GFXCON: Thoughts, praise and a big Thank You to Kristin Carey!

I am so happy I was able to attend the  the first ever GFXCON! Didn't attend? Don't worry! I have it on good authority that there will be more! There was so much to do at this Gluten Free Convention that there was never a dull moment. There was not only the Expo, there was also Conferences, Cooking Demonstrations, and a dinner to close out the night. I missed some of these events due to scheduling conflicts but in the future I know that I will not want to miss out on the fun!

Who is the mastermind behind the GFXCon? Kristin Carey. Why does her name sound familiar? I have mentioned her prior; she is the owner of Nourish. She is incredible. She keeps bringing fourth new ways for the GF/Dairy free/Soy free/Vegan/Vegetarian/Allergen free communities together in exciting ways. This Conference was the perfect blend of food,education, and fun. I want to thank Kirstin Carey for creating such an all encompassing  Conference.

That said, I am a big supporter of all the GF conferences, I think we (Celiacs), should go to every conference  available to us. The more of us that show up and give the GF lifestyle a face; the more conferences that will appear in your area. This is better for us as consumers. Keep that in mind...

Back to the GFXCON:

This is what the GFXCon looks like when you enter. There were a lot of Vendors and they were all very informative. There was not one that was unfriendly. It was great to see familiar faces like Julia from Julia's Bakery!

I sampled a ton of delicious foods, drinks and tried a lot of new beauty products. Most of the tables looked like this:

This is the Udi's table. I have spoken about my love of Udi's many, many, many times on the blog. A lot of the tables were set up like the Udi's table. Had I not been chatting so much with the awesome vendors, I would have taken more pictures. I am sorry, I was having such a great time and learning so much that I neglected to take photos.

 At the bottom of the post, please check out some of the links I have included for you to look at.  Additionally, I will be posting a lot of new great reviews of products from companies that I wouldn't have otherwise known about, had I not gone to the Expo.

I also met some amazing bloggers! One that I have followed for years and one that I now am excited to read! Please check out these two awesome blogs:

Stephanie- I read her all the time when she was SkinnyJeans! She was so kind and I was very excited to meet her. I love it when readers come up to me and she was very personable. Please check out her latest blog.

Ken-Ken was so nice and he is GF. He is your go to guy for sustainable living the GF way!


While I was at the GFXCon, I happened to catch three speakers. I saw Dan Maakastad, Sous Chef from Nourish, Kirstin Carey, Owner of Nourish and Dr. Kyle Collins from Upper Cervical. Each speaker brought something very interesting and unique to the table. Dan talked about Grain Free cooking, Kristin talked about how to travel without having to worry about getting sick and Dr. Collins spoke about Eliminating toxins.

The Expo made me very hungry! So before I made my journey home, I ventured to Nourish and ordered a meal to go. 

Teriyaki Wild Rice Bowl with ground beef added. Delish! Also, I love the blackboard quote they have displayed.

I had a marvelous time. I cannot THANK everyone that made this event possible enough. I cannot wait for the next one. I was in the best mood all day because of it. I loved the GFXCon!
Every vendor there was great, please check out these websites because I think that they are amazing:

• Celicas Disease Foundation-East Valley Chapter
• I am Fine (Skin Care)
• Gluten Free Country Store
• New Planet Beer
• Treehouse Bakery
• Sprouts
• Lady Of Moore

SPROUTS GLUTEN FREE JUBILEE GOING ON NOW !

Run to Sprouts because their amazing GF Jubilee is going on now until 1/19/2011! Happy shopping my wonderful readers!

Gluten Free Pantry French Bread & Pizza Mix

It doesn't matter if you are new to being gluten free or not,it is still probably hard to pass by the bakery or bread isle problem on some days. The smell of fresh bread still is especially hard. Sometimes I just want to grab a croissant and shove the buttery flavor in my mouth knowing that it would cause me to have  dash into the bathroom, because  it will ultimately lead to being glutened and me crying on the toilet! Who am I kidding? Sometimes having to lead a GF lifestyle sucks.  So I have to resist all of those amazing foods in the bakery and  and search for equally amazing gluten free products. Most of the time I can find awesome products and I let you, my wonderful readers know about them.

It really sucks when I have high hopes for a product and it lets me down. I cannot tell you how badly I wanted the French Bread & Pizza Mix from Gluten Free Pantry to be delicious but I cannot lie, it sucked. It did not rise well. It was not fluffy like French Bread is, so it did not have the potential to make an amazing sandwich that I had been dreaming up. I was pretty bummed out.

This product will never be purchased again. Ever. I am still on the quest for GF French Bread. Anyone know where I can find that?

Book Review! This Book Is A MUST BUY!

