One week before Christmas I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I have been feeling awful for a full month and the Dr. couldn't figure out what the problem was. I went through a number of tests checking for ulcers, gallbladder problems and acid reflux... and came back with nothing! My final blood test he decided to check for Celiac Disease and it came back positive and my numbers were through the roof! My Dr. informed me that as of this minute I was no longer able to eat bread, any kind of grains or anything that contains wheat flour! My first thought was a rush of relief that it was nothing too serious and my second thought was my deep freezer FULL of baking! I shed a little tear for all those shortbread and sugar cookies I couldn't sink my teeth into.(sniff sniff) So I went out that day and bought myself a couple gluten-free items to try. I purchased a loaf of raisin and cinnamon bread and headed home to try it. Well... I needed two hands to carry the loaf b/c it was so heavy and it tasted like stale cardboard. Not that I've ever tasted stale cardboard that is what i imagine it tastes like! *SIGH...tear* Oh boy..this is going to be fun!
This Christmas was VERY hard when it came to grazing the baking table that was set up 24/7 and the delicious meals that my aunt slaved over....no gravy, no cheese sauce, no pies, no wifesaver for breakfast and...well you get the idea. But, I came away from the weekend very proud of myself that I had the self-control to not cheat and realizing that I could control if I wanted to spend the evening curled up in a ball on the floor in pain over eating a piece of pie or if I wanted to enjoy the day playing boardgames and visiting b/c I chose to not cheat and have something different to eat.
I have spent the last couple days doing alot of research on eating and living gluten-free and realizing that I can do this. This coming up year is going to be a challenge but I can do it and if i can make it through Christmas and not have any problems, then I can do this everyday for the rest of my life.
My aunt made a very delicious dessert over Christmas that I was able to eat and I devoured..who would have thought that I could eat Pavlova (meringue dessert)?!! I CAN DO THIS!
Here's to all of you that want to try something new this year and don't think you can do it....If you really want it, you CAN do it and think of how proud of yourself you will be once you succeed. Let me know what you would like to do and we can encourage each other to keep going.
Happy New Year!!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Christmas Crafts
I found this nifty little craft on Etsy and decided that it would be a great gift for a few people on my Christmas list. It was so much fun and easy to do.....now I need to become friends with the person that makes Scrabble! If you know of anyone looking for a replacement Scrabble board just let me know...tiles not included (i used them all) : )
I made these Scrabble Coasters for my aunt and uncle that hosted Christmas for all 19 of us this year. I used all of their immediate family names.
15 Days of Baking
I was feeling the need to do something different this year for my Christmas baking. So, I took it upon myself to do 15 days of baking...and these were the results. It was all good and I had lots of energy and looked forward to baking everyday but.... Day #10 I woke up and really had no desire to start baking...but I told myself that I committed to this and I HAD TO FINISH! So I dug out some old recipes that I had never tried but always wanted to and sorted through them and settled on homemade caramels. I think these caramels were my favorite of all 15 days. I found the energy to finish the next 5 days and finished. Wow! It felt great to reach my goal and to have so many good compliments and encouragement from friends and family. And to think I did all of this baking with a little hand-mixer!!! Guess what I had under the tree this year from Jeff.......A KITCHENAID MIXER! Looking forward to Christmas next year, maybe I'll try 25 days of baking...NOT!
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