Chef to Plate - Celebrating Restaurants Serving Up Gluten-Free Awareness” is a project of the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America.

The purpose of this international campaign is to spread awareness of celiac disease and gluten intolerances in partnership with gluten-free friendly restaurants. It's a great way to celebrate May - Celiac Awareness Month.

• The 2012 campaign included over 1400 restaurants.
• Wisconsin had 14 restaurants with 27 participating locations.
• Participating countries include USA, Canada, Turkey and Italy.

Be sure to check out the full 2013 Participating Restaurants List or a really cool map from The Celiac Scene.

A BIG gluten-free THANK YOU to all those participating!

Please remember that dining out is not without risk. Even though these restaurants are participating in Chef to Plate, you still need to investigate and ask questions of the managers, chefs, and/or servers. Knowledge level of gluten-free can vary between restaurants [even within chains]. If you are not comfortable with their answers, do not eat there.

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GIG of ECW has created a handy list of all Wisconsin's 25 participating restaurants with 57 locations...

The Celiac Scene's Wisconsin Map of participating restaurants.

Participating Chef to Plate Restaurants
by Restaurant

Restaurant	Street	City	Zip	Phone	Menu
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	831 Park Ave.	Beaver Dam	53916	902-887-7994	Menu
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	2949 Triverton Pike Dr.	Fitchburg	53711	608-278-7800	Menu
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	1849 Northport Dr.	Madison	53704	608-241-1144	Menu
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	1109 Fourier Dr	Middleton	53717	608-826-0555	Menu
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	300 S. Koeller St	Oshkosh	54902	920-230-2300	Menu
Broadway Pizza	1920 S Hastings Way	Eau Claire	54701	715-832-5100	Menu
Bunky's cafe	2425 Atwood Avenue	Madison	53704	608-204-7004	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	11046 N Port Washington Rd	Mequon	53092	262-241-3450	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	4624 27th St.	Milwaukee	53221	414-282-3350	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	11900 108th St	Pleasant Prairie	53158	262-857-3540	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	207 Gas Light Dr	Racine	53403	262-635-0533	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	2100 E. Moreland Blvd.	Waukesha	53186	262-549-1720	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	6615 West State St.	Wauwatosa	53213	414-453-2300	Menu
Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant	Brookfield Sq. Mall - 15 S. Moorland. Rd	Brookfield	53005	262-785-9463	Menu
Draganetti's Ristorante	3120 Hillcrest Pkwy	Altoona	54720	715-834-9234	Menu
GingeRootz Asian Grille	2920 N Ballard Rd	Appleton	54911	920-738-9688	Menu
Graystone Ale House	3711 Monroe Rd.	De Pere	54115	920-347-2727	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3456 College Ave	Appleton	54914	920-257-2555	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	2621 S. Oneida St. Ste. 103	Ashwaubenon	54304	920-405-8888	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3805 S. Oakwood Mall Dr.	Eau Claire	54701	715-834-2222	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	7214 Green Bay Road Ste 100	Kenosha	53142	262-697-8522	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3800 State Rd 16	La Crosse	54601	608-781-2636	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	610 Junction Rd. Ste 101	Madison	53717	608-827-7110	Menu
Imperial Garden West	2039 Allen Blvd	Middleton	53562	608-238-6445	Menu
Jose's Blue Sombrero	20371 W Bluemound Rd	Brookfield	53005	262-432-6667	Menu
Jose's Blue Sombrero	6430 Washington Ave	Racine	53406	262-886-5600	Menu
Key Westconsin	331 Riverfront Plaza	Waukesha	53186	626-446-2346	Menu
Lammar's Smokehouse BBQ	1504 S. Central Ave	Marshfield	54449	715-384-8620	Menu
Mia Famiglia Italian Ristorante	10049 W. Forest Home Ave	Hales Corners	53130	414-699-9657	Menu
Nick-N-Willy's Pizza Kenosha	7435 117th Ave Suite A	Kenosha	53142	262-857-8039	Menu
Original Pancake House	16460 W. Bluemound Rd.	Brookfield	53005	414-771-3100	Menu
Original Pancake House	2621 N. Downer Ave	Milwaukee	53211	414-431-5055	Menu
Parkside 23	2300 Pilgrim Square Dr.	Brookfield	53005	262-784-7275	Menu
Pizza Ranch	1000 Log Lodge Ct.	Baraboo	53913	608-448-2215	Menu
Pizza Ranch	2451 Truax Blvd	Eau Claire	54703	715-514-4143	Menu
Pizza Ranch	28 W. Hidden Trail	Elkhorn	53121	262-723-7880	Menu
Pizza Ranch	123 W. Johnson St.	Fond du Lac	54935	920-929-8800	Menu
Pizza Ranch	2206 Main St.	Green Bay	54302	920-468-3555	Menu
Pizza Ranch	1031 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy	Lake Delton	53940	608-254-8200	Menu
Pizza Ranch	3212 Calumet Ave	Manitowoc	54220	920-769-0015	Menu
Pizza Ranch	944 Center Ave	Oostburg	53070	920-564-6333	Menu
Pizza Ranch	2905 New Pinery Rd	Portage	53901	608-566-1750	Menu
Pizza Ranch	2670 E. Main St. Park Plaza #4	Reedsburg	53959	608-768-5555	Menu
Pizza Ranch	3518 Kohler Memorial Dr.	Sheboygan	53081	920-395-2506	Menu
Pizza Ranch	628 South Grand Ave	Sun Prairie	53590	608-825-6900	Menu
Pizza Ranch	900 W. Main	Waupun	53963	920-324-9000	Menu
Rodizio Grill	777 North Water St.	Milwaukee	53202	414-431-3106	Menu
Stonefire Pizza Grill	5320 S. Moorland Rd.	New Berlin	53151	262-970-8800	Menu
Taste of Africa Restaurant	117 E Main Street	Port Washington	53074	262-268-1007	Menu
Taverna Grill	2839 Mall Dr. Suite 7	Eau Claire	54701	715-835-2845	Menu
The Bar - Green Bay	2001 Holmgren Way	Green Bay	54324	920-499-9989	Menu
The Bar - Oshkosh	825 N. Washburn St.	Oshkosh	54904	920-232-3566	Menu
The Bar - The Avenue	427 W. College Ave.	Appleton	54912	920-470-0066	Menu
The Melting Pot	2295 West College Avenue	Appleton	54914	920-739-3533	Menu
The Melting Pot	19850 W. Bluemound Road	Brookfield	53045	262-782-6358	Menu
The Melting Pot	6816 Odana Road	Madison	53719	608-833-5676	Menu
The Osthoff Resort	101 Osthoff Ave.	Elkhart Lake	53020	920-453-8101	Menu




Participating Chef to Plate Restaurants
by City

Restaurant	Street	City	Zip	Phone	Menu
Draganetti's Ristorante	3120 Hillcrest Pkwy	Altoona	54720	715-834-9234	Menu
GingeRootz Asian Grille	2920 N Ballard Rd	Appleton	54911	920-738-9688	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3456 College Ave	Appleton	54914	920-257-2555	Menu
The Bar - The Avenue	427 W. College Ave.	Appleton	54912	920-470-0066	Menu
The Melting Pot	2295 West College Avenue	Appleton	54914	920-739-3533	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	2621 S. Oneida St. Ste. 103	Ashwaubenon	54304	920-405-8888	Menu
Pizza Ranch	1000 Log Lodge Ct.	Baraboo	53913	608-448-2215	Menu
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	831 Park Ave.	Beaver Dam	53916	902-887-7994	Menu
Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurant	Brookfield Sq. Mall - 15 S. Moorland. Rd	Brookfield	53005	262-785-9463	Menu
Jose's Blue Sombrero	20371 W Bluemound Rd	Brookfield	53005	262-432-6667	Menu
Original Pancake House	16460 W. Bluemound Rd.	Brookfield	53005	414-771-3100	Menu
Parkside 23	2300 Pilgrim Square Dr.	Brookfield	53005	262-784-7275	Menu
The Melting Pot	19850 W. Bluemound Road	Brookfield	53045	262-782-6358	Menu
Graystone Ale House	3711 Monroe Rd.	De Pere	54115	920-347-2727	Menu
Broadway Pizza	1920 S Hastings Way	Eau Claire	54701	715-832-5100	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3805 S. Oakwood Mall Dr.	Eau Claire	54701	715-834-2222	Menu
Pizza Ranch	2451 Truax Blvd	Eau Claire	54703	715-514-4143	Menu
Taverna Grill	2839 Mall Dr. Suite 7	Eau Claire	54701	715-835-2845	Menu
The Osthoff Resort	101 Osthoff Ave.	Elkhart Lake	53020	920-453-8101	Menu
Pizza Ranch	28 W. Hidden Trail	Elkhorn	53121	262-723-7880	Menu
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	2949 Triverton Pike Dr.	Fitchburg	53711	608-278-7800	Menu
Pizza Ranch	123 W. Johnson St.	Fond du Lac	54935	920-929-8800	Menu
The Bar - Green Bay	2001 Holmgren Way	Green Bay	54324	920-499-9989	Menu
Pizza Ranch	2206 Main St.	Green Bay	54302	920-468-3555	Menu
Mia Famiglia Italian Ristorante	10049 W. Forest Home Ave	Hales Corners	53130	414-699-9657	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	7214 Green Bay Road Ste 100	Kenosha	53142	262-697-8522	Menu
Nick-N-Willy's Pizza Kenosha	7435 117th Ave Suite A	Kenosha	53142	262-857-8039	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3800 State Rd 16	La Crosse	54601	608-781-2636	Menu
Pizza Ranch	1031 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy	Lake Delton	53940	608-254-8200	Menu
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	1849 Northport Dr.	Madison	53704	608-241-1144	Menu
Bunky's cafe	2425 Atwood Avenue	Madison	53704	608-204-7004	Menu
Huhot Mongolian Grill	610 Junction Rd. Ste 101	Madison	53717	608-827-7110	Menu
The Melting Pot	6816 Odana Road	Madison	53719	608-833-5676	Menu
Pizza Ranch	3212 Calumet Ave	Manitowoc	54220	920-769-0015	Menu
Lammar's Smokehouse BBQ	1504 S. Central Ave	Marshfield	54449	715-384-8620	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	11046 N Port Washington Rd	Mequon	53092	262-241-3450	Menu
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	1109 Fourier Dr	Middleton	53717	608-826-0555	Menu
Imperial Garden West	2039 Allen Blvd	Middleton	53562	608-238-6445	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	4624 27th St.	Milwaukee	53221	414-282-3350	Menu
Original Pancake House	2621 N. Downer Ave	Milwaukee	53211	414-431-5055	Menu
Rodizio Grill	777 North Water St.	Milwaukee	53202	414-431-3106	Menu
Stonefire Pizza Grill	5320 S. Moorland Rd.	New Berlin	53151	262-970-8800	Menu
Pizza Ranch	944 Center Ave	Oostburg	53070	920-564-6333	Menu
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	300 S. Koeller St	Oshkosh	54902	920-230-2300	Menu
The Bar - Oshkosh	825 N. Washburn St.	Oshkosh	54904	920-232-3566	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	11900 108th St	Pleasant Prairie	53158	262-857-3540	Menu
Taste of Africa Restaurant	117 E Main Street	Port Washington	53074	262-268-1007	Menu
Pizza Ranch	2905 New Pinery Rd	Portage	53901	608-566-1750	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	207 Gas Light Dr	Racine	53403	262-635-0533	Menu
Jose's Blue Sombrero	6430 Washington Ave	Racine	53406	262-886-5600	Menu
Pizza Ranch	2670 E. Main St. Park Plaza #4	Reedsburg	53959	608-768-5555	Menu
Pizza Ranch	3518 Kohler Memorial Dr.	Sheboygan	53081	920-395-2506	Menu
Pizza Ranch	628 South Grand Ave	Sun Prairie	53590	608-825-6900	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	2100 E. Moreland Blvd.	Waukesha	53186	262-549-1720	Menu
Key Westconsin	331 Riverfront Plaza	Waukesha	53186	626-446-2346	Menu
Pizza Ranch	900 W. Main	Waupun	53963	920-324-9000	Menu
Chancery Family Pub	6615 West State St.	Wauwatosa	53213	414-453-2300	Menu


Wisconsin's Chef to Plate Participants 2012

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For more Wisconsin GF-Friendly restaurants, please check out our GF Dining Page.

Tags: Chef to Plate, Gluten Intolerance Group

A list of the gluten-free/celiac expos held in Wisconsin.

If you know of an expo not listed here, please let us know via this website or Facebook!

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Washington County Fair Park & Conference Center
3000 Pleasant Valley Road
West Bend, Wisconsin 53095
877-677-5060

Saturday, September 28, 2013
10:00am - 3:00pm

$5 admission - (3 years and under free)

The 2012 event attracted 728 visitors from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois!

http://wiglutenfreeexpo.webs.com/

Tags: Awareness, Education, Expos

Grief was the topic for our January meeting. I usually reserve these articles solely for our newsletters that are distributed to group members, however I felt this was important enough to share with everyone.

If you are struggling with grief and giving up gluten, I hope this of some help.

Thanks!

Al - GIG of ECW Branch Manager.

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Dr. Kenneth Matheson's definition paints a very realistic picture for those that are gluten-free. Our entire world is changed forever once we take the plunge.

I think it's safe to say that every gluten-free person has ridden an emotional roller coaster on their journey to health. People suffer for years [6 – 10 years on average]; endure numerous doctor's office visits and usually walk away with more questions than answers. Frustrating to say the least. The result of finally getting answers to the on-going health issues brings an immediate sigh of relief, almost a giddiness. “WHEW, I finally know what's wrong with me!”

All too quickly that euphoria dissipates. The reality of the situation rears it's ugly head - “What am I going eat and how am I going to handle this?” Convenience – gone. Care-free dining – adios. The joy of family gatherings - replaced with dread and worry. Things that took little or no thought - now rivals the logistics of a Mars Rover launch. Buckle up tight, this is could be a bumpy ride.

Having to go gluten-free means experiencing a massive jumble of emotions. The biggest and probably most complex is grief.

In 1969, Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross shared her experiences working with over 500 terminally ill patients in her well known book “On Death and Dying”. In this book she describes her Kübler-Ross Model [more commonly known as The Five Stages of Grief].

Even though this framework was initially seen in terminally ill patients dealing with their diagnosises, it has been applied to any type of grief/loss situation – loss of a loved one, a divorce, a job, a limb, a pet, a food, an old lifestyle – any life changing event.




The grieving process is important and necessary when someone experiences a significant loss. It's normal, it's natural, it's healthy. It's often hard to look beyond the big black wall that stands before you. As daunting as it is, it must be dealt with. Repressing or suppressing grief is detrimental to our well-being resulting in a variety of emotional and physical symptoms (headaches, gastrointestinal problems, heart palpitations). Just as we are working towards a healthy gluten-free body, we must work on a healthy mind/emotional state as well.

Processing those thoughts, feelings and emotions is intense work, but it helps us to accept what has happened. Grieving forces us to create a “new normal” out of our loss - whatever that new normal may be. We have power to create whatever we wish!

