Back from hiatus!

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Cristina

Hi everyone,

Many thanks if you’re still reading my blog! I took an unofficial hiatus, because I’ve been trying to figure out what direction I want to go with gluten-free stuff. I’m not doing a wedding consulting business anymore, but I’ve been doing a lot of canning, and I’m going to be doing more. I’m going to learn how to use a pressure cooker!

Thanks for bearing with me, thanks for your patience, and we’ll get going again!

Enjoy Life Chocolate — Part 1 of 2: Double Chocolate Crunch

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Cristina

Okay, people. I’m here to tell you about two Enjoy Life products. Part 1 is about Double Chocolate Crunch Granola.*

It’s really good. I mean, REALLY good. My father, who does not eat gluten-free, loves this stuff. My husband very carefully tested it (chocolate sets off his migraine), and thinks it’s very, very tasty.

I could eat this every day, but there’s one problem for me, and it’s specific to me: I have a condition called gastroparesis. Mine is a (thankfully) mild case, and it’s doing really well right now, but there’s one troublesome ingredient: ground flax. For most people with Celiac or gluten intolerance, ground flax is a wonderful ingredient to have because it’s an excellent source of fiber. For me and my gastroparesis, too much fiber can set it off and cause some unpleasantness for me.

The ground flax in the Double Chocolate Crunch gives me just enough discomfort that I probably won’t be buying much of it in the future. On the other hand, that’s a very good thing, because otherwise I’d be eating FAR too much of it, and going bankrupt in the process. It’s very frustrating to have my mouth saying “more, please!!” and my stomach saying “I don’t think so.”

Good stuff, and free of all the main eight allergens: wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish and shellfish.

It’s also certified gluten-free by Gluten Free Certification Organization (GFCO). According to their information packet they sent me, “all Enjoy Life products are tested down to 10 ppm to ensure they are gluten-free.”

Do yourself a favor, and go get some of this Double Chocolate Crunch. You won’t be sorry. To find out where you can buy it, go to: enjoylifefoods.com/where_to_buy

Next up in Part 2 of 2: Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mega Chunks

* In the interest of full disclosure, Enjoy Life contacted me and asked me to review these two products. They are not paying me, and I’m writing what I actually think.

NaBloPoMo: Darth Vader, Office Space and Fatigue

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Cristina

One of my favorite movies in the world is Office Space, and I also love Star Wars, so I love this picture. It’s a combination of Darth Vader (obviously) and the boss, Bill Lumbergh. (My husband calls him Darth Lumbergh.)

Exhibit #2 – Bill Lumbergh

For those of you who haven’t seen Office Space, it’s making fun of office stereotypes before the TV show The Office came around. You have the main character, Peter, who’s stuck in a dead end job and finally comes to terms with how unhappy he is. You have the random, somewhat crazy co-workers, the egotistical, but utterly useless boss that you just want to punch in the face (see Exhibit #2), and the annoyingly cheery ladies who will not leave you alone if they think your day won’t be happy without them.

Life with essentially any chronic illness is tough. I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve been able to push myself through work, even when I’m not feeling well. Some days are better than others, but some days I just feel like crap, and it’s taking all the energy I have to be at work and just sit at my desk. This fatigue does not mean that I’m coming down with something….it just is. It can be a result of a great many things, and I haven’t even figured it out myself yet. I usually don’t feel like explaining it to people, despite their good intentions and desire to help. I don’t want to be told that I “have a case of the Mondays.” Just give me that look that says you appreciate how much I do for you, and that you know that it’s not always easy, and I’ll be over the moon. People who don’t have this level of fatigue can’t truly appreciate how grueling it can be to sit at a desk for eight hours a day, but that’s okay — I hope you never have to know. It’s very frustrating, though, when I’m doing all I can, and somebody jumps on my case about something small. It makes me want to throw in the towel, because I already suspect that I’m not good enough.

The way I get around this is by choosing to slow down, on a more macro level. Life, generally, continues to speed up. I’m teaching myself to slow down, to get as close to 8 hours of sleep a night as possible, to eat good, whole food meaningfully, and to come to terms with the fact that I can only do so much in a day.

