Things have been good....

mostly.
Man, I can't believe I haven't written anything for 2 weeks! Things have been going really well. My stomach is feeling better, I'm not as tired and I have actually felt not so grumpy- aka, "happy". :)

Last Saturday night, I must have gotten glutened. I could actually feel my personality shift, I felt exhausted and my stomach hurt just a little. It was bizare.

But today, I went to Taco Bueno. I am now changing it's name to Taco No-No. Six weeks ago, I had looked them up and as long as I stayed away from flour tortillas, it seemed I was fine. So I had their chips with meat, lettuce, tomato and cheese on them. I start feeling bad on the way home and so I get online right away. (This is why I should consistently check things) I find new blogs saying their meat's seasoning has wheat in it and their chips are fried alongside their flour tortillas. GREAT!!

So I now say R.I.P. Taco No-No. You now join the likes of Subway, Cane's, Sonic, Sam's, Long John Silvers, Panera Bread and KFC. :(

It's been a month

One month down, the rest of my life to go! :)

I'm all ready doing better with the gluten-free diet. It is getting easier. I was asked at my meeting on Tuesday how I'm doing since I'm only a month in. They were all pretty surprised that I'm doing as well as I am. They all talked about how it's the hardest thing they've all ever had to do. I agree, but I think I just accepted it a little quicker than they all did.

At home, it's fairly easy, as long as I plan. There's no more, "hey Russ, will you pick up pizza on the way home?". I HAVE to know what I'm fixing every day. Lunch is hard. It can get monotonous. But by far, the hardest is eating out. There are lots of places I will never be able to eat at again- Cane's being one of them. Oh how I loved Canes. :(

But even at the movies last night. We got balcony tickets and I hadn't eaten dinner yet, so I thought I might get something there. Nope. Unless I wanted a salad. No thanks. I'll stick with the popcorn. This is just something I'll have to deal with. It's ok. It's good for me. Too bad I found all of the gluten-free goodies (brownies, cookies, etc.) or I probably would have lost at least 5 pounds by now!! grrr. I only have myself to blame.

Anyway, this next month, I'm hoping to really start feeling better. My stomach definitely feels better, but I'm ready for all of the other junk to get better. Headaches, fatigue, irritability, and so on. That can all just go away!!

Support Group

I went to my first Celiac Support Group meeting tonight. It was really great. I didn't have any idea what to expect, so I was wide open to any information anyone could give me.

A dietitian spoke and gave us handouts. People with celiac disease really have to worry about getting the right nutrients and vitamins. She focused on that a lot. It was really good information.

I got some free goodies, and the regulars brought gluten free goodies. Now that was fun. I could eat ANYTHING on the table!! I didn't have to worry about only getting the fruits or nuts or veggies. ANYTHING!! So I had a snickerdoodle, brownie, lemon bar (ok, TWO lemon bars- hey they were tiny!), chocolate chip cookie, and peach cobbler. Yes, I ate all of that. I didn't have time to eat any dinner before I went, so I didn't feel too bad about the calories. I think I was just so excited to be able to eat it all that I felt like I had to try it all. I loved that!

They have a meeting every other month. I would really like to go back. It was nice being in a room where everyone understands. There was a couple there that the husband has CD, but the wife understands EVERYTHING. She was great. There was a mother/daughter there. The daughter (14 years old) has CD. The mom said their house went gluten free. She loved to bake, so she just learned to bake GF and now has a catering business- Gluten Free Goodies by Cindy. Cool.

A woman who has had CD for 7 years now (didn't take it seriously the first 2, so she says she's been GF for 5 of those years) exchanged phone numbers and emails with me. She told me I could call her any time or email her any questions. So Pam- now I won't be bugging you as much. :)

Anyway, it was great. I highly recommend a support group for anything that may be going on in your life.

I know God has a plan for me, I don't know what it is yet, but I pray He can use me for His glory. CD and all. :)

One week

One week- that's how long I went without having stomach pain. I can't remember the last time that happened. It has surely been years. I feel as though I am slowly feeling better. My stomach does feel flatter. I don't feel nearly as bloated as I usually do. I haven't lost a single pound, but that's all my fault. I have found way too many gluten free brownies, cookies and cakes! And they are GOOD! So now that I know they are out there and they taste good, I can get off this path and on to the healthier one. :)

We went to On The Border last night. I was completely impressed with their manager, Jeff. I asked for a gluten free menu when we walked in and he went to the back to get it. He told me his aunt just found out she had celiac 6 months ago, so he knew all about it. When I asked him about their chips and corn tortillas and how they cook them (in the same oil as everything else?) he actually called his aunt. He asked her what he should recommend to me to be sure I don't get sick. He even told me once I decided what I wanted, he would go back and make it himself so he didn't have to explain everything to the chef. It was good (a little spicy)! It was really hard to not eat the chips, but that's just part of my life now. It's a good thing. Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend On the Border here in Norman- they are GREAT!

Gluten free YUCK

Yuck is how I describe the cookies I made last night. Ew, pleck, gross, blewie.

