What gluten free information do we need? There are more than six million references to the term “gluten free” on the internet. But what information is really needed? I’ve contracted with a nationally known survey firm to find the answer to that question. There will be several short surveys. I will publish the results without revealing any personal information. Click here if you wish to participate.

“Tags” assist you in finding articles similar to one that you have just read. The “tag cloud” in the sidebar tells you all the tags that I have assigned. The more frequently used tabs are in larger type. Use the cloud to find articles about subjects that intrigue you. If you are currently reading one of my articles, scroll to the bottom and find the tags (in red) that I have used to identify the article. Click on those tags to find similar articles.

This is my third, and at least for now, my final article on searching. I hope that you have already ready my articles on “searching using categories” and “using key words“. I recommend that you experiment with each techniques. Proficiency on the internet and mastery of gluten living are not easy goals. Hopefully, I can help you reach both of those goals this year.

I recently wrote about a bakery in Cranston. Rhode Island, that offers a complete kit for making a gluten free gingerbread house. Obviously, the gingerbread slabs are impossible to ship and as far as I know this bakery is the only place in the country where a ready-made gluten free gingerbread house is available.

What about the rest of us? I did some research and found an excellent article at ehow.com that gives detailed but simple instructions for building a gingerbread house. There is no recipe included with the article.

Click here for a gluten free gingerbread recipe. The article includes instructions for making a gingerbread house so I assume that the gingerbread has the right consistency for the job.

Last week I reported on the newly-released third edition of The Essential Gluten Free Grocery Guide. I just got some new information to pass on to you. I liked the book last week and now I consider it an essential tool for living gluten free. The book lists 30,000 products produced under 1100 brand names (that’s 100 more brands than were listed in the second edition). They have added 500 private label items from WalMart.

This book is no panacea, of course. We still have to read every label every time. Things change overnight and companies are not required and are seldom motivated to notify us of those changes. However, products that were gluten free on the day this book was published are probably still safe. There is now much less need to look at every item on the shelf.

Click on the graphic to learn more about this directly from the publisher.

“How many celiacs does it take to change a light bulb?” I’ll bet that someone reading this article knows the answer to question and I hope that you will share the answer with us. Our sense of humor is necessary if we are to survive living the gluten free life style.

I suggest you browse the website of the Cafe Press, which sells everything from kitchen magnets to Christmas ornaments, coffee mugs, camcorders, and maternity blouses inscribed with slogans ranging from “no pain, no gain” to “let them eat gluten free cake”. This site is fun to read even if you don’t buy anything.

Read this article by celiac who is able at laugh at herself and her condition. She understands our situation well enough to see the humor in it. The article is called “The Successful Celiac Checklist“.

Sometimes a sense of humor is the only way to handle an awkward situation. Read this article written by a teenager trying to advise an eighth grader about how to live gluten free while on a week-long trip with her classmates.

As the season approaches, you will be happy to know that we celiacs even have our own Christmas Carol. Click on the graphic below to enjoy it.

Imagine having a library of gluten free books at your fingertips when you shop gluten free or seek a “safe” restaurant meal. It’s possible, thanks to Amazon.com. This marvelous new system includes 63 books that can be downloaded electronically and read using the Kindle reader. Click here to browse the list of gluten free Kindle books. They cost about half as much as their traditional counterparts.

The Kindle Reader is a significant investment, of course. But, since 1830 books are currently available. you will use the reader a vast number of times. Click on the graphic below if you would consider making this investment.

Newsletters are a great way to keep in touch with the gluten free community. Many sites (including this one) publish these letters and deliver information directly to your computer weekly or monthly. Obviously, this can both a blessing and a curse. Information overload is always a problem. Fortunately, you are free to discontinue your subscription at any time. There is an “unsubscribe” button somewhere in each newsletter. Let me know if you find any exceptions to this and I will try to follow up. My e-mail address is gfceliac@gmail.com or you can leave a comment at the end of this or any other article.

Here are some suggestions for starting your collection of gluten free newsletters:

Let me know if you know of other newsletters that should be added to this list.

How do we cope with the current situation? What can we say to a person who has just been told that their family must go gluten free? A  challenging question to say the least.

The articles that I would like to share seem to have two themes: we must rely more on fruits, vegetables and other naturally gluten free foods, AND we must do more home cooking. These posts give specific suggestions:

• Gluten Free on a Shoestring.com. Yes, there is actually a recipe blog devoted to “home cookin’ in the new economy”

• “Five Tips to Optimize the Financial Sustainability of the Gluten Free Diet”. This title sounds rather pompous to me, but the tips themselves are very practical.

