Basic Training

GF Glutino Pretzels, Sunrise Cereal, Lundberg's Rice Cakes, KToos Cookies, Ian's Wafer Bites, Annie's Organic Fruit Snacks, Love Grown Granola, Cheetos,  EnviroKids Krispy Rice Bars, and Lara Bars (an aquired taste).

     After serving as a teacher/new teacher mentor/summer school admin for at-risk youth for 13 years,  I lost my passion.  The factors included:  unsafe school campus (we had a closed campus, but my principal would not enforce it- even after teachers were robbed at gunpoint in the teacher's lounge of another school nearby), not having a cost-of-living increase for 5 years, health benefits getting pulled, furlough days, morale way down at work (especially every March when pink slips came out- that lasted well into June when coworkers' fates were finally determined), my principal's obsession with teaching to the test (illegally emailing us what content was on the test ahead of time was the straw that broke the camel's back for me), having the lunch ladies illegally babysit kids while we tutored other kids during instructional time, and parents who were more concerned about their child's school pictures than helping them memorize their multiplication tables, refusing to get their child eye exams &glasses (even when free or income-based fee), and habitually pulling kids out of school for multi-week vacations and on Friday afternoons to avoid traffic, my classroom and personal car getting graffiti and damaged, etc.
     It just started to feel like I was someone with a Master's Degree that was being used as a basic skills tutor,  doing more and making less, spending my own money on work stuff or my own time trying to fund basic needs like scissors through donorschoose.org, paying CA's sky high taxes while the parents of my students worked "under the table", begging parents to help their own children get enough sleep or free eyeglasses, helping kids grow 2 or 3 years in their reading level, but it didn't matter because they still didn't test at grade level, with all the respect of a babysitter.  I was starting to regret refusing a job offer at age 22 to be a shoe buyer for a major retail chain starting at $80,000.  It was safe to say I was ready for a change.
     I shocked everyone who knows me and took a leave of absence, rented out my house, left my car in California, and spent ten months in Virginia/D.C. area with my new boyfriend while he was in a full-time Master's Degree program (paid for by the military, when I had to pay for mine and work full time while doing it).  He went to school half a day and didn't work, so I didn't work.   I rode my bicycle or the metro, volunteered at The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (Master's degree required, you have more respect than teachers get- and you get to attend lectures and learn!- we hadn't been allowed to go to conferences or workshops in years at my job!), tutored kids at a local school, honed my cooking and crafting skills, attended gluten free groups and a dinner club, visited tons of museums, adopted cats, began a novel, moved my blog, and nurtured my relationship.  And I realized I didn't miss teaching!
     So, I started reading motivational books about changing careers while my boyfriend got his new orders- to be Commanding Officer of Recruiting Station Atlanta, a feather in his cap, but he wasn't going to Afghanistan like he wanted, and we weren't moving back to California, like we expected.
     Once settled in Atlanta, I decided to use my other degree in Sociology and thought I might become a probation officer.  I passed the Criminal Justice test, and ended up taking a job as a Parole Officer instead.  I would be using many of the skills I'd developed as a teacher- assessing and coordinating resources to meet the needs of the individual and working with a disadvantage population- but the law enforcement side (doing arrests on a daily basis, working with convicted murderers face-to-face, serving warrants at houses, carrying weapons, etc.) was going to be a new and challenging experience.
     Starting a new job, celiac has come up many times.  My first day, they threw a welcome party with donuts and my boss announced he was taking me out to lunch between jail visits, when I luckily steered us toward Chic-Fil-A and luckily didn't get cc.  The standard birthday cakes, holiday treat tables, coworkers' prodding "try this" while holding a spoon to my face, etc.  have all occurred.  And my extra challenge:  eight weeks of  cafeteria food during basic training.  Pictured above are the foods I purchased to take with me from Whole Foods and Kroger.  (Parolees clean the dorms, so everything must be kept under lock and key, and no fridges.)
     My Meal Plans:  
Breakfasts:  Sunrise Cereal or EnviroKids Krispy Rice Bar with fruit from cafeteria 
Lunches:  Lara Bar with fruit/veg from cafeteria
Dinners:  Careful considerations of rice or beef, and veg from cafeteria, supplemented by my rice cakes, pretzels, and gf bread w/peanut butter packets I bring. 
Snacks and desserts:  gluten free cookies, wafers, fruit snacks, chips, apple dipped in p.b. and granola 

