casnco

I need cookies that I can cut with cookie cutters for Christmas. Please help!

Buy Pamela's baking mix. Look up Pamela's recipe for sugar cookies on Google and you will have the best sugar cookies ever. They are simple to make!!!!

I'll appoligize ahead of time if this gets too lengthy. I took my 8 1/2 year old for a methacholine challenge test today (at my request) because I have been disputing his diagnosis of asthma for over a year now. A brief hx of my child:

-Healthy until appx 3 years old after starting daycare

-choronic strep tonsillitis until 4 years of age when he had a tonsillectomy and adnoidectomy.

-did well for appx 6 months and started having one sinus infection after another until the age of 6

-went back to ENT and to an allergy specialist in Knoxville and had allergy testing that was positive for mostly fall weeds, dust mites and cockaroach

-Has been doing two allergy shots a week since 6 and has been pretty healthy since

So here is the kicker. When he was 6 he was also given a baseline PFT and one after some medicine in a neb. I was never given those results and assumed that it was fine and the allergies were discussed. He was already on nasonex and singulair from the ped for the sinus infections/possible allergies. He goes every 6 months after this for check ups. At his 7 year appt a new person sees us and is rewiewing his medical hx with us and mentions he was diagnosed a year before with asthma. This child has never wheezed, had a chronic cough or complained. He plays and runs and keeps up with all the other kids just fine. They never treated it otherwise just kept him on the nasonex and singulair. This year 8 year old appt. I asked if we could prove once and for all if he has it or not so they did the test. He had to be off all his meds for 8 weeks before this test. I have not noticed any difference in him since stopping the meds. The only out of the ordinary thing we noticed with him was when he was running laps for soccer this spring (coach ran them hard too and the other boys were whining also) is that he would start out really good and then about half way thru he was holding the upper side of his chest and said he was having a little trouble catching his breath. He would walk it off and keep going. So he does his test today and by the 5th dose he has a reaction. They said that after each dose his PFT was declining and by the end it dropped significantly to indicate asthma. The did say he had a quick recovery. I grilled them pretty hard to prove to me that this was accurate. I asked how a otherwise healthy child with no apparent symptoms could have asthma. Like I said before he does not wheeze, have a chronic cough or complain. I did mention the soccer thing and they said that that was probably how he reacts and otherwise does not exhibit many symptoms since he his healthy, exercises and we manage the allergies well. The respiratory therapist did say when he had the last dose of the medicine he did have some mild wheezing and diminished lung sounds and recovered quickly after xopenex. Now we were sent home with rescue inhaler to use if he gets like that after hard exercise and to use asthmanex during soccer season to see if there is any difference. I really thought the outcome was going to be different and I'm having a hard time accepting this. The irony for me is that he is the child I did not expect this for. My now 4 year old had so many allergy type reactions from the time he was 3 months old, reflux, was a wheeze bag and did all of the breathing treatments starting at 14 months until 3 years. He is now off all meds, doing fine and does not have any allergies or asthma that we know of. Go figure. Thanks for listening.

Let me start by saying, "I am not a doctor." That being said I have done Methacholine Challenge Tests. I have practiced respiratory therapy for over 20 years. From the information you gave. And I understand it is not comprehensive. IMHO it sounds like your son may have exercise induced asthma. Not a huge deal. Your son made it to the fifth level of the Methacholine. That is pretty good. Most people have a reaction after that much irritation. Exercise induced asthma is helped by two things. 1.) the inhaler before strenuous exercise and 2.) strenuous exercise.

Keep your eye on him for signs and symptoms of asthma. Treat the exercise induced asthma before it affects him, keep him clear of irritants, such as smog, cigarette smoke and harsh chemicals, and will probably do well. As he exercises symptom free his lungs should get stronger and possibly out grow this reaction.

Good Luck. Hope my input can give you some peace of mind.

I went to a Dove Chocolate Discoveries party. Ummm. Right. Well all of there packaging says, "May contain wheat" I ate a couple of things that before I read that that I felt would be gluten-free. Most chocolate is gluten-free. I haven't had a reaction as of now. 2 days later.

My question is....Do any of you eat items that say...Processed in a facility that contains wheat or Processed on the same equipment as wheat? Or any variation thereof?

Thanks

Debbie

So, as I'm reading and researching, I'm learning how big of an issue cross contamination is. I'm coming to realize that I (and my family) will need to think of gluten in our home the way a family with a life-threatening peanut allergy would think of peanuts.

