Poppi

I drink lots of tea. There is a great tea shop a few block away from me owned by a woman and her daughter who is celiac. They have promised me that all the teas are safe as they shop carefully and the celiac daughter has drunk them all.

My morning drink now is half hot milk, half strong brewed loose leaf chai and a bit of sugar.

I always drink my coffee with 18% coffee cream and I've tried a few brands (Tim Horton's, Starbucks and something else). I would like to try getting beans, rinsing them and then grinding them myself but I don't have a grinder and don't want to spend money on one if it turns out to make me sick anyway.

I guess I'll stick with my tea.

I have heard of that from other people.

Your best bet is to just eat whole foods (veggies, fruits, unmarinated meat, dairy (if you can digest it) and maybe grains like rice and quinoa) until you feel really good and then slowly test adding things in one at a time. It's tricky and frustrating but it pays off when you isolate foods that are bothering you.

I can't seem to tolerate coffee. It makes me feel exactly like I've been glutened for about 4-5 hours. I have been drinking coffee all my life. We lived on a coffee farm in Jamaica when I was 8 and I started drinking a cup of day back then and continued that habit (and then some) for the next 26 years. I've had 2 cups in the past 3 months (dropped coffee a month before I dropped gluten in an attempt to figure out what was giving me headaches) and felt terrible both times.

This morning I'm tired, it's cloudy and cold, the kids are playing quietly and all I want right now is a piping hot double double to go with my gluten-free cinnamon bun.

I don't have many moments of self pity because 99% of the time I feel phenomenal and I am so thankful I was finally diagnosed with celiac. For the first time in my life I feel great!

But I want some coffee. ::Pout::

ETA: I just remembered, it's been 3 months without coffee, not 2 ... ::cries::

I eat lots of grain. Quinoa and rice in particular are consumed very regularly in our house.

If you are grain free and looking for baked good Elena's Pantry appears to be grain free. She uses mostly almond flour and some coconut flour in her recipes but I don't recall seeing grains at all ... or dairy or soy come to think of it.

Thanks everyone.

I'm hoping to have this boy over to play with my son. I'd like to feed him well and eat myself so that means coming up with snacks without:

Gluten (both of us)

Rice (him)

Soy (him)

Dairy (him)

Almonds (him)

Food dyes (me and my kids)

Coconut (me)

Strawberries, Kiwi and Pineapple (him)

Can anyone think of milk and butter substitutes that are not dairy, rice soy or coconut? I can handle a little bit of coconut milk or oil but I prefer to avoid it because it makes my throat itch and my stomach hurt if I have very much, I can't handle it at all if it's raw. I made some great cinnamon buns today that would be a safe treat to share as long as I can replace 2 Tbsp of butter and 2/3 cup of milk.

I'll try some meringues too, that sounds great.

Wow! I wonder if they are that good in Canada. The closest one is 2 hours away but I am in the neighbourhood now and then. Glad you had a good experience.

You can use split peas to make dhal.

Open Original Shared Link

Probably not withdrawal since you should be past that.

My guess would be that you are becoming more sensitive as you heal and your system cleans itself out. You may now be reacting to the type of low grade contamination that comes from non-stick pots or older wooden utensils. Maybe crumbs or flour residue from a shared kitchen?

That happened to me. A month into being gluten free I started to get sick again. I got rid of my old non-stick pots, baking pans and wooden and plastic utensils and cutting boards. Replaced everything with stainless steel, glass or ceramic and I started to get better again.

I know I'm late posting but just in case it comes up again. Cotton candy! You can buy it different stores in little tubs. The other kids might just want to eat cotton candy too. Pixie sticks. Would have to check the label on these ~Smarties? Necco wafers?

When you start having a lot of food limitations start thinking just sugar.

We have some pretty serious food colouring allergies in our home. My oldest son hallucinates and has suicidal thoughts if he eats something with food colouring. I'm not as bad but I definitely get twitchy and anxious. So things like cotton Candy, Smarties etc are off our list too.

I replaced my 12-cup muffin tin with a stainless steel one. I use paper liners in it to avoid the sticking issue.

I do have a non-stick mini-muffin tin. It makes great one bite brownies! I have kept it and use paper liners. So far so good.

If they are stainless steel then scrub them until they are spotless. If they are non-stick wash them as best you can and then use paper liners. The non-stick coating can never be scrubbed 100% clean and free of gluten.

You can wrap the wooden roller in plastic but you should replace it.

