and exhausted! In my 20's i had gut issues and was then diagnosed with IBS. My symptoms seemed to disappear but looking back i Think I have had celiac disease for a long time. I think that the times my symptoms weren't bad was because I just happened to not be eating foods with gluten in them (only by chance). I have gone gluten-free now and feel better although I also have rheumatoid arthritis and unfortunately the symptoms of that and the celiac disease sometimes make me very tired and I also now struggle daily with fatigue. But I am just happy to now have been diagnosed with something that can be treated and I can now go on and not feel like I am going crazy!!! I thought that my GP was starting to think I was a bit of a hypochondriac because I kept going in with such vague symptoms. one symptoms of celiac disease that I did not have was diarrhoea. This I believe is because of the arthritis I am on quite a high dose of painkillers which of course constipate you! I did once in a while have some diarrhoea but not all the time! I really think that my case would be a great case study for someone!

I had also had a few bouts of pneumonia in the run up ot my diagnosis and I think that this reduced my body's defense system and let the full celiac disease come through.

All the best.

Anette

Hi, I have Celiac's & Rheumatoid Arthritis, and I've found taking certain things out of my diet to have a HUGE influence on my RA. I can't eat potatoes, tomatoes, any kind of pepper, citrus, and various other random things unless I want to wake up in pain in my feet or hands. Have you tried eliminating for the RA? I also started using only natural beauty products & deodorant; I'm now mostly pain free, unless I introduce something new and it triggers the RA. Best to you, Megan

This is a fairly common problem. When you upload a new avatar (or photo), the file name does not change, although other attributes do. Having an old, cached, version of an avatar (yours or another member's) is not unusual. Press F5 to refresh the page, and the problem will be resolved.

I don't have an F5 to press but now I know what it was-my faulty old memories

Thanks, guys!

Megan, Photos are allowed to be bigger in both dimension and file size, than Avatars.

It maybe the file size is too big.

If you don't know how to make it smaller, post it here and I'll make it smaller and post it back for you

Ditto for anybody else who needs help with it.

Thank you! Oddly, it now has come to be! My photo has become my avatar, as I wished. It just took a couple days to decide to co-operate, I guess

Ok, since no one responded to my previous post, I'll try a different approach: the photo I want to use for my avatar has uploaded easily as my "photo" but won't upload as my avatar, becausee it says it's too big, although it isn't. Is there a way to designate your photo as your avatar also? And if there isn't, perhaps there should be?

thanks, Megan

Rice like Canilla, Carolina, etc. shouldn't be washed becuase it lessens the nutrients, OR, it should be washed in hopes it gets rid of some of the possible cross contamination. Which of these sounds right?

Rice is generally washed or even soaked to remove some of the starch. This gives you nice, separated grains when you cook it. Also, if you soak white rice and then drain it and let it sit for awhile, the grains become much longer when you cook it. This is often done in Middle Eastern cooking. I generally rinse my white rice until the water runs clear. As for nutrients, there aren't a lot in white rice, but I don't believe washing the rice removes what's there.

Hi, I'm trying to change my avatar-I'm trying to upload a 24 KB jpeg and it keeps saying that it has to be smaller than 50 KB and won't let me upload it. The current avatar I have up was taken at the same time, and I had no issue uploading it. Help please!

Turnip fries? Inquirying minds want to know! Oh man I love trout, but live in the SE, have some frozen flounder filets...

Last night I ignored them .. was all shroomed out from breakfast.

I just peeked at them a few minutes ago and considered adding a bit to the steak marinade I made (which I found onlne and may be delicious or not). (Tahini, chopped sugared ginger, minced garlic, cannola oil...cuz I couldn't find my sesame oil.. lime juice and dried red pepper.)

My resident dear BF and grillmeister just announced that he didn't know what I did with that steak, but it smells better than anything he's ever grilled! That was in response to my question about whether or not I should add shrooms to the marinade. Tonight they're pared with sauteed zucchini and fresh spinach in olive oil (and garlic). (My 4 minute contribution to dinner, other than making the marinade.)

