Guest Post: Dana (Home*School*Home), My New Gluten-Free Life

August 18, 2010 · Filed Under diagnosis, discussion, easy, gluten free · 24 Comments 

Dana blogs at Home*School*Home. She is a medical trancriptionist and mom of 3 who lives in Kentucky.  She has been gluten free for 8 months and feels like a brand new person! Read the rest of her story to find about her personal journey to being gluten free and finding this “brand new person” within herself.

I was in college when I started feeling overwhelmingly exhausted and aching all over.  I began to go back to the dorm to take naps between classes.  I went to the doctor back then but really didn’t get any answers.  I just coped with it the best I could. I had to take a nap every day.  I’d get up in the morning and be okay for a while but by 2:00-3:00 p.m. each day, I’d be exhausted, aching all over with a foggy feeling in my head and pretty much always a headache to go with it.  I almost constantly had to go to the bathroom to urinate and would feel pain and pressure in my bladder even when I didn’t have to go.  My joints would ache.   Over the years I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, depression, Raynaud’s phenomenon, bursitis (of all my joints at the same time!)  restless legs, anemia and chronic fatigue syndrome.  At one point I was so anemic that my hemoglobin was 8 when the normal range is 12-14 and I was dizzy and weak and lightheaded.  I have not, to this day, been diagnosed with celiac disease because I decided to skip testing and just try the diet.  I kind of regret that but I don’t want to go back on gluten to be tested. 

Despite feeling exhausted all the time, I managed to have a life.  I got married and had 3 kids.  I continued to work and have homeschooled my kids. I’m fortunate that my husband and kids were very patient and tolerant of my need to nap.  I also worked at home as a medical transcriptionist so my job was flexible.   Sometimes I would be so exhausted; I would have to lie down during my work shift!  If I couldn’t nap for some reason, I had to take Tylenol and caffeine and just try to deal with it, but it wasn’t easy.  I planned everything around getting to sleep in the afternoon.  I homeschooled the kids in the morning, slept in the afternoon, worked 4 hours in the evening and then went to bed absolutely exhausted.

After more than 20 years of feeling exhausted and in pain pretty much all the time, I happened upon an article about a link between fibromyalgia and gluten intolerance.   I didn’t know if I believed it, but I felt that it might be worth a try. I started doing internet searches for gluten.  I started reading everything that I could about gluten, the symptoms and the diet.  Now I have always been overweight and I have never been able to stay on a diet.  Most of my diet efforts in the past would start on Monday morning and be over by Monday afternoon, but I kept reading.  I started thinking about what kinds of things I could eat and what I’d need to stop eating.  I found the Gluten Free Easily site in the first few weeks. I was comforted to know that I could make foods that would be gluten free and would taste good.  This was in November of last year and I was thrilled to read the turkey and surprise stuffing recipes.  I felt like I could really do this diet, and maybe not feel deprived.  

I jumped in.  I messed up a few times.  One time I was at McDonald’s and had already ordered when my daughter said “Mom, doesn’t that have gluten in it?”  There were other times when I forgot to read labels or just thought I would risk it, but finally, I managed to stay gluten free for one day, then two, then after a week had elapsed, I realized that I was already feeling a lot better.  I decided to stay with it and despite my dismal dieting history, I was able to stay with it.   It was easier to stay on this diet than any other because the reward of feeling better was so great.   This past February we were on vacation and I decided just to go ahead and have a restaurant meal that contained bread and gravy because it would be worth it and hey, it was vacation.  That night in the hotel I had a horrible time of it and the next day, on the four hour drive home, my legs ached so bad that I couldn’t keep them still.  It was a miserable trip and so not worth it.

Over the past few months I’ve done more cooking out of necessity because most prepared foods contain gluten, but hey, that’s a healthy new habit.   I’ve learned to make most of the meals for my family gluten free.  Occasionally, I will cook something for them that I can’t eat, so that they can have things the way they used to be, but some of my new recipes have been very popular.

Now I’ve been gluten free for 8 months and my life has been transformed.  I only take a nap occasionally if I’ve missed out on sleep the night before and now my naps last 1/2 an hour or so, instead of 2 or 3 hours like they used to.  My legs don’t ache constantly.  I’m not in a brain fog.  I no longer have a headache every day.  I don’t have fibromyalgia tender spots all over my body.  My joints, with the occasional exception of my knees which have been sprained in the past, don’t hurt anymore.  I had a revelation a couple of weeks ago when I went on a visit to a historical fort with a friend and realized that I was walking easily up the third of 4 flights of stairs and was having no joint pain at all, no weakness and no fatigue. 