     So far, I like most parts of the job.  I enjoy helping my parolees.  Once we build a rapport, they somewhat enjoy my phone calls/visits and we laugh.  They seem surprised and enjoy that I treat them like a person more than a convict.  They made a mistake and paid a debt to society, but shouldn't let their life be defined by that mistake.  It's almost all tied to drug and alcohol abuse, which is the major need area to address.
     I hate doing urine screens.  I hate working in a stark office, with bathroom stalls falling apart, with parolees cleaning it instead of professional cleaners.  (I've always wanted to work in a nice, clean office with lovely reception areas, but I hate being tethered to a desk and I'd NEVER work in a cubicle!)  I love how a day can be going along, somewhat peaceful or boring, just calls and computers, and suddenly I find out I have an absconder that got caught and I need to interview her/him in jail, or a K-9 comes to check a car, or we arrest people in our office for violations of parole, or someone runs away in hand cuffs.  Like teaching, every day is different.
     I am sad when my parolees test positive for drugs, and happier than you would imagine when they find jobs!  And, I enjoy shooting (targets, not so sure about anything else), learning, and visiting the jails and prisons.  I grew up in a bad neighborhood, below the poverty line, to a teen mom, and I beat the odds and got a scholarship, a ticket out.  I grew up with neighbors and relatives who had run-ins with the law, have always read and studied about it.  My grandfather, my inspiration, ran a community center, wore holey shoes, and brought strangers home to our Thanksgivings.  I hope I can touch lives the way he did, and that I succeed at this new adventure.  Wish me luck! 

Be My Gluten Free Valentine

First things first:  Here is the link to a good list of gluten free Valentine Candy.  This site also has a blog with weekly gluten free menu planning with recipe links!  They eat way too much chicken for me, but if you like chicken, you'll love it!  If you want to try your hand at gluten free Valentine treat recipes, look here.

Now, it is time to reminisce on how being gluten free has affected Valentine's Days in the past:

A guy I was dating returned from a bowling tournament in Las Vegas (it was only a 3 hour drive from my CA house, so not a big-deal trip) and brought me a tank top and Godiva chocolate-covered strawberries for an early Valentine's Day prelude to romance.  Well, Godiva has is not gluten free (see link here for explanation), so you should've seen this poor guy's face fall when I hemmed and hawed and finally revealed that I could not eat them.

A former boyfriend (the code writer) took me on a double date to a fancy steak house and, much to my chagrin, my steak was served to me teetering atop a giant SLAB of bread!  The waiter informed us it was a CROUTON.  The waiter told us if we sent it back, the $40 steak would come out of his paycheck, and since I was starving, embarrassed, and only a few months "in" to the celiac lifestyle, I ate the steak and got extreeeeemely sick.  My boyfriend was very nurturing to me that night, but I think romance was NIXED.

Before I was gluten free, a unique, funny guy I was dating in the late '90s owned his own online candy warehouse and sent me a big box full of Chupa Chups (lollypops), champagne gummy candies, and other unique items.  The funny part (which has nothing to do with being gluten free) was that he included a photo of ONLY his arm--in the "muscle" pose--with a giant patch of long, grizzly hair sticking out from his armpit, that he probably didn't realize was the focal point.  My girlfriends and I laughed and laughed!  I kept that pic for years, but once when I was away visiting my family, my "wasband" and evil ex-sister-in-law went in my filing cabinet (this is before we were even married) and threw away all of my old photos and love letters.

Last year, when we lived in the D.C. area, my boyfriend took me to a majority-gluten free restaurant, Lilit Cafe, where I devoured fantastic gluten free crab cakes, a savory Italian sub sandwich with Boar's Head cheese, and peanut butter cupcake-- so much that I got sick.  (Probably all those parts per million add up, or all the dairy, or whatnot).

This Valentine's Day I bought my boyfriend a camouflage heart filled with chocolates, Twix Valentine heart, and Spam (just for the surprise factor).  I will also give him a card and maybe a sweatshirt he has been eyeing but too cheap to purchase for himself.

What I hope to receive (he doesn't read my blog, as far as I know, and if he does- BONUS!)are:

• See's chocolates--(second place would be Ghirardelli, or Russel Stover) .  
• Flowers- preferably my favorite- but since he's never asked what my favorites are, he usually gets me roses or tulips, which is still nice and I appreciate them.  
• Plane tickets or jewelry, although I won't hold my breath on these items.  Remember, this is the guy who mailed me toothpicks when he was gone overseas (he's active-duty military), bath balls when I didn't have a bathtub, a costume jewelry type necklace set that was so cheap the stone had fallen out, so imagine what it looked like when I opened the box!- and this year for Xmas he got me the SAME BOOK his mother got me last year for Xmas that I had told him I didn't like and didn't finish.

Click here to read a LIST of the HORRIBLE and HILARIOUS gifts I received as an elementary school teacher in the ghetto and in general.

To The Major's credit, he gives me lots of stuff in general (no pun intended) that are not for gifts or holidays, but my fave gifts have been leggings and shopping sprees...where I pick it out and he pays. 

