More Shocking Items

Ok this upset me tonight but it also made me really think about all the crap we put in our bodies that we really do not realize.

Today I made a recipe for Egg Fo(Fuu) Young with gravy. Ok not bad in itself... eggs, shrimp, bamboo, soy sprouts, mushrooms and for seasoning some dry sherry, pepper and salt. Nothing in there to be a bother.

Now comes that gravy. It's also made from scratch and that isn't the problem. In all you'd also figure it to be a "safe" food. Chicken stock, some fish/oyster sauce, dry sherry, soy sauce and some corn starch to thicken it all.

Here comes the kicker.... the fish sauce is just that... fish stuff, the chicken stock I make from cubes so that is ok. Then me and my husband the night after making this looked at a bottle of believe it or not, BBQ sauce that I put on his dinner tonight (bare with me, this has a point). I was going to put some on mine but had enough sense to read the label before pouring it all over my chicken... sure enough it has wheat in it. Now that I kind of expected but what does BBQ sauce have to do with the above... well the whole fact is the part of the BBQ sauce that had wheat in it was the SOY SAUCE!

OMG.... so with that I took out the bottle of the soy sauce I used in the gravy and sure enough WHEAT! *GROWL*

Now I had this meal last night and I liked it so much I had some more today. Last night it was a meal so I didn't eat nearly enough to give me a problem by the next day but today it was just taking a bit here and there as my 'food thoughout the day. I didn't eat anything else and sure enough tonight I have my normal 'you ate something with wheat in it' feeling. Heavy tummy, coldish, a bit of pain in the tummy area, a bit of a problem breathing due to the heaviness.

So please.... watch EVERYTHING you put in your food. Even things as simple as soy sauce can cause problems because sure enough it has the 1 thing we're trying to stay away from!

Tired and Down

Well I guess this would be my official 'I'm tired of this diet' spot of this whole thing. I'm sure we all get it and I know I'll get over it but *growl* I hate this really at this point. The biggest time that I hate it is every week when I have to buy bread for my husband's lunches. The sweets and such aren't a problem really since I can make things to substitute them with but I REALLY miss a good piece or 2 of BREAD! Ok now I know there are gluten-free breads out there but most of them really suck around here. They don't have a bite to them, they tend to have quite a funky flavor compared to a good white/wheat bread with gluten and then to top it all off, they fall apart the minute you bite into them.

I have found a good raisin/hazelnut bread that makes some really good ham/cheese sandwiches but that I think is due to all the extra stuff in it over powering the 'off taste' of it all. I will be getting some tomorrow so here is hoping it'll make my mood better.... but I still can't help but want to sit down to an entire loaf of bread with any thing I can put on them from peanut butter to turkey slices to cheese.... but I will resist as I always do because I know that even just 1 bite of a piece of bread will put me into pain and discomfort for 3days or more straight.

I hope you all out there are doing better. Tomorrow I'll post some new recipes.

Recipe - Lemon Meringue Pie

I just made this tonight. I haven't tasted it all together but I did taste the lemon part of it and it was just to die for so I thought I'd add it as another recipe for you all :)

This recipe is a pretty intense and time consuming. It requires your to make a crust by first crushing GF cookies, then a lemon curd for the pie itself that has to be cooked and then to top it all off you need to make meringue and bake it all! So prepare yourself to spend about an hour on making this dessert but I assure you, if your a lemon lover like my husband and I, it's worth every minute spent!

GF Lemon Meringue Pie

Cookie Crust
1 3/4 cup finely crushed GF cookies (light lemon flavored work really well)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

Lemon Filling
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh from 2 - 3 lemons)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Meringue Topping
1/2 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions – Crust
Make sure your cookies are crushed as fine as you can get them. Your looking to make a crust similar to a graham cracker crust but without the gluten remember.

Mix together cookie crumbs and sugar until well combined. Mix in melted butter until all of the cookie crumb mixture is moist.

Dump into a 9-inch pie plate and with hands, press it down firmly and up the sides to form a crust. Set aside for now until rest of pie is made.

