Chebe cinnamon roll mix

photo credit

Tuesday night I made some brown sugar almond sticky rolls, using the Chebe cinnamon roll mix. The recipe was on the package, and I followed the instructions as written.

The end result tasted fine, but the texture was a bit gummy. Not sure if they needed to cook longer, or what. The top edges that were cooked through tasted good and weren't gummy. The overall flavor was good- I like that they added cinnamon to the mix.

I'd like to try this product again, but I think I'll follow the alternative directions that suggest rolling the dough into thin ropes and twirling it into spiral. I think it might cook better that way.

Ok, so I'm a bit upset right now

I bought some Reese's bells for a quick and easy gift (put them in a whisk with a tag that says "We whisk you a merry Christmas!'), and I sampled a couple while I was putting it together. A little bit later, my throat started to swell up a bit- my body's cue that I ate some gluten. So I started going over what I ate for lunch- all ok, no cross-contamination. The only other thing I'd eaten was two of the Reese's bells. Last time I checked, Reese's peanut butter cups were gluten free. But I checked the package anyway, and lo and behold, there's wheat flour in them. Seriously??!! Come on, it's not in the regular cups, so why does it need to be in the bells?

I'd also bought a bag to put in stockings, so I guess I'll be taking it to the in-laws house to fill stockings there (since my parents' house is now a gluten free house).

It's frustrating, since I hate the reaction I get- it's uncomfortable, and I don't want the gluten in my body. I know I need to be better about reading labels- everyone says you always have to read the labels, since you never know when they'll change the ingredients of something- but it's such a pain and I always forget. Hopefully I'll be able to remember to read labels from now on.

Bit of an update (and our first gluten free Thanksgiving)

I'm finally starting to feel almost normal.

While I've been working on feeling better, I've been doing some reading (fuzzy brain just isn't compatible with getting lots done, unfortunately). I read Boneshaker by Cherie Priest, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, and the four Enchanted Forest books by Patricia Wrede: Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, Talking to Dragons. I liked the Patricia Wrede books the best, but the others were good, too.

We (Mr. M and I) went and saw New Moon on Monday. I thought it was better than the first movie. Definitely better than I thought it would be- I find the second book very whiny, but the movie managed not to be whiny. And Jacob is quite nice to look at :)

We finished up our Christmas shopping on Wednesday- just have to wrap and ship now.

Wednesday I also made 6 gluten free pie crusts. 2 became pecan pies (one for us, one for the in-laws), the rest were pumpkin, blueberry, apple, and strawberry. Everyone thought the pie crust turned out good- didn't taste different. I used the pie crust recipe from Easy Gluten Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbonne. Love that book!

I managed to successfully have a gluten free Thanksgiving. At the in-laws I couldn't eat the frog eye salad (we need to write to the GF pasta companies to ask them to make acini de pepe), the stuffing, or the rolls, but everything else was good. My mom made a completely gluten free meal, so I could eat everything without any problems.

Yesterday was a really nice day, so we went for a short bike ride, during which we realized both our bikes really need a tune-up. I also spent some time reorganizing the storage container. It really needed it- it had gotten so you could barely walk inside. Now, everything's neatly stacked again, even our bikes and bike trailer, so there's room to walk in and move around a bit. Can't wait till we move and can unpack- we have a lot of stuff, but until we can unpack and sort it all at once, we really can't get rid of any of it. I do plan on downsizing as much as possible though.

I also reorganized the closet in our room as well as our food storage in the basement. It had been moved around when dad was working on the plumbing for the downstairs bathroom, and has been jumbled together for awhile now. It was nice to have the energy to get that much done.

I'm starting to have more energy- I'm not as exhausted as I was, but I'm still fighting the brain fog- I have to force myself to get stuff done. Yesterday was encouraging- I did a lot of physical work without completely dying.

YUMMY bana bread

This afternoon LMS and I made banana bread (she calls it bana bread) using the recipe in Easy Gluten Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbonne. I knew it was a success when Mr. M said 'Wow, that was really good! What flour did you use?' If Mr. M likes it, it's good. He's endured quite a few of my experiments, and doesn't hesitate to tell me when the results are crap. Like the results of my low-carb baking experiments. They were all gross.

In any case, I followed the recipe as written, except I used super fine brown rice flour instead of white rice flour. I used it because I figure brown rice flour is less refined than white rice flour.

I tried to make banana bread last week, but didn't have quite enough bananas. When I went to the store to buy more, they were all green, so I had to wait till they ripened. This time I ended up with enough bananas for two batches of bread. I made one batch of muffins, and one loaf of bread.

I told LMS that the muffins were cupcakes (she doesn't know the difference since we don't have either very often), and we put a dab of cool whip on top. She loved it!
I added a handful of chopped pecan pieces to the loaf of banana bread. I forgot to do it until after the batter was in the pan, so I just stirred it in right there. Not sure if that's why, but the nuts seemed to float to the top.