This is horribly old-fashioned, but slowing down is what helps me keep going when I just want to quit. I remember that this feeling will pass, and that maybe I need to get a bit more sleep and few more nutrients in my body, and I’ll be feeling better. It’s a reminder that my body is talking to me, and that I’m starting to speed up and ignore my needs. When I slow down again and treat myself gently, I’m able to get some energy back, and I’m able to be more patient and loving.

Changing the way I think about this hasn’t been easy, but I’m stronger than I was, and I’m getting even stronger. Be kind to yourself, if you have a chronic illness, and be kind to others if you’re lucky enough not to. Maybe we just should all be kinder to each other and a little more willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

Happy Monday!

NaBloPoMo: Celiac Disease, food allergies, gastroparesis & perma-migraine

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Cristina

Having Celiac Disease, food allergies, gastroparesis and my husband’s perma-migraine has changed my life.

– Medicine is a combination of both Art and Science. Many people in Medicine really want to help people, but we don’t know everything! There are many areas of specialization, and no-one is perfect. My health is my responsibility, so I have to take care of me, even if that means switching doctors (though I’ve been personally very lucky in this respect). Doctors don’t know every single answer, so I can’t expect them to just fix me.

– Everyone’s situation is personal. We all have our own health issues, and we can only do what we can do, regardless of what others want from us. My sensitivity to gluten is different from my co-worker’s down the hall. Some people are less sensitive to gluten, some are more. I can understand how that becomes confusing for friends who are trying to keep it straight, but just because Susie down the street can eat ______, that doesn’t mean that I can by default.

– You can only do what you can do. My husband and I don’t take many trips. It seems that the perma-migraine weakens his immune system quite a bit, because he’s gotten sick after the last two return flights. We don’t drive much, because having to pay attention to the road, and the light coming in does a number on the perma-migraine, even if he’s wearing his dark, wrap-around glasses. For me car trips are a little scary because I never know when my stomach is all of a sudden …. not going to be cooperative, which can be a problem when one is on a long stretch of road with nary a bathroom in sight. Sometimes we have to bow out of events early, or not even go, depending on how we’re feeling. We essentially tell people when we’re invited that we’d love to go….if we’re feeling well. Sometimes we don’t know if we’re going to be able to make it to something until an hour beforehand. This also means that we don’t buy expensive tickets to things. That way it’s less disappointing if/when we end up not feeling well enough to go.

– We are always re-evaluating our priorities. We were just talking about this tonight. Many people aspire to visit Italy or France or wherever. Europe is pretty much awesome about gluten-free stuff, but I have the other food allergies, too! And seeing all those sightsoutside? Yeah, no. Not good for the perma-migraine. Why spend all the money to get ourselves over there, only to have Matt frustrated about not being able to tour, and me frustrated about all the fabulous food that I wouldn’t be able to eat? Granted, if we moved there for some (awesome) reason, I’d figure it out, but travelling and having to deal with that just wouldn’t be worth it for me. Realizing that is a big deal. We have to re-evaluate what’s important to us, and move down that path.

– People are a lot more interested and caring than I gave them credit. We both often feel very self-conscious about our health issues. As I mentioned in my last post, we long to be “normal.” I’m often afraid that people judge us, or think we’re faking, or what-have-you, but I’ve found a lot of people to be genuinely curious and sympathetic. It’s also interesting, slightly weird, and pretty cool to have people think of me when they go to the grocery store and see an increase in gluten-free foods, or when someone goes to a restaurant and finds out they have gluten-free items. I’ve had friends and family recommend my blog to people who all of a sudden are diagnosed with Celiac. (Thank you.) I’ve had two people I care a lot about mention that they changed their lives and health for the better after reading my blog, which was very touching for me. I just want to help people, so when I’m successful, I feel successful.

Taking care of one’s self is very important. We only have one body, so we have to take care of it. I hope we can all find the motivation and courage to take care of ourselves and those around us.