Day FIVE! Of Every Day Is A New Post This Week!





This was one of the first books I purchased when I was diagnosed with Celiacs. I kept eating out and still feeling like crap. This book helped me understand a lot of secrets of the restaurant business and how they snuck gluten in their meals. For example: I kept getting ill every time I would eat at this local Mexican restaurant but after reading this book, I learned that a lot of Mexican restaurants roll their rice in flour! The next time I went to the restaurant, I asked if they did that and I was told that they did.

This book also discusses the casein-free diet and food allergies. It has helpful tips to help us navigate menus and also ask the right questions. It has different sections according to the type of cuisine, so that way we can all still enjoy a variety of meals! It also has a listing of information per state of useful resources! There is much more information in this book...PICK IT UP AND PURCHASE IT!

I depended on this book so much, that I would carry it in my purse when I would go out! It is simply amazing :)

Helpful Site Alert!

Day Three of Every Day Is A New Post Week is: A Helpful Website!

I am often asked what we can actually eat. Also I am asked what is up with MSG.

I do not eat MSG. Technically, it is GF...sorta... from some information I have found, if the product is made in the United States, then it is Gluten Free. If it is not, then it is probably not safe. I just stay away from it. I tested allergic to MSG so I don't eat it.

But, this site tells you what is up. It is a comprehensive website for us with Celiacs. If you have not been HERE before, then book mark the site and browse!

BuckWHEAT

I have been getting a few questions like this in my email...



Q. I just ate something that said GLUTEN FREE on the box and then when I looked at the ingredients it had BUCKWHEAT listed. Is buckwheat GF?

A. BUCKWHEAT is GLUTEN FREE! So eat it :) The wheat in the name is deceiving!

Remember, I have a Formspring link to the right, you can ask questions there and you can check there to see what I have answered :) And, you can be anonymous!

Vegiac

I am currently eating a delicious lunch. It is a brown rice tortilla with beans, melted cheese, carrots and avocados. SO YUMMY!

I want to thank all of you that sent me comments and emails regarding my last post on going vegetarian while being gluten free. Also, for those of you that also had questions about it with me, I found an amazing resource!

I was on Facebook today and I searched "Gluten Free Vegetarian" in the groups and VEGIAC came up. I suggest that you do the same if you are also a GF Vegetarian! They also have a website, here! It is a forum that is filled with information!

Lip Smacker 100% Natural Line (and gluten free!)

If you will remember back to one of my previous posts about Lip Smackers, I was outraged that they used wheat as an ingredient because I couldn't use it! I loved Lip Smackers when I was a kid and a teen and then Celiacs happened...leaving my lips Lip Smacker free.

I know that our voices and pleas were heard because Bonne Bell Inc, the makers of Lip Smackers has a new line of all natural Lip Smackers that are Gluten Free! I am so happy and overcome with joy! The line has great kissable flavors: Vanilla Bean, Pink Guava, Acai Berry, and Honeydew Melon! Thank you Lip Smackers, you no longer deserve a smack on the lips but a great big smooch!

Email

Email is back! On this blog and the Impressions Of My Life At The Moment blog, I have gotten questions about how to contact me since I took email down last year. Well, it is back! The requests have been picking up even more lately so put it back up. Topics people have been wanting to discuss range from parenting, Celiac disease, fibromyalgia, to the IUD issue I have had. Readers have asked me not to publish on my comments section, but a lot of the time, I had no real way of giving a proper response so this solves the problem! So, I am glad to have the email back up! My email information is on the right of the blog, use it if you need it, I will try to check it often.

Happy Anniversary To ME!

This is what I wrote on April 23, 2008 my first day being wheat free ever:

Today was day one on my new wheat free lifestyle. I have not gotten one stomach ache, head ache, cranky moment or tired moment. Even though I will have to say goodbye to a lot of my favorite foods, it will be worth it if I feel better.

You can find that on my Endless Possibilities blog. The next day on the same blog I wrote about my first experience ordering food wheat free:

I spent time with my friend Kelly today. She and I have been friends since 9th grade. She is a lot of fun and I am totally excited for her because she and her husband are expecting their first child! We went to lunch at Johnny Rockets and I stuck to my wheat free diet by ordering a hamburger with no mayo and no bun. Afterwards, we went to Whole Foods and did some shopping. The day was great and I totally cherish the time that I spend with her since we both lead pretty busy lives. Kelly enjoying her french fries.

A year later I am still wheat free ( I celebrate my gluten free anniversary in August!) and I cannot be happier. I love the choices that I have made for myself and my health. I was told by some friends that maybe I was allergic to wheat. My best friend Stephanie has celiacs but I didn't want to think that I could possibly have it too. When I did get the diagnosis I got on the ball and took charge of my health. I will be celebrating all day this change in my life. Check back later to see how I celebrated this change in my life! Oh, and the no mayo thing was because I was on Weight Watchers at the time, not because of the wheat intolerance.

