Did you all get to see Betty White on Saturday Night Live last night? I just love Betty White and loved watching her on Golden Girls as Rose Nyland. She never fails to make me giggle.

If you missed it, you can view Betty’s monologue here:

And here is Betty’s NPR themed sketch:

Kudos to Betty White!

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Next week at this time I will have ran my first marathon! I am as ready as I am going to be and can’t wait to conquer that race & own it! Lots of carb loading this week. Weather is supposed to be a high of 70 and low of 55 with a 10 – 20 % chance of rain. Perfect and maybe a little too warm for running. Hope the humidity isn’t too high.

Hope all the moms out there are having a great Mother’s Day! We had family over yesterday to celebrate for a nice meal. It was great to see them all. I love spending time with my mom.

Sunday – Rotisserie, garlic mashed potatoes, steamed carrots & green beans, salad

Monday -BBQ chicken tenders, basmati brown rice, asparagus & salad

Tuesday -Spaghetti, roasted veggies, okra & salad

Wednesday -Leftovers or Bonefish Grill

Thursday – Burgers, baked steak fries, corn & salad

Friday – Baked Beans over sweet potatoes, zucchini & salad

Saturday – Cleveland for the race on Sunday – not sure yet

Baked Goods

Bread

Scones

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Weekly Recap:

Did you see Nature’s Own is rolling out gluten-free bread? See Tiffany’s post for more information.

Mama Mimi’s is now offering take & bake pizza on Thursdays!

Plantains are naturally gluten-free.

Celiac Disease Awareness month to be observed at Raisin Rack

Gluten-free at Uno Chicago Grill

Celiac Awareness in USA Today

Books on Celiac Awareness

If you aren’t following Gluten-free is Life on Facebook, come join in the fun!

You can also follow me on Twitter!

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Like healthy chocolate chip cookies? Check out Erin’s recipe! OMG…I need to make these and soon!!

Michael at Gluten Free Philly mentions that Amazon.com is having gluten-free sales this month for Celiac Awareness.

Hope you all have a great week!!

If you get USA Today, you probably noticed the large insert dedicated to Celiac Awareness. If you don’t, no worries, you can read the insert here. This insert will reach over 1 million readers nationwide! I just can’t say enough how happy this makes me! The thought of someone needlessly suffering because they don’t know what is wrong makes me sad. Have then been to the doctor and they doctor didn’t test them? Is the doctor not familiar with Celiac or did the doctor brush them off? With the help of this ad, hopefully anyone that is suffering can go to their doctor armed with this information and ask for the test.

I know that I have mentioned it before, but I want to mention it again. I had to practically beg our pediatrician to test Jon for Celiac Disease. Even though I found out about myself 6 months earlier and started asking then, he said that Jon didn’t fit the “classic symptoms”. Classic symptoms can be defined as diarrhea, weight loss, malnourishment or dermatitis herpetiformis. Jon had none of the above. Jon was in the 95% for weight & height and had no diarrhea. Jon did have constipation and had some ADHD like symptoms. In May of 2006, we had Jon evaluated for ADHD. His grades had dropped & he couldn’t sit still in class. He was always been active, but his grades were always good. I put my foot down and said there would be no medication for ADHD until we did the blood work for Celiac. I had read in many places that sometimes children can have ADHD like symptoms with untreated/undiagnosed Celiac. We did the blood work and the doctor called me himself. He apologized and told me that Jon had a very positive result. His ttg number was supposed to be under 20 and his was 222. We scheduled his endoscopy & biopsy and confirmed that he did indeed have Celiac disease.

So, if you or a friend or family member has unexplained symptoms and has not been feeling right, don’t be afraid to speak up! Be an advocate for your health. You can view a symptom checklist here.

I don’t know about you, but after finding out that I would be changing my diet forever, I was scared. I did what I do best when I am scared – I research and gather as much information as humanly possible. I wanted to get my hands on every book that I could that told me about Celiac Disease and the gluten-free diet. In this post I am going to share the books that helped me out.

The first book I read was Dangerous Grains. I was fascinated by this book. The sheer number of ailments or symptoms that can be attributed to the grain-filled diet is amazing. I highly recommend this book – not only if you are following the gluten-free diet, but if you are suffering from any symptoms of an unknown cause. Heck, even if you do know the cause, the book is probably still worth reading, you never know if your diet may be connected.

Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic came out shortly after I began the gluten-free diet. I don’t think I have ever rushed out so quickly to purchase a book before. Remember, I was information gathering. 🙂 In this book, Dr. Peter Green and Rory Jones write about Celiac Disease and all you ever wanted to know about it. Celiac Disease is one of the most underdiagnosed autoimmune diseases. It is said that 1 in 133 people actually have Celiac Disease, yet only 97% are undiagnosed. That is huge! I really liked learning what happens to your body when you have Celiac Disease and how it can recover once gluten is removed.

Wheat-Free, Worry-Free. Danna Korn has written several books on Celiac Disease and the gluten-free diet. This book is very informative on every aspect of the diet from symptoms to recovery & food. Danna’s son, Tyler, was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 1991. She founded R.O.C.K (Raising Our Celiac Kids), a support group for families with kids on a gluten-free diet. I liked this book so much that I also purchased Kids with Celiac Disease and Living Gluten-Free for Dummies.

