Gluten Free Pizza! Morgano's

The menu from Morgano's in Middltown. The owner says he can convert most of the stuff on his menu to Gluten Free.

Yum!

If you click on the picture it should get big enough to read.

:)

Happy dining!

Crock pot bread~~~ Who knew???

I read on Delphi forums that you can make bread in your crockpot. This Amazing Woman has a whole website to crockpotting. (Okay, her bread looks better then mine but she's like a professional or something)

First, please know, I'm no cook. I don't like cooking-hey! after years of food making me so sick, why would I care for cooking? I have too many issues! But this one I had to try.

It was like using a cake mix. I threw the stuff in the bowl, electric mixer (and I don't have one of those fancy-schmancy mixers, I used the little hand held one) flopped it all into a greased bread pan and placed it in the crock. I vented the top with a chopstick and poof! Three hours later we were munching on some really good bread!

So, give it a try!

And check out the Crockpot Lady, she's got some great ideas.

Eating out with Celiacs

Eating out is always risky. Mantra of many Celiacs when venturing out in the real world. Who knows who lurks in the kitchen, armed with stupidity and ready to contaminate our meals?

I shiver in my pleather diner booth.

So I make it my mission in life to hunt down the best GF restaurants in my area!

This place is called Morgano's in Middletown, NJ. I heard they were serving Gluten Free Pizza so I went in to get the scoop.

I found a very nice restaurant with plenty of seating. Its casual Italian atomsphere was nice and the whole place looked clean as a whistle. The owner was a nice man who took the time to answer all my questions. I'd definately bring the family there for dinner. (okay, I'd do lunch too)

They have more then just PIZZA! Chicken nuggets! Meatballs! Pasta! Yummmy!

We ordered a pizza to start and it tasted like heaven.

The owner is creating quite a Gluten Free menu with the help of his sister-in-law who happens to be a Celiac. He says he experiments on her ;) She has helped him understand the cross contamination issues and how to safely feed a Celiac. (Thank you sis in law!)

Either way, he makes a great pizza and I'm going back this week to sample some other stuff.

If you're near Middletown, NJ come and check out this great place to dine.

:)

Happy Pizza Day!

GLUTEN FREE OATMEAL!!!

Yes, its true. Oatmeal is in the meal plan for Celiacs once again. I found Bob's Red Mill, Gluten Free Oatmeal in the store last week.

I stared at it for three days...there haven't been any oats in my life since 2003 when I first heard the words "Celiac Disease". Could this be true? Since I'm a fairly sensitive Celiac I'm very careful with my diet. Gluten free oats? Could I be so lucky???

Gluten free Oats; That translates into warm bowls of Oatmeal on cold winter mornings, Oatmeal cookies and bars and anything else I could bake those healthy oats into... has Bob's Red Mill answered my prayers?

After the days of staring and hoping it was true we made cookies....and I ate one. Just one. It melted in my mouth and I almost fainted at the bliss. Oh, Yum! I waited a day and ate two more. So far, so good. No stomach pain, nausea, or other less mentionable reactions --NOTHING!

So, of course, I checked out the Bob's Red Mill website and found lots of recipes, too. More things to make from my new found oatmeal. I have to send them a thank you. You can, too. Just check out Bob's wonderful website: https://www.bobsredmill.com/catalog/index.php?action=showdetails&product_ID=681

Bob's Red Mill---I love you! You gave me back one of my favorite foods.

(I'll post my Oatmeal Raisin recipe tomorrow.)

HOLIDAY EATING STRESS

One of the most difficult things to deal with when first diagnosed with Celiac Disease is eating anywhere else but home. At home you're safe, you know what you're eating and how it was prepared. But out there-- in the real world-- there is no telling what might be creeping onto your plate! So, what are your choices?
Here's my way of coping:
1. Eat before I go.
2. Bring something safe and gluten free to share with everyone. I usually try to make this extra special so everyone will love it. (Proving safe, gluten free food tastes great is my mission in life!)
3. Make my own individual meal that I can eat when everyone else eats.
4. If its in a restaurant; call ahead to insure they can cook a gluten free meal. (Lots of places have gluten free menus now so you might be pleasently surprized!)

