This week I'm very excited to announce that my first guest post was published on Life Style Elements http://lifestyleelements.com.au/?p=1910, the post shared my story of living as a coeliac. I thought I'd include this link for my non twitter followers.
I've been debating this week about which post to publish, I've decided on giving a brief overview and support organisations that can help with the various conditions I have or have been told I had in the past.
I'll start from the beginning, my first diagnosis by my old GP was IBS Irritable Bowel Syndrome, there are lots of symptoms of this disease which are very simialar to Coeliac disease. The main symptoms are Abdominal pain, fullness, gas, bloating, constipation and dirreahoea that have been present for 3 days for the past 3 months. Very similar to coeliac disese! Easy to see why a doctor who is not up to date on coeliac disease, or doesn't ask the correct question you can be misdiagnosed. Here is the link to the website I received the information on IBS http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001292/.
The second condition I have and have suffered from for many years is endometrosis, a condition that my mother also suffered from. This condition is a women's disease and is based around our monthly cycle, causing severe and debilitating pain each month, heavy periods, bloating, gas, changes in bowel movements and much more. Unless you are seeing a Gynecologist who is well versed on the condition you are often passed off as having 'women's problems', here is the website where I got alot of information from http://www.endometriosis.org.au/about-endometriosis/symptoms. The scary thing with this condition is it can lead to low fertility which I also suffer from, a great doctor, who focuses on the condition and has experience in IVF, is the dr you want to see, here is the link to my dr http://www.gdreid.com.au/.
My other big symptom was anemia, which can also be a symptom of endometrosis. I suffered quite severely with anemia, when I finally got a blood test my levels where 4, and my bone storage and normal iron. Iron helps red blood cells transfer oxygen to the brain and body, thus making the sufferer very tired. I would have to lie down at work, I was unable to function, pale, dizzy and generally found it hard to concentrate! Here is a great website for more information about anemia http://www.hepcaustralia.com.au/symptoms-news/what-is-anemia-reporting-symptoms-and-finding-a-cause. I ended up having a session of iron injections, which helped but was referred to my gyno to answer why my iron was so low. Thankfully my great dr could see these
levels weren't from heavy periods and gave me a referral for a gastrologist! With a family
history of bowel cancer an endoscopy and colonscopy. A biopsy sample taken from my small bowel which resulted in a diagnosis of coeliac disease! The only way to control this disease is following a strict gluten free diet!
Coeliac disease is a heredity disease, as you must have 1-2 genes to have the disease. An early diagnosis is essential to causing as minimal damage as possible! If you notice any of the symptoms, please see your doctor and ask about tests. There is a blood teat, but the only conclusive way to diagnose the disease is by a biopsy from a colonscopy. I would highly recommend seeing a nutriontist, as coeliac disease can warrant you in Australia to a health care plan and a number of visits with a nutrionist at a reduced rate! I find cooking GF easy by each week, I've developed more confidence and have successfully modified a number of
recipes. My whole family cook GF for me and I know the questions to ask when eating out! It's not always guaranteed by works more than not! I find going to friends and families events hard at times, and always make sure I bring a GF dish or fill up on GF food before hand! I highly recommend that you visit the neatest GF expo coming to your state this year, they are free and filled with an abudance of information and food, I was blown away by the contact I made and information I found! For more information on this disease read this website http://www.coeliac.org.au/ and if your an Australian resident join this great association.
I hope that me sharing my personal story has given you the courage to contact your doctor about any of the symptoms. I know talking about these things can be embarrassing at tines, it is so important and can be life saving. I'd love to hear your story or thoughts about my personal post!
Friday, 10 February 2012
Monday, 6 February 2012
GF Museli Biscuits
Firstly I have to say how excited I am to reach 5000 readers since starting this blog. It totally blows my mind! When I first started writing, I honestly thought it would be read by a small number of people, I remember calling my husband and mum each time someone from a new country read my blog! It's also nice to chat to your friends or people you told of the blog and they know what you wrote about!
