cheater, cheater, gluten eater!!

I went for a walk today with my GG( good girlfriend) who also has celiac. In fact, she got her diagnosis a year and half ago so a bit before my Payson and I've known her for about 3 years.She lives just up the road, is our Bishops wife and the only other celiac my little one knows. She lent me every book in her GF library and gave us many samples of foods and shares bread and goodies with us. Every Sunday she brings a piece of GF waffle wrapped in purple cellophane to use as Sacrament bread for Payson as well as herself. She has been a great blessing. We met for a walk today and I was telling her that I'm trying to make exercise a habit and that since about May of last year I've lost 15 pounds. She asked how I had lost the weight and I said " well I guess by going GF, at least at home, myself." We pretty much eat GF at all of our family meals. The only thing we don't eat GF is for sandwiches at lunch, but we don't eat them very often. But, I mentioned since doing that I am definitely more sensitive to gluten when I eat it outside of the house. I admit it, I am a cheater! When we go on dates I end up eating the bread sticks at Olive Garden. There was a ward pizza party last week and I had some and was sick for nearly 2 days. I can't help myself! So, I know Payson got celiac from my side of the tree. I've had Tummy issues since I was teen. eating GF makes the issues go away, so I don't feel like I need a Dr's diagnosis to tell me I have celiac I'll just not eat it anymore. Yeah right. I wish I had the will power my little one has. He never cheats, nor does he even want to. I can't seem to give up my morning pop tart no matter how hard I try! So I asked him how mommy can work on not cheating. Here is what he told me.

1. Remember how awful you feel and really try to remember exactly how bad it was.
2. Think of something you need to do or are going to go do that is fun. If you eat gluten then you might have diarreah and not get to go.
3. Remember no one takes care of you if you cheat. ( If Payson cheated he knows he would get no sympathy. No rice bags, tummy rubs, cartoons on the couch, and no complaining. you did it you deal with it Harsh I know but so far it has worked).
4. If people are your friend they will try to help you not to cheat.
5. The less you eat it the sicker it makes you. ( I need to take his advice that was my advice. The longer you go without gluten the more it bothers you when you inroduce it into your body.

I have also tried really hard to not be the gluten police. If he sees a cookie at the store and says I want a cookie or is says it looks good I don't say " you can't eat that remember" I say " I know bud. If you really want it you can have it but I think you know why you shouldn't have it. " He always tells me " are you crazy that thing is poison for my body. I said it looked good not that it would feel good to eat" and I try to remove situations that might tempt him. He brings GF equivalent items to bday parties, playdates, etc.. I know that it is a gluten filled world out there but you wouldn't send an alcoholic to a New Years party where there's going to be a toast without some sparkling cider. So try to remove temptation. and also talk about it. Alot. Ask why he wanted to cheat or did cheat. There is always a motivation, if you can find an alternative or role play the situations your child feels like cheating in it will empower them and maybe help cut down on the cheating itself. Now I'm going to go and take my own advice!!

What is GF, CF, DF??

I sometimes forget that I at times speak my own language. I use a lot of abbreviations such as GF. GF stands for Gluten Free. If you've gone through a diagnosis process for Celiac you're child was biopsied and tested for not just gluten (celiac) but also for casein, dairy, etc.. If you are reading some of the literature out there or great books or you know what you're child needs to avoid, you will see GF gluten free and also CF casein free. My Payson is only allergic to gluten not to casein. IF you're child is GF but also allergic to casein then you are looking for foods that are GF and CF. I'm sorry that I've never thought about letting people know if things are CF or DF not just GF. My favorite GF and DF, and EF (egg free) products are by Enjoy Life click here http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/

Quaker Rice Cakes

I'm sure many people know of Quaker Rice Cakes but did you know they have mini sizes? For about $3.00 a bag you can get so many flavors. So far we love chocolate, cheddar, and caramel. Be careful though the new mini whole grain cakes look almost identical and also come in snack packs. All of my kids love to eat them and if you let them they can eat almost an entire bag at once. You can make Smores out of the caramel ones as a substitute for the graham cracker. I've found that if you make it like an open face smore using just one rice cake for the bottom it's easier to eat. The chocolate ones are also a great alternative to cookies and taste great as a bedtime snack with hot cocoa. Enjoy!

Cupcakes

We had a birthday the other day for my dad that lives with us and of course I waited for the last minute before I even thought about do we have cake do we not have cake? I'll be honest I'm still a little nervous about making a gluten free cake for all to eat especially doing it with egg replacement for the little one and making dairy free frosting just sounded overwhelming. I'll save that adventure for a weekend and I'll take pictures. LOL. So I did what most of us mom's do and I made a regular cake from good ol' Betty Crocker ( which by the way happened to be in the deep abyss of the non gluten free food storage, and made Bob's Red Mill Chocolate Cake Mix. I made the GF version first to save myself some time on the clean up. To my surprise the whole 2 cake process only took me 20 minutes!! For 2 cakes. Especially since the oven was already warm. I choose to make GF cupcakes instead of a whole cake since I can freeze them in a Tupperware and have them ready to go for B-day parties or for a special treat if someone happens to drop off cookies for our family Payson can have a GF cupcake instead. I actually made the non GF cake a German Chocolate one and used the same German Chocolate frosting on the GF cupcake for Payson. Don't freak out I did check out the label and I believe if I remember right it was Duncan Hines frosting. All I know is that it's the frosting I usually get and if I get the creamy version and not the whipped of whatever flavor it is GF. Does anyone know why whipped frosting in a can has wheat?? Anyway, It was great, everyone was happy and I have lots of cupcakes for the future. In fact we just got an invite to a Halloween Party I'm sure I'll have to send them with.

2minute GF hamburger buns!!

I know most of you are super mom's like me and occasionally you get caught without a Gluten free bun to be found. It's happened to me on the way to several ward cookouts, family BBQ's and the odd camping trip. Now there is hope ( as long as you have a this mix and a microwave).
Food Tek a company I had never heard of until I found this mix last week at Good Earth in Riverdale has saved the day!!
It's called Fast & Fresh.. from your microwave Wheat-Free Gluten- free Hamburger Bun mix.
1 bag includes 4 packs of mix(enough to make 4 sets of buns) measuring cup and mold trays. Being always the skeptic and Gluten Free Rachel Ray wanna be I thought "is it even possible to make a bun in the microwave"? OH BABY IT IS!!!! so here are the directions simplified by me:
1 open the mix pouch and put it into a cereal size bowl
2. add 4tbls + 2 tsp. of water to the mix
3. stir it with a spoon until the lumps are gone ( 10 seconds maybe)
4 pour half the batter into each mold
5. put it in the microwave for a minute and a half on high
6.turn the mold over onto a plate and add your burger or chicken pattie.

Now they aren't brown on top. they're all white kinda like an angel food cake. But, my little boy loved it and said they had a little bit of a sweet taste. I tried it and thought it kinda felt like an angel food cake in texture wasn't horrible and for something that came out of a microwave that is GF and my kid will eat. I'll take it!! It does contain milk though because they use dry milk powder but they are egg free. I think you could possibly use them for strawberry shortcakes and breakfast sandwiches. Just an idea.