Directions - Lemon Filling
Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a large, nonreactive saucepan.

Add egg yolks, then immediately but gradually whisk in 1 1/2 cups water.

Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking regularly, 8- 10 minutes, until thickened.

Remove from heat, whisk in zest, then juice, and finally butter.

Keep warm until meringue is made (if heated correctly and you know how to make meringue already this should stay warm by itself)

Meringue topping: Mix cornstarch and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan.

Bring to a simmer, whisking continuously until thickened. Stirring all the time will prevent the eggs from cooking and turning into lumps.

Remove from heat and set aside but remember to make sure it stays warm or it will thicken completely before getting it into your crust.

Direction - Meringue
Preheat oven to 325.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together 1/2 sugar and egg whites until soft and glossy.

Add vanilla and continue to beat until mixture is VERY lightly, very airy and leaves high stiff peaks when you pull the beaters from it.

Assembly and Baking

Pour warm lemon filling into pie crust.

Distribute meringue evenly over the top, starting with the edges and working inward

Make sure it attaches to the crust or outside rim of the pie plate. This will prevent the meringue from shrinking off the sides and not covering the pie while it bakes.

Lifting with the back of the spoon, create peaks in the meringue. You can also choose to do much smaller peaks with your finger instead.

Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Cool completely before serving.

Recipe - Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

No I don't bake EVERY day but this is also a change from making a dessert recipe. I am sitting here while I make dinner. I made these and just took the first batch out and for being completely gluten free biscuits, they are GREAT! However, the recipe calls for 2cups GF flour and I ended up using almost 2 3/4 cups GF flour. My suggestion is start with the 2 cups and add 1/4cup at a time, stirring completely between each one to judge whether or not you need more. The mixture should be think, sticky and moist. You should be able to spoon it by large soup spoons onto a cookie sheet without it 1. dripping or 2. falling off the spoon. It should be sticky enough to stay ON the spoon with ease.

This recipe was found at Gluten Freeda

GF Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients

2 to 2-3/4 cups gf flour
2-1/2 teaspoons gf baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cup finely grated Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup fresh chives, minced
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Whisk together 2 cups gf flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add pieces of butter and cut into dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two knives, until the largest pieces are the size of peas and the rest about the texture of cornmeal. Add finely grated cheddar cheese and mix until incorporated into flour mixture.

Add milk, beaten eggs and oil all at once. Mix with a wooden spoon until dry ingredients are well moistened. The batter should be moist and sticky, if not add extra flour 1/4cup at a time, mixing completely between each time to judge the if you need more flour or not. The batter should stick to the spoon and not fall off as you transfer it to your baking sheet. Spoon large spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet, spacing biscuits about 2 inches apart. Bake about 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.

Serve immediately or if you are like me, place them in a warming biscuit basket until they are all completely baked and then serve with your dinner while they are still warm.

Do You Like Pizza?

I guess another one that comes to mind is those that love pizza and are now thinking, 'Do I really have to give up pizza?!'. Well yes and no really.

Yes but strictly to store/frozen bought or restaurant style pizza. Most of these will be made with white flour which contains gluten and that is what your trying to avoid. I do not know about the USA but here in Belgium, there are no pre-made pizza frozen or fresh that are gluten free.

No is because there is in NO reason that you can't settle down to enjoy a pizza that you make yourself! All the toppings you like, pizza sauce, olives, mushrooms, peppers, sausage and more! Even all the cheese you like. The only thing is to make sure that any items you want to add to your pizza are gluten free... some of the ingredients you will have to look closer at are any of the sausage you put on (even the raw butcher style Italian sausage to make sure they don't put bread crumbs in it for filler and the pepporoni since it's a pre-made sausage) and the cheese because there are some out there that add thickening agents to them and 99% of the time it's gluten based. Also be careful of the sauces... most tomato/pizza/spaghetti sauces don't have gluten in them but a lot of the cream based or cheese based sauces do. Just do some label reading before you add the ingredient to your pizza base.

