A Few of my Favorite Things

Since I haven't "food blogged" in awhile, I decided it was time for an update.  I haven't been baking a lot lately, blame it on summertime laziness, but the following are a few ready-made items (not necessarily GF) that are quick favorites.

YamaMotoYama Sencha Green Tea


This stuff is the bees knees, for real.  I have around 2-4 cups every day!  I can't stand coffee, and while I like tea, I picky about which ones I drink.  After taste testing many of the bathroom-break inducing beverage, I finally found this one.  No funky aftertaste, no bitterness.  Perfect.  I saw it first in the grocery store, since then they discontinued it (of course), so I buy a 6-pack on Amazon.

Edward and Sons Gluten Free Ice Cream Cones


Yes, you can sing the Hallelujah chorus, GF cones have arrived!  For real, tears came to my eyes when I saw these babies sitting on the shelf of my not-so-local health food store.  To boot, they taste GREAT!  If you are so able, find them, buy them, savor them.

Lentil Crackers by Mediterranean Snacks

These crackers are the closest thing to Ritz I've found, as far as GF goes.  Unlike their buttery gluten-filled counterparts, Lentil Crackers are packed with nutrients.  Per every 28g serving there is only 110 calories, 16 carbs, 1g fiber, 3g of fat, and 5g of protein! I've only had the Sea Salt, but I'm super pumped to try more flavors.  Check out their website, they have many goodies to ogle.

Candy Tree Strawberry Twists


To be honest, these taste nothing like Twizzlers (my absolute favorite candy pre-GF days), but they are better than nothing.  They're organic which is a perk, also no added sugar.  The downside is, they're pricey.  I saw these while browsing the candy aisle at a health food store (oxymoron?), and had to try them.  If you've ever had organic fruit strips, these twists have a similar taste, but the texture is more "licorice-y".  An inexpensive alternative that I keep in my purse at all times, Archer Farms Organic Strawberry Fruit Strips.  I find mine at Target!


Snyder's of Hanover Gluten Free Pretzel Sticks



I was leery about trying these pretzel sticks from Snyder's, being that they mostly make "regular" pretzels. Cross contamination was an obvious worry.  But, I found these on sale and couldn't resist indulging as soon as I made it to my car.  I have to say, these are the best GF pretzels I've found so far, better than Glutino brand.



Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies

Chewy. Spicy. YUMMY!  These pieces of heaven wrapped in crystalized ginger are paired perfectly with the aforementioned sencha green tea.

Last but not least...

Sierra Mist Natural 

If I can help it, I like to avoid HFCS (High-Fructose Corn Syrup).  Long story short, I just plain feel better when I don't consume it.  Now generally speaking, all I drink is water or my tea.  But on the rare occasion I'm craving some carbonation, this stuff is simply delightful!  I wish they came in those cute little "half-cans" though, I can never finish a whole one!

So tell me, what are your favorite edible things?  Whether it's gluten-free, healthy, or waistline expanding.

                  Rachel

Wolfsbane - Ronie Kending

I will admit to doing a happy dance when I walked into work (a bookstore) and saw that Wolfsbane, the newest Military/Romantic-Suspense novel by Ronie Kendig, had been released.  Literally, I danced.  A co-worker and I had been eagerly counting down the days/months until the release - being that we are such fans of the series.  It should be noted that when the aforementioned co-worker walked in the store later on and I shoved a copy of the book in her face, she too squealed and did a happy dance. 

  A few days later my boss ran up to me and said, “So have you read the new book in our favorite series?!”  Little did I know that after my raving about Nightshade and Digitalis after their releases, she started gobbling up the books as well.   She caught me off guard yesterday when she came up to me and in a very serious, concerned voice said, “I have horrible news…”  Images of empty candy aisles at the supermarket flashed in my brain.  She gave me a pained face and cried, “I finished Wolfsbane last night!  Now what am I supposed to read?!”  My heart went out to her, I too recently went through this horrible loss.  Judging by the bags under her eyes, I knew it had been a long night.  Though my own bloodshot eyes should be the last to judge…  We both agreed that after reading any of Ronie’s books we have to go through a time of “mourning” where we can’t read anything else.  Because, as she mentioned, “All of the other books I read afterwards seem so below par.  I have to regroup and let that one filter out of my brain before I can read anything else.”  My thoughts exactly.  After the general consensus of Ronie Kendig’s literary genius, we decided to display Wolfsbane in the front window of our store and put a “we recommend” sign on the shelf with her books.  My customers should know this by now, though.  It seems that after every release in the Discarded Heroes series, any customer that even glances in the direction of the fiction area of the store will get a talkin’ to about the series from me.  Call me crazy, but I love a suspense novel that is full of suspense!  And Wolfsbane delivers!

One, out of many, reasons I am such a fan of these books is because of their raw honesty!  The characters are human: broken, gritty, and so completely raw that my heart actually hurts for them at moments.  Often, in Christian fiction, the characters will show their “human-ness” to a certain degree, but they are still relatively put together people who have everything resolved by the last paragraph.  Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes it isn’t realistic.  What is so great about Ronie Kendig’s books is that she highlights how these very flawed characters have to fight to see change in their lives, it doesn’t just happen.  And they are not peachy clean by the end of the novel, they’re still in the midst of growing and healing.   

