Monthly Archives: April 2015

Wiosna visit.

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My last visit to Wiosna they had 53 children.

53.

And thats one orphanage in this area, there are many more. 21 babies, 7 below 4 months old. Now, those of you who have kids know that buying nappies (diapers for the American readers) is expensive, and no matter how much you stock up, they run out super fast. Imagine then buying nappies for 21 babies. I mean, you could fill 2 cars and it will still run out in a heartbeat!

Then the formula. The amount needed is unimaginable to me. While my school is collecting monthly now for them, it is just not enough. I have gotten another school involved also, and they do bi monthly collections, and there is a Polish lady collecting in her daughters class in yet another school. But what we bring them, its still not enough. Its like feeding a hungry dragon, now matter how much you give, the dragon is still hungry. Or like Elsbieta (who works there) says, its like a big black hole you can never fill. But try we must.

I wanted to set up crowd funding for them, but I was hoping to raise large amounts and didn’t want to do it in my name, I wanted the funds to go directly to them, but sites such as Just Giving do not let you sign up as a charity from Poland. Elsbieta is looking in to alternatives, but at the moment, it seems more or less impossible. Every site I checked so far does not let Polish charities register. So I decided to go for something smaller, just while we wait, to fill that big black hole a bit, but sites such as ‘go fund me’ are also not an option, as again, I can not raise money from Poland, only give! I am left with 3 other sites that I am looking in to at the moment. I desperately want to give my friends the option to help, even if its just a little.

I will update you all on this later on, now I will just leave you with some photos. And yes, I have removed the children’s faces. While they are all absolutely gorgeous, it is not right to reveal their identities. (But don’t I look good with a baby!!?? I might need to adopt a few!) -Linda

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http://dzieci-wiosna.pl/index2.php

Including the different child

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Time and time again here in Poland I see the food allergy kids being forgotten. They sit on the sideline watching their friends eat cake or whatever it is thats been brought to school / nursery. It makes me so incredibly sad.

In Sweden there are rules against this, schools (and nurseries) have to follow government guidelines, this means there are strict food policies and also inclusion policies. No child is to be treated different. Basically, it means, that if there is cake in class, suitable cake must be provided for ALL of the children. If this somehow fails there is a report system in place with a chain of command that you make your complaint to and there will be an investigation.

In Dubai we were lucky to have an amazingly supportive school and a food policy that suited us. There were no laws backing us up, but caring adults and a large dose of common sense, meaning a small child should be included in a school environment, not excluded. No matter what the child says, it is not ok to have a kid sit and watch friends eat. School – in my opinion – should be for learning, and once you start teaching kids that its ok to exclude another child based on their allergies, religious beliefs, autoimmune diseases, then you are going down a very very wrong path.

We teach our children to respect others, to not point at the morbidly obese, not to laugh at others misfortune, to be caring and nurturing individuals, but how then, does it make sense to have a child in a class room or lunch room going without? It goes against everything we are teaching them, and if you ask the young children themselves, it upsets them too. Most would rather have a toy or a treat that everyone can eat. It isn’t that hard really. And if it feels to difficult, then simply ban foods that exclude from a school environment. It is the right thing to do.

I haven’t had enough fight in me in the past few months to deal with this. But the fight needs to go on. The sad thing is…. it shouldn’t have to be a fight at all 😦

Please do share this post, not for me, but for all the children it affects.

-Linda

Zucchini Fritters

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Im back on LCHF. Because you know… Im getting a bit to blobby. Yesterday I had SUCH bad cravings for crisps or popcorn and sweets and, well, pretty much anything non LCHF. So Pinterest to the rescue (again) and I found some zucchini fritters. Hurraaah. I had what I needed in the fridge! So, 1 zucchini got itself sliced and 1 chunk of parmesan got itself mini choppered in to a powder and in the oven it went. and about 10 minutes later I had this AWESOME snack in my mouth, and the kids LOVED it which is always a bonus when you have kids, so Im totally doing this again. Forgot to take photo of finished product because piggy here had to eat them straight away. Ha.

So easy. Slice zucchini, add grated parmesan (I salted and peppered my parmesan to add flavour), add some evoo and pop in a hot oven for 5-10 minutes. Thin slices = crispy yummy zucchini thingies, thicker slices = softer and SO delicious! Originally saw this on pinterest here zucchini fritters,  if you search zucchini fritters or baked zucchini on pinterest, you will see HUNDREDS 🙂 -Linda

On a pancake mission – day 2

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Ok, nobody tell anyone its been like a week since the last pancake.

