Stephanie Life of Determination

This recipe was from www.livingwithout.com Makes 24 2-Inch Cookies Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies 1¼ cups Gluten-Free Cookie Flour Blend ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder ½ teaspoon xanthan gum ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cream of tartar ¼ teaspoon salt ⅓ cup canola oil ⅓ cup plain-flavored rice milk 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract ⅔ cup sugar ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips* Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour mix, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Mix thoroughly, being sure to work out any lumps of cocoa powder. Using an electric mixer set on medium speed, thoroughly combine canola oil and rice milk. Add vanilla extract and sugar. Mix well. Add the dry ingredients to wet and mix on low speed, scraping sides of bowl. Scoop out dough by heaping teaspoonfuls and place on prepared cookie sheets, 12 per sheet. Wet hands with a little water and roll dough into balls. Bake in preheated oven on center

Chex has been a great company for changing their cereals to gluten free. The Chocolate Chex, Honey Nut Chex,Cinniamon Chex, Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Strawberry Chex are gluten free.It is so exciting that food companies are starting to think about people who can't have wheat/gluten. You can go to chex.com for cool snack recipes. When you get a chance email Chex to thank them for gluten free.

STUFFING Stuffing has been a tradition in many families. My family always have stuffing. Here is the easiest gluten-free stuffing: 1. Take your favorite gluten free bread and chop it into cubes. 2. Put in other ingrediants such as: rasins, cranberrys,celery is what I usually put in it. But experiment and put other GF foods such as figs, corn, etc. 3. pour chicken broth (Swanson). pour just enough to help keep it moist. 3. put it in the oven at 350 degrees or until it is golden brown PUMPKIN PIE A quick and easy pumpkin pie: 1. Find GF cookies that you didn't really like or GF cookies you love and crumble them. 2. pour a little bit of melted butter to help spread the GF cookie crumbs 3. Open a can of pumpkin filling. Most pumpkin filling is GF, but make sure to read labels and/or call the company. Put the filling in a bowl and pour a small amount of milk until it is easy to spread out on the GF Cookies. You may not even need to use the milk. 4. Put in the oven at 350 degrees unti

It is time for Thanksgiving and time to pick the turkey. 1. Butterball turkeys are always on the top of the Gluten Free list.Pretty much all Butterball turkeys are Gluten Free unless they have seasoning on it. They will tell you if it contains wheat. You can call 1-800-butterball for information. 2. Don't use the seasoning package that it may come with. And avoid turkeys with seasoning already on it. 3. Most local stores have gluten free turkeys. Spartan Brand turkeys (Family Fare, D&w) should say if it contains wheat, but again it may say wheat on it, but it could be from the seasoning package so read labels slowly. 4. Costco and Sams Club turkeys should be ok, but again please read the labels slowly and ask the meat department if you are questioning it. Most meat department people don't know what is gluten free so ask for a number to call. 5. Also some turkeys come with a gravy package. The gravy Package is NOT gluten free!! The turkey should be ok, unless the gravy is on

Their gluten-free pizza crust arrives at the restaurant in sealed aluminum pans. Separate utensils are used in the preparation, knives, cutting boards, etc. Also separate food products are also used – so there is no “double dipping” of sauces, etc., from gluten free pizzas and gluten pizzas. The pizzas are 10” size, about 8 slices. You can go to their parent website, www.frenchmeadow.com, you can print a coupon for $1.00 off, which is good on any of their gluten-free pizzas. If you enjoyed their pizza, and if you stop in to their restaurant, be sure to mention how much you appreciate having gluten-free pizza available! They are also considering adding more gluten-free menu items in the future. Boston’s is located at 2024 Celebration Avenue, Grand Rapids. Actually, it is located just off the East Beltline in the Celebration Cinema plaza. Their phone number is 616-363-4948 and website www.bostons.com.

The Grand Rapids restaurant is now serving gluten free pizza and other menu items. Go to there website and click locations. Pick Grand Rapids. http://www.bostonsgourmet.com Come join us at Boston’s for the best food specials in Grand Rapids! In addition to our signature gourmet pizza and pasta, try our outstanding wings, ribs, salads, sandwiches, lunch specials and the best kids menu around. Want to catch the game? Check out our sports bar featuring great daily drink specials, flat screen TV’s and local team memorabilia. Like dining outside? Enjoy our large wrap-around patio that can accommodate groups of any size. Or if you want to enjoy Boston’s in the comfort of your home, check out our Good To Go! Take Out Menu. Just call ahead, drive up, and we’ll meet you at the curb! 2024 Celebration Avenue NE Grand Rapids, MI 49525 PHONE: (616) 363-4948 FAX: (616) 363-4815