Another reason why I absolutely loved Wolfsbane in particular, is for some very taboo subject matter it covers.  I won’t say what (you’ll have to read it to find out!) but I applaud Ronie for putting her characters in a compromising situation and seeing them fail!  As a reader, it gave me a mere glimpse of what it is like for the Lord, seeing His children make poor, sometimes down-right horrible choices and being heartbroken because of it.  The main characters, Dani and Canyon, hit rock bottom and had to completely lean on Christ to climb back up again.  It was beautiful.  It was gritty.  It was real life.  

If you didn’t catch my subtle hinting before, I will say it again - I highly recommend Wolfsbane and all of the books in the Discarded Heroes series.  And when your finished, feel free to stop by my bookstore, my boss and I will console you in your loss.  We’ve been there.  

Gluten Free - Coconut Cinnamon Rolls

Awhile back I made something similar to these tasty treats, but there was a missing element out of the whole equation.  Mind you we were in the middle of a kitchen remodel and had no use of our appliances, in hindsight that may have had something to do with the lackluster finished product.  Regardless, I tweaked the recipe this time.  Originally, I use the standard pastry dough recipe from the Babycakes Covers the Classics cookbook by Erin McKenna.  This time around I used parts of that recipe, plus one of my moms old cookbooks, plus a little guess work - I'm good at making things up as I go.  Ha!  Yeast is the main difference though, making this beautiful dough all the more delightful.

This recipe is a bit time consuming, and it would help your end results if you know your way around the kitchen fairly well.  But you have to start somewhere.  I will break the recipe down so it is a bit easier to follow.   So roll up your sleeves, wash your hands, don an apron and get to baking!

PART ONE.  The Dough.
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(DRY INGREDIENTS)

1 1/4 cups -- Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Flour
1 cup -- rice flour (I used white rice flour - Bob's brand)
1/4 cup -- arrowroot starch
1 3/4 teaspoon -- xanthan gum
1 Tablespoon -- baking powder
2 teaspoons -- ground cinnamon
1 3/4 teaspoon -- active dry yeast (heads up - don't use the kind specifically for bread machines)

(LIQUID INGREDIENTS)

1/4 cup -- melted butter/crisco or oil (I used butter flavored Crisco - don't ask why, it worked well though)
1/3 cup -- agave nectar
1 teaspoon -- vanilla
1 cup -- water/milk (I used 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup milk.  Just because I can...)
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In a mixing bowl - whisk together all of the dry ingredients EXCEPT THE YEAST.  Reserve half of the flour combo in a separate bowl and set aside.  Put the yeast in the flour combo that is in the mixing bowl.

Combine all of the liquid ingredients in a large measuring cup and microwave until temperature reaches between 120-130 degrees.  If you don't have a thermometer, I suggest getting one.  They're super handy to have around.  Ours is part timer/part thermometer.  You just plug the thermometer attachment into the timer and place the probe into the liquid.  Moving on.

Once your mixture has reached temperature, turn your stand mixer on Low Speed.  Gradually, pour the warm liquid into the yeast/flour combo.
Turn the mixer to Medium Speed and continue beating for 2 minutes.  While still on Medium Speed, pour the remaining flour combo into the mixer and beat for approx. one minute more.  Scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula if needed.

PART TWO - Kneading and Rising
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Okay, this part is a little tricky to try and write out, but bear with me.

Sprinkle a liberal amount of rice flour on a rolling mat.  Scrape the dough onto the mat and sprinkle more rice flour over the sticky dough.  Flour your hands, work dough into a ball and knead.  The dough is sticky, so it makes the kneading process a bit complicated.  Just keep adding a bit more flour until it's workable.  I didn't knead mine for very long, though.  Reshape into a ball.

Grease the bottom and sides of a rising bowl.  If you don't have have one (buy one!) you can use a very large bowl or an old plastic ice cream bucket.

Our rising bowl looks something like
this with a lid.

Place the dough ball in the greased bowl and cover with the lid or plastic wrap.  Place the bowl in a warm area until the dough rises - it should double in size.  This will take approx. 1 hour.

I like set my bowl in the garage (the dough is covered, so - who cares?!) - the air is warm and humid in our garage, so the dough rises really well.
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During this down time, I like to clean up my mess - this way clean up time at the end is minimal.
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PART THREE - Filling, Rolling, Slicing and Baking
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Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
                    
You can use regular sugar if you want, but I prefer using Florida Crystals.  It is minimally refined sugar, that still has its nutrients in it.  I love it because it caramelizes WONDERFULLY during baking.  The results yielded make it truly worth it.  But, it is a pricy item, so it is alright to use regular sugar.

1 3/4 - 2 cups -- Florida Crystals (or reg. sugar)
3 Tablespoons -- Cinnamon (approximately - you be the judge!)
Whisk together and set aside.

After your dough is finished rising, punch your fist through the ball - releasing the air.  Pour onto the rolling mat that is covered with more rice flour.  Roll the dough out in a rectangle until it is about 1/4 inch thick.

Melt 1/4 cup butter and using pastry brush, brush over the top of the entire rolled out dough.  Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar over the melted butter until the entire top is covered.  Spread unsweetened dry coconut flakes on top of the cinnamon and butter covered dough.

Starting with one of the short ends of your rectangle, roll the entire dough into a "log" shape.  Using a sharp butcher knife, slice the log into 1 inch pieces.

