How To Have A Gluten Free Thanksgiving

Holidays should be fun and enjoyable. But being gluten free during the holidays tend to make them stressful, especially if you are going to celebrate them in a non gluten free environment.

In my opinion, Thanksgiving is the hardest one to get through if you live a gluten free life. Its purpose (besides celebrating America and all…) is to eat food- and a lot of it! But for someone who is essentially scared of food, its tough.

I have been gluten free for the past five Thanksgivings. Don’t worry, they get easier each year and you learn as you go along. I definitely have learned some things on how to have a safe gluten free Thanksgiving. They may be helpful to some of you:

1. Talk to the host. That is, if you are not hosting yourself. If it is someone you know and trust, it will be easy to have a conversation with them about your concerns. If they are receptive, they should not have a problem cooking a few items a little differently to accommodate you.

2. If you are too nervous to ask them to change their habits, get there early and help them cook. This will give you a chance to suggest a few changes to certain things. Even offer to cook some of your own sides (like some gluten free stuffing) so you know it will be perfect!

3. Bring your own food. Honestly, this is the option I would go with. I know it is awkward to arrive at a Thanksgiving dinner with your own gluten free meal. But if you are really nervous and the host isn’t very trustworthy, it may be your best bet.

4. Watch out for the turkey. There are a lot of seasonings that are not gluten free. Make sure to ask what was used on the bird before chowing down.

5. Avoid desserts. I know that pie that the host says is gluten free looks really good, but it is probably not gluten free. People who aren’t used to cooking gf are not aware of things like cross contamination. I would politely decline (or do what I did once, take a piece and slyly throw it in the garbage LOL).

6. Drink lots of wine. You gotta fill up somehow right?

Ok so the last one might be a bit of a joke but I hope the rest help!

Gluten Free Shampoo & Conditioner Review

Hi guys,

The other day I was browsing the hair care aisle at Target looking for a sulfate free shampoo and conditioner. The only brand I found that was Sulfate free was Organix, so I picked up some Coconut Milk Shampoo and Conditioner.

I didn’t even notice until later it is also gluten free.

I’ve never been one to make sure my body products are gluten free. A few doctors have told me before it does not matter (despite other research you may see).

The second I opened the bottle of shampoo, it was coconut heaven. Seriously, it smells sooo good. No different with the conditioner.

I was even more excited when I learned it worked well too! Some shampoos and conditioners that lack certain chemicals (like sulfate) don’t seem to get your hairs as clean. Organix left my hair feeling clean, shiny, and smelling amazing. It’s also really light weight so it won’t leave your hair looking flat.

The fact that it is gluten free is a total bonus. I think I’ll stick with it. Anyone looking for a gluten free or sulfate free shampoo or condition should definitely try it out!

GOOD Glutino Snacks!

Alright, so I felt kind of bad hating on Glutino in my last post. Yes, the breakfast bars were pretty bad. Not even pretty bad, they were terrible. But, I do like a lot of their other stuff. So, this post is dedicated to their stuff I do like! (No, its not sponsored).

1. Gluten Free Covered Pretzels– Fudge Flavor

 

These were a spur of the moment purchase. I was helping my boyfriend food shop (really just making sure he didn’t fill up his cart with potato chips and frozen pizzas) and we went into the gluten free aisle. I like to check out new products whenever I can, so when I saw these I grabbed them. And they are really good. I didn’t even like chocolate covered pretzels before I was GF so it was a pleasant surprise.

You can also purchase these in white chocolate flavor and I believe peppermint!

2. Vanilla Creme Cookies (Also available in chocolate-like an oreo type of thing)

Love these cookies. They don’t taste like typical gluten free cookies. They taste like regular cookies. I guess that sounds a little weird, but you know what I’m talking about. Just go out and buy them. I like the vanilla over the chocolate but that’s just a personal preference.

3. Wafers– Available in Milk Chocolate, Vanilla, and Lemon

 

These are the perfect lunch time snack. Not only do they taste good, they don’t break in your purse/bag when you carry them with you! I don’t know about you, but that’s a big problem I have had with gluten free products. There is an assortment of flavors, and I enjoy all of them. But lemon are definitely my favorite.

4. Toaster Pastries– Apple Cinnamon and Strawberry

 

Ok, so these are definitely a rip off of a PopTart, but I’m not complaining! They are probably one of my favorite gluten free snacks on the market right now. I first tried the Apple Cinnamon flavor, which was amazing, but then my food store never restocked them *cries.* But, they do have the strawberry which are also delicious. I have never actually put them in the toaster, I just eat them room temperature, but I am sure that would make them even better.