From starting out in my kitchen, telling my story to the world, I have expanded my blog and plan on this year making it bigger and better than last year. Since then I have particiapted and loved doing it in #SABH Blog Hops, I've joined Twitter, made some wonderful friends, who I can't believe how honestly caring and helpful they are! My posts have been featured in other blogs, I was successful in writing an article as life as a coeliac that will feature in an online website, I have reviewed an e book and had my first ever competition. I thought about changing to a different hoster, but I'm going to revamp, maybe with some help, make my blog more user friendly and encourage people to not just read but follow or get an email link of my blog.
I want my readers to share in my excitment and the next post I will be announcing a competition!
But this post is the recipe, of some delicious museli biscuits that I spoke about in the previous post, how to pack a healthy lunch box. I want people to know that this is a really easy recipe, it is healthy, wholesome and tasty. I know it is easy to buy pre packaged food for your children or yourself but taking a few minutes of your time to make these delicious healthy biscuits, put them in your childrens lunchbox, take them to work, have as a snack, with a nice cup of tea. They are simply delicious!
I honestly think we need to get past the packet mix, love affair we have at the moment, along with frozen, pre packaged biscuits and foods. Have you looked at all the numbers on these products? Often they are chemicals, toxic things that we are putting into our bodies. I know what it's like to be busy, working and trying to run a household (I'm not a mum, but I know plenty). I challenge you to make these biscuits or my healthy banana muffins, they are a staple in my household, I know I can have them as a treat and I know exactly what is in them, and there is no processed pre pacakged food. You can honestly taste the difference!
I can't claim all the glory for this recipe, I was flicking through the pages of Woolworths Fresh, February addidtion and I found a recipe for Museli Biscuits, it called for gluten museli and wholemeal flour. I replaced the Museli with GF museli, a Basco brand of museli, instead of wholemeal flour I used Flaxmeal. You could really taste the difference. The only sweetener in these biscuits is honey, a natural source and 1tsp of vanilla, no added sugar, all natural flavour enhancers.
I was pleasantly surprised at how nice they tasted! You could no only taste how wholesome the biscuits were, but they were tasty and healthy! Even better, I had to stop myself from eating too many. I'm certain they wouldn't have been so healthy if I ate so many. I managed to control myself, I can guarantee kids would love these. I used the museli that was in my cupboard. If you are making them from yourself or your children and they have other allergies, ensure the museli meets your individual needs.
Healthy Museli Bisuits
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of Museli
1/2 cup Flaxmeal or (brown rice flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celicus. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Combine museli, baking powder, flaxmeal or brown rice flour into a bowl. Whisk vegetable oil, honey, vanilla and egg together in a bowl or jug until well combined. Pour into the museli mixture and stir until well combined. Drop spoonfuls onto baking trays. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Note: Set the oven timer on, they cook so quickly and you don't want them to burn. You could cook these before breakfast and have them ready to put into lunchboxes by the time everyone is ready for school and work!
Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @MMOAGFL, I'd love to hear from you, you can also follow us on Facebook under Mishaps And Mayhem Of A Gluten Free Life.
The wonderful #SABH is running the February competition starting from the 20th February to 27th February 2012! The theme this month is Love at First Bite! My mind boggles with all the things I can make. If you are a food blogger come along and join us!
From starting out in my kitchen, telling my story to the world, I have expanded my blog and plan on this year making it bigger and better than last year. Since then I have particiapted and loved doing it in #SABH Blog Hops, I've joined Twitter, made some wonderful friends, who I can't believe how honestly caring and helpful they are! My posts have been featured in other blogs, I was successful in writing an article as life as a coeliac that will feature in an online website, I have reviewed an e book and had my first ever competition. I thought about changing to a different hoster, but I'm going to revamp, maybe with some help, make my blog more user friendly and encourage people to not just read but follow or get an email link of my blog.
I want my readers to share in my excitment and the next post I will be announcing a competition!
But this post is the recipe, of some delicious museli biscuits that I spoke about in the previous post, how to pack a healthy lunch box. I want people to know that this is a really easy recipe, it is healthy, wholesome and tasty. I know it is easy to buy pre packaged food for your children or yourself but taking a few minutes of your time to make these delicious healthy biscuits, put them in your childrens lunchbox, take them to work, have as a snack, with a nice cup of tea. They are simply delicious!
