When we discovered that Celiac was the reason our daughter was so ill, the world was just starting to gain awareness of the disease and it’s cure, being completely gluten free. In the two years that have passed since our family began its journey into gluten free living, the world has grown leaps and bounds in awareness. The result? Easier living, simpler choices and feeling more “normal” for those who must live gluten free.
Some people are gluten intolerant without being Celiac, these people feel significantly healthier by eliminating gluten from their diets. Others have Celiac disease which causes life long health issues if not treated by removal of gluten from their diets. Some bloggers have questioned if gluten free is the new fat free… a fad diet that is “cool” to jump on board. To that, I say “poo-poo”. Being gluten free isn’t fun, it isn’t easy and it certainly isn’t something one does just because. (Stay with us after the jump for gluten free recommendations and a give-away.)
I’ve been reading Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s new book, The G Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide. When household names become a spokesperson for a disease, awareness grows by leaps and bounds. This is the first gluten free book I have purchased and I can’t quite pinpoint why, but having a hands on manual is important to gluten free living and my children feel more important when they see me becoming better informed about our dietary needs.
Today, I received a large box of products from Betty Crocker (a General Mills company). I really pondered if I should post here about these new products, afterall, they are a packaged baking mix and therefore not the best option in nutrition. They are also NOT organic, which I’d love to see change, however I felt that gluten free awareness is vital to the well being of many Americans and therefore sharing this here was okay. If you don’t agree, then don’t read it.
General Mills began labeling Chex cereals Gluten Free a few months ago after they removed barley malt from the formulations. Now, Betty Crocker has introduced four new baking mixes (all produced in a gluten free facility). The baking mixes are: devil’s food cake, yellow cake, chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Frostings are not yet labeled gluten free, though the ingredients look safe to me… but we make our own because we also avoid artificial flavors, preservatives and colorants. Betty Crocker intends to have the frostings labeled gluten free this fall.
What we like: the mixes do not contain any artificial flavoring, coloring or preservatives (which is my one issue with Chex, they still contain BHT). I also LOVE that these mixes have Box Tops for Education on them, as we feel this is an important contribution to our school.
What we love: on Betty Crocker’s Gluten Free site, you will find several recipes to fancy up your baking. I am thrilled that many of these recipes add a bit of health to the treat. (Today we made banana cupcakes with browned butter frosting, which is amazingly tasty and the resulting cupcakes look just like traditional ones). There are also directions for preparing the mixes without butter (for those who can’t have dairy). We simply use Earth Balance Soy Free Spread to replace butter in our recipes, but it’s nice to have these handy directions available. I was thrilled to see these mixes in the baking aisle at our local grocer, having them right along side all the “normal” foods is a welcome sight!
On another note: if you are one of the many American’s wondering if they might have Celiac disease, you can now order a home test kit to see if you carry the DNA markers (indicating the likelihood that you or your children will develop the disease at some point). The test is offered through MyCeliacID (Prometheus Laboratories). The home test kit is $329 which is about a third of the blood genetic testing our pediatric GI ordered through the same laboratory. There are many reasons one would choose to test for the DNA marker for Celiac, but it does not diagnose Celiac disease.
Comment here to win (leave your GF story or favorite recipe from Betty Crocker’s site in the comments) a prize pack of Betty Crocker Gluten Free Baking Mixes. Your prize pack includes 1 each: yellow cake, devil’s food cake, brownies and chocolate chip cookies. It also includes two “free” coupons for GF baking mix of choice, a shopping tote, magnetic shopping list and a pen. Open to residents of the United States only. One winner will be chosen at random on August 1, 2009. Comments will close at 8am PST on 08/01/09.
Eat Well. Be Well. Gluten Free may be the key to your health.
Update: Comments are now closed. Congratulations Mary Frances.
Gluten free carrot cake
I like the Brownie recipes.
This may just change the way I bake!!! The first thing I did was find out where they sell these! Can’t wait to get some and try them over and over!
My 07/29/09 entry
ktgonyea at gmail.com
yum the carrot cake
Hello. My story to a diagnosis of Celiac Disease is a long one. I first became ill in 1992, and was increasingly sick over the next 11 years. I was hospitalized for various maladies, including GI problems, over 100 times. Finally, I read an article in the Washington Post in early 2003 which described CD, and asked my doctor for a blood test. The rest is history.
I was tested for many ailments, but never for CD and I believe that this is because I was overweight. I was hungry all the time and could not stop obsessing about food. Since going gluten free, I have lost close to 60 pounds, and no longer think of food except when hours have passed since my last meal.
I believe unresolved hunger is a symptom of CD when a person has been deprived of vitamins and nutrients because of an inability to absorb them. It is my sincere hope that people become aware that CD is not an illness limited only to those who are under or normal weight.
I would love to win these products because I remain ill and cannot bake from scratch. I fondly remember making Betty Crocker products and would love to do so again. Thanks for this contest. Mary Frances
My ten-year-old grandson cannot have gluten and last summer we took a vacation in Disney World. The entire park was incredibly helpful in preparing a gluten-free option for my grandson and when we thanked the chef at our hotel, he responded, “No, it is my honor to serve him…I’m happy to prepare something for him to enjoy.” I guess I just want to let people know that Disney has really made an effort to help people with all sorts of food requirements and gluten-free is definitely one of them.
My son has Autism, so we have experimented with a lot of gluten-free foods to see if it helps with some of his behaviors. Many of the GF foods on the market taste horrible, so you can’t imagine how surprised (and happy) I was to learn that Betty Crocker now has their own gluten-free line of baking products! I cannot wait to try them out!
Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cookies look yummy.
My entry for 07/28/09
ktgonyea at gmail.com