My life has been crazy with a diagnoses of Reflex Sympathetic Dystropy which is a neurological condition that causes severe disabilitating pain in my legs and can even be in my whole entire body. The pain of this disease is said to be worse then cancer pain. I can believe it. I have had ten major painful surgery, but they were nothing compare to RSD pain. I could spend my day screaming in pain. The pain can last 24 hours seven days a week. Strong pain meds don't even touch it. Diludid shots don't even touch it. The pain is a shrap shooting pain with burning that feels like I am on fire. I have been getting nerve blocks every week for six or more weeks. Thoses injections have been a blessing. Everyone with this disease has different things that work for them. Some people take neurotin and that helps them. Broken legs, surgeries, car crashes, and many other issues can cause RSD. My was caused by a hospital error. This is what I have been dealing with all fall.

The Expense of Eating With Celiac Disease from New York Times By LESLEY ALDERMAN Published: August 14, 2009 YOU would think that after Kelly Oram broke more than 10 bones and experienced chronic stomach problems for most of his life, someone (a nurse? a doctor?) might have wondered if something fundamental was wrong with his health. But it wasn’t until Mr. Oram was in his early 40s that a doctor who was treating him for a neck injury became suspicious and ordered tests, including a bone scan. It turned out that Mr. Oram, a music teacher who lives in White Plains, had celiac disease, an underdiagnosed immune disorder set off by eating foods containing gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. Celiac disease damages the lining of the small intestine, making it difficult for the body to absorb nutrients. Victims may suffer from mild to serious malnutrition and a host of health problems, including anemia, low bone density and infertility. Celiac affects one out of 100 people in th

It has been a year now since I started this blog. I wanted to thank you all for reading and emailing me with questions. It means a lot when I hear from you. It brightens my day when I recieve an email saying that they enjoy and learn a lot. Always feel free to email with any questions or worries. School time is here again. If you have a newbie or experienced celiac child and trying to figure out what to make for his or her lunches. Here are some ideas that will keep lunch making easy. Sandwiches: Corn tortillas, with lettuce, tomatoes,mayo or salad dressing and Oscar Meyer meat. Rice cakes makes a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Two plain rice cakes, put Jiffy peanut butter and Smuckers jelly in the middle. They maybe hard, but they taste great. You can even get apple Cinnamon rice cakes, which are good. Quacker ones are gluten free, but don't get the multi grain ones because they contain oats, which those oats are not gluten free. You can use the rice cakes to make meat sa

Two pizza places I heard are starting to do Gluten Free Pizzas: BRICK ROAD PIZZA CO. 1017 Wealthy Street Grand Rapids, Michigan (616) 719-2409 JT's Pizza Their Cascade location are doing Gluten Free on Trial basis. Cascade Ada Forest Hills 616-942-1552

The Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth Michigan is having a gluten-free wine dinner on Friday, October 9. Five courses and five wines prepared by an award winning chef. They will also be hosting other gluten-free events in the future. If you would like more information on this, their website is www.bavarianinn.com or e-mail them at diningsales@bavarianinn.com.

http://www.glutenfreefaces.com/ This site is amazing. It is the Gluten Free Facebook. This is a type of facebook where you don't feel alone. You meet people that have to deal with the same things that you have to deal with. Or if you are a parent, spouse or family member you can get meet and get advice too. Please try and sign up.

Just to keep everyone posted about dealing with a very bad wound on my right mid thigh that started mid-March and still dealing with it. (his picture is after the wound surgery to clean it up and put the VAC Machine.) How did I get this wound? Well, it is a long story so I will try to make it short. I went to the ER on Saturday morning because I got a pain shot in my back which triggered inflammation from my back surgery in December. The Doctor at the ER was not very nice to me. I went to the ER because I had a Theatre show to do. To make a long story short the nurse came in the room very arrogantly and jammed the shot in my leg and pushed the med very fast into my thigh. It hurt so much. The medication was Noraflex, a muscle relaxer. I had never had a shot hurt that much. The next day (Sunday) my leg looked like someone beaten me with a bat very badly. Then on Monday it got worse and a ER doc said it looks like an allergic reaction to that medication. But then a couple days later it g

