May is Celiac Awareness month and we want to help those in our circles who don't understand how gluten can affect someone with Celiac or gluten sensitives. Just this past weekend, MinusG attended a large gluten-free event in Long Island New York as a vendor, and after a long day we decided to grab a bite to eat at a local restaurant that came highly recommended as it accommodates a gluten free menu only to find that I was glutened. The past 3 days I have been so sick and thus the reminder why we need to keep spreading awareness.
Did you know that 3 million people in America are affected by celiac disease? And 1 in 10 related family members also have celiac disease? A celiac diagnosis does not mean you have to live in deprivation or with restriction. Learning to master reading labels and preparing ahead is key. This is how you can ensure to remove gluten from your diet, and in time, most if not all of the symptoms will subside and you will be able to regain your health.
If you just received a celiac diagnosis, I can assure you, even though it feels like your world is collapsing around you, everything will be okay. I also felt the same way, but nearly 20 years later, I have learned how to enjoy most of the foods that I love and it's my pleasure to share my story and how creating these healing mixes have transformed my life and now changing the lives for many more.
My Journey. Looking back, I was pretty surprised how the doctor delivered my diagnosis. He in a few words said “So, your test says you have celiac sprue disease. This means you can't eat gluten anymore. Do you have any questions?”
I'll never forget that day and how devastated I felt! Looking back I'm grateful for my family's baking background. As kids, my sister and I often helped in the kitchen with preparations and baking. We made everything homemade. From bread to cakes and cookies, it was always fun to make delicious treats. Though this diagnosis was a hard reality, I had a pretty good understanding of gluten which made the first steps in my journey much easier.
What is gluten? Gluten is a sticky, glue-like protein that is found in wheat, barley, and rye. These grains in their natural state or products that contain them (like breads and cereals) have elastic bands that hold baked-good together and allow for a light delicate pastry to have a chewiness and a delicate crumb. Gluten is also used as a binding agent in many products like processed BBQ sauces and soy sauces. When eating a strict gluten-free diet, it’s particularly important to read food labels on any packaged product.
Knowing how to avoid gluten, was the first step. I avoided all breads, cookies and the like, because they are filled with gluten. I learned to look for the "Gluten-free symbol and read the ingredients to learn what each product contained. I realized I could look at my diagnosis with pity or to challenge myself and figure out a better gluten-free baked good option. In 2007, there were few GF options, and it wasn't until my sweet tooth got the best of me, that my love for great tasting food and my desire to bake drove me to try making a gluten-free item that acted and tasted good.
Over those next five to six years, I made and threw away as I was determined to make something taste like to baked good I grew up making. I started first with other flour blends, then making my own. Trial after trial, I finally figured out the balance that worked! My family really began to enjoy my goodies again along with my friends. I soon recognized the previous 6 years paved the way for me to create a variety of unique gluten-free flour blends that are now apart of MinusG's baking mixes. These baking mixes allowed me to remove gluten from my diet and for my body to heal, becoming healthy again.
If you are new to MinusG, I want to welcome you to our MinusG Family. Our team is dedicated to making 100% gluten-free baking mixes for you and your loved ones. We understand with celiac disease, often eating dairy-free becomes a must. This is why we purposefully removed dairy and the remaining top 9+ allergens from our mixes.
The top 9+ allergens we exclude: Dairy, Wheat, Eggs, Soy, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Fish, Shellfish, Sesame, Mustard, Gluten, Celery, and Lupins.
We hope you will give MinusG a try and find our mixes are delicious and easy to make. We've included how-to-videos to help our friends who feel less comfortable in the kitchen so they too experience success! Some of my personal favorites include pizza crust, cinnamon rolls, pie crust and pancakes. Not only do these taste amazing, but these mixes make more gluten-free recipes that can be found on our recipe blog.
Our hope is that with MinusG's mixes, you'll find; GF meal planning is hassle-free, you'll enjoying gluten-free foods that taste amazing and find it's easier living with celiac disease because you are saying healthy and loving every bite!
~ Katherine, the MinusG Baker
Gluten-free Resource: The Celiac Foundation