luvs2eat

I'm jealous! I keep hearing about Udi products and there are NO Whole Foods anywhere near me (the closest is 4 hours away!!).

All my kids were born many years before my celiac diagnosis. The family joke was that all my husband had to do was PHONE HOME and I got pregnant!! ha ha

Sounds like a wonderful experience!

When I was diagnosed, my doc told me celiac was most common in those of Irish descent. My mom was "right off the boat," but I'm the ONLY one in a fairly small Scots/Irish family to have it!

I packed on about 35 lbs after going gluten free and I know exactly why!! I was diagnosed very quickly... only about 3 months after developing unrelenting diarrhea, so I wasn't losing any weight!

People always ask me the signs and symptoms of celiac disease and I tell them one is unexplained weight loss... then I look down at myself and say, "Um... I didn't GET that one." ha ha

Plus, I was so upset over the things I could no longer eat, that I chowed down mightily on all the things I COULD have... like rice (risotto is awesome) and brown rice pastas.

I totally did it to myself!! Now I'm trying hard to eat better... and LESS... and exercise more.

I've been called 3 times. The first two, I had pretty new infants at home and nursing them got me exempted. When I got called the 3rd time, my employer said he'd write me a note to get out of it! I was shocked and told him I wanted to go... it was my civic duty. He laughed at me... he was a real jerk. I told him that if I ever found myself in front of a jury, I'd sure hope there were people like ME and not like HIM on the jury!!

It was a one-day call. About 100 of us sat in a big room... and when a jury was called... they took about 20 of us. I got called ... and so did the woman who checked in and then left, thinking there was no way she'd be called... not a good idea!! Anyhow... it was a case involving an accident... pain and suffering kind of stuff... and when they found out I was a nurse, I was dismissed.

We all hung around, playing cards (my mom had served before and told me to throw a deck of cards in my bag) till they excused us all at about 2 pm.

  Ahorsesoul said:

I just finished a dinner of hot dogs with lonewolf's Soft Flat Bread. It whips up fast and is very good. I halved the recipe since it's just two of us. I did not have almond flour, just used Pamela's. I cut it into six pieces once finished. It's very good. Will be making this again. Next time I think I'll put some dried onions in the mix.

Did you use Pamela's baking mix? Does Pamela's have a basic flour mix? I use her bread mix all the time and love it!!

I REALLY miss a soft hot dog roll.

I was gluten free for years before finding Bob's Certified gluten-free Oats. Tried 'em and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!! They take a while to cook, but they are delicious. I only have them occasionally.

  Jestgar said:

I tell them, if I'm asked, and make some joke about being high maintenance, or a pain in the @ss or something. Just enough so people know I'm not snubbing their dish.

Jestgar... I am CRACKING up at your photo!!!!

I used to say it sounded like wolverines were trying to fight their way out of my intestines!! I was lucky, in that I was diagnosed very quickly... only about 3 months after developing unrelenting diarrhea. I never had any other issues... no tummy aches, no nausea, no weight loss (dang... I could have used a little of that one!).

I will tell you that it took an entire year for my bowels to be back to what I considered normal. I made mistakes in the beginning of my gluten free adventure, but I sure don't make mistakes now, as my "glutened" symptoms are much worse the longer I'm gluten free. But, it's not hard to be gluten free!!

As the previous poster said... this forum is my sanity. I can find an answer to ANY celiac-related question here from all those who suffer exactly what I do. I hope your husband finds his way here.

Perhaps an appt. w/ a gastroenterologist who's really versed in celiac disease might help... or finding a celiac support group in your area?

I'm not understanding why you don't want to tell them about your gluten concerns? It might seem kind of fussy or snobby, when people offer you cookies or things you can't eat and you continually refuse... but it's really a serious health issue!

I remember feeling like people thought I was being fussy when they'd ask me, in sort of an impatient voice, "Oh geez... can't you just eat a LITTLE??" I used the old "rat poison" adage I read on here... "That's like me asking you if you can eat just a LITTLE rat poison. Eating a LITTLE gluten will make me very sick."

I am the same way when people say they'll make something gluten free for me. I thank them profusely, but explain that if I don't see it made, I just can't take the chance that I'll get glutened because it's really more involved than not using wheat flour and I'm more than happy to bring my own food. I laugh when they give me the pained look ... as if to say, "Oh you poor thing." I tell them it's not as hard as they think, although I've been doing it for years, and I NEVER starve... one only has to look at my body to see that!! ha ha

Like another poster said, I'd hand him the food responsibilities a few times... w/ you watching closely... so he can understand what's really happening. How many friends have said to me, "Can't you just eat a LITTLE??" He wouldn't let the kids poison themselves at a fair in the name of "enjoying the experience," would he??? That would be a disaster.

What does it say on the ingredient list?

