How To Prevent Cross Contamination At Home

Aug
08
By Laura

Gluten Free Kitchen

Avoiding cross contamination is probably the most challenging part of being celiac. Gluten is hiding everywhere and as celiacs we need to be completely sure that the products we choose are 100% gluten free and safe for us. Buying safe gluten free food doesn’t put us in the safe zone yet, though. When preparing these foods we must ensure that our meal does not come into contact with any gluten. Breadcrumbs are a celiacs worse enemy!

Here are some of the things I do to avoid cross contamination. Please share your tips and ideas too. Since this topic is such a large and important one I decided to divide it into three sections. How to prevent cross contamination when cooking at home, eating out and travelling.

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Lifestyle 2 Comments

Simple Gluten Free Tomato Sauce

Aug
06
By Laura

Our first meal with home-made pasta sauce!

Ready to serve!

When you’re celiac shopping is tough. It really is. The simplest of things seems to contain gluten. Jars of tomato sauce for example, or sauce in general, can often be hiding gluten containing ingredients. Or if not the ingredients, many sauces are made on shared equipment with…bla bla bla. We’ve all heard it a hundred times and it drives us crazy. Even simple canned tomatoes or tomato paste can come with a little uncertainty too. What can we do about this? We can make our own! This is my new mantra. Want to stay safe? Make your own! I wanted a simple tomato sauce which was gluten free so I decided to make my own from fresh ingredients and luckily it turned out to be pretty tasty! This time we ate it with gluten free pasta, chicken and peppers. Delicious! It works really well as a pizza sauce for home-made gluten free pizza too!

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Cereal Which Should Be Gluten Free (But Isn’t)

Aug
01
By Laura

Not Grrrreat for celiacs!

Contains gluten 🙁



It’s three years since I was diagnosed with celiac disease, three years since I stopped eating gluten, three years since I’ve been able to eat some of my favourite cereals. So many of my old favourite cereals are not gluten free simply because of one ingredient. Most breakfast cereals contain barley malt extract, barley malt flavouring or malt flavor, depending on the company and where in the world you are. I don’t think I’ve been to a country where this isn’t the case. I often wonder if General Mills can take it out of Chex why can’t they and other cereal makers remove it from other cereals too and give gluten free cereal lovers a bigger selection to choose from?

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Gluten Free Cereal 9 Comments

Think You Could Be Celiac? Don’t Stop Eating Gluten Just Yet!

Jul
30
By Laura

High Gluten Flour

I decided to write this post after speaking with a number of people who would have loved to have an official diagnosis but don’t due to the fact that they stopped eating gluten before they were tested. Some people are able to stay strictly gluten free and live like a celiac whether they have an official diagnosis or not whereas others need to know for sure before they take the diet as seriously as you need to when celiac is the diagnosis. This post is for those of you in the latter category. Folks like myself who need to see it in black and white.

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Lifestyle 12 Comments

Celiac and Missed Periods

Jul
25
By Laura

Are some of these symptoms familiar?

One of my most worrying symptoms which eventually led to my celiac diagnosis was a lack of period. I suffered from a whole bunch of different horrible symptoms leading up to my final diagnosis but this was the thing which concerned me the most and prompted me to find out what was wrong as soon as possible. I didn’t have my period for a whole year and I was not pregnant. It was a scary time because I knew that something was very wrong! Clearly this isn’t normal for a 26 year old woman.

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Lifestyle 8 Comments

Gluten Free Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Jul
23
By Laura

The Williamsburg Bridge

I spent a week in a cute wee apartment in the lovely Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn thanks to Air B&B. This hipster town is full of life and not to be missed if you find yourself in New York. I am also happy to report that I found quite a few celiac friendly options on my wanderings around in the sunshine.

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More Gluten Free In New York

Jul
18
By Laura

New York City!

 

I’ve travelled to New York four times in my life so far, twice as a celiac. What an amazing place! During my last gluten free trip to New York I ate an amazing and filing gluten free breakfast at Bloom’s Cafe, wonderful gluten free dinner at the famous Risotteria and lots of delicious sushi!

On this trip I found even more super gluten free spots! I just returned from a gluten free week in New York where my lovely husband and I stayed in the fantastic Williamsburg, Brooklyn. My favourite way to spend my days when I’m travelling is to walk around a city, exploring and soaking it all in. New York is so easy to explore by foot, especially when you are used to all the crazy San Francisco hills! I walked and ran almost 100 miles during my week in NY and I found lots of amazing, celiac friendly places to eat too! Good times. I can safely say that New York is one of the most celiac friendly cities I’ve had the pleasure of visiting and any celiac or gluten intolerant traveller headed here won’t have any problems finding a whole bunch of wonderful gluten free food.

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East Coast Travel Adventures United States 5 Comments

Amazing Gluten Free Pizza

Jul
17
By Laura

 

Amazing gluten free pizza!

When I first went gluten free I missed pizza. I used to really enjoy pizza and wine night with friends. I also enjoyed the simplicity of grabbing a slice pretty much anywhere in the world if I was looking for a fast and simple meal. I’m sure many of you feel the same way.

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Simple Recipes 7 Comments

Gluten Free Lasagna

Jul
11
By Laura

Ready to cook!

Gluten Free Lasagna Ingredients

 

I don’t get to eat much lasagna these days. Lasagna is a dish I would quite often choose when eating out in pre-celiacs days but with the lack of Italian restaurants offering gluten free lasagna this is rarely an option anymore. I do find it in some restaurants which do gluten free options (and we found a gluten free caterer to make the most amazing lasagna I’ve ever had for our wedding!) but as it doesn’t come up too often a better option is to make my own!

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Gluten Free Phoenix, Arizona

Jul
09
By Laura

Turkey club with breakfast potatoes

Downtown Phoenix

Thank you to Ken Scheer of Rock A Healthy Lifestyle for writing this fantastic guest post on living gluten free in Phoenix. Whether you live in Phoenix or decide to travel there, it sounds like there are lots and lots of celiac friendly cafes and restaurants to keep you safe and satisfied! I know I’ll be checking out a bunch of these gluten free places when I find myself in that part of the country.

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South West Travel Adventures United States 2 Comments