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Recipe: Gluten-Free Ham and Cheese Crepes

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

These delicious crepes are a favorite in our house. We eat them filled with scrambled eggs, ham, and cheese, but you can fill them with anything. If you are feeling especially creative, try adding different herbs and seasonings to the crepe mix for a different flavor.

Gluten-Free Ham and Cheese Crepes Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 8-10 eggs
  • 3 ounces of Ham lunch meat
  • 1/2 tablespoon butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/3 cup cornmeal
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Shredded Cheese (we use cheddar but you can use whatever you prefer)

Directions:

  1. Place a large skillet over medium heat and add butter
  2. While the butter is melting, cut the ham into bite-size pieces.  A pizza cutter works great for this.
  3. Once butter is melted add ham to the pan and give a quick stir.  Let cook for 2-3 minutes.
  4. Crack 8-10 eggs in a bowl and whisk.
  5. Add eggs to skillet and sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper and stir.
  6. In another bowl crack 2 eggs.
  7. Add milk and a pinch of salt and whisk.
  8. Add cornstarch and whisk until cornstarch is dissolved.
  9. Stir the egg and ham mixture and continue stirring every couple of minutes until the eggs are cooked completely.
  10. Preheat a 9-inch, nonstick skillet over medium heat.
  11. Whisk the crepe mixture again to ensure that all the lumps of cornstarch are gone.
  12. Add cornmeal to the crepe mixture and whisk.
  13. When the 9-inch skillet is warm, whisk the crepe mixture and then pour a thin layer over the bottom of the skillet.  Crepes should be fairly thin.
  14. Allow the crepe to cook until the side that is facing up is cooked through and then flip.
  15. Cook for about 1 more minute then remove to a plate.
  16. Whisk the crepe mixture before pouring out additional crepes and cook the same way.
  17. To assemble, place the crepe on a plate and spoon the ham and egg mixture, while still warm, to one side of the crepe. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and then roll up and enjoy!!

Makes approximately 4 crepes.

Do You Celebrate The Gluten-Free Diet?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

I bet to most people that title probably sounds like an unusual question, but that question is something the gluten-free homemaker recently asked.

Obviously, the idea is not to celebrate having Celiac Disease, but instead to celebrate the fact that you’re living a healthy and gluten-free life!

The other day my 17-year-old son asked how long it had been since I was diagnosed. It will be eight years this fall. He said he thought we should have a party when I reached 10 years. A party? To celebrate finding out you have a disease? That’s not what he meant, and what he said was very encouraging to me. He thought we should celebrate the fact that I have learned to cope so well. He was old enough to remember the changes we had to go through, but he is very aware that much of the food he enjoys today is a result of my having to learn to cook all over again. While he knows that it’s hard, he sees a lot of good that has come from it, and he sees me as being someone who succeeded in the face of a big challenge. My thought was, it’s like climbing to the top of a mountain. You don’t celebrate the mountain, you celebrate the experience and the success of getting to the top. Celiac disease is still there and it’s pretty big, but I’m on top of it and enjoying the view. I hope you are too, but if you’re just starting out and the view from the bottom isn’t so great, be encouraged. The trail has already been blazed, and there are plenty of people to help you on the way. You can make it to the top and celebrate with the rest of us.

I think that kids always offer a fresh and unique perspective and am glad that the author took the time to share this.   Do you celebrate having Celiac Disease and the gluten-free diet that keeps you healthy?

Infant Recipe: Gluten-Free Chicken with Vegetables

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Looking for homemade infant baby food recipes? Here at Celiac-Disease.com, we’ve managed to locate a few recipes that can help parents who are looking for gluten-free baby foods they can make for their child at home. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Chicken with Vegetables Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 chicken breast
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 small potato
  • 1 slice carrot
  • 1 slice onion
  • 4 broccoli spears

Directions:

  1. Place the chicken, onion, carrot, and tomato into a saucepan.
  2. Cover with water and bring to a boil.
  3. Turn the heat down and simmer for around 45 minutes until the chicken is tender.
  4. Meanwhile, cut the potato in half and place it in a steamer, along with the broccoli, over a pan of boiling water.
  5. Steam for around 20 minutes.
  6. When the chicken is cooked, strain, reserving the stock. Skin the potato and add, the broccoli to the other ingredients.
  7. For young babies place in a liquidizer and blend until smooth.
  8. Add some of the stock to moisten if necessary.
  9. For older babies, you can puree the chicken, but just mash the vegetables, leaving some texture for the baby to explore.
  10. Cool and serve.

