Pamela's Chocolate Brownie Mix

E - mmpf, gumpph, (thumb sticks up in the air), flumpf. They're great!
D - Goooooooooood. My skin smells like brownies!



(This mix was on sale for $2.89 at my local grocery store. I bought every one they had on the shelf! They are pretty good, but not this good. )

Adventures in Gluten-Free Eating

1) I was asked to order from a menu for a catered business lunch. Uh huh, sure. So, in a rare display of uncharacteristic bravery, I called the restaurant and asked annoying and detailed questions about the menu. Result? My Town's Canterbury's turkey and grape salad appears to be on the "safe list." Additionally? Yummy.

2) I'm on an antibiotic. I feel very school-sporty taking these, since they happen to come in my college's school colors. Point? Oh yeah. So I decided to break out the probiotics, and started taking them, only to - gulp - realize they contain wheat. Can anyone suggest a good gluten-free probiotic?

3) We're taking a trip, sometime (she says, mysteriously, hoping no one is stalking her blog just waiting for the right moment to kidnap her morbidly obese cat - who, by the way, if you were wondering, was on his diet about two weeks when he attacked one of the other cats and nearly bit his tail off. Am I kidding about this? I am not. Morbidly Obese Cat - 1 Cat Diet - 0). Where was I? Oh, yes, our mysterious trip. Anyway, I found TWO restaurants there to which I'm thrilled to go. Boston's Gourmet Pizza offers a gluten-free pizza crust (reviews, anyone?) and Buffaloberries, a local place, offers both a gluten-free pizza crust and a gluten-free sandwich bread. Plus, we'll be returning to the Original Pancake House. Yay!

Best Ever Gluten Free Brownies Ever

I can't even find the picture I took of these brownies, but holy heckapowie does D (top, thinking he's a rockstar) look like SuperDad (bottom, wondering if his grandma will still have that flooring in 30 years. Answer = yes.). Am I right?

Recipe adapted from October 2008 issue of Family Fun magazine.

1/4 c brown rice flour
1/4 c tapioca flour
1/3 c cocoa powder
1/2 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
4 T butter
2 ounces/squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 lg egg
2 lg egg whites
1 c sugar
1 T canola oil
2 t vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. Heat butter in small saucepan, don't burn. Remove pan from heat and add chocolagte, stir until melted. Set aside.

3. In another medium bowl (oh yeah, this recipe will use ALL of your bowls and measuring instruments), lightly whisk the egg and egg whites just until combined. Whisk in the cooled chocolate mixture, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture but do not overmix.

4. Pour into pan. Bake about 30 minutes - toothpick will come out with a few moist crumbs, but brownies will set up as they cool. If they aren't all gone by then. Ahem.

Well Hi There

So work was weird for awhile, but it's okay now. And my mom had some strokes, and she's okay now. And the stress was a bit too much for awhile, but, now, it's okay.

So, tentatively, I'm back. I've missed you!

And who else is thrilled with Chex and their gluten free varieties? Go Chex!

The Original Pancake House

I don't, generally, trust other people to cook gluten free for us.

But we were out of town. And we haven't been to a restaurant as a family in so long.

And The Original Pancake House was advertising their new gluten-free menu.

So we gave it a try.

And? Yum. (At least I thought so, my kids got banana pancakes and weren't in love with that, though I think they'd like the plain buttermilk ones more.)

It's been three days and we haven't had a reaction yet.

Verdict? Success!

Thank you, Original Pancake House, and we apologize for the noise and mess.

How about you? You down with OPH? (And, I apologize for that also.)

Gluten-Free Me

Yesterday was our 3rd anniversary of E's diagnosis with gluten intolerance. Three years gluten free already! And it's gotten so much easier, in so many ways. Some things are never easy, though. Like when your kid has to eat carrots when everyone else is having cupcakes.

