Please join me in supporting local Gluten Free Families and our local food banks in Washington.

Celiac Disease Foundation is assisting the FDA in seeking Participants for a Research Study on Gluten-Free Claims on Food Labels and is requesting your assistance.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking adults diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten-intolerance or caregivers to such individuals to participate in a research study on their grocery shopping habits. Participants will be asked to take an Internet survey, which will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

The survey is available at www.synovate.net/forgluten

Please contact Katherine Kosa at kkosa@rti.org or 1-800-334-8571, extension 23901, if you have any questions about the study. To request a paper copy of the survey,
please call 1-877-4GLUTN1.

So I have been reading, chatting, cooking, baking and yes ... eating, as any Gluten Free Foodie would do, throughout any given day. But, lately it seems as though I am even more in tune with my body and the whole process of needing to know where my food is coming from. I think it started over 5 years ago, when I realized I had Celiac Disease, and then I think it hit me again last summer when I discovered I had additional food allergies. In my recent post "Gluten Free Food for Thought" - I talked about an article by Dr. Mark Hyman, and how he showed us that intolerance to Gluten of any level just might be the root of most diseases.

Are you feeling a little left out these days because you just want a crunchy and healthy treat on the go? Well, I think I found it!

Gluten Free Granola by Mirracole Morsels made in Washington.

The other day I happened to go by one of my favorite coffee drive-thru cafes – The Cup & Muffin in Kingston about 1/2 mile west of the ferry. I had a quick chat with Amy the owner about Gluten Free treats and she told me about Nicole Matheson, the owner of Mirracole Morsels, who is now making Gluten Free Granola. Nicole also just recently opened a location in Kingston across from the ferry. So I quickly ran up the street to investigate!

When I walked into to the lovely store located at the Old Kingston Hotel – 25931 Washington Blvd., the aroma of freshly baked granola and cookies greeted me.  I met with Nicole and chatted with her about her business. She explained to me that she started the company in 2002 because she was a single parent and wanted to stay at home with her 2 children – Mirra Cole (now 16 yrs.) and Eddy (now 15 yrs.). So the obvious answer to the name of the company comes from her daughter’s name – Mirracole. The idea started out on somewhat of a whim, she said, around that time when she would make the granola as gifts. A friend suggested that Nicole should make it, market it and sell it! So with a little hope and lots of prayers she started out at the local Kingston Farmers markets, and the local grocery store and it took off! Now with eight years and several grocery stores selling her products from Bainbridge Island to Bellingham as she is expanding her products into cookies and the Gluten Free products market.

So I asked her more about the Gluten Free Granola and if she had Celiac Disease or if she was Gluten Intolerant. She said no, neither.  To my surprise, I asked her why she decided to offer Gluten Free Granola?

Her answer just delighted me because she realized that after talking to people at the Farmer’s Markets and in the grocery stores, a significant number of people would say, “I wish I could eat the granola but I can’t have … wheat …. or gluten … ”

This really puzzled her so she looked into creating recipes without wheat. Additionally as she learn a bit more about Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance she created Gluten Free Granola with Certified Gluten Free Oats. Nicole wanted to keep to her original vision for her products by creating and offering a good wholesome and tasty product that is preservative free, chemical free and no GMO oils. She originally wanted her children to be able to read the list of ingredients and hasn’t strayed since. So a few months ago she decided to have a dedicated Gluten Free commercial kitchen in Suquamish, the original kitchen and now bakes the regular products out of the Kingston location, where she also sells all of her products.

Mirracole Morsels now offers 2 varieties of Gluten Free Granola in 2 oz. and 12 oz. bags – Cranberry Pecan and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk. You can purchase them at the location in Kingston or on her website at http://www.MirracoleMorsels.com and soon to be at several local grocery stores and cafes. For more info you can email – customerservice@mirracolemorsels.com

Nicole also told me that she hopes to offer additional Gluten Free products in the near future! So I will stay in touch with her and let you know more as soon as I do. In the meantime, try Mirracole Morsels Gluten Free Granola and support a local company!

Enjoy!

Lisa

For more info about the GLUTEN FREE FOODIES events or to chat with me via email glutenfreefoodie@gmail.com  I look forward to hearing from you!