National Blog Post Month (NaBloPoMo), and Health

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Cristina

(For privacy reasons, I’m letting individuals know privately if they won The Gluten Free Consumer subscriptions. If you have any questions about it, send me an e-mail at cinderellaspear at gmail dot com.)

Happy November! I honestly can’t believe it’s here. I love November, because I love Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is absolutely my favorite holiday. Thus far, I have a relatively un-crazy family, and it’s just nice to get together and enjoy each other’s company and some really good food. There’s not hype like there is with Halloween and Christmas, and there’s still a chance for some decent weather.

Now, as to the title of this post. You may or may not be aware of NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Post Month. I’ve never done it before, but I’m giving it a try this year with a slight twist: National Health Blog Post Month. Dealing with Celiac Disease, food allergies and gastroparesis, food and health are of great interest to me. (In fact, I’m not sure that those two words — food and health — are really as separate as we think they are.)

The prompt for today is about coming up with titles for a potential book I would write. Coming up with titles is not a forte of mine (though I suspect using Twitter is helping me practice that skill). If I were to write a book, the accurate (though not necessarily best-selling) title is “Finding Myself and Opening Up Through Celiac Disease.”

My Celiac diagnosis in May of 2009 changed my life, for good or bad….or both. It opened up a world of new foods, new friends, a love of cooking, a love of canning, and I have started on the road to being patient with myself. I have always struggled with being nice to and patient with myself, and the struggle continues to this day. I’m teaching my tastebuds and my stomach to get along better. I’m trying to listen to my body and what it needs before I just assume that I already know. I’ve let go of pre-conceived notions about when and what I must eat. Learning about myself has been an amazing journey, and even if I were told tomorrow that I could go back to eating as much gluten as I wanted, I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.

I’m on a new road. Even though it’s not always easy, and even though I can’t always see where I’m going, I know I’m going in the right direction. I’m making progress. For now, that’s what I need.

Plum Cardamom Jam

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Cristina

Recently, the east coast was hit with an earthquake, and Hurricane Irene. Here in Utah, we’re due for a huge earthquake, any time. The earthquake and hurricane really made me think about how if I’m not prepared food-wise, I’m in serious trouble. Very few emergency preparedness pre-packaged foods are gluten-free. They’re almost definitely not allergy-free. Though my gastroparesis plays into this, it’s not my main concern (though having gp-friendly foods is a bonus). I’ve read that while freezing things is great, it creates problems when the power goes out (as my relatives in Connecticut can attest). I’ve really been wanting to turn to canning, but it felt intimidating and insurmountable. My friend Holly turned me in the direction of the book I’m about to tell you about, and I’m so glad she did. I finally gathered the stuff, and went to it!

My new favorite cookbook: Canning For A New Generation. I love it.

The first actual canning I tried was the Plum Cardamom Jam recipe in this book. It made two pints, and yes — that’s it in the picture.

The longest part was just chopping up the plums. I used a few pluots from the Bountiful Basket, and bought some plums at the store to supplement.

This was a great recipe for my first try. It was easy, and went smoothly. The main problem I had is that my pan is 1/2 the size it needs to be, so I needed to do it in two batches. That will be remedied soon.

That second photo? That’s basically the best smell — ever. My house smelled amazing. You know those plum spice candles? That’s the smell they’re trying to emulate. There is nothing like the original, though. The real plum spice, as it turns out, doesn’t bother my allergies at all! Who’d have thought?? (I’m being sarcastic here, for those who don’t actually know me.) It’s also cooked fruit, which makes it easier on the gastroparesis.

I never knew that I would think canning is fun, but it is. I have finally come to terms with this being my “thing.” I don’t scrapbook. I don’t do house stuff. I’m not into gardening just yet. I’m not an exercise maniac. I don’t sew. I don’t do pottery. I don’t write (other than my blog, of course). I don’t really play my flute anymore. I don’t knit or crochet. Food is my thing. I love to cook. I love to can. I love feeling the textures of foods as I chop them. When I’m chopping food, I go to my happy place. I can just withdraw and think about things. It’s great. (Maybe that’s part of why I prefer cooking to baking. There’s not much chopping in baking.)

