My official hay ride post!

Here it is people...I have been getting a lot of views because of the hayride mention.  There is a HUGE debate in the Celiac world about this.  Every site you look at tells you something different.  Why should I not weigh in too right?  

Ok so each place does the hay differently.  Your best bet is to call the place that you want to go to and ask them if the hay ride will be Caliac friendly.  If they do not know (you might not be the first????)  then they can call the farmer that they are getting the hay from or they can provide you with the number.  Now this does several things it educates another group of people that we exist and like to have fun too and it also allows you to know if you can safely put your child on the ride.  If the farmer has something in the hay that is not Celiac friendly then the place will know next year and hopefully remember that we exist.  If you have a blog then you can tell them that you are willing to link to them if they will provide a Celiac friendly hay ride next year and ask them if they will do one first even so that there will be no cross contamination  if you have a Celiac group in your community. 

Day# Who cares!!!

This post will be about what ever happens to spew out of me at the moment so watch for falling objects.

Since it is the holidays let's start with my favorite things that people said to me about food so far. 

You can eat Whole wheat right? It says Whole

You can eat it it say all natural on it.

I bought it a the natural store just for her so I know she can eat it.  Reading the label contains dairy, Wheat, made in around machine that use rye.

I think you are making this whole thing up.

Hippy :)

 

These are just my top 5 I could write a book with all of them and I am sure you could to.  I do not find most of them offensive so I figured we would start off with a laugh.  I know I could use it.

I was reading gluten free living today trying to figure out what I wanted to make for Christmas. While I was doing this my child pinged around my head from the gluten.  I thought to myself This test could come back saying what ever it wants to but we will be GFing for the rest of this child's life.  Then I sat her on my lap and told her this, " I know you will not remember this in 2 mins and as a mother I never thought I would say this to you  but when you look for someone to marry I want you to go to the biggest Whole foods store you can find.  You walk up and down the aisles until you find a man with a buggy, not a little basket a Giant buggy  follow him if he is shopping there for to do all his cooking from there and does not have on a ring then you flirt with him.   That man my dear can afford to date you. "  She laugh and bounced off.  The sad thing is that it might be true.....     

Preparing for the biopsy....A look at how far we have come Day#4

We are on Day #4 Giving little bit some gluten each day until the biopsy on the December 8th. As all of you who have gone GF and had to go back please join me in stepping outside after this for a screaming session and GF drinks!!!!   Really though I knew Gluten did BAD things to my child and I know when she had it in her system even though we try our best to keep her in a GF environment.  I mean you can see it physically in her stomach but also all emotional changes.  Now on day 4 I sit here trying not to rip my hair out watching my child's regression in her behavior, speech, and well all of her functions. I am only on day 4 and emotionally overwhelmed.  I am shocked that I was so happy at all the positive the GF diet that I forgot all the horrible things that prolonged gluten caused her. I am exhausted from the chaos that is now my child's mood.  (ones of the sure sings she has had gluten though) I have whiplash at the speed in the breakdown of her speech, motor functions, and regression for her age.  


I look at her  behavior everyday saying this is not all her it is the gluten too.  I still make her do the things she was expected to do before.  She just spends much more time calming down in her room then before, being reminded to use her words, how to hold utensils, and now to go to the bathroom.  I go to bed each day thinking how did we live like this not knowing?  How did I have the patience to live like this all the time?    


Well this is just day #4 in our journey I am sure I will post more on this.  GL and Bless you all that are going through this right now or that are not yet diagnosed.  


Note: I have thanksgiving day pictures and info that I will share but not today 

All those that are ready for the holidays raise your hand

I used to be one of those people beaming with pride that I had almost all my shopping done (all I could do before Black Friday) I had made everything I could pre-make (sew, build, write,or make however the craft required except for food crafts).  I would be one of those people that had all the items that were not required to be fresh already bought  for both thanksgiving and the next holiday. ((( For me I celebrate Advent, St. Nicholas Day, Christmas eve, and Christmas. I have friends that celebrate nothing and ones that celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and a mixture of other beliefs all mixed together.  So I have no preference in people's beliefs but to  keep politically correct I will go with holiday. )))