The grief cycle of Denial – Anger – Bargaining - Depression – Acceptance (DABDA) is unique to each individual. Everyone deals with trauma in their own way. These stages are not rigid or sequential in their order. We don't always move through the cycles in the described order, nor do we always experience each and every stage. Transition between the stages can be fluid; subject to the ebb and flow of emotions. Some stages might even be revisited.

Let's take a closer look at each stage and see how it relates to the loss of our gluten-full lifestyle.

Denial – A protection mechanism. It helps us to mask the pain of reality while we figure out how to handle the loss.





Anger – After the denial wears off; reality and pain comes flooding in resulting in anger. This emotion can be directed at anything or anyone, even ourselves. Due to the years of mis-diagnosises, the medical profession often times takes the brunt of the aggression.





Bargaining – The “What If” stage. We start asking questions of ourselves but also a higher spiritual power. We try to seek a compromise in an attempt to regain control of the situation.





Depression – The reality of the situation is becoming even more evident. We start feel sadness, regret, fear, uncertainty. We are preparing ourselves for the “aftermath” of the things to come. We are in the early stages of accepting our new reality.





Acceptance – Not everyone reaches this stage. Some may not even be willing to call it “acceptance”, but a mere “willingness to move forward”. While they may sound similar, there is a difference between truly “owning it” and “just doing what it takes to get by”. When there is full acceptance, there's a sense of calm – a feeling that all will be OK.





Embracement – No, this is not one of the original stages, but others feel [myself included] this should be the sixth and final stage for those living a gluten-free lifestyle. With embracement we focus on the positives and benefits that the gluten-free lifestyle offers. We dive in to our new normal head first. We advocate, educate and help others that we come in contact with.

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Practical Ways to Cope in the
Grieving Process

Dr. Kenneth W. Matheson

http://ce.byu.edu/cw/fuf/archives/2003/Matheson.Ken.pdf

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• Understand and accept the dynamics and process of grieving by reading/self education or by seeking professional counsel.
  
• 
  
• Be honest with yourself about your situation and your emotions.
• 
  
• Be courageous enough to share your feelings.
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• Find a sympathetic, understanding supporter or counselor who can provide feedback and input sorting out hurt, confusion, and feelings and move toward a resolution.
• 
  
• Reduce responsibilities and restricting commitments in order to minimize the stress load.
• 
  
• Don’t feel guilty about your grieving.
• 
  
• Attempt to engage in productive, contributory activities.
• 
  
• Endeavor to help to others who are grieving.

Local support groups have so much to offer when it comes to helping people deal with their new gluten-free life.




My Personal Path

Just as we all react differently to gluten, we all handle the grieving process in our own way and in our own time. A while back, I was asked how I handled the process of ditching gluten. Looking back, I don't feel I went through all of the stages.

Denial – I was sick and seeking answers, no denying something had to change.
Anger – I was upset with the medical profession but realized I had to let that go.
Bargaining – Nope, I was sick and wanted to feel better and would do anything to do so.
Depression – Minor, but I attributed it to being sick, not from giving up gluten.
Acceptance – I was ready to accept anything that made the problem go away.
Embracement – I'm all about that!

Below you will find the things the helped me find gluten-freedom. This was my path to a “new normal” without gluten.

Faith – While it may not be popular to talk about a higher spiritual power, it was an important factor in my own journey. Through-out the entire process, I didn't know why I was going through it, but I knew there was a reason for it. Later I would discover that I was being given a passion and a purpose; what an amazing gift!

Knowledge - I tend to throw myself into things to learn about it. When I was sick, I turned to the internet searching for answers or clues. I find that the more I know about something, the less afraid I become. The less afraid of it, the better I am at figuring out how to handle it.

Creativity – Even before I had to give up gluten I liked to cook. For me cooking is a creative process, much like all the other creative processes I enjoy. I guess I like the process of creating, regardless of what or how it is being created. With cooking I was faced with a challenge of using new [and often times unfamiliar] ingredients to create new and exciting foods as well as re-create healthier versions of old favorites. I was determined not to let gluten win this challenge. Creativity to the rescue!

Support - I was lucky when I stumbled across gluten as a possibility of my problems. I happened upon a discussion board that had a few people that really helped me figure it all out and how to deal with this. I had an online support system.

Not only did I have an online support system, I was lucky enough to have a very supportive spouse, friends and family. I don't think too many people outside of my wife fully knew what I was going through, how scared I was or how sick I really felt.

Having a support system to help you through those dark times is a tremendous advantage. They watch out for you and help guide you when you need guidance. Even though I didn't want to socialize with others, my wife was wily enough to convince me to go hang out with our friends or attend family functions. Once I got there, it did boost my spirits and made me feel better. Perhaps my wife couldn't fully understand what I was going thru [like another gluten intolerant might], but she was a sympathetic ear when I needed to vent, a shoulder to lean on when I wasn't sure I was doing the right thing. When I did need another “insider's” perspective, I had the online people in my corner.

Stepping outside - Throughout the time that I was figuring out my issues, I realized that I was gaining knowledge that could be of use to others. I could take what I was learning and help others. This allowed me to step outside of myself and my own problems.

I started by contributing to the very same online discussion boards that helped me. There were others just starting out – just as lost, dazed and confused as I was. Starting a local support group took the process to another level. It's an amazing feeling.

While it may appear that I was ignoring my own emotional state, I feel “doing for others” helped me to understand & process the feelings I was having. I quickly realized that I getting an extreme emotional boost from helping others. I consider this aspect most important for me. I found that my issues/situation was far from what others were experiencing. I found that I was quite lucky in the grand scheme of things. Pretty soon, things were lookin' pretty good in my household.





Final Thoughts

I don't think anyone likes to experience the pain of a loss. Unfortunately it's a simple fact of life; there is no way to escape it – much like death and taxes. It's just part of the whole “Human Experience”.

Grief is messy, contradictory and confusing, but it gives us a way to make sense of our world and what we are experiencing. It's a way for us to regain control of our lives; it allows us to let go of our sick and unhealthy past and prepare for a better, healthier version that is waiting to be claimed.

We will run into obstacles, we may stumble and fall on our journey. No one ever said the path to gluten-freedom was easy. The important thing is that we always, always always get back up and keep moving forward. We are in control and have the keys to unlock the door to our new life.

Nuova vita! New life!

Until next time...

Al Klapperich - Branch Manager


Other resources used in this article:

The 5 Stages of Loss and Grief
By Julie Axelrod
http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/the-5-stages-of-loss-and-grief/

After a Gluten-related Diagnosis: Grieving and Smiling?
By Ursula Saqui, PhD
http://www.celiaccentral.org/celiac-disease-in-the-news/after-a-gluten-related-diagnosis-grieving-and-smiling-8785/rev--2/

Grieving Gluten: The Five Stages of Loss of Gluten Plus a New One
By gfe's Shirley Braden
http://glutenfreeeasily.com/five-stages-of-loss-of-gluten-plus-one/

Finding a New Normal
By Jan LaPitz
http://heartachetohealing.com/finding-a-new-normal/

Life After Loss: Dealing with Grief
Univ. of Texas at Austin
http://cmhc.utexas.edu/griefloss.html

We all grieve in our own way
By Vaughan Bell
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/nov/25/grief-mourning-psychology-customs

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Tags: Grieving loss of Gluten, Grief, New Normal, Grieving Celiac Diagnosis

Lack of support from family members is something I hear about far too frequently. As disturbing as it is, it's one of the biggest hurdles those of us in the gluten-free community face.

Sadly, this state of affairs is very common. In some cases, it goes beyond a simple lack of support, it crosses over into deliberate sabotage or willful "poisoning" of food.

Those that love us the most, can give us the most trouble about our desire to be at our best. This type of behavior is not limited to the gluten free community; it's quite prevalent in many with chronic health issues.

Fear and Denial and Insanity, oh my!

Why would someone that loves us not want to support us in anything we do - let alone something that might improve our health and quality of life? I suspect there are hundreds or thousands of different answers, unique as the fingerprints of those providing the answers. One of the most common opinions from GF community is fear.

Family members are afraid the health problems we are experiencing are closely connected to their own health struggles. If we are correct about the root cause of our troubles, that just might mean they have to go gluten-zero as well. In terms of celiac disease, it's hereditary, no ifs ands or buts. If you have celiac disease there is a 1 in 22 chance that your immediate family members could have it too, although they may not know it. When it comes to Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, gluten knows no family lines; it's just plain bad for everyone. Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity affects a minimum of 6% of the population. Other medical professionals feel it's closer to 10% and as much as 30%-40%.

Denial is a very good friend of fear; you see them hanging together - a lot. Many family members are in denial - "Oh, I can't possibly have what you have - it's the _____________ ". To be honest, I wasn't any better, I used to blame the grease for my reflux after having a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese from McD's .

While most family members would never say it out loud, some would: "You're crazy!" or "It's all in your head" or "You're a drama queen and just doing it for attention. Get over it!". For many, it is crazy to think that "The Staff of Life", Wonder Bread and his seductive sidekick SuzyQ would cause problems. True confessions, before I gave up gluten, I would've had those same thoughts, however I would've never verbalized them. I have since become a believer. Depending on how gluten affects you, people many not understand or believe how sick you are. All too often we hear "You don't look sick". Often times gluten affects us neurologically, which may not alter our physical appearance. Depression and cognitive issues are very common reactions to gluten consumption.

While I don't profess to have all the answers [or any for that matter], I do have some things that might help you cope with misguided, uncaring and selfish family members. Like my Father-In-Law used to say "You can pick your friends, you can't pick your relatives".


1) Be clear about why you are going gluten-free.

Have a plan, have goals, direction, be specific. "I am gluten-free because ____________". If you don't have a clear idea about why you are doing it, how are others supposed to understand? Without direction, it's easy to get lost. It's like going on a car trip without a map or a GPS. If you already have a definitive diagnosis - your goal is clear cut - GLUTEN ZERO FOR LIFE - no exceptions - ever. If your family won't take your word for it, show them your doctor's office notes and lab results.

Having a medical diagnosis generally adds credibility to your efforts. If you doing dietary trials on your own without a doctor's backing, you're flying without a net. This means you'll need extra resolve to say the course. Strap yourself in, it's going to be a bumpy ride.


2) Take gluten-free seriously.

Sometimes, we're our own worst enemy. To be successful at being gluten-zero, you need commitment and consistency. There's no crying in baseball and there is no cheating when it comes to gluten-zero; it's all or nothing. If you don't take it seriously, how can you expect others to take you seriously? Seriously. They get confused and frustrated by your actions. One time you're gluten-zero, the next time you're eating a BigMac. That type of behavior just doesn't play, your credibility goes right down the toilet [pun intended].

Be aware that your own loved ones may try to sabotage your efforts. They may try to tempt or persuade you back to gluten foods. How many times have you heard "Come on, just one bite won't hurt". How many times have they waved your favorite gluten filled food under your nose or even tried to force it into your mouth? Giving in to that type of behavior, only gives them control - and makes you sicker. Stand fast and hold your ground. Eventually they should tire of it because you won't give in.

If you are doing dietary trials to see if gluten might be causing problems, clearly define how your trial is going to work. I bring up trials because it may involve putting gluten back into your diet - this might confuse your family members. Make sure they know about your plan. If you think you can cover up cheating under the guise of "doing a trial", you won't get away with it too many times.

Note: Before you start an extensive dietary trial, try to get tested first. In order for the tests to be as accurate as possible, you need to be consuming gluten. Click here for more info on testing.

If you are wondering, a trial should last three to six months at a minimum (six months is better). Depending on your symptoms, it may take a while for them to disappear, particularly neurological or skin [Dermatitis Herpetiformis] symptoms. Sometimes changes are subtle when you remove gluten, but very dramatic when you add it back in. I noticed changes on removal, but noticed larger changes when I went back on gluten. I started a 8 week gluten challenge to get blood work done and called it off after 5 days due to the symptoms. It was enough for me to determine that I will be gluten-zero for the rest of my days. I did have intestinal biopsies taken before I started dietary trials [yes, my testing sequence was reversed], no evidence of tissue damage was found. While I do not have a celiac disease diagnosis, a 4 month trial revealed gluten was an issue for me.


3) Communicate & Educate.

As simple as that sounds, I find it's not always done. Sit down with them and explain exactly why you want to explore gluten-freedom (see Tip #1). Be open about what you desire from them, so they know what to expect, they can't read your mind. Ask them for their help and co-operation; ask them to be a part of your team that makes you the best you you can be [I think I can cram a few more yous there, you know?].

If you have trouble expressing yourself verbally, write a letter. Explain to them exactly how you feel, explain what you go thru on a daily basis, how you'd like to get your life back on track and how much it would mean to you to have their support.

Often times people tend to ridicule or dismiss things that they don't understand. If they are open to learning, find information from a reliable website and share it with them. Try not to overwhelm them with too much information. Once their eyes glaze over, you've lost them.

You might find something helpful here:
http://www.gigofecw.org/news/files/educating_about_gluten_free.php
http://www.gluten.net/resources/educational-bulletins


4) Letting go

Let's face it, you might talk and educate until you are blue in the face, there's a possibility they still won't get it. Be confident in the fact that you gave it your best effort. Don't let your emotions consume you over their unwillingness to support you. As hard as it may be, you'll be better off if you just accept it and keep moving forward, focus on getting yourself healthy. Don't let them suck you into their darkness.


5) If support doesn't come to you, you go to the support

OK, so maybe your family is a poster-child for dysfunction; incapable of understanding what you're going thru, refusing to work with you on any level...you need to seek out those that understand and have walked in your shoes. Connecting with others that share similar experiences can make the difference between success and failure.

It's imperative to surround yourself with people who are positive and who are pursuing their own goals. Positivity is contagious - so is loneliness and depression - which would you rather be? Dr. Barbara Fredrickson found a Positivity Ratio of 3:1 a tipping point for human flourishing. This means for every negative feeling, thought, experience, we need a minimum of three positive (love, joy, gratitude, etc) in order to be happy. The ideal ratio is 5:1.

Support comes in many different ways. Today, there is a seemingly endless supply of online communities you can join. The great thing about online communities is that they're always open - ready to accept the latest rant or cheer your most recent accomplishment. If online is not your bailiwick, a local support group is the way to go. While online groups can do wonderful things, nothing beats face-to-face contact. It's hard to replace seeing the look on someone's face, the sound of their voice, and at times, the touch of a hand or hug.

Search for local support groups here:
http://www.gigofecw.org/support/supportgroupwebsites/supportgroupwebsites.html


Good luck in your journey!

Al


Update 11/23/12: Fixed typos and added additional information.

Tags: Family, Support

When it comes to skin/hair/personal care products, gluten-free or gluten-full is a topic that has been debated for many years and continues yet today. It's an epic battle that rivals "Tastes Great - Less Filling". First, let us explore the science side of this.

