Spotlight: Gluten-Free Living with Baking Beauties' Jeanine Friesen
We have a special Spotlight for you today from member Jeanine Friesen. We turned to her to get the lowdown on a gluten-free diet. Take it away, Jeanine!
Hi everyone, I author a blog called The Baking Beauties. Here are some of the most popular misconceptions of the gluten-free diet.
The Misconceptions of a Gluten-free Diet
The gluten-free diet is great for weight loss: FALSE
Eating manufactured gluten-free foods will not help you to lose weight. If you were to eat only manufactured gluten-free foods, you would probably gain weight. Manufacturers increase the amount of sugar and fat to enhance the flavour of gluten-free food.
Eating gluten-free is very expensive: FALSE
Purchasing foods labelled "gluten-free" can be expensive, but eating gluten-free can be as simple as fresh fruits, vegetables, unprocessed meats and dairy. Buying gluten-free cookies, breads and cakes will empty your wallet quickly, but sticking to naturally gluten-free foods can be a great way to keep the grocery bill down.
If I eat gluten-free, I can never eat dessert again: FALSE
There are many gluten-free recipes available, making homemade gluten-free desserts easier to obtain than ever before. What are you looking for? Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies? Not a problem! S'mores Cupcakes? Sure, why not! Even Ooey, Gooey Cinnamon Buns. Pure perfection! Not to mention the 22 dessert recipes that I entered into the Real Women of Philadelphia casting competition. If you can bake (or are willing to learn), you will not have to deprive yourself.
Cooking for a celiac is difficult: FALSE
If you are going to be hosting a person with celiac disease or gluten-intolerance, when they ask, "What can I bring?" have them bring any part of the meal that you are uncertain how to safely prepare. Bringing a dish along is much less of a hassle than getting sick. Luckily for me, I usually get to bring the dessert.
21 comments
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Pretty sneaky from the food industry labeling food gluten free knowing that the buyer is looking to reduce his weight gain but adding fattening stuff anyway like sugar and fats.
I think the FDA should do something about it and control this industry more because we going to end up so confused in 10 years about what if we eat we gain weight and what is truly what the label say.
http://www.mengainweight.com/ -
Another grand success with Jeanine's website (or a couple successes). These past couple days I made her recipe for Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins for a potluck with 7 GF guests. They were a big with people going back for seconds.
This morning I made Jeanine's Raisin Bran Muffins using all ground flax, instead of rice bran and they were delicious!!!!!! They work very well in muffin liners and I personally liked them as much as traditional bran muffins. Our GF houseguest gave them the thumbs up also :)
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So true, Marlies. Thanks for the tip. I think he definitely needs to push his doctor and likewise go in asking plenty of questions. Hopefully it's nothing too serious.
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Miss Philly, often stomach pains after eating rich foods can be an indication of gall bladder issues...I would suggest your friend ask his doctor to do some more investigating (men tend to push these things under the rug...)
Jeanine, you have a great web-site! I just told my sister about you and your recipes - her Naturopath has ordered a Gluten-free diet and since she has changed her diet, she has lost 20 pounds and hasn't had a stomache ache in two months!!
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Thanks so much, Jeanine. Super informative. Sending link to my friend so he can discuss options with his doctor.
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Jeanine, what tests actually determined your diagnosis? A friend of mine has had stomach pains for a few years now when he eats rich foods, he tells me, but at no point has his doctor considered testing him for anything yet. Just told him to take a meal diary so far.
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Congrats Jeanine on this great spotlight. Really enjoyed reading your piece, found it very informative and like the format and easy reading style. I have also enjoyed the interesting comments that followed including Sarah's. What a kind and balanced forum - thank you.
Being a writer and being given deadlines with very tight space /word counts, I can fully appreciate your situation Jeanine. You would require a whole website dedicated to this topic alone ;) Speaking of which -- I have frequently visited your amazing The Baking Beauties - just stunning and ( I will say it again and again) job well done Jeanine especially when I have friends/family who are on gluten -free diets or have celiac, you make my life so much easier to plan a menu for them ;)
Personally, I believe Jeanine you have achieved that via RWOP - I know more about gluten free, celiac, via so many threads, links you have personally put out there since I joined the site in April. Thank you for taking a lot of the guessing game out of those inflicted with celiac and on gluten free diets and bringing a real serious side to it and creating amazing recipes that are GF. I have refered your site many times over to friends and family for options and choices.
I also have certain food allergies and I agree it's quite tough when you go to dinner to a friend's home, potluch and you need to know exactly what's in the dishes so you won't get very sick or land up in the hospital. Over the years, I tell people I'm very allergic to this and that - I ask those I entertain at my home - what are you allergic to and there are many allergies out there - shellfish, nuts, dairy - and I create my menu to reflect what is safe for them to eat. I personally did not want to be this way - have these annoying allergies at best -- I would love to eat all foods but my body just can't handle certain foods and I respect that and don't eat it.
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Thanks Jeanine, while I eat gluten, I have family and friends with Celiac and I love the chance to learn more to make them comfortable when I cook for them.
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Great job Jeannine
I know I am wheat sensitive and should eat as little wheat as possible. It's so difficult with all the wheat products desserts and otherwise!
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When I think about what my Dr. said to me a few weeks back about staying away from wheat because it is not like it used to be, and what has been written in the post about celiacs disease being dormant, it makes me wonder if the changes in agriculture and our carb laden diets are linked to an increase in Celiacs or gluten intolerance.
