Can't remember where I read it or I'd credit, but this is my Acronym of the Moment (AOTM). Pain in the A*** Coeliac.
When you ask to check the menu before a restaurant is booked. When you ask people not to leave breadcrumbs in the butter. When you have to ask about every ingredient because you're pretty sure the waiter doesn't get it, and you hold up everyone else's orders while he goes to ask the chef for the third time.
Oh it's the PITAC again. Sigh.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Friday, December 18, 2009
More Misconceptions
Upon being offered (and refusing) a sausage roll at a neighbour's house:
"Oh, you're not vegetarian are you?"
"Well, yes, sort of, but I'm also coeliac, so it's the pastry that's more an issue."
"Oh poor you. Ever so sorry we don't have anything suitable"
"No really don't worry"
"Funny thing is we used to have loads of things that would be suitable. Husband used to have that, but since he got better we don't any more".
Erm, got better? That ain't coeliac. Sigh.
"Oh, you're not vegetarian are you?"
"Well, yes, sort of, but I'm also coeliac, so it's the pastry that's more an issue."
"Oh poor you. Ever so sorry we don't have anything suitable"
"No really don't worry"
"Funny thing is we used to have loads of things that would be suitable. Husband used to have that, but since he got better we don't any more".
Erm, got better? That ain't coeliac. Sigh.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
F*****g hundreds and thousands
So I spent ages this weekend making things: gluten free birthday cake for NGFH because his mum was down early for his birthday. Then, as we had to cook dinner too, and GF desserts are impossible to buy, I made a GF apple crumble. (This is possibly the 4th time in my life I have made a dessert from scratch. You just don't get GF desserts ready-made.)
All was good, but felt bloated in the eve, and then woke up early this morning very uncomfortable. Put it down to the fact that I'd undulged in custard, and milk in my coffee the night before. Got on with things in a fatigued kind of way.
In the afternoon NGFH told me I looked very tired, which made me cross, but also made me think. I checked the custard pot from the night before, but it was ok. So we sat down and had tea and the rest of the GF birthday cake. Halfway in it hit me: what about the cake decs? I was sure I'd checked them all.
Quick into the kitchen. Hundreds and Thousands. Gluten.
DOH.
I cried.
I'm still liable to burst into tears about it. I checked EVERY ingredient in everything yesterday. Apart from the effing hundreds and thousands, which NGF Son had spread liberally across the cake.
Officially fed up now.
All was good, but felt bloated in the eve, and then woke up early this morning very uncomfortable. Put it down to the fact that I'd undulged in custard, and milk in my coffee the night before. Got on with things in a fatigued kind of way.
In the afternoon NGFH told me I looked very tired, which made me cross, but also made me think. I checked the custard pot from the night before, but it was ok. So we sat down and had tea and the rest of the GF birthday cake. Halfway in it hit me: what about the cake decs? I was sure I'd checked them all.
Quick into the kitchen. Hundreds and Thousands. Gluten.
DOH.
I cried.
I'm still liable to burst into tears about it. I checked EVERY ingredient in everything yesterday. Apart from the effing hundreds and thousands, which NGF Son had spread liberally across the cake.
Officially fed up now.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Fed up of Free-From
So the GF thing I was ok with, but 5 or 6 weeks after being on the diet I started to feel progressively worse and couldn't work out why. I checked everything I was eating: preparation methods, chopping boards - you name it, but couldn't spot a surreptitious source of gluten.
Then a few days a go a had a few really bad days of bloating and stomach pain and spotted a trend: dairy. Started after breakfast (GF cereal with milk), got worse as I had cups of tea with milk, and then mozzarella on my GF salad for lunch. So as an experiment I picked up some soya milk and dairy-free spread (for my unpalatable bread) and tried a day or two without.
Result? Feel loads better. Physically. Bloating and pains gone. Have dropped a size on my waist in the space of 24 hours.
Mentally? Not good. Gluten free, dairy free, non-red meat eating - not a good combo. Lunch options reduced to one salad bar* if I don't take my own. Dinner options dwindling. Cake for nonGF husband's birthday this weekend seeming impossible. Cheese. I love cheese. It makes veggie food tasty. It makes GF pasta bearable. And chocolate... sob.
There's a reasonable chance this intolerance is temporary, and once my small intestine heals I will be able to reintroduce dairy. (I need to focus on that when I'm looking for a quick dinner because I'm knackered after work and NGFH is out for the eve and I just want an easy meal and realise there's no such thing for gluten and dairy-free people and I feel tears welling up in my eyes and try very hard not to cry in the middle of the M&S food hall.)
Ho hum.
*Alpha Bar in Oxford's covered market is pretty much saving my sanity with tasty veg/vegan options galore. But even their lovely lentils get a bit dull if they are the only option in town.