Place the newly cut, individual rolls face up in a greased pan/s.
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HINT - Each end piece of your "log" is usually lacking in internal yummy gooyness.  So, before baking I like to take a spoonful of butter and mix it with a little bit of sugar/cinnamon and coconut.  Then I put one dollop into the hollow middle of each end piece.  When it bakes, it oozes and caramelizes into a roll of mouthwatering bliss.  Trust me.  It is So. Good.
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Cover the pan/s of rolls with plastic wrap and place back in your warm area to rise for another 15 minutes.

Place the pan/s of rolls in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the tops turn golden brown.

You can eat straightaway or drizzle with glaze.  I am not ashamed to admit that I ate 3 of these puppies in one seating.  I have yet to buy or make bread that has the sort of fluffiness gluten-filled bread is famous for, until now that is!  This dough is SO good.  I cried.  And there may have been singing and dancing involved (just trying to burn off my calories, ya know).

It may seem like a doozy to take on, but trust me!  It is worth the effort!

As an added bonus, here is a recipe for glaze.

1 1/2 cups -- powdered sugar
3-5 Tablespoons -- hot milk (start off with 3, add more to your desired consistency).
1 teaspoon -- grapeseed oil (you can use a different oil if you want - I prefer grapeseed because it's super healthy.  The oil helps the glaze retain its "smoothness".)


And that my friends is all.  Lets get fat together, shall we?

Rachel

Gluten Free "Donuts"

Last year, while on vacation with my family I bought a special pan at Williams-Sonoma to make 'Ebelskivers'.  An ebelskiver is basically a filled pancake, I soon discovered.  I thought it might be a fun addition to our bakeware, but I really hadn't used it much since!  A few weeks ago I was browsing through our kitchen cabinets and found my nifty, relatively new skillet.  Not really knowing what to make, I grabbed some basic ingredients from our pantry and made up the rest as I went!  The following is the result of that creative, albeit messy, afternoon.

Tools and Ingredients necessary-

-An ebelskiver pan.  You might be able to get by using something else if you don't want to splurge for one of these neat pans.
-pancake mix - oil (I LOVE grapeseed oil) - an egg - milk - arrowroot flour/starch - cinnamon sugar - maple extract - powdered sugar - butter - fruit preserves/jam.

Step One:  For the base of the 'donut' I used Bisquick's Gluten Free pancake mix.  I followed the directions on the box - BUT - I added one ingredient that completely changed the texture of the final product.  The secret ingredient?  Arrowroot flour/starch.  This stuff is a miracle worker for gluten free baked goods.  I've used the Bisquick mix before but I never used it again because the pancakes crumbled horribly.  And who really wants to eat crumbly pancakes?  Not this girl!  Gluten is what binds most baked goods together.   As many of you gluten-free'ers know, it is a bit difficult to get GF baked goods to turn out right.  The arrowroot flour made it a wonderful, moist consistency.  As I said, it is a small miracle in the form of a flour-y starch.

To be completely honest, while experimenting I never measure my ingredients!  I know, I'm sorry.  That makes it a bit difficult to write an instructional blog on.  I always approximate.  But, I would say I used about 1/4 c of arrowroot flour (maybe a bit less, though).  And I only put enough milk in to make the batter the consistency of warm pudding.  Ha!  Great directions, huh?
 In short, you don't want the batter too thick or it will be harder to bake all the way through.


After the pancake batter is made, I shake some cinnamon-sugar into the batter and mix in.  I absolutely love cinnamon-sugar, and adding it to the mix makes these taste even more "donut'y".

Step Two:  I put my ebelskiver pan on the stove over medium-low heat.  Cooking at a lower temp for a longer period of time will help to ensure thorough baking!  I put a small scoop of butter into each little 'well' in the pan.  This "fries" the batter somewhat, creating even more of a donut illusion.  My favorite dairy free butter is made by Earth Balance.  It actually tastes like real butter.  My mother dared me to eat a spoonful of it, just to be sure, but I declined.  I haven't eaten butter by the spoonful since I was 5.

A useful tool during this process is a small cookie dough scooper.  It helps keep your donuts relatively the same size.  It also keeps everything neat and tidy; no spilling batter all over your pan!  Weird as it sounds, I hate cleaning up batter that has dripped on the top of the skillet.  Don't ask me why, it just yanks my chain.

As you can see from the picture, I also use two spoons with long stems.  They are the perfect size for scooping preserves AND for flipping the donuts in the pan.

Filled Donuts-
Put your little scoops of butter into each section of the pan.
Put a small scoop of batter into the wells of the pan.
Immediately put a tiny dollop of preserves/jam on top of the batter.
Let sizzle for a minute.
Cover each donut with the remaining batter, make sure all the filling is covered.
Let cook for around 10-15 sec until bubbles start forming on the tops of the donut.
Using two spoons, flip each donut in the pan.  It is tricky at first, but after doing it over and over, you'll get the hang of it!
Leave donuts cooking in the skillet until all the sides have darkened.
Place onto a plate/serving dish and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
Dust the tops with powdered sugar and enjoy!


Maple/Chocolate Donuts- These are my personal favorite.  I've actually dreamed about these donuts.  And I wrote a love sonnet dedicated to them, as well.  Totally kidding.  Maybe.

Put scoops of the pancake batter into each, liberally buttered well of the pan.  The batter should come just shy of reaching the top of the well.
I sprinkle the tops with cinnamon-sugar. Why not, right?
When bubbles start forming on the top of the donut, you know it is time to flip.
As I said for the filled donuts, make sure that all the sides look darkened and thoroughly cooked.  The tops should be fairly hard.  I always tap them with my spoon to make sure it is done enough.
Remove from the skillet and place on a plate.

