Celiac Disease Research: Long Island, New York

June 17, 2014
My whole Celiac life has been full of research groups. I have been so blessed to know that I had Celiac disease before the symptoms started showing up. I have not spent a dime on being tested or anything else related to Celiac Disease because we got in with a research group from the get go which I'm truly blessed for!!
Whenever I find a celiac research study that I can participate in I feel like it is the least that I can do.
Since we moved out to New York I found a research group that I wanted to participate in. So I emailed them, they called me, and I went in for an exam and to meet with the doctor who is over the research group.
Part of this certain research group consisted of a "food diary" so they call it. I would say it was more of a symptom diary. I call in every night  between the time of after dinner and before I go to bed. The call lasts about 5 minutes asking questions about my bowel movements, if I have nausea,  have abdominal pain, bloating, or experience tiredness in the last 24 hours. I have done this everyday for the last month.
Everything that I answered to these questions, daily, has qualified me to the next step of the process which is a biopsy and endoscopy of the small intestine.
I have always wanted to get a biopsy done to see how well my intestines have healed up. Although I have had a hard time justifying doing it because it is not cheap. So once I found out with the research group that this is one of the steps, I was more than willing to help them out.
Today I went in for the biopsy. I was terrified because for some reason I have been afraid of being put under. This was the first time ever. They were so nice!! Once I got there I put on my gown, they rolled me into another room, gave me an iv, put in the oxygen tubes into my nose, made me lay on my shoulder, and gave me this round object with a hole in the middle of it  to bite on to protect my teeth.  And the next thing I knew I was back in the other room where I started.
I think they told me somethings but I hope they are not too important Kuz I don't remember them. If they are important I hope Dusty remembers. Haha
I came home to sleep it off and one side effect I have from it is a sore throat. But it should go away soon enough! Although they did pump me full of air... It has to come out some way right? :)
I'll get my results back in about a week to see if I qualify for the next step. Which will be that the doctor will give me enzymes to take with my meal(s) (I am not sure if I will take them with multiple meals or for just one meal.) for a certain amount of time and then I'll go back in for another biopsy and endoscopy to see if it has helps my small intestine heal up any better/faster!!


I am grateful for this opportunity to help further Celiac Disease Research and to be part of it. I am very hopeful that it will work out the way that they want it to. So we will be able to have more healthy people in this world!! 

June 25, 2014
So today I got the call from the doctor about my biopsy results. The great news in that the gluten free diet is working great for me!! Not so great news for them is there is not enough damage to the villi that they are looking for and so I will not be moving forward in this study. I'll meet with the doctor late July for him to explain what my results mean exactly.  
I am truly grateful that I was able to get this far in the study! And will be keeping an eye out for the next one I can participate in.  

Mary's Gluten Free Bakery

 

This last summer I took my very first gluten free baking class in Houston Texas. A local gluten free bakery tried out teaching their very first baking class. They had a kitchen and all the supplies for us to use. Plus It was reasonably priced.

 

We made Savory Pie Crusts. In this crust we put bacon, cheese, green onions, salt, pepper, and eggs.

We alson made scones and baked donuts.

 

Just a few things that I learned from this class:

• Use a spoon to scoop GF flour into a measuring device. Do not pack GF flour.
• The only ingredient that you will ever need to pack in brown sugar.
• You can make your own brown sugar with regular sugar and molasses
• baking soda+sugar is NOT a substitute for baking powder. (learned this one the hard way)
• Baking/Cooking GF comes out different EVERY time you make something even if it is the same recipe.
• If the dough is too sticky add more flour. If the dough is not holding together add water (or other liquid.)

I loved getting to know some of the other people in the group and learn about their stories. Check to see if there are any gluten free baking classes in your area by looking them up on the internet or asking around gluten free stores or local bakeries to find out by word of mouth. You just might be surprised by what you can find!!

 

 

Happy eatings!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Thanksgiving Preparations

Thanksgiving is approaching us very quickly. Can you believe it's next week?

This year is our first thanksgiving together since we have been married. Last year Dusty was away on a work trip. We are also hosting this year. My mom is coming and Dusty's good friend is coming. Plus the LDS sister missionaries will be joining us for thanksgiving dinner. Plus a few more that May or may not be coming. So a full house!! We love having company! Oh did I mention this is my first year making thanksgiving dinner by myself!! I am pretty nervous. But I have been planning out the menu since October. So I sure hope that I'll be ready! :) Our thanksgiving dinner this year will be 100% gluten free and dairy free!

Since I'll be feeding 6+ people I am going for as easy and simple yet tasty as possible.