I've been off gluten for about 4 and a half months now. And it's fine too, though I miss a lot of things, and I miss them a lot (crossiants...).

But, it's been good for us, this gluten-free thing. We've tried new foods we wouldn't have tried otherwise (quinoa, polenta), we avoid unhealthy things that we probably would have let slide (TV dinners, boxed foods), and oh yeah, this blog. Where I've "met" the nicest people, who are always ready with good advice and words of wisdom and sympathy and kindness.

So. Thanks, you all, for making this journey a whole lot better. :)

Because...

• I'll do anything to have a chance to sit back in a chair and relax?
• I'm a masochist?
• I'll go to great lengths to look younger, like 13, again?
• I apparently insist on being unattractive for one reason (pregnancy) or another?
• There wasn't already enough things on my "Can't Eat" list?
• I wouldn't want to lose my flex spending, even though it's only January?
• There are reasons it's different from plastic surgery... how?
• This time I don't have match them to my junior high cheerleading uniform?
• It's been almost twenty years (UGH, SERIOUSLY?), why not?

I got braces put on yesterday! Mooshy gluten free food ideas, anyone? :)

2009

As of yesterday, we are back on the cash budget again. Which means that when I go to a store, I take a certain amount of cash, and I can't spend over that. Which works much better than you'd think. My sister was talking about how you used to see people in the store with those push-button money counters, making sure they didn't spend more than they had. How long has it been since people did that? (I've personally never seen it, if that' says anything.) I declare it time to start again. Except, you know, use a calculator. Or not.



I've increased our grocery budget by $50 for the new year. I've been hearing for awhile that grocery prices were increasing, but have only noticed it in the things we buy in the last six months or so. Plus, our quantities have been increasing as our family has grown.

I'm afraid that our grocery budget is far from "frugal." But we've reached a point where I'd rather save money in other areas, to ensure that we have a fairly loose budget in the food area. It's just less stressful that way. Anyway, it's about $550/month right now, including all toiletries (diapers!) and eating out.

Also, just because I think it's funny, a video for you.

Making a Gluten Free List, Checking it AGAIN

Weight Watchers recently introduced an all-new program. And with it, is selling all-new materials. I got myself a "Dining Out Companion," which is an updated list of foods offered at major chain restaurants and their POINTS values. I thought I'd go through and highlight everything that was gluten free, as listed on the restaurant's web site. Easy peasy.

Except for something huge that I didn't know (probably all of you know this, but I didn't, maybe someone else doesn't either).

McDonald's and Wendy's fries and hash browns are NOT gluten free! Gulp. (Though Burger King's and Dairy Queen's fries are.)

We'll be switching to Apple Dippers instead of fries, though it may be a tough sell for the kids. It's a sad, sad day at the GFF house, I tell you.

Qdoba has lots of great gluten-free choices, and we've been eating there a lot. Not so much frugal, though. Wendy's is pretty good, what with the chili and baked potatoes and mandarin oranges and yogurt, but without fries? Dairy Queen also seems to be a good option, their burger patties, fries, soft serve, and many of their prepackaged treats are gluten free.

Or, you know, we could be more frugal and just stay home. :)

Glutened

It's been almost two years since our kids had their last exposure to gluten. I've been wanting to do a trial, to make sure they hadn't outgrown it, but it never seemed the right time. Then we gave them a couple of bites of soup that we thought was gluten-free. It wasn't.

Wow. Let's just say that this blog is safe and sound, because we'll be gluten free for... ever, I guess. Behavior issues and diaper rash and headaches and tummy aches, and happy Thanksgiving, y'all. ;)

A blessing from it, though, is that both kids now understand the WHY behind us saying no. That doesn't mean they aren't ever disappointed that they can't eat what everyone else is eating, but they at least understand. (For what it's worth, I'm disappointed too, I REALLY wanted some of my BIL's cornbread casserole. Like really. A lot.)