In the first week after finding out I had Celiac disease, I was on a hunt for good chocolate chip cookies. I can't live without chocolate chip cookies, so if there weren't any good ones out there, I was just going to have to give up on living. ;)

I found some really good ones in a brand called Nameste. You mixed them with oil and an egg. But I haven't been able to find them since.
So I thought I would try a different brand of the cookie mix. Bob's Red Mill has a LOT of gluten free products out there. The mix looked ok, so what the heck, let's try it.

NEVER again! My girls always want the beaters when I make cookies. So I gave the beaters to them and within about 10 seconds, they started literally gagging and running for the trash can. The dough tastes like metal. Really- it has a weird metallic taste to it. The cookies aren't nearly as bad. But there is still a strange aftertaste to it.

So why in the world have I eaten 6 cookies since I made them? I have nothing else to eat! I made a few more after lunch today, just hoping that they would taste better today- NOPE. Worse actually.

But on a high note, I made pasta last night with vegetable spiral noodles. I cooked up some ground turkey and put spaghetti sauce all over. They were awesome!! Made with brown rice- Russ said he would not have known the difference if I hadn't have told him.

So trial and error it is. But it is an adventure, that's for sure!

The Forbidden List

People keep asking me what I can't eat. So I found this list. This is actually a small list because it doesn't include all ingredients. But I thought I would share so everyone has an idea.

Abyssinian Hard (Wheat Triticum duran)
Avena (wild oat)
Barley (Hordeum Vulgare)
Barley malt, barley extract
Beer, ale, porter, stout, other fermented beverages
blue cheese
bran
bread flour
broth
bulgur (bulgur wheat, bulgur nuts)
bouillon
cereal (cereal extract, cereal binding)
cookie crumbs
cookie dough pieces
cracker meal
crisped rice
croutons
couscous
dinkle
durum
einkorn, wild einkorn
emmer, wild emmer
edible starch (modified food starch)
farina
farro
filler
fu
flour (including but not limited to :all-purpose, barley, bleached, bread, brown, durum, enriched, gluten, graham, granary, high protein, high gluten, oat, wheat, white)
germ
gluten, glutenin
graham flour
hordeum, horderum vulgare
hydrolyzed oat starch, hydrolyzed wheat gluten, hydrolyzed wheat protein kamut
malt, malt beverages, malt extract, malted milk, malt flavoring, malt syrup, malt vinegar
matzo (Matzah)
MIR (wheat, rye)
miso (may contain barley)
mustard powder
oats, oat bran, oat fiber, oat gum, oat syrup (oats are generally safe, but because they may be in the same plant as wheat, or the same combine is used for the wheat and for the oats, they are often contaminated. So I have to look for "pure uncontaminated" oats.)
oriental wheat
orzo pasta
pearl barley
persian wheat
rice malt, rice syrup, brown rice syrup
rye
soy sauce
seitan
semolina
spelt
sprouted wheat
tabbuleah
teriyaki sauce
triticale
udon
vital gluten
wheat, wheat berry, wheat bran, wheat germ, wheat germ oil, wheat grass, wheat gluten, wheat starch, whole wheat berries.

The following items may or may not contain gluten depending on where and how they are made, and it is sometimes necessary to check with the manufacturer to find out:
artificial color
baking powder
caramel color
caramel flavoring
clarifying agents
dextrins
dextrimaltose
dry roasted nuts
emulsifiers
enzymes
flavoring
food starch
modified food starch
gravy cubes
ground spices
hydrolyzed plant protein
maltose
natural flavors
non-dairy creamer
seasonings
soy sauce
stabilizers
stock cubes
vegetable broth
So next time you look at ingredients on a package, try to remember these. :)

Do I HAVE to eat out?

I never thought I would NOT want to eat out. But that's how I feel right now. I have looked up all of the restaurants in town that have gluten free menus. Ok, (so I'm learning) Big Deal! They say their food is gluten free- great! But how are they really preparing it? Are they cooking the meat on a grill that you just cooked a steak on with lots of marinade? Did they just flip my hamburger with the same spatula they used on the buns they just put on the grill? Did they take my salad back that had croutons on it and just pick out the croutons instead of bringing me a fresh salad?

Since I now have gotten sick twice after eating out, I am learning not to trust these "gluten-free" menu restaurants. It's very disappointing.

But will I stop going out to eat? No. Will I not go as much? Yes.

Russ wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant last night, but I opted for fixing Mexican at home instead. It's much safer. I didn't get sick last night, so I guess it was all gluten free! :)

And for anyone who is curious: I have read that every person's body reacts in different timing to gluten. Some people feel it almost immediately. Other people may not notice for a day or two. For me and my lactose intolerance, I noticed within 30 minutes- 1 hour. And for the 3 times I've gotten sick since I went gluten-free, it's been on that exact schedule- 30 minutes to an hour after I ate. My body is also trying to get adjusted to all of this. I'm trying to get the gluten out of my system AND trying to get adjusted to no more coming in. So when it does accidentally come in- OW! Very painful. But I keep on going!