Lethal chocolate cravings

One of the things I miss about not knowing I was a coeliac was eating anything, particularly lollies etc, without checking labels! I had the reaction, I won't even pretend to lie about that, but I became so used to how I felt, bad, almost had a constant puffer fish, exhausted, to the point of lying down at work, to rest, so I could drive home, my iron and iron storage levels were 4, they are meant to be in the low 100's! I even had iron injections! But as I've said in the past, I have a weakness for sweet food, lollies and chocolate (though that's more hormonally triggered)! Now my nutritionist told me that lollies that say glucose from wheat that's ok, it's when there is glucose from starch and other things, that it's a no go zone, full of gluten. Sometimes I treat myself to the occasional Frys turkish delight, which has some gluten, the occassional one is ok, even had the approval from the nutritionist! Sometimes I know, my sweet tooth lures me into a false sense of security regarding any amounts of gluten in various lollies. I recently purchased a packet of clinkers, from memory, I did quicky glance at the ingredients list, (more out of habit than anything else) A glance it must have been, I saw glucose from wheat, I knew that was OK, but obviously that was as far as my glance went!!! I've had clinkers before, but I msut have refrained only having a few each serve! This time there was no refraining, (I'll blame hormones!) All my female readers will understand the almost animalistic need for chocolate, just once a month, but it's very powerful !! This particular day, I honestly would have to say at lease half to 3/4 of the packet of clinkers were eaten in a relatively short period of time! The chocolate craving was satisfied, but only for a short period of time. Within an hour I soon realised that there must have been some gluten in the large portions of clinkers I had eaten !! For some reason when I eat too many lolly based chocolate (accidently) that contains gluten, the affect is not the puffer fish. Let's say, the affect has to do with the production of very powerful and potent methane gas ! I'm not over re-acting on this unfortunately, it's something that's so strong it makes the eys of even myself water and is almost guaranteed to evacuate a room virtually immediately !! You might ask why I share this, but this is part of being a coeliac, it's better to share these stories to know others out their aren't alone. My overall advice is no matter how bad the cravings for chocolate are, stick to the plain chocolate or something you are sure is 100% gf. Or if you want to annoy your partner, family etc. this will always work and you can blame coeliac disease !! he he. Let me know if this has happened to your or your friend or family member.

Missing out on cake, the not so fun part of coeliac disease!

There are so many things as a coeliac we can't eat, so many of our once favorite foods, we are now forever off our menu! On the weekend I was lucky enough to celebrate my husbands 30th birthday! I got up early to decorate the house with balloons and birthday banners! As we were going out for a small family dinner and I'm only a few days out of hospital, I had several rests throughout the day, listening to my body, so I could sit out at at a restaurant without having to leave early! During one of my rests, my lovely mum decided she would make a birthday chocolate cake for afternoon tea! Now as I was asleep, she didn't know my gf recipes, so she made the good old faithful gluten filled chocolate cake! When it cooled, it was generously smothered with chocolate icing and sprinkles (more for the benefit of my 13 month old nephew). My gorgeous husband and adorable nephew blew the candles out after we had warbles a rendition of happy birthday. Being such a young cutie,my nephew with his uncles help, got to stick his hand in the icing, yummy, yum,yum! The cake was cut and everyone but me got a piece! I did eat some icing from the bowl, but it's not the same without cake! My darling sister made an awesome caramel fudge, that was gf, for part of my husbands birthday present, so thankfully I got a small piece of fudge! While watching everyone eat mums signature chocolate cake! My disappoint and annoyance with bring a coeliac didn't stop there. ..... We went to the local favorite Thai, the best I've ver had! We ordered a banquet, and of course my husbands choice for seafood was crispy prawns, full of batter!! Prawns are my favorite!! The vegetables in the chilli jam sauce was delectable, I could only dream of how good it was with the prawns! Handy hint, if your a regular at your local thai, have a chat to them about making a gf dish! I explains my disease and after being a patron for 15+ years, we made an agreement, I would bring in rice flour on a quiet weekday night and I could have those delicious crispy prawns! I was thrilled and will definately be taking her up on the offer! My mouths watering just thinking about it! The cake fiasco continued with a caramel mudcake with candles to complement a delicious meal! In response to the second gluten filled cake of the day, I ordered a dessert, tasty but not as good as the cake looked! But I got to eat dessert! My 30th is soon and I'm ensuring there will be plenty of gf cake for me to eat! Have you missed out too many times on cake? Please share your story with us! P.s when ordering thai be aware that certain sauces my be filled with gluten, familiarize yourself with the menu and curries etc are generally ok, but it doesn't hurt to ask and you could be paying for the consequences for days after if you don't!

