I have been feeling sick the last couple of days

and I don't know why. It feels like a gluten problem but I have been so careful! The only things I have eaten in the last couple of days are Ener-G Gourmet Crackers, Peter Pan peanut butter, crystal light single-drink drink-mixes (and generic variants), a steak, some chicken, fresh vegetables, some Amy's Kitchen Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese (I would provide a link but while Amy's Kitchen's site looks good it actually sucks and is unusable), a couple gluten free lactose intolerance pills, and a couple of ant-acid pills.

For the last several days I have had diarrhea and abdominal cramps and have had a hard time sleeping through the night. By this point I am probably a little dehydrated which is probably contributing to my not feeling good. I will drink more water but it just makes me want to puke.

What type of container do you use for your gluten-free ingredients?

I ask this question assuming the everyone has specialty flowers, of course.

When my ex-girlfriend (read: wife) first diagnosed my problem we had a time actually removing all gluten-filled ingredients from my diet despite the fact that she is a French chef by trade. Over time we (read: she) figured out what did and did not have gluten, found non-gluten-filled substitutes for both whole products as well as constituent parts, and changed the way we shopped and ate. Since most of the food I eat is cooked from scratch we have learned to use many alternative flowers and grains. Right now our Arrowhead Mills Yellow Corn Grits are in an old 10" tall glass jar with a plastic lid, the pancake mix and three others are in large Martha Stewart screw-top canisters, and the raw spices are each in random-sized small glass jars.

What does everyone else put their gluten-free ingredients in for storage?

Breakfast for Dinner

I had breakfast last night for dinner. You heard me right; blame my mother--it used to be one of her favorite things to do. I grew up in a typical, cookie-cutter, suburban world. We had cereal for breakfast every morning (which really bothered my celiac since I didn't fiugre it out until I was in my mid-twenties) and the idea of toast made breakfast a production. Every once in a while, always during the winter, we would have oatmeal. 'Great,' you might say. Not so fast. I was a picky eater and, drum roll, it bothered my celiac (although probably not as much as those cheerios). Back to the dinner reference. Since we never, ever, ever, ate hot breakfasts those foodsets were available for dinner use. Not only pancakes, eggs, and grits but other hot breakfasty items like biscuits (always Bisquick brand baking mix) and bacon. Last night I did not have my mothers standard fare of Bisquick pancakes and Uncle Ben's white instant grits. Last night I had pancakes made using Arrowhead Mills' Gluten Free Pancake and Waffle Mix with scrambled eggs (my own recipe), and Arrowhead Mills' grits , also an Arrowhead Mills product.

I start my following the recipe on the back of the Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free Pancake and Waffle Mix box--after dividing the ingredients by four. One quarter of the recipe is slightly more than ennough, and often more than I can eat. Since I am the only celiac in the house it doesn't make sense to make four times what I can eat and through the rest away. I crack two eggs and put them in one bowl; then scramble. I put 1/4 cup of mix in a second bowl. I add in the appropirate water, oil, and honey (some local stuff I was lucky enough to run across--I will give him a shout out when I get home, where the bee keeper's name is). To this mixture add a dab of eggs (approximately 1/2 shot) and blend thoroughly. Once this is done I spoon them with a large teaspoon onto a pre-heated, pre-oiled 10" iron skillet.

Flip-Flip-Flip-Flip-Flip-Flip-Flip-Flip-Flip-Flip

And then I had 11 silver-dollar-sized pancakes. I throw the eggs in behind the pancakes and, after just a little stirring with a silicon spatula, they are done. All I do with the grits is bowl them with salt, fresh-ground pepper, and butter (actually a yogurt-based butter substitute but we're all friends here, right?).

Breakfast at dinnertime...hmmmmmmm. Thanks Mom.

Tasty Pizza

I have tried many gluten-free frozen pizzas and have found only one that is any good: the Glutino Duo Cheese Pizza. "It is just a cheese pizza," you may say, but after not having a frozen pizza for 7 or so years it is magical! I put gluten-free turkey pepperoni on it before cooking and it just melts in your mouth. They come in a 9" 'personal' size with a fairly thin crust that gets pretty crispy during its 9 minute cook time at 425 degrees.

Glutino makes other gluten-free foods that are a salvation in this gluten-free desert including their Macaroni 'n Cheese and Penne Alfredo. Stay away from their bread sticks, however. They are 1-1/2" long, the size of your pinky, and consist of puffed rice (I believe). They are not bread, they are not sticks, they are not tasty.

A Beginning Is A Very Delicate Time...

...know then that this is my gluten-free blog. It will be filled with all things good, and gluten-free, of course.

... and zis shall be ze last we shall speak of ze Gluten.