Category Archives: flours

Is Gluten-Free Healthier If I Don’t Have Celiac?

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I’m asked this question regularly. I don’t seem to run into too many people who go gluten-free just for kicks, but they often know someone who’s trying it out. My answer is something along the lines of “sorta…..depending on how you go about doing it.” There are two basic ways to go gluten-free.

1- Eat everything you usually eat, but in the gluten-free version. Gluten-free cupcakes, pancakes, muffins, baked goods, and even most processed goods aren’t much “healthier.” In fact, you’re usually worse off. Gluten is the protein that binds bready things together. To make up for it, especially in processed goods, there’s a LOT more fat. Butter, oil, sour cream, etc.

For example, take these Udi’s Snicker Doodle cookies. Scroll down to the nutrition facts. Serving size: 2 cookies (and they’re by no means big). Fat content: 8 grams. Yep. The way to being constipated and overweight is before you.

Now — don’t get me wrong. Udi’s is something of a pioneer when it comes to pre-packaged food. I understand that people have lives and kids and lots of commitments, and not a lot of time to cook. They’ve painstakingly made some good gluten-free breads and hamburger buns and donuts and tortillas and granola, and the list goes on. They help people — especially newly-diagnosed Celiacs and gluten intolerant folks — feel like they’re normal. That in and of itself is worth the cost.

2- Eat the things that are naturally gluten-free. Vegetables. Fruits. Meat. Cheese. Grains. Fish. If going gluten-free (or “going gluten-free” if you’re not Celiac) means you essentially eliminate as many processed, pre-packaged food products as possible in favor of the above, well, that tends to be pretty good general nutrition advice and is likely to benefit you quite a lot.

That being said, some people who start being gluten-free because it’s “cool” end up feeling somewhat transformed. Like the way Celiacs feel when they finally are diagnosed and go gluten-free. Gluten intolerance is a real thing. However, just eliminating gluten for the “fun” of it isn’t inherently healthier, and it’s a lot harder to get enough fiber. It’s also a LOT more expensive — especially if you go with route #1. Would I be gluten-free if I wasn’t diagnosed with Celiac? I can explain in two words: H*** no.

Identity Crisis, or “Real” Food vs. “Weird” Food

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This last year has been crazy. I couldn’t have predicted this. At all.

February 2012: “My position was eliminated” after 3.5 years of hard work. We went up to Washington State for three weeks to see if being at sea level in a cloudy climate helps my husband’s migraines. Found out that it helps his head about 40%. It’s the largest difference we’ve found so far. We also put our house up on the market.

March 2012: Moved back to Utah to live with family. I thought this would last a few months, but we’re still here.

April 2012: I got a part-time job teaching English online to students (mostly children) in Spanish-speaking countries. I LOVE IT.

November 2012: My husband’s “position was eliminated.” We also got an offer on our house! We’re in the short sale process, so it’s taking a long time. It’s still going on. We’re hoping to close by the end of February 2013. My husband is looking hard for work, but nothing has worked out yet.

As I’m sure you can imagine, having my life turned upside down means that I really have to re-evaluate who I am and what my values are. It’s been a long and arduous process, and it’s not over yet! This blog has undergone some changes, too! It initially started out as a way for my extended family to understand my Celiac and food allergies, became an attempt to have a gluten-free wedding planning business, then to product reviews, then to….jam.

As I’ve been figuring myself out and what I want to do with this blog, I’ve realized that I no longer let my life revolve around gluten. I am still 100% gluten-free. As I was trying to build a business, though, I just became overwhelmed by the hard-core gluten-free and allergy folks.

3 1/2 years after diagnosis, I really don’t spend a lot of brain power on gluten-free. Seriously. After the hours it took to go grocery shopping the first couple of times, I never thought eating gluten-free would be intuitive, and yet — here I am. It’s so intuitive that I occasionally FORGET to tell servers at restaurants that I have to eat gluten-free. Crazy, right?