You may be thinking, “Well, duh,” but accepting this took me a long time. It’s a relatively new concept to me, but I’m very glad to have figured it out. I would never have guessed that being diagnosed with Celiac and all my other food issues would have led me here, but I am glad it did. Blessings in disguise.

El’s Kitchen and their Bagel Snaps

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Cristina

This blog post has a bit of a story, so here goes.

FINALLY, at long, long last, the FDA is close to closing in on an official gluten-free definition. (If you’d like more information, 1 in 133 has a good info page.) Right now, the FDA is collecting comments from consumers. A big part of this discussion a few weeks ago happened on Twitter. The main bases I’m concerned about were covered many times over, but I did express one frustration of mine. Companies will often include a statement on their products something to the effect of “This product was made on lines that are shared with wheat, milk, peanuts, and soybeans.” My frustration is that I never know if that statement is real, or if the companies are just covering themselves so they don’t get sued.

After that comment, El’s Kitchen contacted me on Twitter and asked how interested I’d be in a product that was tested at less than 5 parts per million (ppm) of gluten. I went to their website and looked around, and was definitely interested. (It’s so awesome when companies post the exact ingredients in an easy-to-find place on their site.) I also mentioned that since I’m allergic to corn I couldn’t have the medley, but that their bagel snaps sounded tasty.

El sent me a message asking if she could send me a bag of bagel snaps. I thought that sounded great. They arrived yesterday. For the record, El didn’t ask me to write a review, or ask anything else from me in exchange for the bagel snaps. She just asked me to let her know what I thought, which I could have easily done in a private message. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to review these before buying them, because it’s so disappointing to spend money on something I’m hoping is going to be awesome, then having it fall short of my expectations.

I’m here to tell you that I like them a lot.

The translation is “I had to make myself stop so there will be a few left for me to eat tomorrow.” (A very few.) It was a challenge to not just polish the bag off in one sitting.

They’re bagel chips! Real ones! They don’t “taste” gluten-free. They’re wonderfully crunchy, and really are full of flavor. They’re kind of spicy, actually, which surprised me. A lot of gluten-free foods generally, and snack foods especially, tend to be bland and have the wrong texture. Right now, as I’m typing this, I want to eat more, and the package is right here…tempting me. My poor stomach would hate me, though, so I’m not going to.

My gluten-eating husband likes them, too. He said that one of the great things about the bagel snaps is that they have their own identity. Many gluten-free products are attempts at being exact replacements for the snacks and foods that people miss when they’re diagnosed with Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance. Not these. They’re delightful. They’re the sort of food I should take to parties with gluten eaters, but I probably won’t, because I’m selfish. I want these all to myself, even though I’m willing to share with my husband because I love him.

Thanks to El’s Kitchen for making a product that is measurably under 5 ppm of gluten, and that is tasty and worth the money. I applaud you. Now if you could just make a medley without corn flour or starch (since I could pick out the corn nuts and chips), I’d be set!

Gastroparesis and social issues

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Cristina

Life, for better or for worse, is about food.

We have to feed our bodies for them to keep going. We have to eat every day, usually multiple times a day. Food plays an integral part in religions and cultures, and that’s what I want to discuss in this post.

One of my recently-found Gastroparesis friends, Crystal, did a video blog post on Friday about accepting Gastroparesis. She addressed one of the harder aspects of any illness, and that is psychologically/mentally accepting that this is, in fact, (my) life. (It’s really good. You should go watch it. Seriously.)

On her Facebook post, I mentioned that even though I’ve had some practice with acceptance since being diagnosed with Celiac over two years ago, Gastroparesis has been the hardest of my three (including food allergies) to accept, and that I’m not sure why.

To divert from the Gastroparesis path for a moment, I realized on Sunday that I have not accepted all aspects of having Celiac Disease! You see, I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As such, I take the Sacrament. The first (and most relevant to this post) part of the Sacrament is that pieces of bread, after being blessed, are passed through the Congregation. (This is similar to the Communion rite in Catholicism.) Bread + Celiac Disease = big problem. The short(er) version of the story is that I bring my own piece of bread or cracker in a sandwich bag, let the priests know where I’ll be sitting, and let them figure out which tray it should go on so that it can be passed to me. (This picture will give you a more visual idea of what I’m talking about. There are enough of these trays to have close to the right amount for the congregation. The deacons then pass them throughout the congregation.) I put it in the plastic bag to avoid cross-contamination from the trays.