5. Genius by Glutino Cinnamon Raisin Bread 

 

I don’t eat bread often. Never have, probably never will. But this stuff is tasty. It’s really good for breakfast or just as a quick snack. It has the perfect amount of cinnamony goodness and raisins. I definitely recommend it.

There are many other Glutino products I would really like to try (crackers, pizzas, chocolate chip cookies, etc). However, gluten free foods are very expensive and I am a broke college student so I have to do it bit by bit. Maybe I’ll update you in the future when I try more.

 

 

Gross Gluten Free Snack

Just a quick random post.

Today I picked up some Glutino Breakfast Bars. I am a Glutino fan. I like their cookies and LOVE their ‘Toaster Pastry’ (which is basically a Pop Tart).

However, the breakfast bars just don’t cut it! I got the raspberry kind. I don’t know if it is just this flavor, or all of them, but it was awful.

The cookie part tasted okay, but I think it was the filling that was a little funky. Maybe I should try another flavor.

Anyone else try these yet?

Gluten Free Makeup?

Ladies- I have a question for you. Do you stick with only using gluten free makeup? Or do you use normal makeup as well?

I have always used normal makeup, even after learning I have Celiac Disease. I have asked a bunch of different doctors and they all give me different answers on whether it is safe or not. However, I have never had a problem with it so therefore I don’t feel the need to go out and buy all gluten free makeup.

The only thing I make sure is always gluten free is lip products, but most of the time they all are already gluten free.

Thought?

Gluten Free in High School & College

Hi guys,

Sorry for my absence- it was midterm week. Lots of craziness and busyness. I was back and forth between school and home and had little time to eat let alone do anything not school related. But, this inspired this post: how to be gluten free in college (and high school).

I’m going to start off with high school (might as well go in chronological order, right?). I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease during my junior year of high school. It was a big change and really tough. All of sudden I couldn’t buy school lunches or go to the vending machine without being worried about getting ‘glutened.’ And don’t get me started on the parties where I couldn’t eat the pizza or birthday cake.

I do have a few tips I gathered up from my time in high school. Maybe they will help someone else who is having a hard time.

1. Always carry safe snacks. My high school vending machines had no gluten free options. And a full day of going to classes makes you pretty hungry. I always kept a box of gluten free snack bars in my locker for a quick pick me up in between classes. It was convenient, and I knew I wouldn’t get sick from eating them.

2. Pack your own lunches. After my diagnoses, I wouldn’t dare eat anything from the cafeteria. Unless you talk directly to the kitchen staff about your intolerance, there is no way of knowing if something is completely safe or not. And don’t even get me started on cross contamination in a high school cafeteria. There’s probably even gluten on the walls in there.

3. Bring your own food to parties. I know this might be ‘lame,’ but it’s a really good idea. I would always feel too weird to do it but then would go the whole night being hungry. Looking back, I wish I had. This leads me to my next point….

4. Don’t be ashamed of your intolerance. If you saw one of my previous blog posts, you’ll see that I have gotten a lot of snarky reactions when I told people about not eating gluten. Sometimes people can just be really mean, especially people in high school. Just ignore the hate.

I remember how hard it was in high school being gluten free. If any of you high schoolers are out there and are looking for a friend, I’m always here to talk to.

Now… let’s get to college.

College is totally different than high school. Your schedule is a lot more open, yet you have a lot more work. You also are separated from your parents and therefore don’t have them to cook safe food for you. Full disclosure, I commute to college and still live with my parents who still cook for me… so I might not be an expert on being gluten free in college. But I do spend a lot of my time there, and therefore are faced to get some meals on my own. Here are some tips for that:

1. Pick a safe school. I’m not saying base your choice of school on whether or not you can eat there, but it is an important factor. Always look into their cafeteria and food options before committing.

2. Cook your own meals. Most freshman are required to live in a dorm the first year. However, you could get special privileges and get an apartment on campus instead so you can have a kitchen and cook your own food. That way, you know it will always be gluten free.

3. Keep your dorm/apartment stocked. This will definitely help when it comes time to cook your own meals. It will also help you when you want a snack and don’t know what is safe from the tiny college market or vending machines.

4. Be open about your intolerance. Just like I said above with high school, being open is always best. Don’t hide it. I find in college people are more interested in wanting to know how I eat and live rather than making rude remarks about it.

5. Find gluten free friends. This one might be more difficult, but there are a lot more people in college. I know a few people at my school that are also gluten free, and its nice to get lunch with them every once and a while and share recipes and stories.

If all else fails, you could commute to a school (if you have one around you) and have your parents cook for you for another four years. It’s not a terrible option (I would know :)).

Gluten Free Before I Had To Be

Even before I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I never seemed to like foods with gluten in them.

Pasta? Ew.

