Glutened

I had to force myself to run this evening -- to somehow climb my way out of a gluten coma through fitness.

Jogging was unbearable. Every sneaker stamp on the concrete sidewalk increased the pressure of what felt like a water balloon in my gut.

At every new corner I would accelerate my step, imagining the balloon popping and slowly letting out its watery contents. A sigh of relief would follow.

I don't know which is worse when "glutened" -- the fatigue or the gastric pain and bloating. I'd have to pick the former as the most debilitating to me because I thrive on being active, alert, and attentive.

How did I get glutened? It's been so long since this has actually happened to me.

Troy and I spent this past weekend up in Cable, WI for a mountain bike race. Cable is a sleepy northern Wisconsin town with few restaurants and grocery stores. Downtown Cable has a couple of charming country-like cafes that can easily satisfy a non-celiac bike racer. But for someone like me, you can only hope for a cup of coffee after a race...and that just doesn't cut it.

A bookstore/cafe led me to the best tasting pizza I think I have had since being gluten-free...and "they" said the crust was gluten-free. In fact, it was the only pre-made gluten free crust they had left. I was weak, tired, and hungry after a day of biking over rocky single track trails. My gluten-free guard was down.

"I'll take it!"

The pizza was unbelievably good.

But something kept telling me that it was in fact, too good to be gluten-free-true. The cooked pizza dough had formed into perfect peaks and the smell and taste reminded me of the "olden days" -- meaning my entire previous life.

It wasn't until after the first few bites did I realize that the pizza pie had a near perfect dusting of flour on its underbelly.

My husband's Greek cranberry bread had the same dusting of flour.

I tried to convince myself that maybe it had been dusted with potato flour. Or rice flour. Or tapioca flour.

I don't think so, Julie. It was too good. Too good.

Reality:

It emerges once again. Celiacs take a chance every time they eat out and employees in the restaurant business just don't get this disease. It's not necessarily their fault. They haven't been educated about food allergies and serious autoimmune-related food conditions.

That person preparing my "gluten-free" pizza probably didn't make the connection about the flour dusting. It was routine for them to prepare it this way. And my guess is that the flour was probably all over the counter tops and oven.

This whole incident is still emotional for me. I nearly cried when I took my first bite of that pizza slice. It was everything that I can't have anymore.

It was a reminder of how challenging gluten-free life can really be.

Monday Macaroons

Monday night was the first in weeks that I spent in my kitchen after being on Celiac files 'hiatus.'

It felt good to reconnect to gluten-free cooking.

I realized once again how important this activity (cooking) is towards sustainability of the diet. It seems that the more one wanders away from the kitchen, the more disconnected one could become from the relationship to the GFD. The cognizant intentions and efforts can decline rather quickly...

Coconut macaroons were produced with little foresight (only a quick peak at another one of those outdated cooking magazines found in my workplace lounge). Though I found the macaroons to be a sticky menace to my mixing bowls and baking sheets, they turned out quite delightful and were a huge hit at work the following day.

I've decided that I'll definitely make these again for my upcoming graduation party. Maybe the guests will want to stay?!

How to prepare:

1 14 ounce package of sweetened coconut flakes

3 1/4 cups of sweetened condensed milk

1 egg white

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (and/or dried craisins or nuts)

*Beat egg white and salt until stiff peaks form
*Mix beaten egg white with other ingredients, stirring together

*Form into small balls (or regular cookie shapes)

*Align onto parched baking sheet (or lightly greased baking sheet)

*Bake for 25 minutes at 300 degrees

*Cool and store for up to 1 week

Blogger Hiatus

The Celiac files blogger is back!

I've been on blogging hiatus since early March while wrapping up my graduate work followed by a vacation to celebrate my degree completion.

BTW, the only way to be truly gluten-free in the Florida Keys is to make your own food (you're just not going to find gluten-free restaurants or bakeries down there). :+O

Most exciting is that you can now tour this Web site to find videos and audio clips from world famous experts on celiac disease as well as patient stories. Not all of my 15 interviews over the last year are captured here but what I thought were the most compelling and informative pieces, are.

I would love to hear your feedback!

www.celiacfiles.com

I haven't been posting as much lately because I'm nearing the final stages of my graduate school capstone, which I'm scheduled to present in less than two weeks. The capstone project is www.celiacfiles.com and much is still needed to make this Web site complete!

Visit again for regular postings after March 23 (the big day).

