FYI. If you live near a “Sprouts” grocery store, they are having a month dedicated to gluten free awareness month. A lot of their products are on sale. You might google and see if there is a shop near you.

Cheryl

My daughter and I just recently went in for our allergy check up. I asked my doctor if they did testing for wheat. I was hoping that if I could get the testing done there, that it would be covered by insurance. He almost immediately started to get defensive. Wish I had never opened my mouth. He told me he had already tested me for wheat. ( everyone receives a sheet with everything they are allergic to, however on the sheet it never mentioned wheat- which would have not really mattered if they did because it was skin testing). The test I was interested in was a stool sample , but I was never able to even get more than a nod or a one word response in after that. He asked me why do I want to know about the wheat, and I went on to say I had been seeing a Naturopath and after hearing my history he felt that I was gluten intolerant. You should have seen his face. I will to the best of my ability say what he said. Doc-” What is a (bungled word for Naturopath) and what kind of degree do they have, how many years of schooling do they have?”. I did my best to explain what a Natuopath was, I wasn’t quite sure of how many years they go to school. But I do know they have extensive education in nutrition. He was rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Then the lecture began. He told me that we are only on the infant stages of nutrition so basically any information I got was subject to change. Which I do believe that we are in the infant stages but we do have to start somewhere, and that doesn’t mean that if we truly are in the stages of not understanding of nutrition that I should just continue to suffer in the state I was. Ironically he said he believed that eventually he thinks they will be able to link the majority of diseases to nutrition. That was the most positive part of the conversation. He asked my why I thought I had a problem with gluten. I told him years ago I had been diagnosed with IBS. I felt as if it were an interrogation at this point. Shooting of questions. ” Who gave the diagnosis, when did you get it, what were your symptoms, what were the credentials of the doctor, what was his name, do you know what IBS is, did he put you on medication and what kind. I gave him all the information. He was then on a mission. In fact I knew he was making other patients wait because as he was running out of the room to get his prescription pad , a nurse caught him in the hallway to remind him about his other patients. I think he was on a mission to prove me wrong. He was very passionate. Maybe it was just that he was concerned that I was going astray. Anyway he came back with a prescription pad and a magazine and started writing a prescription. He was talking so fast he never let me say that I don’t want a prescription , ever since I am off the gluten products that my condition has improved.  Then came the dietary lecture. Did your doctor give you any information on dietary restrictions for IBS? I told him no, my doctor had basically told me that I knew that foods to avoid and wrote a prescription. I could tell that bothered him somewhat. So he went on to tell me to avoid greasy foods, caffeine and dairy products. He gave me a lecture on what IBS was and then once again ran out of the room and got his medical book for me to read on what Celiac Disease was, he left me in the room to read this passage. Which was actually quite small. He came back and asked me if these are my symptoms and I said they were, but since I have been off wheat that I do not have the symptoms. This was the first time he had listened long enough to hear me say I was better being off of gluten products. He said ” oh well, then don’t take the prescription then”, my response was I wasn’t planning to. Awkward!!!! Every time he left the room my daughter would say, great mommy, you really did it now. This is the second time I have been in a medical physicians office and been lectured about doing anything outside of the “medical community:. One thing that I find so interesting is that when I have tried to get help outside of the traditional medical community, they are so threatened, but if you talk to the Naturopath or Chiropractor, they are not threatened. I wish that the medical community could see some value in what other health practitioners do. It would be great if they could work together. I believe there is extreme value in both realms. As much of a pain as it was to have to listen to him carry on, it is always important to let your doctor know what you are doing, and you never know , you might plant a seed. When they see you doing well, they might think about it the next time they run across another patient with your symptoms, maybe it will get them to do a little more research.