Tastes Great! [Don't worry, it won't hurt you]

Several celiac experts (Dr. Peter Green - Celiac Disease Center at Columbia Univ., Dr. Stephano Guandalini - Univ. of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, Dr. Alessio Fasano - Univ. of Maryland Center for Celiac Research) say not to worry about gluten in hair/skin care products because the gluten must be consumed in order for it to cause a celiac reaction [villi damage]. Their reasoning, based on scientific evidence - size matters. The gluten proteins are simply too large to be absorbed by your body's largest organ - your skin.

Did you know - skin makes up about 16% of your body weight?

Cynthia Kupper, RD, Executive Director of the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America says:

"While investigating the possible absorption of gluten through the skin, I have talked with many regulatory organizations, and research and development people in the cosmetic industry. They all agree that gluten and all proteins are too large to be absorbed through the skin. Therefore, topical care products that contain gluten do not need to be avoided by persons with CD and DH."

Source:
http://www.glutenfreedietitian.com/newsletter/personal-care-products-do-you-need-to-worry-about-gluten/

According to Dr. Alessio Fasano, Medical Director of the Center for Celiac Research, University of Maryland,

“If you have celiac disease, then the application of gluten containing products to the skin should not be a problem, unless you have skin lesions that allow gluten to be absorbed systemically in great quantities.

Source:
http://www.glutenfreedietitian.com/newsletter/personal-care-products-do-you-need-to-worry-about-gluten/

Tricia Thompson, RD – The Gluten-Free Dietitian says:

"The bottom line: There is no scientific evidence that the use of gluten-containing products that are not ingested is harmful to persons with celiac disease. This includes individuals with dermatitis herpetiformis.

Source:
http://www.glutenfreedietitian.com/newsletter/personal-care-products-do-you-need-to-worry-about-gluten/

Doug Schoon, President of Schoon Scientific (scientific consulting for the cosmetics industry) -

"There is no scientific evidence to support claims that gluten can absorb through the skin. The burden of proof should be on those who make these statements. They should provide credible scientific evidence to back this unlikely claim.

What makes gluten unlikely to absorb? Substances with molecular weights (sizes) approaching 500 daltons are considered very poor skin penetrators because they are so large. Any bigger, they can’t possibly absorb into the skin, so they just sit on the surface. Gluten is huge — about 600 daltons — which is pretty monstrous; 15% larger than the theoretical maximum size.

Also, gluten is a protein and so is skin. Protein is attracted to proteins, so gluten is likely to bond tightly to skin making it more difficult to penetrate. So it has two things going against it. This is just another example of an unfounded cosmetic myth used to frighten people. The same holds true for lipstick. There is little scientific study that supports the notion that gluten in lipstick is a problem for people with Celiac disease."

Source:http://www.nailsmag.com/qa/1124/can-gluten-absorb-through-the-skin

Less Filling! [Hey that hurts!]

Even though science/medicine is telling us gluten cannot be absorbed through the skin - and thus not causing a reaction [ie villi damage], it's hard to ignore the countless number of celiacs/gluten sensitives that report they react to gluten in personal-care products. The reactions people experience are varied, many are topical (redness, itchy, burning, blisters] - due to gluten contact. Absorption is not needed for something like Contact Dermatitis.

Could it be that the experts are using intestinal damage as their only gauge for a reaction? It seems they are saying “If it doesn't cause intestinal damage, there's nothing to worry about.” Does that sound familiar? It should, because the gluten-free community went through this with Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS), where there is no intestinal damage. For years, experts told those with celiac-like symptoms and no villi damage that gluten was not the problem and NCGS didn't exist. Just because science fails to prove existence, doesn't mean that it fails to exist. Guess what - NCGS is now recognized. It does exist, who knew?

Could this be another instance where medicine hasn't caught up or it simply hasn't proven what patients have been experiencing? Not all medical professionals hold the status quo however...

Dr. Rodney Ford, Gastroenterologist & Allergist - Director of The Children's Clinic & The Allergy Centre says

“Do not put food on your skin...Foods are for eating - not for skin care in people with food sensitivity. Although these creams promote that they are “natural”, it is best to put something inert on the skin (such as a fatty cream).”

Source:
http://gluten-freeplanet.blogspot.com/2011/02/do-not-put-food-on-your-skin.html

People's reactions raise several questions:

Are they celiac reactions?
Are there other allergies at play?
Are the reactions irritant dermatitis or allergic dermatitis?
Are they caused by gluten or some other ingredient in the product?
Science has studied only a handful of the proteins in wheat, could there be other proteins causing problems?

So many questions, so few answers.

You have the power

Regardless of the questions, the science, or the experts – you are in control – you can choose to listen to the science or “listen” to what your body is telling you - and make the appropriate choices. If you continue to have unexplained issues or you if you don't feel comfortable using products with gluten, seek out gluten-free personal care products. You just might be surprised at the results!


Ingredients

Stearyldimoniumhydroxyprop-a-what?

If you thought reading packaged food ingredient labels was difficult, it's child's play compared to the shampoo bottle. You'll need a degree in Molecular Chemistry and a secret decoder ring.

Cosmetics are not covered under the FDA's Food allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA). This means wheat, barley, rye and oats do not have to be clearly or plainly listed – instead, they use complex chemical names. Here are some ingredient lists that should help decipher those labels.

Something to keep in mind, the ingredient “fragerance”could be from a gluten source. Even unscented products have fragrance that's used to mask the chemical scent. Also fragerances are considered “trade secrets” and their components do not have to disclosed on the label or on the phone.

I've also included rice, soy, corn, yeast, millet derived ingredients.

Wheat Derived Ingredients

Amp-Isostearoyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein	Triticum Vulgare (wheat) Germ Oil
Cocodimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein	Triticum Vulgare (wheat) Gluten
Disodium Wheatgermamido Peg-2 Sulfosuccinate	Triticum Vulgare (wheat) Starch
Disodium Wheatgermamphodiacetate	Wheat Amino Acids
Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten & Wheat Flour	Wheat Bran Extract
Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein/PVP Crosspolymer	Wheat Germ Extract
Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein Pg-Propyl Silanetriol	Wheat Germ Glycerides
Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch	Wheat Germ Oil
Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein	Wheat Germamidopropalkonium Chloride
Laurdimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein	Wheat Germamidopropyl Ethyldimonium Ethosulfate
Maltodextrin (verify starch source, may not be wheat)	Wheat Protein
Sodium C8-16 Isoalkylsuccinyl Wheat Protein Sulfonate	Wheat (triticum Vulgare) Bran Extract
Stearyldimoniumhydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein	Yeast Extract (verify source, it may not contain gluten)
Triticum Vulgare (wheat) Flour Lipids
Triticum Vulgare (wheat) Germ Extract




Barley Derived Ingredients

Amino Peptide Complex	Hydrolyzed Malt Extract
Barley Extract	Malt Extract
Hordeum Vulgare (barley) Extract	Phytosphingosine Extract




Oat Derived Ingredients

Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour	Hydrolyzed Oat Flour
Avena Sativa (oat) Kernel Protein	Hydrolyzed Oat Protein
Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernal Extract	Oat Beta Glucanoat Extract
Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernal Oil	Oat Flour
Hydrolyzed Oats	Sodium Lauroyl Oat Amino Acids




Soy Derived Ingredients

Glycine Soja (soybean)extract	Peg-16 Soya Sterol
Glycine Soja (soybean)flour	Peg-25 Soya Sterol
Glycine Soja (soybean) Oil	Soy Phospholipids
Glycine Soja (soybean) Protein	Soy Sterol
Hydrogenated Lecithin	Soybean Extract
Hydrogenated Soy Glyceride	Soybean Oil
Hydrolyzed Soy Protein	Soybean Phospholipids
Lecithin	Soybean Sterol
Mixed Soy Phospholipids	Tocopherol
Peg-5 Soya Sterol	Tocopheryl Acetate
Peg-10 Soya Sterol	Tocopheryl Linoleate




Rice Derived Ingredients

Hydrolyzed Rice Extract	Oryzanol
Oryza Sativa (rice) Bran Oil	Rice Bran Oil
Oryza Sativa (rice) Starch	Rice Starch




Yeast Derived Ingredients

Ceramide 2	Saccharomyces Extract
Ceramide 3	Saccharomyces Lysate Extract
Magnesium-Copper-Zinc Glycopeptides	Saccharomyces Magnesium Ferment Extract
Magnesium/Iron/Zinc/Copper/Silicon/ Glyconucleopeptides	Saccaromyces/Magnesium Ferment Hydrolysate
Magnesium-Selenium-Copper-Zinc Glycopeptides	Saccaromyces/Potassium Ferment Hydrolysate
Silicon-Zinc-Copper-Iron-Magnesium Yeast Glycopeptides	Saccharomyces Zinc Ferment Extract
Saccharomyces Calcium Ferment Extract	Yeast Extract Yeast Protein
Saccharomyces/Copper Ferment




Corn Derived Ingredients

Aluminum Starch Octenyl Succinate	Corn Starch
Ascorbic Acid	Corn Starch Modified
Ascorbyl Palmitate	Corn (zea Mays) Oil
Caramel	Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil
Corn Flour	Sodium Ascorbate
Corn Oil	Zea Mays (corn) Kernel Extract




Companies with Gluten-Free Products

Acure Organics	Hugo Naturals
Afterglow Cosmetics – All GF	Intelligent Nutrients
Alterna	John Masters
Arbonne	Jonathan Product
BIOMEGA	Costco's Kirkland
DermaOrganic	Max Green Alchemy
Desert Essence	Morrocco Method – Vegan/GF
Dove - Derivatives of gluten will be clearly labeled if present in the product.	No Gluten Natural Girl Products
Ecco Bella	Organique
Finess	Original Sprout
Garnier	Renpure
Gluten-Free Savonerrie	Bella
Griffin Remedy	Suave - Any wheat, barley, rye or oat ingredient will be clearly labeled.
HBL	Surface – Salon quality
Head Organics	Synergy
Hempz	Unite
	Wen - Only the pomegranate is gluten free

Maybelline Gluten Containing Ingredients

Avena Sativa (Oat) Bran	Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch
Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract	Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein
Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour	Laurdimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein
Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Oil	Malt Extract
Cocodimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein	Maltodextrin
Cyclodextrin	Secale Cereale (Rye) Seed Flour
Dextrin	Sodium C8-16 Isoalkylsuccinyl Wheat Protein Sulfonate
Dextrin Palmitate	Sodium Lauroyl Oat Amino Acid
Disodium Wheat Germamphodiacetate	Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Extract
Hordeum Vulgare Extract	Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil
Hydrolyzed Malt Extract	Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Gluten
Hydrolyzed Oat Flour	Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Starch
Hydrolyzed Oat Protein	Wheat Amino Acids
Hydrolyzed Oats	Wheat Germ Glycerides
Hydrolyzed Wheat Flour	Wheat Germamidopropalkonium Chloride
Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten	Wheat Protein
Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein	Wheatgermamidopropyl Ethyldimonium Ethosulfate
Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein / PVP Crosspolymer	Yeast Extract

Maybelline states they do not maintain a gluten-free list. Consumers need to read the ingredient lists of their products in order to determine the status.


Sources used in this post:
http://www.weareglutenfree.com/gluten-free-shampoo-and-conditioner/