Festering gluten-Freely at the Fall Festivals

So, let's start with Oktoberfest. Helen, Georgia, embodies the German influence in its half-timbered buildings, sausage-laden menus, and alpine attitude year-round, so it's the perfect place to celebrate Oktoberfest. And, oh, do they celebrate! People were carrying steins and sporting Bavarian style green fedora hats, lederhosen, Saint Paulie Girl outfits, and suspenders, and noshing on streudel, sauerkraut, hot Bavarian pretzels, and various -wursts. But, really, when one is gluten-freestyling one's way through most "fests", food (and beer, in this case) is to be circumvented, rather than encircled. It's not easy Living Without (love that magazine!), especially when funnel cake is in fruition. Beer was abundant, but I never found a stein or boot-shaped mug, or table tapper offering Green's, New Grist, or Redbridge. Yes, it was disappointing watching everyone devour their delectable delights. For once, I was wishing I was with a weight-conscious, fattening food-avoiding, fork dipping in the salad dressing (on the side), diet-obsessed girlfriend. At least I indulged in a scrumptious caramel apple and a chocolate turtle, alongside my Glutino granola bars and fruit.

Next, was the Tuskeegee/Morehouse football tailgate fete. Holy wow, do these Southerners know how to tailgate. Giant turkey legs, fried fish, barbecue, you name it! And, what was I able to indulge in? A mango smoothie and a bad ear of corn (hard to please a Midwesterner when it comes to corn). Be still my heart. We were there all day and a Lara Bar wasn't cutting it, so I had Seth stop and pick me up some fast food fries when I came home. Thank goodness for Five Guys. The best part of the lackluster football game was the Tuskeegee Band- dancing tuba players and Beyonce-inspired dresses on the drill teams were jaw-dropping. This ain't no Midwest band attire. (We attended because a USMC General was doing the coin toss- Seth had brunch with him,
but I skipped that, for gluten free and sanity reasons. Since Seth is Commanding Officer, we have many weekend functions to attend like this.)

Kilted Men

Giant Potato Ribbon

Scotch Egg

 Finally, there was the Scottish Highland Festival. My Major is Scottish, (but his ginger hair comes from his mom's Italian side).he Carolinas have a huge population of Scots, who come down to the woods of GA to compete in Highland Games including the Caber toss (where they toss a giant log, end-over-end---this began as a bridge building skill in Scotland!), the sheep toss (they use hay bags to simulate sheep, since the PETA probably wouldn't be happy about them chucking the real woolies multiple stories thirty feet in the air), Highland dancing , falcons flying, and sheepdogs herding by whistle command. Kilted men, redheads, and bagpipes abound! Way fun, but I couldn't even partake in ice cream because when I asked if they could scoop mine from a clean container, they opened a new package of cups and scooped it from the container contaminated with waffle cone crumbs, etc. This is why I heart Baskin Robbins. They always get the clean container of mint chip or gold medal ribbon for me. I only wish they still had Martian Mint, my all-time fave. Although, I wonder if that flavor is gluten free? So, I noshed on Glutino crackers and Justin's almond butter and Lara bars which tasted all the worse when watching people devour mile-high ribboned potatoes, Scotch eggs, Bridies, essentially a sausage turnover (which I forced The Major to sample- and he wouldn't put it down, he loved it! It really irks me when he won't try new foods, because I have always enthused in this when I travel or go to cultural events and now I am unable to partake in ethnically eclectic edibles.

Gluten Free Apple Cranberry Crisp

  Halloween and Fall- Yes, there are gluten-free recipes in abundance, but it really irritates the heck out of me when people SUBTRACT the BEST PART of dishes to make them gluten free. CRUSTLESS pie? Are you freaking kidding me? Isn't that called pudding? Or porridge? Or mush? Or gunk? What's so difficult about concocting a nut crust, gf graham cracker crust, or a gf flour crust? Here's a clue: we already live WITHOUT enough stuff. And nobody eats the pie for the filling. I don't recommend pumpkin pancakes- Seth's banana ones are far superior. Pumpkin cookies, chili, Vitamix pumpkin bread, Sylvan Farms pumpernickel bread, apple-cranberry crisp (without sand-like gf flour--this omission is an improvement on the crunch factor), caramel apples and that dip, and those ginger spice cookies with the Sun on the package, Laffy Taffy, mini-Snickers, and Charleston Chew are probably my gluten free fall favorites.

Glutenized Fall foods and candies I yearn for: bread bowls of soups and dips, licorice Nibs, Milky Way, Ralph's grocery store soft sugar cookies, Kit Kat, Twix, and all the festival foods!