Then I thought about what I could do with this blog that those hard-core folks out there can’t provide. They are recipe-creating masters! They have every bit of advice that a newly-diagnosed Celiac or gluten intolerant person could ever dream of needing. They’re activists, always fighting the good fight against gluten and allergy ignorance. They’re writers. I felt like there wasn’t anything I could contribute. I don’t have kids that need dinner 5 minutes ago. I’m not even working full-time. I don’t eat organic, well, pretty much anything.

Then I realized: I can promote real food. For me, real food is peace. It’s love. It’s life. It’s intertwined with life. It’s part of a balance. It doesn’t define me, just like I’m not defined by any single aspect of my life. It’s a big part of my identity, sure, but it’s not everything.

So — real food. Tonight, I made an almond bundt cake.

Almond bundt cake

Almond bundt cake

It consists of almond flour, brown rice flour, baking soda, salt, olive oil, water, agave nectar and (pure) maple syrup. That’s it. That’s all. Just this week, I’ve made turkey piccata, twice-baked sweet potatoes, pad thai, a “south american” pork dish involving quinoa, coconut milk, turmeric, ginger, cloves, and a tomato-apricot chutney. (I’m missing a few ingredients because I’m listing them off the top of my head, but they’re all real ingredients, too.) Tonight was turkey chili with rice. Pumpkin cookies. Chocolate chip cookies. Ginger wheels (softer than snaps). A pear spice cake made with teff (and to DIE for. I would have made that tonight instead of the almond bundt cake, but I didn’t have any fresh, ripe pears).

For me, real food is worth it. I don’t spend the extra money on organic stuff (unless that’s the only way it comes, like some of the flours). I just make real food with real ingredients. I haven’t been to cooking school, and I’m definitely not a photographer. I just like to cook, and document what I cook, and work it into my life. Even though I never could have anticipated that we’d be living with my parents at this point in life, I LOVE cooking for all of us.

I am grateful for having been diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Yes. I AM GRATEFUL. Without the diagnosis, I never would have discovered quinoa. Or almond flour. Or coconut kefir. Or teff. Or how much FUN it is to make JAM! Or the best pumpkin cookies on earth that also happen to be gluten-free and vegan. Or that pancakes and waffles are not the only uses for maple syrup! Or agave nectar. Or tamari. YUM.

Are almond, teff, brown rice, sorghum, tapioca, garbanzo, rice, amaranth, etc. etc. etc. “weird” flours compared to just boring old flour? Yes. Are they nutritious? Most of them. :)  Are they healthy? Yes! Are they real? Absolutely. Run a Google search on teff flour. Run a Google search on quinoa. Try making a stir-fry, but instead of serving it with rice, serve it with quinoa. IT’S SO GOOD. Run a Google search on tamari. It has a darker, richer flavor than soy sauce, and I LOVE IT. Even if I could, I would never go back to regular ol’ soy sauce.

Thanks for reading, thanks for sticking with me, and if you need any help, please let me know! I’m only an e-mail away. I’m happy to help with shopping or cookbook recommendations or anything at all. cinderellaspear (at) gmail.com. If you’d like to join me on Facebook or Instagram, send me an e-mail. I’m not-so-inclined to add people I don’t know when anybody can read my blog.

Also, if there’s anything you’d like me to cover on the blog, let me know!

Thanks for reading,

Cristina

Enjoy Life Foods: Plentils!!

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I’d like to apologize for not having blogged…practically all summer. It’s been a busy one! Updates soon.

That said, I’d like to write about a wonderful product I tested at the beginning of the summer, and have been meaning to tell you about, and now I finally am!

Occasionally, I just really need some chips that are…well, cheesy. Being allergic to dairy, though, gone are the days of sour cream & onion chips, or any other dairy-flavored chip. So when I get this hankering, I just buckle down, and remind myself that feeling that awful just isn’t worth it.

Enjoy Life Plentils have solved that problem for me. They sent me a box of four (that’s right — FOUR) different flavors. The Margherita Pizza flavor is my favorite. It’s SO delicious, but there are no dairy products! You can see in the photo that they print right on the bag: Gluten free, & free of the 8 common allergens.

Not only that, but they also have lentil flour in them! They’re quite a bit healthier than your average chip. A win in all categories.

Go check them out! You won’t be sorry. http://www.plentils.com/index.php

Excuse me while I go buy some more of those Margherita Pizza chips…..mmm….