So...tomorrow will be fish and dealing with the left over shrooms with stuffed flounder and still wondering about turnip fries...or if risotto will be pallatable with coconut milk and no cheese.

I never used to be food focused!

I've been obsessed with root vegetables lately; therefore the turnip fries. Very easy-peel them, cut them into matchsticks, toss them with oil, salt & pepper, or any seasoning you prefer, and put them in a 425 degree oven, tossing them around a couple times while baking, until they reach the color you prefer. It's best to put them on a baking sheet that's been in the oven while preheating so it's hot. Turnips now are perfect, but a little later in the year they turn more bitter, and that's why they have a bad rep Oh, and in the vegan cookbook I just got, there are a number of risotto recipes without cheese, so I'm sure yours will be fine!

So. I had 1/3 lb. of mushrooms that I had intended to stuff or cook with something that were starting to look ripe. (Bought them exactly a week ago.) I had another 6 well soaked dry shtitake mushrooms. I roughly chopped all of the mushrooms except three nice looking ones that could be stuffed, minced about 2 T. of white onion and 1 T. of garlic, then drizzled olive oil over it all and stuck it in the refrigerator.

What should I make with this majic mushroom base? Inquiring minds are wondering what we'lll come up with...

My first thoughts were mushroom omelettes or crepes made with rice flour and a sauteed mushroom filling with chopped, pan seared flounder and wilted spinach or cabbage.

What do you think? Where should I go from here? Hope we have fun with this...

Who's the gluten-free Iron Chef?

Assume: availability of standard proteins

cost conscience

Trout with mushroom & wild rice stuffing? Side of turnip fries?

Thanks sa1937! Can I use guar gum instead of xanthan gum? Also, apart from these two gums, is there any other ingredient that can be used?

I've been subbing psyllium husk in equal parts for xanthan & guar in the recipes I've tried and had good results.

I can't tell if it has holes or not. I figure with gluten free dough, I'd probably end up lining it with parchment paper anyway. It's the "Nonstick French Bread/Baguette Pan - 16 x 8 Inch" by chefgadget. And of course, we know I can't link to it. I figure it'll help hold the shape of the dough. I may try the recipe I've used before that was posted in the Buying a Stand Mixer thread way back in April/May unless there's a good recipe in the new cookbook I ordered.

What kind of hamburger bun pan do you use? I haven't tried making them yet but was hoping my muffin top pan would work.

If I understand correctly, English muffins are made on top of the stove. The rings I bought are "Norpro English Muffin Rings Set of 4" (I bought two sets). Oh, and I also saw they had the doughnut pan someone mentioned the other day (I controlled myself and didn't order it...lol) I always go for free shipping so I may order it another time.

You can sign up for the free recipe of the week from Living Without. I'm assuming that's why I got the email letting me know about the holiday recipes. I also subscribe to the magazine and like it a lot.

I'm sure your muffin top pan would work-I think they're basically the same thing, just called something different. I ordered mine from amazon. I've seen recipes for English Muffins on the stovetop, but never made them. The recipe for English Muffins in Annalise's book goes in the oven in the hamburger bun pan. If you have a stovetop EM recipe that you're going to try, maybe you can make that one and I can make Annalise's, and we can compare notes

OK...I just bit the bullet and ordered "Gluten-Free Baking Classics" by Annalise Roberts. I did browse through the book and like that you can mix up smaller batches of flour. Of course, I cut some recipes in half anyway so that makes sense (especially breads that make two loaves and I only want to make one). And if I find one flour mixture I really like, then I can make up a larger batch.

Of course, while there I had to go for free shipping so took a couple of other things off my wish list including a French bread pan and English muffin rings.