I honestly think we need to get past the packet mix, love affair we have at the moment, along with frozen, pre packaged biscuits and foods. Have you looked at all the numbers on these products? Often they are chemicals, toxic things that we are putting into our bodies. I know what it's like to be busy, working and trying to run a household (I'm not a mum, but I know plenty). I challenge you to make these biscuits or my healthy banana muffins, they are a staple in my household, I know I can have them as a treat and I know exactly what is in them, and there is no processed pre pacakged food. You can honestly taste the difference!
I can't claim all the glory for this recipe, I was flicking through the pages of Woolworths Fresh, February addidtion and I found a recipe for Museli Biscuits, it called for gluten museli and wholemeal flour. I replaced the Museli with GF museli, a Basco brand of museli, instead of wholemeal flour I used Flaxmeal. You could really taste the difference. The only sweetener in these biscuits is honey, a natural source and 1tsp of vanilla, no added sugar, all natural flavour enhancers.
I was pleasantly surprised at how nice they tasted! You could no only taste how wholesome the biscuits were, but they were tasty and healthy! Even better, I had to stop myself from eating too many. I'm certain they wouldn't have been so healthy if I ate so many. I managed to control myself, I can guarantee kids would love these. I used the museli that was in my cupboard. If you are making them from yourself or your children and they have other allergies, ensure the museli meets your individual needs.
Healthy Museli Bisuits
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of Museli
1/2 cup Flaxmeal or (brown rice flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celicus. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Combine museli, baking powder, flaxmeal or brown rice flour into a bowl. Whisk vegetable oil, honey, vanilla and egg together in a bowl or jug until well combined. Pour into the museli mixture and stir until well combined. Drop spoonfuls onto baking trays. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Note: Set the oven timer on, they cook so quickly and you don't want them to burn. You could cook these before breakfast and have them ready to put into lunchboxes by the time everyone is ready for school and work!
Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @MMOAGFL, I'd love to hear from you, you can also follow us on Facebook under Mishaps And Mayhem Of A Gluten Free Life.
The wonderful #SABH is running the February competition starting from the 20th February to 27th February 2012! The theme this month is Love at First Bite! My mind boggles with all the things I can make. If you are a food blogger come along and join us!
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
The GF Lunch Box
One of the hardest thing about being a coeliac is your extremely limited options for lunch and snacks. I didn't find out until I was an adult that I was a coeliac, but for parents of kids with the disease I feel for you! As a teacher I know that kids compare what is in their mates lunchbox and often if it looks different some kids can be rather nasty. The worse thing is, the ones who are best at this are very sneaky and try and look like the innocent party all the time! But we teachers are on the prowl for these kids, protecting the mental sanity of all children.
A gluten free lunchbox is really not that hard to pack and I'm going to show you how to do it, relatively fuss free, without looking so bizarre and different to everyone else's lunch! I'm even including a lovely healthy snack for recess (morning tea)!
But first, parents I know your kids can be hard and you are very busy but breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Any experienced teacher can walk into a classroom in the morning and pick the children who havent eaten breakfast, they are tired, can't concentrate, won't participate in class discussion or activites and sometimes fall asleep! Find a healthy cereal, not sugar filled cereals and yes you can find GF varieties! They give children a sugar high, then they come crashing down! Most schools have breakfast clubs that for a gold coin donation or some schools it's free, children get cereal, toast, fresh fruit, milk and juice or water. This is a fantastic facility and provides no real excuses for the child not having breakfast! Now if you run a busy schedule and breakfast is hard to get your child to eat, then breakfast club might be for you. If your child is GF you can always purchase their favourite cereal (museli, rice porridge etc) and a loaf of GF bread and leave it at the school, where breakfast club things are stored! Even if it's a once off it saves your child eating unhealthy things for breakfast, or not eating anything at all! Speak to your child's teacher and if they aren't sure the deputy or principal, most schools will be fine with this!