Yesterday, I had a day that would have been impossible in my pre-gluten-free life. I cleaned my house all morning, I went shopping all afternoon with my daughter and ran a bunch of errands, then came home and did a workout video from Dancing with the Stars and still was not particularly tired.  I was able to get some other things done in the evening.  In my past life, cleaning the house would have worn me out, I would have had to schedule the shopping on a completely different day and kept the errands limited to maybe 2 at most because “a bunch of errands” would have completely exhausted me and there is no way I could’ve done that workout video. 

Without gluten, I feel like a new person, strong and pain free.  It’s wonderful.  I’m so glad that the ‘cure’ for feeling awful all the time is something so simple.   It may not seem simple when you are trying to figure out a restaurant menu or a food or beauty product label, but when you think about it, really, it is. I don’t have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation, I don’t have to give myself daily shots, I don’t have to be on a lot of expensive medications and if I follow the Gluten Free Easily philosophy of just mainly eating naturally gluten free foods, it’s a snap.  Hey, there are 6 food groups; meat, vegetables, fruits, milk, meat and beans and oils and I can eat 5 of them!  I only have to be careful with that 1 group, grains.  Easy.  Peasy.

Shirley, here: Thanks so very much to Dana for sharing her story! Dana first commented here last fall and just a few times afterwards. I visited her homeschooling blog a short while later and sent her an encouraging comment, telling her that seeing results could take time. I shared my own experience that after months of being gluten free, one day I suddenly realized that I was running up and down stairs with ease and no pain. Out of the blue, Dana popped in here on gfe recently to say: “I just wanted to let you know that I had that moment, the one where I was walking up the stairs, easily, quickly and realized that I didn’t HURT! I’ve been gluten free for 8 months.” Incredibly moved by Dana’s comment and thrilled at her success, I asked her to share her story. I’m so grateful that she did. I hope you’ve appreciated it as well and will share it with others who may be struggling with health issues. The negative impact of gluten can be far reaching, but the gluten-free diet can provide relief to many.

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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Lemon-Lime Coconut Basil Ice & All That’s Nice

August 17, 2010 · Filed Under Friday Foodie Fix, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Pennywise Platter, Slightly Indulgent, beverage, dairy free, dessert, easy, gluten free, ice cream, recipe, sugar free, treats, vegan, vegetarian · 23 Comments 

This post is linked to Friday Foodie Fix—Basil, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Wheatless Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Food for Fridays, and Foodie Friday.

While I gave up sodas long ago, I still miss them when eating a few things … like pizza or steamed crabs. I knew we’d be having steamed crabs the other evening and I decided to make a frozen “slushie”-type beverage as a healthier substitute. Diane had just featured her Friday Foodie Fix and the secret ingredient was basil. I remembered a recipe that I’d seen in the May issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine—Lemon Basil Ice made with Meyer lemons. That recipe took almost 5 hours to make—yikes! I wanted something I could whip up fairly quickly. Plus, I didn’t have any Meyer lemons available. I also wanted a beverage that had a little more slush than ice, so I decided to include some lite coconut milk versus just water.  And, I wanted to use my new Boyajian citrus oils, namely the lemon and lime oils, that I’d received as a birthday gift. The recipe below is what I came up with—a very pleasant one to sip while picking crabs or just chilling on the screened porch or deck. Children would enjoy this frozen treat, too—either as a beverage or a spoonable dessert. This recipe also fits the bill for Amy’s (Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free) weekly Slightly Indulgent Tuesday roundup—so, yippeeee, double word score! Or something like that …

Lemon-Lime Coconut Basil Ice (Beverage or Frozen Dessert)
(Click here for a printable version of this recipe.)

1 1/2 cups water
1 3/4 cups lite coconut milk, chilled (I used ¾ cup full-fat coconut milk and 1 cup filtered water)
¼ cup honey (or agave nectar, or other sweetener of your choice to taste)
4 drops vanilla crème liquid stevia
¼ cup fresh, chopped or sliced basil
¼ tsp lemon oil (or 1 tsp lemon zest)
¼ tsp lime oil (or 1 tsp lime zest)
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp lime juice

In a medium saucepan, heat water over med-high heat until steaming, not boiling. Add basil and let stand 15 minutes. Pour through fine mesh sieve; discard basil. Set in freezer in shallow pan for about 15. It should be thoroughly chilled but not frozen, even on the edges. (It’s not a good idea to add frozen ingredients to one’s ice cream maker.)