Also, I got an email this morning from Living Without and they have a 2010 Gluten-Free Holiday Guide, which I also ordered. $6.95 plus $2.00 shipping. Open Original Shared Link

Hi, did you buy the french bread pan with all the little holes? Mine has them, and when I put the dough in the oven in the pan to rise, it went through the holes gluten-free dough is quite a bit softer than regular bread dough! The next time I made french bread, I just put foil over the pan, which worked, but is kind of a waste of the pan. Probably the best thing would be to let it rise on something else, and then bake it in the pan. I also put a pan of water in the oven while the bread was baking to give it a crispier crust, and took it out for the last 10 minutes of baking.

I want to make the english muffins, too! I don't have the rings, but I thought I could use my hamburger bun pan. I subscribe to Living Without, too, but they never email me

Thanks for all the replys, thats what I need - real cooks who like to cook. I too was known for my pies and haven't baked anything since becoming a Celiac. I have done a few cookies. I have a wish list on Amazon so my kids can order from it. Today I ordered Robert's book and Cooking for Dummies. My daughter is having a baby around Thanksgiving and I will be living with her and her husband for several weeks to help out. I will do the cooking so I just couldn't wait to get a couple cookbooks. When I told my daughter I would be cooking Thanksgiving gluten free she asked me to try the recipes first. She is skeptical about gluten free tasting good. Now my only problem will be working in her kitchen and feeding her 18 month old and not getting CC myself. I am looking forward to it though.

Wow, working in her kitchen...are you bringing your own cooking things....cutting board, mixers, sifters, etc.?At least the things that are hardest to make sure are perfectly clean? Can you make any of the food in your kitchen & bring it frozen? That's what I'm going to try to do at my family's Thanksgiving. My father is making the turkey as he does every year, but I'm worried he'll "forget" that I've got a gluten intolerance and put flour on it somehow; he's done that before. I'm going to make gluten-free bread for the stuffing, and watch him like a hawk I'm also going to make the pumpkin pie, so that's another reason I need a perfect crust; my brother and father are both scientists and have pie making down to a fine science, so it'll have to pass their judgement.

I'm excited today to try the Vanilla Butter Layer Cake from Annalise's book. My co-worker's mom is also gluten intolerant, so I told her to come over and we'd bake her mom a cake for her birthday. Hope it turns out as well as the other two recipes!

I've had that book on my Amazon wish list for some time. My biggest challenge is baking, especially yeast breads. I've been cooking for so many years that I really just don't need another "Joy of Cooking" type cookbook.

In "Gluten Free Baking Classics", does she use individual flours or have her own mixes? I have a complete aversion to making up a bunch of someone's mixes only wondering what to do with them afterwards. Now that might change if I could truly find a "knock-your-socks-off" type recipe. Still searching for that though.

I can relate! She uses three different mixes of her own creation, but she gives the quantities for a few different amounts, so you don't have to mix up a big batch if you don't want to. I don't, because I don't need yet another baggie full of another kind of flour around, so I just made enough for the recipe. My difficulty is that I can't tolerate potato starch or xanthan, but I subbed arrowroot for the potato starch she uses, and psyllium husk for the xanthan, and the recipes still came out great. I'm actually excited to try her piecrust next; I've made so many just-ok gluten-free pie crusts, and I'm a real pie crust perfectionist. The two recipes of hers that I did make were so much superior to other gluten-free baking recipes I've used, that I have high hopes for the pie. One thing to note, she uses extra fine brown rice flour in her baking mix; I found it at Whole Foods, but some people might need to order it off the internet.

All the best, Megan

I love cookbooks and now I need Gluten free cookbooks. I am making a wish list for Christmas so my kids can buy for me. I brought one and was disappointed so I would rather ask your opinions based on the ones you have tryed.

I would discribe my cooking style as Paula Dean but gluten free now. I don't care if things are low fat, healthy, lactose free or anything like that. I just want good tasting food, butter, sugar and all those sinful things.

I think I've bought every single gluten free cookbook there is over the last 8 months, and almost every one was disappointing. I'd find one recipe worked and then the next was a failure. Very frustrating! I was mostly looking for baking recipes, though, not regular cooking. Things like pizza crust, pie dough, muffins and cupcakes......

