Gluten-Free Insenstive

Tonight, right before bedtime, this article made it across my Facebook feed:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-maclean/surviving-whole-foods_b_3895583.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=5329153b=facebook

 

 

Many people thought this article was very funny, while a whole community of those who eat gluten-free were pissed off.  I found this article to be offensive, despite it's claim to be satirical.  I believe the author could have done herself a favor and at least understood the gluten-free community before flippant, disrespectful article.  I too see that many people are joining a fad; however, that fad is based on a solid, strong and connected community of those diagnosed with Celiac Disease.

 

I wrote this comment in response to the article -

I think the most offensive thing about this blog post/article, satirical or not, is the statement which implies that restricted diets are primarily a "rich persons" optional ailment. This discredits many people who are unable to eat certain foods for valid health reasons. My daughters are unable to eat gluten, because they are both medically diagnosed with Celiac Disease. This has been a long and rough road at times, and we can be, understandably, sensitive. It is hard enough on my kids to not be able to enjoy the food at pizza parties, birthday parties, school functions, festivals, amusement parks etc. They always have to sit at the allergy free-table, they always feel left out. They both are sick more often than their peers, due to impaired immune systems. They get flu like illness when they do ingest gluten.

To someone who can choose to skip the gluten-free aisle this means nothing, but to those who can never skip it, this means everything.

It was extra cute that after invalidating the entire Celiac community the author goes on to add insult to injury by dissing the only food we can eat with the comment that the wheat substitutes are cardboard and sawdust.

I get this was supposed to be a joke, and perhaps it is funny, if you are not restricted in diet and you like to point a finger at allergy prone kids and laugh. Congrats to you.

So, I will skip the Namaste and just say,

F-You

 

 

I want to write about Whole Foods, at least for a second.  Whole Foods is expensive  (I also often complain about that) as a result I do not often shop there and my man and I do refer to it as "Whole Pay Check".  In fact, a lot of people I know do.  And it definitely goes for that hippie vibe.  Dietary restrictions just always seem to go hand in hand with the hippie trend.  That being stated, it is one of the few stores I know I can find a ready made snack, dessert or dinner for my family in a pinch.  Unlike every other grocery store out there, which almost exclusively cater to unrestricted diets.  Most importantly to me, Whole Foods Market was the first place I felt "normal" again after my oldest daughter was diagnosed with Celiac Disease.  It is the place that people aided me in finding products, giving recommendations and even support in the grocery aisles! In fact, several times I asked other patrons for help, only to find out they too had Celiac Disease, or were married to someone with Celiac Disease etc. 

 

I feel the author of this article stepped in something she did not expect, and wrote an entire article on an assumption or stereotype she had.  I think, it is so easy on the internet to write thoughtless comments and articles, without research, without basic comprehension... it is important to practice some decorum when writing. 

Our Princes

I posted last week about the gluten-free brand Jovial.  A brand making cookies, among other products.  I reviewed their cookies negatively.  I made a couple other points in that post:

1.  Gluten-Free food is becoming mainstream.
2.  In becoming mainstream many Gluten- Free companies/products are popping up.
3.  This should make products cheaper (but has not... yet).
4.  Some products are awesome... and some need to be improved upon!

In response to my post my mother emailed me,  

"Sometimes to find a prince, you have to kiss a few frogs."

And she is entirely right.  I even took her advice!

This week my little man was sick.  Starting last weekend he hardly slept, for the first three days of the week he hardly slept, on Tuesday night he was up from midnight till 4am!  He was cranky, he had a fever, he had snotty nose and at the tail end of the week he had a body rash.  Needless to say by combining lack of sleep with the 30 minute commute to my girls school it was a long week for baby and mommy.  Unfortunately for us, it was also a huge week for the girls' school.  The girls' school had the school fundraiser of the year and meetings to plan events for my oldest daughter's class later in the year.  I have been so happy to move to a school that has a highly involved parent community - so of course I was volunteering most the night at the main fundraiser, I signed on for the event planning, plus I promised two gluten-free cakes to the cake walk!  All good intentions aside, I did not create time to actually make those cakes - not for lack of effort.  I kept thinking I could find time, but my little man needed me more.  As a result I had to indulge in the world of new gluten-free products and purchase some cakes for the cake walk.  I was entirely grateful for the many companies popping up and creating ready made baked goods.  Like tons of other parents I was able to rush out to my local Whole Foods and cheat, bringing pre-made, store bought cakes to the fundraiser.  While I was out I found a new  gluten-free Prince product this week.


Poparuba:  A Denver based company founded by Kerri Gedert which aims to create healthy and fun gluten free, low sugar, low calorie treats.

Poparuba make Gluten-Free Petit Fours which are cool for the health conscious consumers.  Poparubies are low in carbohydrates, low in sugar, high in fiber and are "calorie controlled" at 50 calories each. 

I these because they are healthier than other treats available to gluten-free families, they are small enough to put into a purse, they are ready-made (no prep) AND, most importantly,  they are yummy!  These are four tiny little cake bites, that are definitely decadent.  I found chocolate and lemon at our Whole Food Market and enjoyed them.  One complaint - they are not cheap!   

 

 

Now the fundraiser was a blast!  We met a ton of wonderful and friendly families.  I volunteered at three different booths and spent most the night busy - which I loved.  I have definitely missed being highly involved in my children's' school activities, thus I felt right at home in the middle of the noisy festival atmosphere.  We even won/bid on a new bike for Ramona.  She was thrilled to bring it home and it gives us some nice future adventures coming up (bike riding on Colorado trails!)  My man took care of the little man, who was feeling a bit better by the fundraiser and entirely better this weekend.  In fact, little man decided to make up for lost time.  He climbed all over the dog, the furniture and even tried to scale a wall to bring a hanging picture down (he did not succeed).

