birthday parties

Going out is the hardest part of having Celiac, because you have to be careful what you eat. You have to trust that the waiter knows all sources of gluten in the food, and that the food's ingredients don't contain any gluten. But at your house it's the safest because you know what is in your food.
Going to a friend's birthday party could sometimes be annoying having to answer everybody's question: "why aren't you eating the cake"?

It would be good to bring cake but unfortunately the only place that I know where to get cake is in Seattle which is DaVinci's Bakery in Greenwood, and Flying Apron in Fremont. If you live in Seattle those are some places to buy cake. If you do not live in Seattle you should bring ice cream, the only one I know that is gluten free is Breyers all natural ice cream. Also if you are going out and want ice cream then I recommend going to Baskin Robbins because if you ask they can show you the list of ingredients the ice-cream has.

Being a celiac

I started blogging to talk about gluten and gluten free tips. Although I was diagnosed last September, I have already learned a lot about being gluten free. Being a Celiac has helped me discover some foods I like more than foods with gluten, like Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oatmeal.

I'd rather be gluten free than being able to eat whatever I want because I want to get rid of my pains. I now know that the pains I experienced in my body were due to being a Celiac.
Some people would never want to be a Celiac.

Being a Celiac can be hard for many people (so hard they might have to sneak gluten) my tip is to look for foods that taste better than normal foods (the ones with gluten), but you'll have to try new foods or you can try to find foods that you like that don't have gluten. Before I was diagnosed with Celiac, I ate Fruity Pebbles and then when I became a Celiac I found out I could still eat it, but I have to check the box each time, to see if it says made in a facility that produces wheat. So be careful what the box says. Post cereals (owned by Kraft) will indicate on the box if the cereal is made in a facility that produces wheat. So if it does not say that, then you may very well be able to eat it. Which was good news for me since I liked this cereal very much. :-)

Overall I think Celiac helped me in three ways. One it opened my eyes to trying new foods. Second, it made me realize that some of these foods were better than the gluten versions, such as the Glutino Crackers and the Andean Dream Quinoa Cookies I've come to eat so much of. And third and most important, going gluten free has stopped the pains I felt throughout my body!

Don't let Celiac stop you from eating good foods, it may be hard but it is not impossible, try some of these foods:

Glutino Crackers
Andean Dream Quinoa Cookies
WOW Chocolate Chip Cookies
Amy's Kids Meal (only Baked Ziti)
Pamela's Pancake Mix
EnviroKids Organic (not all check the website)
Erewhon Cereals
MI-DEL Arrowroot Cookies

For me, eating breakfast and dinner turned out to be not so tough, but lunch is another matter. I can't just go to McDonalds and eat a hamburger, or get a slice of pizza. I recommend just eating home or packing a lunch but if this is not possible, then try some Asian food such as Thai or Vietnamese food (but you have to ask the person to make sure!). If Asian is not your thing then try Romio's Pizza (West Coast) or Pizza Fusion (if one is in your area), you still should check with the person taking your order.

Be careful about places that say they are gluten free. I went to a Red Robin Restaurant which had a gluten free menu, however this menu indicated that the ingredients could be cross contaminated with gluten containing ingredients. This meant I could not eat anything on this menu! :-( That day my dad bought me ice-cream for lunch from Baskin Robbins. :-)

The following is a list of foods I ate before I was diagnosed with Celiac which I still can eat:

Fruity Pebbles Cereal (check the box if it says "made in a facility that produces wheat" then you can't eat it.)
Frito's Corn Chips
Dorito's Chips (blue bags only)
Trix Cereal
Breyer's Natural Vanilla Ice Cream
Marshmallows
Wonka Candy
Starburst
Skittles
Tootsie Products
Hershey's Chocolate Bar

But remember to always double check before you eat any of these foods!

bye.