Immediately cover with maple frosting.  It will melt and drip down the sides (making it extra delicious!)
When finished frosting, wait 1-2 minutes to allow it to set up.
During this time I put my chocolate glaze in the microwave to make sure it's really runny.
Using a spoon, drizzle the hot chocolate-heaven glaze over the tops of the maple covered donuts.
OR recently I decided to frost in maple (as usual) then completely cover the tops with chocolate as well.
Wow, so good.  The chocolate gets firm and creates a shell of sorts over the donut; locking the moisture inside.  I've thought about re-covering it with maple, and then more chocolate to create one sugar ball of goodness.  I haven't though, so don't judge me.

Maple Frosting-
2 cups of powdered sugar
a medium sized spoonful of butter
1/2 t. of maple extract
2 TBLS of coconut milk (if you need to add more later you can)

Using an hand mixer beat all ingredients together.  It tastes absolutely wonderful.  Seriously.  I can taste it now! Mmm.



Chocolate Glaze-
3 heaping spoonfuls of powdered sugar
1 small spoonful of cocoa powder (I use Hershey's)
2 tbls of hot coconut milk
1/2 t. grapeseed oil

This chocolate 'syrup' glaze just came
from the fridge - that is why it looks so thick!

Combine the powdered sugar and cocoa powder together in a bowl.  Add the hot milk to the mixture and stir with a spoon until thoroughly combined.  The powder and cocoa will dissolve in the hot milk.  Add the oil and stir until smooth.  To get it even runnier (which is good when your drizzling over donuts) place in the microwave for 15 sec.


I usually make double or triple the maple frosting and chocolate syrup/glaze and store it in the fridge.  It makes it handy when you want to make a quick batch of donuts at midnight (not that I would ever make donuts so late at night...).

Top it all off with a cup of hot green tea, and you are set!

Above is a little video I literally just threw together.  It was video'd on my cell phone which explains the awkward angles and fuzzy features.

Tip:
#1 - If you watch the video you will see that after flipping one donut, I move over to the side for a moment.  I'm actually wiping the goop off of my spoons, it makes it tidier and easier to flip when the spoon is goop-free.
#2 - Lately to make these treats a bit healthier (or to justify my mass eating of them) I have added a heaping spoonful of ground flaxseed meal to the batter.  It adds a wonderful addition of fiber to your treat.

Enjoy the delectable-ness, everyone!  Whoever said being gluten and dairy free had to be tasteless?!

Rachel

Carrot Cake Bliss

On Facebook I mentioned how I made a gluten-free/dairy-free carrot cake a few days ago.  Well, after indulging… and indulging some more, it became abundantly clear that it was time to make another one.  

First time around I just used a powdered sugar glaze for the top.  This time I planned ahead and made a DF Cream Cheese-esque frosting (YUM)!  The cake recipe is taken from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook - by Elana Amsterdam.  BUT - I have altered it a bit.  For instance, I left the raisins out - they’re okay but certainly not my favorite.  I also added a bit more agave nectar (1/3 c vs. 1/4 c).  Last but not least, I added 1/2 tsp of vanilla.  Whenever I make a new recipe I always cut it in half so I know I like it before I use my flour on it.  This recipe was proportioned in the book for a layered cake, so with my revised measurements it makes one 8” round delectable carrot cake!
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The recipe!
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Pre-heat oven to 325.

Using grapeseed oil and almond flour, grease and flour a cake pan (I used an 8” round).

 Combine dry ingredients in large bowl

1 1/2 c  Almond Flour

1 tsp   Sea Salt

1/2 tsp  Baking Soda

2 Tbls   Cinnamon

1/2 tsp  Nutmeg

Combine Wet Ingredients in separate bowl

1/8 c  Grapeseed oil

1/3 c  Agave Nectar

2  Eggs

1/2 tsp  Vanilla extract

Whisk the wet ingredients together, then pour onto flour mixture and stir. The batter will be fairly runny.

Fold carrots and walnuts into the batter: 

 1 1/2 c  Grated or finely chopped carrots

1/2  c  Walnuts

 Scrape batter into prepared greased/floured cake pan

Bake for 30-35 min., until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

::Let cool in pan for an hour::  

For some reason, the bottom always sticks when I make this - next time I’m going to try parchment paper.

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Cream-Cheese-esque Frosting

(Again I halved the recipe)

4oz   Tofutti (tofu based “cream cheese” spread)

1/4 c Dairy free butter/margarine (I used Earth Balance)

2 c   Powdered Sugar

2 Tbls  Coconut Milk (if you’re not worried about being dairy free, of course, you can use whichever milk you’d like)

Blend the Tofutti and “butter” together with a hand mixer, slowly add powdered sugar.  If needed to, add milk one TBLS at a time (you don’t want it to  be too runny!)

THEN ENJOY THE BOUNTY!

(in my opinion it tastes like a yummy, moist, delicious cinnamon roll - that is surprisingly not nearly as bad for you!)

I wasn't patient enough for it to cool completely
-hence the crumbs-

Mmm...

The End.

