Gluten Free Girls (and Guys!)

Hi everyone! I am fairly new to this website and just came across this gluten free thread! I am so happy to see you all on here! I was diagnosed with Celiac in 1995. I am a 29 year old wife and Mama to two little boys. I hope that you are all doing great! I just wanted to introduce myself!
amy

I just joined MFP a few days ago and just realized there's a "community" here! I was diagnosed with Celiac in 2001 and have been gluten free ever since. For the past year, I've had a rough time really sticking with the diet. I know it makes me sick, but stress and life have just gotten the better of me. I am a 30 year old with 3 young boys (5,3,1) who are also gluten free. My husband is the only one who isn't but should be! I have battled with my weight my entire life, but I weigh the most I ever have, except when I was pregnant. I had a heart attack in early 2001 which lead to the gradual weight gain. I'm hoping this is the year I get back to a healthy weight and get 100% gluten free again. It's not going to be easy, but I know it's what I need to do to be healthy.

Nicole, thanks for the welcome! I am not sure about a bakery in your area, but we just celebrated my sons third birthday and used the new Betty Crocker gluten free yellow cake mixes and they were a huge hit with everyone! I do not think most people even knew they were gf! If you cannot find them at your local grocery store, you can buy them on amazon!

I am not allergic to gluten (that I know of) but my mother has Celiac so I can totally relate to the stories about finding foods and the going away party for the teacher with celiac...my mom goes through those situations all the time. We try very hard to find gluten free foods or recipes when we have her over or go to see her. I have often thought about starting a gluten free diet just in case I develop Celiac, but haven't converted totally. I do buy some breakfast bars and cereals that are gluten free...i guess baby steps..

Hi!

Some fast dinner ideas...

Cook up lean ground beef or ground turkey ahead of time. Then during the week you can season into tacos and eat them with mission corn tortillas or add italian seasoning and spaghetti sauce and cook up some tinkyada pasta (they have an easy fast cooking method) for two nice dinners.

We often will grill quite a bit of chicken, one night will be salads that have grilled chicken, salad greens, chopped cilantro, etc. Another night will be fajitas, we just saute in pam some onions, bell peppers and poblanos, and then you could just warm and top with store bought pico.

For a really fast dinner, I just nuke the Hillshire Farms turkey sausage and put some Ore-Ida Golden Crinkles in the oven. The kids really like those nights.

Stir fry is another thing we do often. I just buy the bagged washed veggies and steam them in the microwave. Cut and cook the chicken. Add in Kraft sweet and sour sauce, some gluten free soy sauce (we use san-j wheat free tamari) and some ground ginger, mix in the steamed veggies and serve on white rice. Or use left over white rice to make a fried rice with the grilled chicken from earlier in the week.

If I have leftover spaghetti sauce I sometimes make it into pizza with the chebe roll dough, 2% mozarella, and hormel turkey pepperoni.

I hope some of this helps!
Amy

Well guys, one week for today is my endoscopy :embarassed: I'm SO nervous and anxious about it- I feel like I won't sleep all week! :sick:

Of course, it will be nice to know what the deal is. This has been about 4 months of not knowing what the heck is wrong with me. I don't know how those of you that went years without knowing did it! :noway:

Hey girl, it is going to be fine.. (i know easier said then done.) I am going in soon to get another one done. I am having problems with my Crohn's. I don't think my meds are working?!?!?

Hello...

I am new to the site and I am loving it. I am glad that I found more gluten-free information. My 12 year old was diagnosed over two years ago and that was after over a year of trying to figure out what was wrong. My two younger kiddos, 6 and 8, don't seem to have any reactions to gluten but my 6 year old does have a sensitive tummy. It has been really tough sometimes because my mom has the kids after school and on Sundays when I work so we have two houses that we have to keep "clean". I am very lucky that my 12 year old is very creative with her food and is so willing to try new things (my other two are ultra picky eaters).

Because of the toll it took on my 12 year old body, she gained weight when we were trying to figure out what was going on. The bummer is, you cant just walk into a doctor, they do a blood test and either you have celiac or you dont. My daughter seems to be really wanting to be healthy and has joined me on the eating right and exercising path. We both have our doctors in our corner. Together we figured out what calories we should both have and the proper mix of other ingredients. The site is pretty accurate compared to what my doctor suggests. We are members of the local YMCA and they have programs where teens/pre-teens get trained on the cardio equipment and are allowed to use the equipment with a guardian present. She always loves to swim and we have three horses so she rides a few times a week. So this has become a fun family change now...my little ones love to take turns doing the wii fit and see who can hold a pose the longest or do the most hula-hoops..etc.

Our biggest struggle has been finding snacks that are GF that dont have a funny texture. She loves tapioca bread but hates the brown rice. Any suggestions?????? She needs things that she can grab and go on her way to school or 4H or friends house??? We do have a Natures and a Trader Joes close but are on a tight budget.

I make bread two loaves at a time and slice it for easy taking along with string cheese. Don't know if you've got a costco around, but they have some good gluten free choices also, rice crackers that I like to put with hummus (prepack a little tupperware bowl to dip the crackers) and jennie o lean turkey kielbasa that we cut and put in a container so we can just take it out quickly if we want. Fresh fruit is always easy to grab too, and we also get the betty crocker fruit snacks and keep some of those in a bag with GF pretzels in a container and raisins. And my 3 year old is taking off her clothes and saying she wants a bath, so I better go!