Beautiful!

The results were very good- the bread had a nice, even texture- no grittiness, and tasted just like I remember banana bread tasting. My dad and brother weren't here to give their verdicts, but mom, Mr. M, LMS, and I all thought it tasted really good. The crust got nice and crispy, just like I like it. I cut the ends off to eat tonight (the crust is never that nice crispy texture after being wrapped up), then wrapped the bread (we'll see if there's any left in the morning), and I tossed the rest of muffins in the freezer.

look at that lovely texture!

With results like this, this cookbook just moved to the top of my gotta-have list. I have a couple more days before this copy is due at the library, so now I need to decide which recipe to try next.

Some recent gluten free dishes

Bob's Red Mill cornbread muffins

This is the same mix I used earlier to make a pan of cornbread, this time I made them into muffins. I got 16, but considering how much they rose (sorry, no pics!), I could have filled each cup a little less and gotten 18 no problem. I took them to the church Halloween activity last week, then brought the leftovers home, put them in ziploc bags, and tossed them in the freezer. They were super-easy to pop in the microwave for a few seconds to defrost, leaving them in the bag to help keep the moisture in. We then ate them with...

Bob's Red Mill 13 bean soup

It's naturally gluten free. You would think this would be a no-brainer, but it's not. I looked at the bags of beans at wally world (the ones for ham and bean soup), and they all had gluten in them. So I was stuck with the more expensive Bob's bean soup mix, but I think having a variety of beans is a good thing. I couldn't find a ham hock at wally world (you'd think they'd have them, but apparently not), so I tossed in a pork loin instead. It wasn't pretty once it was all cooked up (hence no pictures), but it tasted good. Now if we could just find a way to eliminate the side effects.

 

Chebe pizza crust mix

We made pizza the other night, and I used the Chebe pizza crust mix. I've used Bob's Red Mill pizza crust mix before, but it's kind of bland and it has yeast in it. The only non-yeast pizza crust I've found yet is Chebe. They use a lot of herbs to give it a nice flavor, and the outside edge of the crust gets nice and crunchy. The only thing that's a little off is the part of the crust that touches the sauce gets a bit gummy. It's not super-noticeable, but it's there. I think next time I make it, I'll try cooking it for longer before adding the toppings. Another good thing about this mix: it's quite inexpensive! I think I paid around $2 for it, which is way less than I've paid for any other gluten free mix.

Books I've read recently

Easy Gluten Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbonne

The recipes in this cookbook look really good- can't wait to try them. There's good pictures, and the book is hardcover with an internal spiral binding- perfect for laying on your counter as you bake.

I also like that she lists the dry ingredients in one column and the wet ingredients in another. She said she did this so you could pre-make the dry mix of the recipes you use frequently and then all you'd need to do is add the wet ingredients. How cool is that? Measuring out 4 or 5 flours for a single recipe can be a bit of a pain, so why not do up a bunch of mixes all at once?

She also doesn't have a one-size fits all flour mix, but tweaks it depending on what is being made. Hence the idea of mixing ingredients ahead of time...

At the end of the book is a section titled 'Tastes Like', which has recipes for name brand things like oreos, twinkies, thin mints, graham crackers, etc. This is a section I'm eager to try out!

The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam

Like the title says, the recipes call for almond flour instead of wheat or rice flour. The recipes look good, but again, I haven't had a chance to try them yet. I think the first one I'll try is the cheddar cheese crackers.

This cookbook isn't just baked goods, there's also recipes for dishes like chicken pot pie, turkey burgers, salmon dill burgers, Thai fish cakes, and broccoli pizza.

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

My friend recommended this one, and I have to agree, it's a great book. We're not in a position to do anything with the information right now (no job= no money to pay down debt), but as soon as Mr. M gets a job (hopefully soon, right now he's working with a contracting company on finding a position) and we have a steady income coming in, we'll be using the steps Dave talks about in order to get out of debt, get money into savings, and get our retirement funds fully funded.

Can't wait till we can get going on that- just need to be patient for awhile longer.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

It was finally my turn to check this out from the library, and it was worth the wait. This is the sequel to the Hunger Games, and is just as good as the first. The thing I didn't know till the last page is that there is a third book planned, so we get left hanging on some pretty crucial details.

Not sure how long the wait will be for the next one.

Living with two chronic diseases

This is a post I've been thinking about for while, and am finally finishing.

Back in August, the Meanest Mom, who has a chronic disease of her own, hosted an online Ms. Chronic Disease of America E-Pageant. Basically, you wrote in with all the sexy details of your chronic disease. I thought about entering, but I'm just not as clever with words as some people. The first contestant featured has PCOS, which got me thinking. I don't have just one chronic disease, I have two. I will have to deal with PCOS and gluten intolerance my whole life- they're not going to go away. I can minimize a lot of the symptoms, but if I do the wrong things I will definitely feel worse.