In large bowl or blender, add lemon oil, lime oil, lemon juice, lime juice, “basil water,” coconut milk, honey, and stevia. Use hand mixer or blender to blend.

Add to pre-frozen container of ice cream maker. Churn 15 – 30 minutes. Yes, that’s a wide gap of time. Check at 15 minutes to see if the mixture has reached your desired consistency. I really wanted a beverage to sip with my steamed crabs more than a scoopable snow cone like mix, so I was pleased with the consistency at 15 minutes for that purpose. However, I churned the mixture for the full 25 or 30 minutes, and perhaps additional freezing afterwards, might be needed for a firmer ice dessert. Again, I mainly wanted a beverage, so even at churning the full time, I let most of the ice get “melty” and then sipped it as a beverage. Very light and refreshing.

Shirley’s Notes: You can use any sweetener as I stated above, but honey always yields a softer, more scoopable frozen dessert, so I recommend using at least some honey. I used fresh lemon and lime juice; I’m sure that bottled would work, but it would not be quite as flavorful. The lemon and lime oil should not be used with plastic measuring spoons; the oil ate right through the plastic. Next time, I’ll remember to use my stainless steel measuring spoons, which are much better to use anyway. The basil flavoring in this mix is very mild. If you want a stronger basil flavor, steep basil in water for 30 minutes. Finally, if you read the ingredients of lite coconut milk, you’ll see that they are water and coconut milk (and maybe guar gum depending on the brand). The lite coconut milk costs the same amount as the full-fat coconut milk at my store. Why not just buy full-fat coconut milk and add filtered water to make your own lite coconut milk? As soon as I open a can of coconut milk, I transfer it to a glass jar immediately anyway. So now, if I want a lighter coconut milk, I just use a bigger jar and add filtered water. It works great.

~~All That’s Nice …

As usual, there’s a lot going on in the gluten-free blogosphere. Grab a cold, refreshing beverage and read and click!

The winner of my gfe-unique giveaway—a consultation with me on living gluten free easily—is up on my Out and About page.

I just announced that I’m hosting Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger this month. Already we have 10 adoptions! Want to join in? Read more here, but I’d love it if you would. Let’s make this the biggest, best Adopt a Gluten-free Blogger event ever! How about 50 adoptions? Dream BIG!

Widely reported on the interwebs is the free offer from Jules Gluten Free on her Back to School e-book. The offer has been extended through today, Tuesday, August 17. Read more about what’s in the book here and follow links to download your copy. It’s easy and could be a very helpful resource for many.

At my support group meeting last Monday, we watched the gluten-free documentary that has everyone talking—Generation Gluten Free, created and directed by Susan Cohen. Susan and I met in the tweetlightful world that is Twitter not that long ago. Shortly thereafter, Erin (Gluten-Free Fitness) did a “two thumbs up” review of Generation Gluten Free on her blog and Tiffany also wrote a rave review over at celiac-disease.com. Ironically, I had been aware of Susan’s documentary when it first came out, even sharing the link to the trailer and  the ordering info with my group. But, somehow actually ordering the documentary had slipped through the cracks. However, I ordered it last week for viewing with my support group and, thanks to Susan, it arrived in just a couple of days. After our scrumptious gluten-free meal, we all settled in to watch this 42-minute DVD. There were lots of nods, knowing glances, and smiles as we watched the participants tell their various stories of diagnosis, eating out, recovery, participating in support groups, and more. The cost of Generation Gluten Free is $4.50 and that INCLUDES shipping and handling. Many have reported watching this documentary with family members, stating that it was an eye opening experience for their loved ones. Susan did a brilliant job with this documentary. You’ll want your own copy. Jennifer Harris also wrote an Examiner article on Generation Gluten Free. In her article, she shared that there’s a grass roots email campaign to get Susan and the documentary featured on ABC’s Good Morning America. Just email the show at gma@abctv.com and ask them to feature Susan Cohen and Generation Gluten Free. It’s such an easy way to do something to spread awareness. Tell others … we want their In Box full of requests for Susan and her documentary to be featured!