Lucy’s Gluten-Free Cinnamon Thins

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My dad is a HUGE fan of snickerdoodle-type cookies, and always has been. He has very specific requirements. He likes them to be crunchy, and there needs to be the right cookie-to-cinnamon ratio. (Most commercial snickerdoodles don’t have enough cinnamon for him.)

That being said, he LOVES these cookies, and so does my husband.

If they didn’t know they were gluten-free, they wouldn’t know they were gluten-free, which really is the ultimate compliment in baked goods.

They’re also dairy-free. (Go to their site here: Dr. Lucy’s) 

My personal cookie preferences differ a little than this particular recipe. I prefer chewier cookies, and I don’t particularly care for any bean flour in my baked goods, but there’s only a little, and trust me — I ate several. My dad and husband didn’t even notice the bean flour and ate plenty themselves.

If you’re a crunchy cookie person who likes a few extra nutrients to go along with it, this cookie is for you! Enjoy!

NaBloPoMo: Biggest Gluten Lie….Ever.

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The prompt was to tell 3 truths and 1 lie, and see if people can pick out the lie. Instead, I’m going to tell you about THE most egregious lie about gluten that I have ever heard.

My mom is a diabetes educator, and they recently had a big conference. The person in charge of the food, who does not have Celiac or any gluten issues, ordered “gluten-free” eclairs from Kneaders.

***
I’m breaking from the story here to talk about bakeries — especially bakery chains. As a general rule, I don’t trust them. I would never order gluten-free anything from Kneaders, Paradise Bakery or any other place that:

1- Is primarily a bakery,
2- makes most (if not all) of their baked goods from scratch, and
3- doesn’t have at least half of a kitchen that’s dedicated gluten-free.

This may sound really harsh. However, when flour’s in the air, it hangs out for a while before it settles. Thinking about someone making regular bread out of scratch and then making gluten-free anything just makes me squidgy. All that glutenous dust will be settling into whatever you’re making, causing a cross-contamination nightmare. It wouldn’t matter HOW clean your kitchen/oven/dishes/tools/countertops were. Just…no. I feel uncomfortable just walking INTO these places because of how much flour dust must be flying around….crumbs everywhere….sandwiches being made…I just can’t do it.

Back to the story.

***
So, this person goes to Kneaders to pick up the eclairs, and asks, “These are gluten-free, right?” “Yep!” “You’re sure? We have people with Celiac who will get very sick if they eat gluten.” “Well, they’re mostly gluten-free.” “MOSTLY gluten-free?” “Yeah — well, the gluten bakes out.”

THE GLUTEN BAKES OUT?!?!

The diabetes conference person was smart and said, “No, that is not going to work for us,” and left.

When my mom told me this story, I about had a conniption fit. What an egregious lie to tell, putting all those people at risk, just to make a sale. I was LIVID.

I want to give Kneaders the benefit of the doubt, but I just can’t. Gluten-free information and products, especially in Utah, are getting more and more common. It isn’t hard to find information online about making gluten-free baked goods.

Dear world: This is not a fad diet for those of us who have Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance, or other food allergies. This isn’t a joke. You’re going to land people in the hospital if you think “it’s not that big of a deal.” It IS a big deal to people like me.

I am all for businesses “figuring it out” and adjusting their business to the trouble of making more gluten-free products available, but should Kneaders decide to go that path, I will not be supporting them. I’ll stick to the wonderful Eleanor’s Bake Shop where I know I can eat delicious food safely. If you haven’t been there, GO. Support them. Buy their products. Let’s keep them in business and let the ignorant businesses be.

Pear & Clementine Conserve, and Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

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As per my friend’s request, I’m going to add more pictures to my blog! I’m not a picture-taking person, but I can learn, right? The following beauties were taken by The Franchise:

Pear & Clementine Conserve
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wish I could take the credit for these amazing recipes, but I can’t.