Pizza? I would always just eat the cheese and leave the crust.

Cake or cookies? Eh, I preferred the icing on top.

It’s not that these things made me feel sick. It was that I just didn’t like the taste of them. I don’t know why, but I always preferred more natural foods. I would have rather eaten a plate full of broccoli than a slice of pizza.

Isn’t it weird that our bodies somehow know what to avoid before our minds know?

Am I the only one who pretty much ate gluten free before actually having to? Or is this a common thing for people with Celiac?

“Wow, You Can’t Eat Gluten? Your Life Must Suck.”

Yesterday I went to a lunch meeting with a few classmates to work on a group project. While we were ordering, I casually mentioned I couldn’t eat a lot of things on the menu because I can’t eat gluten.

One of my classmates then turned to me and said- “Wow, you can’t eat gluten? Your life must suck.”

This might sound like this would be offensive, but I am totally used to it. This is not the first time I had heard this response when I told someone about how I can’t eat gluten.

I always get interesting responses when people find out this piece of information about me. Here are some of the other things people have said to me:

• “So how do you live?”
• “That must be awful.”
• “I definitely would not be able to do that.”
• “I think I would kill myself.”
• “How do you not eat bread?”

These are just a few.. I have gotten some other crazy ones as well.

I didn’t take offense when my classmate said my life sucked, and I don’t take offense when people say these other things to me as well.

Mostly, I’m just surprised when I hear them because living gluten free is something that is so normal to me now. I don’t think my life sucks or that I am in a bad situation. I actually feel that I am now healthier than most people because of it.

It’s just crazy how people can’t view things that they are not living themselves. It is like if they are not dealing with it in their own life then it is not possible for someone else to deal with it.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? I’d like to know.

How My Boyfriend Deals With My Celiac Disease

I’m just going to apologize right now: this post might get a little mushy.

I met my boyfriend two years ago by fate (at least I think it was fate). We both weren’t supposed to go out the night we met. He was scheduled to work but someone picked up his shift at the last minute and I wanted to do anything but be dragged to another frat party by my best friend.

But somehow my friend won the battle that night and I ended up going out with her and meeting Rich.

I told Rich about my Celiac Disease the night we met. I wasn’t like – “My name is Bridget and I have Celiac Disease.” It just came up naturally. He just offered me beer and I had to turn it down and just explained why.

From the minute he found out, he was super cool and supportive of my lifestyle. For our first date, he let me pick a restaurant where I would feel comfortable eating. And for our first Valentines Day (which was still early in our relationship), he looked up safe restaurants on a gluten free registry so he could plan a surprise but still be safe for me *celiac girl swoon.*

And just the other day when I found out Milky Ways were not gluten free, he picked out all of the Milky Ways in the candy bowl he keeps for me at his house (yes, I really love candy).

He has definitely changed his own lifestyle a lot for me. And I could not be happier about that.

First off, he never gets mad or annoyed with me and my disease. Sometimes I get sick or sad about it, but he just comforts and takes care of me, instead of telling me to get over it.

Second, when we go on dinner dates, he tries to eat gluten free as well so we can share food. This is not something he has to do, but does it because it makes me happy.

Rich even keeps gluten free foods in his house for me (like the candy bowl). This leads to him eating less gluten as well.

He also always brushes his teeth and washes his hands after eating something with gluten that could hurt me. This is really important and he never complains.

Rich is now just more aware of everything we eat. He is always watching out for me. One time we went out to dinner and the waiter brought me flour tortillas instead of corn, and I only noticed because he pointed it out to me.

There’s many more things he does for me that won’t fit into just one blog post. I’m happy and lucky to have someone so great in my life. I don’t think there are many guys out there that will change their lives to accommodate yours, but I found one.

Tips for a Gluten Free Halloween

In a previous blog post I talked about which candies are safe and not safe for kids with gluten intolerances on Halloween. But what do you do when your child goes trick or treating and comes back with a bag of gluten filled candy? Here are a few things you can do instead of eating it all yourself:

1. Stop it before it happens. If the child is young enough, you can go up to doors with them when they pick the candy. You could encourage them to pick the ‘safe’ candy instead of the ‘unsafe’ kind.

2. Have a sibling or friend trade with them. One of my favorite parts of halloween was always laying out all my candy along with my brothers and sisters and trading ones we didn’t like. Its an easy way to end up with as much candy as you started with. This way, the child won’t feel bad if they have less because they had to give up the kinds they can’t eat.

3. Be honest with them. Warn them of which candies they can or can’t have. Then they won’t even bring home any gluten filled candy. Or when they come home, explain that they can’t have it and maybe replace it with some safe leftover candy you have.

Happy Trick or Treating 🙂