Thanks everyone. With all the other party prep I am just going to have to make sure he has a safe plate of fruit, candies, chips and veggies and trust his Mom that he'll be happy with a Cashew Lara bar for dessert.

I was planning on the peanut butter cookies but then I called the mom to check on the peanuts and she reminded me that my brand of PB has soy.

I could do dairy free or soy free chocolate chip cookies but I can't manage both. This is hard.

She says it's okay but I like to feed kids and I know how hard it is for my boys at parties.

Thanks. Both great ideas but I don't have flax meal, dairy-free chocolate chips or soy-free peanut butter.

There is a boy coming to my son's birthday party tomorrow. He is Celiac but also has dairy, soy, rice, almond and strawberry allergies. He can eat most of the snack food we have but I would really like to have a treat for him when the other kids have cake.

Any ideas?

Oh bummer. It is good bread but not for everyone I guess.

For breakfast I would assume they have milk, juice and fruit. I would ask that their fruit be left whole and washed or that it be cut separately from the rest of the campers' fruit on a clean counter or plate with a non-serrated knife.

Then you can send in boxes of gluten free cereal. My kids love Koala Crisp (it;s like cocoa krispies), Gorilla Munch (like corn pops) and The Maple Mesa Sunrise. A few loaves of Udi's bread to keep in the freezer, toaster bags so they can use the contaminated toaster safely and their own personal jars of peanut butter, nutella, jelly, honey, butter etc.

For lunch and dinner it would probably be safest to prepare a few big batches of gluten free mac & cheese, spaghetti, lasagna, stew, BBQ chicken, rice, mashed potatoes and gravy, veggies etc. Then freeze in individual containers that you don't care about getting back like the ziploc containers.

gluten-free ham, cheese pre-sliced and ready to go for sandwiches.

For treats, a bag of marshmallows, a box or two of Kinnikinnick gluten-free Graham Cracker and some Hershey bars should be set aside so your kids can make smores with the rest of the kids on campfire nights.

Udi's or Kinnikinnick hot dog buns and gluten-free hot dogs. Send down your own condiments as well just to be safe, kids will drag the top of the ketchup bottle right across their bun and contaminate it.

Bake some brownies and cookies and other desserts and package those up in single servings as well. A few packages of Lays Stacks for snacks if they are allowed things like chips.

See if you can get a copy of a menu and match it whenever possible. Then make up your own menu so that the camp staff knows exactly which foods to thaw out and heat up for your kids on each day.

I would also go into the camp kitchens and see where the food will be stored and give the kitchen staff a quick crash course on cc. Gush over how awesome they are and thank them profusely for being the kind of wonderful and caring people who are willing to do extra work to ensure your daughter's safety and happiness. Make them love you!! Take a bunch of flowers and a batch of gluten-free brownies in as a gift... you need their cooperation more than anything else. They will have your daughters' safety in their hands.

I don't care.

I have a family history of Celiac and I get so violently ill with the slightest cross contamination that doing a 3-4 month gluten challenge is out of the question. I will never have an official diagnosis because I just cannot imagine making myself ill to the point of not being able to care for my own children for that length of time. Plus I worry about the recovery from the gluten challenge? What if it took several months or even years to recover? What if I did so much damage that I developed refractory celiac? Not worth it.

Based on my symptoms, my sensitivity and my family history I am 100% certain I have Celiac disease. That's all the diagnosis I will ever have.

I didn't find the withdrawl bad at all and I have been baking (and eating) breads, cookies, muffins and cakes with wheat flour every day for many years.

I had a headache for a few days and I was super cranky but I was also quiting coffee at the same time.

I find that in the first week after I've been glutened (this would go for the withdrawl period as well) I have to be very gentle with my stomach. Lots of fruit, salmon, steamed veggies, tea and toast with honey. I have to avoid high fat, greasy, fried or heavy meals. I get very tired right after because my body is struggling to heal from the glutening and digesting a big meal is hard work.

This thread needs some good quiet gluten free date/activity ideas

My hubby and I go out for a date night once a week or so and it was always the same. Eat out then go home and go to sleep because I would inevitably feel awful and my husband was overweight and a bit of a binge eater so he would overeat and feel like crap too.

Now we've taken food out of the equation. He has lost 65 pounds and I am healthy and energetic for the first time ever.

We go to the rec centre and swim or soak in the hot tub, play pool at the pool hall, go geocaching, find new placed to watch the sunset from, we are taking a kayaking course next weekend... food isn't the date anymore. It's just fuel to make us feel good so we can do other things together.