=D

Courage: The Cowardly Dog

My dog, Dixie, is the biggest wimp ever.  She hates water, of any form - rain, bath-time, pools… puddles.  She is simply terrified of water - a trait she passed down to her puppy (and our other dog), Meg.  Another one of Dixie’s biggest fears is getting her nails trimmed.  Years ago, mom accidentally trimmed one nail too short, making it bleed, and leaving Dixie with an extreme nail-cutting phobia.  To this day, merely saying, “cut” and “nails” in the same sentence sends her running, shaking like a leaf.  Seriously, the dog looks like she has a vibrating ball stuffed in her belly.  

Mom and I have this canine-anxiety inducing task down to an art form.  She will hide the doggie-nail clippers behind her back, while I sneak around to the other side of Dixie, armed with a piece of cheese as bait.  We pull a move that looks frighteningly similar to a WWE smack down - including me, completely spread on top of Dix, pinning her down with my legs.  And let me just say, the dog is strong - especially in the face of the evil nail clippers.  Mom manages to wrangle Dixie’s flying legs, trimming the nails as swiftly and carefully as possible.  Meanwhile, I am rubbing her ears, feeding her cheese (also known as her semi-effective tranquilizer), and whispering in her ear what a “big girl” she is.  Once the last nail is clipped, mom counts to three and we leap out of the way, as 4 lanky legs (with newly sharpened nails) scramble to get a footing.  She prances around the floor for awhile, seemingly proud of herself for surviving another round of torture.  And I swear the dog can smile.  She looks up at us with squinty eyes, rubs herself all over our legs, wagging her tail like crazy.  This is usually the pattern our doggie mani/pedi routine follows.  That is until today.

Mom snuck into the kitchen to get the clippers, hiding them behind her back as usual.  She trims Meg’s nails first - Meggie sleeps through the experience, completely unperturbed.  From the corner of my eye I see the backend of Dixie escaping down the hallway, and I swear, I saw the dog look over her shoulder nervously.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time, she often goes into the other room to sleep on daddy’s bed (yes, our dogs know my dad as “daddy”).  A few minutes later I hear mom calling for Dix.  She’s going from room to room, looking for our missing chicken-dog.  Mom walks back to where I’m sitting, “Seriously, I can’t find her anywhere!  Where did that dog go?”  

The torn, pink camo
sweater makes her
look all the more pathetic.

I get up to help join the hunt.  I know that she was heading in the direction of the bedrooms, so I begin my own search there.  The door is shut to my sister Logan’s bedroom, and Peyton’s bedroom is also clear - leaving  only my parents bedroom left.  A cursory glance of the room revealed no Dix.  I looked in their bathroom, around there bed - nada.  On impulse I looked in their closet.  And there, safely cocooned in the darkness, was a very shaky Dixie Ann.  I’m sure if she could’ve shut the closet door she would have.  She lay there, staring up at me with big eyes, as if begging not to be put through such horrible anxiety again.  

I lay down next to her, stroking her ears and speaking baby talk, “Ohhhh.  You poor thing!  Mama, we can’t cut the poor baby’s nails!”  

Mom came in the closet and we both sat with Dix, soothing the poor dear.  I snapped a picture, but she had already stood up  - so you aren’t able to capture the pathetic hilarity of the moment.  We got up and shook our head as each other, I seriously couldn’t stop laughing!  The dog literally ran and hid in the closet!  In the dark!  Oh. My. Goodness.  

I love my animals so much, life is always more interesting with them around.  They are our babies, spoiled rotten, but I love them so!

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::DISCLAIMER::

No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

   

What is Celiac Disease?

Celiac disease, is a genetic autoimmune disease that affects 1 in 133 (approx.) Americans; though roughly 1 percent know they have it.  Due to the stereotype behind the disease and its vast symptoms, many doctors treat the symptoms of Celiac, versus diagnosing and treating the actual disease.  Though I should add, in recent years many doctors have been more openminded when testing for Celiac (kudos to those doctors!!).  When a person with CD eats something containing gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and most oats that have been contaminated), their bodies react to the gluten as an invader.  As a result of these “invaders”, villous atrophy occurs.  

Villi are small finger-like hairs that line your small intestine.  Through the villi, your body absorbs nutrients from your food.  Villous atrophy, is when the villi have basically been rubbed down, or flattened, leaving you with poor absorption of nutrients.  Obviously, the longer you have CD (undiagnosed or untreated) the more damage will be done to your intestine.  For this reason, people with Celiac are malnourished - some more severe than others.  

Symptoms of Celiac are wide-ranged, but can include:

Chronic constipation/diarrhea

Extreme abdominal cramps

Bloating

Fatigue or general weakness

Infertility/Miscarriages/Irregular menstrual cycles

Failure to thrive (especially in kids)

Panic attacks

Peripheral Neuropathy (nerve damage)

Stunted growth in children

Vertigo

Weight loss

Obesity

Anemia

Pain in joints

Pale sores inside the mouth

Osteopenia or Osteoporosis

Tingling/Numbness in the legs

Psychiatric disorders (i.e. Depression, anxiety)

A specific rash called Dermatitis Herpetiformis 

These are just to name a few.  Some people are asymptomatic - meaning they don't have any symptoms but they're diagnosed because a family member had celiac and encouraged other family members to get tested.

Undiagnosed, untreated, or refractory Celiac disease can increase your odds at many severe diseases.

15% more like to get Lymphoma and Leukemia 

15% more like to get gastrointestinal carcinoma

Your chances of developing gastrointestinal cancer (i.e. colon cancer) are increased by 40 to 100 times .