I've been feeling a lot better without gluten. After 10 years of feeling like crap (and sometimes worse), it's nice to feel almost human again. Unfortunately I keep forgetting that just because I've gotten to the root of part of my problem and figured out how to deal with it, doesn't mean that everything is completely better. I still have to deal with PCOS and yeast problems.

Comparatively, the gluten intolerance is way easier to deal with than the PCOS. Supposedly, they can both be controlled with a careful diet, but the results of a gluten free diet are seen much quicker (in me) than those of a PCOS friendly diet. I recently read 'The PCOS Diet Book' by Colette Harris. I was really hoping for something profound, but there really wasn't much I didn't already know: eat a variety of low glycemic index foods- whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies, lean meat, etc. Exercise. Lose weight. Get enough sleep.
The most helpful section was the section about herbal supplements to help with symptoms and hormonal imbalances. I'm trying Vitex to help with my hormones, and I'm taking aloe vera juice to help my intestines work properly.
The thing is is that I've always tried to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and tried (unsuccessfully till just recently) to lose weight and get enough sleep. Despite all that, I've never really noticed my symptoms getting better. Talk about depressing. Maybe that's why I've pretty much ignored it since I found out about it more than 5 years ago. Nothing works, so if I ignore it, it'll go away, right? I wish.

I've been losing weight (20 pounds now!), but it's slowed down the last few weeks. Thinking about fruit and its affect on me also got me thinking about PCOS. I've been ignoring it, but I can't keep doing that. Just because I figured out one cause of my weight problems, I haven't got all the causes of my weight problems taken care of (PCOS definitely causes weight problems, so combined with gluten intolerance, I never had a chance). So now I have to focus on figuring out how to eat to control the PCOS. I need to be more careful about the sugar that creeps into my diet. I need to work on not stress-eating, which I most definitely do (usually chocolate). I need to make sure I'm exercising a bit more consistently than I have been.

Hopefully if I can manage to do all that, I'll finally be able to alleviate some of the symptoms of PCOS, and continue to lose weight.

Another great gluten free cookbook

I found another really yummy-looking gluten free cookbook! It's not just baked goods- there's recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner too. The author is Australian, so there are some terms that need to be looked up (sago anyone?), and while the measurements are in grams, they also have them in ounces. Can't wait to start trying these recipes!

Some gluten free baking results

Today I made some corn bread using the Bob's Red Mill gluten free cornbread mix. The instructions called for a 9"x9" pan, which I didn't have, so I used an 8"x8" pan.

The cornbread rose nicely (more than I expected, but probably due to the smaller pan), but the center had problems cooking through. If I use this mix again, I'll use a larger pan so the cornbread will be thinner and hopefully not have problems cooking through.

It tasted best while warm- I ate it with some of the cassoulet I made yesterday and it was good and filling. I had some with my dinner, and it wasn't quite as good cooled down- it seemed to get a bit more dense and moist somehow. Not sure quite how/why that happened.

I also made some pumpkin muffins using a recipe from Gluten Free Baking Classics. With all the cold weather we've had this week, I had a hankering for some pumpkin bread.

Unfortunately, for some reason, canned pumpkin is 'temporarily out of season'. Not sure why, but I looked at 3 or 4 different stores, and no one had any. Luckily my mom had some, so I could go forth with my baking experiment.

The recipe made a dozen muffins, and they rose quite nicely. The texture wasn't quite as thick and dense as I remember pumpkin bread being, but I don't think I'll ever have that again, and the result was good, so I can't complain too much.

What we ate for lunch today (Cassoulet)

Cassoulet with lots of vegetables, recipe from October 2009 Runner's World.

Very good and gluten free without any tinkering. Meat, beans, and veggies. Perfect for a cold winter-y day. It took about an hour to prepare and cook (a little long for a lunch meal, but good for a dinner with leftovers for lunch the next day), and it wasn't till just before it was done that I realized I should have made some gluten free cornbread to go with it. I have a bag of Bob's Red Mill gluten free cornbread in the cupboard, and will mix it up for lunch tomorrow.

It made a lot more than I was expecting, so we'll have some for tomorrow. I think next time I make it I'll add some brown rice or quinoa.

Food That Should Taste Good tortilla chips

I've mentioned the sweet potato tortilla chips made by Food That Should Taste Good before. I've finally found some other varieties, and thought I'd mention how much I like them.

The sweet potato chips are very good by themselves. The bag offers suggestions for toppings, but I haven't tried any of them yet.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I tried the chocolate tortilla chips. They were good- not sweet, but you could taste the cocoa. The chocolate and corn made a different, but good, combination. Definitely not your every-day tortilla chip.