Please remember when putting your ingredients on that when making home made pizza, any raw meats that you wish to put on it, such as Italian sausage from the butcher, MUST be fried/cooked before putting it on your pizza. Home made pizza with freshly made crusts will not cook long enough to cook raw meat. Either that or you will try to cook it long enough that the sausage might be cooked but the rest of the pizza will be burnt. Just use some common sense.

Now, I'm sure you are all asking 'What about the crust... isn't it made with white flour?'. In this case no. There are several pre-made gluten free crusts out there that you can buy but none of them will match up to making your own! Below are a couple of recipes that you can follow. The first one is a 'rising' version that does not need hours to allow the yeast in it to raise but does need about 20mins to 30mins and the second one is a no time to raise type. I'm sure one or the other will make your pizza party night a weekly occurrence!

The first recipe is from my all trusted recipe site http://www.glutenfreeda.com but I do not remember where I found the second one.

'Let Rise' GF Pizza Dough

Ingredients

3/4 cup warm water (105-115°F)
1 Tablespoon sugar
2-1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
2 cups gf flour
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1-1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
Extra olive oil for forming dough

Directions

In a small bowl combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Stir and proof for about 5 minutes or until foamy.

Mix gf flour and salt in work-bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with a paddle.

Add 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil to proofed yeast. Pour yeast mixture into flour mixture and mix on medium speed for 6-7 minutes. The dough should be soft enough to cling to the sides of the bowl. If it is too stiff, add warm water, 2 tablespoons at a time until dough softens.

Turn dough out onto a greased pizza pan. Drizzle dough with olive oil and rub your hands with a little olive oil. Press dough into an even layered circle, creating a little lip around outer edges. If it starts to stick to your hands rub your hands with a little more olive oil.

Cover pizza crust with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F Bake pizza crust for 7 minutes. Remove from oven (keep oven on).

Place your toppings on and bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly browned in spots. Let cool briefly, about 5 minutes. Slice and serve

'No Rise' GF Pizza Dough

Ingredients

1/2 teasp Dried Yeast Granules
240ml/8fl.oz. Warm Water
1 teasp Sugar
100g/4oz Rice Flour
75g/3oz Cornflour
1 tbsp Potato Flour
1 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 teasp Salt
Extra oil for greasing

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in half of the warm water, add sugar and mix well. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220C, 425F, Gas Mark 7 and lightly oil a large pizza pan. Prepare the toppings for the pizza.

Place the remaining dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, add the yeast mixture and mix well, adding the remaining water a little at a time until it is the consistency of a very thick batter.

Pour the dough into the centre of the prepared pizza pan and spread around evenly. Bake at the top of the oven for 5 minutes until lightly set.

Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 190C, 375F, Gas Mark 5.

Add the toppings of your choice to the pizza. Return to the oven and continue to bake for a further 15-20 minutes.

Good-Bye Pasta?!?!

Not on your LIFE! I know it seems as though you have to give up your most loved foods because you have to leave out all the pastas, breads, pastries and so forth but you couldn't be farther from the truth!

This thought was the first thought that went through my mind.... 'But pasta is one of my most favorite foods!! Now I have to give it up?!'. Well as said before, you don't need to give up some of your favorite foods, you just need to know what to buy or how to make them!

I've tried a few different 'gluten free' pastas and have found 1 that I can make almost any warm pasta dish from and happy that I can. It's spaghetti made from corn flour instead of wheat flour. It's a bit thicker then your normal spaghetti but in no means tastes any different, specially if your adding sauces and more to it.

I've also tried spiral rice pasta but did not like the over all 'different' taste to it. I am still in search for a decent shaped pasta that I can make cold dishes from like Tuna Pasta Salad or the like. But for a hot dish, I highly suggest the spaghetti pasta made from corn!

Recipe - Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

I'm in love! LOL and also in hell if you can believe that. I made this recipe last night but when I came down to what was all in it, the calorie and fat count would kill a horse! There are 5eggs, 1 stick butter, 225grams chocolate, almost a cup of peanut butter, almost a cup of sour cream, 200grams cream cheese and even on top of all that calories and fat it has 1/4 cup oil. So needless to say although a GREAT recipe, it's also one you should make if you are feeding 4/5/6 people from it and also only plan to eat 1 piece at a time.

