Sometimes being gluten free isn't easy. We all have questions. This is a place to ask and answer and help each other through this gluten free battle.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

A Quick Dinner Idea



Tonight for dinner we needed something quick and that we could eat on our way to small group at Confluence Church (confluencechurch.org). I wanted to do stuffed peppers but that would be impossible to eat in the car, so I modified it to "Stuffed Peppers On-The-Go". Here's what I did...

1 lb. Jimmy Dean Original Sausage browned (yep, it's GF! Love!)
2 c. cooked quinoa
2 whole green peppers chopped into bite size pieces
2 whole onions chopped into small pieces
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes (or you can use fresh tomatoes... I just didn't have any)
1 cup water
Chili Powder to taste
Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a skillet and cook until green pepper is tender! Enjoy your super tasty, super easy meal!

Have a great day!

Sam

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Maybe, just maybe...

I think I finally have it down. I'm finally to the point of my gluten free experience that I'm not constantly thinking about being gluten free. I'm not constantly paranoid about touching this or breathing that. I'm not constantly in fear of accidently having some tiny morsel of gluten sneak past my guard dogs. (Speaking of guard dogs... I need one. Check this out--http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/pets/dogs/2011-01-11-pettalk11_ST_N.htm)

I'm pretty pleased with where I am. I've been GF for 9 months now. And honestly, I haven't felt better in such a long time! I feel so blessed that I got my diagnosis so quickly and got on the road to recovery so fast. Granted, I was derailed by the Claddagh Irish Pub in Plainfield, IN when they served me a dish that claimed to be gluten free. It turned out to be not even close to GF. So, we're fighting but only because I don't want other people to get sick. However, I'm thrilled with where I am.

Recently, I started taking a probiotic called Align. (http://www.aligngi.com) I'm on week two of taking the pill and it's helped my digestion SO MUCH! And I think it's helped my lactose issues get a little better... which is always good. I love cheese far too much to be lactose intolerant! If you have Celiac and are still having GI upsets look into Align. It takes a week or two for it to really get good... my sis said 3... but after a few days I was already starting to experience healing! Gotta love that!

In other news, the Packers won. My husband is a HUGE Packers fan so, since my beloved Colts are out, I've been rooting for his Pack. It takes me back to a few years ago when the Packers beat the Colts and I lost a bet. I had to dress in Packers junk for an entire day. It was terrible! Here's a pic to show you just how terrible.



I'll post later in the week with some new recipes I've discovered! :)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

I don't miss gluten a bit-- but sometimes I crave it.

You know. As hard as the gluten free life style is sometimes, I don't miss gluten one bit. Now, I must clarify, that doesn't mean that I don't sometimes wish I could swing into a McD's and pick up a burger and fries. It does mean that it no longer consumes my thoughts. HA! Maybe that sounds pathetic, but you should try giving up your guilty pleasure. Sometimes, it sneaks back it. Also, I should clarify that I will NEVER knowingly ingest gluten to satisfy a craving. It's not worth it.

So, when that delicious looking McD's commercial pops on the television and we're left salivating, how do we handle the cravings? Well, here's what I do. I choose to focus on the positive things rather than dwelling on "if I ate that I'd be in SO much pain" all the time. Doing that will definitely get you down. First, I think about how I can totally make something that tastes even better than McD's AND (bonus!) it's healthier! Next, I think about how much money I save by saying no to all those enticing ads. (My husband loves this one in particular) Finally, I think about why I want that burger? What need will it satisfy? Hunger? Not really. Pleasure? Nope. Happiness? Hardly. Shoot, I don't even need that McD's!

Now, if only I could apply this principle to why I should use my new running shoes for more than running to the mail box...

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Who ever said Celiac's had to miss out on the delicious holiday food?





Before the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years) I was in a near panic over all the great foods and traditions I would be missing out on. No delicious Hilligoss rolls, no pie (my MIL makes an AWESOME apple pie-- my fave), no traditional white choc. chex mix, no chocolate covered Oreos, etc. I was so upset about all the things I would have to miss that I forgot to look at all the recipes I could try out and all the great gluten free food that could easily fill these holes in the delicious menu. Until a few weeks before Thanksgiving. My MIL and I worked to make the ENTIRE meal (minus the pie-- I couldn't ask the in-laws to give that delicious stuff up, nor would I want to) gluten free! And it was DELICIOUS! We changed some things in her scalloped corn recipe to make it GF, I made GF cornbread stuffing, we used GF flour to make the gravy, and I made a GF red velvet cake for my dessert (I wasn't the only one who ate it though!). Otherwise, everything was a piece of cake for T-day! And so delicious!
Then Christmas rolled around. This was our first Christmas since getting married at my parent's house, a house so full of memories and tradition-- thus sending me into yet another small panic. However, a little planning and experimenting resulted in a weekend of fabulous gluten free food for all!
Christmas Eve: My family always does "snacky" foods on Christmas Eve. You know, chips and dips, potato skins, pizza rolls, cheese sticks, meatballs, shrimp cocktail, hot dogs and Vienna sausages in bbq sauce, veggie trays, etc. A few weeks before Christmas I started researching and planning and came up with some great GF alternatives to almost all of these things! It worked like a charm.
Here are a few recipes of things I made that night...
Homemade BBQ Meatballs: (SO easy) 2 lbs. ground beef or turkey. Flax seed to thicken. Garlic Powder. Onion Powder. Rolled into balls and baked on a foil lined sheet for 20 min. Cover in Sweet Baby Ray's Honey bbq, add half a jar of grape jelly (yeah, weird but so good!), season with garlic, onion, salt and pepper to taste, ENJOY.
Cheesy Bacon Dip and Tostitos: One brick of reduced fat cream cheese, one cup Helman's Mayo, one cup GF sour cream, one cup (or to taste) Moz. Cheese, 1/4 cup Parm. cheese, Bacon tidbits-- Eat with Tostitos or GF crackers
Homemade Potato Skins: Boil potatoes until they are slightly more firm than for mashed potatoes, cut in half, scoop out center, fill with cheese, bacon and green onion, serve with sour cream and salsa.
Christmas dinner was at my Granny's house. At first she wasn't sure about how gluten free would work but everything turned out great! So great in fact that my aunt and uncle admitted they had thought I was starving because I can't eat gluten-- but boy were they wrong! We ate a delicious meal of rump roast, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, scalloped corn, watergate salad, and lettuce salad with red velvet cake for dessert. YUM!
New Years Eve was another situation entirely. Rob and I decided to have a whole bunch of friends over for a NYE party. I was pretty excited to try out some new recipes in cookbooks I had received for Christmas. We had the meatballs again, spinach and artichoke dip (HUGE hit), cheesecake with a GF chocolate chip cookie crust, margarita pie (with some Jose Cuervo), turkey roll ups (a Rob creation), and a homemade devil's food chocolate cake for a friend's birthday. Needless to say, I don't think anyone missed gluten too much that night!

I hope you had a great holiday too. I've developed a new appreciation for Celiac Disease. It allows me to be creative and flex my "cooking" muscles a little bit. I've always loved to cook and being gluten free has provided me with a unique opportunity to experiment and enjoy being a little different!

If you want any other recipes let me know. I'm totally up for sharing! Good things are meant to be passed around!

Peace!