How much actual special food?

[Professor]

[Shiloh]

I like when they examine my food at work and surmise that I have to eat healthy because of "my disease"! Like it's a bad thing and poor poor me. What can I tell you? I don't want their hamburgers and lean pockets and lean cuisines or burritoes. The desire for that stuff is completely gone ( not that it was there that much before, well, maybe the burritoes!) I'm also a good 30 or more pounds lighter than they are but I don't think they get the connection! Too me processed food like that is really just sodium and chemicals and a yogurt and apple is so much healthier! And I can put anything on a rice cake! Made a blt ( bacon (uncured), letture, tomato) on one and another time even did cream cheese and salmon! You must admit that Celiacs are very imaginative and inventive!
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gf since 3/27/04

[Noatak]

You two are great......you mean there are others out there that think like me? I get the same crap from people about my healthy diet...I am known as the "salad lady" at work. We have a big cafeteria here and they have a really good salad bar where I get my goods and then bring add-ins like chicken or rice salad. Very good and yummy stuff. I cannot even tell you how many people have commented on how I eat...I think they feel a bit of guilt themselves over their selections. Do you know the days they serve the "super taco salad" the cafeteria is a mob scene? It's loaded with fat and grease so why they christen it a salad is beyond me!!!!!!

There are very few foods I actually miss as I hardly ate them before the dx. Hindsight is always 20/20 but they made me feel lousy and I would get all bloaty so miss them now? Yeah, like the plague! The only foods I actually miss are those big grainy loaves of bread but I am finding decent substitutions so life goes on. AND sometimes I wish I could have a big plate of gnocci but I will work on a GF version, if it kills me!

I sometimes play games with people over what they eat but they just don't get it. And I will NEVER understand the proliferance of fast food places and why they are so packed. After speaking with a friend of mine who suffered a major heart attack, he informed me that contrary to what most people think, it's folks that eat all that quick, junky food that were in the heart ward along with him. Many people think it's only "those smokers" that end up there but most had the Dunkin' Donuts/ Burger King thing going for them and it definitely wasn't working in their favor. I think it's a shame that people eat so badly these days and use money as the excuse...then hit the mall and buy crap they don't even need! I think Celiacs somehow sparks the common sense bulb in people and when you change your diet and the brain fog clears, it's amazing how differently you think and feel.

Lexi, if you are spending about $100.00 per week on yourself, then that's about the same as me. My bill is about $175.00-200.00 and my husband is eating more GF than he ever thought he would! He's so good about it and even admitted to me the other day that HIS stomach feels better and his bowel habits have changed for the better. He's not Celiac but I think cutting most gluten out of anyone's diet can be beneficial. He does keep a stash of cookies though......

And with that....how is your father doing, Lexi? Is he back home and doing OK? My parents had some MAJOR health problems this past year and came close to not making it so I know how you feel. Hope he is recovering and can get back to doing what he likes to do.

[Professor]

[Noatak]

No wonder your father is doing well....those Maine types are hardy folk!!!!! If you survive a good Maine wintah, you can survive anything! Good to hear he is doing well.

I live about 30 miles west of Boston, near Framingham. There are 2 others on the forum who live nearby so this is going to become a hotbed of Celiac activity!!!!!! We should get together and go cause mayhem at a local restaurant....."Oh no!!!!! Here come those Celiac's again!!!!!!"

Fess up now.....what flours did you use in the gnocci, besides potato? Did they hold together well? I am craving some Italian and I just have not been overwhelmed with the GF pasta. OK in a casserole where there are other flavors to contribute but as a lone entree with sauce.....nope! The meat and potato/brown rice is good but I don't want it everyday either.

I can relate to the frustration of a smoker who is miffed because insurance won't pay for the tools to help them quit but cold turkey is the way I do things myself. I refused to pay for the patches and gum....it's the principle, nothing else. But to say you can't afford to quit....yeah, right!

[aklap]

[Professor]

[Guest]

I have a family of five. We spend between 180 and 240 a week! I don't know how anyone does it for less. A gallon of milk is almost four dollars and we go through 4 or 5 a week. I buy very few GF foods and do all of my baking from scratch. The only GF foods I buy are Amy's pizzas and Puffins Rice Cereal. I think I need a lesson in saving money! Maybe things are just more expensive in Maine?

[Noatak]

New England is just an expensive place to live but everything's relative. Other parts of the country are less expensive to live in but many people also earn less money. It does get annoying and discouraging though!