While it's manageable to keep seperate utensils, clean work areas, and wash the kids hands right after they finish eating their gluteny foods (like bread and breakfast cereal), I just clued in that my 3 dogs are going to be an issue.

They eat a good quality food (Horizon Complete), which contains Rye and Barley. *sigh*

On the one hand, I know I can change dog foods. There are plenty of good dog foods out there that have only potatoes or rice for their carb. However, they're pricey. I like Horizon because it's good food, my dogs do well on it, and it's cheap ($50 for a 35lb bag which lasts my 3 dogs almost a month).

Another option is to keep their dishes put away outside of feeding time, and to wipe their muzzles with a pet wipe after they eat. However, they'll still lick everything and everyone in sight at the first opportunity (darned friendly dogs!). How much of a cross contamination issues would that be?

What do other dog owners do?

I use Eukenuba Puppy formula. No gluten. It's expensive but I try hard to avoid cross contamination that I can control. When he is no longer a puppy not sure what I will feed him. Good luck! I also think there is a thread here if you want to see other thoughts. I asked the same question when I got my puppy.

I am not sure if this is where I should post this question. But here goes.

When I was initially diagnosed with Celiac 6 yrs ago there were no labeling laws. So every ingredient had to be read. We were all very wary of the term "natural ingredients" unless specific companies used the term, such as "Kraft".

Well now we have labeling laws, I still read every ingredient and put anything with the words "natural ingredient" back. Does everyone do this? Or can I lighten up a little?

Hello!

First question: I spoke with Gabriel Cosmetics who has a line called ZuZu Luxe. They make a great lip gloss called Caliente, which they say is gluten-free but contains Wheat Germ Oil. Is that safe like they say?

Secondly, I found a hair gel made by Alba Botanica. It is the Strong Hold Style Gel. It contains Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein. Is this safe? The only issue I see with this one is when washing hair and water getting in mouth or on lips. What do you think?

These products are important to me to consider because I have chemical sensitivities and have a hard time finding bright red lip gloss and finishing products for hair care with no scent that are safe for me to use for that reason, not even considering the gluten issue. Its hard to be beautiful . . . or at least try to be!

No, don't use any product that says "wheat" in any form. I always get sick if I do. Your hair can get in your mouth, you rub your hair with your hands then open a stick of gum and put it in your mouth. Glutened. Not worth the damage. Find something without gluten. Barts Bees has great lip gloss.

Sorry but I am a nay sayer. No swine flu shot for me!!! Not enough testing. To much pressure to take it. Not interested. My immune system is compromised even though I am following the diet. Why would I want to put something like that in me. I practice natural health so I will be fine. I am a healthcare worker and I will be wearing a mask all season long to protect anyone from anything I can breath on them. Like my bad breath. It will be better for everyone involved if I just wear a mask. He He

Hey all! I am at college and don't have much time for baking. Luckily, my cafeteria will reemburse me for food I bring in - so now I get to try some cookies! I am also allergic to soy... so in your opinion, what is the best gluten free cookie and why? Explainations like "it was not dry" or "the flavor was nice" are specially helpful..

Love Pamela's. Right texture and great taste. Also NaNa's makes some incredible cookies. They are very moist good flavor. Only drawback is a little texture issue. I can't exactly explain it. I know I said they are moist, and they are, but the texture feels a little dry. Maybe it has to do with the flour they use. Definitely worth a try.

The Zojirushi is the best ,a real work horse....in my opinion. Five years old & still kicking.... It makes a normal loaf of bread & has two paddles . Making gluten free bread requires a strong machine . It is about $200.00 but it will last. Some machines over heat while struggling to beat gluten-free dough.

hth mamaw

Mamaw, do you use bread mixes or do you mix your own ingredients in the bread machine? Did it come with gluten free recipes?

Hi, possibly some of you here remember me;0

I was never officially diagnosed as Celiac, but pretty much confirmed Gluten Intolerance, thru

self testing and Enterolab.

I've been "mostly" gluten free for a couple years now (I cheat, yeah I know I shouldn't).

I just had a complete set of bloodwork done. I'm telling ya they took 29 vials of blood.

Everything looked good, except my Cholesterol was borderline and two liver enzymes were elevated.

AST was 48 (5-43)

ALT was 83 (10-58)

While exercise can affect the AST/ALT tests (and I went for an 8 mile run the day before this test), I've also read that Celiac or Gluten Intolerance can affect liver enzymes.

