My Friend, P.F. Chang

Apparently, I'm on the once-a-month posting plan.

Life is busy.

I'm having a blog identity crisis.

I don't write recipes, so I can't be one of those cool GF recipe blogs. I also haven't baked in a really long time (like since my last post with the yummy cookie pics).

I somehow find myself talking about Celiac all the time, but yet I don't feel like I have enough useful tips and information to share with the blog world.

So I guess, since I've been away from home all week (and way too close to PF Chang's), I'll consider this post a tribute to PF Chang's.

For those of you who are not lucky enough to have one near you, PF Chang's is a national chain upscale Chinese restaurant. "China Bistro" if you will. It is also one of the very few places that I feel comfortable eating and have not yet had a suspicion that I've been poisoned.

You walk in and ask for a gluten-free menu, and they hand you a GF menu. You then order off said menu. They bring you food. You eat it (with gusto). Then you are not sick.

Seriously, it is such a HUGE relief, especially for people like me who are uber-sensitive to gluten. I get giddy when I think about it!

I have eaten there or at Pei Wei (the carryout version) 3 times in the past week. I'll mention again that I was not home and I was staying with friends, so I do have some semblance of an excuse because I had to figure out some way to eat while there.

A few of my favorite things:
GF lettuce wraps- they are pretty much famous for them
Chang's spicy chicken- the definition of spicy often varies, but kind of like sweet and sour chicken with a kick
Singapore street noodles-thin rice noodles with chicken and shrimp
Flourless chocolate dome- more fudge than cake, not really worth the price unless it is your birthday or you really want a chocolate fix!

I know I sound like a salesperson, but no, I have no stake in the company. But, mental note, maybe I should...

Top Five things I did wrong as a newbie Celiac

I ran across a post at Gluten Free Mommy's website that detailed her top 10 silly mistakes she has made on the GF diet. Of course, it got me to thinking about my own Top 10. Except right now I think it is more of a Top 5, partly because I'm intimidated by coming up with 10 somewhat useful experiences to share. So here goes. (Note- this may be subject to future editing)

1. Distillation- I already mentioned distillation and how it is not my friend. I remember doing distillation in chem lab more than a few times. Gluten should not survive the process. However- I was led to believe that any distilled product (i.e. alcohol or vinegar) is ok.

Not so, says the small intestine! Was that vodka really triple-distilled? Does Frank of Frank's Red Hot want to explain to me how the addition of hot sauce to my meal caused a severe gluten reaction? BBQ sauce is a whole 'nother topic.

2. Cross-contamination- basically, me thinking that cross-contamination is less of a risk than it really is. I remember reading my first bits of GF info online. I thought most of these people were nuts (apologies... I now see the error of my judgmental ways).

How could it be possible for something in such small amounts that you can't even see to poison a person and cause weeks of distress?! Come on, lighten up! WRONG. Example: Chipotle. Nuff said.

3. GF Definitions- "gluten free" on a label does not always mean gluten free. In fact, the FDA does not yet have an official definition of how many parts per million of gluten are acceptable in a product labeled GF. Personally, it is my opinion that because different people have different thresholds for the amount of gluten they can tolerate, GF SHOULD MEAN ABSOLUTELY GF!!

Of course, I am a tad biased because I know I am very sensitive. But seriously- how can anyone ever be sure about what a product's gluten status is if there is a ppm allowance? (label it as totally, absolutely, without a doubt, 100% GF?)

4. Coffee at church, coffee at my parents' house, anywhere but home- I would never have expected this one. I Love coffee. Yes, that is a capital L. I would not have made it through school without it.

The weird part was when I started noticing that almost any coffee except what I made at home went right through my system, if you catch my drift. I also started feeling glutened every time I would go visit my fam for the weekend. They have one of those sweet Gevalia coffee makers that they give you free if you sign up to get coffee delivered. Unfortunately, it took literally until a couple months ago for me to realize that Gevalia's flavored coffees are considered to contain gluten. Ugh. Contamination right there. No wonder I always felt awesome after I made French press coffee, not the drip stuff.

Same thing goes for church. God bless the people who serve in the coffee ministry! I'll be sticking to tea...

5. Underestimating the mental/emotional impact of being GF- There is a distinct feeling of relief that comes with a Celiac diagnosis. There is something physically wrong! I'm not crazy! There is an easy fix! (Or so I thought at first).

Our culture revolves around food. Many cultures do. How many times do you go out with friends for anything besides a meal and/or drinks? Our family gatherings are always situated around a meal.

We didn't eat out much before the diagnosis just because we didn't have the money. We still don't have the money, but it's hard to completely avoid going out to eat. I don't unless it is one of the restaurants where I know I can eat safely (and I can count them on one hand).