Recess is often hard for GF children, as everyone else doesn't have things they can't eat! But it isn't that hard; mammee make some great rice based snacks for kids which all kids eat, there are more rice based snacks coming on the market, seasme snacks, sultanas and sultanas with apricots come in lunch box snack sized options (check out the health food aisle for more options). The best and healthiest food is one not brought but made at homee by you (preferably from fresh not packet ingredients), its all about time, involve your children in the cooking and cleaning up process, it teachers them many things! You can make healthy muffins (see my banana muffin recipe), museli cookies ( the recipe I will put up tomorrow), And don't forget fruit and vegetables! The recommended serving suggestion is 2 pieces of fruit n 5 vegetables daily! Often our meals don't include all those veggies, so include some in your child's lunch box. Some chopped carrot, cucumber, fresh fruit salad, fruit etc, the list goes on! These are healthy foods which take a short time to prepare! Every class I've taught has had crunch n sip, a morning break where for 5 minutes they sit down on the floor and chat, eating their fruit or veg and drinking water! They are excited about this!
Lunch is the hardest part of a GF lunchbox! The bread isn't that tasty and doesn't make the best sandwiches, you can try it and see if your child likes it! Other options are wraps, but I'm not very impressed by what I've seen. Then there is rice cakes, you can get flavored rice cakes and put the topping, such as ham, cheese and tomato in separate bags and they can put their lunch together in class, I have no doubt they will enjoy this! Also left over rice, or tinned flavored tuna, on rice cakes is another option.
Try and cover the food groups in their lunchbox, add some cheese, a yoghurt, for their dairy and always include at least one piece of fruit! Now as crackers aren't as filling as bread always have some rice crackers, sultanas or their favourite snack! Don't forget water, this is so important! Not cordial (maybe as a weekly treat), have it in a drink bottle they can refill, also put it in the fridge the night before, so it's nice and cold. Buy a soft lunch bag that fits an Ice brick for meats and dairy products!
Now comes the canteen, some are great others sell sweet sugary and salty snacks and sugar filled energy drinks! Some canteens sell GF food, others don't! The school canteen is almost like a right of passage, your child will feel left out if they can't visit the canteen even once a month! I still remember ordering days were Friday and I felt so special, my favourite day! If the canteen doesn't sell gluten free food, make an appointment to see your principal and discuss that GF food should be available for your child! It's on the market and a healthy option!
Most importantly tell your child's teacher of their intolerance or coeliac disease, even provide some information to the teacher about the disease. They need to know, children can swap lunches without realising and the teacher can't be at fault if they aren't informed! Most teachers will be willing to send a note out to other parents, to lessen contimation, also when it's a birthday party and there is cake if the teacher informs you, you can organise a special cake or cookie treat for your child!
So in a nutshell, provide a variety of healthy but filling snacks, alternate lunches, would you like to eat the same thing daily? Put an ice brick in their lunch box or bag. And as soon as you can make an appointment with the class teacher (talking to them in the morning while they have 25-30 kids, is not the best time!), ask for an appointment that suits you both, it could even be a phone call! And if the canteen isn't providing GF options, chat to the principal (they aren't monsters)and will listen to your rational concerns.
Please let me know if this has helped you? I'd love to hear positive and negative food allergy or coeliac stories from school. Is your school helpful and understanding or the opposite?
Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @MMOAGFL and Facebook under the blog name.
The lovely Jennifer from Delicieux is running a comp to win a great vegetarian cookbook, click on the link to enter!
http://www.ledelicieux.com/2012/01/30/mushroom-risoniotto/ goodluck! I hope my readers and myself win!
A gluten free lunchbox is really not that hard to pack and I'm going to show you how to do it, relatively fuss free, without looking so bizarre and different to everyone else's lunch! I'm even including a lovely healthy snack for recess (morning tea)!