Incidentally, the online Examiner is a great source of gluten-free information. Often the information shared by the gluten-free Examiners (the gluten-free folks writing the articles) is geared to local happenings and gluten-free venues, too, which is nice. You can even subscribe to your favorite Examiner’s articles! (I’m all about email subscriptions myself. I need that little reminder in my In Box.) In addition to Jennifer Harris, some of my favorite folks who are current gluten-free Examiners are Kim Bouldin (also at Gluten Free is Life and Celiac-Disease.com), Tiffany Janes (also at Celiac-Disease.com), and Ginger Carter Miller (also at Gluten Free in Georgia … Finally). FYI: Jennifer Harris also just did this handy reference post on gluten-free lunch ideas. Update: Here’s another comprehensive lunch idea listing from Kim (Cook IT Allergy Free)—Allergen-Free Lunch Box with Brain Power.

Do you know Jenn of Cinnamon Quill? Well, she’s not just sharing her gorgeouso photos with us these days. She started a new site called Gluten Free Feed. Think along the Tastespotting site lines, but gluten free. I love it! Jenn could supply the site with all her great photos alone, but the good news is we can all submit our photos and see them featured. This site offers some real “eye candy,” folks. Be sure to check it out here.

Shauna and Danny’s long-awaited new book, Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, will be released soon. You can pre-order it here.

Ricki (Diet, Dessert and Dogs) has a new e-book coming out: Desserts Without Compromise, which is an anti-candida dessert cookbook. It will be available on August 19. Yes, Thursday! Don’t forget that you can order her basic anti-candida book, The Anti-Candida Feast E-book, off her website here. It’s just $5. Can you say bargain? Update: Ricki’s ebook is out and she’s having a giveaway that ends at midnight, August 22. Check it out here. If you don’t participate in giveaways, you can order her new cookbook at the discount rate of $6.95 for a limited time.  And, her Sweet Freedom book is also still on sale via her site. Ricki is also one of the instigators of the monthly SOS Kitchen Challenges. This month’s ingredient is mint. If you’d like to participate in the challenge, read all about it here on Ricki’s site. (Hint: You’ll want to visit just to see her Mint Chip Ice Cream; no ice cream maker is needed for this recipe!)

Looking for more refreshing summer drinks? Look no further than Stephanie’s (Gluten Free by Nature) Frozen Hot Chocolate. It’s gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free, but “all that” in every department that matters.

Many folks who can’t tolerate dairy products from cows say they do fine with products from goats, or at least eat them on occasion with no issues. From time to time, I am still eating some goat’s cheese and yogurt that our friends make from their goats’ milk. Heidi (Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom) is hosting a giveaway package that includes Chavrie Goat Cheese. I wasn’t familiar with it before, but it looks like a great, real food product. Check out her giveaway here.  

Jenn is continuing her very helpful educational series called Gluten- Free Substitutions. The latest post is on binding agents. Read more here.

Often when I’m just about to slide down the slippery slope of poor food choices, I’ll see a tweet or Facebook mention of a new post from Melissa at Gluten Free for Good. Thank goodness! A read of almost any of her posts will galvanize you against the times when your lizard brain takes over and you want to eat things that are less than healthy, sit on your rump, etc. This recent post of Melissa’s was stellar in my opinion. I’m still thinking about it and making better choices as a result.

Sadly, I used all my basil for this recipe, but those of you with basil abundance, be sure to join Linda’s (The Gluten-Free Homemaker) Create A Pesto Challenge this month. So far some wonderful recipes—like Kim’s (Cook IT Allergy Free) Pistachio Pesto-Crusted Chicken—have been submitted.

If you have so much basil that you don’t know what to do with it all, follow Kalyn’s (Kalyn’s Kitchen) directions on freezing fresh basil. It sure would be nice to have some basil in sauces and soups in the middle of winter!  Read and see Kalyn’s guidance here.

Kim also just shared an extremely helpful post, 15 Tips on Healing the Leaky Gut. Celiac and gluten issues are leaky gut issues. Leaky gut is also known by its nicer sounding, but more cryptic, name of intestinal permeability. Dr. Alessio Fasano, who is one of the foremost experts on celiac and gluten issues also is well-known for his research on zonulin and intestinal permeability. Read more here. 