Then a few days a go a had a few really bad days of bloating and stomach pain and spotted a trend: dairy. Started after breakfast (GF cereal with milk), got worse as I had cups of tea with milk, and then mozzarella on my GF salad for lunch. So as an experiment I picked up some soya milk and dairy-free spread (for my unpalatable bread) and tried a day or two without.
Result? Feel loads better. Physically. Bloating and pains gone. Have dropped a size on my waist in the space of 24 hours.
Mentally? Not good. Gluten free, dairy free, non-red meat eating - not a good combo. Lunch options reduced to one salad bar* if I don't take my own. Dinner options dwindling. Cake for nonGF husband's birthday this weekend seeming impossible. Cheese. I love cheese. It makes veggie food tasty. It makes GF pasta bearable. And chocolate... sob.
There's a reasonable chance this intolerance is temporary, and once my small intestine heals I will be able to reintroduce dairy. (I need to focus on that when I'm looking for a quick dinner because I'm knackered after work and NGFH is out for the eve and I just want an easy meal and realise there's no such thing for gluten and dairy-free people and I feel tears welling up in my eyes and try very hard not to cry in the middle of the M&S food hall.)
Ho hum.
*Alpha Bar in Oxford's covered market is pretty much saving my sanity with tasty veg/vegan options galore. But even their lovely lentils get a bit dull if they are the only option in town.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Getting Funky in Germany
I had to spend a week in Frankfurt with work a couple of weeks ago. I speak no German at all, which bothers me on a good day as I like to be able to at least attempt communication when abroad, but was especially challenging given my new food requirements. It was a mixed bag of eating experiences.
Day one I was at an all-day conference with buffet lunch provided. I'd booked it ages ago and hadn't specified my dietary needs as I wasn't diagnosed, but I figured there was bound to be something I could eat, even if it was just Rice On Plate. Turns out I was wrong: the veggie options were pizza and filo tart things (time was there wouldn't have been a veggie option, so some progress) and despite eating some chicken of late I just couldn't bring myself to go for the meatballs. So I wandered out into the streets and eventually found a pharmacy with some GF foods. So my lunch that day consisted of a bag of the fabulously named:
After this things picked up a bit though. At a Thai dinner that night a colleague spoke German and was able to ask what was OK and what wasn't. Then the next night we went to an Ethiopian restaurant. This was completely new to me: I've never come across an Ethiopian restaurant in the UK, but there were several in Frankfurt alone. It was fab! For both veggies and coeliacs. The one we went to did big platters to share, and as there was another veggie there the two of us shared this while the others had meat:
Lentils, fabulous potatoes, salad, okra. All very tasty. But the best bit was that Ethiopian food is traditionally served with a bread called "injera", made from a gluten-free cereal called teff. You use the injera to scoop up the food much as you would a chapati with Indian food. Lovely, and totally GF! Couldn't believe my luck.
Rest of the week was something of a battle as the Germans mostly do very good bread and lots of meat. At the conference venue the only option, day after day, was the same tomato, mozzarella and rocket salad. Could be worse, but got a bit tedious. But the hotel I stayed in volunteered some lovely warm and tasty GF rolls when they saw me bringing my own stale bread, and on one evening I made great friends with a chef at a posh buffet, who talked me through every dish available and made sure I got a lovely meal. Didn't get far on the desserts, but that's the case most places.
So, all in all not bad, and far better than a week subsisting solely on Funkies.
Day one I was at an all-day conference with buffet lunch provided. I'd booked it ages ago and hadn't specified my dietary needs as I wasn't diagnosed, but I figured there was bound to be something I could eat, even if it was just Rice On Plate. Turns out I was wrong: the veggie options were pizza and filo tart things (time was there wouldn't have been a veggie option, so some progress) and despite eating some chicken of late I just couldn't bring myself to go for the meatballs. So I wandered out into the streets and eventually found a pharmacy with some GF foods. So my lunch that day consisted of a bag of the fabulously named:
After this things picked up a bit though. At a Thai dinner that night a colleague spoke German and was able to ask what was OK and what wasn't. Then the next night we went to an Ethiopian restaurant. This was completely new to me: I've never come across an Ethiopian restaurant in the UK, but there were several in Frankfurt alone. It was fab! For both veggies and coeliacs. The one we went to did big platters to share, and as there was another veggie there the two of us shared this while the others had meat:
Lentils, fabulous potatoes, salad, okra. All very tasty. But the best bit was that Ethiopian food is traditionally served with a bread called "injera", made from a gluten-free cereal called teff. You use the injera to scoop up the food much as you would a chapati with Indian food. Lovely, and totally GF! Couldn't believe my luck.