The cinnamon chips were another that I wasn't real sure about, but they are very good. The bag suggests topping with hazelnut spread, so I tried some Nutella. Sooooo good! Seriously addictive.

The one variety that I've tried so far that I didn't really care for is the potato & chive. They have a rather strong flavor, which by itself wasn't too bad, but they gave me heartburn. So I won't be eating them again.

There's still lots more varieties to try, the problem is finding them at the store.

Betty Crocker gluten free mixes

A few weeks ago my sister made a pineapple upside-down cake using a Betty Crocker gluten free yellow cake mix. It was quite good- better than I was expecting.

This week I finally got around to making the Betty Crocker gluten free brownies that I bought several weeks ago. I followed the high altitude directions, and they turned out pretty good, too. A little bland, which is apparently a problem when baking with rice flour, so I think I'll add some vanilla next time. Another bonus: they're about half the cost of the other gluten free mixes out there.

Two really good books I just read

Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts

Awesome book! There are so many yummy-looking recipes. The recipes for pumpkin bread, gingerbread, oreo cookies, cream puffs, apple cider doughnuts, cinnamon bread, French bread, soft pretzels, and fresh pasta dough (I could make ravioli!) are the ones I'm really looking forward to trying.

The author has given cooking classes, and put a lot of effort into making good gluten free versions of a lot of common recipes. They sure sound good, and she gives detailed instructions on how to make them good (not crummy). I haven't tried any of them yet, but they look sooo good.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Good read, interesting, fast paced, no problems getting into it (unlike with Inkheart). Can't wait to read the second book- I'm on the hold list at the library, but it will still be awhile before it's my turn.

What I accomplished this week

Gluten free
The other day I tried a Lindt Lindor truffle just to see if I would be able to feel the effect of the gluten- yep I could. You wouldn't think there'd be that much barley malt in one little truffle, but there's enough to make my throat swell up (my reaction when I eat gluten). Definitely lends credence to those who say that cross-contamination is an issue- small crumbs do have an effect.

We ate at Chili's for my SIL's birthday last night. Before leaving the house I got online and checked their website for allergen information. They have a specific list of foods that are gluten free, so I printed that off and took it with me. I ordered the honey-bbq ribs, steamed broccoli, and black beans. Yum!

I think I've said it before, but the longer I stay away from gluten, the more my body is able to react to other things it doesn't like. In the past, everything was masked by the gluten. Now that that's out of the picture, other things are now recognizable as a problem. Like M&M's. I'm still trying to pinpoint what it is exactly, but I think it's one of the blue food colors they use in the blue and green M&M's. If I leave those ones alone, I seem to be ok. I checked the M&M's website to see if I could just order brown peanut butter M&M's (my fav), but you can only special order regular M&M's. Meh. Not worth the money.

Little Miss Sunshine
I called her my sweetie yesterday, and she responded by saying 'I not tweetie, I punkin!' Her daddy calls her 'punkin', and apparently she's decided she really likes it.

Projects
I finally sorted and restacked our 30 plus boxes of books. The boxes have started to bend, causing the stacks to tip precariously towards the door. Almost two years of being opened and shifted and stacked has not been good for them. So I went through each box, pulled out books that I didn't want to keep, and made sure each box was as full as possible in an effort to minimize box bending. I then restacked the boxes and put away the various items that had been tossed wherever convenient over the last few months. It's so much neater now, and we're no longer in danger of being squished by an avalanche of boxes of books.

I ended up with two boxes of books to sell/get rid of. I listed them on half.com today, and it went quite fast. You type in the ISBN, the condition, and any remarks about the condition, hit enter, and it brings up all the pertinent info, including a picture if they have one available. You decide a price, hit enter, and it's listed. So quick! Some of the books were old textbooks that I should have sold back to the bookstore after I was done with them, but for whatever reason, didn't. Really should have- I would have got a lot more money for some of them. Oh well.

While I was at it, I also prepped some items for listing on ebay- fall type things like a Halloween costume, boots, etc.

I also gathered up stuff for the yard sale my SIL and I are going to do (next weekend hopefully). I'll take the books that are listed for the least amount on half.com ($.75 is the lowest you can go) and see if I can get rid of them at the yard sale. I also have quite a few I couldn't list on half.com because they're too old and don't have an ISBN. It's nice to de-clutter a bit.

Yesterday I finally got my hair cut- the last time was last October. I've been letting it grow out since then, but the ends were just getting yucky, and it needed some shaping. It looks much better now.

Job Hunt
Mr M met with the investigator, so things are finally moving forward on his clearance. In the meantime, we're updating his resume and making plans for him to attend a job fair that should have a lot of companies that we would be interested in. He really needs to talk to representatives in person- it's too easy for resumes to get lost when submitted online.