Depending on the type of place you are invited to, one of these might work for you. The most important thing to know is that its not about the food--its about the people! Enjoy the season, your friends and family and remember food doesn't make the party--people do!
If you have other ideas please post them!
Happy Holidays!
Jeannie

CELIACS OF THE WORLD UNITE!

Right about now most of you are wondering who are the Celiacs? Some strange political group? A fancy new club? Or maybe you heard the word in your Doctor's office with the advice to just avoid gluten. (What the heck is gluten?)
Well, there are an estimated three million Celiacs in the United States alone and half of them don’t even know it! They go about their lives, dealing with Celiac issues, all the while they are oblivious to what is going on in their own bodies. Celiac Disease is an auto immune disease that causes a person to react to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. (Okay sometimes oats too-especially in the USA, but that’s controversial so I won’t go there.) If you have Celiac Disease and eat wheat, rye or barley your immune system goes haywire and the villi in your intestines is destroyed. Flattened! Squashed! (FYI- Villi are the little hair-like fibers in your intestine that move the food along and grab up all your vitamins and good things to feed you and make you healthy.) Now, without these little villi just try to absorb those nutrients! Symptoms are mostly digestive include bloating, the big D, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and some not so subtle symptoms like anemia, bone pain, headaches, and a wonderful little rash called dermatitis herpetiformis. From “failure to thrive” in infants to any problem associated with vitamin deficiencies Celiac Disease can present it self in many ways. So, how do you diagnose something that hides under so many hats? Celiac disease was once thought to be extremely rare but the times they are a changin’. It starts with a blood test and is confirmed with a biopsy (so they can see those squashed and flattened villi).When diagnosed Celiac Disease is like this giant monster living in your house. It sits on your shoulder where ever you go and hangs around your neck like a ball and chain. Gone from your life are the cookies, cakes, breads, cereals and pasta you love. No more beer! You go to parties and have to refuse just about everything on the menu because wheat is the cheapest filler known to man. It’s in most of the gravies, soups and sauces (thickened with flour-and yes, four is made from wheat too).
Clean out your cupboards and get ready for a change of lifestyle. Then we learn of cross contamination. Yeesh! Enough already! So, the chef is in the kitchen making your lunch. Cheese burger, no roll please and you think you’re doing good. But the chef is busy and he takes the spatula—YOUR SPATUAL—and leans over and flips a piece of French toast, then he flips your burger. POOF! You’ve been contaminated! Tiny flecks of gluten from the toast have found their way onto your burger and your plate and will work their way into your gut, throw your immune system into chaos and hammer down your villi. All from one careless flip of the spatula. So, beware when you belly up to the buffet because you have to wonder if the people before you moved the spoon from the croutons (wheat) into the olives.
Oh, the joy of Celiac!
Now relax. Push the panic aside and know there is hope. It takes time to tame this Celiac beast, but it is possible. You do your research, check out the Celiac organizations for more information and you learn it’s not so bad. Most health food stores now carry every kind of gluten free food you could imagine. Even your mainstream grocers are starting to stock the stuff. So you’ll buy one of the gluten free pastas turn the first few pots in to glue (cooking was never one of my better talents!) and learn to manage this life. Experiment, find the brands you like and maybe even learn to bake a few of your favorites. You either eat before you go to the party or bring a little gluten free dish with you. If you do find food you can eat just serve yourself first so those cross contaminators don’t get you!
Day by day it gets easier, you know at a glance what you can and can’t eat and you stock your home with good food again. The beast shrinks in size and now fits in your pocket. He’s still there, but can’t scare you anymore.Then comes the payoff: you FEEL GOOD! The nausea that’s followed you from sun up to sun down is gone, bloated tummy, aching joints and headaches GONE! The beast has given you back your health. And I found the best tasting bread up at Whole Foods so I’m going to take some Thuman cold cuts, cheese, mayo and chopped up olives and make the best Dagwood you ever saw!
Life goes on, it gets better. (There are about four or five kinds of gluten free beer on the market, too.)
-Jeanne -Gluten free since 2003
http://www.celiac.com/
http://www.celiac.org/
N.J. Local Celiac support group: http://www.geocities.com/seashoreceliacs/