Rest of the week was something of a battle as the Germans mostly do very good bread and lots of meat. At the conference venue the only option, day after day, was the same tomato, mozzarella and rocket salad. Could be worse, but got a bit tedious. But the hotel I stayed in volunteered some lovely warm and tasty GF rolls when they saw me bringing my own stale bread, and on one evening I made great friends with a chef at a posh buffet, who talked me through every dish available and made sure I got a lovely meal. Didn't get far on the desserts, but that's the case most places.
So, all in all not bad, and far better than a week subsisting solely on Funkies.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
I am SO stupid
Since my endoscopy two weeks ago Friday (which I was going to post about, but it was a bit unpleasant to be honest. I have a photo of the inside of my small intestine, but posting that seemed a bit like Too Much Information.) I've been back on the full GF diet. The Gastroenterologist said he couldn't say without biopsy results, but all the pointers were to Coeliacs, so I should go for it. He also asked if I was anaemic, which I'm not (although close) cos I "looked a bit pale". This was at 3pm when I hadn't eaten since 6.30am that morning. Of course I looked a bit pale!
Anyway, had been sticking to the GF quite religiously, but not feeling all that much better. Had put this down to recovery time, and the fact that my symptoms were enough that it might take a while. But on hols this week I still had the telltale jabbing pain in my left side, and couldn 't work it out. When I woke up on Wednesday it occurred to me to double-check my vitamin pills. I've been taking a few supplements of various sorts to try and build myself back up. One was a vit B complex. With, as it says on the front in quite big letters, added "Brewers yeast".
Doh doh doh. Brewers yeast. From hops. Cereal with gluten. So following a strict diet for 10 days I'd been supplementing with a gluten tablet every morning. IDIOT. It even said on the bottle "from cereal containing gluten".
So now I'm properly GF. And slightly cross about two weeks wasted. The lesson, as I'm really starting to learn, is ALWAYS READ THE SMALL PRINT.
Anyway, had been sticking to the GF quite religiously, but not feeling all that much better. Had put this down to recovery time, and the fact that my symptoms were enough that it might take a while. But on hols this week I still had the telltale jabbing pain in my left side, and couldn 't work it out. When I woke up on Wednesday it occurred to me to double-check my vitamin pills. I've been taking a few supplements of various sorts to try and build myself back up. One was a vit B complex. With, as it says on the front in quite big letters, added "Brewers yeast".
Doh doh doh. Brewers yeast. From hops. Cereal with gluten. So following a strict diet for 10 days I'd been supplementing with a gluten tablet every morning. IDIOT. It even said on the bottle "from cereal containing gluten".
So now I'm properly GF. And slightly cross about two weeks wasted. The lesson, as I'm really starting to learn, is ALWAYS READ THE SMALL PRINT.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
T minus one
So I finally get an endoscopy tomorrow to confirm my Coeliacness. I've spent weeks being cross that it's taken so long and looking forward to getting on with a GF diet, but now that it's upon me I'm starting to really think about all the things I won't be able to eat.
So I just had a "for old time's sake"" lunch of an M&S prawn sarnie (which trumped wraps or paninis after some deliberation) followed by a cinnamon pastry. For dinner I think it'll have to be fresh pasta as there's some spinach and ricotta tortellini in the fridge. No brekkie tomorrow unless I get up extremely early, so I had mini wheats this morning.
I'm already bloating up courtesy of the sarnie and danish, so I know it's a Good Thing to be getting on with it and cutting out the evil gluten. But I may spend the afternoon wistfully pondering Pret sandwiches, Morton's mozzarella and sun dried tomato baguettes, Ben's cookies and other such lunchtime treats.
I am lucky enough to have a couple of extremely tasty options on my doorstep at work though: the Alpha Bar does amazing salad boxes, and for a once-in-a-while blow-out there's The Mission who will serve their delicious veggie burritos without the tortilla in a bowl instead.
So all is not completely lost. Bring on the endoscope!
(Erm, sort of..)
So I just had a "for old time's sake"" lunch of an M&S prawn sarnie (which trumped wraps or paninis after some deliberation) followed by a cinnamon pastry. For dinner I think it'll have to be fresh pasta as there's some spinach and ricotta tortellini in the fridge. No brekkie tomorrow unless I get up extremely early, so I had mini wheats this morning.
I'm already bloating up courtesy of the sarnie and danish, so I know it's a Good Thing to be getting on with it and cutting out the evil gluten. But I may spend the afternoon wistfully pondering Pret sandwiches, Morton's mozzarella and sun dried tomato baguettes, Ben's cookies and other such lunchtime treats.
I am lucky enough to have a couple of extremely tasty options on my doorstep at work though: the Alpha Bar does amazing salad boxes, and for a once-in-a-while blow-out there's The Mission who will serve their delicious veggie burritos without the tortilla in a bowl instead.
So all is not completely lost. Bring on the endoscope!
(Erm, sort of..)
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