How worried should I be about this? My doc says it's not urgent...I suspect it's either an affect of too much exercise or Gluten Intolerance...Anyone else?

My enzymes go up with each glutening. And mine go WAY up. Like 100x's the normal.

It's one thing to use the same friers for fries, but do they filter the grease with the same equipment that filters other friers too?

Honestly, I don't think they filter the oil. I worked @ McDonalds and we drained the old oil out and put new in. No filtering unless it is something done inside the fryers.

Here is the link to the bread recipe. I have tried it twice now and it tastes good and it's soft! I can't remember the last time I didn't have to toast gluten free bread. This was my first attempt at making it myself and I am pleased. The flour mix I used with the masa harina is also linked to this link. I did not mix all of my ingredients up like she did before putting it in the bread maker. I followed all the steps, but then let the bread maker do the mixing.

Open Original Shared Link

Hey thanks. I will give that a try as soon as the weather cools down again.

Thank you all for your quick reply! This forum is awsome!

Debbie

How careful r u about purchasing chicken? I see frequently the packaging says natural flavorings added. Do you think that is a wheat product to enhance the flavor? Anyone have any thoughts?

Debbie

www.myefusjon.com/1debbie

How are all of you handling ingredient labels? I was under the impression it was the law to disclose all of the major allergens now. So does that mean that "natural flavorings' will no longer be considered suspicious? If it doesn't say "wheat, oats, barley or rye" on the label shouldn't it be alright?

Thanks

Debbie

My DH found a new bread recipe for me to try and it calls for Masa Harina. While masa harina seems to be naturally gluten free, I am concerned about any cross contamination problems. Are there any brands that anyone has tried that they have reacted to? Being in a rural community, I have a limited range of choices.

I use Masa Harina from Aldi's. I have not had any problems from using it.

Want to share your new recipe?

Debbie

www.myefusjon.com/1debbie

I just went to the pet food store this weekend and checked Eukanuba's labels, and it is NOT GLUTEN FREE. I looked at many different flavors of Eukanuba, some with incredibly pretty pictures on the labels, with wolves and moose and whatnot, and all of them showed something like barley, which is a member of the wheat family that celiac and gluten intolerant people react to.

Repeat: Eukanuba is NOT gluten free as of June 2009. There might have been a flavor variation I missed.

I was told by a sales clerk that they had just changed their formulas. Bummer.

Not only do I need gluten free dog food to avoid reactions for me, but I have 2 dogs (both part breds of the same breed) that also need to avoid it. I have found one local brand of dog food so far that seems to work for them, which is a chicken and corn mix, but both of my dogs tolerate corn well. Some people won't feed corn to dogs. I have even seen so - called allergy formulas that have soy in them, which is a BIG no- no for a lot of sensitive dogs, or other ingredients I'm pretty sure wouldn't be completely gluten free, such as regular oatmeal. My one dog gets so ocd hyperactive on accidental glutenings I really try to keep him free of it so we don't drive each other crazy. I'm cooking rice and meat for the other one to mix with this dry food. I found another brand of dog food that seems to be gluten free, a lamb and rice mix, but the rice eating dog got a lot of gas from it. I can't believe how many of these lamb and rice mixes had wheat in it when you read the labels.

I checked a LOT of different dog foods, some labeled "wheat free," some "gluten free" and all of them still contained barley or wheat in some form.

The Bottom Line Is: READ YOUR LABELS, EVERY TIME !

I have spoken to a manufacturer's representative at one of these stores, who was trying to pass off a "gluten free" brand of dog food ("Blue") that contained BARLEY to me, and I explained as well as I could that putting a "gluten free" label on this was not accurate because humans react to not only wheat, but barley and rye and any ingredients made of these, such as natural flavorings. It was "holistic" this and "natural" that, and supposedly cooked a special way, but I stuck to my point- people buy dog foods to avoid the wheat family of grains not only for the dogs, but for themselves to avoid cross contamination from dog saliva.

Thanks for the information. When I bought my puppy food(Eukanuba) I read the label carefully. There was no wheat, barley, oats or rye. I will double check the next time I need a bag.

Hi everyone. Just wanted to update on dog food ordeal. I am feeding new puppy Eukenuba, Not sure how to spell that. And I am making his treats. I use a skillet and fry some liver without oil. When it is cooked I cut into small pieces and put on baking sheet and bake @ 350 degrees for 20 min. This drys the liver out and it is good for as long as the treats last without refrigeration. Works out well and we are all gluten free!!! Yea!!!