http://www.delightglutenfree.com/feeling-beautifulwithout-gluten

http://www.theceliacdiva.com/gluten-free-shampoo-conditioner/

~~~oOo~~~


Gluten in Cosmetics: Results of Testing on Lipsticks and Lotions

Inadvertent gluten ingestion from skin care products is a concern for those maintaining a gluten-zero lifestyle.

Two potential sources of ingestion are lotions and lipsticks. Tricia Thompson, MS, RD from Gluten-Free Watchdog and Thomas Grace decided to do gluten testing on two lotions and four lipsticks that contained gluten derived ingredients. This was a very small test, but I think the results will surprise you.

Sandwich and Competitive R5 ELISA test results on all six products returned less than 5 ppm and less than 10 ppm respectively. This means the products tested below detectable limits for each type of test.

To see the full results and get the authors' comments:
http://www.glutenfreedietitian.com/newsletter/2012/09/03/gluten-in-cosmetics-results-of-testing-on-lipsticks-and-lotions/


Updated 3/10/13

Tags: Gluten-Free Hair Care, Gluten-Free Cosmetics, Gluten Contact Dermatitis, Gluten Daltons

The 2012 holidays are upon us, here is a list of turkeys that are gluten-free. If a turkey isn't on this list, it maybe gluten-free, it just means it wasn't checked.

Always, always, always check the ingredient list! If you are unsure, call the manufacturer and ask questions.

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Jenni-O is a Hormel Company. Hormel will clearly gluten (wheat, barley/malt, rye, oats).


http://www.jennieo.com/products/125-All-Natural-Fresh-Whole-Turkey
http://www.jennieo.com/products/149-Premium-Basted-Whole-Turkey-Fresh

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http://www.honeysucklewhite.com/FaqNutrition.aspx#nutrition1

Does Honeysuckle White® Turkey contain gluten or MSG?
All of our products are free of MSG.

The majority of Honeysuckle White® products do not contain Gluten. However, the following list of products do contain Gluten:

Teriyaki Flavor Turkey Breast Tenderloin
Frozen Italian Style Meatballs
Fresh Italian Style Turkey Meatballs

Always refer to product packaging for accurate ingredient statements.

We don't use flour on the conveyor belts in any of our Honeysuckle White® processing plants.

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Their gluten-free list as of 04/05/12:

http://www.perdue.com/uploadedFiles/Perdue-Retail-Gluten-Free-List-040512.pdf

ALL FRESH, MINIMALLY PROCESSED CHICKEN AND TURKEY WHOLE BIRDS AND PARTS (LEGS, BREASTS, WINGS, AND GIBLETS) ARE GLUTEN-FREE.If you have any further questions or concerns, please call us toll-free at 1-800-4PERDUE® (1-800-473-7383) Monday thru Friday 9:30am to 6:00pm EST or email us at www.perdue.com®.

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http://www.butterball.com/contact-us

Do Butterball® products contain any allergens like gluten?
Butterball product labels let consumers know whether any of the top eight allergens may be present in the product. For example, a label may read “contains wheat and dairy.” Specifically, gluten is not present naturally in turkey. Only two of our retail products currently contain gluten: Butterball® Frozen Italian Style Meatballs and Butterball® Frozen Stuffed Turkey. Our gravy has been reformulated to eliminate gluten, but certain gravy packets may still contain gluten; it will be listed on the ingredient statement. Give us a call or use the contact us form on this page if you’d like to check on a specific product.

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http://www.HoneyBakedOnline.com/HBOnline/Shop/Help.asp?Ref=21126446:1951070990#10

Do your hams or turkey breast contain glutens?
We have reformulated our glaze to be considered free of allergens. This means our hams and turkey breasts DO NOT contain glutens.

Tags: Turkey, Thanksgiving, Holiday

Don't miss Wisconsin's Chef to Plate Participants 2013


Chef to Plate - Celebrating Restaurants Serving Up Gluten-Free Awareness” is a project of the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America.

The purpose of this international campaign is to spread awareness of celiac disease and gluten intolerances in partnership with gluten-free friendly restaurants. It's a great way to celebrate May - Celiac Awareness Month.

The 2011 campaign was able to spread awareness to more than 7 million people around the world! That was more than double the 2010 outreach figures. Participating countries include USA, Canada, Turkey and the Czech Republic.

Be sure to check out the full 2012 Participating Restaurants List or a really cool map from The Celiac Scene.

A BIG gluten-free THANK YOU to all those participating!

Please remember that dining out is not without risk. Even though these restaurants are participating in Chef to Plate, you still need to investigate and ask questions of the managers, chefs, and/or servers. Knowledge level of gluten-free can vary between restaurants [even within chains]. If you are not comfortable with their answers, do not eat there.


GIG of ECW has created a handy-dandy list of Wisconsin's 2012 participating restaurants...

Participating Chef to Plate Restaurants
by Restaurant

Restaurant	Street	City	ST	Zip	Phone
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	831 Park Ave.	Beaver Dam	WI	53916	902-887-7994
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	1109 Fourier Dr	Middleton	WI	53717	608-826-0555
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	2949 Triverton Pike Dr.	Fitchburg	WI	53711	608-278-7800
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	300 S. Koeller St	Oshkosh	WI	54902	920-230-2300
Broadway Pizza	1920 S Hastings Way	Eau Claire	WI	54701	715-832-5100
Bunky's cafe	2425 Atwood Avenue	Madison	WI	53704	608-204-7004
Carlos O'Kelly's Mexican Café	9396 State Road 16	Onalaska	WI	54650	608-783-1782
Cheeseburger in Paradise	1601 Aspen Cmns	Middleton	WI	53562	608-831-2413
Figaro Pizza	901 N US HWY 141	CRIVITZ	WI	54114	715-854-3399
Figaro's Pizza	231 S Main St	Verona	WI	53593	608-848-3111
GingeRootz Asian Grille	2920 N Ballard Rd	Appleton	WI	54911	920-738-9688
Huhot Mongolian Grill	2621 S. Oneida St. Ste. 103	Ashwaubenon	WI	54304	920-405-8888
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3800 State Rd 16	La Crosse	WI	54601
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3805 S. Oakwood Mall Dr.	Eau Claire	WI	54701	715-834-2222
Huhot Mongolian Grill	610 Junction Rd. Ste 101	Madison	WI	53717	608-827-7110
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3456 College Ave	Appleton	WI	54914	920-257-2555
Huhot Mongolian Grill	7214 Green Bay Road Ste 100	Kenosha	WI	53142	262-697-8522
Mia Famiglia Italian Ristorante	10049 W. Forest Home Ave	Hales Corners	WI	53130	414-699-9657
Mia Famiglia Italian Ristorante	5640 S St. Marys Drive	New Berlin	WI	53151
Nick-n-Willy's Pizza	1143 E Johnson St	Fond du Lac	WI	54935	920.322.6425
Nick-N-Willy's Pizza Kenosha	7435 117th Ave Suite A	Kenosha	WI	53142	262-857-8039
Ristorante Bartolotta	7616 W State St	Wauwatosa	WI	53213	414-771-7910
Smiling Moose Deli	329 RiverFront Terrace	Eau Claire	WI	54703	715-838-9999
Taste of Africa Restaurant	117 E Main Street	Port Washington	WI	53074	262-268-1007
The Melting Pot	6816 Odana Road	Madison	WI	53719	608-833-5676
The Melting Pot	2295 West College Avenue	Appleton	WI	54914	920-739-3533
The Melting Pot	19850 W. Bluemound Road	Brookfield	WI	53045	262-782-6358





Participating Chef to Plate Restaurants
by City

Restaurant	Street	City	ST	Zip	Phone
GingeRootz Asian Grille	2920 N Ballard Rd	Appleton	WI	54911	920-738-9688
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3456 College Ave	Appleton	WI	54914	920-257-2555
The Melting Pot	2295 West College Avenue	Appleton	WI	54914	920-739-3533
Huhot Mongolian Grill	2621 S. Oneida St. Ste. 103	Ashwaubenon	WI	54304	920-405-8888
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	831 Park Ave.	Beaver Dam	WI	53916	902-887-7994
The Melting Pot	19850 W. Bluemound Road	Brookfield	WI	53045	262-782-6358
Figaro Pizza	901 N US HWY 141	CRIVITZ	WI	54114	715-854-3399
Broadway Pizza	1920 S Hastings Way	Eau Claire	WI	54701	715-832-5100
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3805 S. Oakwood Mall Dr.	Eau Claire	WI	54701	715-834-2222
Smiling Moose Deli	329 RiverFront Terrace	Eau Claire	WI	54703	715-838-9999
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	2949 Triverton Pike Dr.	Fitchburg	WI	53711	608-278-7800
Nick-n-Willy's Pizza	1143 E Johnson St	Fond du Lac	WI	54935	920.322.6425
Mia Famiglia Italian Ristorante	10049 W. Forest Home Ave	Hales Corners	WI	53130	414-699-9657
Huhot Mongolian Grill	7214 Green Bay Road Ste 100	Kenosha	WI	53142	262-697-8522
Nick-N-Willy's Pizza Kenosha	7435 117th Ave Suite A	Kenosha	WI	53142	262-857-8039
Huhot Mongolian Grill	3800 State Rd 16	La Crosse	WI	54601
Bunky's cafe	2425 Atwood Avenue	Madison	WI	53704	608-204-7004
Huhot Mongolian Grill	610 Junction Rd. Ste 101	Madison	WI	53717	608-827-7110
The Melting Pot	6816 Odana Road	Madison	WI	53719	608-833-5676
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	1109 Fourier Dr	Middleton	WI	53717	608-826-0555
Cheeseburger in Paradise	1601 Aspen Cmns	Middleton	WI	53562	608-831-2413
Mia Famiglia Italian Ristorante	5640 S St. Marys Drive	New Berlin	WI	53151
Carlos O'Kelly's Mexican Café	9396 State Road 16	Onalaska	WI	54650	608-783-1782
Benvenuto's Italian Grill	300 S. Koeller St	Oshkosh	WI	54902	920-230-2300
Taste of Africa Restaurant	117 E Main Street	Port Washington	WI	53074	262-268-1007
Figaro's Pizza	231 S Main St	Verona	WI	53593	608-848-3111
Ristorante Bartolotta	7616 W State St	Wauwatosa	WI	53213	414-771-7910





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For more Wisconsin GF-Friendly restaurants, please check out our GF Dining Page.

Tags: Chef to Plate, Gluten Intolerance Group

A list of the gluten-free/celiac expos held in Wisconsin.

If you know of an expo not listed here, please let us know via this website or Facebook!

Check out the 2013 Expo Page.

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Washington County Fair Park & Conference Center
3000 Pleasant Valley Road
West Bend, Wisconsin 53095
877-677-5060

Saturday, September 29, 2012
10:00am - 3:00pm

$5 admission - (3 years and under free)

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11/1/12 - To my knowledge this Expo has been cancelled. Sorry, no details at this time.

Howard Johnson Conference Center
2101 North Mountain Rd.
Wausau WI, 54401
715-842-0711 • 800-928-7281

November 3rd 2012
Expo Hours: 9:00am- 3:00pm

With Guest Speakers at
10:00am
12:00 noon
2:00 pm

Tags: Awareness, Education, Expos

Notes from FVC meeting - GF Friendly Restaurants

Peg and I attended the March meeting of the Fox Valley Celiac Support Group. This meeting had representatives from 7 different area restaurants explaining their GF menu options and how they provide those options.

We also got to meet Andi and her husband from Manitowoc County Celiac Support Group. She's the one that tipped me off to this meeting! Thanks Andi and thanks FVCSG!

Restaurants represented:

Chef Michael Short - Cafe Bon Appétit (Lawrence University)
Nicole - Happy Joes
Joe Zehren - The Bar
Dona & Mary (baker) - Plum Hill
Shirley - Sangria's Mexican Grill
Doris - GingeRootz Asian Grille
Corporate Chef Foster Deadman - Supple Group (Fratello's, Melting Pot, Red & White, Dockside, etc..)

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Chef Michael Short

Bon Appetit is a national food service management company.

They don't advertise it, but this cafe is open to the public.

Scratch cooking

"Made without Gluten" logo - Focus on naturally GF foods.

Have GF pasta, bread, buns, cookies, brownies, etc available for students

Take pride in training their staff. Servers get hours of training each semester.

Their catering dept has much more control over their foods. They've done GF weddings, luncheons, meetings, etc.

Lawrence University
Cafe' Bon Appetit - Andrew Commons
711 East Boldt Way Appleton, Wisconsin 54911
(920) 832-7000
http://www.cafebonappetit.com/menu/your-cafe/lawrence

---

Corporate Chef Foster Deadman

GF diners are not a burden!

Very well trained staff.

Fratello's everything scratched made - will modify dishes to make it GF.

Even Golden Corral is scratch made, however there is a higher CC issue due to the buffet style. GC is the riskiest place due to the customer contact with the food.

I was very impressed with Chef Foster's presentation.

Note: Melting Pot is a member of GIG's Gluten Free Restaurant Awareness Program

Fratello's Appleton Menu
Fratello's Oshkosh Menu
Melting Pot - Appleton GF Menu

The Supple Group of Restaurants
http://supplerestaurantgroup.com/

---

Dona Nie, Manager
Mary Pahl, Baker

My apologies, my notes are sparse on Plum Hill as I was speaking to Chef Foster.

All soup bases will now be GF.

Any sandwich can be made GF

Mondays are GF bake days - Separate prep area for GF Baking

Oats = Bob's Red Mill certified oats.

Designated cutting boards, knives, utensils - all color coded.

Plum Hill Cafe
313 Dodge Street
Kaukauna, Wi 54130
Telephone: 920.766.9090
http://www.plumhillcafe.com/

---

Doris, Owner

Fell in to the GF options. Had lots of requests for GF. 2007 started a GF menu.

Changed menu around just for GF

Tell the staff if you are celiac/have allergy so the entire process is GF [properly address CC issues]. They are seeing customers eating GF for various reasons. Some are celiacs, some want to remove gluten because they feel better without, some want to eat healthier.

Have separate GF woks

An allergen order is clipped so staff knows this order must be handled differently. The remains in place thru the entire process.

Looking into getting special plates for GF food so it easy to recognize.

Trying to convert entire kitchen to GF, but they are running in to taste differences between NGF and GF dishes. They are trying to maintain the same taste and quality.

Will do customer orders even if menu item is not marked as GF.

#1 staff training is for GF.

5 - 10% of weekly guests are GF.

GingeRootz
2920 N Ballard Road
Appleton, WI 54912
(920) 738-9688
http://www.gingerootz.com/

---

Nicole, Manager

2 teammates have CD.

Only have small GF pizzas

Separate utensils,etc for GF - color coded

Separate prep area for GF pizza

Dedicated oven for GF pizza (3rd oven is GF)

Crust is frozen and made off site

All toppings are GF except meatballs

All dressings are on salad bar are GF (as with all buffet-style layouts, must be mindful of cross contamination)

Standardized training nationwide

Happy Joe's Pizza
3401 East Evergreen Dr
Appleton, WI 54913
920-954-6000
http://www.happyjoes.com/stores.php?action=ViewStore&storeid=81

---

Joe Zehren, Owner

Joe's niece has CD. His sister was telling him how hard is was to eat out. They educated themselves on cross contamination issues, ingredients, etc. Also worked with Festival Foods. [they have knowledgable RDs on staff].

Dedicated friers

Color coded kitchen

Pizza toppings are taken from "clean" stock [not from the line]

Udi's buns and bread. They have special MONSTER sized loaves of bread! 2x - 3x larger than consumer bread!! They will sell buns, bread and pizza crusts. A loaf of bread is 10.72 - not really a bad deal considering. Pizza crusts are 2.25 - 2.50. Just call and ask for the kitchen manager.

The Bar's Menu

The Bar
Appleton - The Avenue • Appleton - Lynndale
Green Bay - Lime Kiln • Green Bay - Holmgren Way
Oshkosh • Wausau
http://meetatthebar.com/

---

Shirley

Lots of options - over 600 different combinations

Have laminated GF menus

Staff is trained

Kitchen shuts down for special tickets - pull clean pans, special grill, dedicated fryer,

Chips & Salsa, Bean Dip are all GF

Sauces are GF

Soups are GF - home made

Burritos, tacos & enchiladas can be made GF

Fajitas are popular item

Have GF desserts

Sangria's Mexican Grill
700 North Koeller Street Oshkosh, WI 54902
(920) 230-6818
http://www.sangriasmexicangrill.com/index.html

For more area GF dining options checkout our Dining Page.

Tags: GF dining, GF Friendly Restaurants

Holidays and special family events are supposed to be filled with fun, laughter and lightheartedness. For those of us with dietary requirements, often times it met with dread and fear - with good reason.

Easter is only one week away. In many families, this means Easter Dinner at someone's house other than your own. Oh the humanity...

~~

Not only was today Palm Sunday, but it was also First Communion in our church. The kitchen and fellowship hall was a-buzz with activity.

A family was holding their First Communion celebration in the fellowship hall and everyone was bringing their contributions to the feast: deviled eggs, sliced ham, calico beans, sloppy joes, cakes, pies and desserts of all types. OH MY!

As I was watching all of this food pour in, I'm thinking...OMG what a gluten-free nightmare...

Peg and I were in the kitchen cleaning up from communion, we were invited to take part in celebratory feast. A family member knows I am gluten-free and said "Oh gosh, I'm sorry, we don't have any gluten-free buns, but there's plenty of other things for you...". We politely declined, but really appreciated the heartfelt invitation.

Dining out in a restaurant is hard, but I think eating at someone's house or a hosted event is even harder. Most times the host/hostess are unfamiliar with the gluten-free diet and the concept of cross contamination. Even professionally trained chefs may not always know the ins-and-outs of a gluten-free diet.

