Jens Gluten Free Blog

You’re living gluten-free and loving it but you still can’t get over the fact that your favorite beer is now considered (gasp) dangerous drink! What’s a gal (or guy) to do?

Celiac disease can severely limit a person’s food choices, but I always say the most important food item generally remains untouched by the celiac diagnosis: chocolate. Thank God for chocolate!

We all love cake, but there is only one kind of cake whose heavy creamy texture relentlessly visits me in my dreams night after hungry night until I finally break down screaming “all right I’ll make some! I promise!”: Cheesecake, of course! (I know, I need help.)

Remember that first week after your celiac diagnosis? Perhaps you have actively wiped it out of your memory, but I still have vivid nightmares about it. I remember leaving the doctor’s office thinking that I simply needed to take certain baked goods out of Amy’s diet. And then I got home and Googled it. Then I went to my kitchen and searched through my pantry. When it was all over I just sat down and cried.

I received so many responses from my last post about veganism and celiac disease that I have decided to dedicate this post to that issue. Veganism is a form of vegetarianism in which a person decides to stay away from all animals and animal products. So meat, poultry, fish, as well as eggs, milk, fur, leather, wool and silk are off limits to a vegan. There are many good reasons to adopt this lifestyle.

With my son’s egg allergy and the lack of eggs in my house, Energ-E egg replacer is an essential ingredient. It holds most cakes and cookies together nicely. It doesn’t really work in quiches as well. It doesn’t give body to food the way eggs do, but it does serve as an excellent binding agent when eggs are not an option. When my daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease and I had to throw away so many basic ingredients that lined my pantry, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Ener-G egg rreplacer is gluten-free. To be frank, I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t!

One of the biggest challenges of being a parent with a child that has celiac disease is coming up with gluten-free desserts that the whole family can enjoy. Often the gluten-free cakes and cookies have a different consistency that my non-celiac children complain bitterly about. Sometimes I think it’s easier to stay away from gluten-free baked goods and fall back on desserts that are naturally gluten-free.

Julie and I have thoroughly enjoyed hosting our guest bloggers who have responded to our question: What are Five Ways to Make a Difference in the Gluten-Free Community? We heard from Chad Hines and Jen Cafferty who gave us their unique insights with suggestions like getting to know your local restaurants and health food stores, and contacting the health editor of your local newspaper. This week we are happy to present you with our last guest blogger of this series, Jay Thurston.

I woke up in a hazy fog and looked around. I was lying on a cot behind a thick colorless curtain. Suddenly it hit me. I had been sleeping off the effects of the anesthesia from my endoscopy. The endoscopy was more uncomfortable than I had expected. The doctor told me that I will only be partially “out” during the procedure. I still had vague recollections of extreme discomfort in my chest and my throat was sore. I stood up slowly and pushed back the curtain. The nurse was standing in the next room and upon spotting me she said, “the doctor wants to speak to you in his office.” I hobbled over to the open door of his office and he motioned for me to come in.

In the interest of promoting gluten-free awareness and making our gluten-free lives more comfortable we have decided to conduct a forum of major gluten-free personalities and bloggers to answer the question: What are five ways to make a difference in the gluten-free community? This is the second installment in that series (if you missed our first guest blogger, Chad Hines, check out this link http://www.jensglutenfreeblog.com/gluten-free-activism/how-to-make-a-difference-in-the-gluten-free-community/).

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