Today again I searched and found lots of different egg free pancakes, I wanted one without an egg replaces such as chia or banana or apple sauce, because sometimes, we just dont have all that stuff lying around. I found a few recipes and modified them to make them suit me and obviously make them gluten free.

This one was awesome, but I can imagine the flour is the make or break here, I had to adjust the amount of liquid a few times until I was satisfied, but do note, the batter will be super thick. As the baking powder sits and does its thing, you may even need some more liquid towards the end.

  • 3dl all purpose gf flour (I used a cake one as they are less dense, you may be able to use a bread flour, but start off with a bit less)
  • 4dl milk (I used lactose free)
  • 1tbsp (yup, a WHOLE tablespoon, no joke) baking powder
  • 1tbsp sugar (I tried without this at first, but they kindof need it, try honey if you are a no sugar kindof person)
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • butter or oil for frying, plus a big dollop (about 2tbsp) for the batter

Mix all ingredients together, I never faff around with dry first or whathave you, just whack it in a bowl and blitz with an electric whisk. Like I said, this batter will be thick, its normal, it needs to be.

Start of with a pretty hot pan and lower to medium after the first pancake. Turn each pancake once edges are solid and it almost stopped bubbling.

Verdict: Celiac kiddo loved these, she says they are even better then the previous one which she gave a 5/5. She also says Im a super hero at pancakes and if there was olympics in pancake making I would win (GOD I love my kids!) Big brother says they are super super yummy. He gives them 5/5, he says they were pretty much equally good to the other ones. I also tried even though Im back on a strict low carb diet, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised! You actually can make pancakes without egg and gluten and make them taste like the real thing. My only critique would that they are a tad doughey in the middle. Next time I will try adding some flavour to these, I think they would be great with some chocolate chips or blueberries! I give them a 4/5 and thats comparing them to a pancake with egg! So not bad at all.

Linda

Dont forget to “like” GlutenFree & Me on Facebook!

On a pancake mission – day 1

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Gluten free was easy. Gluten free pancakes taste amazing and I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t love them (they are better then gluten ones, trust me!). But then you go almost completely lactose free and egg free and you sort of sit and wonder, if pancakes are lactose free, egg free and gluten free, are they still pancakes?

Well, after almost a year of being pancake less I decided to go on a pancake mission.

Pancake 1

This is a combination of several recipes I found online, the base recipe(s) had more milk and fancy flavours, they also had gluten. So, this is what I did.

  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1,1/2 dl gf flour (I used a cake one rather then a bread one, but whichever should be fine)
  • 3dl milk (lactose free or whatever tickles your fancy)
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • a pinch of salt
  • a squirt of evoo (or melted butter is fine if that works for you), a bit in the batter and some more for frying

Mash the banana in a bowl and add other ingredients, whisk well so its not to lumpy. Fry as you would a “normal’ pancake.

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Verdict: Well, there is one thing in the world I will not eat or try ever, and its banana. I apparently didn’t like it even as a baby. My mum forced me to eat one in childhood at some point and I promptly puked. I cant even stand the smell. So, I almost died having to mash the thing. Honest. But almost dying is worth it for my kids, so mash I did, with my head turned away and running to the hallway for breathing breaks. I cant tell you what it tastes like. But Celiac kid ate almost all of them! She was screaming and jumping up and down from being so happy about pancakes, she says they are the best everrrrrr! I guess thats a pretty good verdict 🙂 From a cooking point of view Id say they burn pretty easily, I had to keep the temp lower then “normal” pancakes. They were also a bit runny, so a bit bigger then what we usually make, but maybe more flour would have fixed this. Anyhow, daughter gives these a 5/5. I wont rate them as I didnt try, and big brother is in school so missed out on these.

Pancake number 2 tomorrow!

-Linda

EDIT TO ADD: I managed to save 1 little pancake which big brother ate cold after school, he gave it a 6/5 and drew me a “best pancake maker in the world” certificate. I think we are on to a winner!

Dont forget to “like” GlutenFree & Me on Facebook!