It was also Dr. Fasano who recently penned the foreword of the update of Danna Korn’s revised Gluten Free for Dummies book. In it, Dr. Fasano states that “for every celiac patient, five to seven patients are affected by gluten sensitivity.” Tiffany Janes shared this quote in her review of Danna’s book on Celiac-Disease.com. She went on to say the following: “It’s estimated that 3 million people in the U.S. have celiac (and less than 90% of people with it know they have it) so that means if there are only 5 people for every person with celiac, that’s an additional 15 million people with gluten intolerance. Add that to the 3 million with celiac and you have 18 million people in the U.S. who can’t tolerate gluten well. On the high end of the estimate – 7 for every 1 – and you have 24 million people affected.” Staggering numbers. Eye-opening numbers to many. Incidentally, the updated version of Danna’s book got an even better review from Tiffany than the original. Read more here.  As Kim shared in her post, leaky gut manifests as a lot of illnesses and symptoms. Look for a guest post here at gfe tomorrow from someone who experienced a multitude of such issues while eating gluten.

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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7 Things About Me (Tied to Food & Drink)

August 10, 2010 · Filed Under Gluten-Free Wednesdays, beverage, dessert, discussion, giveaway, gluten free · 50 Comments 

This post is linked to Gluten-Free Wednesdays.

Months ago, Chaya (Chaya’s Comfy Cook) graciously gave me the Beautiful Blogger award. I was very touched with the award and by Chaya’s generous words. I love reading Chaya’s posts. She’s funny for one thing. I also love her post titles—always succinct and often humorous—and her very direct way of speaking to the reader. She cooks one of my very favorite foods—salmon—weekly (yes, weekly). So, if you are looking for a gluten-free salmon recipe, be sure to look on Chaya’s Comfy Cook blog.

Chaya’s a prolific food blogger. She posted 32 times in July on Comfy Cook. And, that’s not to mention how many times she posted at her other food blog, Sweet and Savory. Her Sweet and Savory blog is not exclusively gluten free. However, she has a Meatless Monday roundup, which often features recipes from gluten-free bloggers.

Read more about Chaya and check out her flourless brownies with ganache (you know how I love flourless!) in this post where she bestowed the Beautiful Blogger award to six other folks (I was in great company!) and told more about herself. Thanks, Chaya!

I thought it would be fun to do my “response” post in my birth-month (as in my birthday and the month afterwards versus the month I was born in), to tell you a little bit more about myself. Just for fun, I’ve decided to relate all to food or spirits. (Warning: There is some bathroom talk and also some words about liver.)

1. My first job out of high school was at the FBI National Academy. Before you get too intrigued, my job was in the kitchen for the academy’s cafeteria, run by the Marriott Corporation. One of my aunts (my mom has seven sisters) was a manager and I got a job as a prep cook/alternate weekend cook. I was 17 years old and had absolutely no cooking experience. My mom didn’t really teach us to cook when we were growing up. Other than making occasional cakes and cupcakes from a box, she didn’t want us in the kitchen making messes. She was (and is) still a great mom and I eventually learned to cook when out on my own. But, there were often calls to mom for advice, and sometimes I still make those calls today.

My aunt did teach me a lot in the giant commercial kitchen (stainless steel, tile, huge walk-in refrigerators and freezers, etc.) and I managed to hold my own. For almost everything I made there was a recipe and the ingredients I used were real ones, even though most were canned or frozen versus fresh. My favorite job was probably making spaghetti sauce in a huge vat. Well, for all my prep work, I pretty much made everything in a huge vat or an equally huge wheeled tub. I cracked eggs—in preparation for scrambled eggs—two at a time, one in each hand. Dozens of eggs, into one of those stainless steel wheeled tubs. Once one of the wheels caught on a crack in the tile  as I was wheeling the tub into the walk-in refrigerator and it almost tipped over. I can still see that tub full of yellow teetering. My least favorite task on the job was cleaning the grill after cooking beef liver. Cooking bacon, sausage, eggs, and such for huge quantities of folks on a schedule wasn’t that great either. I had to be at work at something like 4:30 in the morning when I was the breakfast/lunch cook on weekends. I left feeling like a big grease bomb in my gold uniform with the requisite white, ultra dorky shoes. All in all though, it was a good experience and I learned a lot.

2. Mr. GFE and I met while working in a chain restaurant. I was a waitress; he was a waiter. He had just graduated from college in December and jobs were scarce. I was still in college and always kept a job as well. (Sometimes my jobs were part time, sometimes they were full time, and usually I was a waitress, because one could make the most money for the fewest hours.) The restaurant we both worked at had never had waiters before, but Mr. GFE convinced the manager that having another male on hand for the 1 am closing was a good idea.

