A gluten free grocery adventure!

Since being diagnosed with celiac and going gluten free just a few short weeks ago, I have only been to the store twice, just to grab a few things (milk, potatoes, and other things I knew to be "safe").

Yesterday was the first trip out for a full fledged, stock the fridge, freezer, and pantry, adventure. I budgeted extra money, and made sure I wasn't on any time constraints so there would be no need to rush, giving me ample time to read ingredient lists. I armed myself with my phone (loaded with tons of GF bookmarks and pdfs just in case), and a list of things I knew for certain I needed (milk, eggs, bananas, the usual household fare), before setting out for the day.

I had forgotten that it was Easter weekend so it was majorly busy around town, nonetheless I was determined to go shopping!

Atlantic Superstore

First I hit the Atlantic Superstore to check out their selection. I was quite pleased with what they had to offer, and it was mostly packed into one area which was nice. I picked up quite a few things that I needed, finding everything but xanthan gum (they carry it but were sold out). I was pleased to see a wide variety of gluten free breads in the freezer section, but didn't buy any as someone gifted me a box of GF bread mix a few days ago that I am planning on making later today. I did buy a loaf of the President's Choice gluten free banana loaf cake, which I plan on tryng with a cup of tea later this morning for breakfast. I purchased;

*President's Choice gluten free banana loaf cake

* CheeCha sea salt and spiced pepper gluten free puffs

* 2 GF snack bars (KIND Plus Nutrition Bars, Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew + Antioxidants and Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate + Protein)

* Bob's Red Mill gluten free all-purpose baking flour

* 2 boxes of gluten free Rice Krispies

* San J gluten free light tamari soy sauce

* Fleischman's gluten free baking powder (and yeast)

* President's Choice organic gluten free brown rice spaghetti

* Schneider's gluten free Country Naturals uncured baked ham (sliced sandwich meat)

*President's Choice spicey dill pickle popped chips (as far as I can tell contain no gluten) 

* and some other items we needed - bananas, carrots, english cucumber, lean ground pork, eye of round steak, lean ground beef, 2 tubs no name strawberry yogurt, PC asian blend frozen vegetables, Palmolive dish liquid, Mio mango peach, Kraft peanut butter, Heinz ketchup, and Cracker Barrel jalapeno cheddar cheese

Totaling $88.37 at Atlantic Superstore.

Bulk Barn

Next we went to the Bulk Barn, I really did just go in to browse and check out their gluten free options. I was legitimately surprised to find a vast selection of items! Everything from packaged goods (chips and crackers to baking mixes) to bulk flours and mixes. Best of all it was all in it's own section and the scoops are marked with yellow cable ties to designate they are for gluten free bins. People would actually have to go out of their way to cross-contaminate with other scoops as they would have to walk from one side of the store to the other. All in all, I was pleased with the variety. I went in to look for xanthan gum (again all sold out!) but left with;

* Mary's organic gluten free crackers Herb flavor (they were on for 50% off!)

Totaling $2.80 at Bulk Barn.  

Sobey's

Our last stop was Sobey's, again I mainly went in for xanthan gum but I don't believe they carry it, I couldn't find it anywhere, and there were no empty spots where it may have been. But, I digress, we only bought a few things there;

* 2 Paco gluten free tortilla wraps

* Olymel gluten free smoked shaved chicken sandwich meat

* goBIO organic gluten free vegetable bouillon cubes

* and 4L of Farmer's homogenized milk (I cook with it and use it in tea, mostly), Heinz mustard, extra virgin olive oil and lean ground beef

Totaling $24.92 at Sobey's.

In total we spent $116.09, I was anticipating closer to $130-150 to be honest. I was pleased with what I was able to find!

When we got home, the mister and I put away the groceries and bagged up everything still in the house containing gluten and took it down the road to my grandparents who I hope will get use out of it.

I can't wait to start reviewing the gluten free finds for the blog.

¡Happy Easter everyone!

5 minute gluten free ice milk!

Yes, it's true! You can make delicious ice milk in minutes using 3 ingredients and a few other household items. Originally I saw the idea on   http://parentables.howstuffworks.com/chow/make-your-own-ice-cream-five-minutes.html

All you need is;

1/2 cup of milk
(I used homogenized/whole milk for this)

1tbsp. sugar
(I have tried this with white granulated sugar and brown sugar, both work well, the brown sugar lends a more caramel like flavor)

1 tsp. vanilla
(I use vanilla extract but would try other extracts)

You will also need a sandwich baggie and a larger sized plastic baggie, both need to have seals!

5 tbsp. course salt
(I used leftover pickling salt)

2 cups ice cubes
(I used freshly snow too)

Got all that? Great! Now the fun part!

Mix your milk, sugar, and flavored extract together in the smaller plastic baggie, seal that sucker well!

Put your salt and ice in the larger bag, toss the small bag in on top. Now seal the larger bag, I usually leave a little air inside for movement.