This seems like a good place to me to keep rambling on about gluten free!
Maybe Jeanine could put the links to her fabulous videos here in case anyone wants to watch them, she did do an excellent job, and all great GF recipes.
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Hi, I would like to thank-you for some new receipes. My husband found out that he has celiac almost two years ago. He apparently was born with it but had no symptoms till 4yrs ago at the age of 45. He suffered 2yrs with stomach pains till they finally tested for celiac. Now two of our children have been tested with negative results. Our youngest is 15, will be tested in Dec. and she is the one we worry about. They told my husband there is a 50/50 chance they will have it. Look foward to more articles and receipes.
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Hi Jeanine, and all the other wonderful commentors,
I didn't mean to be condesending, or to call the article silly. I am sorry I did, I really do appreciate more information circulating about gluten free diets and celiac disease and I am thrilled that you obviously have brought a ton of attention to the issue and that you are knowledgeable. In fact, I didn't even realize there was 30 videos to go with it. I opened one of the Philly emails that subjects line was "What it means to live gluten free". I didn't realize that it was a contest with a word limit! I guess I expressed myself badly, so I apologize sincerely.
I do feel that the above subject line is a bit misleading when it comes to the article. However, your title is accurate and the article is imformative! I guess I just feel somewhat annoyed as I find there are a few articles I have read recently where the distinction between celiac and choosing to be g-free. I am so happy to hear that others find they feel better without gluten, in fact there is a higher number of celiacs in Iceland because only recently (in terms of human history, the last two hundred years or so) did they consume gluten regularly. I have read that Celian is dormant in over half of adults but for a lot it will never be triggered as it requires a gastro intestinal tauma. Sorry, bottom line is that some scientist believe humans did not always eat gluten, thus the autoimmune response that is celiac.
Haha, I am really sorry, I suppose this isn't the forum for my Celiac ramblings.
Thanks for starting the dialogue, Jeanine. You're all right, I had no idea what gluten was before my diagnosis, but books, sites and many hours of reading and many more hours of feeling very sick and I suppose I have developed my own philosophy regarding gluten! LOL
I hope this note finds you all well and happy!
Best!
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What a great spotlight Jeanine. You, as always, are so friendly and inviting. You could make my want to cook manure if you tried hard enough. And of course, your photos make my mouth water.
Sarah, your additional GF pointers are very informative. I had no idea how sensitive an issue GF cooking is. I would love to hear more if you would be willing to post a thread in the forum. I think that would be a great space where people could talk about GF cooking more seriously without a word limit.
Great stuff!
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I just thought I would add, for me gluten free is just a choice I make. With no gluten in my diet I just feel better, but certainly suffer no ill effects from a crumb. I just can't even imagine the difficulty you must experience when celiac disease is what you live with.
I for one, would love a part 2 to this article Jeanine. You are so right that there is so much to learn, like you always were referring to in your videos submitted.
Most of us really have a very poor understanding of the reality of gluten to someone with celiacs or a gluten intolerance. Even before being diagnosed, how much did either Jeanine or Sarah even know. We learn as we go, and usually small bits of information are more effective than the whole load.
Let's hear more Jeanine!
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You raise great points to keep in mind, Sarah. I had no idea there was a cross-contamination concern for gluten until I visited Jeanine's website, thanks for adding that point for the community to look into. Thanks for taking the time to post your response also. The spotlight is always a great catalyst for sharing information and while the article itself may be short and to the point, it's the community that can expand on it and help teach one another so much more.
Feel free to share your favourite GF links to information, or any other tips or ideas on hosting someone with celiac or gluten-intolerance, it would be a big help to many, I'm sure.
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Hello,
While I love that there is even a spotlight on G-Free eating, I am actually rather dissapointed at the lack of information it contains. Especially when it comes to hosting G-free guests. I agree that it is not hard, perse, but it does take a lot of forethought and effort for the person hosting.
It is extremely important to remember cross contamination when cooking for celiacs. A crumb of bread in your butter that you use in your g-free dish can wreak havoc on someone with celiac. I was diagnosed with Celiac disease in Sept 09 and while I sincerely appreciate that friends and family are willing to try, I have yet to attend a dinner at someone else's house where I didn't end up being very sick after. It is not the fault of the host, but I would like to make it clear that there is a huge difference between hosting someone with a preference for g-free food and a celiac or someone with a gluten intolerance. While the former will not notice if you use your plastic mixing bowl to whip up some g-free desserts, a celiac is still prone to sickness from the miniscule amounts of gluten you can find in scratches and cracks in plastic.
All in all, I appreciate that Philly is trying to get some knowledge about g-free diets out there, but I find this article rather silly, and potentially dangerous, if you plan to cook for someone with celiac disease. It is a serious disease that shouldn't be confused with the choice to eat gluten free.
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Fantastic spotlight! It was Jeanine's blog that I turned to when I hosted some gluten-free houseguests last week and it was a lifesaver! Her recipes are easy to follow, even for a GF amateur like me, and delicious! Everything turned out great and I was thankful that her recipes all indicated when things needed to be labelled "gluten free", like corn flakes. I'm always amazed at her creativity and talent when I visit her site and I know I will find just what I need for any occasion. Thanks for sharing with the community!
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