There seems to be a common theme building in my mind these days. What exactly am I eating and where did it actually come from? I spend so much time looking at food and questioning it on a daily basis while reading labels, but for some reason I am not satisfied by the easy answer. I feel as though I need more information. I want details like location of the ingredients somewhat similar to a bottle of wine and knowing it’s vintage. I want to know if I eat a piece of fruit that it has good energy from growing on a sunny tree. I want to know that it passed through only a few gentle hands, gracefully, preferably locally and above all organically. I need to know this information so that I can become more personally connected to my wellness via my food.

Maybe it is the new year and talk of resolutions that is feeding my appetite for this additional food knowledge. The one thing that I do know about myself is that I get somewhat impatient this time of year if I don’t have a plan as to my hopes and wishes for the coming year. I also get frustrated as to the cold hard and painful fact that I still don’t feel well. So it makes me want to go back to the source. What am I putting into my body? What is the response of the food that is going into me?
So I am digging deeper and into “My R&R Mode” – reading and research mode. I have been reading some very interesting articles and books about the food we eat. One article in particular is embedded in my mind that was posted recently -

Dr. Mark Hyman’s article – “Gluten: What You Don’t Know Might Kill You” posted on the Huffington Post on January 2, 2010

I have seen it posted at least a dozen times on Facebook and yet it doesn’t seem to have caught other people’s attention like it did mine. I think it might have to do with timing but whatever was in the news that day or a few days to follow may have allowed it to just not make the top of the list. Well, it has been on the top of my list of discussions with everyone that I talk to these days.
Dr. Hyman shares some very important information about a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association from 1969-2008. The study proves that Celiacs are not the only ones that have to been cautioned about consuming Gluten. It states that all forms of Gluten Sensitivity and Intolerance are affected but in disguise as other chronic illnesses i.e., IBS, autoimmune diseases, cancer, heart disease just to name a few. Dr. Hyman also questions the cause – Gluten – Why are we so sensitive to this “staff of life” the staple of our diet?

I actually think there is more to it. I think there are more foods that we should question because the more people that I talk to that know they are Celiac or Gluten Intolerant, the more I am finding that they too have multiple food allergies. The FDA’s list of the top 8 Food Allergies – Wheat, Dairy, Soy, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Eggs, Fish and Shellfish. I find it frustrating that Gluten is not on this list. Don’t you? (I think the list should be updated to add – Gluten; which includes wheat barley, rye, spelt, kamut, malt, and oats. Corn, Rice and Yeast because they are also high on the food allergy list as well.) I really want consistency of information.

My hope this year is to create a deeper dialogue between the Gluten Free Foodies so that our voices are heard and we can give support to each other. I want to create more awareness about the risks of undiagnosed Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance. I want us to be able to find healthy Gluten Free Food anywhere we go. My wish is for all of us to be well and eat good, healthy food so that we can do the things we love and live a balanced life.

What are your thoughts? I want to hear from you. I want to know what foods are on your list of additional food allergies. Please email me at glutenfreefoodie@gmail.com and share your thoughts with me.

I look forward to chatting with you!

Lisa

For more information about the GLUTEN FREE FOODIES  events or to chat with me via email glutenfreefoodie@gmail.com .  I look forward to hearing from you!

I had an interesting thing happen at 4 AM this morning. I woke up in pain, not unusual for me. I have chronic pain in addition to Celiac Disease, so my sleep is not so great at times. The thing about the pain that is unusual for me is that this was a very distinct spot at the bottom of my left foot! The very specific spot is just where the flat part of my left foot starts to arch, towards the upper area. I decided to rub it to try to work it out. While I was doing this, I remembered that I didn’t feel this pain in my foot before I went to bed. I know this because, I sort of have a ritual to help set the relaxation mood before I go to sleep. I know sounds goofy, but I need all the help I can get, to really get good sleep. I put organic lotion on my feet every night while I massage my feet. I use aromatherapy oils to scent the lotion as well. I also do this because it helps to release any tensions or pain in my body. I actually pay close attention to this because I feel pain from head to toe all day and night. Just as I began to rub this area I realized that something was different. There was a knot in that very specific area and … ouch! It hurts to rub it! The more I massaged it gently, it also alleviated it. I began to think what this very specific spot was telling me. I thought about looking up a reflexology chart to see what it was referring to for more insight. My curiosity was getting to me or maybe just holiday guilt of over indulgence. Regardless, this was a mystery that I wanted to figure out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Celebrate Celiac Awareness Month

with the

GLUTEN FREE FOODIES

October 24, 2009 1:30 – 3:30 at Element 7 Wellness

Learn about Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance and Food Allergies while you exchange ideas, experiences, information, meet new people and

 best of all … really great Gluten Free food! 

