"Going Gluten Free" On KMTR

This is a great story that was on a local news station this morning.

G-Free In Eugene

When I found out that I had to eat gluten free I was not a very happy girl and I thought that life would down right suck. Well, I was wrong, it is completely doable and enjoyable. I quickly came to realize that the nurse at my doctor's office was right when she told me that Eugene was the best place to be for a g-free diet!

This weekend my husband and I found 2 new local g-free restaurants that we had not been to before. On Saturday night we went to a restaurant that is new to town, Cafe 440. It is in a great location, on Coburg Road, near the Oakway Center. They don't have a strictly gluten free menu but the servers are knowledgeable! They are planning on developing a separate menu for the g-free population. The waiter we had recommended the bacon wrapped pork with mashed potatoes topped with a marionberry wine sauce, so that is what I got, and I loved it! I think next time I go I will try the salmon with risotto. As you can see, eating gluten free is not always bland and boring!

After church, on Sunday, we met friends at Studio One Cafe near the UofO Campus. As you walk in the front "door" you walk through beads and I figured that any place that has beads for a door has got to understand what gluten is! Again, they did not have a strictly g-free menu but the servers were very knowledgeable! I had the "Beverly Hillbilly" scramble with a mimosa!

http://cafe440eugene.com

http://studioonecafe.com

Don't Worry It's Sourdough Bread

For Valentines Day my husband and I went to a cute little dinner theatre. We had tickets for brunch and the the play "Cats". Well, I immediately was skeptical about whether or not the employees would know exactly what g-free is. When I tell people it's in everything, I'm not exaggerating. It can be in lunch meat, cheese, sauces, etc. I decided to be on the safe side and eat before I went to the show. When I have the choice to, or I am able to, I would rather be safe than sorry and eat at home or somewhere that guarantees their food to be g-free.

While we were there and enjoying my hot tea, I overheard the waitress talking to the table next to us. As soon as I hear someone say "Is there gluten in that?" my ears quickly go up like a dog hearing someone at the door. So, I began to ignore my husband and listen to this conversation. The woman wanted to order the eggs benedict but didn't want the bread because she is allergic to wheat. To my absolute surprise the waitress said "Don't worry, they put it on sourdough bread, not wheat bread". At that point, I was so glad that my husband took me to one of my favorite g-free restaurants in Eugene before the play. (I will write a different blog post about g-free restaurants.)

This is a great example of how people don't understand exactly what gluten is or what it is in. I don't blame people for not understanding. I never understood what it was until I had to understand what it was. If people don't know someone that can't eat gluten then they have no reason to understand what it is. My annoyance kicks in only when I am at a food establishment and they are clueless. I feel as though you should be knowledgeable about the food you are serving. Just like I am knowledgeable about the curriculum I am teaching my students. It's your job!

Why a Gluten Free Blog?

In the past 6 months, I have been asked many questions............What is Celiac Disease? What is Gluten? Why can't you eat it? I only used 1/4 of a cup, can't you eat it? I can just scrape off the seasoning, right? Cant you just pick off the croutons? What will you eat for Thanksgiving? It's Christmas, can't you fudge just for the holidays? You can drink milk, right? Can't you have a chef salad? It just marinated in it, that's all. Did you go shopping? How long do you have to do this? Can I just order you a sub on white instead of wheat?

After hearing these questions, and I'm sure there are more, I realized that maybe I should start a blog. I've been thinking about doing this for a few months and in that time a thought of why I wanted to write this blog (other than the the obvious above!)

1. To help my friends and family understand me better.

2. To help others that may have Celiac Disease or are wondering if they do.

3. To answer the many questions that people have.

One of my main goals in writing this blog is to help my friends and family understand me better. This is a lifestyle that was chosen for me, I did not choose it. I'm not doing this because I think I'm fat for because I've been in Eugene long enough to turn into a hippie. I'm doing this because in August, after about 6 months of wondering what was wrong with me, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. To solve this problem, I simply cut out gluten from my diet. Well, it sounds simple but in all actuality it's not. It takes a lot of learning to understand it. That is why I started this blog.

The second goal I had with this blog is to possibly help others. I was medically diagnosed by a doctor but she, or the 4 other docs I went to, are not the ones that thought I could have Celiac Disease, she just ordered the tests. I am very thankful to my sister-in-law, Sabrina, for mentioning a gluten allergy to me. One day she told me about a co-workers husband that had arthritis and got a lot of relief from eating gluten free. Hmmm, I thought, this sounds really familiar. To make a long story short, I looked into it online, and then called my doctors office. In the end, it was other people that helped me, so I would like to maybe help someone else that may have Celiac Disease or the symptoms. Pass along this blog to anyone you know that may have the symptoms but doesn't have a diagnosis yet. I would love to help someone else know what is going on with them because I know what it's like to not know.

Lastly, I want to be able to answer any questions that my friends and family may have. There are obviously a lot of questions that I've gotten already and maybe you have more questions after reading this post. Sometimes it can be hard to explain multiple times why I brought my own food, why I can't eat or why a chef salad doesn't exactly solve the problem. In the next blog post I plan on answering the questions I've gotten above but if you have another question, please send it to me and you could see the answer on the next post!

Thanks for following my blog! I'm excited about the posts that will be coming soon!