I thought I would share my thanksgiving menu items that would not typically be gluten free before the big day, in hopes that it may help someone who never gets rolls or stuffing or pie because we think it's not possible to have good gluten free thanksgiving dinner. But guess what... It is possible!!

Last night I made gluten free rolls for my first time ever. Everything has to pass my husband's expectations for being gluten free. After he tried them he said "This will be the closest bread that tastes like bread without gluten." Success!! Just like other bread it's always best fresh out of the oven. We ate some of them today but I don't think they will be any good after tomorrow.

Light and Fluffy Gluten Free Dinner Roll

• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (about 110 degrees)
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 tablespoons xanthan gum
• 1 1/4 cups white rice flour
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 3/4 cup potato starch
• 1/3 cup tapioca starch

1. In the bowl of a mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar and let sit for about 5 minutes.
2. Add remaining ingredients, adding the xanthan gum last. . Mix using the dough hook of an electric mixer.
3. Mix for about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times. You do not knead this like a regular bread dough, but it does need mixed well and I have found about 5 minutes is a good time.
4. Scoop onto a greased cookie sheet. The dough is a wet dough, so I found that using a large ice cream scoop works best for this. This makes 12-15 rolls.
5. Cover rolls loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise for about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.
6. Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until done.
7. Enjoy!

As far as stuffing goes I don't think I have ever eaten it before. We never had it at thanksgiving dinner growing up even before being diagnosed. So for my very first time I am playing it safe with Rudi's gluten free stuffing. This is available at my Costco in Colorado. Sprout Farmer Markets, Whole Foods, Earth Fare, Fairway, Lowes Foods, Vitamin Cottage, Woodman's, Winn Dixie, Bi-Lo, Russ's Markets, Untied Market, Strack and Van Til, Coburns, Price Chopper, Cub Foods, Roundy's Reasors, Kowalski's, and Albertsons are the stores that are listed by Rudi'sbakery.com that carries Rudi's gluten free stuffing. Although some nationwide retailers only carry their gluten free stuffing at the specified regional locations. Some locally owned natural food stores may carry it also.

Marshmallow Sweet Potato Casserole
5 large sweet potatoes
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, cold
1/3 cup orange juice Mini marshmallows

1. In a large pot, boil sweet potatoes until tender. (A knife should slide easily into the center of the potatoes but the potato should still feel a little firm. You don't want them to feel mushy. Test them after 20 minutes of boiling.)
2. Fill a large bowl with ice water. One-by-one slip the potatoes into the ice water and remove their skins. (The skins slide off easily under water. Simply make a small cut in the potato and the skin will peel off. It is like magic!)
3. Cut potatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, spices and butter. Rub together until mixture is chunky and butter is evenly distributed throughout the sugar.
5. Layer the potatoes in the bottom of a medium casserole dish. (Use any dish that is large enough to hold 5 potatoes. This size and shape of the dish doesn't really matter for this recipe.) Sprinkle 1/2 the sugar mixture over the potatoes. Repeat and sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the top of the potatoes. Pour the orange juice evenly over the top layer of potatoes.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender and the juices are boiling.*
7. Remove casserole dish from the oven and turn on the broiler.
8. Cover the casserole with a layer of marshmallows.
9. Put dish under broiler until marshmallows are golden brown.

*You can make this dish up until step 5 a day or two before Thanksgiving. Then, on Thanksgiving, reheat and top with the marshmallows.
Serves 6

I bought these pie crusts at Sprouts. It was on sale for $5 and 2 come in the package. But when they rang it up at the register it ended up being $4! SCORE!! There is no such thing as too many pies right?

I have found several pie recipes that sound so good! So I'll share those recipes. I have sometime until I have to choose between them.

Gluten Free Easy Strawberry Pie

Crust

6

cups Rice Chex® cereal

1/3

cup sunflower or canola oil or melted ghee

3

tablespoons potato starch flour

1/4

cup sugar

1/4

teaspoon salt

1

egg

Filling

2

lb fresh strawberries, sliced (about 5 cups)

1

container (13.5 oz) gluten-free glaze for strawberries

Directions

• 1Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 10-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray (without flour).
• 2In food processor, place cereal. Cover; process until crushed. Add remaining crust ingredients. Cover; process until incorporated. Press mixture into pie plate, starting in center and pressing up side. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on cooling rack.
• 3In large bowl, stir strawberries and glaze until covered. Spread filling into crust. Refrigerate 2 hours before serving.

Pecan pie

Mix in a bowl, 1/4 C sugar, 2TBS flour, and 1tsp salt. Stir in 1c dark Karo Syrup. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time. Mix 1/2 c evaporated milk, 1c pecans and 1tsp vanilla.

