Moderated discussion and help for gluten free, coeliac, celiac, wheat allergies or intolerance
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No choc chip cookies
Posted by
In the past year I have gone from a healthy 125 to a (maybe a little bit chunky) 135 lbs down to right around 100 lbs. I used to live happily on coffee and one meal a day, if that.
Since around March of 2002 the weight has been falling off me no matter how much I eat. I now have many meals a day starting at 5:00 a.m. and ending when I go to bed. I often wake up in the middle of the night one to two times to have cookies and milk.....a neccisity! I think it's safe to say that I'm easily eating 10 times more than i did a year ago, yet still can't keep the weight on.
A couple of months ago I suffered a bout of flu and could keep nothing down for about 2 days. My weight dropped to 94 pounds after those 2 days. It took about three weeks to get back up to 100 pounds. I have spent my life having boobs, a butt, and (sometimes too much) hips. I now have none of that and could easily pass for a 10-yr-old boy.
On the bright side, over the past six months I've experienced severe head aches (CT nl), dizziness, spots in front of my eyes, extreme fatigue, rashes on my chest and back, muscle and joint pain, nausea, and just a general overall achiness. I've also found lumps in my groin area and under my arms which the drs have said are just enlarged lymphnodes.
To all of that lets add saggy skin, wrinkles I never had before, bags under my eyes, and looking about 10 yrs older when I've spent my life looking 5 yrs younger than I really am.
After many appointments and tests, they've finally determined that I don't have cancer, HIV, Hepititus, or Crohn's disease. Finally, my GI guy thinks I may have Celiac disease, blood test was positive. I'll be having the EGD with bx on New Year's Eve.
Since he informed me of this, I've been doing a great deal of research on the disease and a gluten free diet. It sounds miserable, difficult, and like more work than I have the energy for. (I am now at the stage where I can't carry a basket of laudry upstairs without shaking from the effort. Thank God for my 13-yr-old son and his help or we'd be wearing alot of dirty clothes.)
Regardless, I'm more than willing to try this diet if it'll give me back my energy. I've never been a lazy person, but can barely handle my full-time job and taking care of my son. Actually, he's been doing more of taking care of me. (I'm a single parent)
I just have one question......
Do I HAVE to give up my middle-of-the-night Choc Chip Cookies and milk for the rest of my life??? I think I can handle everything else but that
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Re: No choc chip cookies
Posted by Peter
Brenda,
You have gone about this the right way, in getting your Doctor's diagnosis and the blood tests first, before starting the gluten-free diet.
It may mean preparing a little more of your own food rather than buying it off the shelf, But once your are used to it, it is not a difficult diet to follow.
Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are quite easy to make. Look at the various biscuit recipes on the web site ( I am using rice flour and corn meal - from Sainsburys) cocoa for the flavour and olive oil for the fat - I don't always stick to my own recipes.
Peter
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Re: No choc chip cookies
Posted by
Peter,
Thank you very much for the answer. It's reassuring to know I don't have to give up all of life's little perks. Can you answer another question for me? Friends have been telling me I'll have to cook 2 complete meals, one for my son and one for me. Is this true? Will it be bad for my son to eat a Gluten free diet? Or can he eat what I eat yet have a few regular foods thrown in? Is the Gluten free food much more expensive than regular food? As I'm sure you know, a growing 13 year old boy can eat more for one snack than I can eat in a whole day. Would it be more financially feasible to fix him his own food
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Re: No choc chip cookies
Posted by Peter
For your main meals there is no reason to eat separate meals. My children ate gluten-free meals for years without even realising it.
I have always roasted a chicken or pork joint at the weekend with roast potato and veg. Use cornflour to make the gravy. A stew or mince dish in the week, thicken with lentils or cornflour. Baked fish (no batter). All served with potato or rice and veg.
Puddings usually fruit fresh or tinned. It is a good idea to keep eating main meals together and certainly not bad for your son, and these don't involve special ingredients.
For breakfast, I think most families let the children chose their own cereal. Your son can have his own supply of bread and biscuits for snacks, and for lunch when you don't want to eat much, teach your son how to cook his own pasta. The earlier you start them being independent the better.
Peter
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Re: No choc chip cookies
Posted by
Dear Brenda,
I sympathise as I am also on a gluten-free diet and at first it can be a bit daunting. But my husband (who can eat anything) eats the same as I do and has anything else like bread when he feels like it, and he said it often tastes better!