Now just shake the bags vigorously for about 5 minutes (you may want gloves!), or until you have a thick ice cream like substance in the inner baggie. Pull out the small bag (discard the salt and ice mix) and put your ice milk in a bowl.

I have been known to add chocolate sprinkles, caramel sauce, fruit, or other yummy things as topping. Experiment and have fun.

Enjoy!

My diagnosis with celiac (My introduction, so a bit lengthy)

Quick introduction - I'm Ashley, born August 7, 1986. I live in rural Nova Scotia on the South Shore.

For the last few years (since having a breakdown at my old job and quitting) I would wake up every single day sick to my stomach. There were a lot of bouts of diarhhea and vomitting. Frequent headaches. Overall fatigue. But I blamed it all on stress. I didn't even mention anything to a doctor, I just thought I needed to destress and calm down.

It wasn't until February 8th, 2013 that I finally sought medical attention. I suddenly (literally out of nowhere!) was having heart palpitations, spikes in heartrate and blood pressure, weakness, tingling in my extremities, a foggy strange feeling in my head (brain fog), I was really anxious, my feet and hands were clammy, noticed a few swollen lymphnodes, I had no appetite or thirst, my ears would ring suddenly, I bounced back and forth from constipation to diarhhea, and I had dropped about 25 lbs without even trying... Well I just felt plain awful and since I had no family practioner, I marched myself to outpatients! I fought for weeks, going back to outpatients every few days sometimes! I got the feeling they thought I was insane. They couldn't explain any of it. Different doctors would tell me different things. I got told everything from urinary tract infection, low magnesium, dehydration, extreme exhaustion, and anxiety. I got prescription after prescription but nothing was working. I was angry and frustrated, I knew I was feeling this way so WHY couldn't they help me?! Finally, one of the doctors in outpatients referred me to an internist. Having had a slew of tests in my various trips (10 give or take at that point in a matter of about a month) to outpatients, he started by doing an upper endoscopy. After the sedative wore off, I was told it was most likely celiac!

I had my suspicions months ago that I may have celiac. It started when a new employee started at my job and she told me she had celiac and had to live a gluten free life. She seemed nice enough, and quite open about it, I asked her a lot of questions, mostly out of curiosity and to try and get to know her. At times I pitied her, bringing a spoon and a jar of peanut butter to work for her "lunch" somedays while the rest of us feasted on sandwiches, donuts and various baked goods, paninis, and various fast food items. I questioned how she felt, what her symptoms were, and what the end result was. I mulled it over in my head. Quickly dismissed it as "oh no, I've been fine all these years" and I never did pay much attention to what I ate and how I was feeling anyhow. Months passed, I really felt no worse, but I didn't feel much better either. Little had I known, my self diagnosis had been right!

It has all been a very new experience for me. I finally had an answer, but the only viable solution was to go gluten free. It has only been 2 weeks since starting my gluten free diet. I consider myself lucky, my fiancé immediately took my hand and whispered that it would all be alright and I wouldn't have to do it alone. He is on this gluten free diet with me, to show his support (and so we don't have to prepare multiple meals). I have noticed small changes even though it's only been 2 weeks. The brain fog is gone, the headaches have lessened, my blood pressure and heartrate are not as erratic if I am stationary (though still go crazy if I am up and moving), the tingling in my extremities has vanished, my appetite and thirst are slowly returning, and my bowels seem to be a bit more "regular" now. Unfortunately, I don't have much energy and find it hard to be upright and moving for extended periods (plus the heartrate jumps too much), I am exhausted but cannot sleep for all my efforts, and I am still a bit anxious. For now my internist has me off work until May 1st.

That being said, I still have to have a CT scan and a few more tests done to rule out lymphoma and bowel/intestinal cancer. That prospect terrifies me, but I am trying to be optimistic and not worry until I hear the actual yay or nay.

Celiac is a DIET CHANGER, not necessarily a LIFE CHANGER. Or, at least that's how I see it. I take it as a challenge. I love to cook, so it is just a new skillset to master with new ingredients and recipes to try. Not to mention it is forcing me to cut out the fast food and over processed things that I had been eating for years and years. I do miss those things, don't get me wrong, but I am finding tasty alternatives that are gluten free. I rejoice when I see a "gluten free" label and triple check the ingredients AND google the product just to be safe. I actually like rice noodles more than the ones containing gluten!

I am looking for other gluten free/celiac friends, I have found a very helpful (semi-local) blog, and my friend at work, whom have been a big help to me thus far. My family and friends have been very supportive through this whole ordeal and I couldn't be more thankful. You don't have to do this alone folks.  There are thousands of resources out there, you just have to be willing to look. I have subscribed to RSS feeds of my favorite gluten free blogs and have a Pinterest board dedicated to gluten free. I will share those links at a later time however. If you've read this far, thanks for your patience!