Does it Say Gluten Free on the Label?

 I basically chug along eating mostly plain food and only things that have the magic words printed right on the label. 

"Gluten Free"

If not, I pass. Not because I don't trust most manufacturers but I'm really to busy to have 3 days of stomach problems and body aches to take a chance. Most stuff has an alternative gluten free version. (except fish sticks... can't find gluten free fish sticks in Florida)  

The other day my husband brought me shelled pistachio nuts from Costco. Kirkland brand. Yum! My favorite.... but wait! Those magic words were missing. Okay, the ingredients looked okay, but can I trust them? Shared equipment? Cross contamination? 

I usually buy Wonderful Pistachios. Those magic words are right there on the label. 

What to do? It was sooo nice of hubby to think of me and get me this giant bag of my favorite nuts but dare I try them? 

Google didn't help me. I searched for a site that would tell me they were guaranteed gluten free. I did find a few sites that said they were gluten free but no facts. No link to the manufacturers website, nothing .... well, official. Just other people saying they were GF. 

These nuts sat in my cabinet for two weeks just staring at me. 

Until finally, I gave in. Took the leap and snacked!

I'm happy to say I've been feeling fine. 

No symptoms I usually get when glutenated. No aches, pains or headaches. 

I just wish they'd put it on the label. 

 

Six Short Story, Kindle Quick Reads Up!

 

Halloween Recipe Search for Gluten Free

 Found this awesome recipe for a fun Gluten Free dessert on Dishing Delish, a totally gluten free recipe site. It's my go to place for yummy ideas. 

WORMS & DIRT!

Yes, you can eat these worms and dirt and the kids love it! Smooth creamy pudding, crunchy dirt & some wiggly worms to make you smile. 

You can find it right here; https://www.dishingdelish.com/worms-in-dirt-chocolate-pudding-dessert/

I made this for a Halloween party a few years ago but now Worms & Dirt is a Halloween tradition in our house. Too yummy & fun not to make! 

When Gluten Attacks

I ate at this restaurant twice before with no problem. Chicken breast sandwich, plain, gluten free bun, tomato, nothing else. This time I ordered it with pickles. Could the pickles have made me sick? Was there some cross contamination with them? Was the grill contaminated this time and not last time? Or did I get such a slight bit on contamination in the past I just put it up to something else?
This time;
Day 1 - Headache within minutes of eating.
Next day big tummy problems and lots of bathroom visits. Pain in abdomen all day. Like a stomach virus where the pain kind of floats around and bites hard. Hardly eat anything all day. Had to lay down.  Drank a lot of water
Day 3 -  Still have stomach pain. Especially bad after eating. Ate some pineapple for breakfast, avocado & hummus on Udi's English muffin. A lot of pain after eating. Skipped dinner. Ginger tea. Water.
Day 4 - Pain gone, very tired. Starving!

And that's my gluten reaction. I wish I could know how the contamination happened. Was this a lot of gluten that hit me so hard or just a bit of cross contamination?  There's only one way to find out and I'm not going there!

Gluten free since 2003.

How does gluten hit you?

When People Try to Feed You

I think one of the hardest things I face is when people try to feed me.
Since I've been diagnosed for well over 10 years, I have most of the diet down, but the part where people want to feed me ....

People at work know I'm Celiac and when the bagels and donuts come in, I have my own snacks in my desk drawer if I want to eat. No problem!

Every now and then someone goes out of their way for me and brings in something they "think" is gluten free. My heart swells with joy, they're such wonderful, thoughtful people. And now I have to either tell them I can't eat it or pretend I ate it and lie. Either resolution is uncomfortable.

Some want to cook for me and then we have to have the whole cross contamination issue talk. It usually scares the heck out of them and they back off.

I think its strange that people are so set on feeding me. Believe me! I don't look like I'm starving! ;-)  I think sometimes its hard on Celiacs that our society is so centered around food. So, here we face another holiday season where the food will flow and people will say, "Oh, I'm sorry you can't eat this. It must be so hard."  To which I reply, "You see cake, I see a stomach ache."

If you want some good gluten free recipes check out DishingDelish.com

Sad About Cheerios

A Cheerios ad popped up on my Facebook page and, of course, I read the comments.  Every single Celiac on that feed reported problems when eating Cheerios.

Cheerios has a great website where they explain the process of removing gluten from the oats before making the cereal. It's a great process, but obviously, by the amount of reported reactions, it doesn't work.

I suggested they find oats from dedicated fields if they want to put the words Gluten Free on their boxes, but at the amount of Cheerios they sell, that might not be cost effective. When I read that bit about 20 ppm is okay, i cringe. Okay for who? Who made up that number and decided it was a good limit?

Too bad, I used to like Cheerios. And Raisin Bran, Life Cereal, and Pop Tarts. Oh! Pita Bread!


I've been diagnosed since 2003 and I've seen a lot of new products pop up over the years. Being gluten free in 2003 was a lot different than it is now. Back then I had to have my health food store order gluten free products for me. Now I can pick them up at my local grocery. It's a different gluten free world so I believe there will be gluten free pita bread someday. I'm waiting....

Gluten Free Cooking

Cooking is not my forte. I only cook when I have to, which is probably a couple times a week. Maybe food made me sick for a long time (before diagnosis) that I stopped looking at it as a desirable thing? Yes, I've learned about Celiac safe food and cross contamination, but still something holds me back from liking to cook.

When I do cook, I need easy to follow recipes that are gluten free from the start.
Here's a few places I stop by to find the good GF stuff to make.

Dishing Delish; This site makes my mouth water; http://www.dishingdelish.com
The Spinach balls were the best!!!

Nashtastic; You'll find lots of yummy stuff here; http://www.noshtastic.com
I loved the Irish Stew!

Cooking Gluten Free; Years and years of GF recipes are on this site. http://cookingglutenfree.com

What's your favorite GLUTEN FREE recipe site?

Don't Judge My Journey