Once you have one autoimmune disease, you are more susceptible to others (i.e. type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, hyper/hypo-thyroidism)

For these reasons, it is very important that Celiac is treated responsibly by the patient and also by those in close proximity to the patient.  

Speaking personally, this is not something that I treat lightly.  I have been asked why I don’t continue to eat gluten “in moderation”, surely it can’t be that dangerous to your health, right?  Wrong.  Accidentally eating gluten results (for me) first, in a horrible migraine, swiftly followed by stomach pains that last for hours, with lingering issues lasting for days.  Therefore, when people ask why I won’t “cheat a little”, that is my answer.  The horrendous pain inflicted after the smallest crumb of gluten is simply not worth it.  A person with Celiac can react to 1/8^th teaspoon of gluten, as small as a cracker crumb.  I find it particularly rude and insensitive when people treat CD like it is nothing, and flippantly tell you you are "overreacting".  Spend the day with me in the bathroom after I've been gluten'd... you might just change your opinion of CD... just sayin'.

Determining if a food contains gluten is the easy part, it is the minuscule traces of gluten that happen from cross-contamination in cooking preparation (for instance) that is the hardest to deal with - but, I will save that topic for a different blog.

If you are concerned that you may have Celiac disease I urge you to see your doctor.  There are a few ways to determine if you have CD.
1. Blood panel - This is how CD was confirmed in my case.  Through a special test, it is determined if you have   raised antibody levels in your blood.  Simplistically speaking, if your level is raised - you have Celiac.  To take this test you must be eating gluten at the time of the test.  Don't stop eating gluten before you take this test.  Your body will begin to heal, and the antibodies will not show in your blood.
2.  Endoscopy of the small intestine - this method is a bit more unreliable than the blood test.  Your doctor will take 3-5 samples of your small intestine through a tube that is sent down your throat.  Once they have the samples they will examine to see if villous atrophy has occurred.  It is easier to get a false negative with the endoscopy vs. the blood panel - as the doctor may inadvertently biopsy healthy tissue, missing the damaged villi and giving you a healthy diagnosis.
3.  Genetic testing - this test will tell you if you have the gene leaving you susceptible to developing CD.

Be prepared when meeting with your doctor.  If you are like me, as soon as I'm in the Dr.'s office, I forget everything I wanted to talk about.  I made up notecards with all of my symptoms, in detailed order, so I could easily communicate with my doctor.  I also wrote down any questions or concerns I had.  You only have a small amount of time with your Dr., so make the most of the opportunity by being prepared.  If you are taking any medications, bring them with you.  Taking the time to organize everything you want to discuss will be very valuable to you in the Dr.'s office. 

I hope this clears up some of your basic questions regarding the medical side of Celiac Disease.  For more information, please use the following links.

http://www.celiac.com - this one has a great forum to get information from others.

http://www.celiacdisease.net - this is from the University of Chicago Center for Celiac Disease.

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/ - this one has very easy to understand information - it is laid out very conveniently.

Rachel 

My Celiac Journey

Wow.  I can't even remember the last time I successfully blogged.  Suffice it to say, it has been years!  Myspace, baby.  I was a Myspace-blogging fiend.  Although I can't promise to update frequently, I will try my best to update once a week (or two).  Topics ranging from my latest favorite read, to my adventures in gluten free (and for awhile dairy free) living.


Recently, I have had numerous people ask me about gluten-free foods and tips on living life as a Celiac or gluten-intolerant individual.  As my first official blog, I will share my story to those of you who do not know.


I was very fortunate in discovering I had Celiac Disease.  I mean really, who doesn't want to find out they have an incurable autoimmune disease they will spend the rest of their lives overcoming?  What I mean by that is, a lot of people suffering from Celiac Disease (henceforth to be known as CD) go on for years with their sickness undiagnosed.


Though I may have experienced symptoms prior, the summer of 2009 is when they became annoyingly noticeable.  I was at work one evening when this peculiar "wave" rushed over me.  All at once I felt completely dizzy, nauseated, my hands shook, my vision turned dark, my heart was pounding in my chest, and my skin became really clammy.  After resting a moment the "wave" past, and though shaken,  I resumed work.  My co-worker has hypoglycemia and she said that it sounded like what I experienced.  When I got home, of course, I did tons of research on all things medical.  Webmd.com became my new best friend.  My first thought was type 1 diabetes.  My older brother has it, so it didn't seem like too much of a stretch, but I kept researching.  Thyroid was another suspected culprit, but it didn't completely add up either.  Two weeks after my first episode, I had another "wave" come over me (of course, I was again at work - it would be too convenient to happen at home).  I began noticing my hands were shaky on a regular basis now.  I would hand a customer's credit card back to them and notice the card bouncing around between my fingers.  Soon, more issues popped up - chronic fatigue being one of them.  Within two hours after waking up from a full night of sleep, I would feel like I drank a bottle of Nyquil.  I found myself taking at least 2 naps a day, just to stay awake at work for a couple hours.  I thought I was narcoleptic - haha - my parents had a good laugh at that one.  Next, my bones started physically aching.  It would spread like arthritis, first in my knees, then my shins, then my ankles - pretty soon, it just hurt all over.  Around Christmas time I decided I wanted to try eating healthier and working out more.  I wanted to take my starting weight and, after stepping on the scale, realized that I had lost 10 lbs. in two weeks - without me even trying!  That is unheard of for me, my metabolism is cantankerous and requires hours upon exhausting hours of working out to rev it up.  While I was pleasantly surprised, it was also a bit alarming.  Nevertheless, it gave me a nice kick start to the new healthy lifestyle I was implementing.  I switched all my grains to whole wheat/whole grain; pasta, bread, cereal, snack foods, pizza, tortillas - everything was whole wheat/whole grain.  I LOVED it!  I am a self-proclaimed "bready" so it was no skin off my back to switch.  The heartier the bread, the better!  Oddly enough, the healthier I ate, the worse I felt - and I actually gained the weight back!  Despite the fact that I was eating strictly health foods, and working out daily - often up to two hours - I was hardly moving anywhere scale/inch wise.   Needless to say, after all that hard work with no results - I was miserable!  My stomach was becoming so distended, I looked prego.  By the end of the day, my lower abdomen would expand by 5 inches - all of it bloat.  I remember one particular night I was so frustrated, I went and showed my mom.  "Oh, you're just pushing that out." she said.  But I wasn't, it was like someone stuffed a ball under my belly.