It's all about education.

I don't blame friends, family and loved ones for not knowing about gluten-free. In fact, it's our [the gluten-free community] responsibility to impart that knowledge to them. If we don't do the education, who will?

In the end, if the people in our lives do not know how to accommodate our needs, we have no one else to blame but ourselves - to a certain degree.

Of course there are some people that just don't get it no matter how hard we try. If we've done our best to educate and it is just not sticking - at least we gave it our best shot. Sometimes family can be the hardest to get through to.

The whole education process doesn't happen overnight. Of course, we have to make allowances [bring our own food, eat before hand, etc] until we are comfortable in their knowledge and abilities. Sadly, in some cases, that day may never come, despite our best efforts.

Since 2003, I've had a lot of "educational opportunities" with our friends and family. They now know and understand cross contamination, they will verify products/ingredients with me, even save the labels for me to inspect. My family and friends have been very good about learning and making things safe for me. I connect with enough of the gluten-free community to know their behavior is not the norm. I am lucky...or...have I simply done a good job at educating them. I suspect it's a little of both.

Even though my family and friends are very good, I always bring at least one dish that I know is safe. Often times, I'll bring a second dish of the same food just for me that won't be put out for the masses. Also, we try to host as many family events as we can so we have as much control as possible.

I'd like to share some of the tools I've used to educate my friends and family members....

Living Gluten Free for Dummies by Danna Korn - I highly recommend this book. I see this book as a continuation or update of her Wheat free Worry Free book. It also goes a bit further in depth on certain subjects. There is no need to own both. Get this one if you don't have either book. Again, a great book to loan out.

Wheat Free Worry Free by Danna Korn - I got this book shortly after I went GF. Danna has a great persona in her books. Her style is very conversational, easy to read and fun! She includes humor in her books, which I think is a great idea. This is a great book to give to friends and loved ones. Often times they have a hard time understanding what you're going thru and why you have to do it. I lent this to my Mom, after that, she seemed to "get it"...or at least stopped questioning why I couldn't have ___________ ;).

A Celiac is Coming For Dinner - This is a nice article from Caryn Taity about accommodating gluten-free guests. I have given this article to several family and friends.

Cooking for Gluten-Free Family or Friends - Amy Leger [aka The Savvy Celiac], covers some of the basics.

A Day in the Life - Living in a Mixed House - This is an article I had written several years ago for this support group. It explains how we handle having gluten in the house. This is knowledge and experience I have gained over the years - much of it I've imparted to friends and family members.

So, You Want to Bake Gluten-Free Cookies - I created this for a few non-gluten-free people that wanted to bake GF cookies. We put together a GF Cookie Baking Kit: This document that included the recipes, the proper amount of GF flour for a specific amount of cookies. I cover the basics of gluten, gluten-free baking and cross contamination - enough information so they can safely make GF cookies for someone. Note: You can tell by the logo, this was done before we became a Gluten Intolerance Group branch in May 2011

Celiac Disease - Stuff you should know, but didn't know to ask - A presentation I did for our church. Since our Pastor is also gluten-free I wanted to educate the other members. This presentation covers the history of celiac disease, what it is, what is gluten, is there a safe amount of gluten, cross contamination. Our church now has a completely gluten-free communion. Since the host is gluten-free so there is no chance of cross contamination. Note: You can tell by the logo, this was done before we became a Gluten Intolerance Group branch in May 2011

Tags: Education, Gluten-Free, Family

I came across a Google Search looking for the number of celiacs in Wisconsin.

Now there could be a few variations of this question:

How many diagnosed celiacs?
How many potential celiacs?

Since I don't have time to research "How many diagnosed celiacs", I'm going to answer "How many potential celiacs?". Since we know the general prevalence of celiac, we can calculate an estimate.


First we start with population of Wisconsin

According to the 2010 US Census Bureau, Wisconsin has a population of 5,686,986.


Next we need the prevalence of celiac disease

A 2003 ground breaking medical study conducted by Dr. Fasano determined that ...

1 in 133 of normal, healthy people have Celiac Disease [most do not know it].
1 in 56 of those that have related symptoms.
1 in 39 of those that have a 2nd degree relative [aunt or cousin] with Celiac Disease.
1 in 22 in those that have a 1st degree relative [parent or sibling] with Celiac Disease.

Celiac Disease affects about 1% (3 million) of the population in the USA.


Time to fire up the calculator

If we apply the 1 in 133 - we get an estimate of 42,759 people
If we apply the 1% - we get an estimate of 56,869 people that potentially could have CD

We can estimate the number of diagnosed. According to Dr. Peter Green only about 10% of the 1% are actually diagnosed.

If we apply 10% to the 1% - we get an estimate of 5,686 diagnosed celiacs in Wisconsin.

A bit more math reveals this: approximately 51,183 people are currently undiagnosed.


Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity aka The Gluten Syndrome

Would you like to see an even larger number? It estimated that Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity affects anywhere from 6% to 40% of the population.

6% of 5,686,986 = 341,219 people that gluten affects adversely.
40% of 5,686,986 = 2,274,794 people that gluten affects adversely

That's a lot of people! Now, let's calculate the healthcare dollars chewed up because of gluten. Ooops, I don't have a calculator big enough for that task! "Hello NASA? Yeah, this is Al from GIG of ECW..."

If you'd like to calculate the numbers of your home town, check out our Celiac Disease/Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity Calculator.

Would you like to see these numbers broken down by county? Here ya go...
,

Wisconsin Counties
Estimated number of people with Celiac & NCGS

County	2010 Census Population	Est. # of Celiacs 1%	Est. # of DX Celiacs 10% of 1%	NCGS 6%	NCGS 10%	NCGS 40%
Adams	20,875	209	21	1,253	2,088	8,350
Ashland	16,157	162	16	969	1,616	6,463
Barron	45,870	459	46	2,752	4,587	18,348
Bayfield	15,014	150	15	901	1,501	6,006
Brown	248,007	2,480	248	14,880	24,801	99,203
Buffalo	13,587	136	14	815	1,359	5,435
Burnett	15,457	155	15	927	1,546	6,183
Calumet	48,971	490	49	2,938	4,897	19,588
Chippewa	62,415	624	62	3,745	6,242	24,966
Clark	34,690	347	35	2,081	3,469	13,876
Columbia	56,833	568	57	3,410	5,683	22,733
Crawford	16,644	166	17	999	1,664	6,658
Dane	488,073	4,881	488	29,284	48,807	195,229
Dodge	88,759	888	89	5,326	8,876	35,504
Door	27,785	278	28	1,667	2,779	11,114
Douglas	44,159	442	44	2,650	4,416	17,664
Dunn	43,857	439	44	2,631	4,386	17,543
Eau Claire	98,736	987	99	5,924	9,874	39,494
Florence	4,423	44	4	265	442	1,769
Fond du Lac	101,633	1,016	102	6,098	10,163	40,653
County	2010 Census Population	Est. # of Celiacs 1%	Est. # of DX Celiacs 10% of 1%	NCGS 6%	NCGS 10%	NCGS 40%
Forest	9,304	93	9	558	930	3,722
Grant	51,208	512	51	3,072	5,121	20,483
Green	36,842	368	37	2,211	3,684	14,737
Green Lake	19,051	191	19	1,143	1,905	7,620
Iowa	23,687	237	24	1,421	2,369	9,475
Iron	5,916	59	6	355	592	2,366
Jackson	20,449	204	20	1,227	2,045	8,180
Jefferson	83,686	837	84	5,021	8,369	33,474
Juneau	26,664	267	27	1,600	2,666	10,666
Kenosha	166,426	1,664	166	9,986	16,643	66,570
Kewaunee	20,574	206	21	1,234	2,057	8,230
La Crosse	114,638	1,146	115	6,878	11,464	45,855
Lafayette	16,836	168	17	1,010	1,684	6,734
Langlade	19,977	200	20	1,199	1,998	7,991
Lincoln	28,743	287	29	1,725	2,874	11,497
Manitowoc	81,442	814	81	4,887	8,144	32,577
Marathon	134,063	1,341	134	8,044	13,406	53,625
Marinette	41,749	417	42	2,505	4,175	16,700
Marquette	15,404	154	15	924	1,540	6,162
Menominee	4,232	42	4	254	423	1,693
County	2010 Census Population	Est. # of Celiacs 1%	Est. # of DX Celiacs 10% of 1%	NCGS 6%	NCGS 10%	NCGS 40%
Milwaukee	947,735	9,477	948	56,864	94,774	379,094
Monroe	44,673	447	45	2,680	4,467	17,869
Oconto	37,660	377	38	2,260	3,766	15,064
Oneida	35,998	360	36	2,160	3,600	14,399
Outagamie	176,695	1,767	177	10,602	17,670	70,678
Ozaukee	86,395	864	86	5,184	8,640	34,558
Pepin	7,469	75	7	448	747	2,988
Pierce	41,019	410	41	2,461	4,102	16,408
Polk	44,205	442	44	2,652	4,421	17,682
Portage	70,019	700	70	4,201	7,002	28,008
Price	14,159	142	14	850	1,416	5,664
Racine	195,408	1,954	195	11,724	19,541	78,163
Richland	18,021	180	18	1,081	1,802	7,208
Rock	160,331	1,603	160	9,620	16,033	64,132
Rusk	14,755	148	15	885	1,476	5,902
St. Croix	84,345	843	84	5,061	8,435	33,738
Sauk	61,976	620	62	3,719	6,198	24,790
Sawyer	16,557	166	17	993	1,656	6,623
Shawano	41,949	419	42	2,517	4,195	16,780
Sheboygan	115,507	1,155	116	6,930	11,551	46,203
County	2010 Census Population	Est. # of Celiacs 1%	Est. # of DX Celiacs 10% of 1%	NCGS 6%	NCGS 10%	NCGS 40%
Taylor	20,689	207	21	1,241	2,069	8,276
Trempealeau	28,816	288	29	1,729	2,882	11,526
Vernon	29,773	298	30	1,786	2,977	11,909
Vilas	21,430	214	21	1,286	2,143	8,572
Walworth	102,228	1,022	102	6,134	10,223	40,891
Washburn	15,911	159	16	955	1,591	6,364
Washington	131,887	1,319	132	7,913	13,189	52,755
Waukesha	389,891	3,899	390	23,393	38,989	155,956
Waupaca	52,410	524	52	3,145	5,241	20,964
Waushara	24,496	245	24	1,470	2,450	9,798
Winnebago	166,994	1,670	167	10,020	16,699	66,798
Wood	74,749	747	75	4,485	7,475	29,900
Totals	5,686,986	56,870	5,687	341,219	568,699	2,274,794





Tags: Prevalence of Celiac Disease, Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, The Gluten Syndrome

We were lucky enough to have Shannon [one of our members] treat us with a sampling of goodies from:


Happy Bellies Bake Shop
105 North Durkee St.
Appleton, WI 54911
920-851-7771





There were so many treats it was hard to decide which one to try first!

Please - resist the urge to lick your monitor...

Cinnamon Cookies




Almond Granola





Jammies & Cutout Cookies




Cherry Oat Bars & Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies





Chocolate Almond Cookies & Jammies

"At Happy Bellies Bake Shop (formerly Gluten Be Gone), we offer fresh, handmade, and all natural baked goods for those of you who are trying to find a tasty treat in a world full of refined sugar, flour and in Wisconsin, a land full of dairy!

For those of you who do not have a specific food allergy, GOOD news - our baked goods taste awesome enough for you too. We don’t believe in holding back when it comes to desserts, so when you’re eating a healthier version of your favorite treats, you can indulge more often!

Our mission is to bake nutritious allergy free desserts and treats with the most natural [non-GMO] and healthy ingredients possible to ensure each item is healthful and affordable, without compromising any flavor.

Thanks Shannon and Happy Bellies!

Most of the samples we get for the group are food-based - imagine that!

While this sample is not directly edible, the end results from this cookbook appear to be very edible!

[I suppose you could eat this book if you wanted to, but it probably would not be very good eats. Besides, if you ate it, you wouldn't be able to create the really good eats found inside!]

I came home for lunch on Friday and this found on our front-step. I haven't had a chance to actually try any of the recipes, but I did have a chance to look through it on Saturday while I waited for my van to get repaired.

[The nice county police officer felt the need to pull me over to tell me my driver-side headlight was out. I really didn't know...]

Barbara shares a bit of her story in the first five pages of the book. She tells us how and why she came to write "The Intolerant Gourmet: Glorious Food Without Gluten & Lactose". I must say, I like her philosophy!

"Many of us are intolerant of bad food, ersatz food, and poor cooking. Despite my problems and my character, I have found that I can cook excellent food and, on my way to this happy present, I have learned a great deal about the art, theory, and practice of using unfamiliar ingredients and making things that are delicious."

"Those of us who are Intolerant Gourmets - either of gluten, lactose or both - tend to think that we have a disease and perhaps even a curse. In truth, while it is a disease and difficult to live with, it may be a blessing in disguise."

"Food is not just about flavor. It is also about sensation ... Butter and cream are hard to replace; but as I have tested recipes and written this book, I am constantly endeavoring to find equivalent replacements for the pleasure."

"This is a book that will satisfy your need for mashed potatoes and other buttery dishes and pasta - but not with substitutes and eccentricities. It is meant to serve as an all-purpose cookbook for us intolerants and our intolerant friends and family."

"New or old I hope that readers will tolerate me and enjoy the food. They don't have to be Intolerant Gourmets to do so. This food is to be shared by all."

Perhaps the reason I like Barbara's philosophy, is because it appears to be close to my own. I like to cook - so when I figured out that gluten needed to be removed, I chose to take up the gauntlet that was presented to me. All too often, members of the gluten-free community hear that gluten-free food is terrible, awful and just plain gross. I beg to differ! In order to change that perception, we [Peg and myself] share recipes and photos of the dishes we create on this website, the group's Facebook page and our own personal Facebook pages. We also take every opportunity we can to let gluten-eating people try gluten-free foods. More times than not we hear "Wow! This is really good!". There is a whole world of naturally gluten-free good eats out there - we just need to broaden our horizons a bit - perhaps even think "outside the bread box".

In my opinion, going gluten-free has given far more than it has taken from me - many times over.

It's not just about the recipes

Since I like to learn, I dig the fact that this book helps educate us about the various ingredients we will be using and the methods we will be using to prepare these wonderful ingredients. Education is the key to many things - yes, even cooking. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". Barbara is teaching us "to fish"!

Layout

Like many other cookbooks, this is organized by logical categories: Breakfast, Hors d' oeuvre & First Courses, Pasta & Risotto, Soups, Salads, Fish & Seafood, Chicken and Other Birds, Beef, Pig, Lamb, Other meats, Vegetable Main Courses, Sides, Desserts, Sauces, Basic Recipes, and Starches.

There are also color photos of 16 dishes! Makes you hungry just looking at them.

Click here to take a peek inside. There are 300 recipes in this book!

I only wish it was bound differently so that would lay perfectly flat. Don't want to be getting this great book dirty when using it in the kitchen!

Thanks!

A special thanks to Emily at Workman Publishing for asking if our group would like to take Barbara's new book for test drive!

Workman Publishing Company • 225 Varick St. • New York, NY 10014-4381
Customer Service: 1-800-722-7202

Tags: Cookbooks

The 2011 holidays are upon us, here is a list of turkeys that are gluten-free. If a turkey isn't on this list, it maybe gluten-free, it just means it wasn't checked.

Always, always, always check the ingredient list! If you are unsure, call the manufacturer and ask questions.


Jennie-O Whole Turkeys

Jenni-O is a Hormel Company. Hormel will clearly gluten (wheat, barley/malt, rye, oats).


http://www.jennieo.com/products/124-Premium-Basted-Young-Turkey-Frozen

http://www.jennieo.com/products/125-All-Natural-Fresh-Whole-Turkey

http://www.jennieo.com/products/149-Premium-Basted-Whole-Turkey-Fresh


Honeysuckle White

http://www.honeysucklewhite.com/FaqNutrition.aspx#nutrition1


Perdue

http://www.perdue.com/faqs.asp
http://www.perdue.com/uploadedFiles/Retail%20Gluten%20Free%20List%20062811.pdf


Butterball

http://www.butterball.com/contact-us


HoneyBaked

http://www.HoneyBakedOnline.com/HBOnline/Shop/Help.asp?Ref=21126446:1951070990#10

Tags: Turkey, Thanksgiving, Holiday

When I received an email from GiG National that Jovial Foods offered to send samples to GiG branches I was excited. Our group would have a chance to sample another new product!

I originally requested to have the samples for our September 17th meeting.

After thinking about it, I asked if we could get the samples in time for our group's August 20th annual gluten-free cookout.

Keely, the Jovial representative, was more than happy to send us some samples - as you can see - a lot of samples!

In the box I found Brown Rice Penne Rigate pasta, as well as one box each of Fig Fruit Filled, Chocolate Vanilla Cream and Chocolate Chocolate Cream cookies!