It's REALLY important until the growth plates close. (Depending on the dog, that's between 12 and 24 months - the larger the dog, the longer until the growth plates close. I have a standard poodle, who'll be around 55-60lbs, and ~23-24" at the shoulders, and he'll probably finish fusing growth plates at somewhere between 20 and 24 months of age. I won't be neutering him until then, since sex hormones regulate bone growth, and 'early' neutering can affect the length/density of the long bones in particular.) But even after that, it's structurally hard on the dogs - harder on dogs not "designed" for it (like terriers). It's the equivalent of you jumping off a second story balcony regularly - only you're better designed for it than a dog is.

(I'm right in the stage of "well, crap, what fun stuff do I do with my dog? he LOVES pouncing, leaping, and hard ball chasing." But we do more training to keep his brain occupied, longer walks. No trail running or running on the sidewalk yet, until he's over a year old (again, impact wear considerations), but definitely trotting (which, with his leg length, is practically a jog for me) on a walk and when training heeling and controlled walking. And he gets his full out run when we practice a recall. But it's been nearly $600 trying to figure out the problem - two initial vet visits, sedated x-rays, and the sports vet, and I don't want to go through that again!)

I know this is a celiac disease forum but I am glad I met you!! I am going to picking up my standard poodle puppy in two long weeks! Thanks for the info! I will be careful. Do you have pet insurance? I am thinking about it. I may be wrong but I think larger dogs seem to have more problems. My dogs father is 27 inches at the shoulders mom is about 24. The breeder thinks ours will be like dad. Hope so cause dad is much cuter.

How old is your pup? White? Black? Brown? Red? Pardi? Will you be showing? Not me, maybe some agility training. That looks fun. I'll have to reassess now when to start. I'll have to watch some competitions to determine the impact of what the dog does. Again, so glad I met you before I went nuts with the dog.

Thanks for sharing!

Debbie

Happygirl: Thanks, where do you buy that at? A pet store? WalMart? I will be looking for it on my next trip to the store. Thanks so much!

Ahh! never mind, a little search on the net turned up Jacks Aquarium. Have one of those right here in town! Don't need to go to the city to find it! YEA! I'll check it out this morning!

Wellness Core is grain free.

Happygirl: Thanks, where do you buy that at? A pet store? WalMart? I will be looking for it on my next trip to the store. Thanks so much!

I feed my dogs Nutro. It has oats but there is no wheat/barley/rye etc. It is in a green bag and made for dogs with sensitive stomachs.

Congrats on your new puppy! =)

Jennifer, Thanks for the info. I have a puppy food that has barley in it but no other allergens. I think I want to try to find one without any. It is so hard. Cost is a minor issue, gosh, cost is always an issue. But I planned on feeding the dog a better quality food. With the last dog I learned real quick that inexpensive food gave her D! Explosive! Cleaning it off the walls just wasn't for me. LOL

A Post on the Very Topic!

Congratulations on the new puppy!

(BTW, I learned this the hard way, if he is one of the medium to larger breeds (say, expected to reach 40lbs or more), do *NOT* let him go bounding down stairs. Or, jumping off anything tall-ish (like jumping out of the car - lift or use a ramp). Or excessive ball/frisbee chasing where they plant their feet and pivot really fast. My 8mo old pup has been dealing with a chronic shoulder injury (~3 months now) that doesn't seem to cause him pain, but he demonstrates a slight lameness when trotting every now and again. We've worked with two 'regular' vets and a sports vet (and she's going to consult with an orthopaedic surgeon vet) to learn that it is probably nothing that requires surgery (cross my fingers), but we do have to keep him on "restricted activity" until he *fully* heals, and that is a pain in the butt! You learn all kinds of things about how to properly take care of your dog when you take your training from people who pretty much just work with performance/working dogs. )

Thanks for sharing your experience! I will be careful with the play. Is this something that in the first year you have to be careful with or just the first year?

I am so excited!!! Thank you Starbucks!!!

On a recent trip to London, in the airport, we found a gluten free cake at the coffee shop! That was so good! It was individually wrapped, VERY moist, and tasty! Good to know we will be able to find something in an American Coffee Shop!!!

Yea! I am getting a new puppy! (okay, I know all puppy's are new, He He) But I am concerned about feeding it food with gluten. No I wont be french kissing my dog. However, I am a freek about everything in my house being gluten free.

Anyone else like me out there? What do you feed your pets?