Author Archives: lindaFB

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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Pinterest to the rescue!

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Feeling so much more positive about the homeschool / outschool situation. Had a positive meeting with school on Friday and then decided to browse Pinterest for homeschool stuff! Needless to say I already decorated the entire new school room in my head several times over by now!

Stress levels are slowly going down as well, plenty of rest and good food and just coming to terms with it all, so much to take in, and it takes a while to sink in.

Whatever will be will be, and I have accepted it. Really I have. We just have to take it one day at a time and see how we go along, and when I falter I will go and look at pinterest again. (!!) Check out my new and lovely homeschool board. So exiting. We move house in May and we have a large room ready to be the new school / chill / hang out room.

My shopping list and to do list is growing. 😀

Thank you all who commented and sent me private messages over my last few posts, your support means so much to me, to all of us.

-Linda

Yesterday my heart broke a little……

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We were sitting in school Celiac kid and me, waiting to pick up big brother. All of a sudden I realised she wont be back there, not just for ages, but ever. The school is building a new building, and if/when she does go back, it wont be there.

Its very different sitting in school knowing you can send her back any time you like because you took her out, just for a bit, to sitting in school knowing she cant go back for a year or 2 because the dr. said so. Even though its what my mummy heart has wanted and thought about for some time, the fact that we now have it on paper just seems so final.

The lumps in my throat got all big and horrible and for a horrible moment I thought I might cry. I didn’t. Thankfully, lucky none of my closer mum friends were there, because if one of them had asked how I was doing the floodgates would have opened.

Im ok, its for the best, and I know that. But there is still this huge sadness inside that soon A’s class wont be her class anymore, it will just be the class that she should have been in if she attended school. As new kids come and go, “her class” wont even know who she is anymore.

Onwards and upwards now with positivity. I am mourning but I should be celebrating, because we may be looking at a year or two with no pneumonias, and maybe even no hospital stays? Thats got to be a good thing, right? A year or two with mummy all to her self, a year or two of doing whatever she wants (within limits obviously). A year or two of me not stressing every time the phone rings (incase its school calling to tell me to come get her quick). A year or two with one on one teaching and learning!!

Bring it on, Im ready (or am I?…)

-Linda

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Stress + Food = weight gain!

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I am the heaviest I have ever been, I actually weigh more now then I did when I was pregnant! Im not super fat, Im actually not really overweight even, but having always been super skinny I feel like a huge big blob!

60kg, I mean hello? I never thought I would weigh a number like that (I am 162cm).

LCHF was great for me, I started in June last year and quickly lost 2-3 kg, then stalled a bit but kept at it because I felt great. Then cheated lots at Christmas and in January I fell off the wagon completely, not my fault really, I was in hospital with celiac kid and lived on bread. Just didn’t really manage to go carb free again after that. To much stress and with the stress this hunger that can only be “cured” by eating popcorn, quinoa, millet and potatoes. Not the worst carbs in the world perhaps but carbs all the same.

Then the weight gain, aaaagh. Been reading about stress and cortisol and what it does to your body, puts you in fight or flight mode, long term stress has a direct link to belly fat, which is where all my fat sits! So I guess I am forgiven? Things have been so crappy lately I figured if a piece of chocolate makes me feel better then I totally deserve a piece of chocolate… right?

I will go back on LCHF, when Im good and ready, I will also start doing my steps properly again with my fitbit. When you are at home with an unwell kid or in hospital then its hard to go above 3k steps!

For those of you who want some LCHF inspiration, check out my LCHF album on facebook! 

-Linda

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When the going gets tough….

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Life is a bit like Facebook in a way. When you write happy cheerful cute kitten style things you get lots of likes (support), but when shit hits the fan and you post depressing things there is little to no reaction.

Not complaining, just an observation really. Over the last couple of months of depressing crappy crap in our life, my Facebook page has lost tons of followers. (Ok, not tons, but a few). Much the same in real life. Some people cant handle tough times. And Im not a complainer at all, not even a little. In face to face meetings with people I am always smiling, laughing, brushing it off, trying to make it sound better then it is, because who wants to hang out with a complainer really? On the blog’s facebook page I tend to not post if I cant keep it somewhat happy, but my blog, surely here I must be able to say it like it is? I will, I will continue too. Yes, I will also continue to go quiet when its all to bloody depressing to just keep repeating the same stuff, but when I DO post, Im sorry, Im not going to cover up the truth or play make believe.

I keep thinking that maybe my posts might help someone somewhere?

In the hospital the other day there was a mum, with 2 teenage boys with CF. I just wanted to hug her, because no matter what I am going through, no matter what my family is going through, my life is probably a walk in the park compared to that mum’s.

Anyway, here is a kitten. Feel free to unfollow my blog or Facebook at any time, I get it, really I do.  I have a friend who only posts on facebook to complain, every bloody day. It gets annoying you know…. I am sorry that sometimes I am that person too.

-Linda

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An unwilling homeschooler

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Yup. Not only am I one of those mums *insert eyeroll*, I am now also about to be one of THOSE mums *insert even bigger eyeroll*.

We are back from the lung hospital. We have the results from the immunologists. And guess what, there is nothing wrong with with our kid! (Apart from recurring pneumonias with low oxygen levels).

PCD, CF, back normal, no growths or foreign objects in the lung. No asthma although she may be heading that way. A couple of new allergies diagnosed. All immune levels are ok, some a bit low, but within the accepted range, some signs of autoimmune activity that needs to be followed up but thats it.

The doctors agree that its not normal to get so many severe pneumonias, and they agree the low oxygen levels that go along with it are also not normal, all our specialists were so sure they would find something, either in the lung or with her immune system, and I know I shouldn’t be disappointed, because obviously its great news that she’s ok and its not one of the big things, but I cant help but think that this isn’t over at all….

Oh, and there is a plan. Her pulmonologist and immunologist agree that she needs “time off”. A year off school I asked, and the reply was; “probably more like 2”.

I should be happy about this as well as my gut instinct has been telling me for a good year or two now to take her out of school so she can rest, but again, I feel cheated somehow, I wanted a better answer, an answer where we could actually DO something.

I know, it makes sense to have her rest and not be near other kids for a couple of years, if one pneumonia takes 6-12 months to get over she really does have her work cut out for her. But a diagnosis of ‘lots of bad luck and vicious circle and immune system that needs to mature etc’ just doesn’t sound very much like a real diagnosis to me.

One of her antibodies to pneumonia was a little low, but not so much, her overall igg is a bit on the low side but acceptable, the igg1 a bit on the low side but acceptable. FUCK acceptable. Acceptable doesn’t get us anywhere. What if we wait two years and then after that there is no change?

Now back on to the steroids also, yeah, the ones that make her not grow and suffer from bone pain. The ones that make her cry walking down the stairs, the ones that when she came off them she rapidly grew 3 cm!

Im so so tired.

On the bright side we have had doctors confirm she shouldn’t be in school and the paper work to support it. On the not so bright side I need to come up with a home schooling plan in a country where you are only allowed to home school in extreme cases and if so then it must be in Polish.

Anyway. Bla bla. Still sort of processing all this, and Im feeling positive, ish, but also not so much.

Deep breaths and all that.

-Linda