• “Eating Gluten Free Doesn’t Have to Cost More“. I think the title is a bit of an exaggeration so I inserted the words “have to” to make it more realistic. His ideas are excellent and thought provoking.

• “How to Eat Gluten Free on a Budget” . “Celiac disease or gluten intolerance might be the best thing to happen to you because its going to force you to learn to cook. Don’t be afraid. you can do it. You’d be surprised at how much better home cooked food tastes.”

• “25 Naturally Gluten Free Snacks“. My last suggestion is a practical application of the ideas mentioned above. The target of the article seems to be children and their lunch boxes but the basic ideas apply to all of us. (For example, I work part time on-call and often have to prepare a gluten free lunch with about ten minutes notice. I’m printing out this article for my own reference.)

We are all facing the challenge of living gluten free on a budget and I have written several articles on this subject. Much of what I have learned is summarized on my “power page” called (appropriately enough) “Gluten Free on a Budget”. Click here or use the tab at the top of this page to reach that power page. Another way to find this information is to scroll down to the the bottom of this page to find the tag “gluten free on a budget”. It will appear in red. Click on the tag to link with other posts on this important subject.

A member of America’s gluten free community shares this story: “I was diagnosed this past November so it’s not quite a year for me.   It took a long time for me to find out what was wrong.  I have always had “belly” issues.   I have been lactose intolerant for as long as I can remember and growing up I had what the doctor’s called a nervous stomach.   over the past couple of years, I began having intestinal problems. I  The doctors said try this, try that, nothing worked, in fact I kept getting worse.  Then i began losing weight.   Nothing noticible at first, but suddenly went from 110 lbs to below 90!   Finally my primary care sent me to a gastro doctor and I was diagnosed.  (it was Thanksgiving)  I was quite thin and vitamin deficient.  I was so elated to know what was wrong that I didnt even care about not eating bread or cookies or anything!   I came home, went online and spent the whole thanksgiving weekend doing research.  I was surprised to learn that I had 99.9% of Celiac sypmtoms.

“I got very discouraged when I went on my first food shopping trip.  I bought a couple different breads and chucked them in the trash.   They were gross.   The GF foods I found were so expensive, I was sure the manufacturers were taking advantage of people.   I went to the local grocery store and did find some things that were both reasonable and tolerable. I also found Gillians foods, who makes the best tasting breads I have ever had-including the non GF ones!   Mainly, I stick with fruit, salad and anything fresh.  I am eating healthier and growing stronger every day.   I do miss my snacks, but I have found some that are quite enjoyable.   I love the Trader Joes, pancake and brownie mixes. I have emailed several manufactures and was thrilled when General Mills, took my suggestion to make GF cereal. I am sure it was allready in the works and just a coincidence that the cereals came out shotly after I wrote them.  I also emailed Girl Scouts and suggested they make a GF cookie, but they are not interested.  Oh well, it’s their loss.   Eating out has been a challenge.  I stick with my local Outback, they really know what they are doing.  My local Bugaboo and 99 sadly do not have a clue.   i recently went to Arizona and found a great Pizza place called Piccazzos.   They also have a frozen yogurt place called yogurtology.  i would love to open a franchise here.

“Another big issue for me is getting people to understand about cross contamination.  I can save that story for another day.   Another suggestion for a newsletter might be peoples’ favorite books.  The Gluten Free Bible really helped me get on the right path.   I also have Elizabeth Hasselbach’s book.  I am not a fan of hers, but her book is pretty good.

One thing I don’t do is cheat.  The idea of going through all that pain and agony again just isnt worth it.   I have been on a few sights, such as celiac.org, where people talk about cheating and not following the GF diet.   I answered a few in the hopes that I can help them get on the right path.

“Thanks for your support and I look forward to future emails.”

Everyone who reads this blog has (or know someone who has) an interesting, exciting, and useful story of their experiences with living the gluten free lifestyle. I hope that more and more people will share their story with us. My e-mail address is gfceliac@gmail.com.

Published 08/28/09

This video report describes one family’s struggle with celiac disease. It’s especially helpful because it — as is so often the case — there would have been no diagnosis if the family had  not been  persistent and assertive. This report was broadcast on the CBS Evening and features Katie Kouric and Dr. Jon LaPook.

Since there may be no convenient way to return to this page after you have left it, I’ll mention that this might be a great opportunity to join our campaign to thank celiac-friendly firms for providing the products and information we need. Log on to www.cbsnews.com and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Find and click on the USER FEEDBACK button.