Coming attractions will include two outstanding audio clips with world-famous celiac researchers -- Dr. Joseph Murray from the Mayo Clinic and Dr. Alessio Fasano from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Interestingly, both doctors left their celiac research in Europe initially assuming that prevalence of the disease would be far less here in the United States. How could rates be any higher than in Ireland or Italy?! Well, they're really not...and they'll tell you why in these interviews.

Also enjoy hearing from three celiacs I was honored to have interviewed in 2009. Wallace, Deborah, and Michael shared similar disease symptoms after years of misdiagnoses. All three maintain a fairly strict gluten-free diet.

And still, more to come are videos!

Have a good gluten-free week,
Julie

Endoscopy Results

I’m growing tired of my usual pancake production every weekend. In the mood for potato pancakes or just something with more texture. This morning I tried making cornmeal pancakes -- something with a little grit.

I followed my usual recipe (see “Aunt Betty’s Cottage Cheese Pancakes” post) but instead of using ½ cup gluten-free flour, I used ¼ cup Bob’s Red Mill corn polenta (uncooked) and ¼ cup Bob’s Red mill gluten-free all-purpose flour.

The verdict? GRITTY AND FLAVORLESS AS ALL HECK.

I added some flavor with frozen blueberries (peaches would be good too). I also made a non-alcoholic Mimosa blending sparkling mineral water and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Now, getting to the better result…

My upper endoscopy results came in the mail Friday and I suppose with any result arriving in the mail (and no phone call) errs more on the side of good news. Well, the results weren’t only good, but sounds like my small intestine is finally normal:

“Julie, your small bowel biopsies are PERFECTLY NORMAL! They would not be able to tell from these biopsies that you have celiac sprue. Congratulations! Keep up the good work,” my doctor wrote.

I’ve felt relief all weekend and a tinge of emotion. It’s sort of like working really hard to get an A in class and then seeing your final grade, the A, overwhelms you with happiness, a sense of accomplishment, and relief.

That’s exactly how I feel about this recovery process.

Who Says You Can't Have Pizza...

Buffalo chicken pizza and Canadian bacon & pepperoni pizza

Some secrets to a better Bob's Red Mill gluten-free pizza crust...
#1 Follow the directions -- exactly.
#2 Grease your pizza pans extremely well otherwise, the crust will stick while baking.
#3 When spreading the dough on the pizza pan, keep your hands wet, otherwise the dough will stick to your fingers. Spread the dough as much as possible to the edges of the pan, keeping it flat.
#4 Precook the crust for about 10 minutes before adding your ingredients.
#5 Be certain your ingredients are gluten-free. Check your tomato sauce/paste especially.

One bag of Bob's Red Mill pizza crust mix makes two large pizzas.

Where to find: Most grocers (in the gluten-free aisle)
Cost: $5.99 (average price)

The Upper Endoscopy

Jimmy's carrots, Julie's rice muffins
Yesterday was my third and last upper GI endoscopy -- I hope.

If you’ve ever had or heard of a colonoscopy, the procedure is similar, except the scope goes in the opposite end -- your mouth.

The procedure is guided by an endoscope -- a flexible tube equipped with a lighted video camera. The scope enters through the mouth traveling down the esophagus, and stomach to its final destination, the duodenum -- the upper area of the small intestine.

Images of the interior surface appear on a screen, which are captured and printed for doctor and patient.

My first endoscopy (April, 2008) revealed an extremely inflamed, atrophied surface. The intestine looked like pink, puffy bubble gum. Eight months later, after a strict gluten-free diet, I had a much improved endoscopy. The inflammation had significantly decreased and smooth visible spirals had resumed.

Yesterday’s image is by far the healthiest looking, though I won’t know biopsy results for a week.

One of the most difficult parts of an endoscopy is that I have little memory of anything following the procedure. That’s because they use hurricane spray and Fentanyl and Midazolam IV’s for sedation.

I groggily awoke to see my brother -- my ride home -- sitting in a corner chair, but don’t remember any of the discussion with him or my doctor. I only remember seeing my brother's face.

On the way home, we stopped at Coastal Seafoods for walleye and wild shrimp and then my brother put his skills to work in my kitchen. All that was missing was a white hat, apron, and his set of culinary knives from chef school.

I attempted rice flour muffins, but under my medicated haze accidentally added 1 tablespoon of baking soda instead of ½ teaspoon. (Gag.)

My second batch were probably some of the softest gluten-free muffins I’ve made yet. You can find the recipe on Bob's Red Mill Web site: www.bobsredmill.com/recipes_detail.php?rid=441

I give these muffins a 9 out of 10 for taste and 10 out of 10 for softness and texture.

My brother’s carrots…amazing. Believe it, they took an hour to make!