Looking for more baby food recipes?  Check out our Gluten-Free Baby Foods Category!

The Truth About Celiac Disease and Oats

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 1 Comment

There is a big question about whether people diagnosed with Celiac Disease can eat oats. Some studies suggest they cannot and others say they can. So who is right? The short answer is, they both are.

Oats do not contain the protein gluten the way wheat, barley, and rye do. So, if oats do not contain gluten, why should a person with Celiac Disease need to avoid oats? There are two reasons.

First, oats are often grown in close proximity to wheat and barley, both of which contain gluten. In addition, farmers rotate their fields so oats are often grown in the same soil wheat and barely have been grown on. Farmers also use the same equipment for the oat, wheat, and barley crops. This creates cross-contamination. So even though gluten is not found within the oat, it is on it and this can be just as harmful to a person with Celiac Disease. If oats were grown completely away from wheat and barley and farmers dedicated their equipment to only the oat fields, they should be gluten-free. It is possible to buy “uncontaminated’ oats from vendors who ensure their oats have not come into contact with gluten. But that does not mean that every person with Celiac Disease can start eating “uncontaminated” oats.

The second reason a person with Celiac Disease may need to avoid oats is that they may also have a sensitivity to avenin, the protein found in oats. Numerous studies have shown that a number of people with a sensitivity to gluten also have a sensitivity to avenin. Thus, when pure oats are consumed, they still exhibit the same symptoms as if they had eaten gluten. One study done in Norway found that even people who ate “uncontaminated” oats and didn’t show physical symptoms, still showed inflammation in their intestines. This study was done with a small number, 9, individuals, so the results are not 100% conclusive.

The bottom line, talk to your healthcare professionals if you think you might want to add oats to your diet. Most healthcare professionals recommend having your Celiac Disease under control before even attempting to add oats. Even then, they recommend eating just a small amount. The key is to make sure you are closely monitored.

You can read more about the Norway Study on WebMD.com.

Is Celiac Disease a Hidden Epidemic?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff

For most of us, the seriousness of Celiac Disease is very common knowledge, as most if not all of us either have it or have a family member with the disease. For most of the population, though, what Celiac Disease is and how serious it is truly isn’t common knowledge.

I’ve featured a number of great blog posts here at Celiac Disease, but those are usually from a doctor or someone suffering from the disease. Here is an excellently researched and written post over at Elya & Ellie Katz’s blog about Celiac Disease being a hidden epidemic, and it is written from the perspective of someone who has a family member that was recently diagnosed and is researching the disease.

Here is an excerpt:

This is a serious disease, and if it is in your immediate family, it is not something to ignore. It can lead to other illnesses that are even more deleterious. In children, it can trigger Juvenile Diabetes, something that ravages the health of the sufferer much more thoroughly and relentlessly than Adult Onset Diabetes. By the way, “Juvenile Diabetes” is more accurately called “Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitis,” or IDDM. IDDM can happen anytime in the adult years, though it is more common in children and young adults. Other illnesses that can be triggered by untreated CD, for your consideration:

  1. Alopecia Areata
  2. Anemia (can permanently affect children’s intelligence)
  3. Apthous Stomatitis (Canker Sores)
  4. Autism
  5. Birth defects (folic acid deficiency)
  6. Cancer (risk greatly increased in several types)
  7. Dementia
  8. Dermatitis Herpetiformis (very itchy skin condition)
  9. Dental Enamel Defects
  10. Depression
  11. Epilepsy
  12. Fibromyalgia Syndrome
  13. Hemorrhage, dangerous nosebleeds (due to vitamin K deficiency)
  14. Hyperthyroidism
  15. Hypothyroidism
  16. Infertility
  17. Irritability
  18. Lupus
  19. Migraines
  20. Multiple Sclerosis
  21. Neuropathy
  22. Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma
  23. Osteoporosis
  24. Schizophrenia
  25. Short Stature
  26. Unintended weight gain
  27. Unintended weight loss

And of course, those with CD often suffer from many gastrointestinal discomforts, such as chronic diarrhea, constipation (or alternating), bloating, nausea, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) to name a few.

Don’t have any symptoms? Don’t get too comfy. It’s a little complicated. There is something called “Asymptomatic CD”. You may not suffer from any significant symptoms and still have CD. So, you may ask, “If I have CD and don’t know it because it doesn’t bother me, so what’s the big deal?” I’ll tell you what the big deal is: If you have asymptomatic CD, you are still at greater risk than the general population for that long list of illnesses and complications I listed above, and more. Do remember, I have only provided a partial list.

Click over to check out their entire post!