Pour mixture into 9inch unbaked pie shell. Baked in 375 degrees for 50 minutes, or until firm. Cool before serving.

***substitute the flour for a gluten free flour.

***substitute evaporated milk for almond milk use a little more half of what the recipe calls for. If needs be dairy free.

 

 

Fresh Peach Pie

3 cups water

1 cup granulated sugar

1 (3 ounces) packaged peach flavored gelatin

3 tablespoons cornstarch

4 cups sliced peaches

Whipped topping, for garnish

In a medium saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil over medium-high heat. Mix gelatin and cornstarch together and gradually add to the boiling sugar water. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until mixture is clear and thickened slightly; remove from heat. Let stand at room temperature until cool and thickened like a heavy syrup. (Or refrigerate to cool, stirring often so it doesn't set up too much.) Pour over fresh peaches and fold together gently.

Mound mixture in baked pie shell. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Top each slice with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired. Makes 1 pie.

 

 

Harvest Apple Crisp

10 cups peeled and sliced apples

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water

1 cup quick cooking rolled oats

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, melted

 

Place the sliced apples in a 9x13-inch pan. Mix granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all, set aside. In a large bowl, combine oats, remaining 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees F. For about 45 minutes or until top is golden brown and apples are tender. Serves 12-15.

 

***use a gluten free crust.

***substitute flour for a gluten free flour

 

Fresh Strawberry Pie

1 baked 9-inch pie shell

4 cups diced ripe strawberries

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cups halved ripe strawberries

1/2 cup fresh blueberries, divided

Whipped cream, for garnished

 

Place diced strawberries in a gallon-sized zipper-lock bag; seal well and knead bag to crush berries. Pour crushed berries into a large saucepan and combine with sugar and salt. Remove 1 cup of this mixture and blend with cornstarch in a small bowl; pour back into saucepan. Cook and stir strawberry mixture over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and continue to stir and scrape the bottom of the pan until thick and clear. Stir in lemon zest. Place in a chilled, medium-sized bowl and cool in refridgerator, about 1 hour. Stir in lemon juice.

 

Place halved strawberries and 1/4 cup of the blueberries in bottom of baked pie shell. Spoon chilled glaze over berreis. Garnish with whipped cream and remaining blueberries. Makes 1 pies.

Pumpkin pie

Ingredients

• 1 pie crust recipe
• 1¾ cups pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup almond milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

1. Prepare the pie crust dough according to directions, but let it rest while you put together the rest of the ingredients.
2. Combine all the ingredients using a fork to mix them together.
3. Roll and press the pie dough into a 9 or 10 inch pie plate.
4. Add the filling to the unbaked pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees 45-55 minutes (longer for a 9 inch pie).
5. Cover the crust with foil or a pie shield after about 30 minutes. You can use foil by cutting a large round hole in the center of a piece of foil and placing it over the pie, loosely forming it to the sides of the pie dish.
6. Let cool before cutting.

 

Make sure that the turkey seasoning is gluten free!!

 

I'll write after thanksgiving hopefully with some tips to help us next year.

 

 

 

Happy eatings!!

 

Gluten free apps

I recently discovered the app called 'Yelp.' Which is owned by google. On this app you put in gluten free.. Whatever your looking for... Bakery... Pizza... Restaurants... Etc. In the location box you can out in current location to find what is closest to you or any other city to find gluten free places in that town. I have found this very helpful being in new places.







It gives you the name, address, the distance (milage), and the rating of the place. On the right side it tells you how expensive it. The more $ the more expensive it is. But always know when buying gluten free it's going to be a bit more pricey. Also under the address it tells you what kind of things they serve, and it mentions if it is gluten free. That is my favorite feature of the app. Although note that some places serve gluten free items even though it may not be listed under the address.







With how much we move throughout out the year. I love using the app to help find gluten free places to try in new areas. Finding gluten free bakeries in the areas that we move to is one of my hobbies. It's so fun and interesting to hear about the stories how each bakery came about.
Some other gluten free apps that I have downloaded on my phone are...
Find Me GF
GF Card
GF Fast Food
GlutenCheck
Gluten Free Recipes (Love this one)
Celiac Trivia (always learn something new)
My Kitchen (has suggestions for gluten free meals)
CeliappGuide (tells you about safe and unsafe foods/ingredients)
G-Free (helps with eating out)
Healthyout
Glutenology
Gluten Free News
Snacks Gluten Free
Gluten Safety (very educational)
BM Lite (helps to keep track of your bowel movements if you happen to need help with that)
DineGF (seems to find legit local restaurants with gluten free menus as well as chain restaurants)
All of the apps listed about a FREE! So why not try them out?

