AFTER 10 LONG YEARS OF BEING MISDIAGNOSED WE FINALLY CONCLUDED THAT HUBBY HAS CELIAC AND THAT THE WHOLE FAMILY CAN BENIFIT FROM ELIMINATING OR LIMITING GLUTEN FROM OUR DIETS. I AM NOT A GOOD COOK BY ANY MEANS AND FRANKLY DISLIKED COOKING ALTOGHETHER, BUT IN JAN 2010 THAT ALL CHANGED. HERE IS OUR JOURNEY BEING G-FREE....

Monday, August 16, 2010

Post coming soon....

I will be updating you with a few meals that have been a big hit with hubby. Just need the time to work on typing it up.... :) Soon I promise....

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

PEANUTBUTTER CUPS


"A sugar-free organic chocolate peanut butter cup made with agave."
Yummy Yummy Yummy. I so can't believe that these are sugar free. Not fat free though :(
I shared them again with Michelle and she seemed to like them as well.
I halved the recipe so that I did not make 50 of these treats and end up hating them and tossing them out. The only thing that I goofed on was the vanilla. I put the whole amount so they were just a touch bitter. But other then that I think they are a hit. My oldest loved them too. My littlest does not like peanut butter (who's child is she really?) :)
Find the book I am talking about here....
Yummy Yummy Yummy!!!!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Lately

Okay so I have not been posting much but that does not mean that I haven't been trying new things.
Well I did make the Fudge It form the sugar free gluten free cookbook. I am not sure how I feel about it. Both of my girls LOVE it but it is sooo rich that I just don't know how to describe it. I shared some with my friend Michelle and maybe I can get her to post her comments. But wow it was rich...
I have spent quite a lot of time and money getting the ingredients to make a few more recipes from the g-free sugar-free book, I have also found that the local WinCo carries a lot of the things I need at almost 1/2 the price. Wow that's so huge. As I make a few more I will post my thoughts. Next up is an almond joy type of treat :)
So I have to tell you that the best find, is that today I learned how to make the worlds best stir fry, fried rice and egg and onion ever. Although I would never say that it is "easy" I would say that once I get the hang of the timing it will get easier... Clara thank you yet again for your time and energy. Gluten free food that has so much flavor and is healthy for you is just the thing our family needs, not to mention that it is so versatile that we can change the stir fry up for what ever it is that we feel like for that meal. Thanks is not ever enough.
I am looking forward to the exciting week ahead with so many new things to try. Wish me luck....

Sunday, April 25, 2010

This Just In

So while at the book store yet again today, I found a potential ray of sunshine. I bought Sugar-Free Gluten-Free Baking and Desserts by Kelly E. Keough. I am so very excited to give this a shot. To take all refined sugar out of my diet and Gluten too. I might just get to have my cake and eat it too? We will see how it all turns out. I am going to make her signature Fudge It tomorrow and see how it tastes. I am almost positive that I will love it. She uses agave and stevia in place of sugar. I thought that honey and molasses and maple syrup were all okay due to the fact that they are all natural but they all mess with your glycemic index. Well no more of that for me. Lets see. Wish me luck... Hey the kidos might like it too and I will not have to worry sooo much about the sugar content. Win, win if you ask me....

Friday, April 16, 2010

The First Thing We Did...

So how does one get started with a whole new outlook on food? The Internet of course, and books galore. My friend Michelle lent us a few books and the one that not only surprised us but was the most helpful was Elizabeth Hasselback's book. Hubby found her story to be very similar with the exception of being on a reality show then marrying a NFL player and being on a talk show that is... Her tips were so right on with what we needed to implement. Cross contamination is key for us. If we are going to have gluten in the house for the kids then I have to be very careful not to cross contaminate hubby's food. The smallest amount will make him sick all over again... Sprouts and Henrys are great whole food style markets that carry a variety of gluten free food. The staff at Sprouts are very helpful. G-free mall online is a great resource for different brands, and we subscribe to Living Without magazine as well. My favorite cook book thus far is Gluten-Free Quick and Easy by Carol Fenster, Ph.D. I have made several dishes from this book and we really love the flavor and look forward to making more.I recently made homemade chicken nuggets using gluten free corn flakes for the breading and they are really good. I have not made many baked goods yet, but I am feeling the bug. We'll see how they turn out.
A few staples I keep in the house are: Pamela's Baking Mix, Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips. When hubby works from home I make chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled eggs. My little one loves the pancakes and will eat them throughout the day, dry.
One really big thing that had to change was hubby's sweet tooth. There are a few candy companies that make g-free lines. Butterfingers's popular and so are the little Dove squares, plain milk choc. And of course popcorn is always in our house. We bought a movie style popper for Christmas last year and Hubby likes simply salted types of microwave popping corns.
So now that I have listed a few staples I have to add that yesterday I signed up with Weight Watchers. I am not sure if I am going crazy or not, but what the heck while I am at it, right? So from here on out I will post both types of fun....

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

First Post

Okay I must start by thanking a few folks. First I must thank my friend Michelle for turning us on to the gluten free world and for being a sounding board and food resource. Without you we would still be taking medication and would still be sick. I would also like to thank Clara for the idea to blog our journey and for making my blog look so cute. Thank you ladies, please know that you are valued.
Now that I have that off my chest I want to say that, until we realized that my hubby's stomach problems were not IBS or food poison or a medical condition we were not healthy eaters. I disliked cooking and we ate out 2 or 3 times a week. Veggies were not part of our meals. For me it was not that I did not like them (I love Veggies) it's that I just liked the yucky foods better. Where my hubby would not even touch a green veggie, ever..... Once our first daughter was born, almost five years ago, I tried to cook more but the menu was boring and I did not know how to use spices to make the food taste better. (sad because my mom is a really good cook) Hubby started grilling our meats but we still ate pasta and bread with every meal and hubby would be sick every single night. We would have spaghetti with french bread and sure enough he'd be sick for days. On the days he did not eat, due to work, he'd feel so much better. Other then being hungry that is :) He got to the point that he just stopped eating dinners. He'd sit with us and there would be food on his plate but, he just could not bring himself to eat the foods that he loved because, he knew, they would make him sick. We blamed the meats, the sauces, the spices and he took medications, because who ever heard of anyone getting sick eating pasta and bread, seriously? Well now we know, since eliminating Gluten from his diet, there has been a 180 degree difference. Everything changed. Energy levels went up, stomach aches went away (as long as he did not eat gluten), skin looked healthier and he lost all his belly fat. (not that it was alot but, with heart disease in the family, keeping his weight in check is important)
Just short of being diagnosed by a Doctor, are so very sure Hubby has Celiac, he had every symptom and had had them for the last 10 years. Test after test taken, an unnecessary and costly appendectomy, many doctors appointments and medicines taken, all wasted. If only he had one doctor suggest a food allergy. Well again now we know. Since the first part of January 2010, we as family have made a huge food change in our life. Hubby is 100 percent Gluten free and I try not to eat it in front of him and I try to limit my intake. The kids are a little harder to switch over but our younger daughter likes most g-free foods, where our eldest does not. We do our best where they are concerned. It's really sweet when our 3 year old asks if something is gluten free and knows that it would or would not be okay for her daddy to eat. I hope that with my blogs I can shed a little light on the struggles and fun that making such a profound change can have on a very average family. Here we go.......