Try going on vacation and not getting glutened.

As wonderful as it is to know what caused my symptoms and how to fix it, I don't think I give myself enough credit for the emotional toll that it takes. I'm grateful that I can be healthy now. I genuinely laugh at jokes about my eating habits. I try to make light of the situation, but it sometimes really weighs on me. I feel like I talk about it too much, but maybe that's what I need to do to deal with being different and inconvenienced. And sometimes- I just REALLY don't feel like cooking.

That being said, this whole experience of going GF has taught me a alot about myself and the people I'm around. I'm indebted to those who have taken the time to send me an email with a gluten-free recipe they came across, or my coworker who made a flourless chocolate cake for my birthday, or my boss who brought me a bag of GF chocolate chip cookies when she knew everyone else was getting free pizza for lunch.

Long story not-so-short, I need to cut myself a break every once in awhile and admit that being GF is not always easy and that sometimes it really gets old. Then I need to regroup, be grateful for the awesome people in my life who try to make it better, and realize yet again that this is my chance for the first time in my 20-some-odd-year lifetime to be truly healthy.

Who needs a recipe?

In the last week or so, I've come to a realization. I am not a stellar cook, but I knew that already. I've always followed recipes as to-the-letter as possible (while passing on the onions!). Guess what- I don't really need recipes.

I would spend a lot of time searching for the perfect recipe- gluten free, with the ingredients I had on hand, with the taste I was looking for. This week, I made cookies. I don't do a lot of baking anymore, partially because I don't like my oven in my new place. I'm also not home much. Put them together, and the desire to bake is at a minimum. My waistline and my arteries probably aren't complaining...

Baking cookies used to be like therapy for me. In grad school, if I had a big exam or if I was stressed about a project, I would bake cookies. There was something calming about it. I had a kind of rough week this week, so I baked cookies. I really wanted white chocolate chip cranberry cookies. I couldn't find an appropriate recipe. What to do?

I used a chocolate chip cookie recipe, cut in half. I replaced the evil wheat flour with a random mixture of whatever GF flours I had on hand, plus a teaspoon of xanthan gum- the GF baker's best friend. (Now, given the nature of GF flours, this might not always work, but I got lucky). They would have been perfect if not for my weird oven. They were a little too brown on the bottom, but still incredibly yummy. I can't resist them.

Going along with this newly found freedom from recipes, I made soup today. It was definitely a "freezing outside need soup" kind of day. I put in a bunch of stuff I had on hand, according to what sounded good. I ended up with a sort of Italian chicken stew. It hit the spot! I ate this over some gluten free pasta. It was even better the next day.

If memory serves me correctly, it was a combo of:

bite size pieces of cooked chicken breast
frozen spinach
1 can of diced tomatoes with garlic and basil
1 can of great northern white beans
1 can of light kidney beans
chicken broth
1 large clove of garlic, chopped
parmesan cheese to top

My last experiment was a batch of chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips. Mmmm. Don't even have a pic of those. I ate them too quickly.

So I guess I'll keep up this whole recipe experimentation thing whenever I can. It's really fun until I emerge from the enormous mess in my teensy kitchen. I wonder what's next...

Thanks, but no thanks

So the eating out part of the GF diet: it kinda sucks. And by kinda, I mean really.

It's just something you have to learn to deal with. Or avoid. I've vacillated among a few different approaches.

At first, I actually tried to explain myself and CD to restaurant staff. Ha. I live out in the Midwest Boonies. While it is more likely to find someone who has actually seen a wheat field, people are still pretty darn clueless about gluten in food.

Then I tried just eating at selected places, ordering the safest thing I could find.

Now I'm to the point where it is going to be a place that has an obvious, officially-printed gluten free menu AND a clear understanding of cross contamination. (PF Chang's anyone? That place will cause me to go broke. Mmmm... super kudos to them)

I got glutened last weekend from Chipotle. Now, I love their food and the fact that they are very forthcoming about allergen information. However, walking into that place feels a little like walking into a casino... high-stakes gambling about to begin. The process there just screams contamination. Now I've gambled there several times and come out ok, but there have been times that have left me wondering.

There was no wondering last weekend, if you catch my drift. I woke up Saturday morning feeling like I got run over by a bus. I spent a little time in the ladies' room. I'm just starting today to be able to make it through the day with only two cups of coffee. My dermatitis herpetiformis blisters that appeared are just starting to calm down. The sores in my mouth are starting to heal. Thank God. (I don't say that in vain, I am truly thankful)

So what is the point of this post? Really, there are two.

1. Watch out for places like Chipotle and Qdoba. I figured they were too good to be true. Even if they change their gloves, how many glutened gloves were already reaching into that cheese?

