Hello!
So I am moving to Vancouver this Friday and let me tell you how excited I am to eat a snack and sandwich and a treat at Panne Rizo!! I am also extremely nervous to make the big move from my little town of Fredericton to the big city, but I'm going to pursue my master's at UBC so I figure it will all be worth it! Oh and did I mention the sushi :)
That being said, I will now be posting more "west" related stories and information, but fear not, I will try my best to maintain up to date with the current happenings on the east coast!
This post is going to be dedicated to the great places and people in my hometown as well as a little story on how to help your friends and family deal with celiac disease. Because lets be honest, celiac disease does not only affect you but everyone that surrounds you as well. Your spouse or partner will have to alter their lifestyle, your kids will have to be more careful and you will become a little walking spokesperson for celiac disease ( trust me, I have my speech nailed down when people say" wow, that sucks, how do you live/eat?)
Ok, so lets first start with a big thank you to Bob and Mary's gluten free baking at the Fredericton Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings! I'm not sure what I would do without their yummy muffins and my coffee on Saturdays! I will miss this little ritual to start my weekends. I am also very thankful to the farmers who sell great meats and sausages that are gluten free!! Yay for no MSG, preservatives and "filler" added to local, yummy food!
I am also going to thank the Blue Door because they have gone out of their way to label their menu with GF items! I also need to give Betty Lee a huge shout out because she is amazing!!!! Her Chinese food is not only gluten free, but I remember the first time I ate it, and was sure that it was full of gluten because it tasted so good! Betty Lee knows how to make great GF Chinese food!!! Finally, I thank all of the helpful servers who are so ready and willing to help me find a meal on their sometimes gluten filled menus! Who would have thought that a salad at the Snooty Fox would be good?!?!!
Ok now for the tips and tricks to help your loved ones deal with everything that comes with Celiac! Mood swings, constant discomfort and pain, the feeling that your life will never be the same again.... these are some heavy issues that you and your family will have to tackle. Now I could probably use a few postings on how to deal with these issues, but I will do my best to sum it all up. PATIENCE!! Honestly, trying to be patient is the key to making your disease tolerable in the first stages of recover (when your body is making the transition from eating gluten, to healing itself without gluten in your system). I was the worst at this stage because I would still wake up sick everyday and felt like I couldn't eat anything, not even my stale GF toast that I hated.... well, this went away after I received some naturopathic treatments and began to feel better.
The best thing to do when diagnosed with celiac disease is to sit down with your family, and read about the disease together. Simplify it a little for your children of course, but it is very important that kids understand how severe this disease really is. The main areas of concern are: when I'm not feeling well, its best to leave me alone! and food cross-contamination. The first issue, can be treated with rest and peppermint tea. I promise you that peppermint tea will be a soothing friend when your stomach feels like its the size of a balloon!
Secondly, the issue of cross-contamination will have its own blog time very soon, but simply put, it is VERY important that friends and family understand the problem with crumbs, flour and other gluten filled substances that can get into things such as jam,peanut butter, butter, spreads, etc. We, as celiacs, cannot eat even the smallest trace of gluten without making ourselves sick and therefore must make it clear to the people around us how careful we must be!
It is sometimes difficult to keep your head up when this disease seems to be making you misreable, but I promise that this blog will prove to you that living a gluten free life is easy, tolerable and even fun at times!!!! We definitely get a lot more satisfaction out of finding a GF chocolate brownie than our counterparts who can eat gluten!
Lastly, it might be fun to get the whole family in on making gluten free treats or snacks! I will leave you with a quick, easy and healthy "fish and chips" recipe:
you will need:
* Mesa sunrise flakes (cereal found at most grocery stores)
*Mixed spices of your choice, I usually use GF spice mix or just salt and pepper and chili flakes
*3-4 eggs or just egg whites, beaten
* dash of milk
*White fish, such as haddock
1. put cereal and spices in a bag and beat with a rolling pin to create crumbs.... this is great on a stressful day!
2. Rinse fish under water, dip in egg mixture and then in crumb mixture. I find it easiest to put the crumbs in a plate and roll the fish.
3. Bake in the oven at 350 for approx. 10-12 minutes or until fish flakes. Enjoy with oven roasted potatoes (cute potatoes, drizzle with oil, chopped garlic and herbs, bake for 45 minutes)
Hope you enjoy!!! Keep checking in for my first post from the west coast!
Ally :)
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
More Hidden Gluten and Fun facts about tax
Hello fellow gluten free friends!
I want to make a quick note today on hidden gluten.... yes, gluten can hide in anything from shampoo to miracle whip.
I will make this short and sweet and put the offer/challenge out to others who find hidden gluten in their products to list it here as a comment.
A few things that are important to look for are hair products, make-up and toothpaste, because all of these go directly on your skin and close to your mouth. It is also very very very (can't stress this enough), important for people who have a skin reaction to gluten : dermatitis herpetiformis. This skin disease can feel itchy, look red and look,feel, seem like an allergic reaction.