I think I've finally found one that seems to be good, however. It's "Gluten-Free Baking Classics"by Annalise Roberts, and it had rave reviews on Amazon. I've made two recipes, and both have been terrific. I made her French-Italian bread, which was crunchy on the outside and light and fluffy inside, with a wonderful flavor. And I made her carrot spice muffins, which are light and heavenly, and indistinguishable from their gluten-filled counterparts. She's very specific about her flours, but she uses eggs, sugar, oil, all that good stuff.

Another book which I would suggest for basic gluten free cooking is "Gluten-Free Cooking for Dummies" which will take you through all of the basic steps in terms of setting up your kitchen, and which flours do what, and shopping gluten free, as well as having lots of every-day recipes.

I love cookbooks,too, and unfortunately all of the gluten free cookbooks seem more like math primers, than the luscious books with lovely photos that I adore!

All the best, Megan

I agree with spontaneity as a big sacrifice. Goodbye to "I don't feel like cooking-I'll just pick up a pizza" Also, I used to reward myself for working hard and being frugal with the occasional dinner out. But now the idea that that reward could actually be a punishment, prevents me from rewarding myself in that way. And that was my favorite way of spoiling myself.

And the constant awareness; the constant vigilance; the dialogue in my head "if their chip goes into that dip-don't eat it! Watch out- those are bread crumbs!Can I eat there? Is it worth the risk?" Traveling in other countries-my absolute favorite thing in life, has now become a tightrope walk.

I sound whiny now, in light of the bigger picture of improved health. But your question did encourage the self-pity......

Oooh, now I'm worried- I just kept thinking-make it to the 6 month mark-everything will get better. It's SO up and down; I've never had that in my life. I've always been very even keel. But sometimes it's ok; I feel good; everything is great! And then suddenly I feel worse again. Now at 4 months I feel like my stomach is ok (knock on wood) but my rheumatoid arthritis which was almost gone has kicked into high gear, and every morning is so full of pain....I've been cutting out different foods left and right (maybe it's this, maybe it's that) I see myself getting skinnier and skinnier, plus I seem to be getting skin issues I never had before. And then I smell the toast that someone just made at work, and it smells so good, and I think "they have no idea what a simple piece of toast means".

I'm sorry you feel rough; and I hope for you, as I hope for me, that eventually we see our way to the other side completely. I have to believe, that what we endure now will create a stronger body in the future, and that it is all worth every difficult step. I think this is the most religious I have ever felt about anything; and the strongest act of faith I have ever brought to my life.

I hope it helps, to know we hear, and understand, and empathize deeply.

I'm just curious if this is the case with anyone else. The more I learn about celiac's disease and all the diseases that go along with it or can be misdiagnosed when it's actually celiac, the more I suspect that people in my life have it too. Like my grandmother who just had intestinal cancer removed via surgery last year. My parents--Dad had gallbladder removed (as did I), mom has thyroid disease. My cousin with Hashimoto's. My friends have a variety of illnesses--Fibromayalsia, MS, IBS, Arthritis, Candida, Chronic Adult Acne, endometriosis. I want to tell EVERYONE they should consider celiac's disease and get tested for it. But I also don't want to put my nose in where it doesn't belong. I'm not a doctor and I diagnosed myself because I couldn't find a doctor that would do testing. But I totally understand most people are not going to make a drastic change in their eating without some medical test telling them they should. I was at a point of desperation; I was so ill I was willing to try anything. Most my friends see their illnesses as minor annoyances (except for the one with MS--she's really hurting, but won't consider diet change at all) and accept that they will be on medication the rest of their life. I tried to bring it up with my friend with MS when we were having a heart-to-heart (many of her neuro symptoms are the same as mine were and she always thought I had MS) and suddenly got told it was none of my business. I've been told by other "friends" that they don't believe Celiac is a real disease, that it's just a fad diet, that I'm a hypochondriac or it's a placebo effect. I don't want to hurt relationships, but I want to get awareness out there somehow. I've started to blog a little and sent the blog links out on my facebook, hoping that my friends will read about how amazing the gluten free diet is and will want to look into it, but what else can I do? Am I the only one that suspects celiac or gluten intolerance whenever someone has another illness?