If you live in the UK, I recommend Sainsburys. In our local store (Brookwood in Surrey) aisle 6 has an amazing range of GF food - choc biscuits, DIY choc cake (VERY easy) gravy mix and a cold cupboard with pastas pizzas and pies etc, also I ordered Peter's cook book via this site and that is excellent.
Also do be careful as breadcrumbs etc from your son's food can contaminate yours. Good idea for 2 separate preparation areas if possible.
Good luck! Chris
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Re: No choc chip cookies
Posted by
Chris,
Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, I live in a small town in Pennsylvania, USA. We have one small health food store. One loaf of gluten free bread cost $5.00. And one small package of GF flour was $3.00. I've requested catalogues from some manufacturers whose names I've gotten off the internet. Hopefully, they'll be cheaper. If not, it's safe to say my son WON'T be eating any of this. Being a single mom who doesn't get child support, I'm on a tight grocery budget. I haven't yet tried the bread recipes I've found, but I hope they taste better than the type I bought. This tastes like saw dust with a little glue thrown in to hold it together. I guess I've been spoiled my whole life. Food never meant much to me, most of it I could take it or leave it. Until now, when I can't have any of it.
But thank you for the words of support. I have alot to learn. My idea of cooking used to be going through a drive-through or opening a can and box of something. That's out now
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Re: No choc chip cookies
Posted by
Hi there! I was just reading your old emails. I am from Canada and we are awaiting my three year old daughters biopsy on April 4th. All the feelings are catching up to me and I feel much of the way you were feeling. I am wondering how you are doing with your diet now that you have had some time. Has it gotten any easier? I know thay our whole house will have to become gluten free. She is so young and has a twin sister. I feel very overwhelmed and am looking for someone to say that it does get easier.
Sincerely, Janice
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Re:biopsy and GF
Posted by Lyn
Janice, if your daughter is found to have CD then all her family should be tested for this as it is 'in the genes'.
You will know that she must eat gluten until up to the biopsy in order for any damage to show & thus get a correct diagnosis.
I felt very shocked and bewildered 2 years ago when I was unexpectedly diagnosed with CD & went GF but it honestly does get easier & better.
There is no need for the whole household to be GF if your daughter is diagnosed but just make sure she has her own GF toaster, bread bin, bread knife & board, work surface for food preparation , butter or spread, jam pot & cupboard etc for GF foods used only by her so that no cross contamination occurs.
There is a lot of information on the internet about CD and GF diet, here is one site with links:
http://www.coeliac.info
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Re:biopsy and GF
Posted by
I have just recently been diagnosed with Celiac & am stumbling my way through the GF maze. It is a daunting task. However, I have found GF chocoloate chip cookies that I am now addicted to. They are called "Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip" cookies & I found them in the "organic" section of the grocery store. They say "Wheat-Free & Gluten-Free" on the package. The website is www.pamelasproducts.com. They aren't cheap but they are worth it. I find they taste best when refrigerated. I'm almost afraid they are too good to be gluten-free. If anyone out there knows of them, could you confirm that they are OK. I've gotten so I really don't trust anymore. Thanks
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Re:biopsy and GF
Posted by
For those in the US: YES, our food is more expensive, but then you do what you have to do. If you haven't already, join your local celiac support group. You can meet people there and after a while you might find someone closer to you where you can buy a case of product save $$ and split it.
Also, my local suport group has a food fair every year. Companies come to our local areas in one room and they have specials they give out. Special prices that is. A lot of time, they make the product and you get to taste it before you buy it. This way, you know what you're buying is a decent product. Sometimes they have free shipping which saves a lot.
However, Closer to Pennsylvania is a company called Gluten Free Delights. WONDERFUL! company. I don't bother making breads anymore because they always came out terrible and I wound up throwing out more than I care to remember. It cost more making it and finding out how terrible it was and throwing it out. So, I mail order all my breads and they ship them fresh to my door. I freeze them immediately and then take them out as I need them - pop them in the microwave for a minute and I have a fresh bun for anything I want.
They are located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Look them up on the net, www.glutenfreedelights.com
Best of Luck.
Janet
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Re:chocolate chip cookies
Posted by
If you're willing to bake your own cookies, I recently made delicious chocolate chip cookies. I substituted 7/8 cup of rice flour for 1 cup of wheat flour. I also added 1/2 tsp xanthan gum. They were delicious! Get yourself a good gluten-free cookbook. I'm not a baker, but out of necessity, I'm beginning to bake more. And it's challenging, but when the result tastes good, I feel so accomplished and successful at dealing with this diet! One more thing--get you son tested--it's genetic. After I was diagnosed, I had my kids tested, and 2 of them were positive