A few more apps that I have found but they cost to download them are...
Gluten Free Restaurant Items
Gluten Free Grocery Guide
Gluten Free Travel Guide
101 Gluten-Free Recipes
Is That Gluten Free?
Gluten Free Registry
Gluten Free Ingredients
These are just to name a few. They are always coming up with new gluten free apps so keep an eye out for that.

Check out this website...
http://www.glutenfreeguidehq.com/68-essential-gluten-free-restaurant-menus-you-need-to-know/

I find it very very helpful for eating out to know what items ARE gluten free. I added it as an app on my phone and I use it often.
If you open the website on safari on your iPhone or iPad then click the arrow at the bottom of the page then click the 'add to home screen' option and that is how you create website into an app.

I Scream Cakes

While we lived in St Louis I found this Ice cream and frozen yogurt place called "I Scream Cake."
They make ice cream cake, which came in a gluten free option!! Whaaa!!??
So I called them up. They didn't have a cake that sounded great to me. But they were willing to take an order and made it in 2 hours. They had awesome customer service!! If I lived in the area I would be a regular customer. The best part was the price was reasonable. I don't know if it was anymore expensive than regular ice cream cakes but if it was there must have not much been of a difference in price.
Highly recommended!!

Dempsey Bakery

As I have been traveling around the United States and have had some extra time on my hands while my husband is at work I try to find a local gluten free bakery of some sort.
Most recently we were in Little Rock Arkansas. One of my friends told me about this organic restaurant that her and her husband had recently tried and she was very pleased with the food that they served. She also mentioned that they had some gluten free options. Once she said that I knew I had to go try it. So we went. The restaurant is called The Roof Cafe. I got an egg salad sandwich.




The bread was more like a hamburger bun. The texture of the bread was amazing! It never feel apart. It tasted so good that I really questioned if it was really gluten free. We asked where they get the bread from and it was from a gluten free bakery called Dempsey Bakery which was in down town Little Rock. We weren't too far away from it. So we went and checked it out.







I love it when I see this sign outside. For the simple reason that I feel like you can trust anything they have in there and they really do care about and understand the gluten free lifestyle.


They had so many choices I didn't know where to start. They had a lot of different choices of cookies, cheese cake, lava cake, cinnamon rolls, breads, pizza crusts, cakes, cupcakes, pies. I was very impressed with the wide selection that they offer.















They also have a full lunch menu. I ate at The Roof Top right before coming to Dempsey Bakery so I didn't eat anything off it the menu. Although I tried the roasted red pepper bisque soup. It was good but had a little bit of a kick to it. I'm not one for spicy stuff unless I'm in the mood for it.



Our of the many options that they had I tried the cinnamon roll. It was very good. Although I thought it tasted more like a donut with the glaze that they used on it. The texture was great! And it didn't crumble at all!



I also tried the chocolate raspberry cheese cake. It was very good. Although I thought it would have tasted better without the chocolate drizzle.




The staff at Dempsey Bakery was very friendly and knowledgable. I highly recommend this gluten free bakery. If you are ever in the Little Rock area it's worth your time and money as is The Roof Top.



Happy eatings!!

Gluten free flours

When Dusty and I first got married I went through a phase where I wanted to cook and bake everything I could to be gluten free. After all... "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach"... Right?

Well I went onto amazon to find the gf flours that I would need to bake the recipes that my cookbooks called for. At the time they had an AWESOME deal going on and so I bought 4 or 5 different flours. Each flour came with 3 or 4- 22 ounce bags. Being only two of us we didn't go through all that flour fast enough. And As time went on I realized that I didn't know anything about these flours whether they needed to be in the freezer or fridge or how long their shelf life is.

Recently I did some research on gf flours to know for myself how long they last and how to store them. Maybe this info will become useful to all of you.




Potato starch-
doesn't require refrigeration or freezing. 3 year shelf life open or unopened.

Cornstarch-
1 1/2- 2 years max shelf life

Brown rice flour-
4-5 months in refrigerator.
Up to 1 year in the freezer.
May become rancid if stored improperly or if stored for an excessive length of time.

Sorghum flour-
4 months in freezer, if stored in a sealed container or tightly wrapped.

Soy flour-
5-7 months, store tightly wrapped or tightly sealed in the refrigerator or Freezer.

White rice flour-
Store in a right covered container in a cool dry location and it will last indefinitely.

Tapioca starch/flour-
3years- If stored in a cool, dry area.

Bean flour-
18 months- Store in air tight container in a cool and dry area.

Almond flour-
6 months in refrigerator.
12 months in freezer.





Happy eatings!!