Gluten Free YOU! Go Gluten Free, Go on with your life!

Gluten Free Beer

2009-11-15T22:38:00.000-08:00

I don't drink so often these days, but I thought the one thing I would really miss during football season was Beer! Today, I tried Redbridge. It was actually really good much to my surprise! Redbridge is made with Sorghum and is a full bodied lager beer. Redbridge is an Anheuser-Busch product that I purchased at Top Foods. I also know Albertsons carries this. For $7.99, I thought it's price was comprable with other specialty beers, and satisfied my beer craving. I know they also have this at Qwest Field. I am not sure what stand yet! For more information about this beer, go to http://www.redbridgebeer.com/

Gluten Free Pizza

2009-11-10T11:13:00.001-08:00

I love pizza, and it is a convenience food I really thought I have to give up. Not anymore. Let's face it, yep, we all like crust...but the real reason most of us like pizza is it's a great vehicle so we can use our hands to cram all the delicious toppings into our mouths! Today I made a frozen pizza. (Amy's cheese pizza - Gluten free) Buy one of these and you can add all your favorite toppings. Today I added Hormel original Pepperoni. That is gluten free also! Although it's expensive (I paid $11.00 for a small pizza) it is good, and with only 11 minutes in the oven, it's alot faster than the 45-1hr pizza delivery time! I think I will keep these stocked up, and I will be trying others too! My dog is a little disappointed that the 'pizza bones' are smaller. Pizza bones is our name for the outside crust, and even though my family likes them, we always save some for Jack!

Convienience Gluten Free - Gluten Free YOU!

2009-11-07T17:07:00.000-08:00

We all get in a hurry from time to time, sometimes we want something we can just throw in the microwave that has good flavor. The other day I bought several Organic Bistro frozen dinner's to try. Today I popped in the Savory Turkey! WOW. It is the best frozen dinner I think I've ever had (and let me say, I am NOT normally a fan of frozen dinners at all). It comes with Turkey, a Quinoa and Lentil pilaf and green beans...plus it's loaded with flavor! I found this at Marlene's Market in Federal Way, WA. I'll keep you posted on more good food's I come across.

Gluten Free Thanksgiving Blues - Not so much anymore!

2009-11-06T22:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't know why I've been dreading the upcoming Thanksgiving. After all, it's just a day... Wait, of course I know why I'm dreading it. I'm not the one doing the cooking, I am the only one that has to follow a gluten free diet.

Well, on a good note, I got started today trying GF recipes! This relieves my blues a bit!

I made the French Fried Onions and they were AWESOME! I used a mandolin slicer to slice sweet onion very thin. Soaked onions in milk with Lea&Perrins worcestershire & San-J Tamari wheat free soy sauce for half hour. Then coat onions in powder mixture: 1/2 GF Bob's Red mill flour and 1/2 Idahoan real potatoe flakes mixed up with Lawry's Seasoned Salt, garlic powder and black pepper. Since I am horrible at following recipes, I didn't keep track. I will make them again soon and keep track of an exact recipe to post. I then used these in a green bean casserole (the campbell's recipe) but substituted with Healthy Valley Cream of mushroom. Next time I will add a little cornstarch to the cream of mushroom to thicken it up. Otherwise, this as well was fantastic...AND my husband and kids liked it.

Next up, I'll try a GF stuffing mix.

Wheat Free Blizzards at Dairy Queen - Wheat Allergy

2009-11-04T19:20:00.000-08:00

All I can seem to focus on is Thanksgiving. I am so worried about it because for the first time in years I am not the one doing the cooking, and so many of the traditional Thanksgiving side dishes have gluten. I found a couple recipes for making french fried onions. FYI, I'm not great at following recipes. I usually look at the best ideas from several and create my own. If these work out well, I'm going to start working on finding a gluten free Cream of Mushroom soup that is to my liking so I can make a traditional Green Bean Casserole. I'll let you know how that turns out!

To lift my spirits I have been trying to focus on the things I CAN have. I'm excited to share with you...Dairy Queen has an allergen listing on their website. Many of their Blizzards are Wheat Free. There is always an issue of Cross Contamination, so for some this may not be okay. Some areas (King County, WA as well as others *see link for more info) may use slightly different products due to laws and regulations. Always remember it is a good idea to ask the restaurant for their allergen info to be safe.

http://www.dairyqueen.com/upload/DQFoodandTreatAllergyBrochure.pdf

I know it's not easy! Living Gluten Free

2009-11-04T04:15:00.000-08:00

So this is the beginning of my Gluten Free YOU blog. Also my 1 week anniversary of being 100% gluten free (minus a little accident Saturday night). I know it is NOT easy, and I won't pretend for one minute that it is. It has been an emotional journey for me...being sick all of the time, hearing people say 'wow I've never heard of that until you said you have that' (as if I'm some sort of freak and I made it up), people telling me it's all in my head, people saying I'm a hypochondriac. You make an attempt to eat gluten free, and it becomes so difficult you just give up. All you want is to be NORMAL...but at what cost? For me, I was just sick feeling all the time. After every meal that I ate that contained gluten (and let me say that was pretty much ALL meals) I felt it. Within 20 minutes after consuming gluten, I would get a "Toxic" feeling in my body. I would get the chills, feel nauseated and sometimes dizzy. If you don't have this, you probably don't have a very good understanding of what I am saying. If you have had this happen then you know exactly what I'm talking about. When this happens, it's a rush to the restroom. When this hits of course it's always at the most inopportune moments. Well, my motto was I am going to eat what I want, and what I love and I know my consequences and I'll deal with them. I used to say oh this little bit won't hurt. UNTIL... the little bit here and another little bit 10 minutes later and so on became ALOT over the course of a few days. I ended up breaking out in hives. This was a minor outbreak, mostly on my face. My chest and arms had it mildly and was itchy. I was in tears because I realized this meant I could no longer do this and 'deal with the consequences'. The next morning I decided I was done! I am now doing everything in my power to be 100% Gluten Free. I don't know everything, so once in a while I may get a little bit. Example, Sunday morning I told my husband I ate something at the Halloween party the night before that had gluten. He said are you sure? Maybe it's something else? NO! I know my body, I know that for 5 days I felt good not eating gluten, and I know whatever I had wasn't much...but there was a small amount of gluten in something I ate. Well, sure enough...today I was talking to my friend who hosted the party (who also has a gluten allergy) about what I'm working on getting started with this site. I told her I would come help her eliminate items with gluten hiding in them. She said jokingly but serious...'great, there goes the crab dip'. AH, that's it...the crab dip. I grubbed on the crab dip. Imitation crab contains fillers that have gluten. Well, it's a learning process, but as I learn I will share. The past few days have been emotional...literally I have been crying. Yes for real been holding back tears (tears of joy) as I discover all the things I CAN eat. You can bet the kids have been sharing their Halloween Candy with me because I found out I can have it. Did you know we can eat Skittles, Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, Butterfingers amongst many other candy items. Now I need to remember those aren't so healthy...but it was special as it was my new discovery and gave me hope that I won't feel deprived!
Hope someone out there will find this encouraging for themselves!
~Kristie :)