Confessions of a gluten free gal...

Sometimes it is not fun being gluten free. There are time where I miss eating what everyone else eats. I miss that time in my life when I was not reading every label. I miss not feeling like a pain in the ass when I go to a restaurant. I feel high maintenance.

There is a lot that I love about being gluten free. The pros far out weigh the cons. I love not getting sick when I eat ( unless I get cross contaminated. I love how healthy I feel and knowing that my intestines no longer hate me. I love how my body loves being gluten free. I just have had a hard few gluten free days lately.

My boyfriend and I went to Texas Road House on Tuesday night, we have eaten there before and I always get the steak. I had a craving for french fries and a burger. I asked the server to please find out if they cooked the fries in a dedicated fryer that was only for french fries because I was allergic to wheat and gluten. She came back and told me that it was a dedicated fryer. My exact order was for the fries and a burger with no bun. She then came and told me that the management was nervous and they wouldn't feel comfortable with me getting french fries. I was really bummed out. I ordered a salad with no croutons and dressing just lemon. She then (not knowing anything about gluten allergies) asked if I was allergic to eggs and cheese! I never mentioned a dairy allergy. After she left, my boyfriend asked me if I wanted to change my order to steak and I told him no, but I was bummed out. I am sick of going out to eat and more often than not feeling unsatisfied.

Our food comes and it is just a burger with no pickle (like it stated on the menu, and I LOVE pickles) and no lettuce or tomato. I just looked at my plate. I am sick of feeling high maintenance or like I am a complainer. I am sick of explaining my allergy to people that just don't get it. I cant even tell you how many times I have said wheat allergy to someone and they tell me that they can make me a sandwich on white bread! Um...no! So, then my boyfriend calls another server and gets me my sides. I was happy he was there because I may have cried.

The following morning I was dying for some trail mix with nuts and m&m pieces. It sounded so good and I had watched my boyfriend eat Nutter Butter's. I wanted something sweet. We went to the store to see if we could conquer my craving. All of the bags had the cross contamination warming on it. I was so bummed out. I couldn't even get my trail mix.

I must sound so whiny. I love living gluten free most days. If I didn't, I wouldn't blog about it so much. I love cooking, baking and learning about how to prevent further damage gluten has caused my insides. I just wish the world was more gluten friendly. I wish more restaurants and food were gluten free friendly. I know that more and more restaurants are developing options I am just frustrated!

There are so many foods I miss. I am missing eclairs again in the worst way. Am I the only one that has moments of missing gluten?

Gluttonous Gluten Free Cake Review & My Aunt's Birthday Party GF Survial Mode...

Today was my Aunt Grace's 65th birthday! I like my Aunt Grace a lot, she is full of spunk. We went to my GG's house (she acquired new nickname today, Gross Grandma...maybe I will share that story on Endless Possibilities)

Anyway, I knew there would be some gluten free options for me to eat there. My cousin would be bringing a salad and she left off the dressing (smart!) but my Grandma is really starting to bug me. On Gluten Free Steve's blog there is a rant session and I should really utilize it because I could fill it up based on her alone. I am not trying to be disrespectful and I do love my Grandma but she does not understand what glutenings do to me (anal explosions, rectal bleeding {does this happen to anyone else?}, vomiting, rashes, bad moods, headaches, and not to mention the long term affects). I have told her 20 times what a gluten intolerance is. She doesn't get it. She doesn't get cross-contamination.

I am vigilant about reading labels. I could have a degree in it. If I eat it, I read it. Any way, there were many dishes I turned down because of items in them, she purchased chicken and told me I could eat it. I asked what kind and she told me it was from BBQ and Lemon. I got nervous and asked to see the package. Turns out that it was those chickens that you buy from the deli. I looked at the ingredients and there was barley in the BBQ chicken but the lemon was OK. Oh, and every time I tell her I cant eat something, she sighs like it is my fault. Sorry, I don't mean to be allergic, I wish I weren't! They shared the same plate but they were not touching and there was not juice flowing. No one could tell which was the BBQ chicken and which was the lemon. So, I said I was not going to risk it, plus the fact that it was already on the same plate was making me nervous. So, I said I was going to pass. My grandma then takes a piece of chicken and plops it on my plate. I get up and say to her, that she doesn't get it. I cant eat it! She took it off my plate but I still needed a new plate, it had already contaminated my plate! URRG!

