Hold the wheat, the barley, the rye. Who needs these grains? Not I! Gluten is like so last decade. So over-rated. Who needs it? I mean really---gluten is passé folks. Spread the word: Gastro Girl says it’s hip—and pleasantly tasty, or as a friend of mine would say—scrumpdumpdeleeicious baby---to go gluten-free.
After my slicing, dicing, chopping, stirring--not to mention slipping and sliding a little in a kitchen so big it made the Julia Child in me emerge with such force I was able to stand the heat in the kitchen—cranking my triceps madly round and round, moving a massive pot of grits towards an amazing gluten-free dish—I realized I’ve been torturing my gut with gluten(ney) needlessly for years.
Now I’m not saying I have Celiac Disease but I sure notice a difference in my Gastro Girliness when I avoid gluten. And after my recent gluten-free extravaganza a week ago—I’m voluntarily going on my own little gluten-free spree.
Last Friday, I had the honor of participating in a Gluten-Free Cooking Spree in Washington, D.C. The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness ( NFCA) hosted the event along with the gorgeous CNN anchor Heidi Collins (gosh, she looks even prettier in person and I did tell her exactly that when I met her).
She has Celiac Disease and is the spokesperson for NFCA.
By the way, the highlight if her remark came at the end- when she uttered the words, diarrhea, diarrhea, diarrhea in rapid succession. How Gastro Girl cool is she!
Heidi, you rock!
You can see CNN coverage of the event here.
Anyway, the cooking spree was amazing—I was on one of ten teams (made up of a prominent chef, a doctor and a media person). Our Team—dubbed Team Rock (after our awesome chef/team leader from the famed B. Smith’s—Rahman Harper (called Chef Rock) was me, Gastro Girl and Dr. Val Jones from Revolution Health. Dr. Val and I did Chef Rock proud.
Dr. Val scribed an even more detailed account of our gluten-free cooking fun in her insighful blog. Dr. Val and I almost had to cook sans our Chef Rock--I'll admit we were a bit worried.
Our dish? Shrimp and cheese grits.
Here we are serving up our gluten-free dish! I had a blast helping serve the hungry--and quite appreciative crowd.
Now, let me just say, I’m not a fan of Southern Food (sorry Chef Rock.) But I must say our dish was superb. And entirely gluten free. The shrimp was prepared with an array of savory delights including lemongrass, garlic, bacon, onions, plum tomatoes, chilies, jalapenos, shitake mushrooms, chives and chicken broth. Oh, my taste buds were in heaven.
As for the grits: let’s just say they tasted more Italian than Southern with a blend of parmesan, mascarpone and smoked cheddar cheeses. Yea, I still fit in my Rock n’ Republic jeans. (Scooped up for a bargain at Filene’s basement, girls). So for me gluten-free equals bloating-free. I could just kiss those grits!
Back to the food. I was amazed at all the wonderful dishes prepared by the teams, which included chefs from Cafe Atlantico, Zaytinya, Maggianos, Old Ebbitt Grill and P.F. Changs’s.
And yea, I was sharing a huge stove space going metal spoon to metal spoon with Chef Omar from Zaytinya who was making a quinoa dish on one side and the broccoli-steamin’ ginger chicken stir-frying Chef Jim from P.F. Chang’s. Our shrimp and cheese grits-- looked and tasted way better. Sorry Chef Omar. Please don’t cry Chef Jim, although I will say you steam some mean and very lusciously green broccoli. Thanks for the free facial by the way. My purified pores love you.
Its mind-boggling how many ingredients were used to create these fabulous dishes—and not one was wanting for gluten.
Some gluten substitutes, especially when it comes to flour and flour-based products included these from Bob’s Red Mill: Almond meal/flour; amaranth grain; coconut flour; roasted kasha; potato starch; quinoa (pronounced keen-wa); brown rice flour; white rice flour; sorghum flour; tapioca flour; guar gum; and all-purpose gluten-free baking flour.
This awesome event also featured desserts—all gluten-free—and those who struggle trying to find flavorful and fabulous gluten-free food –were in heaven. I’ve never seen such delight over sweets without caloric worry.
Myself included: I indulged in a chocolate torte so exquisite that I didn’t think twice about the slice of luscious lemon meringue pie I chased the chocolate with. All of the desserts: made by Sweet Sin Bakery and Cakes by Happy Eatery. Pure heaven. And I’m not a dessert lover. Ok, I have to be craving something sweet-which is rare.