Cheryl

We went to a church picnic last night. I took at least one thing I could have. Knowing there would be a huge amount of things to choose from, I was feeling pretty confident. They had barbecue meat. Which was in a sauce. Since there was no one to ask what was in the sauce, I thought I would take a risk. I also ate cole slaw, potato salad, a spinach salad and fruit. Probably the only really safe thing was the fruit. Some of the other things probably had a lot of soy and the barbecue sauce may have had wheat in it. So needless to say I am paying for it today. I should have not been so brave. I probably should have not had the meat and took something with me as far as that goes. It is difficult when you go to something like that because not only does everything look amazing, and there is no way of asking what kind of dressing or sauces are on something. The only dessert I could safely have was fruit. Usually I am smarter and will take something, but I was under the impression the meat was going to be smoked or grilled. And I should have remembered from Christmas that too many heavy foods, that may not have wheat but soy in them, treat me the same way. Not thinking got me in trouble, or maybe thinking the wrong thing got me in trouble. Although there were many options (safe for others), very few safe options for me. Next time I am going prepared with some of my favorite things that are safe in a small cooler. Then if I am pleasantly surprised by overwhelming options that are safe for me, I will just save my meal for the next day. Still learning.

cheryl

I have a good suggestion for something easy and tasty. I start with bacon that is a good quality. It is minimally processed. Without preservatives and hormones. Cook your bacon and blot. Slice an avocado. Toast one slice of tapioca bread . And have one of your favorite flavors of cheese ready. I place the bacon on my bread, then avocado, then top with cheese. Back to the toaster oven to briefly melt the cheese . Very good. You could even use turkey bacon. I try to use cheese that is not processed and doesn’t have all the preservatives in it so that chemicals don’t bother my stomach. Also to much grease will bother me. But this seems to do well for me.

Cheryl

I just tried a new cereal called Nutty Rice by Perky’s. I really like it. It has a very mild flavor. No strange after taste. But what I really like about it, is that it is extremely crunchy. It is in the shape of really hard little balls. I don’t know if everyone would like it because it is a very mild flavor but I really enjoyed it. On the back of the box, it has a recipe for making a pie using the cereal as a crust. I am going to definitely try this.

Does anyone have a recipe for crackers that they could share with me? I tried one recipe awhile back and the dogs didn’t even want it. I think that is one of the things I miss the most. I have one cracker brand I can buy. By Blue Diamand. But it would be great to have a basic recipe for crackers.

Cheryl

I have a new favorite snack. It is Ener G pretzels. I don’t think if you told someone, that they would be able to tell that they are wheat, gluten, egg and milk free. In fact my girls like them better than regular pretzels. The only bad thing is they come in a very small bag. So you really do have to treat them as a special snack.

Cheryl

Last night we had taco’s. I haven’t been eating taco’s with my family but I separated my meat before I put in the seasoning and just ate it plain with the tomato and lettuce and cheese and shell. I am very careful to drain my meat. Greasy food is not a good option for my stomach. Anyway I did fine. That was definitely easy. If you are eating things like taco’s make sure you check the mix. Wheat is in a few of the mixes. Does anyone happen to know if when you go to a Mexican restaurant that makes the corn tortilla’s if they dust them with flour? I need to watch the next time I go.

I went to Krogers today. I was able to get noodles that are made with potato flour and whole eggs. Kinda expensive but I thought I would give it a try. I also got Chocolate Chip Macaroons, there were two brands one states it shares equipment that uses wheat. So it might not be good for someone who is very sensitive. It also contains other items that you might be allergic to so read carefully . I got some chicken broth, however it does contain msg. My favortie though is they had several varieties of pound cake. It is good but read label because it contains eggs and traces of nuts possibly. I believe these are items that may only be available at passover. But I am not certain of that. I also got Potato Latke mix and a sweet potato mix. I know these are available all year. They do contain partially hydrogized cotton seed oil. It is probably better to make these from scratch.  Just read labels carefully but you might be able to find a treat or two.

cheryl

My family went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch the other day. I decided I was going to give a try to some things that normally would have bothered me. Even though they had no gluten, they contained other things that I have had a history bothering me. One of which is onions and tomato sauce. I ate salsa with corn chips . It was wonderful and in the past it would have really upset my stomach. However it didn’t. I have been gluten free since the end of August. I believe there has been some healing and I can tolerate some things in moderation. However I know I have a long ways to go. It was a nice treat