I now have  little of the shopping done, nothing is handmade yet this year :o( , and my menu has gone to hell. lol   I have had one thing every year no matter what country I was in or what house I went to.  For me this one dish represented home and the holidays for me The Dressing!  When we went GF I was not worried because the 7 pieces of bread that were in it could be replaced with GF bread NP.  I am a Southern Gal after all so my Great grandma's dressing is a cornbread dressing.  Well I wanted to confirm everything even though the label lists no Gluten ingredients so I called the company.  The nice girl let me know that all of Martha white products are in fact to be considered either containing gluten or that there is a possibility of cross contamination because they do not clean the machines between products.  She then asks me if she can do anything for me. Now I knew she did not mean for me to respond to her and she was just trying find a nice way to get rid of me but my policy is never ask me a question you do not want to hear the answer to.  So I answered her  saying why yes you could help me plan a new menu for this year and ask your company to start making GF products.  Would it be so hard to clean the machines between products or buy different ones to use for GF and non GF since you will have a new set of consumers?

Oh well I am not pulled together but I thought I would give you some links to those people that are in case you are in need of anything.

gluten-free goddess - thanksgiving recipes and tips

I must say that this blogger has a well organized list.  She even has a blog roll that is VERY impressive so stop in even if you have everything planned out.  Maybe you will find something new to try.

Until we meet again Keep GF-ing

My search for the lactose intolerance and celiac answer and a bit extra

*** Note as with all medical information I share on here please ask your doctor.  I am a mom and do not know you.  Your doctor knows all your medical history and will know how any information will pertain to you*****

My daughter has lactose intolerance and I have been looking around to see if there is any possibility that she will grow out of it since it can come with the celiac disease or if she will continue to have it forever.  I am happy to say all the research that I have read has lead me to believe that there is a chance that after being on a strict GF diet for a year to two years she could grow out of it.  There is no clear answer but I did not expect one.  She could have the LI from the damage done to the villi and micro villi in her small intestines.  Once they heal (in a year -2 years) she can be retested and might be able to handle the process of breaking down lactose once more.  She might have inherited the genetic  problem to develop a shortage of Lactase from us.  

I thought anyone with CD or loved someone with CD would be glad to hear that there is hope.  Also if you have CD and have never been tested you may want to consider it.


I went to the doctor the for the "results"   So now my daughter and I both have appointments for  gastroenterology.  I also have a few other appointments I will keep you posted on.


I can't wait to get my hands on these!  I want to let my daughter try it for cereal but I also want to try making "rice crispy treats"  out of them.  I can't wait to see her face when she tries one for the first time.

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cup Cakes

So I made GF cupcake from Betty Crocker Cake Mix.  I used the vanilla mix inserted a piece of chocolate in the middle and did a strawberry frosting.

I am going to be looking for a good frosting recipe because I was putting this one back in the fridge after doing 1 or 2  cup cakes and it was still running all over the place.  If any of you are cake decorators and would like to share some of your tips and recipes PLEASE  DO!

 The recipe was followed on the back of the box but when I try this again I will be using fruit puree because they were a little dry and dried out fast there after.  They came out beautifully and my little celiac loved them.  Here are some pics.

Halloween, and a how to for home made face Paint (sorry It has been so long since I posted)

Sorry for not posting in a while I had a ton of work to do on daughter's costume, cupcakes to make,  and I now have the flu.

I Think I will do a couple of smaller posts today so that things don't get smashed together

I took my little one Trick or Treating We starting having the talk of this is the one time you can take food from someone and not ask if it is GF.  Take it and put it in the bucket we will go through what you have when you get home and what is not GF we will replace with GF candy. We had this conversation MANY TIMES.  She also asked every so many house to make sure that she would still get candy and could not eat any yet.  She is only 3 years old though so the fact that she ate no candy and only asked a couple of houses, "Is this Gluten Free?" left me proud.




We had pre-bought GF candy that she liked and replaced it with what she had gotten when she was not looking.

I found this recipe that you may be able to try out during the year and use next year hope it helps.  


***Please note this is not my recipe, I have not tried it yet, and the author's name is at the bottom***

Make your own Halloween Face Paint (I prefer to use commercially available products purchased AFTER the holiday, however)
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. water
1/2 tsp. cold cream (supposedly this keeps the food coloring from permanently coloring the skin)
1 to 2 drops food coloring
In a small bowl, combine water and cornstarch. Mix in cold cream. Add food coloring.



This is my latest recommendation. We have a box in the house right now as a matter of fact and we can eat it straight out of the box it is that good.  My daughter is having cereal for the first time in her life and loving it.  So go grab a box near you.