When my first so-called wave occurred, I began keeping a "health calendar".  Every night before bed I would write how I felt that day, no matter how trivial it seemed at the time, I wrote it down.  Then in the mornings when I woke up, I would take my temp.  I had heard of some people doing this to narrow down their search.  In January of 2010, I read through my calendar and noticed that my body temp became low fairly often.  There would be nights where I was huddled in my bed, under mounds of blankets, clothed in thick socks, in flannel pants, a sweatshirt, a fluffy robe, one time I even wore a scarf (lol!) and I could not stop shivering.  It was a cold that went straight through my bones like tiny needles.  During my cold spells my BBT(basal body temperature) was around 94.5 - that is considered mild hypothermia.  Crazy!  I am always hot.  I'm the kind of girl who sleeps with the fan on high even in winter time because I can't cool down.  So these cold spells were especially odd.  My body couldn't seem to regulate its internal thermometer - I knew that that had to deal with the thyroid, but I wasn't sure how.


Another thing I noticed after looking through my calendar was that I often wrote, "brain fog" on almost every day.  Slowly it was getting worse.  My short-term memory was horrible.  I would have a conversation with my mom and a minute later would, literally, not be able to remember a thing we spoke about. This happened so many times, it became infuriating - especially since it happened at work too.  I seemed to not be able to remember anything short term.  Even driving - there would be moments as I was driving home at night and I found myself at my house - when I hardly remembered driving down any of the streets to my house.  At this point I was thinking, "Oh Jesus, I have a brain tumor don't I?" Haha, well praise the Lord that wasn't the case.


It was now April, and I still didn't have any answers.  To answer your question as to why I didn't go to the doctor right away... well I didn't have insurance, and my dad wanted to wait until he got some for me.  I wasn't in school at the time so I wasn't apart of my parents plan anymore.  He had the paperwork all sent in, we were just waiting to hear back from the company.  As soon as I got the green light, I was going to the doctor!  Meanwhile, in preparation for my long awaited doctors appointment, I grabbed my health calendar and also the food journal I had started keeping, and input all of the information into a Word document on my computer.  Symptoms like - peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage), poor balance, and for a couple days in a row - as I lay in bed at night I would be overcome by these "panic/anxiety attacks".  My adrenaline would suddenly rush, my heart would race and I felt very anxious, I can only describe it as a "fight or flight" reaction.  I have never had these before so needless to say - I was freaked out!  By organizing all of my symptoms I could have a timeline of sorts at hand to show my new doctor. As I was doing organizing, a total God moment happened.  All this time I had been experiencing digestive problems that seemed totally unrelated to my neurological symptoms.  There would be moments when I would have such debilitating stomach pains, I would lay on the floor with my heating pad and try to get comfortable - but no position would relieve the pain.  No matter what I did, the pain persisted.  The four Midol's I popped may as well of been M&M's, because the intense stomach pains were still very much alive and well.   This extreme pain would happen every 3-5 months.  Not too often, but enough!  When I wasn't in debilitating pain, I was in a comparatively less (though constant) intestinal pain/grief.  After skimming though my calendar I noticed that these gastroenterological symptoms were more common than any of my other issues.


It was now May.


I was finally able to meet with my doctor during the first week of May.  We met three times during the next couple weeks - with sadly little to show for it.  She was running a series of tests on me for things like diabetes, arthritis, PCOS, hormone/thyroid imbalances, I had an echocardiogram (my heart had started causing me more problems), and a general blood count.  Everything came up A-okay.  "Normal."  She had me taking loads of over the counter meds to try and fix my gastro problems, but they only got worse.  I went home from all my appointments feeling defeated.  I felt like I was going crazy.  There was no real proof that something was wrong with me, other than my word.  Did anyone even believe me?  Did they think I was making it all up, imagining I had all these diseases?