Yeah, I had the same type of problems with my family. I self-diagnosed for Celiac's when my sister and I started talking about our similar digestive issues. Then I found out my brother had a positive antibody test, so he went off gluten for a year, but said he didn't notice anything different so he started eating it again. I'm sure he has "silent" celiac's. And my sister is convinced she has IBS. She says eating bread with each meal will help I really want her to at least be tested, but I feel like she doesn't want to find out that she can't eat bread and pasta anymore. It came to a head at a family dinner a couple months ago. They were pushing me about it, and then finally my brother said," well, so what if I keep eating gluten, what's going to happen?" and I yelled out "CANCER!" The whole table got really quiet for a moment, and then the subject got changed. I think at this point they'll have to make their own decisions about their health, and I have to let it go, as much as I want to "save" them:(

Check out the glass, stainless steel, or marble rollers. IMHO, silicon has no place with food. However, most decent gluten-free doughs just doesn't have the kind of texture/consistency to be rolled. One reason I haven't bothered to buy a roller yet.

That brings me to your question about a good pie crust recipe. I've thought about sharing one, but always decide not to because the recipe and prep method I use differ quite a lot from the traditional. So much so that I figure it would only frustrate others who attempt it for at least the first few times. It did take practice for me to get it right, simply because it is so unlike the way we typically think of pie crust. I'm under the impression that most who make gluten-free pie crusts are still stuck on the notion of using tons of fat in the recipe, not realizing that it is only working against them. I only use about one Tbsp of oil, possibly two at the most.

I don't roll it at all. Rather, I spread it with the back of a spoon. I use a pyrex pie pan, which, being transparent, allows you to hold it up to the light to see how evenly the dough is spread. Thinner areas will let more light through. Perfection is not necessary, as the filling will hide a whole lot. This method obviously cannot work for a top crust, but a second approach has worked for the few times I've added one. That is, I make the top crust in an entirely different manner than the bottom. Still, there are probably some kinds of filling for which my top crust wouldn't work either. In those cases, I'd suggest a crumble crust, or finely chopped nuts or some such.

The types of flour I find work best for pie crusts are bean flours, though a good blend with certain other types can yield a nicer texture than straight bean flour. Fava bean flour is my preferred type, followed by yellow pea, then white bean. I generally reach for buckwheat or teff as the second type, if any. Some types don't do so well, such as sorghum. The flours which I find do best are the ones which can absorb oil. Check out this thread for how well various flours absorb oil. I haven't tried to make it without bean flour in so long, I can't say how well that'd work. But if I were to try, I'd use buckwheat as the main flour, and maybe some teff. I do not use starches in any of my baking, but having experimented with them in other things, I cannot imagine they'd work very well for crust anyway.

The resulting crust is nice IMO. Slightly crispy, with not too much crumble, so it can be cut and served without falling apart. I know of no method to achieve an actual "flaky" texture in gluten-free crust. Though I have an idea involving rice flakes, or other similar items. I think the limitation is the same which precludes gluten-free puff pastry dough.

I'm sure I've become accustomed to the bean flours more than others who don't generally use them, so I may not be able to tell you if you'd like the taste. I use a little ground ginger to improve the flavor though. Sweetener does help too, though I usually don't bother. Perhaps I'm not so picky about it with all the fava flour I use. You could also make a cocoa or carob crust, if you want to cover the taste with something stronger.

If you're still interested, I suppose I could be coaxed into providing a recipe.

Incidentally, there was a post a few months ago (I think) about using meringue for a crust. That might work for those who can tolerate eggs, and want to try something different.