The conserve comes from Canning For a New Generation. It is supposed to have pecans in it. Toasted pecans. However, I toasted them, set them off to the side, and didn’t notice them again until the cans were processing. (Go me!) Luckily, one of the cans didn’t seal, so I got to try some today, and it is plenty tasty without them. Since clementines come as a bunch and I have several left over, all I need to try this again (and potentially give as Christmas gifts?) are more pears! I wouldn’t have thought of putting pears with citrus, but it works quite well. The clementines are sweet, and they don’t overwhelm the flavor of the pear. I bet the crunch of the pecans will round it out nicely.
From this book, I also made the applesauce recipe. It has one ingredient: apples. 
I’d like to make a strong recommendation for this book. It is worth buying. I’ve made these three recipes, and I made pickles for The Franchise from carrots and parsnips that he said were great. In addition to the canning recipes (that are divided by season!), there are meal recipes included to use the canned ingredients. It’s an awesome book. That’s why I’m not posting the recipes — I love this book.
The cookies came from The Gluten-Free Vegan. I have yet to find a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I really, really like. I like this one quite a bit, but it has garbanzo bean flour (I used garfava flour, since that’s what I have). I want to like the bean flours. They have more nutrients in them, and they make a denser, heavier product. Unfortunately, I can always taste the bean flours, no matter what else is in the cookie! The chocolate chips help, but the aftertaste is still there. I think this recipe would be very nearly perfect if I could find a denser flour that isn’t a bean flour, because I love the texture. Unlike my father, I like my cookies firm, but soft. These definitely fit the bill. 
Now if only I could get rid of that pesky gluten-free gritty aftertaste…

Eleanor’s Bake Shop in Sandy, UT

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On Saturday, I was lured to Eleanor’s Bake Shop in Sandy for their one-year anniversary. Unfortunately for me, I live just over an hour away from them, so it’s not terribly convenient. It’s a shame.

One of the reasons I haven’t been out there is that I can’t eat their sandwiches. They’re made from arepas (scroll down), and I’m allergic to corn. I also haven’t had much use for a gluten-free wedding cake, even though it’s a great idea.

What I didn’t know is that they make bread. THE most delicious bread I have tasted since going gluten-free. I’ll prove it:

Eleanor’s Bake Shop Honey Oat Bread

It’s heavy. It’s dense. It’s salivatingly moist. It’s good raw. (Read that again: It’s good raw.) It’s delicious when toasted. It’s gluten-free, and corn-free. *Edit: Eleanor’s Bake Shop sent me an e-mail, and the bread is soy-free, too!

I consumed half of this loaf in 24 hours. This is all that’s left of a large loaf.

I gave The Franchise a slice to taste, and he said “Hmm. It tastes like bread. With honey.” It tastes like bread, people. I asked him whether he would know it was gluten-free if he didn’t know, and he said he wouldn’t.

I have previously been singing Udi’s praises, but now that I’ve sampled this, I won’t be able to be happy with Udi’s. That’s light and spongy, and tastes like gluten-free bread. Not real.

It was $8.29, and worth every penny. Seriously. I won’t be satisfied with any other bread.

Wonderful goods aside, I had a lovely time at the shop. Sue, who opened the shop, was there with her family. There are a lot of them, and they’re all happy to be there. They believe in what they do. I even got to meet Eleanor, and that was a treat. She’s the one who started everything by passing on her Celiac genes. She told me that both her mother and grandmother were always sick. When she was first tested, she was told that she didn’t have Celiac.

I got to talk to Sue for a little while about their products. Their cakes currently have corn in them, but their bread doesn’t. They are in the process of developing their own flour mixes. Apparently they get a lot of people who come in with corn allergies. I asked about making cakes allergy-free. We talked about people like me who can have dairy baked into things, and people who can’t even have dairy baked into things. Her daughter who makes the cakes tried making a cake and frosting dairy-free, and was very pleased with the result. She made the fondant with Earth Balance. So as far as Gluten-Free Allergy-Free Events by Cinderella’s Pear goes, Eleanor’s is a great place to go. They may not be able to accommodate every allergy, but they will certainly try. I asked Sue if she’d ever considered gluten-free soft pretzels (since I crave those from time to time). She said she hadn’t, but seemed intrigued. Almost immediately, I could see the cogs in her brain starting to work, trying to figure it out. They sell pizza, and pizza crusts! They also have a few tables and chairs, so you can sit and eat your meal.