Then, out of nowhere (GOD!) I realized my gastrointestinal problems (the intense pains and also the everyday issues) and my neurological problems were probably linked!  It was like a lightbulb flicked on over my head.  "Why had I never thought of that before?"  First thing I webmd'ed was IBS, that didn't seem to fit, but I kept reading the articles.  Somewhere in the e-pages of one article, I saw a side-note mentioning something called Celiac Disease.  Out of sheer curiosity I clicked the link that was in parenthesis.
Some of the symptoms matched, but they only listed a few - I had way more than the ones they listed.  I wasn't sold on the idea just yet.  Then I remembered that at the bookstore I work at, a month or two prior we had received Elizabeth Hasselbeck's book, "The G-Free Diet".  Ironically, I remember it because when I saw the book I thought to myself, "Wow, I could never live without my yummy - crusty on the outside, soft moist deliciousness on the inside - bread.  I would be a poor, miserable soul."  Literally, I sang my praises that "I" didn't have that.  Oh Lord, what a funny sense of humor you have. ;)


I eagerly went into work the next day, grabbed a copy off of the shelf and skimmed through the pages.  There was a more extensive list of symptoms in the book.  I ran my finger down the list, "check. check. check. check... oh dang. check. check..."  I looked up at my co-worker and said, "Well, I think I know what I have now!"  


When I got home I searched the internet on CD, and came across the website aptly named, celiac.com.  There I happened into the forum/discussion board, full of people who suffer from Celiac Disease.  As I read the stories of countless others suffering through similar symptoms, I felt fairly certain that this is what I had.  Reading personal stories vs. impersonal web articles truly made a difference for me in the area of knowing that I had it too.  I was nervous about mentioning it to my doctor because from what I read, not many doctors were to keen on testing patients for CD.  It has long been under the stereotype that only those of a Northern European decent, with pale skin, paler hair, and rail thin body could have the disease.  It was also thought that only children could get it, it used to be a standard test on babies.  I read on the forum that many people had gone years before finding a doctor who was willing to run the simple blood panel that checks to see if you have certain antibodies in your system, indicating Celiac.  After writing a somewhat brief summary of my story on the board, I was encouraged to see others respond optimistically.  They encouraged me to mention CD to my doctor, so at my next appointment, I did.  She was getting ready to refer me to a specialist, as there was nothing left for her to search for, when I asked if she would test me for CD.  Much to my relief, she agreed!  My doc is awesome.  After our appointment, I went to the lab and had more blood drawn for the Celiac panel.  The results would be in in a couple days.
The following Tuesday I got a call from the doctors office, my labs were in.  With all of my other blood work I had done, the nurse would call and say, "Everything looks normal.  Doctor said you were great."  This time I knew something was up because the nurse asked me to come in early the next morning, my doctor wanted to go over the results with me.  Wednesday morning couldn't have come quick enough!  I was so anxious to hear what she had to say.  I sat on the table in the examining room, waiting for her to come in.  A knock sounded on the door as it opened.  My doctor walked in and said with a smile, "So have you ever thought about going to med. school?" Ha.  I remember thinking to myself, "Wait.  Does that mean I was right?"  Hey don't judge, it was like 8:30 in the morning, my slow brain isn't fully functioning until at least 1pm.
"You mean... I have it?" I asked incredulously.


She handed me a pink information sheet about what CD was, how it would affect me, and what life would be like from here on out.  Apparently my lab results were very affirmative in showing for CD.  Some people require an endoscopy of their small intestine to confirm diagnosis.  My antibody level was really high, making the endoscopy unnecessary.  I walked out of the doctors office that day surprisingly upbeat!  Even though I just had a confirmed diagnosis of a disease I would face for the rest of my life, a weight was lifted off of my shoulders.  At least my sickness had a name.  I wasn't fighting some "unknown" illness for years like so many others.










I spent the rest of that day shoving my face with all of my favorite gluteny foods; doughnuts, cookies, bread, bagels (suffice it to say - I felt miserable afterwards, but my mouth was happy).

After work that night I stopped by Freddie's drive-thru and ordered a yummy cheeseburger and french fries, every bite was savored.  Of course I couldn't resist the photo-op.

Can you say, "Rachel's love language?"

The next day I went to the grocery store with my mom on our first gluten free shopping excursion.  I was completely bummed.  That was really the only moment I ever remember feeling like crying my eyes out over the loss of my food!  I am a very optimistic person (kudos to my dad for passing that on to me), and  thankfully my funk didn't last long.  Now I can say that I am loving this gluten free life!  It has been 8 months since my confirmed diagnosis and I can honestly say that gluten-filled food is hardly a temptation to me anymore.  Yes, I still find myself staring longingly at an empty doughnut box leftover from my parents breakfast treat. 

My heart belongs to fluffy crust...

 I still occasionally stick my head inside a pizza box - inhaling the beautiful, intoxicating smells.  I read a woman with CD describe it this way, "I have become a connoisseur of fine culinary scents."  I can testify to that!  I can get into the car with my parents and smell the lingering 3-day old scents of a carryout pizza.  My nose is to gluten-y foods as drugs is to a police K9.


One thing I will say, it has taken quite awhile for my symptoms to dissipate.  I have recently had extreme abdominal distention that would occur frequently throughout the month.  After much deliberation (and a run-in with my nutritionist), I decide to cut dairy out of my diet for a couple months.  Often people with CD need to take a break from dairy while their "insides" heal from the damage it has endured.  Sometimes (hopefully in my case), after healing you can slowly integrate dairy back into your diet.  We shall see.  I must say that since starting on New Years Day, I feel better - my incessant bloating seems to be going away.  Baby steps!

I know there is something I am forgetting, but I think this post is long enough.  Normally I don't like writing long blogs, but this one kind of required it.  I know how much reading the stories of others helped me when I was a just starting out, so I wanted to do the same for others out there like me.

Next I'll share some yummy recipes/tricks I have learned in my 8 months of living GF (and DF).  But I will save that for another day.

Healthy living everyone!
Rachel