Check out this site: https://myceliacid.com/default.aspx Are you or a family member at risk for celiac disease? Find out if you have the genes with MyCeliacID™ the first saliva based, do it yourself genetic test dedicated to celiac disease. Approximately 1 in 100 Americans have celiac disease. Some have common symptoms, such as bloating, diarrhea, and general gastrointestinal distress, while others have symptoms like anemia, infertility, weight loss, or osteoporosis. It is estimated that 60% of children and 41% of adults newly dianosed with celiac disease had no symptoms at all. Now, it’s easier than ever to find out if you have the genes associated with celiac disease. MyCeliacID is the first saliva based, do it yourself genetic test for celiac disease. By ordering this test, you will know within days whether you have the genes for celiac disease. If you don’t have the genes, you are highly unlikely to develop celiac disease in your lifetime. If you do have the genes, you may have cel

try Silver Beach Pizza in St. Joseph, or Willy O’s in South Haven. Here in Grand Rapids, Bostons restaurant on the East Beltline (in the Celebration Cinema plaza) makes gluten free pizza and other gluten free items.

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) is a non profit organization to help raise awareness of Celiac Disease. I have volunteered for over two years by handing out their brochures at doctors offices and natural health food stores. The organization has a monthly email newsletter. I use to have write articles for the newsletter. Their goal is to help reduce the time to diagnose and reduce te devastating impact of undiagnosed Celiac Disease, including the contraction of other diseases such as cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and 'autoimmune cascade.' I was diagnosed late and ended up with many more medical issues. The peditrician didn't know anything about Celiac. I was told that I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome, but It was acutally Celiac for seventeen years. Now I am twenty-three with already ten surgeries. The Foundation is always looking for volunteers. You can visit their website at: http://www.celiaccentral.org

Reading about the Meijers GF taste testing, I thought it would have lots of samples. Come to find out it wasn't much. I went to the Cascade Meijers and there was only one table with samples. It was Pamala's cookies, some type of pizza and the Glutino's pretzels. I went around 1:30pm and was surprise that they didn't have that much to sample. There was more regular samples then that. The best place to samples Gluten Free items is Forest Hills Food, when they have Gluten Free Day. Meijers has alot to catch up compared to Forest Hills Food. At least Meijers was thinking about us gluten free people. Thank You Meijers!!

The Gluten Free Fair was a blast, like always. I talk to some of you who went to the event. Most of you said that you liked Breadstone Stone Bakery the best. I have tried many different types of bread and I too agree with all of you at the Fair, that Breadstone Bakery is the best. There breads are so soft and tasty. Usually all the Gluten Free breads are dry and heavy, but their breads and cinnimon rolls are to dye for. Try their breads you wont regret it.Once you try it you won't want to buy any other breads. You can buy their breads at Forest Hills Foods Grand Rapids Michigan, Harvest Health on Cascade Grand Rapids Michigan,We will be delivering frozen products through Panecea in Rockford, as well. This year there was two room, which helped keep the flow of people smooth. People didn't have to wait forever to move table to table. There was many resturants that had their menus out labeling what is Gluten Free. There was tons of Gluten Free items and samples to try. Every th

Out all the Health Food stores around Grand Rapids area and even Lansing is Apple Valley Natural Foods. They have the best selection of Gluten Free items. Every week they get something new in. I feel that Apple Valley has a better selection then Whole Foods and even Trader Joe's. If you are in the area stop in and you will be happy about going. If you get a chance, drive to Apple Valley Natural Foods. The more you stop and buy the selection will keep getting bigger. Apple Valley Will have some samples, free products and a list of what the store carries at the Grand Rapids Gluten Free Food Fair at Kyuper College on the Beltline at 10:00- 3:00. Address: (The Kentwood Apple Valley, I know has a big section of GF, The other I am not sure, because they are owned by different people.) Apple Valley Natural Foods 6070 Kalamazoo Ave., SE Kentwood, MI 49508 616-554-3205 (phone) Website: http://www.avnf.com/locations.html Hours: Sunday: 11:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday - Thursday: 9:00 am - 8:00 p

The annual Gluten Free Fair is back for hopefully another successful year. On May 2nd at Kyuper College on the Beltline. Time is at 10:00-3:00 They will have free samples and information about different companies. There will also be door prizes every 30 minutes. Contact Information—616-363-9425 celiackidsofgr@yahoo.com Sponsored by: Anchor Baptist Church Business that will be there are: Tastefully Gluten Free Bread Stone Bakery Breads From Anna Celiac Specialties Full Flavor Foods Best Breads Enjoy Life Meijer, Inc. Food Tek Organic Bistro Coco Charlotte Midge’s Muffins Heartlands Finest Forest Hills Foods Pamela’s Products It’s A Piece of Cake Harvest Health Foods Gluten Free Sensations And More