We wanted to make cold pasta salad for the cookout.

Many gluten-free pastas tend to get hard after you refrigerate them. I must say, the Jovial pasta handles the lower temperatures pretty well. Had some for lunch today!

You can check out the recipe, I have it posted here.

Overall, myself and Peg [a gluten-eater] have been impressed with Jovial's pasta. We also made a chicken pasta dish using the brown rice pasta - it was exceptional as well. Stay tuned for that recipe!

Since we had so many samples to give away, we decided to have a contest - Guess number of pieces of pasta in the box.



Before making the salad I counted each piece.

The grand total...285!

Certification

I like that Jovial Foods gluten-free products are certified by the Gluten Free Certification Organization (one of several programs offered by the Gluten Intolerance Group of America). Actually, I applaud any company that deems it important enough to certify their products.

Where to find Jovial Foods

You can use Jovial's Store locator to find a store closest to you.

Currently, The Free Market in Appleton is the closest to Ripon.

Thanks again Jovial Foods for
sharing your products with our group!

Jovial Foods, Inc • 5 Tyler Drive • North Franklin, CT 06254
Customer Service: 877-642-0644

Tags: Pasta

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This article was originally written and presented to the members of this support group in March 2009. I decided to correct some typographic errors and add some additional knowledge/information I didn't have when I originally wrote it.

This document draws upon my knowledge and experience I have acquired since going gluten-free in 2003. I have given you, the reader, a glimpse into how I personally carry out a gluten-free diet in a mixed house. I am not suggesting this is the only way or the best way; it's simply my way. Nothing more – nothing less. Please do not take any information found here as medical or professional advice. I'm not a doctor/nutritionist/dietitian, nor do I play one on TV. Before making any changes, discuss them with your healthcare team to make sure they are right for you.

My only intent is help others that may be struggling with the gluten-free lifestyle.

Alan Klapperich
GIG of East Central WI - Branch Manager

Updated 3/2/2013

Not only do we have to be concerned about gluten ingredients that make up our food – we also have to be concerned about any gluten that may come into contact with our gluten free food.

Often times those that are new to the diet [or our friends and loved ones that don’t yet understand the diet], don’t fully understand the lengths we have to go thru to make sure our food isn’t contaminated. Yes, eye rolls and sighs are often the reactions we get. They think we’re being over cautious, anal retentive, drama queens…running around like Lucy van Pelt in A Charlie Brown Christmas “Ugh! I've been kissed by a dog! I have dog germs! Get hot water! Get some disinfectant! Get some Iodine!”

Gluten is gluten – it doesn’t matter how we come in contact with it. We need to be mindful of it.

GF or NGF [Non-Gluten-Free] Household – That is the question

Choosing what type of house to have depends on many factors. Economic, young children, percentage of members that require GF – just to name a few. I’m not going to defend or promote one way or the other. Every one must make the choice that fits them best. There’s no question that having a totally GF house would make things a lot easier on those that need to be GF. You have to weigh the practicalities of each side very carefully. However, as we continue down this gluten-free path, our house contains an ever dwindling supply of gluten. If we had kids, we might have chosen to be a 100% GF house right away.

Obviously those people that have a GF household are going to have an easier time of this. I’d venture to guess that, most people have a mixed house. I suspect that most celiac homes are mixed [meaning those that must be GF are, those that aren’t GF have gluten foods in the house]. I took a poll on one of the discussion boards I administrate. 77% (24) live in mixed houses.

I will say this – if you are having trouble getting your numbers down on your annual follow up blood work or still don’t feel well – you’d need to examine what is going on. How is gluten getting in? Are your food choices correct? Are you eating processed/packaged foods? Are you dining out? Could it be cross contamination at home? Did you check your meds/supplements? A number of things must be considered.

Those of us with a mixed house have our work cut out for us. We must always be on guard and always observant. Some people see this as a negative, because they don’t have a safe harbor from the rest of the gluten polluted world – that is completely understandable and desirable in certain circumstances. In my case, I don’t view it as a hardship, I view it as one of those “facts of life”. I feel it prepares me to deal with the rest of the world that doesn’t cater to me and my needs. Once you figure out a system, sharing a kitchen/pantry is do able – it just takes some planning – just like everything else with the GF lifestyle. “He who fails to plan, plans to fail”.

A very key element in having a mixed kitchen or 100% GF house – is having total buy-in of rule following from the others that live in the house. You’re really at their mercy in this. Sometimes this is not always easy – particularly with uncooperative spouses/significant others, kids [young ones] or yes, slobs. I’ve always said, it’s a good thing that I’m the one that’s GF, and not Peg. Yeah, truth be told, I can be teeny-tiny bit of a slob. In my defense, [I think Peg will back me up] when it comes to keeping the kitchen clean of food droppings, I think I do a pretty good job. I do my best to follow all the cross contamination rules just as she does. The kids – well – kids will be kids. As good as they can be, there’s going to be some mistakes made. The older kids, it might be easier to teach them what they need to do to keep things safe for their GF family member.

Regardless if you’re a mixed house or a 100% GF house, it’s always a good idea to give the kitchen/pantry a thorough cleaning when first starting out. Pull everything out of the fridge, cupboards, cabinets and drawers. Wash things down with warm soapy water – changing the water frequently. Gluten is not a living thing, so you can’t kill it – bleach does nothing. Heck as long as you’re at it, pull out the stove and fridge too - they can get pretty funky! For those with a mixed house – you’ll have to do this regularly if you don’t already do it.

Organization

As long as you have all the stuff pulled out of the cupboards and shelves, you will want to look at reorganizing them. You’ll want to have designated shelves, drawers and cupboards strictly for GF foods and for NGF foods. It’s best to keep the NGF items away from the GF items. It can also help to get some sealable containers so that you can place the GF food inside them – that way you won’t have to worry if something gets spilled or dropped on it. If you happen to have NGF flours – putting them in their own sealable container is also advisable. If you share pantry space, put GF items ABOVE gluten items. Since gluten rolls downhill, we don’t have to worry about “stuff” falling into it our GF foods. Also, make sure you clearly label GF and or NGF containers as such.

Also try to designate some counter or prep space strictly for GF items. Try to make a GF zone so that you always know you have a clean space to put things down. This can help a great deal when prepping meals.

Hardware

There are some utensils that you’ll want to replace – hands down, no matter what.

Toasters - if you’ve ever toasted glutened products in it – get yourself a new one and mark it so everyone knows that only GF items are to be put in it.

Toaster Ovens – if you’ve got one with removable racks, call the manufacturer and see if you can purchase another rack for it. We purchased a Kitchen Aid, as soon as I got home I called them and asked about another rack. The representative seemed somewhat perplexed as to why I wanted another rack. I explained – he sent me another one free of charge! Now that’s customer service!

Colanders/Strainers/Flour Sifters – Since pastas/gluten often get stuck in the small little holes and slits, cleaning them fully is a nightmare if not impossible. We have 2 colanders.

Wooden utensils/boards/rolling pins – Porous item can harbor gluten.

Cutting boards [plastic or wood] – due to the deep cuts and grooves, it’s best to get a new one.

Cake pans – these pans typically have a lot of very deep cuts/grooves in them. Cookie sheets – you could always use parchment paper with your existing pans when baking GF cookies. I have my own cake pan, muffin tins, pizza pan, mini loaf pans, cookie sheets.

Non-stick pots & pans – if there’s any cuts or scratches in the surface, replace it. It’s reported that Teflon is a porous surface and thus is not GF friendly. I have relaxed my views on non stick surfaces over time. As long as the coating does not have any cuts/scrapes/grooves – and as long as it’s completely clean – it's not a problem. I sent off an email to Tricia Thompson aka The Gluten Free Dietitian aka the author of The GF Nutrition Guide. Since she’s done many scientific studies, I thought she’d be a good one to ask about Teflon. Here’s what she said:

"In my opinion, if a teflon pan has scratched and starts to peel it should be thrown away for reasons far more important (probably) than the possibility it harbors gluten. Maybe it's just me but I don't like the idea of eating those little bits of teflon even if they are chemically inert!!

 As for the possibility that nonstick pans absorb gluten, I am not aware of any studies but find this hard to imagine. I am not an expert on Teflon but based on what I've read, Teflon is chemically inert, is not porous, and does not absorb food. "

~ Tricia Thompson, RD

There are only 1 or 2 pans that we use for gluten foods – I use them if I have to [which is rare].

Cast iron skillets – the “seasoning” develops from years of use is definitely something to stay away from. I’ve heard of some people getting them sandblasted or scrubbing them with steel wool and starting over.

Ceramic bake or cookware – yeah, that old pizza stone ain’t gonna cut it. Foil it, or hand it down to the gluten eaters.

Having some type of marking scheme is important. People have to know what’s used for GF and fair game for anything else. In our house we use the color red as much as possible for GF items. Spatulas, spoons, Tupperware, etc – all have the color red somewhere. We do have a GF wooden spatula – it’s Pampered Chef Brand – it’s the only one of it’s kind. For our toaster oven rack, I’ve colored all 4 corners red with a Sharpie permanent marker.

We have even trained frequent guests and family members on how our house functions and cross-contamination concerns.


Navigating

Figuring out how to navigate in this gluten filled world takes some doing. It requires a GPS – Gluten Position Service. Figuring out how to do it in your own kitchen is no exception.

Areas of concern

I’ve already discussed the utensils.

Counters – crumbs from making a NGF sandwich can be scattered and left behind. This is why it helps to have designated areas for GF and NGF. It just makes things a bit easier.

Dishtowels/sponges/dishrags – it helps to use paper towels because they’re disposable. If Peg is working with NGF products, she’ll clean first with paper towels then use a dishrag. After cleaning up she will switch out the dishrags with fresh ones. An average day in our house does not really generate much gluten usage.

Pets & Pet food – this is an easy one to overlook. If you’re feeding Rover NGF dog food, you might consider switching to a GF dog food [yes, pets do benefit from GF diets too!], or be very careful to wash your hands after feeding them. I have a friend that saw her testing numbers get worse – she finally pinned it down to bags of bird seed. That particular brand of bird seed contained wheat and she kept breathing in the dust [and swallowing it] when she was feeding the birds.

Kisses from loved ones – while this may sound strange, crumbs and residue can remain on hands/faces/mouths of loved ones for hours.

Microwave – how often do you put something in there and as foods heat up, things splatter around? These guys can be a real harbor for gluten pollution.

Grill grates – it might be time to replace the grates on the old weber. Of course you could try cleaning them, but sometimes that’s a nasty job in itself! If cleaning or replacing the grills are not an option – grill your GF items on tinfoil.

Hair/skin care products – if you happen to touch your hair, it’s possible for hairspray, etc to get on your hands and thus on your food or into your mouth. Most experts will say that topical connect from gluten will not cause a celiac reaction – it must be ingested in order for it cause problems. However, I know many people that do experience some type of skin reaction when they touch it. Is this a true celiac reaction or some other type of reaction – not really sure. This is a highly debated topic. Bottom line, if you react in any way – make sure the product is GF. Problem solved! For more information on GF cosmetics/hair care products, please check out: http://www.gigofecw.org/news/files/gf_cosmetics_hair_skin_care.php

Condiments (spreadable) – jars of peanut butter, mayo, butter, margarine, jelly, etc. These guys are huge cross-contamination magnets! Double dipping is strictly prohibited and a punishable offence! You’ll need to train people on the fine art of Gob Dropping or using a couple of spoons/knives to accomplish their task. Of course some of these products can be gotten in squeezable containers – this can help. If you think you can double dip just because you’re using GF products – think again… First of all, you won’t be able to tell if those crumbs are GF or NGF. Second of all, crumbs of any kind in those places are not good eats! GACK!

Shared bowls/bags of your favorite GF snack food - Think about when someone makes a monster sized NGF Dagwood sandwich, then they dig their gluteny paws into the potato chip bowl/bag. Bags of snacks must be poured out into an individual bowl.

Telephone/Keyboard/Mouse/TV Remote – yup these can get glutened too.


A Day in the Life

Getting the hang of safely surviving in a mixed house will take some time. Let’s face it, you’ve probably lived NGF for a lot longer than GF. Old habits and actions take time retrain and rewire. You will make some mistakes starting out, count on that. I know, people are going to say “if you had GF house you wouldn’t have to worry about mistakes…”. Yeah, well, if you stay in bed, you don’t have to worry about getting hit by a car either. This is life, life isn’t perfect, so we do the best we can with the situation we have. After awhile you become conditioned – for better or worse. We were making lunch one day, Peg had her NGF bread on her plate already and she asked me to lay some sandwich meat on her bread since her hands were contaminated at that point. I pulled out a few pieces and I was starting and stopping with jerky movements. Peg thought I was messing around and asked what I was doing. I told her I was having trouble putting the meat on her NGF bread. I had become so conditioned to NOT do it, I had trouble doing it even when it was acceptable to do.

Spaghetti - Take cooking spaghetti for example…how do you test it to see if it’s done? No, throwing it on the wall to see if it sticks is not an option – at least in our house. Right – you taste it. We’ll that’s not possible if you’re cooking NGF pasta – however, old habits are hard to break! I know I’m not the only one that has put NGF pasta in my mouth to see if it was done then realized in horror what just happened. This was years ago, and I have since retrained myself not to do that. Now if I’m cooking pasta for Peg, I will do it by feel. Pinch it between my fingers – then have Peg taste it. Yes, I wash my hands after testing it.

I can hear you asking – “How do you keep straight which utensil to use?” It’s fairly easy actually. Since I’m left handed, I will put my GF pasta pot [yes I have my own pasta pot] on the left side of the stove. I will put Peg’s NGF pasta pot on the right side of the stove. I keep each utensil on the corresponding side. Also remember that my utensils are colored red – this helps in keeping things straight.

I can hear another question - “How do you stop gluten water from bubbling/splashing over into yours?” I stagger the time that I put in the GF and the NGF pasta. I’ll do mine first so it gets done first and thus drained first [into my GF colander]. If I have both going at the same time, I watch the heat to make sure it’s not splashing over the sides of the pot and I’m careful when I stir.

The pasta sauce is GF. Peg can add any NGF modifiers to her plate if she chooses.

This is pretty much how all of our meals are…the base of the meal is GF…then Peg can add whatever she wants. Most times it’s nothing NGF. Pastas, breads, pizzas, cereals/breakfast bars and some desserts – are about our only separate food items.

