I stood in front of our cupboards and looked at all of the food before my eyes. None of it was anything that Wade could eat. So we went to Fresh and Easy because they have a Gluten Free list available.
We’re excited to report that we are introducing more gluten-free products to our range over the next few months and are currently offering hundreds of items in our stores that are made without gluten-containing ingredients!
Customers told us they wanted more gluten-free products to choose from and to easily identify which ones were gluten-free; and we listened. Just look for the maroon and green icon next to notable gluten-free products in our stores. Next time you’re in, ask your Kitchen Table attendant for a full list or just download it from our website.
Source: Fresh And Easy Blog
The list can be found here, but we also did what they said and went to the Kitchen Table at our Calimesa store and talked to very friendly Josh and asked for a few copies of the list.
We dropped $20 on some fresh chicken legs, Rice Chex (gluten free, says so right on the box!) fresh fruit and veggies. We didn't get any of the specialty stuff like brown rice pasta and gluten free pretzels, we just wanted to grab a handful of things that we could feed him throughout the week.
We'd given him eggs and a banana that morning before he left for school but sure enough he was starving by 9:30 and begging for food at school according to his teacher. She called me after school about the note I'd sent about Wade being allergic to gluten. She told me she hadn't heard of such an allergy and and being such a young one that Mrs. Lemon Lime, she called her mom. Her mom apparently flipped out and told her to call the child's mother right away! Gluten allergy is serious business!
Mrs. Lemon Lime tells me that she's never dealt with a wheat allergic kid. And that the kid who brought donuts that day--yes donuts, that Wade couldn't eat--is lactose intolerant. Furthermore there are five kindergarteners with peanut allergies at his school this year.
Regarding the donuts, Wade got an apple. She said she wanted to cry with him. But she promised not to eat a donut, and she also reported that other kids were jealous of Wade's apple. Which is kind of awesome.
Her solution for when things like birthday donuts and cupcakes happen was for me to send snacks to school that Wade can eat. I sent in a container of Rice Chex, some Orville Redenbacher kettle corn
(because she warned me that the other kids were getting popcorn the next day) and a bag of Skittles. He ended up being all right though for his first day. He did come home and clear some grapes, some Rice Chex (dry) and two corns on the cob before taking a nap. Then for dinner he had a chicken leg and some roasted potatoes.
We're trying to figure out how to make him full. His calorie count is down due to the lack of wheaty things and his hunger is way up because he's trying to gain back what he lost while he was down. This morning we were smarter and gave him eggs with chicken and potatoes so it would stick to his ribs a little better. We've been warning him not to eat the school lunches but wouldn't you know our kid actually outsmarted us?
Resourceful little lad he is, he thought about how he asks for soy milk from the cafeteria, so maybe they'd have gluten free stuff too.
Sure enough, they did. And I never would have known this if he hadn't of asked.
Go Wade for being smart!
He told us that he asked a man in the cafeteria for gluten free food and they gave him some special cinnamon toast and cereal and even some berry punch. Double breakfast for the win.
For lunch he had more eggs, chicken and potatoes and some Chex Mix that I made him with Nutella
and peanut butter. For dinner it's hamburger patties and mashed potatoes.No wheat turds to report. We must be watching those tricky labels well!
Technically, gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are not allergies because histamine isn't involved, unless he is allergic to wheat. It sounds like Wade has full-blown celiac - is that the case?
ReplyDelete-Debi (tho the preview says I'm Thalia - WTF)
We're not sure yet. We're going based on signs and symptoms in reaction to being fed wheat, and the fact that 2 weeks of symptoms did not add up to parasite (test came back neg.)
ReplyDeleteViruses don't wreak that much havoc.
We haven't actually done the allergy test yet but all signs point to issues with wheat in general.
PS, i think Thalia is melody's screen name. check the blogger profile, there are blogs on it.
Yep, Mel was logged into gmail. Brat. She has gmail on her ipod for crying out loud.
ReplyDeleteAnywho if you tell Wade's teacher he has Celiac disease, maybe she's heard of that at least.
ReplyDeletelol
ReplyDeletewell now that we talked she understands what's up
ReplyDeleteI was pretty much STARVING for the first three months when I started my new gluten free lifestyle. Tinkyada gluten free pasta is AWESOME!!! and filling.
ReplyDeleteYep, Thalia is right, technically anything that doesn't cause a histamine reaction (swelling, itching, etc) isn't a true allergy. Celiac is actually classified as an immune disorder, because the body manufactures antibodies, (not histamine,) in response to gluten. The antibodies then attack the colon and other parts of the GI system. Also, the little vili through which we absorb nutrients get burned off by the gluten, so someone with undiagnosed celiac disease can become severely malnourished and/or vitamin/mineral deficient.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth noting that malt syrup is made from barley, not wheat. So if it turns out to be a wheat intolerance, not gluten/celiac, then your food choices broaden a little.
but in the mean time i should stick with what we're doing, right stacey?
ReplyDeleteI am listing a link to a blog that looks like it has some great recipes for gluten free dishes.
ReplyDeletehttp://gluten-freerecipes.blogspot.com/