This recipe is a bit time consuming because you have to make a "middle peanut butter cream" and then also have to melt chocolate and so forth. Allow yourself some preparing time if you are going to make this recipe.

The original recipe can be found at Gludenfreeda

GF Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Cream:
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 pound cream cheese
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/3 cup sour cream

Chocoalte Peanut Butter Brownie:
1 stick, (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2/3 cup gf flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1-1/2 cups sugar
5 large eggs
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup peanuts, walnuts, pecans or roasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions

Prepare peanut butter cream:
Using an electric mixture beat peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to beat for 1 minute. Add egg yolk. Continue beating on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl again and add the sour cream. Beat for another minute. Stir the bowl with a rubber spatula. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Lightly grease a 9"x13"x2" baking pan with butter. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Lightly coat the top of the paper with more butter. Set aside.

Sift together gf flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

Melt 1 stick of unsalted butter with bittersweet chocolate in the top half of a double boiler. Set aside and let cool.

Using an electric mixer beat sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for 5 minutes or until mixture has thickened and is pale in color. Add melted chocolate; beating on medium speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add the dry ingredients; mix until incorporated. Add peanut butter, sour cream, vegetable oil and vanilla extract; mix until combined.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread evenly to the edges of the pan. Spoon peanut butter cream over the top. Use an off-set spatula to spread evenly to the edges of the pan. Pour the remaining brownie batter over the peanut butter cream. Spread brownie mixture evenly to the edges of the pan. Swirl the brownie mixture by dipping the flat blade of a dinner knife into the batter to the bottom of the pan. Lift the blade of the knife out of the batter and fold over like the roll of a wave. Repeat about 10 times throughout the batter in the pan. Smooth out any airpockets. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove the brownie from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Invert the brownie onto a clean, board or rack. Remove parchment. Turn brownie right-side-up, cut into squares and serve.

Is Celiac Disease/Wheat Intolerance Cureable?

I'm sorry to say that the answer to the above question is... no. There is no cure for this disease but you don't have to let it RUN your life! This disease will not kill you but can and does for 1000's make their lives very unpleasant.

Read labels, get back to basics with your cooking, don't eat pre-made items unless they are clearly marked GLUTEN FREE. Watch out for wheat, white flour, wheat flour, barley and the like.

As you've seen from just the few posts that I have done so far, I have even stopped buying store made desserts and now make my own. It's trial and error really on that part but so far almost all the recipes I've made, I've liked and a few I've even loved.

I'm learning slowly but in the end I believe that I will be able to stop label reading all together because I will know what foods are and aren't on my list of 'able to eat' foods. Just as though you were trying to do a low far or low sugar diet... this diet is no different, just trying to cut something different out.

Keep it going, stay strong and remember, although you can never get rid of it, you can control it! Also please remember even just the smallest amount of something wheat wise, will not allow your body to heal. Don't revert, don't take on the pain and discomfort if you have found that cutting wheat from your diet has improved your quality of life!

Recipe - Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

OMG I just got done making these WONDERFUL little pieces of heaven! My house smells of fresh baked Macaroons and I'm still at it! The recipe below made for me just a bit less then 3 dozen cookies. It also tells how to chocolate dip them but I found this recipe works just as well on it's own without doing the chocolate. Dipping them in chocolate just means you make a different variation of the cookie, in this case not making them better or worse, just different.

The original recipe can be found at Gludenfreeda

GF Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

Ingredients

4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups coconut
1/2 cup gf flour
1 cup dark gf chocolate

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

With an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add vanilla and mix well. Add powdered sugar gradually, beating after every addition. Beat until stiff and glossy. Fold in coconut and flour, mixing well.

Drop batter from a teaspoon onto a buttered and floured cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Melt chocolate slowly in a double boiler over boiling water. Water should not touch pan.