Yummy and healthy gf and dairy free treats and awesome Aussie lollies

I recently had a wonderful surprise package from the lovely people at Candy Brokers Australia, stockiest of Florida Natural Products! It was full of a variety of healthy and fun, lollies we all love to eat! It was like Christmas! She sent this to me out of the kindness of her heart! My favorite was the strawberry popping candy, it brought me back to my childhood!, there was cola popping candy, bubblegum clouds ( my husbands favourite), then the healthy snacks, strawberry and a variety pack of natural gluten and dairy free snacks, fruit juice nuggets and natural Mario brothers jellies. The best thing about the nuggets and jellies were they were in individual packets, perfect for lunch boxes, snacks and party treats (without sharing the germs). The fruit based nuggets are targeted for children, but definately something big kids like too. I shared both the strawberry and mixed treats with a few adults who were pleasantly surprisrd by the tasty flavour, made even better by it being almost fat free! Its something that I would recommend all coeliacs to buy a packet of these nuggets, it's something to have on your handbag or lunch box, just to snack on. For those times when your going out and aren't too sure on the availability of gf food, it's definately easy to pack and yummy to eat! I was caught out on the way to an appointment a few weeks ago, a great friend was taking me and we were turned round on freeway due to a fire! Consequently a 30min trip took 1.5hrs! Fortunately I had grabbed 2 packets of strawberry nuggets and stuffed them in my handbag, this was our snack and got us through, both myself and my friend loved them! I gave several of the packets of nuggets and jellies to my Aunty for her grandchildren and a friend with a young 3 year old to eat! The consenus from cousins children was that they liked the treats, they tasted good and the best thing was they had no idea how healthy these tasty new treats were. Unfortunately my friends 3rd old wasn't that fussed but he doesn't like sweet things, his mum and nan loved them though. My friend was happy to try then on her child as they were all natural, preservative, gluten and dairy free! This is so Thing that is important, particularly if your child reacts adversely to sugar filled treats and runs around all hyped up after eating sugar filled treats! You can find and follow the makers of these great products on Facebook under candy brokers Australia. They also have a great selection of lollies etc which we shouldn't eat daily but are a great treat! They also have a fantastic website candy brokers Australia, which lists all their products! The best is they have a gluten and sugar free section, makes selection for parties etc so much easier. There is also a locator to find the neariest stockiest to you or email them and they can arrange something for you! So next time your on Facebook or indeed online, check out their website and see if you can find what you like! A 5 star recommendation from me, a new staple in my cupboard!

My health and a challenge to how you think!

I haven't been well thus the lack of posts, I'm actually writing this one from my hospital bed in the Nuro ward of one of Sydney's biggest hospitals! Im in here due to changes, big changes in me related to the accident! So big apologies for people who are waiting on reviews from the gf expo, they are coming, I just need to get better. The hospital catering has been great! It's actually been amazing to have every meal gf, I always check, almost like an in built paranoia and everytime it's right! But not here! I have choices, there are options and I even had hot toast! A rare thing for a hospital! Being in such a place makes you think about your life, I'm scared shitless about what I can't do, but then I hear other stories and I spent last night thinking of the plight of others. The 21 year old women who is paralyzed from a virus. I was talking to one of the lovely nurses who told me her son, who should be 20 lost his battle with cancer at 8! She felt guilty for not being there for her younger daughter, I assured her she had no choice! And there's the 52 yr old man with autism and other disabilities, who can hardly communicate and is having spinal surgery as we speak. But I think and pray for him now, it's the story of his birth his brother shared that made me horrified, as he had many disabilities the mother was told by the nurse, we can take him away to a hone, you never see him and forget you had a child! She demanded they bring him to her and the family and now a group home and family look after him! A hard life yes, but one that deserved to be lived, a human being! As far as childhood cancer, it's horrible and we try and think it just affects adults! Its ourself protection mode, it's too horrible, so we try and ignore unless it happens to us or someone close. Yesterday I was meant to be having a high tea to raise money for girls night in (a part of the cancer council)it's post poned now, but I will talk about the ugly horrible cancer that robs great parents of their children and innocent children of the majority of their life! But the reason why I write this is to stop and think about someone whose situation is worse than yours. In this fast paced world we have become so self consumed and our small problems become massive to us! Remember just how precious the gift of health is, until that gift has been taken from you and you don't have your health, and not just a cold, poor health that changes your life you really are rich! So next time you stress about the material things, that can be fixed, think for just a moment about those who are sick, who've lost a young one too early, who can't have children and realise how greatful you are; to walk, to work to drive to function normally, all things so many people take for granted. Take the time to smell the roses, watch the sun rise, appreciate your family and friends, because thankfully we don't know what's around the corner and no one is immune from poor health and bad luck! Love like there's no tomorrow, surround yourself with positive people and make every moment count. Take the time to think about those worse off than you, donate to a cancer charity, or care flight, help those who have it hardier than you. If you are living comfortably donate to a charity and help those less fortune than you, or take a walk to children's oncoology ward to put things into perspective for you. There is always someone with worse problems then you! I hope my readers are in better health than me and certainly not as bad as some others in this hospital