Celiac disease and gluten-free were not words familiar to our family since we loved breads, pastas and baked goods. Everything changed when Brody, at 18 months old, became incredibly sick. He began throwing up following meals. It was sporadic and not consistent with the flu. After three weeks and many trips to the doctors office, he had lost three pounds and he was weak.
Brody was lethargic and didn’t even want to play. Finally, doctors admitted him to Children’s hospital where they ran several tests. A gastroenterologist saw that his small intestine was deflated and not working. This is a sign of Celiac disease. Brody’s blood tested positive for Celiac disease and a biopsy confirmed it.
Brody, at 18 months old, had to live gluten free. We wondered, how do we keep him healthy? Living gluten-free has become a lot easier and has made our entire family more healthy and aware of what we are eating. The biggest challenge is finding bread products that taste good.
This is where Brody’s aunt, Kathy Schwartz, stepped in. Being a Registered Dietitian, she understood our frustration and began to experiment and soon mastered the best chocolate chip cookies we and Brody have ever eaten. We are amazed at the quality of the cookies and muffins and their appeal to everyone.
We want to share all of our products with everyone who has to or wants to eat gluten free. They are all delicious!!
Tips from Brody:
- All meats, vegetables and fruits are naturally gluten free.
- Always look at all sauces, teriyaki, soy sauce and some bbq sauces can have gluten (remember gluten is in wheat, barley and rye, legally the manufacturers only have to list what is wheat-free on packages.. not that it is gluten-free).
- Things like licorice and certain chips can contain wheat, almost all Lay’s chips are gluten-free except BBQ flavor.
- If your house is not entirely gluten-free remember to have your/their own butter, toaster and peanut butter, this can ensure no cross contamination.
- Almost all restaurants have menus that list ingredients and more restaurants have a gluten-free menu’s always ask!
- Some of Brody’s favorites are Dominoes and Davanni’s. Both have great gluten-free pizza options.
- McDonald’s chicken sandwich without a bun and french fries, they use a separate fryer for their french fries to keep them gluten free.