More Larabars to try

I recently found a couple new flavors of Larabars at our local health food store: tropical fruit tart and peanut butter and jelly. The tropical fruit tart has a strong flavor of coconut, due to all the bits of coconut, but it also has small chunks of pineapple. Yum! The peanut butter and jelly has peanuts and chunks of cherries. The cherries and pineapple in these two flavors really make it worth going back for another one.

I just got back from checking out the Larabar website (where I got the pictures), and it says they now have mini Larabars. I'm going to have to keep my eyes out for those- LMS likes Larabars, but usually only eats about half of one.

Books and links for learning about gluten intolerance

I've shared this info with a few siblings, and I've posted some of it before, but I thought I'd bring it all together for anyone who's interested in learning more about being gluten free.

Here's the 3 most helpful books I've read so far, in order of most helpful.Healthier Without Wheat: A New Understanding of Wheat Allergies, Celiac Disease, and Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance
by Stephen Wangen
****This is the one written by a doctor with celiac disease, so he really understands the issues.
The Gluten Connection: How Gluten Sensitivity May Be Sabotaging Your Health - And What You Can Do to Take Control NOW
by Shari Lieberman & Linda Segall
****This one talked about the myriad of symptoms that can be associated with gluten intolerance.
The First Year: Celiac Disease and Living Gluten-Free: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed
by Jules E. Dowler Shepard
****This one has good recipes and good basic info.

There's lots of good websites out there, too.
For celiac/gluten intolerance info:www.celiac.org

For recipes and coping strategies:glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com recipes, and she wrote a book about her experience with celiac diseaseglutenfreemommy.com this one has lots of good recipes, as well as links to other good sites.glutenfreeda.blogspot.com this one also has good recipes
I just recently came across a few more websites that seem really good, though I've only looked through them a little bit.
glutenfreecookingschool.com I found this when I was looking for a gluten free flat bread recipe. Since I can't eat yeast products, I need a good substitute for regular bread.
glutenfreemom.com I found this one when I was looking for a gluten free mac and cheese recipe. There are boxed gluten free mac and cheese options, but the sauce always tastes off. And homemade mac and cheese is sooo good...

Here's some others I recently came across and haven't looked at much, they seem to have recipes, news, etc.
elanaspantry.com
holdthegluten.net
holdthericecakes.com
glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com
celiacchicks.com
glutenfreeforgood.com
I've been experimenting with different gluten free foods that you can find in the grocery store, some are worth the money, some not. My favorites:

For breakfast
*Vans gluten free blueberry frozen waffles (kind of expensive, but worth it)
*Yoplait yogurt
*Eggs
*Corn or Rice chex (They're even labeled gluten free now! They recently switched from barley malt syrup to rice syrup as the sweetener)
*Gluten free rice crispies (I've tried various 'alternative' gluten free cereals, and have to say they were all disgusting. It's nice to be able to find 'normal' cereals that are gluten free.)
*Cottage cheese
*Gluten free pancakes with unsweetened applesauce (there's several brands of mix, so far, they're all pretty good)

For lunch
*Leftovers from dinner the night before
*Tuna on Glutino cheese or vegetable gluten free crackers (the original and multi grain are disgusting)
*Egg salad on crackers
*Plain yogurt with frozen berries, sliced almonds, and agave nectar
*Fruits and veggies

For dinner
Most recipes can be fairly easily adapted: take out obvious sources of gluten such as pasta, bread, flour tortillas, etc. Less obvious ones to be careful of are soy sauce and canned soups. A lot of canned soups have wheat flour as a thickener, and a main ingredient of soy sauce is wheat. Luckily, there are pretty good gluten free versions of most food items. Tinkyada rice pasta is quite good, and there is some decent gluten free bread, hamburger buns, etc out there as well. I haven't found a really good flour tortilla yet, though I just found one in the freezer section that was a lot better than the only other variety I've been able to find locally. The only other one I've found locally is a plastic-y rice tortilla. I found a recipe to make my own, so I plan on making my own tortillas soon.

Snacks/desserts
Here's where you run into a lot of things that aren't worth the money. The ones I will buy are:
*Sweet Potato tortilla chips from Food That Should Taste Good (so yummy!)
*Rice Works tortilla chips
*Lara bars (apple pie are the best!)
*Most of the crackers I've tried aren't great; the Glutino cheese crackers and vegetable crackers are the best, but they're not absolutely delicious. Some of the cookies are ok, but again, not great. This isn't actually a bad thing- I'm trying to lose weight, so not having crackers and cookies to eat is just fine with me.
I can still eat chocolate (is that a good thing or a bad thing?). Ghirardelli chocolate is ok, but Lindt chocolate is not- it's sweetened with barley malt syrup, which gets snuck into a lot of foods. So I can't eat the Lindt Lindor truffles (except the white ones), but I can eat the Ghirardelli milk chocolate peanut butter squares (sooo yummy).