After I'd been gluten-free for about a year, I chowed down on a huge hunk of delicious homemade bread and suffered NO symptoms. I actually thought I might "plan" a monthly cheat... pizza, a Subway hoagie, that homemade bread. I never ended up trying it tho. Because when I was accidentally glutened not long after that ... my symptoms became severe.

Never been tempted again... it's SO not worth it!

If there's one thing I've learned here... it's that if you put 100 celiac in a room you'll have 100 different sets of symptoms!

Ha ha... I think I'd avoid that town!

Sorry, no suggestions.

My brother (not celiac) noticed a dramatic improvement in his eczema when he simply REDUCED his gluten intake. My sister, who lives in France, has been plagued w/ eczema her whole life but as she's tested negative for celiac (blood work) she's not willing to give it up, even as an experiment. I'd be hardpressed too... their breads are the best in the world!

No big disasters this year, as opposed to last year when I made a gluten free pie crust (eggs, xanthan gum, etc) and accidentally used regular flour and spent the rest of the night trying desperately not to barf!!).

I'm giving up in cornbread dressing. It came out better this year than others, but I'm just not a huge fan. I'll continue to try to use my good gluten-free bread and recreate the Pepperidge Farm stuffing I grew up on.

I made a green bean casserole this year using a recipe w/ sour cream and crushed cornflakes (I used corn chex). There is no Progresso Cream of Mushroom soup in any of my stores. It wasn't any good at all and the casserole dish was hardly touched.

The best parts were that I made my pies a week ahead, wrapped them up tightly, and froze them. They were delicious! I also made mashed potatoes ahead and they were good too! I made a few cheese balls that were yummy.

I guess the only real disaster was that we put all the leftover turkey in a big container and put it in the cabinet on the porch. It was cold out there and where we'd put the turkey to brine in a big pot the day before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately... or fortunately, depending on how you look at it... the next day was sunny and 70

There are no gluten free breads where I live either. The only offering in the health food store is inedible and could be used as cardboard or as a bulletin board! I buy Pamela's gluten free bread mix from Amazon in a box of 6 packs. If you can coordinate your ordering (I also order my Tinykada pastas from them), shipping is free... the individual package cost is less... and UPS brings it to your door!!

Couldn't live w/o sandwiches!!

I've never had a reaction, but avoid them anyhow. They're not good for any of us!

Try not to be nervous about the actual test... it's a piece of cake. There's no icky prep (like w/ a colonoscopy) and they give you good sleepy meds.

I remember when I was in nursing school (in the mid 70s) and they gave endoscopy patients a VALIUM before the test... and then put this big tube down the patient's throat while he/she was completely awake telling them to "SWALLOW... SWALLOW!!"

Thank goodness for those awesome sleepy meds... you'll take a nice nap and wake up when it's all over!!

LOVE me some puppies!! Congratulations!!

We bought the do-it-yourself fencing from Home Depot. We didn't bury the wire, but just laid it on the ground around approximately 3 acres. A few times (in about a year), we had to search to find a break and repair it where squirrels or something chewed it. It worked really well until Peaches (the knucklehead boxer) decided our neighbor was her best pal. She started jumping the fence... but ONLY on the driveway... my husband put more wire across there... so that she had to jump thru about 10 feet of shocking. It was pretty funny to watch her stand there and try to decide if it was worth it to jump. She mostly always would... squealing all the way. Our neighbor finally got her to wait at the end of the driveway... he'd come over and take her collar off... and then take her w/ him. They went everywhere together... till he died last year. We don't use it anymore. We live so rurally... she comes and goes and visits all the neighbors... everyone knows Peaches. She doesn't chase cars and we just have to make sure to put a HOT orange t-shirt on her during hunting season.

Good luck!

I live in a teeny town near Mountain Home, Arkansas. Trips to Springfield, MO, (2 hours away) are trips to the big city for us... we always make sure to visit Chik-fil-A for french fries when we're there.

I order my Pamela's bread mix and Tinyada pasta from (Company Name Removed - They Spammed This Forum and are Banned). If I can coordinate those purchases, shipping is FREE.

My local health food store offered to get Pamela's bread mix for me, but buying it in bags of 6 and Tinyada pasta in bags of 12 bags saves me lots of $$.

  Wolicki said:

,Nancy

Sorry, I am very guilty

How about "I axed him" instead of "asked"?

My daughter asked her friend, "Please explain to me how you look at the letters A-S-K and get axed?? ha ha. I don't remember what he said in reply.

Saying "I seen" rather than "I saw" makes me cringe too.

  Wolicki said:

Remember the "Friends" episode where Joey said "It's a Moo Point!"? Then he explained that "it's like a cow's opinion, it doesn't matter. It's moo."

We say that all the time! It's a "moo" point... ha ha ha.

Wow, will my husband be glad to hear this! OG is one of his faves... altho he never gets pasta. He just eats bowl after bowl of the salad! The last time I was there, I had the mussels on their appetizer menu w/ no problems and it was delicious!