It was so great to go there, and be able to talk to essentially any person in that room and know that they’re going through the same thing I am. I don’t feel like a freak there. I asked two of the sisters if they ever get tired talking about Celiac or “gluten-free.” One sister said no, and the other said that she actually loves talking about it. She’s the president of a Celiac club at BYU! I think that’s awesome.

We were there toward the very end. They’d made way more cinnamon rolls with raisins than they needed, and that happens to be one of my husband’s favorite things. They offered to give him some for free since they were about to close. When we got home, he was quite disappointed when he realized he’d left without taking the rolls with him. Even The Franchise seemed to feel at home. It’s one of the few restaurants/bakeries where he doesn’t have to worry about me being glutened. That was nice to see.

Go to Eleanor’s, if you get a chance. Their address is 9495 South 560 West Building D in Sandy, UT. It’s a little way off the street, so make sure you look on a map before you go. They are worth keeping around. I definitely don’t want them to go out of business.

Congrats on completing your first year, Eleanor’s Bake Shop! May you have many, many more. I will be back soon to try more of your delicious bread.

** I edited this post slightly after Eleanor’s contacted me and let me know I’d gotten something wrong. Thanks for the correction, and sorry for the error.

Finding (some) gluten-free, dairy-free ingredients in the Northern Utah area

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Sometimes finding ingredients can be tricky — especially the ingredients in the Babycakes cookbook.

Let’s take the ingredients from the chocolate frosting/chocolate sauce recipe:

Unsweetened soy milk
Dry soy milk powder
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Coconut flour
Agave nectar
Pure vanilla extract
Coconut oil
Fresh lemon juice

I tend to organize my lists by proximity: closest to furthest. Closest tends to be the easiest to get, and so on.

(Almost) any grocery store:
Unsweetened soy milk – I like Silk brand. They make an unsweetened version — different than vanilla!
Unsweetened cocoa powder – Unless you’re wanting a more expensive brand)
Pure vanilla extract
Fresh lemons, for squeezing.

Smith’s:
Coconut oil. This may surprise you, but it’s true. I don’t buy coconut oil anywhere else, really. It may not be the best of the best, or whatever, but it’s actually a reasonable price! It looks like this:

This is in the ballpark of 6-8 dollars for 31.5 oz. Coconut oil that I see everywhere else (Whole Foods, Good Earth, Sunflower Market) is twice as expensive for half as much. I haven’t tried the more expensive stuff, but this suits my needs just fine! It’s next to the Crisco. Honestly, I’ve only seen it at Smith’s, or maybe the Harmon’s in Draper. Not sure why other stores haven’t picked it up yet. 
Coconut oil is cool stuff. It’s great. When it’s cold, it’s hard as a rock. When it’s hot, it’s completely liquid. In our first apartment that didn’t have central air, I remember taking it out of the cupboard, opening the jar, and finding it completely liquefied. So…when you initially make a sauce or frosting with it, it will be runny. It has to be in the fridge for a while to set up. Just keep that in mind.
Costco:
Pure vanilla extract  - It’s better for me to buy this in “bulk,” because I use plenty of it. It’s marked gluten-free on the bottle, and I don’t see any corn ingredients listed. At any rate, it doesn’t seem to bother me.
Agave nectar – Each Costco is a little different from every other one, but I can consistently find agave nectar at Costcos in Utah. It’s Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Blue Agave. It’s two bottles together, 23.5 oz each. I love the flavor of it. It’s my favorite brand thus far. I’ll even mix it with oatmeal on occasion. I like it a lot.
Whole Foods/Good Earth/Sunflower Market:
Coconut flour & Dry soy milk powder – these are tougher to find, and they can be quite expensive. It’s worth comparing prices between these three stores, because sometimes they’re 2-3 dollars different, and who you think would have the lowest prices isn’t always intuitive. Brand also plays a big part in that. The bag I bought was huge. I still have most of it, because I usually only need a tablespoon or so. I don’t bake or cook much with coconut flour at this point. Some distributors are cluing in to this and are selling it in smaller amounts. I want to say that I got my bag for $20ish dollars or so. I don’t remember, and I don’t remember how big the bag was. I bought it shortly after I was diagnosed with Celiac, and it hasn’t gone rancid yet.
Dry soy milk powder is around $16 for a canister that’s probably around 20 oz. Again, it can be found at any of these stores, for different prices. It lasted me for two years, too, because I only use it for these recipes. :) I just ran out, though, and need to get some more before I can make more delicious trifle.
Hope this helps! Good hunting.

