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.

I have to say that I continue to be inspired by so many people that are living a healthy Gluten Free lifestyle. There is one particular GFF friend - Eric Remza, a mountain guide for International Mountain Guides .

Eric is living his life to the fullest right now, with his team exploring all of our earth's beauty in the mountains bordered by Tibet and Nepal. As of today they are in Tingri and getting ready to climb Cho Oyu.

I wanted to share just a few things that I learned from the EverestNews.com web site.

Cho Oyu, 26,906 feet (8201 meters) - the 6th highest mountain in the world.
Also known as the "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan, it is located at the frontier of Tibet and Nepal. Cho Oyu is part of the Himalayan Range and is 30 km west of Everest. For more info go to MountainGuides.com or EverestNews.com web site.

In addition to all of the summits that Eric has conquered in his life he is living a Gluten Free lifestyle. I am amazed to think of all the details that go into planning such expeditions - it boggles my mind! Just before Eric left he reassured me that he had all of his "Gluten Free Goodies" with him and he was ready for his trip. If Eric can stick to a GF menu while climbing the world's highest mountains then so can you.
Follow Eric's blog while they climb and summit Cho Oyu.
(The photo was taken yesterday on a ridge 15,400 feet above Tingri, from Eric's blog.)

What a great way to celebrate Earth Day or month!

Namaste Eric!

Lisa

It has been such an interesting week. Peru has been on my mind for some reason, either in conversations or finding wonderful Gluten Free food. I find myself spending more time lately looking at food labels from around the world and am amazed to see my favorite image -

GLUTEN FREE.

Ironically I received this email from a follower today that lives in Peru. (The information below is a literal translation from Nino.)

Celiacs and friends of the celiac: The newspaper El Peruano reported a few days ago that the parliamentary group Fujimori has passed a bill that labels for products to have a sign indicating if they have gluten or not. A very good initiative for a healthy and unhealthy. Dread political grouping. I'll have them aware of the fate of the project. Celiac USA! Greetings, Nino

I wanted to share this with you because I think it gives us hope that we are becoming the majority and our voices are being heard for the need of better communication about our food! I really wish there was a global symbol for GLUTEN FREE FOODS.

Bravo! to Nino and his efforts to connect Celiacs around the globe!

Prayers for our friends in Chile ... as I am writing this, the news about the 8.8 earthquake in Chile was just announced. There are also Tsunami warnings for a large area from Chile to the Hawaiian Islands and advisories reaching all the way up to my area in Washington State. I am in awe of the ripple affect of Mother Nature!

Peace to all ...

Lisa

Yes, I just added Gluten Free Cajun Rice Cakes with Andouille Sausage - seasoned with garlic, red onion ... cayenne pepper and paprika - to the game plan!

Who Dat!

I made the rice cakes with short brown rice (because it is sticky), red onion, garlic, egg, potato starch, cayenne pepper, sea salt, black pepper and Gluten Free bread crumbs.

Yes, I must say that I just made and enjoyed the perfect piece of Gluten Free Toast!

It starts with a slice of bread from Whole Foods Market Gluten Free bakery -

A slice of Prairie Bread -

made with rice flour, millet, buckwheat, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, poppy seeds and a few other ingredients all make this a hearty, dense and crunchy piece of toast!

I topped it with my favorite Almond Butter – just ground almonds …

and the most decadent Vanilla Pear Butter by Oregon Growers & Shippers made from Hood River Bartlet Pears and 100% Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. They work with Pacific Northwest Growers – use quality local ingredients and offer farm-direct specialty foods. They make a variety of other delicious flavors of fruit butters, chutneys, jams and more including – Pumpkin Butter and Not Too Sweet Apple Butter. Oregon Growers & Shippers, also offers gift packages and the Summer Harvest Trio – Strawberry Pinot Noir, Cherry Zinfandel and Marionberry Jams are sure to be a hit!

If you don’t have a Whole Foods Market in your area you can order their products from their website at http://www.OregonGrowersandShippers.com

All of the packaging is absolutely beautiful painted artwork and reminds of the amazing views of the gorgeous Pacific Northwest! I treasure my new beautiful and decadent favorite treat!

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!

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.

I know sounds … delicious and oxymoronic …
Bacon Ranch Cheeseburger + Salad = Gluten Free???!!!
I have been having the worst craving for something that usually isn’t gluten free. I didn’t have to think too long and hard about it because I knew I really wanted the ultimate burger. So I put it down on paper as if I were creating a painting. Dark green Romaine lettuce leaves from my mother’s homegrown garden, rich red vine tomatoes, purple onions, big thick brown slices of Niman Ranch bacon and a big juicy burger stuffed with pepper jack cheese and topped with homemade ranch dressing (and not that package stuff!). Oh, it was divine! It was so beautiful, so tasty and satisfying. There was one problem. I can only tell you about it because … I forgot to take a picture of it before I dove into it and ate the whole thing! Once again, I will have to make a BIG note to self – Must take picture before eating!

Maybe I will have to just make it again soon just to take a picture of it and share it with you.
Oh, the sacrifices one makes for others. I can hear the Gluten Free Foodies laughing at me once again. What? no pictures?

Note to SELF – Insert Picture here, as soon as possible …  then eat!

(Originally posted on Gluten Free Foodies blog – June 30, 2009)