Fast food options
There are some options for eating at fast food restaurants, but not a lot. Cross contamination is definitely an issue to watch out for. I've checked out websites for menu items that are ok, and the best fast food options I've found so far are Wendy's and Chipotle, and for sit-down restaurants, Outback and P.F. Changs are the best so far. I've made up a list of gluten free items available at the mainstream restaurants- if anyone wants a copy, let me know.

Gluten free on vacation

I had fairly good success eating gluten free while traveling for 2 1/2 weeks. I prepared ahead of time and checked out websites of restaurants, and made a list of edible items-it's limited, but there is fast food I can still eat.

Some examples of fast food that I ate:Taco Bell: taco salad (minus the tortilla)- kinda gross, but I'm not a fan of taco salads to begin with (give me a chalupa any day!).

Wendy's: mandarin chicken salad, no noodles or sesame dressing (I used a little ranch)- quite good- I'm a sucker for mandarin oranges.

Wendy's: baked potato and chili- also pretty good. It was way too hot to be eating chili, but it tasted pretty good. The baked potato with sour cream and chives and broccoli (if you can find broccoli, it's not available in all markets) is good, but the bacon and cheese potato (also not available in all markets) is kinda gross- the bacon and cheese sauce both tasted kinda funny. I had a sour cream and chives potato and chili while everyone else ate Pizza Hut pizza, and didn't feel deprived.

McDonalds: fruit and yogurt parfait (no granola), apple dippers, and side salad- were ok, but I would have preferred some protein. Those 3 items are pretty much the only gluten free items, other than ice cream, at McDonalds. Very sad.

Burger King: had a tender grill chicken sandwich minus the bun- it was ok, but it was just the chicken, some lettuce, and a tomato, no condiments. It came with a bun, so I had to go back and tell them I couldn't eat it because of the wheat. One of the girls working there said it was cornmeal dusted, there was no wheat. Umm, I'm pretty sure it's made of wheat. Maybe she was thinking of sesame seeds? They fixed it without any further problems, though.

Carl's Jr.: low carb burger and fries- pretty good. I ordered the criss cut fries because I thought they were ok, but when they arrived, I realized there was some coating on them. I ate them anyway, but I shouldn't have. The natural cut fries are ok, though. The low carb burger is very messy.

Food while camping:
I brought gluten free pancake mix and mixed up a few pancakes for myself every morning and cooked them in my own pan (avoiding contamination). I also brought gluten free noodles for spaghetti night and gluten free crackers to eat with meat and cheese or tuna for lunch.

I've noticed I have a lot fewer blood sugar problems since going gluten free. I can eat less protein without feeling crappy, which I haven't been able to do for years. This is a good thing, since I didn't eat as well as I should have on the trip, but I still felt pretty decent.

Despite not eating as well as I should (too many Ghiradelli chocolate peanut butter squares (yum!) while traveling and too many gluten free s'mores (carefully tear a marshmallow in half, place a square of chocolate in the marshmallow, close, carefully skewer, and verrry carefully toast- yummy!), I still managed to lose another 3 pounds. Now that vacation time is over, I need to buckle down and eat more fruits and veggies and exercise more regularly so I can lose more weight more quickly.

A big lump in my throat

The longer I avoid gluten, the easier it is to recognize reactions to stuff I shouldn't be eating. My body is finally able to react to smaller amounts of gluten, now that large amounts (toast, flour tortillas, etc) aren't overwhelming my system. Now when I eat small amounts of gluten, my throat swells up a bit. Not enough to cut off my air supply or anything, but enough to make things uncomfortable and make me feel like I have a massive lump in my throat.

While this reaction is uncomfortable, it does help me pinpoint when I eat something I shouldn't. When I started reading about gluten intolerance, the people all mentioned that when they ate gluten they'd have to spend several hours in the bathroom. I figured since I never had intestinal symptoms, I wouldn't have a way of telling when I ate something containing gluten. Good to know that's not the case...

There's still something that's tripping me up, but I'm not sure what it is. I can't pinpoint it to one or two foods. I keep going back to those elusive 'natural flavors' or cross-contamination. Hard to tell which it is. Definitely a steep learning curve here.

Book review and pieces coming together

I just finished reading the book 'Healthier without Wheat' by Dr. Stephen Wangen. It was informative and got me thinking about the symptoms and experiences I've had throughout my life. He does talk about celiac disease, but makes the point that not everyone with a gluten intolerance has celiac disease. On the other hand, celiac disease is a type of gluten intolerance.