Myths and facts and insensitive bas***ds (FAQ about Celiac)

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Why is your house gluten free? I mean common, its just gluten right? 

Because Celiac disease kills. Yup, it kills. Only it does it slowly without huge obvious signs. Would you keep nut dust around in a nut allergy home?

Oh common, just one bite wont hurt? 

Hell yes it will. It will hurt, ALOT. In some you cant see it, in some the effects are felt and heard, for a long time. The last contamination we had the effects lasted almost 3 months (and that wasn’t a bite, it was contamination!)

Oh yeah, Im allergic to gluten too.

No you are not. You either have Celiac disease, gluten sensitivity (NCGS) or Celiac disease. Celiac disease is not an allergy, its an autoimmune disease.

You are just being difficult / embarrassing. 

HELL YES, Im trying to save my kids life here. Did you know Celiacs who are not gluten free or are repeatedly exposed to gluten have a much larger chance of premature death then the general population? There is also a higher chance of developing another autoimmune disease, as well as the risk of malnourishment and everything that comes with it, to name just a few of reasons I am being difficult / embarrassing.

Do you really have to wipe the darn table when we go out for coffee (insert eye-roll)

Yup, I do, if you cant deal with it you cant be my friend. An 8th of a breadcrumb can be enough for a reaction, thats my kid touching the table all over and then forgetting about it and popping a finger in her mouth or touching her lip then accidentally licking it. If you are my friend, you will help me wipe and give evil looks to anyone that stares!

Its Christmas, let her have one, it wont hurt her

Sorry, Celiac disease doesn’t take holidays.

Gluten is killed off / burnt off in high temperatures

If this logic was correct we would be able to eat a loaf of bread, its baked in the oven…. or an onion ring thats deep fried…? No… not so much? Didn’t think so.

So if you can write a list of what she can and can’t eat….

Yes, because that would be so easy, why didn’t I think of that earlier! THANK YOU!

If you leave bread out overnight the gluten will evaporate.

You really must have had a really special kind of education….. like …. say what?

Don’t worry, she will grow out of it.

What part of THIS. IS. NOT. AN. ALLERGY. Did you not understand? Autoimmune diseases are like very special gifts, they are for life.

Cant you just scrape the filling out of the bread and eat that? / PEEL the KFC chicken? /Pick the croutons out / Scrape the breading off?

Yeah, sure, lets sprinkle nuts all over this donut and then scrape it off a bit with a spoon and feed it to your nut allergy anaphylactic kid! No? Didn’t think so.

Oh gluten? Thats only in pasta and bread, not that hard.

hahahahahahaha. Thats is all. Really, hahahahaha.

Its SOUP, there is no gluten in SOUP!!

SO glad you told me, so AWESOME to have met an expert on this. THANKS! Assume you checked the thickener and the stock cubes? Oh yes, those can have gluten too. Never mind the small bits of pasta / croutons / barley / whatever floating in it…..

If I threw a crumb in her mouth what would happen?

You may very well end up dead thats what would happen

I got this for me and the kids – I couldn’t find anything you/she/he could eat

Yes, because picking up some sliced melon, bananas, fruit, plain yogurt, berries, cheese slices or anything cleverly labelled (!!) gluten free would have been too difficult. I understand.

You really are fussy aren’t you.

Yes, extra specially fussy in a very special kind of way 🙂

But, she’s not going to EAT glue / playdough / waterpaint 

No, but she’s 5. How many 5 year olds do you know who are impeccably clean after playing with stuff like that? Actually, scrap that. YES, she might eat it.

Might have to edit this one and add more later. Thanks to the awesome gluten free people in the Facebook group called Gluten Free and Me (not mine) for helping some with some of theirs. The lady who was told she was only Celiac because of her pregnancy must have been the best one. Or the gluten evaporates one. Heck, some of the stuff some of these people have been told, often by close friends and relatives ASTOUND me. Surely people who know someone with Celiac would take their time to do a quick google on actual facts?

I actually meant to put proper answers explaining very carefully, until I realised just how much bottled up gluten rage I held inside! Go ahead, add yours in the comments below or on my facebook page!

For those of you with a sense of humour failure, this kind of stuff is the stuff families like ours hears on an almost daily basis, while we smile sweetly and answer politely for the 5th time at the same dinner party, these are the answers in our heads. Or at least mine.

-Linda

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