Organic Bliss

I have found heaven right here in Toledo (well technically Sylvania but Toledo is more recognizable). It is a deli/bakery that bakes all gf items! The name is Organic Bliss and for those of you here, it is on King Rd. between Sylvania and Central on the west side of the road. The kitchen is completely dedicated gf. They do bring in gluten items for the deli menu but they are clean. I have talked with the owner and was assured that it is safe for us. The gluten items are kept completely separate. I believe it is the owner that has celiac disease and, of course, that is why he opened the bakery.

There is good news for those of you who are not in the Toledo area. They have a web site that you can order items from! The site is http://organicblissmarket.com/. They carry all sorts of breads, muffins, cakes, cupcakes and many other baked goods that would normally be off limits to us celiacs.

I have had their soft white bread, orange/cranberry scones, cupcakes and most recently “almost” rye bread. That was one of the things I was really missing was rye bread. Let me tell you, everything I’ve had from there is delicious! Please check out their web site!

Recipe: No-fuss Beef Roast

As a reminder, I will post the recipe as it’s written. Feel free to change it to suit you (I did)!

1-8 oz can tomato sauce
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
1 Tbsp oregano
1/4 tsp reed pepper flakes
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 cup water
1 cube gluten-free beef bullion
1 lb English-cut beef roast
1 cup baby carrots
1 medium onion, sliced
1 rib celery
1/4 green pepper, sliced thin
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups frozen green beans

Preheat oven to 350

Cut a piece of heavy-duty foil that is a little more than double the length of a 9×13″ pan. Place the foil inside the pan, letting the ends hang out.

In a bowl, whisk together the tomato sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cinnamon, parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes, and cornstarch. In a small bowl, dissolve bullion cube in water; whisk into tomato sauce mixture.

Spoon 1/4 of the sauce into the foil-lined pan.

Place the beef roast in the pan on top of the sauce.

Sprinkle the vegetables around the roast.

Carefully pour the remaining sauce on the roast and vegetables.

Bring foil overhangs up to the center and fold them together securely. Fold the sides of the foil securely so the roast is totally sealed. Roast for 3 1/2 hours or until the meat is very tender. Have an adult help you remove the hot pan from the oven*.

*Remember, this book was written for kids so disregard if you are adult.

Enjoy!

Feeling Better and Testing Ricky

I am finally feeling better again since my most recent ER trip. Stomach isn’t cramping and pain is almost gone. I hope the diverticulitis doesn’t come back again. I think it was pretty bad. I am pretty sure it’s been around for at least 6 months but because of my hysterectomy in December, I attributed all left sided pain to that. I have one more day of antibiotics so cross your fingers for me ok?

Last weekend I was eating for garbage. I think that’s why I was so tired. I have been making sure I have plenty of protein so that will help. I don’t feel like sleeping all day long anymore! YAY!

I also finally got Ricky tested. My brother-in-law brought me some EMLA cream (lidacane) and with myself and 2 techs we got the job done. When the one tech told him the needle was already in he was like “it is?” LOL Now he’s going around telling everyone how brave he was! WHATEVER!! Hopefully now though he knows that it won’t hurt so if he ever needs anything else, we’ll be ok.

All in all a good day at the Brown house! 🙂

Tired

I have been ridiculously tired. I was fine the first 2 weeks after diagnosis and now after the gluten I ate last weekend, I feel like I could sleep all day! I hate feeling like this. Yesterday I think I slept more than I was awake. I’m making myself stay awake right now. I could easily lay down and take a nap. I have heard that a lot of people who have been sick for a long time can take months to feel better. It makes me mad though cause I was feeling better then started feeling worse!

I’m ready to start feeling better!!

All I Talk About?

I feel like I’m always talking about my disease. It is not what defines me but it is new and I’m learning. I feel like a ray of light has shone down on me and I finally have a reason for why I was feeling the way I did. It actually makes me happy that there really was something wrong with me. I had been feeling bad for so long without a diagnosis and I started to feel like people thought I was making it up. But now that I’m diagnosed and trying to tell people about celiac, I don’t want my friends and family to think I’m looking for attention or talking about my illness too much. I have a great support system with my friends (who are like family to me) and my actual family. I just don’t want them to think that all I can talk about is celiac. I know I’m rambling. Just putting things out there.

Fellow celiacs, how do you deal (or did you deal when you were new) with how much you talk about it?