The Holiday season has always been the best and worst day for me. Let us start with the positive first. Ever since the age of two, I have had lots of health problems. When I was 9 years old I was in and out of my pediatrician office at least every other week with tummy troubles. He ended up diagnosing me with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and told me to eat everything with whole wheat, drink Metamucil at least 2xs day, lots of fruits and veggies. When I was 13 God was watching out for me. I had to see a different pediatrician because my normal pediatrician was on vacation. I got to see a woman. Sorry guys but I feel women make a better doctor especially for girls because they don't assume it is just depression and anxiety. She looked at my chart and noticed I haven't gained any weight instead I was losing weight. Another thing she noticed was my bones weren't growing correctly. She sent me in for a bunch of tests, as well as, sent me to a Ped Gastrologist. Three days before 2001 Thanksgiving around 8:00pm my Gastrologist calls. He told me he has never seen such a severe case celiac disease and he has been doing this for 30 years. He said my celiac level in blood work was sky high and my endoscopy showed no villi and lots of damage. He then tells me if I don't get on a gluten-free diet immediately and follow it to the tee, I probably will not be around in two years. I was shocked and terrified. I didn't even know where to begin especially with Thanksgiving three days away. We are also talking about 2001 when there was not much gluten-free food out there and it was so expensive if don't want to make it yourself. My first Thanksgiving on the diet sucked. All I ended up eating was a plain piece of chicken and a baked potato. My mom tried making an apple pie from scratch with a bunch of different gluten-free flours, but it didn't taste very good. We are also talking about a time when companies weren't required to put allergens on their labels. The internet didn't have much on being gluten-free either. We ended up buying a couple of gluten-free recipe books but their recipes required 8 different flours.
If you are just diagnosed relax and breathe because it is not as hard to go gluten-free anymore. I wish I was that 13-year-old kid today because my holidays when I was first diagnosed would have been no different than not being on a gluten-free diet. You can enjoy pretty much all that you enjoyed eating before going gluten-free. There is soo many gluten-free foods out there you don't even have to make anything from scratch if you don't want to.
Here are some of my favorite Holiday Gluten-Free foods:
 |
| Flour Mix |
 |
| Best Brownies!! at Aldis |
The Holiday season has always been the best and worst day for me. Let us start with the positive first. Ever since the age of two, I have had lots of health problems. When I was 9 years old I was in and out of my pediatrician office at least every other week with tummy troubles. He ended up diagnosing me with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and told me to eat everything with whole wheat, drink Metamucil at least 2xs day, lots of fruits and veggies. When I was 13 God was watching out for me. I had to see a different pediatrician because my normal pediatrician was on vacation. I got to see a woman. Sorry guys but I feel women make a better doctor especially for girls because they don't assume it is just depression and anxiety. She looked at my chart and noticed I haven't gained any weight instead I was losing weight. Another thing she noticed was my bones weren't growing correctly. She sent me in for a bunch of tests, as well as, sent me to a Ped Gastrologist. Three days before 2001 Thanksgiving around 8:00pm my Gastrologist calls. He told me he has never seen such a severe case celiac disease and he has been doing this for 30 years. He said my celiac level in blood work was sky high and my endoscopy showed no villi and lots of damage. He then tells me if I don't get on a gluten-free diet immediately and follow it to the tee, I probably will not be around in two years. I was shocked and terrified. I didn't even know where to begin especially with Thanksgiving three days away. We are also talking about 2001 when there was not much gluten-free food out there and it was so expensive if don't want to make it yourself. My first Thanksgiving on the diet sucked. All I ended up eating was a plain piece of chicken and a baked potato. My mom tried making an apple pie from scratch with a bunch of different gluten-free flours, but it didn't taste very good. We are also talking about a time when companies weren't required to put allergens on their labels. The internet didn't have much on being gluten-free either. We ended up buying a couple of gluten-free recipe books but their recipes required 8 different flours.
