going gluten free

i have NO idea what i'm doing on this new journey i'm on!  other than NO BREAD, NO FLOUR TORTILLAS & NOTHING WITH FLOUR IN IT, i'm at a loss for what will taste yummy when trying to substitute my bread cravings.  i'm ok with it, i've come to terms with it, i get to have potatoes so it's all good.  :o)  my co-worker/friend asked me to lunch today & she wanted to go to chili's, i'm anxious!  what do i eat?  i can't have those yummy chicken crispers anymore so i search their menu & find they have potato skins.  potatoes, cheese & bacon...  i can have all of those things, so i'm happy to head to chili's with britt.  she knows EVERYONE there so we get a great booth & lots of attention on us, FABULOUS!  nothing better than getting the best service ever because the person you are with knows everyone.  :)  she mentions that i'm doing the gf diet & the server, oops forgot her name, asks if i want the gf menu.  awesome!  they have a menu!  i looked it over & the p skins were not on there but they are new so i figured they didn't get them on there in time.  the only thing i can imagine that would not be gf is the seasoning they put on the skins, which i had no idea was on them until i put them in my mouth.  it was a bit much in terms of them being a little salty but they were so good!!!!  and much to my surprise the delicious honey mustard is on the gf menu.  i so <3 their honey mustard!  so i dipped them in the honey mustard & i was in heaven.  :) 

chili's gf menu :o)

it's going to take a lot of adjusting but i know i will prevail.  q & hopp will pretty much eat what i put in front of them but getting jess on the program is going to be a little issue but she will adjust as well.  she is really upset she can't have the biscuit sausage at school anymore.  she has seen the list of candy/snacks that are gf so i think she is feeling better about it.  what we can't have in bread we can eat in sweets & drink sodas.  i know, i know they aren't that great for you either.  all things in moderation.  :o)

here is a delish recipe for pumpkin dessert bars with chocolate chunks.  can't wait to try them.  i will let you know how they taste.

here's the reason for the gf diet all the sudden, i have had stomach problems over half my life, if not all my life.  was deathly allergic to milk when i was a baby & child.  my mom's friend called me the exorcist baby because i would spew milk across the room in "reagan style" before my mom found out i was allergic to milk.  so that was probably the beginning.  then i pretty much grew out of it & when i had jess i started getting these nasty sulphur-ish burps along with horrible cramping, almost labor like in the intensity & coming & going like clockwork.  it was horrible!  they always thought it was my gallbladder & sono after sono on my abdomen, nothing... no gallbladder issues.  so frustrating.  finally my obgyn, after i had q, sent me to a gastro dr.  he gave me a colonoscopy & lots of blood work & i was diagnosed with crohn's disease.  this was the answer to all my problems but with crohn's there's not a lot of help in what you should eat & how to keep your body from having the laborish pains & the nasty burps.  when i went to go see the gastro dr at the end of march she (the PA) asked how everything had been going.  i told her about all my stomach problems & that q had the same thing as well.  she was puzzled, we have never had q tested for crohn's or anything else so she mentioned that she thought it might be celiac's disease.  so she sent me off to get a blood panel done, i had heard that the panel for celiac's is not really reliable so i didn't expect much from it but what do you know, my diagnosis was 'extremely high risk to develop' celiac's.  what exactly does that mean???  do i have it or not?  so, we are cutting out all wheat & gluten items.  i started on easter day & i tell you, i feel so much better!  i still have a couple of tummy issues here & there but nothing like how i have had the last 2 weeks!  i was in such pain & the gas was beyond terrible & uncontrollable.  before i could take an alka-seltzer & the burps would stop, an instant cure-all.  but the last 2 wks it was not helping one bit!  so if you have been having the same symptoms take a break from the breads & wheat items, you may feel a world of difference.