Baking – As I mentioned I have my own GF baking pans/tray/mixing paddles and mixing bowl [the bowl is stainless so it’s not a big deal anyway]. Peg still does some NGF baking [for fun and some profit]. Around the holidays it’s not uncommon for her to bake me some goodies then bake NGF goodies for herself or an order. Always, always always, the GF items are baked first. After she’s done with the GF baking, she’ll do the NGF baking – using the NGF equipment. It’s been reported that flour poofs around and and stays in the air for up to 24 hrs. Peg maintains that if you’re careful, you can keep the flour poofing to a minimum. She also maintains that GF flour poofs worse than NGF flour. Most generally I am not around when Peg has the NGF flour out, but I happened to watch her one time when she was scooping out the flour and mixing it – I did not see clouds of flour anywhere. The mixer is turned on slowly so flour is not spewed out all over. It would be interesting to do this under a black light to see if we could see it.

As an [unscientific] experiment, I placed several pieces of dark blue paper [sorry, no black was handy] around the kitchen before Peg started her non-gluten-free baking. No mixer was used in this experiment – all mixing was done by hand. Two pieces were sitting between 6” and 2 feet from the measuring/mixing/rollout area. The remaining piece was sitting about 2 feet away on the stove. The 2 pieces closest to the measuring/mixing/rollout area had a few small specks of non-gluten-free flour. The paper sitting on the stove, had no visible flour on it. I will say, that I have never seen or felt a coating of dust/flour after GF or NGF baking.

When NGF baking she clears off the counter so if flour does happen to poof around, it won’t settle on anything…other than the counter. When she’s done the counter is thoroughly cleaned and counter items put back after cleaning.


Hosting Family Events

In some cases family events tend to buffet type setups. Should this be the case, arrange all the gluten foods last in the line and away from the GF foods. It also helps explain to guests what foods are what and not mix the utensils. If you have things like BBQ’s [aka Sloppy Joes] or things that guests might have to build themselves – have 2 separate stations/containers for these -this way you can keep yours [the lion’s share] safe. It’s always smart to have smaller portions at the NGF station. Once it contaminated – you’re not going to want it – unless someone else in the house can eat it. Should you run out or low of the fixin’s at the NGF station you can always refill it from the GF container.

Another tip is to be the first thru the line so you know there’s been no cross contamination. There’s gotta be some perks to this GF thing, right?


Outside your Kitchen

Cross-contamination also occurs outside your kitchen too. We’ve already discussed the cross-contamination issues and dining out. It also applies to our food and how it’s processed and packaged at the manufacturer. You’ve probably all seen the “Processed in the same facility that process wheat, peanuts, cat hair, whale blubber…”

According to Cynthia Kupper, RD [Director of Gluten Intolerance Group of North America] in her talk at HealthNow's Gluten Sensitivity/Celiac Forum 2010, the “Processed in..” and “Processed on...” statements are voluntary advisory statements designed for those with IgE [anaphylactic reaction] allergies. Many companies use the statements to “cover their backsides” legally. In reality they have no meaning for celiacs. She stated a group of registered dietitians knowledgeable in celiac/gluten-free; determined it would be reckless of them to suggest that the voluntary statements be used solely to determine the gluten-free status. If you have a true IgE reaction, you need to heed the warning. I highly recommend buying and watching HealthNow's 2010 Gluten Forum DVD. Well worth the $15.00.

Some companies are better than others when it comes to processing our foods. According to a 2005 report from the Inst.of Food Technologists - nearly all companies do follow “good manufacturing practices” [except for the Peanut Corp. of America], which the IFT concluded to be “effective in reducing or eliminating cross contamination”. While many processes take multiple steps to protect consumers, some don’t take any. ACK!!

FDA studies conducted from 1999 – 2005 revealed*:

About 55% of food processors identified and separated ingredients with allergens as raw materials.

About 80% took one or more steps to keep food processing equipment clean and prevent allergens from spreading to otherwise allergen-free foods. This includes: dedicated machinery, cleaning shared machinery between runs. Clean was the most common.

The most common source of cross-contamination comes from the build up of food residue on equipment even after it has been cleaned.

About 25% of the facilities were still likely to have allergen contamination in foods they produce. FDA states this figure should not be used as a gauge of overall cross-contamination in processed foods since these inspections were not chosen at random – they targeted facilities where the possibility of cross-contamination was the greatest.

Some companies when they first switch from an NGF run to a GF run [after the cleanup process was done] will donate a certain percentage of the product from the first run to a non-allergic organization in an effort to reduce the cross-contamination risk.

*The source of this information was obtained from: Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, Public law 108-282, Report to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, United States Senate and The Committee on Energy and Commerce, United States House of Representatives, July 2006. The original PDF located at: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~acrobat/alrgrep.pdf could no longer be found.



Summary

• Choosing a 100% or mixed house based on many factors. It’s a personal choice, do what’s best for your situation.
  
  
• Large percentage of homes are mixed.
  
  
• To be successful, total buy-in from other household member to follow all the GF rules.
  
  
• Pull out everything and clean thoroughly everywhere with warm soapy water.
  
  
• Organize kitchen & pantry. Separate GF and NGF as much as possible.
  
  
• GF items are stored ABOVE NGF items.
  
  
• Store items in sealable containers. Label them GF or NGF.
  
  
• Have a GF zone somewhere in your kitchen.
  
  
• Replace: Toasters, Colanders/strainers/sifters, anything wooden, cutting boards, cake pans, scratched nonstick pans, cast iron skillets, ceramic bakeware.
  
  
• Labeling and marking of all items are important. Use colors to help remind.
  
  
• Areas of concern: counter tops, dishtowels/sponges/dishrags, pet food, kisses, Microwave, grill grates, ceramic bake/cookware, skin/haircare products, spreadable condiments, shared bags/bowls of snacks, telephone/keyboard/mouse/remotes.
  
  

Resources and web sites used for this presentation:

What Is Gluten Cross-Contamination? And Why Should You Worry About It?
By Nancy Lapid , About.com
http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/cookingglutenfree/a/crosscontaminat.htm


Hold The Gluten 10 - Avoiding Cross Contamination
http://holdthegluten.net/2008/10/16/avoiding-cross-contamination/


Gluten Free Living – Spring 2007 Issue
http://www.glutenfreeliving.com/


Living GF for Dummies by Danna Korn
http://www.dannakorn.com/my-books/books-available-online/


GIG’s Producing GF Products from a Non-Dedicated Kitchen
http://www.gluten.net/docs/default-source/educational-bulletins/gf-in-nondedicated-kit-04-2012.pdf?sfvrsn=2


GIG’s Quick Start Diet Guide
http://www.gluten.net/docs/default-source/educational-bulletins/quick-start-09-2012.pdf?sfvrsn=4


Tricia Thompson’s – The Gluten-Free Nutrition Guide
http://glutenfreedietitian.com/gluten_free_books.php

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Tags: Mixed House, Cross Contamination

In January I had to re-enter the world of pharmaceuticals [much to my displeasure, but best for my long term health]. If you think determining the gluten-free status of food is difficult, try doing it with prescription medications! It's difficult at best to determine it by reading the ingredient label, and getting a pharmaceutical company to say if their product is gluten-free is like pulling teeth. Ugh...

The Food Allergen Labeling Consumer Protection Act of 2004 [FALCPA] requires packaged food items to declare wheat and other allergens, but medications do not fall under the umbrella of the FDA's rulings.

Medications contain the active ingredient, but generally it needs to combined with something else - something called an excipient.

What's an excipient?

It's a pharmacological term used for an inert substance that acts as a carrier for the actual drug itself [the "active ingredient"]. Excipients are also used as a filler to bulk up formulations to ensure proper and accurate dosages and as a binder [pill form].

For an extensive list of excipients, see glutenfreedrugs.com Excipients List; complete with descriptions.

Drugs.com has an excellent Inactive Ingredients page. Does not address gluten, but very in-depth explanations of each item.

Enter stage left - starches. Starches found in medications can include:





Since drug companies don't have to disclose source of the starch, there is no easy way to tell if certain ingredients are gluten-free. Calling the manufacturer is the only [and best] option.

Common gluten-free excipients include*:

Cynthia Kupper, RD (Executive Director of the Gluten Intolerance Group) states that patches, inhalants, injectables, and liquids/elixirs are not problematic for those following a gluten-free diet. Source: HealthNow's 2010 Gluten Forum DVD


Here are a few other links of interest:
















Hopefully you and your Pharmacist find this info helpful.

Al


update: 05/03/13 - added more info on excipients.

Tags: Excipient, Pharamacist, Medication, Labeling

Well now, that only took two and a half years to complete!

I received notice earlier this week that everything was approved. I am now in the process of reading through the handbook and related materials - lots of information to keep straight. I think my head will 'splode!

Officially we are now called GiG of East Central Wisconsin. Along with the new name, I am also in the process of re-doing the website. The new website is GIGofECW.org.

Currently, GiG is allowing us to keep individual branch websites, but they are also allowing us to have branch pages within their own website. I'm not sure how things will shake out yet, but stay tuned! I've also updated our Facebook Page.

I am excited and yet somewhat nervous. Although it has been 25 years since I've started a new job, it feels like I'm starting a new job. I now have a "boss" to report to, lots of new things to learn and do.

I am excited because I feel GiG allows our little group to reach beyond the four walls of RMC, beyond Ripon, beyond Wisconsin. This association allows us to do things nationally and globally - something that would be hard to do on our own. I really like what GiG does for the gluten-free community and I am proud to be a part it.

Thanks to everyone at GiG National and thanks to everyone that encouraged and supported me over the years [and continue to do so]. I wouldn't have been able to start this group without your help!

Here's to the next phase of our journey!

Al Klapperich
GIG of ECW Branch Manager

Tags: GiG

The kind folks at Jules Gluten-Free sent the group a Jules Gluten-Free Bread Mix and a Jules Gluten-Free Cookie Mix.

We use Jules Gluten-Free Flour Mix all the time for a variety baked goods, but this was our first look-see at the bread and cookie mixes.

Cookies

Since we [when I say we, I mean Peg since she's the one with the baking skills] were short on time, we [Peg] decided to mix up the cookie dough Thursday night and store it in the fridge until Friday night. These cookies require the dough to be chilled before baking anyway.

Peg had one pan in the oven and one pan of dough balls on deck. As I peeked into the oven and saw that the cookies were a good 3+ inches in diameter, I mistakenly asked if the dough balls were the right size.

Yeah, that remark got me "The Look", Hey, my only concern was that we'd have enough cookies for the entire group, that's all.

Peg prompted me to take a look at the large bowl of dough that was waiting to be made into cookies and said not to worry. As in most cases, Peg was right. This mix makes 50-60 cookies! I bow to her baking prowess - I am not worthy...I am not worthy...

*I slunk back to living room to finish prepping for the meeting*

Most of the cookies survived the night and made it to the meeting. Indeed the cookies were a hit! One member exclaimed - "These taste just like Toll House cookies!" Sure'nuff, they do!

If you run out of your own ideas on how to use this cookie mix, Jules sells an eBook with recipes for twelve different cookies.

"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me"

Bread

Peg was a bit nervous about the bread. The dough was dense, not the texture of most gluten-free breads that she is used to making, as well as not rising very well in the warm oven.

Learning my lesson during the "cookie incident", I decided it best to play the supportive spouse...

This means nodding, actively listening and quietly being "the canvas" in which she can "paint the picture" of her concerns. It does not involve me offering up any suggestions on how to "fix" said problem - something guys are genetically programmed to do.

I may have mentioned that my baking skills and knowledge are limited, but the primal, in-born male instinct to "fix things" often times overrides the fact that males may lack the proper knowledge to offer up any type of useful suggestion...this is how arguments start. :-)

By the time Peg was done "painting the picture", the bread had risen and it was time to bake!

Hmmm, it appears that being the supportive spouse had paid off. Whoohoo!

As you can see by the pictures, the bread turned out well. In fact, my pictures look very similar to those found on Jules' website.

I was surprised at the size and height of this loaf of bread! It did not suffer from shrinkage that I've seen in other gluten-free breads. [My uneducated guess has to do to with the fact that this dough was drier than some of the others, but what do I know?] Any guy will confirm that shrinkage is not a good thing...

Just like the cookies, members liked the bread.

One member suggested this bread would work great for French Toast. Yeah Toast!

Another member said "I really liked it!"

One of our "chronologically enhanced" members specifically requested to take home the heals of the bread. Bless you Don!!

The bread must've been good, because at end of the meeting, there were only 3 slices left for me bring home.


Certification

I like that Jules' products are certified by the Gluten Free Certification Organization (one of several programs offered by the Gluten Intolerance Group of America). Actually, I applaud any company that deems it important enough to certify their products, either through GFCO or CSA.


Where to find

Jules' products are not found locally, but they can be ordered from her website.

If you are lucky enough to live in a handful of states, you can find it locally.

If you are a first time customer, there is a Welcome Pack and an upgraded Welcome Pack. Either one is a good deal. It just depends if you want 1 or 2 bags of flour.

Thanks again Jules Gluten-Free for
sharing your products with our group!


Jules, LLC | 7120 Minstrel Way, Ste 206 | Columbia, MD 21045
Customer Service: 877-236-3940 or email: support at julesglutenfree.com

Tags: Samples, Baked Goods, Bread, Cookies, Mixes

Synder's of Hanover was kind of enough to hook us up with some of their gluten-free pretzel sticks this month. Having tried the other GF pretzels on the market, I was interested in trying Synder's version.

They are indeed as good as my fortunate GF friends that tried them before me said they were! They do look a bit different from the non-gluten-free pretzels in that they are bigger in diameter. It's really not an issue (at least for me) since they have that familiar pretzel taste, crunch, and snap! Besides, it just means there's more pretzel-y goodness per bite.

I did feel the need to speak louder during the meeting due to all the crunching going on. :-) Judging by the noise generated, the pretzels were well liked! If we had a Crunch-o-Meter, it would've been off the charts.

Certification

Beyond the taste and texture components, I like that they are certified by the Gluten Free Certification Organization (one of several programs offered by the Gluten Intolerance Group of America). Actually, I applaud any company that deems it important enough to certify their products, either through GFCO or CSA.

If you want read more about Snyder's certification process, you can read the press release from GFCO. Please take the time to do so, it gives you an insight as to what goes on in the certification process.

Snyder's offers a web page that lists their GFCO Certified gluten-free products, gluten-free products, and products made with gluten-free ingredients. It states that their GF products are tested for 20 parts per million or less. Their made-with-gluten-free- ingredients could contain trace amounts of gluten.


Testimonials (from gluten-eaters at that!)

We had a bag left over from the meeting, so I took it to share during Adult Education Hour at church.

Those are really good! Where did you get them?
~ Lisa (a gluten-eater)

I like those pretzels