This link will take you to a page that includes the video, a complete transcript of the video, and instructions about how to share everything with a friend. (The SHARING button is under the video picture.) Click here to view the video.

Published 05/22/09

Halloween can be a really scary time for celiac children and their parents. Few items in their children’s goodie bag will have ingredients lists. There is no reason to assume that the smaller candy bars that are the bulk of most children’s trick-or-treat experience are made in the same way as their full sized counterparts. Parents can only guess what cross contamination has occurred. The three ways to fight this situation are:

• reinvent the trick-or-treat game and/or
• throw a party that is so great that kids will forgo trick-or-treating to attend and/or
• do both! (This is certainly the most effective option)

RE-INVENT TRICK-OR-TREATING

• One family created a family tradition that involved the Great Pumpkin arriving very late on Halloween night, taking the treat bags collected by all good celiac children, and leaving a very special gift pre-selected by the children. I think this would be a great approach for celiac children who are looking for a face-saving reason for avoiding both a sugar high and a gluten reaction.

• Another family turned trick-or-treating into a game in which various types of candy were assigned a different number of ponts. The winner received the grand prize. I like this approach, particularly since the kids lose points if they dip into their trick-or-treat bag ahead of time. This article was written by a family with diabetic children but the idea could certainly be adapted.

• This parent restricted trick-or-treating to their block and went out a few days before Halloween and gave each neighbor a small bag of safe treats and a picture of their child in costume (to avoid confusion).

PLEASE NOTE: The information in this post may be out-of-date or incomplete since it is about three years old. I have summarized all the information that I have on my Power Page “Gluten Free Halloween“.

These approaches have one common problem: what do we do with all the candy that is collected? These articles have a few (but only a few) suggestions.

HAVE A GREAT PARTY

First of all, be aware that my party suggestions are not all (or even primarily) gluten free. Most of them can be adapted easily and — let’s face it — appearance is more important than taste when you are preparing these party items. So go for it!

These links will lead you to hundreds of great ideas for Halloween. I did not list them in any special order. Enjoy!

• www.britta.com — lots of Halloween concoctions all brilliantly photographed / start here and see where the holiday spirits lead you
• “Calling all Gouls and Ghosts” — a complete party plan
• “EEK — It’s a Haunted House” — another complete party plan
• Amazing Moms.com — lots of great ideas
• 101 Halloween Ideas — more great ideas

OTHER HALLOWEEN IDEAS. In researching this article, I found some other ideas worth sharing:

• Recipezaar.com features 23 gluten free Halloween recipes.
• The manufacturer of Jelly Belly products specifies that all products are gluten free.
• The Tootsie Company states in the Frequently Asked Questions section of its website that “At this time, all of our confections are gluten free. We do not use wheat, barley, rye, oats, triticale, spelt or any of their components and that includes our dusting on our conveyor belts. We do use corn and soy products in the manufacturing of our products.” I quote this in full because I found so many references to the contrary. The sentence I just quoted was written in 2006.

I have written many articles about Halloween. Click here for my Power Page “ “Gluten Free Halloween” summarizing everything I know about this holiday and its special significance for those who live gluten free.

Halloween is a spooky experience for gluten free trick-or-treaters and their families. It’s ridiculous to imagine that every item in a trick-or-treat bag will have an ingredients lists or even to assume that miniature candy bars are formulated like their grown-up cousins. That’s the word from the Allergy Food and Anaphylaxis Network. (Click on the title for a list of their on-line publications.) The best strategy is to create a distraction and here are a few suggestions for doing so: I normally do not suggest recipe sites that are not totally gluten free, but perhaps you can convince your child to forgo trick-or-treating in favor of homemade snacks such as Decayed Corpse Chips with Entrail Sauce, Creepy Crispy Crunchies, Brittle Merangue Bones, or even Eerie Eyeballs. These treats are all gluten free as described on the site, and most of the others can be modified easily. I’ve got a hunch that most youngsters would love to explore this site and create their own gluten free Halloween party. Click here to begin the adventure. If you prefer more conventional party fare, click on the titles for recipes for pumpkin cookies, flourless peanut butter cookies, or flourless chocolate cake. I have more idea on this subject. You may wish to click ahead to my post dated September 9. In either case, Happy Halloween and don’t let the hassles of living gluten free spook you too badly.

This is the first of many articles on the subject of gluten free Halloween. Since the material is about four years old, it may contain errors or omissions. Click here for an update including all the information I have on “Gluten Free Halloween“.