Have you ever been on a hike or a run when you get on such a pace that you lose track of your surroundings, what you are passing and how far you have come? Eventually, you snap back to reality, maybe you stop to rest, and you look back at the road behind you. Looking back, you realize that you have traveled quite a long distance and maybe through some hurdles and you take in the accomplishment. That is where I am standing at this very moment.

In case you missed it on our Facebook page yesterday, there was some talk about preparing for Thanksgiving. I posed a question to our FB friends about how everyone will be celebrating…traveling, staying home, hosting, etc. In my house, Ethan absolutely loves to help me bake anything sweet and has become a real whiz at cracking eggs lately! In the thread, I was asked for my GFCF Cornbread Dressing recipe, so I wanted to share it here, too.
This recipe is from my maternal Grandmother (who was a tremendous cook and baker), it later became my mom’s (who is also amzaing in the kitchen and converted many of her mom’s recipes to be GF many years ago). When I started cutting casein from Ethan’s diet, Grammy’s recipe transformed once again! The result is below. If you give it a try, let me know what you think. (I apologize in advance for the lack of precise measurements – especially in the dressing recipe…I’m a “taste it as you go” kind of cook most of the time!)

This past week, I had the great privilege & honor of conversing with one of the most brilliant and passionate human beings I have ever met, Dr. Temple Grandin. Her work with Autism and with animals has an unparalleled and organic humanitarianism (or animalitarianism!) This is surely not a week I will forget soon, and the best part for me was getting to ask Dr. Temple Grandin what her thoughts were on Gluten-Free diets.

Being on a restricted diet, it isn’t often that my family and I have a great experience in a restaurant that meets all of our special dietary needs and has a staff that shows respect and dignity with my son, Ethan, who lives with Asperger’s Syndrome. But this past Friday – in honor of my husband’s 40th Birthday – we had a truly stellar restaurant experience at Zeppole (a beautiful Coastal Italian restaurant) located inside the Gaylord Texan Resort.
In the past – like most families raising a child with Autism – we’ve had our share of not-so-fantastic experiences in restaurants. On more than one occasion, we’ve left restaurants feeling less than satisfied, both with the service and with the food. In fact, you can read my previous post HERE about an experience this past summer with a judgmental and rude waitress. Many times we will simply avoid places we don’t get a good feel (or good food) from, but it is always nice to find a place to go for special occasions…that is what Zeppole has now become for us.

Many people have been told or have chosen to eliminate gluten from their diets and the diets of their families. For many they see a great response in how they feel and function whether they have confirmatory tests or not. However, many are confused about the differences between celiac, an allergy and non-celiac gluten intolerance. I want to explain this to you so you can understand the potential effects on your body. This can be very confusing but many treat them equally. It matters what you are dealing with for your long-term management and health.

Many parents come into my office and know that a gluten free diet can help their child but understanding how this affects the body is often unknown. An allergy and sensitivity are different, some people experience distress when eating gluten products and show improvements when these are taken out of the diet. There is a range of reactions one can have from behavior, sleep, appetite, weight loss/gain and bowel movements. The sensitivities get worse with time and are dependent on the sources many times. Not every gluten item will give the same symptom, some more than others.

Just a handful of days stand between the carefree days of summer vacation and the ringing sound of the rigorously scheduled school bells for many of us. As a mom who pays very close attention to every ingredient that our daughter gets exposed to, I am a bit anxious about the big change. When most of us think about preparing our teachers for our special dieters, we expect that we will be sending a list of our children’s food allergies and sensitivities, but what about the school environment beyond the food. Packing my child’s meals is a give-in for me.

Last August, I posted some suggestions for helping your kids get back to school with fewer toxins HERE. In that post I shared this information about packing a less-toxic lunch:
“…Since then, I have tried to minimize how much ‘plastic’ my son’s food actually touches. Instead of placing sandwiches, veggies and fruits in Ziploc® or plastic zipper baggies, (while they are super-convenient, cheap and easy), I try to wrap foods up – much like little presents – in wax paper. To make sure they stay closed, I seal them with fun labels printed with my son’s name and images of things in which he’s interested.”
Sometime after writing that post, I discovered a new (to me, at least) product – Natural Value Waxed Paper Bags. My husband and I have both found that using these “baggies” saves us time in the mornings when we’re scrambling to get Ethan’s lunch packed.

Many kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) function in their daily environments on a Gluten-Free Casein-Free (GFCF) diet…but they’re not the only ones. More and more adults and children without ASD are finding that they, too, feel better and function better with no gluten and no casein in their diets. As one of those adults, I am here to tell you that foods can greatly impact not only our stomachs, but so much more!
While I’ve been on a 100% GF diet for about 12 years, anytime I inadvertently get cross-contaminated foods (from restaurants or items sold at the store) I get Grumpy with a capital “G”! I notice that it really affects my state of mind; I am much less patient, feel significantly more negative about life in general and find that I’m more likely to lose my cool with both Ethan and my husband. I am opposed to yelling as a parent (or spouse), but sometimes when I’ve had gluten, I am so much easier to anger and yes...sometimes I yell. I literally feel less in-control of my actions – such a miserable feeling!

For some, the fourth of July means pool parties, yard volleyball, anticipating the booming display of fireworks, ice cold pitchers of that powdered lemonade stuff mixed with water, potato salad, macaroni salad, burgers and dogs ~(breath)~ strawberry-gelatin-whipped-cream-stuff salad, cheese puffies, chips & stuffies, cream-cheese dips and popsicle sticks. For some, that all sounds fantastic. For me and my food intolerant GFCF dieter, that sounds like a challenge! Good thing I like a challenge.