~ Shirley (a gluten-eater)

It turns out our local Pick n Save does carry these pretzels, so during the holidays we made a batch of Chex Mix using Synder's GF pretzels. As it was disappearing from the bowl, I asked my wife's niece her favorite item...

The pretzels!
~ Jackie (a gluten-eater)

Where to find

Closest place to get Snyder's Gluten-Free Pretzel Sticks:

Ripon Pick n Save

Snyder's Store Locator does not list our Pick n Save at this time. I have brought this to the district sales manager's attention. Hopefully it will get resolved.

Thanks again Snyder's of Hanover for
sharing your products with our group!


Snyder's of Hanover | P.O Box 6917 | 1250 York St. | Hanover, PA 17331
Phone: 1-800-233-7125 Ext. 1410

Tags: Samples, Pretzels

The holidays are upon us, here's a list of turkeys that are gluten-free.

Always, always, always check the ingredient list!


Jenni-O Products.

Jenni-O is a Hormel Company. Hormel will clearly gluten (wheat, barley/malt, rye, oats).

Jenni-O's website shows a Gluten-Free icon on each GF product.

http://www.jennieo.com/products/WholeBirds/PremiumBastedYoungTurkey.aspx

A moist and delicious whole bird available in two sizes: 12-14 pounds and 16-18 pounds.

*The meat does not contain gluten, but the gravy packet does.


http://www.jennieo.com/products/WholeBirds/FreshYoungTurkey.aspx

A fantastic whole bird available in two sizes for your convenience: 10-16 pounds and 16-20 pounds.

The meat does not contain gluten, but the gravy packet does.


http://www.jennieo.com/products/WholeBirds/FreshYoungTurkey.aspx

Please note, the meat does not contain gluten but the accompanying gravy packet does.



Honeysuckle White

http://www.honeysucklewhite.com/FaqNutrition.aspx#nutrition1

The majority of Honeysuckle White® products do not contain Gluten.

However, the following list of products do contain Gluten: Asian Grill Marinated Turkey Strips Teriyaki Flavor Turkey Breast Tenderloin Frozen Italian Style Meatballs Fresh Italian Style Turkey Meatballs Beer Smoked Turkey Brats



Purdue

http://www.perdue.com/util/faq.html#gluten-free

Purdue's Gluten-Free List

Do you have any gluten-free products?
Yes. Many PERDUE® products are free of gluten. Perdue chickens, chicken parts, and turkeys are all gluten-free. These are sold fresh as well as frozen and some are flavored with seasonings. Feel free to check the ingredient listing on individual packages, download the list here or order the list by phoning us at 1-800-4PERDUE® (1-800-473-7383).



Butterball

http://www.butterball.com/contact-us

Verified by phone: All turkeys are GF except for the stuffed turkeys. They are in the process of switching over to rice flour for their gravy packets. Check the ingredient list for rice flour instead of wheat flour.

Do Butterball® products contain any allergens like gluten?

Butterball product labels let consumers know whether any of the top eight allergens may be present in the product. For example, a label may read “contains wheat and dairy.” Specifically, gluten is not present naturally in turkey. Two retail products contain gluten: our stuffed turkeys and our Italian Style Meatballs. Our gravy packets have been reformulated to eliminated gluten; check the labels to be certain.


HoneyBaked

http://www.HoneyBakedOnline.com/HBOnline/Shop/Help.asp?Ref=21126446:1951070990#10


Do your hams or turkey breast contain glutens?
We have reformulated our glaze to be considered free of allergens. This means our hams and turkey breasts DO NOT contain glutens.

Tags: Turkey, Thanksgiving, Holiday

Our samples for November's meeting came from Rudi's Gluten-Free Bakery in Boulder, CO.

Rudi's bread is another one of those gluten-free breads that are amazingly good. We got to try their products at the GIG Conference in June.

To top our wonderful bread, we had some of Peg's homemade Blueberry and Raspberry jam. YUM!

Two of our group members were going to have garlic bread with their GF lasagna later that night for supper.

At the end of the meeting, there was only a few slices left for me to take home. That means everybody liked it!

While Rudi's Bakery is not a dedicated GF facility, they have excellent manufacturing processes. Their bread is certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization. This means the bread must test below 10 parts per million of gluten.

Rudi's: How We Make It

How We Make It

Our master bakers worked with gluten free experts and consumers for more than 15 months to get our formulas to taste like real bread. Our passion is baking better bread and we’ve been doing it since 1976. We used our extensive baking experience to create gluten-free bread that tastes and feels like the real thing.

Although we do not have a dedicated gluten-free facility, we do have a segregated, separate manufacturing approach. We bake our gluten free breads on separate, dedicated equipment and on separate production days. You can feel assured our gluten free products never come into contact with something used to make a product containing gluten. As part of our manufacturing process, we also do the following:

• Our organic and gluten free equipment is color-coded for easy segregation
• Our gluten free breads are baked only after our facility has gone through an extensive, full day clean-up process
• All incoming ingredients are also tested and certified to be gluten free
• As part of our gluten free certification, every batch of our gluten free bread is tested and must test below <10 ppm of gluten for distribution
• We also send product to an outside lab to validate our test results and ensure we have less than 10 ppm of gluten

Rudi's: Where to Buy

The closest places to get Rudi's products are:

Festival Foods
Oshkosh & Fond du Lac, WI

The Red Radish
447 S. Commercial St.
Neenah, WI 54956

The Free Market Inc.
1000 W. Wisconsin Ave
Appleton, WI 54914

Thanks again Rudi's for sharing your
products with our group!


Rudi's Gluten-Free Bakery | 330 Walnut St. Unit C | Boulder CO, 80301
Phone: 877-293-0876 | (303) 447-0495 | Fax: (303) 447-0516

Tags: Samples, Gluten-Free Bread

When I came home for lunch today I found a Christmas card in our mailbox. What was written inside totally made may day! It's notes like this that make all the hard work of running a support group, answering people's questions, gathering information, writing emails, making phone calls, etc - worth every second. "This is what running a support group is all about Charlie Brown!"

Back in 2001/2002/2003 when I was struggling to figure out why I was so sick, I was so very thankful for the people (Cara & Anne just to name a couple) that helped me get my life back. That experience lead me to the philosophy of "making a difference". Through their kindness - they made a difference in my life, I wanted to do the same for others. I'm a huge fan "Paying it Forward". I've not seen the movie or read the book, but love the concept!

Thank you for the kind words and for making my day. It helps keep me motivated. I also want to thank all those in my life that allow me to help others. Without you, I couldn't do what I love to do.

Al

Tags: Thank You

Our friend Maggie told us that Primo's in Oshkosh could accommodate the gluten-free diet.

That type of news is always good to hear, but I tend to reserve final judgment until I've done my own investigative work. However, if there's one person I trust as much as Peg when it comes to gluten-free, it's our friend Maggie.

Today was the day we gave Primo's a try. Wow, we shouldn't have waited this long!

I get a bit nervous going to a restaurant for the first time. I don't like going in "cold". I normally do my detective work ahead of time to get a feel for what the place is like. However this time, it was on the spur of the moment - there was no time for a fact finding mission - I'd have to make my decision on site. I made sure we were early enough to avoid a busy lunch time crowd.

As the hostess greeted us, I inquired about a gluten-free menu.

We don't have a gluten-free menu, but there are menu items that can be made gluten-free - just ask your server.

This is a positive response. 1) she didn't ask "gluten-what?!?!" or look at me as if I had three heads...


When our server arrived I asked her what gluten-free options were available to me.

Well, any of our sandwiches, except the meatball sandwich [due to bread crumbs] can be made gluten-free with gluten-free bread. Any of our pasta sauces are gluten-free. We do have gluten-free pastas, but I need to find out what type we have today. We also have gluten-free pizzas.

I asked if they boiled the gluten-free pasta in fresh water or the gluten pasta water. I asked if the prep of the gluten-free sandwiches were done at a separate location.

I tell them that this is gluten-free order so they know. The kitchen is very good about keeping things clean. The pasta is boiled in fresh water, the sandwiches are prepared separately. All of our food is prepared fresh and to order, we are able do these things

I asked my ever popular question: "Why do you have gluten-free options?"

We have some very loyal customers that required gluten-free options. In order to accommodate them we started looking in to it. We are finding more and more people need this. I also have in in-law that has celiac disease.

All the answers were to my satisfaction, so I decided order the Italian Bomber sandwich [Italian beef, Italian sausage, red sauce & Provolone cheese] with gluten-free white bread. It did take some extra time for our meals to come out, but this is standard operating procedure when it comes to GF meals.

When my sandwich came out, she apologized as they did not have any GF bread. No worries, this sandwich was huge without bread! There were plenty of side options I could've gotten, I almost got the grilled asparagus, but chose GF pasta with red sauce.

The sandwich and the pasta/red sauce were very good! I would definitely order them again.

I decided to save room for some gluten-free dessert, so I was able to bring half of my lunch home. They had 3 desserts to choose from. I opted for the flour-less chocolate cake. Wow - it was very good! It had the texture of a cheesecake.

Overall, I was impressed with the knowledge, the service and food at Primo's.

Sadly, my camera was sitting at home, so I have no pictures to share. Guess I'll just have to go back...

Stay tuned!

This post is long overdue and I apologize for not doing it sooner. My personal life has been in a bit of an uproar with the passing of my mother in February.

The acceptability of oats in a celiacs diet has been debated for years.

Currently the general consensus is that pure, uncontaminated GF oats are acceptable for most celiacs with medical supervision.

Some celiac have reported reacting to the protein found with oats.

Mainstream oats have been shown to contain unacceptable levels of cross contamination due to growing, harvesting & processing.

To find out where many medical and support organizations stand on oats - click here.


The Beginning

In October 2009, we attended Wisconsin's Largest GF Expo in Rothschild, WI.

As we were browsing through the products Gluten-free Trading Company had on hand we purchased a box of Gluten Free Oats® from Powell, WY.

The brand of gluten-free oats we previously used had a much coarser texture and had a "feed mill" smell and taste. Anyone raised in a rural area knows the smell I'm talking about. It's a very earthy-grainy-cerealy smell. When used in a baked good, the chew factor was almost overwhelming. Non-GF Peg noticed the same differences between said previous brand of GF oats and non-gf oats.

I opened the box when I got home and took a big whiff.

Hmmm, no feed mill smell!

Since I prefer my oats in bar or cookie form, I asked [begged] Peg to make some oatmeal cookies for me.

Hmmm, no feed mill taste with a great chew factor!

Peg made some gluten-free oatmeal for breakfast one day. It cooked up just like the oatmeal she loved as a kid. Peg confessed that she likes Gluten Free Oats® better than her non-gluten-free Quaker oats! "Hey go eat your own oats!"

I have since learned that the "feed mill" smell & taste usually comes from rancidity.


Gluten Free Oats® meet the group. Group, meet Gluten Free Oats®

We were so impressed with Gluten Free Oats® that we wanted to share them with support group members. I sent off an email to see if I could get some samples and before I knew it, there was a big box of flakey gold sitting on my front step.

Peg and I decided to have a build your own oatmeal bar for our March meeting. Toppings included brown sugar, raisins, dried cherries, Crasins and milk. We cooked the oatmeal and placed it in a crock pot before we left for the meeting.

Two of our members were quite excited about the prospect of having oats again. They grew up eating it for breakfast. In fact, both of them went back for seconds! The entire group liked the oats immensely! Smiles were on everyone's face.

Just the other day, I received a bulk order of Gluten Free Oats® for the group. Sounds like satisfied customers to me!

I want to publicly thank Seaton and his entire family for their ingenuity & generosity!


Gluten Intolerance Group Annual Conference - June 2010

We were lucky enough to meet face-to-face the family that produces these oats. The more I talked to them and got to know them, the more impressed I got. If you are not familiar with the history of Gluten Free Oats®, it's a great story.

Over breakfast, I found out they are in the process of building a larger processing facility. This will allow them to produce quick cooking oats and steel cut oats.

If you look closely in the picture below, you'll see a blue plate. They were handing out oat pancakes and oatmeal cookies. Yes, they were delicious! Yes they do have the recipes on their website.

Tags: Samples, Gluten-Free Oats

Last Sunday we decided to stop by The Bar in Oshkosh to check out their gluten-free menu. (see page 7 of their full menu to find their GF options) Peg had heard about it from one of her co-workers.

Since they don't explain much on their website, I had several questions. Their GF menu talks about french fries, this concerned me. In most places deep fryers are also used to fry breaded/floured items. This process will contaminate any gluten-free food that is placed in the deep fryer. I was also curious about the knowledge level of the staff.

We walked in and grabbed a table. The waitress came over and dropped off menus. I looked at it and didn't see the GF menu, so I asked her for one. She said "Oh sure, I'll be right back!". Already this is a good sign. Sometimes the wait staff doesn't have a clue when you ask for such things.

I decided to look over the menu, then ask my usual batch of questions. Upon perusal, I noticed in the lower right corner of the menu, some text. That text explained they have dedicated friers for their fries and fresh chips. It also explain that their meats can be cooked on the char-broil grill where gluten items are not placed. Being able to get fries outside of my own home is a real treat!

"Wow, these guys get it!" I said to Peg.

The GF selections are not numerous, but it covers just about all items in the bar-food food group. Burgers, fries, pizza, Booyah, wings - what more could you want? Yes, they also serve Red Bridge!

Our server said "It will take just a bit longer for your food because the kitchen has to get things cleaned up first". Cool!

I had the burger with GF bun and fries. It was good! The bun pretty good as GF buns go. It was soft, pliable - but had typical GF bread "chew" factor.

We when waitress came back with the check, I asked a few more questions...

Q - How long have you had a GF menu?
A - About 6 months.

Q - Are you getting a lot of GF diners?
A - Yes, as the word gets out, we are seeing more and more.

Q - Did you have to have some type of training on handling the GF orders?
A - Yes, we all had to come in for special training.

Q - Do you know why there's a GF menu?
A - One of the owner's sister has celiac disease.
*We've found, in most cases there's a family or friend that has celiac disease.


Overall, I was happy with the service and quality of the food. Peg had the wings. I'm not sure if the wings from the non-GF menu are the same as the GF wings. That's one question I didn't ask! We will be going back. I don't know if I want to try the 'za or the Booyah...

The Bar has 6 locations around the state!

Tags: Gluten-Free Beer, Gluten-Free Pizza, Gluten-Free Burgers, Gluten-Free Fries

Celiac expert and gastroenterologist, Dr. Joseph Murray, of Mayo Clinic lead a study that is published in the July 2009 issue of Gastroenterology.

This study looked at blood samples that were collected at Warren Air Force Base between 1948 and 1954. The researchers tested the samples for celiac disease and compared the results from those individuals collected recently. They found young people today are more than 4 times as likely to have celiac disease than the same age group in the 1950's.

Also noted in the study was that patients who did not know they had celiac disease were almost 4 times as likely to have died during the 45 years of follow up.

It's not known exactly why it much more common.

Watch a video of Dr. Murray discuss this study

More details on the study can be found here.


Al's Commentary:

I wonder how much of the increase has to do with the amount of processed foods that exist in the Standard American Diet?

Tags: Research, Dr. Joseph Murray