Then I spent hours baking that cake yesterday and she took candles out of a cake she was about to serve and put it in one side of my GF cake. I freaked out! I was like, "You contaminated my cake!" Luckily, I feel ok and I didn't eat any of the cake where the candles were but still. " If you know something is going to make someone sick, why do it? I am losing my patience. OK, my rant is over, I hope I don't sound overly mad, I have had these issues with her before and she glutened me twice now.

Ok, Now on to the cake review!

Gluttonous Gluten Free Cake Review

Tension was high, I had a crowd of non-celiacs to please, could I pass their taste tests?

The Review:
I am not being biased because I made this cake at all. I was going to be hard on myself because I made the cake. But I really liked it.

Want proof?
By the way, I didn't actually eat all that cake! Yes, I know, I am the GF Gluten but I am not capable of eating that much cake! That piece was my non-contaminated cake! The rest was tainted cake :)

Jacob liked the cake too:
Actually, everyone liked the cake. The non gf cake that my Grandma wanted to serve remained intact and uneaten.

I don't have any nutritional info to post, I have no clue how many calories are in this cake...don't even want to think about it!

The verdict:
(Because my sister said this was the best part of the blog!)

Foods to Avoid...I am sure I am missing some ... please..add them in the comments!

So, I have a list of items I personally avoid written on my fridge. I am going to share the list, if there is anything missing, please add to it if I am missing anything!

• wheat
• spelt
• triticale
• kamut
• rye
• barley
• einkorn
• emmer
• wheat starlen
• wheat bran
• wheat grerm
• cracked wheat
• hydrolyzed wheat protein
  
• durum flour
• bromated flour
• enriched flour
• farina
  
• graham flour
• plain four
• self rising flour
• semonina
  
• white flour
• matzo
• OATS
  
• MSG ( it affects me)
  

And she is usually so supportive...

My friend Kelly is usually so supportive of my gluten intolerance. We bake gluten free together (check out our chocolate creations a few posts down!) and she even made me a gluten free birthday cake, but today she was just not feeling like dealing with a celiac like myself :(

Case in point:



These are from a bakery that I sometimes walk by. They usually advertise that they have hot gluten filled items ready to ruin my intestines and make me curse the day I started suffering from this awful thing called celiacs. Ok, so maybe the sign doesn't actually say that but it does say something about hot baked goods :(

Cravings

(Originally published on 9/22/08 on the Endless Possibilities blog)

The other night I thought I was going to nuts if I didn't eat melted cheese on a corn tortilla. I am not kidding. Then the next morning I had to eat fried fish (with rice flour) and eggs at breakfast. Later that day I needed more melted cheese. Last night, I got the cheese craving again. I don't have these cravings every day but when they strike, watch out!

Then I remembered Stephanie's blog post about her craving for tomatoes. It is unfortunate that one of my best friends also has to deal with celiac's disease but I am also very lucky to not have to go at this alone. She has had this for a lot longer than I have. I am a newbie with it, I am always asking her questions and learning from her.

So, Steph (and anyone else who wants to give it a go) ...help me figure out exactly what my body is lacking...


In order to reduce the chances of being contaminated by gluten, I eat the same foods daily. My staples are: yogurt, tuna, fruits, veggies,cheese, and chicken.

I was looking on an awesome website that Stephanie introduced me to, GLUTEN FREE FORUM, and it turns out food cravings are common with celiacs. I thought it was going to be people complaining that they cant eat scones. I read about people craving mushrooms, tomatoes, and other random foods.

Well, today I woke up not craving anything. I ate yogurt for breakfast. A standard for me. Then a craving hit for lunch... EGGS but not just eggs. It had to be eggs...sunny side up on french fries.

Maybe I need more protein? I already take a heavy duty gluten free prenatal vitamin. Hum..I am puzzled...what do I need to knock these cravings out? They are getting annoying! Steph, do you still crave tomatoes?

Go Fit Sugar!

(Posted on the Endless Possibilities Blog on 8/22/08)


I have mentioned the sugar websites before, I love them. They have everything you could ever want to read about. I really enjoy the Fitsugar site. Look at what they decided to write on:

"Somewhere between leaving home after high school and graduating college, I toyed with the idea of giving up gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. So many people I knew were living gluten free lives and claimed to feel so much better for giving it up. In fact, gluten free living seems to be on the rise.

Doctors estimate that one percent of the US population has Celiac disease, an extreme intolerance to gluten, but according to food marketers upwards of 15 to 25 percent of food consumers (that's you and me) want gluten free foods. Many see eating gluten free as a new fad diet. You all remember that Oprah Winfrey 21 day cleanse included giving up gluten."

It sucks that I am in the one percent. Check out FITSUGAR for this article and to look at the site. I am glad that I am not alone in my battle again gluten alone though. My best friend also has to deal with Celiac's , this is her blog.