Blindsided

1) Going gluten free. I've discovered, for me, that it takes about a month completely off gluten before rice flour-based products start tasting good to me. :) Again, I haven't noticed any improvements to my health or well-being by being off gluten, but Baby M is sleeping 5-7 hours straight every night and is crying much less. One weird thing that has happened, though, is that my former almost constant cravings for hamburgers and pizza have disappeared. I guess I was kind of addicted to them! The roughest patch I hit so far, as far as tempation goes, was the pumpkin pie waiting for us at work yesterday. If I know what food is going to be at a place, I can make my own to bring, but I wasn't prepared for ambush pie. ;) Anyway, I resisted! But, I do find comfort in knowing that even the best of us fall down sometimes.

2) West Nile. My headache lasted about a month, total. It went away after I left the hospital, about a week before I went into labor. My eye was still not working correctly at that point. It got better every day and I made myself stop wearing the patch to force it into service again. On the night I went into labor, I was still unable to read or drive. Two hours later, I woke up in labor and the eye was fine, perfect, back to it's normal half-blind self. Yay! They say people experience extreme exhaustion after recoving from West Nile. I guess I did, but I also had a baby, so who knows where one ends and the other begins. All in all, I feel great now. I'm thrilled to have my health back and doubly thrilled to have been blessed with a strong healthy baby.

Life with Three

This is pretty much off topic, but in case you're wondering...

We're a month into life with three kiddos under 5. I'd been warned, believe me, that the third kid was the straw that broke the mama's back, but I have to say it's gone, overall, pretty well here. Of course, we're living in fuzzy floaty maternity leave land where we have TWO full-time, at-home parents. It's a blur of laundry and dishes and "No you can't have Halloween candy for breakfast!" and "If you wake up that baby, you are SO going into time out!"

All three, are, as I type, asleep. Simultaneously. That happens only occasionally, but when it does, I don't really know what to do with myself, because all I really want to do is hold that baby. Because, she is SO CUTE. I mean, not to toot my own baby's horn, but, seriously.

I dread the return to work, both because I don't know how to leave her and because I'm afraid of what SuperDad faces managing three kids alone (though I have to admit, it's the housework that's the struggle more than the kids, I think). And it's coming up all too quickly.

Mishaps aside, I've been mostly gluten free for three weeks or so. It's going just fine. I miss 100 calorie packs, unfrugal things that they are, but otherwise it hasn't been too bad. I made a pot roast. $10 in meat for one single meal??? It was crazy.

That's about it. In case you were wondering. And the baby's awake now. ;)

Oops!

The Quaker "Mini Delights" that I've been eating all week, assuming they were GF rice cakes? Yeah, not so much. Sigh. Starting over. Um, after I have a hamburger. ;)

Mandarin Chicken and Rice

1 c cooked rice
1 lb. chicken, cooked
1 (11 ounce) can of mandarin orange segments, drained, reserve 3 T of "juice" (actually syrup, let's not linger on that too much)

Mix rice, chicken, and oranges. Stir in the "juice." Serve. (The original recipe called for green onions, garlic, and spinach. I, uh, skipped those parts.)

This was really pretty good and the kids enjoyed it a lot. So. There. Also, I'm sorry my photography stinks stanks stunks.


This is the lovely Miss M, who turned 3 weeks old today. I'm very much enjoying my "babymoon" with her, during which we've falling irrevocably in love. :)

For lots of reasons, SuperDad and I are giving a go at going gluten free. Not that this is news to anyone that reads this, but it's, uh, hard. LOL. And anyone who saw SuperDad sneaking Burger King pie into the house late last night? Well, let's just pretend that never happened.

Falling Off the Frugal Wagon

Okay, and moving on! :)

The end of pregnancy (hey, I thought we were moving on?) is always rough for me. I'm tired. Unmotivated. Uncomfortable. And, oh yeah, I had to put on 4 shirts this morning before I found one that even remotely fit. And that's kind of a stretch - literally.