2. I happened to email Applebee's about gluten because someone was going to bring food into work and wondered if there was anything there I could eat. I got pretty much the answer that I expected, and I wanted to post it here. Needless to say, I will continue to avoid Applebee's like the plague. On a positive note, at least they don't claim to be able to meet my dietary needs and then disappoint.

Thank you for your recent request for a list of
gluten-free menu items available at Applebee's.
Due to the frequency in which we change our
menus, as well as the small risk of cross-
contamination, we can not provide the list you
requested. The health and safety of our guests
is simply too important to risk sharing inaccurate
or outdated nutritional information.
 
You may call us at 888-59APPLE and a Guest
Relations Coordinator can work with specific
requests regarding any of the FDA's Top 8
Allergens (milk, soy, wheat, eggs, shellfish,
fish, treenut and peanut) that may be contained
in our core menu items.  You can reach us between
7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday
and 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Friday, central standard time.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
Adam L.
Guest Relations Coordinator II

Right. Like I'm really going to even think about eating there.
Totally not worth it.

Be careful out there, GF friends, it's a dangerous world.

Random musings of the Celiac

-I should be used to this whole gluten-free thing by now.

-I don't typically miss gluten. I remember how I felt... Still do every couple weeks if I let my guard down one tiny bit...

-Sometimes, I miss my mom's sugar cookies. They are the best sugary substance in the world. Hard to replicate in the GF realm.

-CD diagnosis is overwhelming. There should be a counseling session between a newly diagnosed Celiac and an older, wiser one (preferably non-wacky and knows what they are talking about...) for every new diagnosis. Much better than sending you out the door of the doctor's office, still reeling, with nothing but the internet at your disposal. And a note scrawled that you should see a dietitian. Which your insurance won't cover unless you've just been diagnosed with diabetes. And who ask you for information on gluten when you talk to them. (Disclaimer- there are some awesome dietitians out there. I work with some. Just wish I knew them a couple years ago!)

-CD should be taken more seriously. Complications are dire. I have a friend who, at 24, has degenerative changes in her spine that cause her a lot of pain. I've had a few issues myself. I think I'm having more. It's scary.

-German gluten-free chocolate is really yummy. And it is labeled GF! Granted, the words are in German, but you can get the idea. Every Celiac should have a wonderful German friend who sends them boxes of goodies at Christmastime!

-Insurance companies are annoying. I don't know how the majority of patients work with them. I have a hard enough time as a health care professional taking care of my patients' insurance issues, much less my own personal ones. I spent sooooooooooooooo much time on the phone in the last few days to no avail trying to get a medication covered for a patient with a genetic clotting disorder. If the patient doesn't receive it, she could have a blood clot and die. Or not be able to have the surgery she needs. Or pay hundreds of dollars a day out of pocket even when she has prescription insurance. That's not right.

-I think that's it for now. Thanks for listening.

Risotto, Take 1

Well, I tried.

Risotto is a tricky thing. I knew that going into it, but I tried anyway. I made the bacon spinach risotto from Gluten Free Girl's blog. It deserved a big "eh, not-so-hot" rating. Mostly my fault, I think. I undercooked it just a tad. And my bacon never crisped up (I think it was drowning in butter instead...).

All in all, I ate it. And I think I know how to do better next time. We'll call it a learning experience :)

I did, however, make some pretty darn good soup a la Rachael Ray. Check this recipe out! We don't have fancy things like broccoli rabe around here, so I put in some spinach and some broccoli and it turned out quite nicely. I used my favorite Jennie-O hot italian turkey sausage
(as mentioned in a previous post). It was swell! Highly recommended!

Quick post. Italian Sausage. Yum.

o
Well, I promised a meal idea. A month later, here it is. Things are a little nuts around here, which means all the more reason for a quick easy meal combo!

I based this on a meal I had with GF pasta at Biaggi's. It was amazing! This didn't compare, but it was close enough to be quite satisfying. The first time, I made it with spaghetti noodles, but I've used whatever GF noodles I've had on hand (like spirals in the pic). The spaghetti actually turned out better, I think it absorbed more of the broth/sauce.

Basically, this is:
hot Italian turkey sausage
broccoli
pasta
garlic chili broth: which I made by combining some minced garlic, chicken broth, a little chili powder, and some crushed red pepper

I browned the sausage, then added the broth and broccoli and let it simmer a bit. I then added the al dente pasta.

I know it is simple, and it isn't a real recipe per se, but it tasted good. And different. I also just recently made an adapted Rachael Ray recipe for italian sausage meatballs stuffed with fresh mozzarella using the same kind of turkey sausage. No pics, we ate it too fast, and the kitchen was too much of a mess when I was done.

I think this is my new favorite ingredient! Jennie-O and Honeysuckle White are both gluten-free. Check them out!