Asian Lime Chicken – 365 Days of Slow Cooking

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Tonight, as The Franchise was helping himself to seconds of this dish, he asked me, “Have you blogged about this yet??”

Asian Lime Chicken from 365 Days of Slow Cooking, my friends.

Since I can’t do chicken, we just used a 1 1/2 lb pork roast (and Featherlight mix for the flour), and let me tell you: delicious. The Franchise cannot stop swooning over the sauce. It’s so good. He went up to get some tonight for dinner, and I hear from downstairs, “Ohhhh, this sauce!!” Yes, it is that good.

It’s also super easy. Essentially, throw it all into the slow cooker for four hours, and you’re good. The recipe says 3-5 hours, and 4 hours was perfect for the pork roast. It just falls apart.

It’s gluten-free, allergy-free for me, but definitely not vegan. :)  It’s delicious over rice. It would probably also taste great with cornbread, since it has a bit of barbeque sauce flavor and texture. The Franchise also emphatically recommended having some asparagus with it — sauteed in butter or olive oil with a little lemon. We didn’t plan ahead far enough for the asparagus, but it just seems like the right choice.

This recipe is a keeper, and I’m definitely going to be looking to 365 Days of Slow Cooking for some more ideas.

Happy Celiac Anniversary!

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It was right around now two years ago that I was sitting in my doctor’s office and told that I have Celiac Disease. (It also happens to be Celiac Awareness Month. Cool, huh?) I’m lucky that my doctor also has Celiac. It means he knows how this all works, and isn’t going to prescribe me something glutenous. That day, he ran and got his laptop and gave me a PowerPoint presentation about Celiac Disease — the same one he gives to other medical professionals. He told me that I had to go gluten-free — that day — or I would continue to destroy the villi in my intestines, I would keep my body from absorbing nutrients, and I would probably get lymphoma. Sounds fun, right? The one regret that I have about that appointment is that I talked my doctor out of ordering me an endoscopy. If I had known then how not-a-big-deal endoscopies are, I would have gone for it.**

I can’t really believe that it’s been two years. Two years! Two years ago, I only knew one person (besides my doctor) who had Celiac Disease. She works down the hall from me, and was a HUGE help getting me going in the right direction. She gave me a little pocket-size ingredients book from (I think?) the Canadian Celiac Association that details which bizarre ingredients have gluten in them and which don’t. Two years later, I know that book is in my house somewhere, but I don’t know where right now. I almost never need it anymore.

Even still, I felt lonely. I felt like no-one had this weird disease. I felt ostracized. Going grocery shopping was hard, and took forEVER, since I wasn’t used to checking every. freaking. label. I almost cried in the middle of Whole Foods the first time I went. I bought Shauna James Ahern’s Gluten-Free Girl book, and read her website until my eyes blurred over. Of anything, that probably helped me the most to not feel quite so alone.

My husband, The Franchise, immediately stepped up to the plate and went (mostly) gluten-free with me. This has meant more to me than anything else. He has never questioned that it’s real. He has never complained about the additional cost of eating gluten-free, or about the costs of all my medical tests and procedures and appointments. He’s willing to try everything I make at least once, and sometimes he even likes my gluten-free version better! (Sometimes, though, like with hummus, he thinks it’s gross and can’t understand why anyone else likes it. :) That’s okay.) When he does eat gluten, he makes sure it’s very well contained and doesn’t contaminate my stuff. When those days pop up where I just feel like food controls my life and that I’m never going to feel better, he’s there to give me a hug, hold me, tell me that he loves me and that it will be okay. I’m very lucky to have married him.

