A Christmas GIft

We celebrated Christmas with some of our sweet friends last night. I still can't believe today is Christmas eve. What an amazing time we've had this year! Anyway, we were blessed with perhaps the best present a gluten intolerant girl can receive - food! Lots and lots of sweet snacks and even fluffy, delicious bread! Can you imagine the time spent for someone that has no food allergies to go through recipes and ingredients to make these goodies? We are truly blessed. I can't say that the fudge lasted more than a couple of hours, my kids literally inhaled the sweet stuff. If you have someone in your life that has recently been diagnosed, might I suggest giving them a batch of goodies? I think the joy will be immeasurable - especially at a time of year where food tends to be everywhere.

Merry Christmas to all!

Oatmeal!

We've recently discovered, quite by accident, that my girl can eat oats! I made some chocolate drop cookies for a bible study and she couldn't resist trying one. Then two, and a ton more. We waited and waited for her tell tale belly ache but it never appeared. Since then we've eaten tons more with no issues. Thank you, Lord! This has opened up a new world of food for her, and made my life much easier. We are now eating oatmeal for breakfast most mornings instead of the same boring cereal day after day. I also made some granola to have as an alternative. Box cereals contain so much sugar and other ingredients that I am at a loss about, so this makes me a happy mommy to be feeding them all something healthy that happens to be gluten free.

There's an app for that!

I don't have an iphone. I really don't even want one. I do, however, really, really, really want an itouch. Now, I want one even more. A friend of mine has the iphone and showed me the most amazing app. It's called "red laser". All you have to do "scan" the bar code of any food by taking a picture with the camera and it will pull up tons of information on the product, including any allergens. Can you imagine how much easier this would make my grocery shopping? If there was a food in question I could just scan and know if it was safe for my girl to eat. Simply amazing.

Christmas baking party

My gluten girl asked me to have a Christmas party for her friends. We are doing a bunch of fun activities, but she wanted some time just for them. I was not so keen on the idea. I could only think of the work that would go into it, as well as the huge issue of food and what to make. She loves to cook, so we knew we wanted to make it a baking day. The question was, what on earth can we bake that is gluten free and easy enough for all the kids? I finally agreed and told the kids they could each invite 2 friends. That may not seem like much, but when you consider I have 5 daughters the numbers really start adding up!

I frantically searched for a couple of days, and finally decided on Peppermint Meringue cookies. We made them a couple of years ago as gifts and they were delicious. I also found some easy ornaments they could all make together with very little help from me.

The big day arrived with the girls eagerly anticipating their friends' arrival. I had a friend coming over as well so we could work on some of our Christmas craft gifts. Wouldn't you know that after all my careful planning the girls wanted nothing to do with baking or crafting? I ended up making tons of caramel popcorn and Peppermint cookies, all devoured by the girls who didn't lift a finger to help! At least they were all safe gluten free goodies! Our guests didn't even think about the foods being GF, which was one of the best parts for me! I want my girl to enjoy all the fun things she did before, without worry of them being an alternative.

Dining out

We recently went out for a family Christmas shopping day and decided to brave the waters of a restaurant that claims to have a gluten free menu. It's only the second time we've done this so it was a bit intimidating and we weren't sure what to expect. We were all tired and didn't really want to take a chance on getting sick, so we were thankful for this option. I requested their menu upon arriving and they had a copy ready for my girl to browse. We all placed our orders, and I requested that her salad be delivered during appetizers so she wouldn't feel left out of the feeding frenzy her sisters were involved in with the bowl of chips and salsa. It took 20 minutes for the salad to be brought to our table. It was delivered with big crunchy croutons on top. I know, this may not seem like a big deal to some, but to a little girl that's been anxiously awaiting her salad it was almost enough to bring her to tears. We sent it back and the salad was replaced very quickly. The rest of the meal went without incident, and we all enjoyed the delicious food - even more so knowing it was a healthy option. The moral of this story? Even when a restaurant claims gluten free foods, you can't trust the servers to understand the intolerance and have to ensure your desires are followed. It can still be a pleasant experience, and even better, we didn't have to do the dishes after our 5 little piggies!

E Mealz

I used to be completely in love with a meal planning website prior to going to gluten free. I had a weekly menu as well as a grocery list to drastically reduce the time spent on my menu planning. An added bonus? The meals were delicious! They were based on the sales at our local grocer, which made it even better. Then, we had to change our diet and I sadly canceled our account. Imagine my joy when a friend called me recently to say she had heard of a meal planning site that offered a gluten free menu! I was even more joyful when she shared with me that it was e-mealz! I immediately signed back up and have been happily using their menu plan. I admit, some of the meals don't suit our family, but the majority do, and the benefits of having a complete, healthy meal laid out for me are beyond expression. No more menu planning for me!

I posted a link up button on my side bar if you'd like to give them a try :)

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving went wonderfully. My daughter was able to enjoy her favorite foods with no fear of a tummy ache. We had dinner with my in-laws on Friday and it wasn't as successful. We tried to avoid obvious offenders, but something snuck in (or wasn't shared when prompted), and she was sick. Although, I think she would say it was worth it for the wonderful time of fellowship with our family. The hardest part is that when you explain the factors of being completely gluten free most people think you are taking it to the extreme or overreacting. "You can't share mayonnaise?". Ha! "A bread crumb can't possibly make you sick!". So, recipes that would be gluten free in our home aren't coming from a gluten filled kitchen.

We have moved into our Christmas decorating and baking season. I haven't started baking yet, but my first goodie will be peppermint meringue cookies. They are completely gluten free, and a regular treat in our home, which is what we like - things to be normal. I'll share recipes and pictures once we get started. Hopefully, you'll enjoy them as much as we do!