By the end of the night gluten was neither part of digestive system nor my vocabulary. And I didn’t miss the dirty-little word.
I'm on the end next to Chef Rock, Dr. Val, NFCA President Alice Bast and Revolution's amazing non-profit guru Dominick.
So the point of the cooking-spree was well taken: yes, you can cook and eat wonderful, flavorful foods without gluten. AND you can enjoy eating out at good restaurants!
By the way, we were asked lots of questions on the Metro Ride home after the event. I never get tired of talking about digestive health, Revolution Health, and my role as Gastro Girl!
Snack attack? You can happily munch gluten-free
No event is complete without an array of samples stuffed into generous-sized goodie bags. Think you can’t get you salty or sweet or crunchy snack on? You are so very. Very wrong.
Trust me. I’m picky when it comes to this stuff. Everything I list here I’ve tried and enjoyed.
Pamela’s products (I tried her amazing chocolate chocolate chip cookies YUM—but she also makes baking mixes, other cookies, min cookies and biscotti.) Her site also has recipes.
Gluten Free Foods by George (Oh, the brownie I tried was divine--he has mail-order)
Mr. Krispers (I dare to you eat just one of these savory crunchy chips)
Redbridge
(beer made from Sorghum)Ina Garden (Gourmet gluten free bakery--great breads/melba toast)
Enjoy! And remember—gluten is so overrated! I was so inspired by the NFCA event I picked up some brown rice (gluten-free) pasta yesterday at Trader Joes. I’ll let you know how it tastes soon!
Celiac Disease is Serious: Why You Should Get Tested
Now for the serious stuff.
Celiac disease is serious folks--and many if us may be suffering with the symptoms of this common autoimmune disease that is triggered by the protein—gluten. See, if a person with celiac disease eats foods that contain gluten, an immune reaction occurs in the small intestine that results in damage to the villi, making them unable to absorb nutrients from food.
Why is this alarming? Well, a number of medical problems can accompany undiagnosed celiac disease including: cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes Type 1, thyroid problems and reproductive health issues.
But 97 percent of people with celiac disease don’t even know they have it. Could you be one of them?
While celiac disease is hard to diagnose, common symptoms include chronic diarrhea, constipation, weight loss, anemia, abdominal pain, headaches, joint pain, and fatigue.
You can learn more about this disease by reading about it on Revolution Health , visiting our community section where you can learn from others and visiting the NFCA website, which has tons of resources, inlcluding this symptomschecklist which you can fill out and take to your doctor.
One of my favorite blogs: Gluten Free Girl will inspire your cooking and eating whether you need to eat gluten-free or not. And she’ll also touch your heart with her beautiful and sincere writing and photographs.
Another of my favorite blogs: Celiac Chicks is a cool guide to a a hip and healthy celiac lifestyle. Great resources, especially to eateries in NYC that are hip, now, wow and gluten free!
Gastro Girl (aka Jacqueline Gaulin) is Revolution Health's Digestive health center community manager and is not a licensed professional in this field. Opinions expressed here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of Revolution Health. Ask her about anything digestive-health related or just tell her what's on your mind.
9 comments:
Coeliac Disease – Its Diagnosis and Treatment – Tell us your story in a New Research Blog
We would like to take this opportunity to invite you a research blog on Coeliac
We are particularly interested in the story of your diagnosis and treatment.
To take part please click this link
http://www.thepatientconnections.com/blog.asp?uid=46
Please feel free to post any links to useful resources for other Coeliac sufferers.
The blog is anonymous and easy to use. Instructions are given on the blog so thanks in advance for your help it is much appreciated.
Best wishes
Belinda
The Patient Connection
Belinda.shale@thepatientconnections.com
PS Please email me if you have any queries about the blog or any of our projects.
Blogs are becoming one of the most important source in order to share
views and outlooks what you have done to make yout thing trageously
successful.I like the concept has been given there.
http://www.herbalessenceonline.com
Jackie, Good to see you doing this. Hope all is well. Best, Alexa Champion Marks (your previous boot camp trainer)
Hey Gastro Girl.. Am a GP and am interested in the gastroenterology field. I would be very happy to give a hand in solving any problem you may face regarding your celiac. Am going to post every little info about celiac from now on.
this is my blog if you need anything...
http://drgastro.blogspot.com/
take care
People should read this.
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