I'm definitely interested in your piecrust recipe, RiceGuy; this is me coaxing you (coax, coax) Any ideas of traditional this or that went out the window with the wheat flour. I come from a family of perfectionistic pie makers. My father and brother are both scientists, and approach pie-making like they're discovering a new gene. Me, I like to make them, but really, I love to eat them! Chicken pot pie, meat pie, pumpkin pie, cherry pie.....put a crust on it and I'm happy. I've never been a big bread eater; cakes and cookies, cupcakes and noodles, all of these I can give up without a tear. But pie.....gotta have it in my life. So whether I'm sculpting it into the pan or rolling a sticky mess, I'm willing to tackle whatever it is to make it happen. And I have a fairly adventurous palate, so I'm interested in whatever flavors different bean flours might impart to a recipe.

Thank you, by the way, for that terrific breakdown on the different flours. I'll probably do more baking when I'm further down the healing road, so that is going to be very handy. In the meantime, I would really really love to see your piecrust recipe!

I don't believe 1700-1800 is a day is enough to start with. That's a good maintenance dose though.

The way my rheumatologist described it to me, if your gas tank is empty, you don't put in just one gallon - that will barely get you to the next gas station. You need to fill up your tank first, and then keep it topped up, otherwise you are always running on empty. So I was taking 50,000 iu every week initially, and now every month (of D3). 50,000 iu seems to be the normal kick-start dose.

Yes, that's what I was given-the 50,000, iu one per week. I'm supposed to take it for 8 weeks. I'm wondering if eventually my body will be able to extract the vitamins it needs naturally, once my villi are healed. Also, my RBC count is low, but my iron levels are ok......what would I take to increase my red blood cells?

Thanks for all the responses, by the way:)

I just got blood tests back that show I'm extremely deficient in Vitamin D. I started doing a little research on the internet about vitamin D, and found an interesting study about vitamin D and MS. They mentioned that Vitamin D helps the body to differentiate between "self" and "enemy". Since between the Celiac's and my RA, my body is definitely attacking itself, I found this very intriguing. Has anyone else come up vitamin D deficient?

I've found that I cannot tolerate any alcohol of any kind. Not even the synthesized stuff that McCormick uses in their extracts, which are all declared as gluten-free, and used by many on this board without issues.

As for the tapioca, some brands of tapioca pearls have other ingredients, so watch for that if you use the pearls.

As others have stated, it didn't have to be gluten which got you, but something your body just can't handle. Many find additional intolerances after going gluten-free. Try coconut oil in place of butter in baking. It is solid at room temperature. But for pie crusts, I've never needed any solid fats, even before going gluten-free. vegetable oil works perfectly, and I've never had to chill the dough either. The main difference between wheat crust and gluten-free crust is the amount of fat/oil to use. Wheat-based crusts use a lot of fat because that's how most of the gluten is defeated, otherwise the result would be too rubbery, not crumbly. Since gluten-free flours don't have all that much binding properties on their own, you simply do not need much oil at all to get a decent crust. Crumbling is one thing gluten-free flours are very good at doing

Lastly, the comments about baking utensils are correct. You really can't be too careful there. Even if the wooden rolling pin never touched the dough, your hands did! Then you handle the dough, and voila, contamination! Some other items besides the wooden ones simply cannot be cleaned well enough, such as flour sifters. Your strainer may have also been a source of contamination. Ever notice how stuff gets stuck between all those wires?

Yeah, I haven't sifted anything since going gluten-free, but it's definitely been in the back of my mind to get a new sifter. And I guess the rolling pin concern will be a good excuse for me to go out and buy one of those fancy new silicon rollers Do you have a good pie crust recipe you'd be willing to share?

Some people react to tapioca, and lots of people react to dairy. Have you ruled out other intolerances?

Hmmm...tapioca...I was wondering about that as a suspect. I just started making the gluten free baked goods, so it's my first exposure to it. I'm basically figuring out my intolerances as they crop up. I went off dairy for the first 2 months, but now it seems ok in little increments. There WAS a lot of butter in that crust,though. But I'm really starting to lean towards the tapioca as the culprit.

It's so hard, because I've been losing weight, but the things I try to think up to help raise my calorie intake make me sick