But first, parents I know your kids can be hard and you are very busy but breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Any experienced teacher can walk into a classroom in the morning and pick the children who havent eaten breakfast, they are tired, can't concentrate, won't participate in class discussion or activites and sometimes fall asleep! Find a healthy cereal, not sugar filled cereals and yes you can find GF varieties! They give children a sugar high, then they come crashing down! Most schools have breakfast clubs that for a gold coin donation or some schools it's free, children get cereal, toast, fresh fruit, milk and juice or water. This is a fantastic facility and provides no real excuses for the child not having breakfast! Now if you run a busy schedule and breakfast is hard to get your child to eat, then breakfast club might be for you. If your child is GF you can always purchase their favourite cereal (museli, rice porridge etc) and a loaf of GF bread and leave it at the school, where breakfast club things are stored! Even if it's a once off it saves your child eating unhealthy things for breakfast, or not eating anything at all! Speak to your child's teacher and if they aren't sure the deputy or principal, most schools will be fine with this!
Recess is often hard for GF children, as everyone else doesn't have things they can't eat! But it isn't that hard; mammee make some great rice based snacks for kids which all kids eat, there are more rice based snacks coming on the market, seasme snacks, sultanas and sultanas with apricots come in lunch box snack sized options (check out the health food aisle for more options). The best and healthiest food is one not brought but made at homee by you (preferably from fresh not packet ingredients), its all about time, involve your children in the cooking and cleaning up process, it teachers them many things! You can make healthy muffins (see my banana muffin recipe), museli cookies ( the recipe I will put up tomorrow), And don't forget fruit and vegetables! The recommended serving suggestion is 2 pieces of fruit n 5 vegetables daily! Often our meals don't include all those veggies, so include some in your child's lunch box. Some chopped carrot, cucumber, fresh fruit salad, fruit etc, the list goes on! These are healthy foods which take a short time to prepare! Every class I've taught has had crunch n sip, a morning break where for 5 minutes they sit down on the floor and chat, eating their fruit or veg and drinking water! They are excited about this!
Lunch is the hardest part of a GF lunchbox! The bread isn't that tasty and doesn't make the best sandwiches, you can try it and see if your child likes it! Other options are wraps, but I'm not very impressed by what I've seen. Then there is rice cakes, you can get flavored rice cakes and put the topping, such as ham, cheese and tomato in separate bags and they can put their lunch together in class, I have no doubt they will enjoy this! Also left over rice, or tinned flavored tuna, on rice cakes is another option.
Try and cover the food groups in their lunchbox, add some cheese, a yoghurt, for their dairy and always include at least one piece of fruit! Now as crackers aren't as filling as bread always have some rice crackers, sultanas or their favourite snack! Don't forget water, this is so important! Not cordial (maybe as a weekly treat), have it in a drink bottle they can refill, also put it in the fridge the night before, so it's nice and cold. Buy a soft lunch bag that fits an Ice brick for meats and dairy products!
Now comes the canteen, some are great others sell sweet sugary and salty snacks and sugar filled energy drinks! Some canteens sell GF food, others don't! The school canteen is almost like a right of passage, your child will feel left out if they can't visit the canteen even once a month! I still remember ordering days were Friday and I felt so special, my favourite day! If the canteen doesn't sell gluten free food, make an appointment to see your principal and discuss that GF food should be available for your child! It's on the market and a healthy option!
Most importantly tell your child's teacher of their intolerance or coeliac disease, even provide some information to the teacher about the disease. They need to know, children can swap lunches without realising and the teacher can't be at fault if they aren't informed! Most teachers will be willing to send a note out to other parents, to lessen contimation, also when it's a birthday party and there is cake if the teacher informs you, you can organise a special cake or cookie treat for your child!
So in a nutshell, provide a variety of healthy but filling snacks, alternate lunches, would you like to eat the same thing daily? Put an ice brick in their lunch box or bag. And as soon as you can make an appointment with the class teacher (talking to them in the morning while they have 25-30 kids, is not the best time!), ask for an appointment that suits you both, it could even be a phone call! And if the canteen isn't providing GF options, chat to the principal (they aren't monsters)and will listen to your rational concerns.
Please let me know if this has helped you? I'd love to hear positive and negative food allergy or coeliac stories from school. Is your school helpful and understanding or the opposite?
Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @MMOAGFL and Facebook under the blog name.
The lovely Jennifer from Delicieux is running a comp to win a great vegetarian cookbook, click on the link to enter!
http://www.ledelicieux.com/2012/01/30/mushroom-risoniotto/ goodluck! I hope my readers and myself win!
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