I can still visualize him as he looked back then. He was 22, but looked like a high school student and frankly, I found him more than a bit goofy. In short, I didn’t give him the time of day. He likes to say that I was the only waitress there who wouldn’t go out with him. Ha! He did have all the other waitresses doing a lot of his work (making salads, brewing coffee, etc.), but to be fair, he was very nice to them and helped them, too; e.g., often carrying their heavy trays. Still … I was not interested, but he persisted.

My two roommates also worked at the same restaurant. One was a hostess and the other was a waitress as well. Unbeknownst to me, Mr. GFE had quizzed them about my favorite things and he surprised me with a bag of goodies as we started our shift one evening. He told me that he’d left something for me by my coat. I pretty much ignored him and the gift until he persisted and I saw the red carnation sticking out of the brown paper bag. I relented momentarily to see what else he had brought me. There was a bag of pistachios … and a box of Nestle Quik (okay, I am embarrassed to say that I was a serious chocolate milk nut then). His simple, sincere gifts got a smile out of me. Still, when he asked me to go out dancing the following weekend, I said, “maybe.” Of course, I did eventually say “yes” … we went dancing and had a fantastic time.

3. The first meal I ever prepared for Mr. GFE was one that makes some folks turn away in horror. Chicken livers. One evening as I was leaving the restaurant where we both worked, I said I was going home to make dinner. He asked what I was having. I told him chicken livers, expecting a horrified reaction. His response was, “I love chicken livers.” So I invited him to stop by after work. As that would be after 1 am, he just expected us to stand in the kitchen and chow down. However, I served the fried chicken livers, plus mixed vegetables in butter sauce over rice at our antique dining room table. On my grandmother’s china. With her good silver. By candlelight. Okay, I admit it … by then, I’d decided I really liked him. It was a good start to many meals together. We still love fried chicken livers. Then, and sometimes, still, I just feel like I need them, not just that I like the taste. (Iron deficiency, perhaps? I did suffer from anemia when pregnant; it’s related to gluten issues. See listing.)  These days, of course, the chicken livers we eat are gluten free and fried in just a little bit of healthy oil, like grapeseed or olive oil. And, they are more likely to be served with quinoa or just veggies as a side.

4. My love of chicken livers also made for another interesting story. Mr. GFE and a group of us had gone tubing down the river near the house he rented at the time. The house was called the Little Castle because it was a multi-level, stone house, with a flat roof and turrets, built into the side of the hill. The flat roof was great for viewing fireworks over the same river. There was a Big Castle, too—the main house, which was also stone, square, and with turrets. The Little Castle had been a garage with maid’s quarters above, that had later been converted into a complete—albeit small—house, with kitchen and living room. (We ended up living there after we were married.) There was also a bomb shelter and a graveyard on the property. The current owners of both castles are friends of ours. They host an annual Halloween party between the graveyard and the bomb shelter, which we attend every year. It’s a terrific party. But, I digress.

photo credit

So we had gone tubing down on the Rappahannock River. We’d put in at a calm, peaceful area, but then proceeded to the Class III rapids. I had popped out of my tube in one “washing machine” spot and got pulled under. Mr. GFE rescued me and on we went. I had returned to my apartment hours later, grateful to be alive, but still looking somewhat like a drowned rat with wet stringy hair and wearing a damp cotton summer dress over my bathing suit. There was a knock on the door. I answered it to find a handsome stranger in a three-piece suit. He was holding a brown paper grocery bag. He introduced himself as the area Holly Farms sales rep and presented me with 5 pounds of chicken livers. You see … I’d written a letter to Holly Farms complaining that my recent container of chicken livers had been mostly chicken hearts, with very few chicken livers. A few more letters had been exchanged because Holly Farms believed that the chicken livers I had purchased were not their brand, but the store brand. I corrected them showing them that the store had only placed its pricing label on the container. I guess Holly Farms wanted to keep a loyal customer happy, but that’s what I call customer service! I still lament the fact that I wasn’t more presentable. I mean that was back in my skinny days and Mr. GFE and I weren’t yet engaged or anything.