Gluten-Free Diet – A Comprehensive Resource Guide. I purchased this book after Jon was diagnosed in July 2006. This is an excellent book to have on hand. My book is outdated, but Shelley has a revised & expanded edition out now! There is so much useful information in this book. I love all of the gluten-free specialty foods companies that are listed with their contact information included!

Recognizing Celiac Disease: Signs, Symptoms, Associated Disorders & Complications. I received a complimentary copy of this book to review & was impressed with all of the information in it. This book is very technical, so it is not as easy to read as some of the others that I have listed above. I particularly liked the lists of all of the health manifestations of Celiac Disease. There are so many things that can be related, you just don’t even realize.

I have learned so much over the past 4+ years and continue to learn more & more every day. I have a thirst for knowledge when it comes to Celiac Disease & the gluten-free diet. My hope is that by arming myself with this knowledge I can help other people. Whether I am helping someone by sharing the newest gluten-free products on the market or a new recipe or restaurant, I enjoy doing what I can.

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If you are interested in helping to raise money for Celiac research, please visit The University of Maryland Research Center and purchase an awareness bracelet or magnet for your car, van or truck. More than 40,000 bracelets have been sold so far!

T-minus 14 days until my marathon! I have been seeing a sports doctor this week & found out that my sore foot was my plantar fascia acting up. I have never had issues like this, so it is all new to me. With a little ART (deep tissue massage), PT and TLC, I should be just fine by race day according to my doctor. I did freak out a little this week, but I am feeling better now.

Jon leaves for DC the day after my race for a week. I am also stressing about him going and eating safely. Fortunately there is a mom going who also has a child with Celiac disease. She & I have been chatting about food for the kids.

When I went shopping today I picked up lots of fresh produce and not a lot else. I have a bunch of protein already in my freezer, so I didn’t need to grab any meats. I spent only $100!

Sunday – Rotisserie chicken, sweet potato, okra & salad

Monday -salmon, basmati rice, carrots & salad

Tuesday – Chicken tacos/burritos, corn, refried beans & salad

Wednesday – Burgers, baked fries, green beans & salad

Thursday -Bonefish Grill

Friday – Veggie pizza and salad

Saturday – Beef tenderloin, garlic mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, salad, pistachio cheesecake (Mother’s Day get together)

Baked Goods

Bread

Pistachio Cheesecake

Weekly Recap

Review: Udi’s Cinnamon Rolls

Review: No Nuttin’ Granola Bars

Review: Udi’s Bagels

Teens following the gluten-free diet

Bard’s tale beer

Columbus Stores carrying hot items

Holiday Baking Company changes hours

Mixes from the Heartland discounts

Soy Joy bars review

5 Things to know about going gluten-free

General Mills debuts GF Hamburger Helper & Bisquick

Diane’s (The Whole Gang) 30 Days to a Food Revolution

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And, for those who read my “True Blogger Confessions“, I have been flossing almost daily! I went from not flossing to flossing 5 out of 7 days last week. The 2 days I forgot I was already in bed and was too tired to get back up when I remembered.

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Have a great gluten-free week!

Foodbuzz sent me some samples of the new Soy Joy Blueberry bars as part of the Tastemaker program. I have always wanted to try the Soy Joy bars, but I had never bought one before, though I am not sure why. I think part of the reason is that I was not sure if soy was making my stomach feel off or not. I have determined that soy was not the issue, so while I can eat soy, I don’t eat a lot of it.

Soy Joy uses only non-GMO soybeans in their bars. The bars are comprised of a mix of real fruit & ground whole soybeans. They are minimally processed & then simply baked. Soy Joy bars contain no trans fat, no hydrogenated oils, no artificial colors or flavors & no preservatives. Each blueberry bar contains 140 calories, 4g protein & 4g fiber. As I was reading through the list of FAQ on the Soy Joy website, I came across this question that really interested me:

Why whole soy?
Answer:
SOYJOY® is made from ground whole soybeans to take full advantage of all of the nutritional benefits of whole soybeans. SOYJOY® does NOT contain soy protein concentrates, isolated soy protein, or any other highly processed soy ingredients. For more information on the benefits of soy, click on the soy benefits link.

I loved these bars! The picture on the package that you see above and can see here is exactly what the bar looks like. I meant to take a picture, but I was eating this on-the-go. I was really impressed with these bars. Jon happened to be hungry one day in the car and I had another one in my purse. I offered it to him thinking he would quickly turn it down, but he took it and started to read the ingredients and said he wanted to try it. He loved it and asked me to get some more! He asked what other flavors they made:

• Blueberry
• Mango Coconut
• Raisin Almond
• Apple Walnut
• Berry
• Peanut Chocolate Chip
• Strawberry

I plan on picking up quite a few more of these to keep around and to send with him on his week-long trip to DC with his school. If I had to list 1 negative about the bar is that it is a little small, but then again, I was pleasantly surprised that it held me over until my next meal.

Where can you find Soy Joy bars? You can enter your zip code at the top of the page here. I know that I have seen them at my local Walmart for $1. They new Blueberry bars debuted in April, so they should be on the shelves. now.