This is incredibly awkward for me. Imagine this nice little tray with a big ol’ sandwich baggie with a piece of bread that looks completely different and is probably a lot bigger than the rest of the pieces. (This last Sunday, I took some biscuit coffeecake I made. Yes, it was awesome.) It stands out. Then you have moms and dads trying to keep their little kids from taking the ‘cookie’ or ‘cracker’ because it looks tastier than just the bread. If I don’t get there in time to give the priests the bread, or if someone does take my bread, or if the poor deacons get confused, then I just skip the bread and take the water. Would I rather just pretend that I don’t have Celiac? Yes. Even though what I bring is tastier, would I rather just eat the bread everyone else does? Yes. Will I still get sick if I eat just that one piece of bread? Yes. I realized that I need to accept that I will have Celiac Disease the rest of my life, and this is how it’s going to be.

Now, back to Gastroparesis. Part of the reason it’s a bigger deal than the other two is that it’s harder to manage. Cut out gluten and food allergies, and voila! I’m supposed to feel better. Gastroparesis is an every day, every meal, always-trying-to-be-aware-of-how-I-feel kind of thing. One day I can eat something, and the next day I can’t. If I eat one type of thing too often, my stomach is unhappy, and my nutrients suffer. It’s really easy to eat too much fiber, too much fat, too much food at a time, or just eat too late.

The other part is that it’s what people, generally, are the least familiar with. Food allergies have been around and pretty well-known for quite some time. Celiac, just in the couple of years since my diagnosis, has had an information explosion. LOTS of people have heard about Celiac that hadn’t before, and I run into more and more people who don’t need me to explain it to them. If people haven’t heard of Celiac, they almost certainly have seen gluten-free items at their grocery store and recognize that phrase.

This is where social situations really get sticky. It’s relatively easy now to list off the foods I can’t eat without harming myself. Well-meaning people who care about me will go to great lengths to try to eat something that “I can have.” What I often don’t feel like explaining is how I may still not be able to eat it even if it’s gluten & allergy free. If I do have a few bites to be polite and/or taste it, some people get offended that I took such a small amount, since so much of our collective American self-esteem seems to be tied up in food. A lot of people are far too polite to actually bring it up and ask, so it just ends up being awkward all around.

I’ve felt bad about this and wished and wished that I could just “go back to normal,” but life moves in one direction: forward. I’ve felt embarrassed about going to restaurants and ordering a bowl of soup while everyone else eats like the normal people they are. I’ve gotten defensive when people think that I’m just eating this way to “lose weight.”

Then recently, something clicked in my brain — that generally, I feel pretty good. My energy is nowhere near what it used to be, but it’s a whole lot better than it was on May 12, 2009 when I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. My energy’s better now than it’s been probably in the entire last two years. I still don’t get much better than an 8 on a good day, but hey — that’s pretty good. Along with feeling good is that I’ve lost quite a bit of weight. I’m about where I was before my health tanked. In the last 10 months or so, I’ve lost about 20 pounds. Not because I was trying to, but because I’ve finally figured out (to some degree) what my body needs to be able function the most effectively. When people want to know “my secret,” I smile and tell them that hey — big surprise — when I don’t eat the stuff my body deems harmful, and when I’m taking care of my Gastroparesis (also known as not eating that much), my body remembers how to work!