photo credit

5. In a recent post, I mentioned my ob/gyn issues related to gluten intolerance and shared that I had suffered from postpartum depression. Thankfully, it wasn’t severe in retrospect, but it certainly seemed severe to me at the time. Also, because my body had just been through natural childbirth, I was stressed with being a new mom, and I was unknowingly gluten intolerant, I was experiencing “The big D.” Now most folks with celiac and gluten issues know that refers to diarrhea. After childbirth, “The big D” was a huge problem for me. I went to one gastroenterologist (who still practices locally) who did nothing to help me, but sent me home with one of those little plastic containers to see if I had cancer. He was about as sympathetic as a rock. No, a rock would have been more sympathetic and helpful (especially a pet rock). I never went back. (That was a pattern with many doctors over the years.) Then one of my dearest friends mentioned that her mother-in-law, who was normally a teetotaler, would drink blackberry wine whenever she had diarrhea. The mother-in-law called it a sure cure. Ah, blackberry wine … now that was a solution I was willing to give a try. (I wasn’t nursing so that wasn’t an issue.)

So Mr. GFE dutifully picked up some blackberry wine on his way home the next day, and every other evening after that for a while, to be honest. After he’d arrive, I would sip a glass or two while we chatted and Son relaxed in the baby swing for a few minutes. (Son loved the baby swing and we loved that he loved it!) In the end, the blackberry wine did nothing for my diarrhea, but it greatly improved my disposition. It made me care a lot less about the diarrhea, and even helped me stop crying for a short while. And, it was a call to the surgeon who had removed my gall bladder 3 years earlier (another sign of my gluten issues; reference gluten-related issues once more here) that got me a medication that finally helped enough with “The Big D” to start me on my way to recovery. Well, temporarily anyway. Only going gluten free really solved “the big D” issues for good. Ironically, during my periods of diarrhea and nausea, which I now know were caused by gluten, I would eat only crackers or toast.

6. Before I went gluten free, I craved gluten. (This craving is not unusual for someone with gluten issues; read more from Dr. Ron Hoggan here.) One of my favorite breakfasts was syrup and toast. I have no idea if anyone else’s family ate this meal, but you mixed up King syrup and butter to make a dipping sauce, so to speak, and then you just dipped the toast in the syrup and ate until the sauce was gone. Of course, one always made too much sauce and had to keep toasting more bread. Incidentally, King Syrup is still around, but now contains high fructose corn syrup. However, I’m fairly certain it was always pretty much total sugar anyway.

Again, I craved all bread products before going gluten free, especially cereal. I could live on cereal, one bowl after another. Now I rarely eat real bread products and don’t really miss them. I’ll enjoy them from time to time in the form of my homemade muffins, popovers, or even pre-made bread when a gluten-free friend makes bruschetta or brings Udi’s bread to our meeting for folks to enjoy. But, I still don’t go crazy about it. And, I’ve tried gluten-free cereal, but it does nothing for me and some brands labeled gluten free actually make me sick … but that’s a story for another day.

7. I’m still learning to like new foods and dishes. I really wasn’t exposed to a huge wide variety of foods growing up. That was more about my parents’ food preferences than anything like availability of foods/eating local. So it’s a delight to have found new loves over the last two decades: bacon-wrapped figs, asparagus in any form, broccoli (no sauce needed), avocados, mushrooms, and more. So, I’m looking forward to experiencing even more new foods and dishes in the future.

Technically, I’m supposed to now bestow this award on seven other bloggers but I link to the folks and posts I feel are worthy of award just about every day, so I’ll consider that requirement satisfied. You are all beautiful to me! So, grab this idea (and badge) and come up with your list of seven things about yourself if you’d like. No strict rules or anything, but I do like learning more about my blogging buddies.

Last, there’s a truly gfe-unique giveaway up on my Out and About page. Take a look and enter if it’s of interest.

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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About Me

Shirley BradenGluten free since June 2003, I lead a celiac/gluten intolerance group in Virginia. My passion is educating folks on gluten issues and showing how eating gluten free can be easy if you focus on “real” foods versus processed and specialty foods.

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GFE's Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, but rather a volunteer sharing my experiences. Consult your physician for medical guidance. To the best of my knowledge, all ingredients/products that I use are gluten-free (even if I do not indicate that each and every time I mention them; e.g., if I refer to "soy sauce," it's a gluten-free soy sauce). However, I take no responsibility for the accuracy of that information. Always read labels and verify the gluten-free status of any ingredients/products to your own comfort level.

Not just gf, but gfe!