Frugality takes organziation and committment, neither of which I have right now. So, we've done some decidedly UNfrugal things lately. Like:

• Eat out. A lot. When we eat out with the kids, it mostly involves cheeseburgers, plain, with no buns. And fries. Or we'll go to Taco John's and get them the chicken that comes in the soft tacos, with no shell, covered in cheese. They like that. We've done Qdoba. We let them have hashbrowns for breakfast. As you can tell, we've WAY overdone our food budget.
• Hire a cleaning person! Is there anything more unfrugal than that? Not really. Do I care? Not at all. She's coming in at least once before the baby arrives, maybe twice, and if I can talk SuperDad into it, maybe a couple of times after too.
• Bought a tree. You know, for the baby.
• Signed D up for some classes at the community center. Because E is back in school now, and he misses her. :(
• Not done cloth diapers. According to my very informal survey, gluten in diapers shouldn't be a concern. There are other great reasons to do cloth, and we'll probably go back to it eventually. But not now.

We're dipping into the savings we built up for the baby. And I'm okay with that, because sometimes that's just how it goes.

Our gluten free eating has been anything but blog-worthy lately. Our menu this week:

• Sunday: Scrambled eggs, ham, peanut butter toast, grapes
• Monday: Nachos, corn, beans
• Tuesday: Chicken nuggets
• Wednesday: Spaghetti
• Thursday: French toast
• Friday: Macaroni and cheese and baked beans
• Saturday: Scalloped potatoes and ham

So this blog may not be very inspirational for awhile, but if you stick around long enough, I promise to show you baby pictures! :)

The Gluten-Free Blues?

http://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Free-Blues/dp/B00155372W/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1219932422&sr=8-33

Kind of making me laugh today. Though my kids in no way think they can't eat bread or macaroni - they eat those all the time, just GF versions. They DO, however, think they can't eat crust because it would KILL THEM DEAD because crust is SO AWFUL MOM I DON'T LIKE IT DON'T MAKE ME. ;)

A Question

Sarah asked:

Here's a question GFF, How do you think your kids "got" celiac? My doctor said mine was probably "silent" celiac until stress-induced sytmpoms brought it on and a biopsy tested positive...I've also heard it can be genetic, but since your kids had it from birth, and neither of you have it--what is another way people can get it? Thoes are the only two ways I've ever heard.

I believe it's genetic. I believe SuperDad has it too (he gets downright *ill* when he eats pizza). I believe my MIL has it too, and that it causes the fibromyalgia-like symptoms from which she suffers every day. Can I convince them? Probably not. :( Because, if the amazing improvements we've seen in the health of our children isn't convincing enough, I don't know what would be.

Living in a Mixed Household

We're not all gluten free at our house. The kids are. I am trying to limit my gluten during pregnancy. SuperDad? Well, he's fully glutenized.

How do we keep things separated? I think there's always room for improvement in this area, and some people have found that for their healing and health, the whole house needs to go gluten-free, but we've been okay with doing this:

• Anything that touches gluten gets washed in hot, soapy water.
• GF foods are stored separately - snacks have their own shelf, flours have their own drawer in the fridge (we refridgerate flours, as a friend had suggested, but I don't know that we need to?), other GF staples (rice, quinoa, lentils, chickpeas) are stored in their own section of the pantry.
• I use metal bowls for gluten baking and plastic for GF baking. Just to keep things straight in my head.
• I generally make the GF version of things smaller, because our gluten freelings are smaller. So, when I make a regular cake, I'll make GF cupcakes. If I bake regular bread, I make mini-loaves of GF bread. This just makes it easier because the GF version is immediately identifiable.
• Separate butter and peanut butter containers so that there isn't any double-dipping of the knife. Squeezables would work well, but we don't especially like them, they're usually the fakey icky kinds.
• Separate toasters.
• LOTS of hand-washing.

