I am Cindy and live gluten free in Montana. My family has a history of Celiac Disease so I enjoyed fresh gluten filled bread as much as possible while I could, knowing that there was always a chance I would need to follow a GF diet. I still miss rolls from places like Golden Corral and Lambert's Cafe in Missouri (they aren't called The Home of the Throwed Rolls for nothing) but I'll eventually get over it. My husband has gluten intolerance on his side of the family which we found out at Thanksgiving and after talking about common symptoms he said he may be having issues with gluten himself. We moved to a gluten free diet January 1st and have also cut out MSG, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Nitrates, and Nitrites. Four full grocery bags later my pantry was officially free of gluten, MSG, and HFCS. Both of us have seen improvements in our health since going GF. I am now growing fingernails and that hasn't happened, other than during pregnancy, since High School and my heals which have always been cracked (and I mean disgustingly cracked) are becoming smoother. My husband's skin has cleared up on his arms and he can now breath through both nostrils at the same time. Who knew gluten could cause that? I won't go into details on the improvements with our bowels but I will say that we are both more regular and I no longer feel bloated by 11:00 am every day.
This brings me to my children. I have a 2.5 year old son (B) and a 9 month old daughter (L). Last summer B started having bowel movements that were very sandy. We honestly thought he was eating sand and kept telling him to stop. Summer passed and the sandy bowel movements stuck around so we knew at this point he was not eating sand. It just didn't sit right with me so I did a search for sandy poops and found a post at celiac dot com discussing this being a symptom for little ones with gluten issues. B started his GF diet mid March and even though we still see a sandy BM now and then they are mostly gone. The little bumps on his arms and back have also cleared up to the point where his back is smooth and his arms are almost completely smooth.
I have found a lot of great information and recipes from other GF bloggers and it has prompted me to start my own blog. My main reason is to share gluten free information in Montana with other Montanans and people visiting the area. I'm frustrated with the lack of resources regarding GF restaurants when I know for a fact that there are several. Why on earth is it so hard to find GF options in Montana online? I will also do GF product reviews and share recipes that are worthy of being shared. Things like the ugliest chocolate chip cookies and my brick loaf of bread will be talked about for everyone's amusement but I won't share the recipes. It is afterall essential to have some humor in your life when GF baking is involved. Too bad I don't still have those pictures around.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor a nutritionist and am only providing this information to help people. I'm on a constant search for the best tasting GF products out there and my opinions are just that, no one is paying me to say a product is delicious. If anything I post is incorrect please let me know.