Dip tips of cooled macaroons in chocolate and place on waxed or parchment paper to set.

Be Careful Of Premade Sausages

There are SOOOOO many things out there that can and DO container wheat, flour and so forth that it's just not funny any more. So here is today's warning/thought.

I went shopping yesterday and bought a package of 3 "bite sized" sausage snacks. Chorizo (mexian sausage with a bit of spice), pure pork bites and something called Camembert but I have no idea what exactly that is with exception that it also involved pork.
Why do I warn about pre-made sausages. Well as we all know, most of the world works on the "the more money we make the better" thought. That holds so true for meats as well. To keep the price down and the supply up, most sausage makers put in some sort of wheat. Many put breading of some sort into the meat mixture to make up the bulk of the sausage.

I had some of these sausages yesterday and sure enough by the end of the day I have those really uncomfortable 'heavy' feelings in my stomach and didn't feel well at all. I suspect these to be the problem because the 2 pork sausages have something 'white' over them. When I read the ingredients it doesn't mention flour but I suspect they don't mention what is on the "skin". Either that or it's milk powder (listed in the ingredients) but some how doubt that as well. And it isn't salt!

So with that test done, please be careful on what pre-packaged sausages you buy. If you have a fresh butcher that you trust, you can ask them in advance to make you some fresh sausages without any added wheat, flours or breading. Tell them you have Celiac Disease or are wheat intolerant (most know it this way and not by the medical name) and that it's a MUST that there is NO wheat in it or that it's even come close to wheat around it. Most will be glad to do this but do expect it to take a couple of days at least and that it will end up costing more then their already made sausages.

Recipe - Baked Potato Soup

Here is a great soup that is so thick and filling, it's all you really need for a nice hot and filling dinner on a cold winter's night. Remember, I only post recipes that I have actually tried and found to be good so they are more then worth trying yourself. I actually prefer this recipe without the bacon pieces. It's great with just the bit of extra cheese and green onion sprinkled over the top of the cup or bowl that you take.

GF Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

1-1/4 pounds baking potatoes
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons gf flour
3 cups milk
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup green onions, divided
3 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake for 1 hour or until tender. Let cool. When cool, peel potatoes and coarsely mash; discarding skins. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; whisk in gf flour and cook until combined. Slowly add milk, whisking constantly until blended. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thick and bubbly, about 8-10 minutes. Add mashed potatoes and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Adjust seasonings to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in sour cream and half the green onions. Return saucepan to low heat and cook for 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not let boil). To serve, sprinkle each serving with crumbled bacon and remaining cheese and green onions.

Recipe - Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Tonight started another adventure of baking because I wanted something sweet. Tonight's recipe is, as stated above, Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting.

I give this recipe a 7 out of 10. It could be a bit shorter on the baking time but it isn't bad once it's done! This ended up being a bit dry so even though you think you might have too much frosting in the end, trust me, you'll want to add it all.

The original recipe can be found at Gludenfreeda

GF Lemon Poppy-Seed Cake

Ingredients

2 cups gf flour
1-1/2 teaspoons gf baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups sugar
6 ounces gf cream cheese
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1/8 cup poppy seeds
2 Tablespoon lemon zest
1-1/2 teaspoons gf vanilla flavoring

2 ounces gf cream cheese
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Lightly grease/butter a 9-inch tube pan.

For the cake:
In a medium bowl, combine gf flour, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat 1-1/2 cups sugar, 6 ounces gf cream cheese, and 1/2 cup unsalted butter until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture, and beat at low speed until just combined. Fold in poppy seeds, 1 tablespoon lemon zest and gf vanilla.

Spoon batter into a lightly greased tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan, on wire rack, for about 10 minutes, then remove cake and allow to cool completely on wire rack.

For the frosting:
Beat remaining gf cream cheese, butter and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until just combined. If frosting is too thick, add water until desired consistancy. Spread frosting over cooled cake.