There's probably more, but that's what I'm thinking about right now. Would love to hear what you do!

Eating Gluten During Pregnancy

Sarah Beth asked, I had a quick question for you--I am pregnant and have one gluten intolerant kiddo already...what did your doctor say about eating gluten during your pregnancy and nursing? THanks!"

So. We don't actually see a doctor for the gluten intolerance issues. We saw one for the original diagnosis, but my own research was in pretty stark contrast to some of his recommendations, and... so, I guess we've been taking care of things on our own.

I have made the decision not to completely eliminate gluten during my pregnancy, for two reasons:

1. Some research suggests that the more types of foods you can expose your baby to in utero, the fewer allergies they will have (like the research that indicates children raised with pets are less likely to be allergic to pet dander, right?). (Wouldn't it be nice if I could back that statement up with a link? I can't.)
2. There hasn't yet been research to prove that staying gluten-free during pregnancy reduces your child's risk of gluten intolerance - (look a linky!). http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91634452

I have, however, tried to very much limit my gluten intake during pregnancy. As much as possible, I've followed the Weight Watchers Core plan, which involves fruits, veggies, lean meats, fat free dairy products, brown rice, potatoes, beans, along with ONE serving of whole-grain, no-corn syrup cereal and ONE serving of whole wheat pasta a day. (Of course WW has a complete listing of everything and all the rules, but this is basically it.)

This is just what I've done with my pregnancy, I think it's something every mom has to decide for herself (without guilt! we don't need it!). Of course, if, during my nursing days, I notice baby reacting to any gluten in my diet, I will eliminate it then.

Do Disposable Diapers Contain Gluten?

This is what I wanted to know, so I tried to contact every disposable diaper company I could think of:

Parent's Choice - I actually couldn't even find a web site for them, or any contact info. So. Status unknown.

Luvs - E-mailed, no response.
Luvs update 8/15/08 - Luvs are gluten free too! WOOOOO! This makes me very happy!

White Cloud - "Our diapers do not contain gluten." (Actually this e-mail came from Covidien.com and I had to Google around a bit to figure out WHICH diapers they were talking about. My understanding is that this corporation makes several store-brand diapers, none of which contain gluten.)

7th Generation - E-mailed, no response, though they are sold on several GF web sites. So, assume from that what you will.

Huggies - "Kimberly-Clark consumer products do not contain wheat, rye, barley, spelt, triticale, kamut or farina. Certain Kimberly-Clark products do contain oats. The only Kimberly-Clark products containing oats are HUGGIES® Soft Skin products." Majors props to Huggies for the thorough response. Too bad these diapers don't work for us, like, at all.

Pampers - Lindsey called and was told that the diapers are gluten free. However, in this thread a poster stated, "I did call Pampers and their response was that there is gluten in the diapers but it cant be absorbed by the skin." (I, Tenille, personally do NOT believe this to be true. My kids have both reacted to topical products containing gluten, including shampoos and lotions. They reacted. Period.) I also e-mailed Pampers, but haven't yet received a response. Anyway, Pampers has obviously provided conflicting info on this, so be wary!
8/14/08 Update on Pampers: Pampers has an awesome employee in Bev! She found this post on my blog and took the time to let me know that Pampers ARE gluten free (which is a big relief to me, since this is what the hospital uses, and this is what we stocked up on for new baby). Yay! Thanks, Bev!

As of 8/15/08 ( days) - I still have not heard from 7th Generation. Boo! They're probably busy saving the world.

But, anyway, guess what never contains wheat? Cloth diapers! That's right, folks. As the evidence mounts, we're considering jumping back on the cloth diaper bandwagon (actually, I'm not sure that's a bandwagon on which anyone would want to travel - pee-yooo! LOL.), as soon as we can get someone to come look at our washing machine and make sure it is working well enough.

I'll update this thread if/when I hear back from some of these companies (Luvs? Luvs, where are you?)! :)