No, Lexi, I've no Italian blood in me...all English with a splash of Irish so that explains my celiac's. But I am a cooking fanatic and watch all the cooking shows so I know how to make gnocci. I just have to get the feel of the different doughs made with other flour besides wheat. Practice makes perfect! Your method is what is taught by good chef's so you done good!!!!

[Professor]

[isto]

I purchase ready made GF products by mail, but I pay wholesale because I sell the products. I purchase pasta, crackers, and flours every month. Once in a while I purchase bread or cookies or mixes. I have a family of seven - the baby does not eat table food and I purchase his jarred food. My grocery bill is around $75 - $100 a week, but that is only food. The nonedible stuff I buy in bulk on sale and that adds probably $10/wk to the bill. This would be more if I had to pay wholesale prices for the things I order.

I cook with a lot of different rices, pasta, potaotes, veggies, and meat. A GF meal does not have to be from a specialty store or from a box labeled GF!

Danita

[Kristie]

This is a tough subject for me, because with Matthew being GF/CF& Corn free... I can't even buy ketchup or Mayo at a regular store for him.
We eat tons of fruits and veggies, fish and chicken.
However, as far as the special GF items go, I would have to say, Cereal, bread, pasta, and every once and awhile some kind of junk food mix, such as cake, or brownies... but I make sure they're safe for everyone.. not just GF

[aklap]

Kristie,

Did you see this? http://www.celiacforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1557 It's the corn thread.
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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[paw]

I am not buying much "special" food. I look at the loaf of bread and it weighs so much and it does not look right. I have not bought a toaster yet, so I am not sure I want it. I still have not tried GF bread. I just have not had any bread since last summer.

I am buying better meat, I am more aware of the enhanced liquids they pump into most of the stuff at the grocery store. Even if it is GF, I don't need that in my food. I am eating more potatoes and sweet potatoes. I have bought some flours at the Asian market, but they were not too expensive.

The doctor took away tomatoes (too acid for me) and no dairy or soy, so I don't know what to do with special pasta or pizza, and I don't have to buy that. I eat Lays Stax from the dollar store. I also am buying sorbet for a treat $2.49 a pint. I have tried a couple of Amy's frozen meals but I did not really like them so I won't be getting them often. I buy Almonds for snacks.

The biggest increase would be the higher quality meat and more fresh fruits and veggies. I don't think I am spending much more, only a little differently. I used to eat out maybe once a week and I don't do that right now. I want to find a good cookie or cracker to either bake or buy.

My family is eating less junk but they are not GF.

[mrsppmrxky]

Well, we still snack like crazy here. We are eating healthier. I don't like the cookies. (I do the Arrowroot GF animal crackers every now and then) I bake everything from scratch. I try to provide cookies, branching out to crackers, cakes to others.

I teach a local GF cooking class about 1 time every 2 months. Hopefully when I have gotten over this latest setback, it will go back to monthly.

I have started converting my old recipes to GF and have lots of success with the cookies.

I buy mostl at the ASIAN grocery store. I purchase Rice Spaghetti noodles there for about $1 a package. I also buy the fine rice pasta to make my own Ramen Packages for when we are sick. I buy POHA (beaten rice) to make my instant mock oatmeal packages. (we both have recently started having trouble with oatmeal)

I purchase my tapioca starch(59 cents a pound) and potato startch ($2.59) at the Asian Grocery. I was purchasing my sweet rice flour there, but now I purchase sweet rice. (My DH bought me an electric mill for a late Christmas gift.)

I make pizza from scratch, but I did that when we were on wheat.

I have recently started making poptarts for a treat.

When I go to the specialty grocery, and see $6 for something that only costs $2 for the wheat version, I can't bring myself to buy it. I try to figure out how to make it. (I am getting there. Occasionally, I will purchase something pre-made to have as snacks in the car.)

I buy my butter and honey at Sam's club. I do buy things from the health food store such as the Tink Noodles or my Quinoa flakes or flour.(now I can just buy the cheaper flakes and grind my own flour.) I usually spend for our vitamins there. We are taking many more supplements now that before we both got so sick with the mono.

I figured out 2 loaves of bread cost about $5 to make...........I had much rather make that than puchase the EnerG bread for the same price and just end up throwing it away.

I make biscuits with the featherlight flour and freeze them to have on hand for breakfast fast food. I have also premade pancakes and muffins to have ready for a fast out the door snack.

It may cost a bit more, but you save what you were spending on going to the doctor so often.
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