 We will be sampling Teas provided by Element 7 Wellness in the

new Tea Lounge.

Bring your favorite Gluten Free food to share with a recipe card of all the ingredients so that others with additional Food Allergies can decide if the food is good for them too!

Element 7 Wellness is located at

123 Bjune Drive, suite 111, just off Madison Road on Bainbridge Island.

For more info and to RSVP by October 23, 2009 – please email me at

glutenfreefoodie@gmail.com

I look forward to seeing you!

Lisa

GLUTEN FREE FOODIES  - Celebrate the foods that you can eat!

 

 

So what is one to do when you are gluten free and you want to eat out?
A) Abandon your social life!
B) Go out but just don’t eat!
C) Just eat the bad stuff or gluten food anyway, who’s going to know???
D) Make a menu of the foods that you can eat and work with the wait staff to create a meal that is healthy for you.

Hopefully, you still have a social life, go out and actually eat gluten free food at a nice restaurant while having a nice experience with the staff.
I know when I was newly diagnosed with Celiac Disease I didn’t want to eat out because I didn’t want to hassle with all of the “newly imposed rules” that I had to follow. I didn’t want to be one of those fussy high maintenance people like Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) in

“When Harry Met Sally” Restaurant Scene

Harry Burns (Billy Crystal):There are two kinds of women: high maintenance and low maintenance.
Sally Albright: Which one am I?
Harry Burns: You’re the worst kind; you’re high maintenance but you think you’re low maintenance.
Sally Albright: I don’t see that.
Harry Burns: You don’t see that? Waiter, I’ll begin with a house salad, but I don’t want the regular dressing. I’ll have the balsamic vinegar and oil, but on the side. And then the salmon with the mustard sauce, but I want the mustard sauce on the side.
“On the side” is a very big thing for you.
Sally Albright: Well, I just want it the way I want it.
Harry Burns: I know; high maintenance.

Maybe Sally was gluten free and she just didn’t want to talk about it in 1989. Maybe she didn’t know she was gluten intolerant but she knew enough that certain foods were not … “pleasant for her” or like her back so much. What do you think?
Every time I go out to eat, I laugh and think about this scene because it seems like this comical ordeal. I have learned over the years that if you don’t make a “big deal” out of it with the staff at the restaurant then they won’t make a big deal. I also think that it is a great idea to go into a new restaurant ahead of time, maybe not during peak hours and speak to the manager. Explain to them that you have specific dietary needs and that you have a special celebration coming up. Tell them that you would like to celebrate your special night at their restaurant. (I would hope that they would be honored that you want to celebrate with them and that you took the time to meet with them ahead of time.) One idea is to make up a card and leave it with the manager to attach to your reservation that gives the details as to the foods that you can not eat – wheat, barley, oats, malt, rye, soy sauce etc.Maybe you can also work with the chef ahead of time to prepare a pre-arranged gluten free meal. I would hope that they would rather that the details were planned ahead of time then during peak dining hours when all heck is breaking loose in the kitchen. You will probably be doing them a favor by informing them about gluten intolerance and by helping them create a meal that will probably be needed by other gluten intolerant people in the future.

If you haven’t looked at the website http://www.glutenfreerestaurants.org/created by the Gluten Intolerant Group, check it out. It may also help you if you are traveling and in a bind to find a restaurant. Most chefs that are trained today should be educated on the facts about gluten free meals. It is always wise to talk be kind to the staff and have a pre-made card with the details of your special dietary needs. I would also include emergency contact info, in the event that an emergency happens or a new sudden reaction happens to a food that you are not aware of at that time. The card is also helpful to avoid uncomfortable situations when the menu states “NO Substitutions”. The more that the media covers information about Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance the less “high maintenance” scenes we will all have to endure.

(Originally posted on Gluten Free Foodies blog June 22, 2009)

My thoughts are with New York, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania and the families and friends of those lost in the 9/11 attack.  Peace.