Some of the symptoms he mentions:
*Short stature due to malabsorption of nutrients (maybe that's why I'm so much shorter than all my siblings)
*Mental fogginess (have had this for years)
*Infertility (check)
*Miscarriage (double check)
*Gas, bloating, etc (check)
*Fatigue (for a period of time it was so bad I couldn't do much of anything)
*Weight gain/inability to lose weight (check)
*Abdominal pain and nausea (had this off and on for years, currently being treated with Nexium, but we're just treating the symptoms, not the cause)

There's others as well, a lot of which I've experienced in one way or another, these are just the major ones that caught my attention.

With gluten intolerance, the body doesn't absorb nutrients properly and/or causes immune reactions (inflammations of the various body systems), both of which end up causing systemic problems. One thing gets damaged, which stresses other parts of the body, which causes more problems, and it just keeps going and going, getting worse and worse.

It's all about balance
Because the gut is out of whack, bacteria, parasites and yeast can all proliferate and get out of balance. When I saw that he mentioned yeast, I was so happy! So many doctors just don't believe that yeast can cause systemic problems, so anytime I find one who does it's almost a cause for celebration. A lot of the symptoms of yeast overgrowth parallel those of gluten intolerance, which causes further confusion. I've known for years that I have yeast problems, but have been unsuccessful in treating it on a long term basis. I can do it for short periods, but not for very long.

I need to read the other book by this author- it sounded like he talked more about bacteria, yeast and parasite overgrowths in his other book.

My symptoms
In any case, I feel validated about my yeast problems. I've been thinking about it all, and I think I may have come up with a timeline for it all.

*As a child, I didn't have intestinal problems or anything, though I did have ear problems and sinus problems and I am a good 4 or 5 inches shorter than my next shortest sibling. Not sure if I got the short end of the genetic stick, or if it's due to nutrition issues caused by gluten intolerance.

* 10 years ago, on my mission, I had two bouts of food poisoning fairly close together, and I think that's what compromised my system. The gluten intolerance became more active and started causing debilitating symptoms (horrible fatigue, muscle aches, gas and bloating, mental fogginess, etc).

*After my mission my body was able to rest, and, I think, gradually was able to cope with everything better. The fatigue became bearable, the muscle aches went away, the gas lessened, etc. The mental fogginess has always followed me, unfortunately (it's why I barely passed my intro to organic chem class my last semester of college- I had a really hard time understanding an already difficult subject because my brain was so fuzzy).

The pieces come together
I got used to dealing with the symptoms and got on with life. I had problems getting pregnant, and had my first miscarriage 5 years ago. A year later, I was on the Atkins diet to lose weight (finally managed to lose 10 pounds), and managed to get pregnant with our daughter. Two years ago I had another miscarriage. In thinking about it, I think the reason I was able to stay pregnant with our daughter was because I'd been doing Atkins, which means I wasn't eating any grains, gluten-containing or otherwise.

Another thing I read that stuck out was that gluten itself is addicting. When I thought about it, this too made sense. I've always considered myself a 'carb addict', but it was usually cookies, crackers, and bread that I wanted to eat (and chocolate, but we won't get into that...), not potato chips or corn chips. Except Doritos- I love Doritos. I was eating some this weekend, and after the 3rd handful stopped to read the ingredients list. There's wheat in Doritos. Now I know why I have such a hard time eating just a couple of them.

Lessening of cravings
As I've made an effort to stay away from gluten, my cravings for carbs have lessened, and so have my cravings for chocolate. In the past, I could eat a bag of Ghiradelli peanut butter chocolate squares (super yummy!) in one afternoon. Now, if I eat 2 Hershey's Kisses (inferior chocolate, I know), I'm good. I don't have that urge to keep eating more and more. My brother's birthday was Sunday, so I had a piece of German chocolate cake. It was good in the moment, but not in the long run. I felt blah on Monday, and noticed more cravings to eat food (even though I wasn't really hungry).

Now that we're home from Disneyland (where I did eat some gluten-containing food), I've gone back to eating gluten free, and have also eliminated yeast, so no bread. It's so much easier this time- in the past when I tried to eliminate yeast and sugar it was very hard. I still need to lower my sugar intake, but it's going so much better. LMS's annual check up is in a week and a half and I'm going to have them do a full panel to test for food allergies. I'd like to know for sure if she has any problems we need to be aware of. If not, I don't need to worry so much about what she is/isn't eating. If she does, then we'll have to adjust our diet accordingly. She's had problems with milk in the past. Hopefully she doesn't actually have an allergy to it. It will be difficult to eliminate dairy- we do love our cheese and yogurt.

I didn't take the time and effort to plan GF meals for our Disney trip, but I will have to plan out our meals for our family reunion in July. We'll probably be gone for at least a week and a half: traveling, staying with family, and camping. When it comes to eating bread or jeopardizing a possible pregnancy, I'll skip the bread. Put in that context, it's a lot easier to resist the foods I shouldn't be eating. And it's nice not to have the cravings that have plagued me for years.

