I will make a long story short. I caught gairdia (parasite) last summer. It destroyed my small intestine to the point that I am lactose intollerant. I haven't got an official gluten intolerance test, but I have high suspicions that it is this because wheat/gluten issues are found in the small intestine and gairdia attacks this. I'm upset and worried about what I can eat. Are any of you gluten-free? If so, how has it impacted your life and what do you eat? I feel like eatting out and drinking beer are totally out of the picture now. Oh, and I REALLY need to get used to eatting rice bread. I've lost about 10 pounds already.
Aw Bumble so sorry to hear this, that really sucks Im not gluten free but just wanted to say Im sorry and hope you get it all figured out soon. Im yeast free, so I understand totally about not being able to have a drink when youre out and stuff, and it stinks! Hugs
My son & I have been gluten-free since 10/2006! And... yeah, we were pretty scared at first too. But we've managed to make finding decent substitute-recipes/foods an adventure rather than dwelling on the few foods that just aren't tasty. I think the biggest impacts for us, were eating out and the increase to the grocery budget. (I STILL grumble at $2.50 for a half-size package of pasta!) I already made pretty much everything "from scratch" so that wasn't much of a change. Rice bread is yukky unless you're making bread pudding or stuffing. Tapioca bread is a little better, but not much. I'd recommend one of the bread-machine mixes before ANY of the premade stuff - they all taste like sweetened cardboard to me. Get a copy of The Incredible Edible Gluten-Free Cookbook for Kids... they've got the most palatable bread recipes, as well as several yummy desserts & sides. (most of the main dishes contain meat) Personally, we shun bread now. There's a wrap (it falls apart unless gently warmed, but it tastes good) by THIS company that is pretty good, or we'll use corn or rice cakes. As for eating out - it depends on how sensitive you are. I can handle a bit of cross-contamination, but my son gets "glutened" just about everywhere we go. Wendy's & Taco Bell have a few vegetarian options that are "safe" but every time I get fries at Wendy's I end up sick... so I wouldn't personally trust them. Chipotle bowls versus wraps are safe, and the one near me is well-trained in keeping things from getting contaminated so we've never had a problem there. Pei Wei has GF options for Asian food, and there's a vegan place downtown that's completely GF & a little shop that's apparently ONLY in MN that actually makes a decent GF pizza! Other than that, we simply don't eat out anymore. The risk is just too great. I know I've read about a few "safe" beers... don't remember which ones offhand since I don't like the stuff, but they exist. New York is supposed to have TONS of GF-friendly restaurants! Good luck! It's not always easy, but you'll do fine. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me - like I said, we've been doing this for 2.5 years now & have probably learned just about everything "the hard way" so we know a lot about what NOT to do love, mom
Just thought I'd add a few personal favorite links - these have been lifesavers for us Gluten Free Goddess - she has TONS of vegetarian/vegan recipes. Our personal recommendations are for her vegan mac 'n cheese, and her strawberry chocolate-chip scones. We've tried most of her recipes, but these two are always requested even by our two non-GF family members! Fat-Free Vegan - more yummy recipes. We use a lot of their soup recipes, and their springroll ones for inspiration. and Pig in the Kitchen - my sister just found this one for me & we haven't had a chance to actually TRY any recipes yet... but everything I've looked at sounds yummy & I haven't actually found any meat yet so I THINK she's veg? love, mom
homeschoolmama, thank you so much! I am taking it 1 day at a time. I'm craving bread and tomato pie atm. I need to go shopping to get some GF bread mix. I bought GF muffin mix. It is expensive, but I'm tired of feeling the way I do all of the time. $2.50 for pasta is crazy. I found GF pasta at Trader Joes for $1.99.
I agree! She is awesome! I'm going to make that GF chocolate cake off of the "Glutten Free Goddess" website. i'll let you know how it turns out.
Oh, chocolate cake!!! I'm so sorry I should have mentioned this to begin with! The absolute bestest chocolate cake on the whole entire planet happens to be a GF mix! I'm a helpless chocoholic, and this is better than ANY cake I've ever had - gluten or not is Pamela's Chocolate Cake. It's sooo good & rich & moist - especially as cupcakes. I make mine with applesauce instead of the egg, and it turns out perfect every time. I *think* it's vegan if done that way? If you like frosting, I highly recommend Cherrybrook Kitchen mixes. Theirs turn out particularly well with Earth Balance! One other that we've had a LOT of trouble coming up with is pizza crust. We FINALLY found something that makes a decent pizza crust AND breadstick!!! Try Namaste's Sugar-Free, allergen-free Pizza crust mix. It's a bit pricey, but each package makes TWO gigantic pizzas! It's a yummy herbed crust too, so the slightly "off" GF flours aren't even noticeable. Is there anything else specifically you're craving? We've probably tried just about everything out there at this point... today we tried gnocchi for the first time. Good luck!!! love, mom