I’ll end with a few things that I wish everyone knew:

* These are my personal food issues, and I cook and eat this way to take care of my body. This is not the “next great diet.” It kinds of hurts when people think it is, despite how great they think I look (which is flattering).
* If I’m at an event someone’s hosting or attending, chances are good that I just wanted to be there. That, in and of itself, is a compliment. Please don’t base how I feel about anyone in the room on what and/or how much of the food I eat. Not related. At all.
* I do not delight in being “that person” at restaurants. (Think Meg Ryan’s character in When Harry Met Sally.) It’s not because I have control issues (even though I do). These are medically diagnosed issues, not me wanting to just be high-maintenance. In fact, I hate being “that person.”
* Gastroparesis does affect my energy a great deal. I wish I could be all things to all people and attend every event, but I just can’t. (As I type, my husband is driving home from a Dominion event, and I would have liked to join him.) It doesn’t mean I don’t like whoever it is; I can only do what I can do. (Does this make me feel really old? You bet it does.)

I went on a walk tonight and realized that my life is pretty darn great in spite of all this. Realize that yours is, too, and look for the stuff that makes you happy. Life is short, ya know?

(Not-so-healthy) Gluten-free, allergy-free salads

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Cristina

The past couple of weeks I’ve gotten organic Bountiful Baskets. So far I’ve liked it.* The first week, I got two items that I haven’t used (or possibly eaten) before. One was a bunch of Swiss chard, and the other was a package of Romaine lettuce hearts.

(Sidenote relating to gastroparesis: These recipes worked for me because the greens were cooked, and because I ate small portions. The dressings, however, have a fair amount of fat in them. Do what works for you! If you find an adaptation of these recipes that works better for you, I’d love to hear it.)

I get stuck in food ruts, so I was glad to get these items. They made me branch out and experiment! I found a great salad recipe for each of them that I liked a lot, and so did my husband.

For the Swiss chard: http://www.food.com/recipe/hot-swiss-chard-salad-5428

Since I’m allergic to eggs, I didn’t include the eggs at any step in the process. (Thinking back, I could have boiled one or two for The Franchise and let him put them on at his leisure, but didn’t think about it then.)

The additional changes I made:

* I fried the bacon first, then poured the bacon grease into my measuring cup. It didn’t come quite to 1/3 cup, but then I topped it off with the vegetable oil. It really made the flavor great.

* As you can tell from the first point, I didn’t marinate the garlic clove in the oil for an hour. Instead, I minced it, poured a little olive oil into the bottom of the pan, and sauteed it until it was a little crispy. Then I added the rest of the dressing ingredients.

* I also threw in a little green onion. The Franchise doesn’t like onion, so I use them sparingly, but I think they boosted the flavor quite a bit.

It was SO good. So flavorful. I think there was enough leftover for…me. (If you make it with the bacon grease like I did, and you’re eating it for leftovers, stick it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. It won’t get too mushy, but it’ll loosen the dressing up a bit.) It was gone pretty quickly. It would probably also taste good with a few chopped tomatoes thrown in. I’ll have to try that next time.

The other salad was with the Romaine lettuce hearts: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/grilled-romaine-salad/detail.aspx

This recipe isn’t as convenient or easily thrown together. The longest part of the process is roasting the tomatoes. I also had some tomatoes (not roma, though) from the Bountiful Basket that I used. They made my house smell awesome.

* I used green onion instead of shallots, because that’s what I had…also from the Bountiful Basket.

* I also added bacon to this, for two reasons. 1 – What doesn’t taste better with bacon, and 2 – TheFranchise does need more protein than I do.

* We don’t have a “real” grill, so we used our George Foreman grill. While still good, this didn’t achieve the intended result. The lettuce hearts were cooked, but a little mushy/soggy. They really do need a real grill. I LOVE the dressing from this recipe. (It would taste great on several other salads, too.) All of the flavors worked really well together.

* I was glad that I included crisped bacon in this recipe, because it provided a texture contrast from the romaine hearts and the (very) roasted tomatoes, which were soft. We decided that if the lettuce hearts were grilled on a real grill, the crunch could be preserved, and the bacon wouldn’t be as needed. Then again, it tastes great with bacon!! I’m very pleased with how it turned out, and I took it to work with me the next day.

Hooray for awesome food that gets me out of my comfort zone!!

* Last week, two moldy tomatoes exploded in the box, ruining several of the other items. I’m currently trying to work it out with the ladies who run it, but haven’t heard back from them yet.

Cinderella's Pear

Gluten-Free Allergy-Free Life

Category Archives: gastroparesis