President's Day --Spring is just around the corner

Still going strong on the gluten free diet. One product I tasted this week for the first time was gluten free oreo-style cookies by Kinnikinnick . They taste just like the real thing!

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe that 2010 is here already. Ten years ago I had just gotten a home computer and was looking for a teaching job in Georgia. A lot has happened in the last decade.

This week I dined in the Vinings area at the West Village open air mall with the Gluten Free meetup group. Great group of people!! We ate at the Blue Moon restaurant. Our waitress was very attentive. I ordered gluten free Greek pizza, and took home cheesy bread and a blond brownie. It took me at least 3 meals to eat it all!

It was so much fun eating pizza that didn't make me feel like a slug afterwards. I remember several years ago eating delivery pizza. I had a reaction that I can only describe as a drug-induced coma. I stayed that way for about four hours! I assume it was the gluten, but I will never know for sure. About 5 years ago I had a fried chicken dinner at Church's Chicken. I love the crunchiness of the crust, but immediately after eating it, my heart started racing and felt like it was coming out of my chest! Very wierd sensation!!

Hopefully more restaurants will start to offer more gluten free choices as more people are diagnosed with gluten issues.

Almost Gluten Free Thanksgiving

Made it through Thanksgiving almost gluten free. Bought a Mary's brand of gluten free turkey from Kroger. It weighed in at nearly 16 pounds. Baked it at 325 degrees for 3 hours and 15 minutes. Used a coating of safflower oil, sea salt, and cilantro to keep the skin moist. Tented it during the last hour. It turned out great!
Bought gluten free gravy from Return to Eden, but I made the mistake of adding some of the liquid from boiling the giblets, plus some of the turkey juices. It was waaay too thin. I'll try it again next time without add-ins.
Made fresh cranberry sauce with just some sugar, water, and fresh cranberries.
The pumpkin bar cake was a big hit! Got the idea from the Celiac Thanksgiving potluck. It was very easy to make. Just followed the directions on the 123 GF bar cake mix. It was expensive for the mix, but it was very worth it. Got it at Return to Eden---will need to check places closer to me to see if it is available.
My children wanted our traditional mac and cheese, so they cooked it....one advantage of having adult age children! They can cook and clean! I also bought rolls just for them. With the sweet potato casserole, the green beans, and the sweet potato noodles my daughter-in-law made, I didn't feel cheated at all!
It was a huge success, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together. That was the biggest blessing of all!!
The official three week race to Christmas break has begun!

Cooking Gluten Free

Back in the 80's when I was first married and having babies, I didn't cook very much. Never really knew how and wasn't too interested in learning. There were so many choices of frozen items and fast food that I didn't have to cook to feed my family. Who knew just how unhealthy that was? I was not very successful at my few attempts to cook, so there was no motivation to put forth the effort.

The irony of this gluten intolerance is now I have learned how to cook for myself. I am an avid label reader, and not too bad of a cook. Today I tried Bob's gluten free oatmeal. Oats can be easily contaminated in the fields or in the processing plants. This one is guaranteed gluten free. You can nuke it or cook it stovetop. I used the microwave today to cook it and then added my favorite ingredients. It was not bad at all!

Last night I used the San-J gluten free Tamari ginger dressing as a seasoning for stir fry vegetables. Kroger has a store brand selection of frozen vegetables with no seasoning added. They are great for soups, sides, and stir fry! The secret to all of this is the ability to control what goes in your food, so you know what is going into your body!

Don't be afraid to experiment!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

It's wet, rainy, and cold outside. Fall is headed out and winter is coming in.

I am enjoying the choices I made last week at Trader Joe's and Return to Eden.
Looking forward to cooking a gluten free Thanksgiving dinner for my family.
It will be interesting to see how they like the gluten free gravy I bought.

Yesterday I tried the new grilled roast beef with mushrooms and onions at
Cracker Barrel. It was very tasty and tender!
Although not actually advertised as gluten free on the menu, it was offered on the healthy choice section as an alternative to the traditional roast beef loaded with gravy with mashed potatoes on the side. I have heard that some restaurants add flour to the potatoes to improve the texture.

Enjoy the time with your family. Remember that the time you spend with loved ones
is much more important than any food you eat!!

Happy Fall, Ya'll

I haven't posted in a while. Got a nasty bug that went undiagnosed until the visit to the THIRD doctor (am I surprised???). Anyway, I am feeling much better, although I am tired of taking antibiotics and prednisone. Almost done with both of those, so hopefully can get through Thanksgiving feeling good.

I have attended several meetups for the Atlanta Gluten Free Dinner Club and have made a lot of new friends! It's like the bee girl in the Smashing Pumpkins video. She searches and finally finds others who are like her, and it makes her feel included. Yesterday was the second annual Thanksgiving potluck dinner sponsored by the Atlanta Metro Celiac organization. Joined yesterday---dues are a minimal $15 for the year. Since I have made the decision to remain gluten free, I am going to need all the resources I can get my hands on!

One lady from the Thanksgiving dinner ended up shopping at Trader Joe's the same time I did, so we also got to talk while we shopped. In addition to this lady were two other very nice couples that I chatted with throughout the meal.

The weather was absolutely heavenly yesterday! I got lots of errands done and made many new friends who have g free in common with me! What a blessing!!

Today the Atlanta GF meetup was close to Lenox. It was a tour of Return to Eden, which carries a lot of the types of foods and products I need. It is located on Cheshire Bridge Road in the Cheshire Square Shopping Center. After the tour I went shopping. The hardest part was choosing which items I wanted! Jennifer was a very knowledgeable tour guide!

Wonderful Fall Weather in Georgia!

It has been a beautiful fall day here in Northern Georgia. My sweet daughter brought home the new Betty Crocker mix for chocolate chip cookies and we baked them together. They were great!!! Wish everyone would buy some so the price would go down. One of my co-workers made the Betty Crocker brownie mix. It was also good! Go Betty!

Missed the Gluten Free Dinner Club Meetup this week at Sugo's in Roswell. Had a little touch of the stomach bug---not gluten related. Only missed one day of work. Oh well, I will sign up for next month.

Cooking more for myself now. Was never much of a cook, but I am learning how. I heard something on the news yesterday about a group of moms who are promoting "slow cooking." I've always said that the old fashioned way was better. Have you ever noticed that when you cook something on the stove top or in the oven, it stays warmer a lot longer than when you heat it in the microwave? It usually tastes better, too.

I can remember when my new husband (back in the day) took one of the very first microwaves to his mom and grandparents' house. They would not even use it and made him take it back! They had a very small kitchen, but boy could they produce some of the best tasting food you will ever eat! Guess they knew something we didn't.

Back to the grind tomorrow. Trying to stay as well as possible. There are so many extra germs out there right now!