I recently noticed that some products from Aveda have wheat protein listed on their ingredients, as well as the Aveeno products, which, almost all, contain a small amount of oats (most likely not the organic GF ones). It would be easy for you if I listed all the names of products that contain gluten, but that list my friends, would be much too long for one wall post. I suggest instead, that you make sure to read all labels before buying your new shampoo or gel, etc.
The reason that hair, body, and face products can cause harm is because of accidental indigestion. In reality, a product containing gluten has had no evidence of making a Celiac person sick, but I can tell you from experience that, that is not always the case.
I used some curl cream the other day with wheat protein, and sure enough I felt a little under the weather for the next few hours. Now usually my reactions happen between 1-3 hours after contamination and I get sick to the point of passing out/having to take gravol to stop from throwing up (I know I'm not painting you a pretty picture right now). Followed by my being sick for a day or two afterwards..... This did not happen when I used the hair product, I simply felt a little ill and had to lie down. Needless to say, if you can, stay away from products containing gluten.
A big fear with face or lip products, is that the gluten will get into your mouth, get absorbed and then make you sick...... now ask yourself, where those pretty pink lips really worth the hours of pain? I think not!
Now I'm sure this all seems a little much, which is why I have provided you with a link to a website that sells GF products, yay!! Not only are Green Beaver products earth friendly, but they are also made in Canada: http://www.greenbeaver.com/
There are many other companies out there, but I have found Green Beaver to be everything I need!
Secondly, hidden glutens in medication! This one can be tricky because not all medications will indicate what allergens are contained in their products. An easy way to bypass this problem is to talk to your local pharmacist. They usually have a book or some resource to find out the answer for you. This is very important, because some brands can coat their medicine with gluten containing ingredients... I have no idea what they would think this was a good idea!!!
Lastly, as promised above, I had to let you all know that you can claim celiac disease/buying gluten free items on your taxes. So make sure to check that out!! If your going to spend up to 5x more money than your neighbour on food, you might as well get something back for it right!!!
Hope that helps. Happy Gluten Free shopping.
Cheers,
Ally :)
"Our greatest fear is not in our lack of experience or knowledge, but in our hidden potential"
I want to make a quick note today on hidden gluten.... yes, gluten can hide in anything from shampoo to miracle whip.
I will make this short and sweet and put the offer/challenge out to others who find hidden gluten in their products to list it here as a comment.
A few things that are important to look for are hair products, make-up and toothpaste, because all of these go directly on your skin and close to your mouth. It is also very very very (can't stress this enough), important for people who have a skin reaction to gluten : dermatitis herpetiformis. This skin disease can feel itchy, look red and look,feel, seem like an allergic reaction.
I recently noticed that some products from Aveda have wheat protein listed on their ingredients, as well as the Aveeno products, which, almost all, contain a small amount of oats (most likely not the organic GF ones). It would be easy for you if I listed all the names of products that contain gluten, but that list my friends, would be much too long for one wall post. I suggest instead, that you make sure to read all labels before buying your new shampoo or gel, etc.
The reason that hair, body, and face products can cause harm is because of accidental indigestion. In reality, a product containing gluten has had no evidence of making a Celiac person sick, but I can tell you from experience that, that is not always the case.
I used some curl cream the other day with wheat protein, and sure enough I felt a little under the weather for the next few hours. Now usually my reactions happen between 1-3 hours after contamination and I get sick to the point of passing out/having to take gravol to stop from throwing up (I know I'm not painting you a pretty picture right now). Followed by my being sick for a day or two afterwards..... This did not happen when I used the hair product, I simply felt a little ill and had to lie down. Needless to say, if you can, stay away from products containing gluten.
A big fear with face or lip products, is that the gluten will get into your mouth, get absorbed and then make you sick...... now ask yourself, where those pretty pink lips really worth the hours of pain? I think not!
Now I'm sure this all seems a little much, which is why I have provided you with a link to a website that sells GF products, yay!! Not only are Green Beaver products earth friendly, but they are also made in Canada: http://www.greenbeaver.com/
There are many other companies out there, but I have found Green Beaver to be everything I need!
Secondly, hidden glutens in medication! This one can be tricky because not all medications will indicate what allergens are contained in their products. An easy way to bypass this problem is to talk to your local pharmacist. They usually have a book or some resource to find out the answer for you. This is very important, because some brands can coat their medicine with gluten containing ingredients... I have no idea what they would think this was a good idea!!!
Lastly, as promised above, I had to let you all know that you can claim celiac disease/buying gluten free items on your taxes. So make sure to check that out!! If your going to spend up to 5x more money than your neighbour on food, you might as well get something back for it right!!!
Hope that helps. Happy Gluten Free shopping.
Cheers,
Ally :)
"Our greatest fear is not in our lack of experience or knowledge, but in our hidden potential"
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