 

 

Happy Late Sunday Night!

Have a Great Week... 



Happy Birthday to my other sister!

Unfortunately this post is a few days late... baby man was sick this week.  One night he was up from midnight till 4am!  In fact, that was Tuesday night - so needless to say, Wednesday I was a bit of a zombie.  That being said...

Happy Birthday to my wonderful, zany little sis and my kids energetic and fun loving Auntie!

 

 

An Aunt that will ride on an elephant with the kids, make silly faces, send gluten free goodies.  We miss you!  Hopefully Colorado will get a Trader Joes soon.

Happy Birthday to my Sister!!!

Gluten Free Products to Avoid

Gluten Free eating is a fad for some.  It is not simply Celiac's that are avoiding gluten in their diet anymore, but a whole range of folks, from those trying to be more healthy, to those who want to do what everyone else is doing, to those doing a dietary cleanse.  Whether it is trendy or physiologically necessary, my feeling is the more avoiding gluten the merrier. 
 
There are a few ramifications to this increase in consumer resistance to gluten.  One, there is a larger demand, therefore (presumably) a larger supply and (we hope) more amazing products to choose from at (we pray) cheaper prices.  I have yet to see cheaper prices, though I have seen quite an abundance of newer products in a short period of time.  New products are flying onto shelves, some stay and become gluten free staples in kitchens nationally, and some fly off of shelves as fast as they flew on, becoming nothing more than a blink in the evolving gluten free market's eye.
 
Another ramification, a less desirable one, is in the haste to join a growing economic trend some companies (restaurants, and food producers) do not follow good cross contamination practices; therefore, the menu or label might say gluten free, but it is always prudent for someone with Celiac Disease to dig deeper and behave defensively.  However, this is another post.
 
Thirdly, because many allergies go together companies often clump allergies - creating gluten free, nut free, soy free, dairy free, egg free etc. products.  Well, for the savvy Celiac this is not a good thing.  We need products that have protein and fibers we are missing in our already vastly restricted diet.   I want my children to have diary, nuts, eggs etc.  So, yes I want the convenience of buying muffins, instead of making them on occasion, but not at the cost of all that is nutritious in the world!  That being said, I respect that is it hard to cater to individual dietary restrictions - but suck it up and do it anyway.
 
Lastly, and unfortunately, another negative consequence of the growing gluten free consumer base is an abundance of products that are crap.  The old quantity does not necessarily mean quality conundrum.  And speaking of which... a product I am going to slam today, happens to be some "cookies" I picked up at Whole Foods for my kiddos.  There is a Whole Foods near us.  It is pricey to get anything there; however, this Friday we had a tight schedule between school getting out, group violin lessons and a play date, before of course getting home and having Friday gluten free pizza and movie night!  Thus, a new routine on tight schedule days is for us to grab a gluten free snack at Whole Foods Market.  Usually this works out great, we get fruit and a muffin/cracker/cookie snack.  Well, this Friday our snack fell drastically short of expectations.

 

 It is hard to "review" these "cookies" - in short they are probably best described as gloried, dry dirt with a little vanilla in the middle.  I blame the health gluten free market trend on this product.  I think certain gluten free products want to appear health conscious, so they make a product that tastes so bad it must be good for you!  What BS.  Dear Jovial Inherently Good please do not make anymore cookies, you are slowly disheartening gluten free children everywhere, and consider changing your name.
 
Thank you,
A Mom who spit your cookie out in a parking lot.  
 

 

Happy Sunday! 

Eat Cookies that Don't Taste like Dirt!

Back from summer.... vacation?

Well, every summer I hit the blog thinking, I am going to write soooo much.  I will write everyday of the summer.  I will log all the great activities we do, and all the awesome progress, the wonderful adventures we have, so one and so forth. Then summer hits and the realization of having three kids at home dawns on me.  Everyday is a marathon to bedtime.  When the kids finally zonk out I feel lucky to have just enough energy to peek at facebook (see what I am missing as my single friends/couple-without-kids-friends) travel the world and drink at bars in their free time - then I fall over asleep.

This summer was especially grueling,  I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to take two summer school classes towards my master's.  Phft.  Sigh. Stupid.  And to top it all off my man got a new job.  (Given this is a great opportunity for him).   Yay my man!

So... I want to say now.  I will take every summer off.  I will try to let you know what day I will stop and what day I will start back up.

... with that said... I am starting back up.

We moved!  Again!  This time to the centennial state.  The mile high state.  The Berkeley of the Rockies.  The state where people bike in flash flood conditions!  Also one of the states that legalized pot... Colorado.  As, I am a person that appreciates swag, I was extremely happy to see that Coloradoans pride transitions into their love to wear their state flag on their shirts, hats, pants, they also stick it to their cars, water bottles, bikes... I bet I could find Colorado underwear if I looked enough.  You will never forget where you live, because at least one person near by is wearing the state flag in some form.  In any case, I have yet to buy a Colorado shirt - but you can bet I will be doing that in the near future.  I have to admit, South Dakota needs to market better... they need to invest in more swag.  I feel like I am constantly at a "I love CO" state convention - except the swag is sadly not free.

I am sure there are going to be many new adventures, as well as, new gluten free eats/products and stores, but right now it is 1am and I have a head ache.  One other things about CO I have learned so far... it is hard to stay hydrated!

Happy Tuesday!