My mom, who’s a nurse, was with me and The Franchise at my diagnosis. She immediately sprang into action and had the rest of my family tested for Celiac, since it’s hereditary. In July of that year, my sister was diagnosed after inconclusive bloodwork and a positive biopsy. My parents have gluten sensitivity, but everyone else is clear. My mom dove into finding out everything she could about gluten-free cooking and baking. She’s the one who found Life Tastes Good Again, and at her recommendation, I bought it a few months later.

Life Tastes Good Again taught me that I can still make “the standard” bready things, gluten-free, and have them taste good. I can’t tell you what that did for my ability to feel “normal.”

I discovered the Udi’s line of products, which have also been a lifesaver. Bread for sandwiches that tastes like…bread? Check. Bagels that are lovely when toasted and smothered with cream cheese (Tofutti brand for me)? Check. Blueberry muffins to die for that are also dairy and soy free? Check. I also hear their pizza crust is great, but haven’t tried it.

In the past two years, I have learned:

* How to read labels like lightening (and how to recognize gluten in its various hidings)
* Fresh foods are delicious!
* It’s a lot easier to avoid gluten if I’m eating fresh, whole foods instead of processed ones.
* I still have bad days when I feel like I’m never going to feel better, but that’s ok.
* So many people have Celiac or gluten intolerance. You might be one of them. If your stomach is always upset, that is not normal. E-mail me at cinderellaspear(at)gmail(dot)com. I can help.
* I love to cook! Seriously…I do. I love playing with flavors and textures and colors, and I’m almost to the point where I can make it look pretty, too.
* I don’t love to bake yet, but I’ll get there…someday.
* Life Tastes Good Again bread recipe + KitchenAid mixer = easiest bread ever, with none of my allergens.
* In addition to the Celiac, I have been diagnosed with gastroparesis, and allergies to beef, chicken, eggs, milk, bananas, carrots, and corn.
* When I don’t eat gluten or allergies and I do my best to eat the right foods in the right amounts for gastroparesis, I feel better.
* Ginger tea is my friend.
* Tofutti brand is my friend.
* I love food!
* People generally want to understand, and just one conversation can raise awareness, which is great. I have people all the time tell me that they saw some gluten-free product somewhere and thought of me. :) It makes me happy.
* I still do feel self-conscious about this, but it’s getting better. Most of the time. I think.
* I have the most supportive family in the world. The summer that I was diagnosed, we went up to our family farm in Idaho, and my “aunt” Tammy bought me a HUGE bag of certified gluten-free oats. That was so amazing, because I love oatmeal. Love it. Always have. Always will. Those bags? Not cheap. She did that for me. My grandpa Armando let us come stay with him last year and was brave enough to let me cook for him. So sweet. So sweet of him to let us stay with him. My in-laws are very supportive — especially my mother-in-law. They’re also brave enough to let me cook for them on occasion, and are always sending me articles and things they find about Celiac.
* There is a wonderful community of people with food issues that I would never have had the chance to interact with had these issues not come up. Thank you for your time and efforts and blogs. We are not alone in this, and it’s wonderful to know you. I hope I can meet you in person.
* Whole Foods? Awesome. I could spend sooooo much money there. It’s good for practicing self-restraint as well as all the awesomeness.
* Good Earth? Also awesome. I get bulk flours and other various & sundry items there.

All in all, I feel very blessed. I’m grateful for the opportunity to find a passion for life and for cooking and food that I didn’t know was there. I’m blessed by the people in my life who support me and who are an example to me. I’m grateful for God, who knows who and what I need, even when I don’t, and who leads me to them.

Here’s to a good and interesting two years, and here’s to many more!

**A year after that appointment when I still wasn’t feeling better, my gastroenterologist ordered an endoscopy without me going back to gluten first, and “didn’t see any villi damage,” so according to him, I have latent Celiac. Latent Celiac refers to having a positive blood test but a negative biopsy. Um…hello? I was gluten-free for a year. That’s usually enough time for the gut to heal. So, whatever. I’m not going back to gluten because that would be miserable, and I’m not going to cheat and then have my “latent” Celiac “turn on” and have to get an endoscopy every year to make sure I’m not doing damage. I’ll just keep going on my merry little gluten-free way.