Symptoms Of Celiac Disease/Wheat Intolerance

Thought since I started in on all of this that I would make a list of symptoms that are associated with this disease. Please do not under go ANY diet without first checking with your doctor for your own good. I did this diet without the doctor because I don't like the tests involved but I also remembered to factor in vitamins, different forms of whole grains that I could eat without a problem and making sure I took in extra nutrition/calories that I wouldn't be eating due to cutting out all bread, cakes, candies, sweets, pastries, pastas and so forth.

I now eat gluten free crackers (found them to taste the best of the stuff I'm offered out here), make my own pie crusts and desserts with gluten free flour and stuff like that to replace what I'm loosing. If you are of a normal weight, please keep track of your calories on doing this!! I'm over weight by a lot and because of that I don't have to worry too much about a bit of loose in calories but if you are normal weight, you could be cutting your calories to much lower then your body needs and that will cause a lot of other problems. Again, I highly suggest talking to a doctor before!

Symptoms of a wheat allergy or wheat intolerance (not exhaustive by any means):

• Arthritis
• Bloated stomach
• Chest pains
• Depression or mood swings
• Diarrhoea
• Eczema
• Feeling dizzy or faint
• Joint and muscle aches and pains
• Nausea or vomiting
• Palpitations
• Psoriasis
• Skin rashes
• Sneezing
• Suspected irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)/similar effects
• Swollen throat or tongue
• Tiredness and lethargy
• Unexplained cough
• Unexplained runny nose
• Watery or itchy eyes

If you do suffer from more then 5 of the items listed below, go see your doctor and tell her about what you have read! Demand you be tested for this disease and don't just let them think it's something else. *1* test (sometimes even just as simple as blood test) can show whether or not you have this and can start treating it right away! If you do have it, you will start to feel better within *1 week* of starting a new gluten free diet as long as it's stuck to 100%

My Adventure

So here is my story.... if any one else has their own story about their fight with Celiac Disease, please post!

Not going to get into the "I was born" stuff but since 2001 I have lived in the wonderful country of Belgium. I moved here to be with the man who is now my husband. At this point I didn't think anything was 'wrong' with me... in fact it wasn't until about a year ago that I started to really show any problems or signs of having this disease. Most DON'T show anything to the effect of this disease and in fact that is what makes it so hard to get the proper treatment because there are many that are told the have something like IBA (irritable bowel syndrome).

A bit more then a year ago, I started having this really bad 'I've eaten too much' feeling no matter how much I did or didn't eat. It was horrible. Stomach pains that were sometimes so intense that I was unable to sleep or rest comfortably, having to use the bathroom 3/4/5 times a day for '#2', getting to the point of feeling as though I was going to be sick and to top it all off the worse sight of my stomach bloating (you could actually SEE it doing this from the outside) not to mention the feel of it. Every time I ate something that had wheat of some sort in it, my stomach would bloat and actually make it physically bigger. I hated what was happening.

When I really started to hate what was happening and didn't want to live the way I had been for the rest of my life, I started to wonder what was actually wrong with me. My first thoughts were that perhaps I had an ulcer (hole in the stomach lining) because of a pain injection I take for migraine headaches (which is another symptom of Celiac Disease) and then worse fears went into my head such as gull bladder stuff and so forth.

What REALLY triggers this next thought was actually a TV program I saw... it was one of those 'lets help them be healthier' shows where they put a team together to help with eating better and loosing weight and film it. Well on this one it was a team of 2 doctors... they took picture of different areas of the guys body... things like this tongue, face/skin, belly and so forth. One of the things mentioned when they were looking at the first set of photos (the before photos) was that it looked as though he was getting too much yeast and such.

Later in that program (watched the whole thing) they found out that he was wheat intolerant! OMG what an idea! I started to search right after the show on what symptoms could be on this and I almost fainted. I found a list that mentioned like a dozen things, all of which I suffered from with exception of sever skin rashes (but I did have some nasty pimples). So from that day forward, I started experimenting.

That is where I am today.... I started going to a shop here called "Bio Shop". It is mainly just that, a bio store that sells all natural stuff from household products for cleaning to organic bread to eggs. This store also offered a fairly good selection of Gluten Free products. I stocked up on things from there to test for 2 things... taste being the highest and then how it helped me feel.