Gluten-free progress report

I've been eating gluten-free for about two and a half weeks now, with some purposeful slip ups on the weekends. I don't notice a huge difference during the week, but I have noticed that on Mondays I'm feeling more blah and tired than the rest of the week. Since I don't have celiac disease, I don't have a definite reaction telling me I ate something I shouldn't have.

I'm definitely eating wheat-free, and I think for the most part I'm managing gluten-free as well. There have been a couple things I haven't been completely sure about, but I'm learning more about which ingredients are gluten-free and which aren't. It's a process. So far I've been pretty happy with the gluten-free products I've used. The pastas taste basically the same to me, and I found some really good rice bread made by a local bakery. I wasn't too impressed with the rice tortillas we tried, but I've found quite a few gf snacks that taste pretty good. So I don't feel deprived, except on Thursdays, when hubby wants to go to Pizza Hut with his family. We did find a good gf pizza crust mix, but it's not the same as Pizza Hut. Oh well.

I'm considering going yeast free when we get back from our trip. It would mean no bread or pizza dough and no aged cheeses. This wouldn't be too bad. I think I could still eat the really yummy gf frozen waffles I found (I need to make a list of the brands I like), but I need to check on that. Technically I think I'm not supposed to eat very much sugar either. I need to check on that as well. I think I'm closer to a yeast-free diet than I have in the past, so hopefully it'll be a lot more doable this time around. And I'm really hoping it will help me finally lose weight.

Progress going gluten-free

Yesterday we went shopping for gluten-free food items. I still need to figure out some menus, so we just bought some basic stuff, and we'll have to do some more shopping in a day or two once I've got a menu figured out. I did find out that just because something is wheat-free, doesn't mean it's gluten-free, so one more thing to be careful of.

We also shopped for stuff for Little Miss Sunshine's birthday party and Hubby's graduation party. We're holding them both this Saturday. I'm making cakes for both of them, and we won't be gluten-free that day. I'm curious to see if I can tell a difference. Last year I made a pinata for LMS' bday, but I bought one this year. I was going to make it, but am just feeling too stressed and crummy. I'm taking metformin again, and while it has the side effect of regulating insulin and helping with weight loss, it also makes me very nauseous, which in turn makes me really tired. Not great overall, but I really need to lose weight and nothing else has worked, so I'm willing to put up with it.

We took advantage of the beautiful weather today and went for a 3 mile run/walk. I haven't gone running since getting my orthotics (just walking), and I felt good. No problems while running, other than being out of shape. Hopefully there won't be any pain tomorrow.

PCOS and a Gluten Free diet

Today I had an appointment for an ultrasound at the OB/GYN office. I've had this done about 5 years ago, but it didn't show much. This time around it showed that my ovaries do indeed have cysts. So that solidifies the PCOS diagnosis from five years ago. I had enough of the other symptoms usually associated with PCOS that my fertility specialist felt comfortable giving the diagnosis. Below is a picture (not mine, I didn't get copies of my ovaries) of an ovary with cysts (the dark spots). Lovely, huh?

Anyway, the tech doing the ultrasound mentioned that a girl with similar issues had been in yesterday: weight gain, inability to lose weight, infertility, irregular periods, etc. She had first come two years ago, and when she came back yesterday, she had lost a lot of weight. Turns out she went gluten free and yeast free, and combined with the meds (which I will also be taking), she was able to lose the weight and keep it off.
In researching PCOS some more, more and more people are seeing a connection between their PCOS and gluten issues. When they eliminated gluten, they were able to alleviate a lot of their other symptoms. I've requested a bunch of books from the library and will be reading up on gluten free eating. Once I've got that down, I may go yeast free also. I don't think it will be too difficult to add that on.

At first glance, a gluten free diet seems rather restrictive (no wheat, rye, or barley. The grains aren't too hard, it's all the packaged foods that have some form of gluten in them- as a thickener, modified food starch, in soy sauce, and so many other things- that you have to watch for), but in checking out other people's blogs, it's not all doom and gloom. The more fresh, unprocessed foods you eat, the lower the chance of accidentally eating gluten. And we're supposed to be eating fresh and unprocessed food anyway...
I've found several sites with yummy-looking recipes (and they don't look too time consuming, either), so I need to work on changing my thought processes and change how I shop and how I cook. It will take effort, but it will be worth it. I'm supposed to be eating yeast free anyway, so hopefully this will make it easier to get there. I am definitely a sugar and carb addict, which has always put a wrench in the works before. Others have said that cravings disappeared once they went gluten and yeast free. Hopefully that proves the same for me. It will be a journey.