My kids are 2, 5, 15, 17 and 20. The oldest two girls are pretty good about what they touch and don't touch and they do 90% of their cooking and eating in the downstairs kitchen which is the gluten zone. My 15 year old son tries but he's not great about cleaning up crumbs or keeping his sandwich making to the designated gluten-prep area in the upstairs kitchen.

My 2 year old and 5 year old are, well, 2 and 5. Can't expect anything from them. I'm currently feeling the effects of my youngest touching my dinner last night while she was eating a sandwich. Even though it's inconvenient we are considering making gluten completely off limits upstairs for my health. We have a system in place which has been working but once you throw a 2 year old into the mix it's hard to keep things clean.

My 2 year old is also being tested for celiac next week because she has pica (she eats non-food items like metal, chalk, drywall etc) and that's a huge celiac red flag. If she tests positive then the upstairs will have to be a 100% no gluten zone. Even the 5 year old will have to go gluten free because the eat and play and cuddle together so much.

We were having fajitas last night. I got up to get a spoon and then sat back down and kept eating. I was eating and my oldest son looked at me and got a horrified look on his face. He warned me at that point that my 2 year old daughter had put her hands on my food and her hands had just been handling a peanut butter sandwich on regular wheat bread.

I stopped eating but it was too late. The stomach rumblings started about 3 hours later, had the big D in the middle of the night and again this morning and now I've got my usual headache and back/neck pain to deal with. This is an interesting development because I have never had D before so my system is getting more sensitive and my digestive system is responding differently than ever before.

No visible crumbs in my food and I only ate a few bites but it was enough.

I would start by making a list of your favourite meals, the things you cook or go out for the most.

Then divide that list into 2 lists. The first list is meals that are naturally gluten free or easily altered with a minor substitutions. The second list is things that will be harder and you can learn to cook them later... no reason to go without your favourites forever! You have a lifetime to learn how to remake your favourite gluten-filled foods, first you just need to be happy with a basic, delicious diet that will make you feel great.

Your first list will probably be things like grilled or roasted meats/seafoods, vegetables, rice, yams, potatoes. That's easy, right? Are you feeding a family or just yourself?

Some simple substitutions are things like gluten-free soy sauce, BBQ sauce, rice/corn pasta, rice crackers, gluten-free bread.

If you do like to bake you will wind up doing some experimenting. Everyone has their preferences but my favourite all purpose gluten-free flour mix is the Namaste Perfect Flour Blend, I like it better than Pamela's which seems to be the common favourite. For simple things like a sheet cake, cookies, muffins and banana bread I have been able to substitute it straight across for the flour with no other changes.

Also, since you are in Canada I would go to the Kinnikinnick website and consider putting in an order for hamburger buns, hot dog buns, pizza crusts (they are really good, Boston Pizza uses them), cookies, donuts, cake mixes, gluten-free panko crumbs, graham crackers crumbs... whatever fills those likes/cravings/needs and makes you feel less deprived. I do a monthly Kinnikinnick order for $100 and keep myself stocked up on all those things.

The Gluten free pantry chocolate truffle brownies are amazing! I keep a box on hand all the time in case we have company on short notice. Fresh brownies and ice cream make everyone happy, right?

Lara bars are nice to have in your bag or car for a quick snack if you get stuck while you're out. I don't love them but the chocolate varieties are okay and they are reasonably filling.

Good luck! You can do it. One day at a time, one meal at a time. Rejoice when you come across something that's wonderful and when you come across something awful try not to let it get to you.

So I guess my question is how do you deal with those times where you have no choice but to eat out.

I do my absolute best to NEVER put myself in that situation. Make sure you always have a choice. I keep 2-3 Lara bars in my purse plus a few Sesame snaps and usually and Enjoy Life bar or two as well. In my car I have a survival kit with enough food to feed myself for a day or two. It's nothing fancy and it's certainly not as satisfying as a proper meal but it's better than risking 2 weeks of my life being sick.

Alternately you need to do some research. Keep a list in your purse of exactly what you can eat at various restaurants. If I go to the mall here I know I can have New York Fries, a Booster Juice (I skip the boosters because some of them have wheat and I'm not sure they are kept separate enough to avoid cc) or an Orange Julius. That's it. I don't trust Subway to make a salad and not cc me. There is just so much bread all around and hands in and out of vegetable containers.

In a pinch I'll go to a grocery store and get some fruit, rice crackers and cheese or some sushi and no soy sauce.

If I'm going out for the day I plan on where I am going to eat but I also pack everything I need to eat in case the food I planned on is unavailable.