Dangerous Grains Book Review

I won the book dangerous grains a while back from Adventures of a GF mom .  It is such an interesting book.  It is amazing to me that celiac disease, type 1 diabetes, and so many other diseases share the same genetic marker.  I can't really say that I believe understand how they came to the conclusion that gluten is the actual cause of celiac disease since they really don't offer an explanation.  I am not saying it may not be correct because I am NOT a doctor.  But, I have never heard anything like type 1 diabetes is caused by sugar and they are both autoimmune disorders.  Therefore I think there is just not enough known about it's actual cause to publish it, only what causes the actual symptoms/side effects.  I do agree we as humans should not be eating wheat or it's relatives, I don't see an actual benefit to eating wheat even if it doesn't make you sick.  I see the benefit of the fiber in the wheat but no benefit of the wheat itself.  Without the fiber wheat is just crap!  Many other foods have fiber apples, buckwheat, mesquite flour, broccoli, etc.  I see it kind of like cows shouldn't be eating corn they should be eating grass.  We just shouldn't eat wheat it's not made for us, I don't know who it's made for(definitely not for me)!  My husband and I do not have children and honestly I don't know if we ever will.  But, if things change for us our child/children would be on a gluten free diet at least until their teens because of the fact that I have celiac disease and my family history of it.  Before reading this book I just thought testing would be necessary but with all this new information I have read my thoughts have changed.  I now feel like it takes too long for damage to be visual enough for a diagnosis and that genetic testing is not fool proof either.  Read this slowly: Since having genetic markers for celiac disease doesn't necessarily mean you'll ever get it and NOT having genetic markers for celiac disease doesn't mean you wont get it either.  Childhood is way too important for the development of strong bodies and minds to risk any of that precious time.  As a child I had epilepsy seizures, chronic stomach aches, awful motion sickness. Up until recently I still had asthma, chronic sinus infections, chronic bronchitis, joint pain, migraines, body aches, sour stomach, acid reflux, etc.  I still suffer from insomnia and muscle/joint pain.  Those are just some of the many additional reasons why I think childhood development has a lot to do with the quality of life both during and after childhood.  This book has so much great information!  I would recommend it to anyone, if they had celiac disease or not, because celiac disease awareness is growing but there is still a long way to go.

***I am not a Dr., this article represents my own personal opinions and should not be taken as medical advice for any situation.

GFree Vanilla Wafers

I wanted to make banana pudding for my dad's birthday...but, I also wanted to enjoy some too.  So I tried a recipe for GFree vanilla wafers.  Well I threw it in the trash, to say the very least, it didn't work out to any extent.  But, I didn't give up I created my own recipe and it worked out perfectly and the banana pudding turned out great!!!  Then someone commented on me making vanilla wafers that went something like this,"you don't have to make those just buy coconut macaroons to put in banana pudding."  Or not!  I don't know how everyone else feels about this but I want the food I eat now to be exactly or pretty close to what I ate before other than being GFree.  I wanted banana pudding not coconut cream pudding.  So for anyone out there who misses vanilla wafers or classic banana pudding here it is.

Vanilla Wafers:

1/2  C. butter (room temp.)
1  C. granulated sugar
1/8  tsp. salt
2  Lg. eggs
1  Tbs. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
2 1/3  my GF Flour Recipe(found under recipe tab)
2 1/2  tsp. xanthan gum

Preheat oven 350*F

Mix the first five ingredients.  In a separate bowl mix the baking powder, my GFree flour mix, and xanthan gum.  Slowly add GF flour mix to the wet ingredients until the entire mix is wet.  Put into a piping bag with large icing tip or other plastic bag with a small corner cut out.  Squeeze dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 3/4-inch wide, spaced 1 inch apart.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned on edges.

Yield: About 8 Dozen cookies.

Winner of GF travel bag!!

The winner is Tricia!  Please e-mail or DM(on Twitter) me your mailing address so I can get your prize to you.  Winner was picked using RANDOM.ORG.  Thanks to all who participated!

GF travel bag giveaway!

It's Summer so it's time to travel!  If you have CD or other gluten issues, you know it can be difficult.  The days of stopping at any restaurant or convenient store at any hour to feed yourself are pretty much over after diagnosis.  Now when you walk into a convenient store your choices are a little more limited, to say the least.  I find it a little difficult when I'm only an hour away from home for the day shopping.  I always take snacks with me popcorn, GFree crackers, banana chips,etc.  I do still dine out but it can get old fast since choices at restaurants are usually limited; and to be honest a lot of times employees just don't understand gfree even if they have a special menu.  Lately I've been quite unlucky at restaurants, I keep getting glutened so I'm a bit burned out.  One good thing, is that I've always Been the type of person to take snacks with me everywhere.  Another good thing is that I've never really cared for dining out but that's probably due to the fact that I always felt sick to my stomach.  I know taking a bag full of snacks with me makes my life easier, so I want to make one lucky persons life easier with a GF tote bag filled with all kinds of goodies!!!  Everything in this bag is safe even the sudoku book ;), the sugar daddy's are a Tootsie product so they are not only GFree but also peanut/tree nut free YAY!!!  Contest ends on Friday June 11th.  I will announce the winner on June 12th.

FOR A CHANCE TO WIN

• Give me one of your GFree travel tips or tell me what your favorite snack to take with you is.  (leave separate comments for 2 chances to win)
• Follow this blog and leave a comment on this post so I know.
• Follow me on Twitter comment on this post so I know.
• Tweet this:  Enter for a chance to win a #GF bag full of goodies at www.newfoundceliac.com       comment on this post so I know.  (1 chance to win per day, do it as many days as you want for multiple chances)
• Email 3 friends about this giveaway and CC me. (3 chances to win)  Make sure you still leave a comment on this post to get all your entries. (have lots of friends to this more than once to up your chances)

For those of you that already follow this blog or me on Twitter, leave separate comments for the things you already do if you would like a chance to win this goody bag.

Winner of the magnet!!

I put all the names in a hat, mixed them around, and had a five year old take one out. Funny way to pick a winner, but I said it would be random!
Sarah you won the magnet!!
Please e-mail me your mailing address and I'll send it out to you.
Thanks to all who participated, there is one more giveaway this month so stay tuned!

What does your GFree fridge look like???

What does your fridge/pantry look like???  Do you buy two of everything, to avoid cross contamination or do you avoid cross contamination completely by not buying gluten filled foods?  My house is completely GFree, I do by the occasional regular loaf of of bread when my little brother comes to visit us.  But, other than that there is not any gluten filled foods in my house.  My husband eats what I make, other than whatever he eats when he's away from home.  I continued to buy some gluten filled foods for about a month after being diagnosed and I personally think it was too stressful!  Especially when we had company, I really worried about somebody double dipping in the butter and stuff like that.  For me life is just easier without gluten filled foods.

      For a chance to win the magnet above:

• Comment on this blog
• Follow this blog(Comment to let me know) 
• Or tweet about this giveaway(Comment to let me know)

I will be picking a winner at random on Monday May 24!!!  Stay tuned there's one more giveaway this month, I saved the best for last!!!

 

Winners So Far!!!

Budgers you are the winner of the book, "Celiac Disease and Living Gluten-free: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed" by Jules E. Dowler Shepard please e-mail me as soon as possible with your mailing address so I can get that to you.
Grace you were the winner of the button so as soon as you e-mail me your mailing address I will send that to you.
Thanks for participating, stay tuned for more giveaways this month, I am putting together a travel goodie bag that will be great for summer traveling!!!