After about 2weeks of going gluten free, I started to feel better. The biggest improvement I found was that I wasn't feeling that 'over full' feeling any more... what a relief. What else is that my migraines almost vanished. I was getting one every few weeks and even went to a doctor specialized in them... just to tell me that I was too over excited and crap like that. Since the last visit with him and the start of my new diet have had *1* migraine that I have had to take a shot for... what another relief!

I'm now about 3 months into the new diet. I feel great, I don't sleep until 10/11/12 anymore, I get up feeling full of energy and loving it! I have more energy then I know what to do with most times, I cook full healthy meals and even bake my own desserts with gluten free flour. My skin is clearing up as long as I leave my hands off my face, I'm loosing some weight, my bones/joints don't ache nearly as much any more, I sleep better when I go to bed, I feel tired at night rather then at 3am in the morning, I'm in a better mood most days compared to the bitchiness I use to have all the time and I don't have problems with constantly changing bowl movements (sorry has to be said since it is a problem with the disease as well). There are just so many things about what this diet has done for me that just words are in no way able to tell you!

Now there are days that either I miss in the label that there was a wheat product in something I eat or just gave into temptation to have one of my most loved and missed foods.... those days and the next 2 or 3 after are just pure murder. The food you are eating that has wheat in it, better be REALLY worth it. I suffer for up to 3 days later when I eat wheat. Even if it's just a bit in something like salad dressing to 'thicken it'. So now I just try to stay away from it, although when I do loose around another 20kilo (about 45pounds) I am going to celebrate. I would really like to pig out on Pizza Hut pizza (my favorite) but I might decide that I feel so good and don't want to have a problem later, that I very well might make my own pizza with what I want on it.

I'll be posting again soon with some information that will shock you. Stuff about what foods and so forth I can eat on this diet. Please remember for those reading from other countries, I do live in Belgium so when posting about certain products that you might not be able to find them over in the stores by you. Also, if people know of a good online store that is specially for gluten free and will ship internationally, POST IT! I'm always on the look out for this!

What Is Celica Disease Or Wheat Intolerance??

Celiac Disease or Wheat Intolerance (sensitivity) is in it's own definition simple.... it means that your body can not handle/digest anything with wheat/gluten.

Wheat is not naturally digested. Our bodies (even those not intolerant to it) aren't able to digest it properly. Those with Celica have an even worse problem to it then normal. They actually ruin the lining of their intestines but it can be corrected over a period of time when eating a healthy and VERY strict no wheat/gluten diet.

Please see the couple of videos below for a better explanation on exactly what this disease is and what happens when you have it.

I'll be posting often in here as I come across things in my daily life that are associated with this disease and don't forget all the (I hope) wonderful recipes from baking, cooking, saute', frying, battering and more that I'll be posting!

A few YouTube videos on Celica Disease.....

YouTube - Celiac Disease #1

YouTube - Celiac Disease #2

YouTube - Celiac Disease #3

Welcome

Hello everyone out there that is reading this. I have decided that I wanted to keep a bigger picture of the diet I now have to follow... no wheat/gluten. It's not that hard of a diet but it does mean a lot of extra time spent doing what you really take for granted... label reading.

I'm Jami... a lot of people though know me on the web as a BBW (big beautiful women) and by the name Curvy Kitty. I'm an adult web model which means I also do a lot of nude/sexual stuff for my website. I have to be open about that since a lot of people want to know who I am as a person when they read my stuff.

I'm starting this blog to....
1. Keep track of the new diet
2. Let my fans/members know what is going on with me real life
3. Perhaps toss some valuable information out to those to suffer from Celica or Wheat Intolerance
4. Post videos if I can from grocery shopping trips, eating out and so forth
5. Post great recipes that I will come back to make time and time again w/ photos.

I'm sure there are a lot more reason in the future for this blog but I hope to see it grow and to have people post in it with their questions, ideas or even their own diet. Hope to see you all here!