 RANDOM TIDBITS:

Frozen Gluten Free Mozzarella Sticks

NEW GLUTEN FREE FOODS ON MY HORIZON: I can't wait to try: Frozen GF Mozzerella Sticks, Trader Joe's mac n cheese, and Good Grub Subs. What I've been eating (since I have to drop a few extra pounds-our USMC Birthday Ball is in Nov.- and Seth is in CA all week): I'm trying not to mess up the kitchen and be low-maintenance for my own satisfaction: Breakfasts: Grits, Greek Yogurt, or Udi Raisin Toast Lunches: Lara Bars, Kettle frozen chili (only b/c it was on sale), or egg salad on Udi bread Dinners: Bell & Evans chicken tenders with bbq or with mozz cheese and spaghetti sauce, or GF Brisket Tamales from the tiny Farmer's Market on Johnson's Ferry Road, and sweet potato, and veg Snacks: Individual packet of French Meadow Bakery brownie or cookie, pears, and celery (plain)

Serendipity! Gluten free tamales under my nose!

What I'm afraid to try: @Joy_bauer 's idea to add canned pumpkin to yogurt for a fall treat. sounds ick What I've tried recently: red quinoa- very nutty flavor. I don't think Seth loved it. I can see why they recommended half red and half plain in the recipe I found online. Gluten free frozen bavarian pretzels- pretty fantastic! Fall foods I'm happy I never cared for: pumpkin pie, cheesecake of any kind, butternut squash soup, casseroles of most kinds. Baby hats my aunt sells that I buy from her to use as gifts:

Jason's Deli: Gluten Free Restaurants Atlanta

Since my LoveBug is a Marine Officer, we move frequently and we choose where to live based on safety, proximity to highways and routing against traffic to his job, proximity to Whole Foods, and lastly, the actual dwelling suitability. (We don't live on base. We're a bit nontraditional.) We lucked out to be less than a mile from many restaurants with gluten free menus: Maggiano's, Wildfire, Mimi's, California Pizza Kitchen, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Olive Garden, Seasons 52, Five Guys, Jason's Deli, Carraba's, and Outback. My Hero has an Italian mother who doesn't cook, so he has had a lifelong habit of dining out frequently. I eat out with him about twice a week. Here's what we love about Jason's Deli:
He only dines gluten free at home, so he orders the Southern Sandwich Sensation: Muffaletta. Seth went to Tulane University (on a Marine scholarship!), so he was delighted to treat himself to this New Orleans dish. Muffaletta is on a round Italian sesame bread (similar to foccacia), with Italian meats covered in a marinated salad of olives.

Of course, it's not gluten free. In fact, visiting New Orleans is severely unfriendly to gluten free people- even most cornbread has gluten there-and it is awful watching everyone else revel in the culinary masterpieces from gumbo to seafood to po'boys to beignets.

Back to Jason's Deli: I devoured my sandwich on gluten free bread, with my choice of toppings from

the gluten free menu, served with chips and a pickle, followed by complimentary ice cream soft serve.

I've eaten at two locations four times (My Leatherneck REALLY loves that muffaletta!) so far, and I've never gotten ill. You order at the counter and they give you a number where the server brings your food. I noticed my food comes with a piece of tissue paper on the plate. It's a tall sandwich, so with the chips and ice cream, only half a sandwich would be filling, but I usually skip breakfast before I go and eat the whole sandwich. I've read that the gf bread is packaged with its own knife to prevent cc. There is a salad bar with gluten free items, but I wasn't a big salad bar person before going gluten free, so it's not something I want to try. I've also had the loaded baked potato and it was a huge portion also. Yum!

Katz Gluten Free

Katz Gluten Free has a promotion where if you pay for the shipping ($8 for me), they'll send you a free sampler box of gluten free baked goods.

All of their stuff is dairy and nut free, for those who need that. For me, I like nuts- the people and the food- because they add flavor and texture to life. So, I sweetly asked my Marine to get out his credit card and voila! I received the package in a few days. Since I'm watching my weight, each day I try one small item.

So far I have tried the chocolate chip cookie (heavy on the brown sugar, didn't enjoy it), marble cake (dry, lacking in flavor), chocolate cupcake (superior texture, mild in flavor-I wouldn't buy it since I like to taste the chocolate if I'm eating the calories), and honey muffin (excellent texture, excellent flavor-I'd buy them).
I've yet to try the dinner roll, rugelech (pinwheel pastry?), and slices of bread (challah, wholesome, whole grains and white).

It's not surprise I saved bread for last, because I'm a bit of a bread snob, methinks, and I offer no apology for it. Frankly, in 2005 when I started out, I hated all the breads available to me. I only ate homemade offerings from the retired ladies at my celiac support group in California. So now I pretty much indulge myself- meaning, you will not find me chiseling frozen bread. I only eat the bread that you thaw the whole loaf on the counter, not chiseling a slice and putting the rest back in the freezer. Rudi, Udi, and Against the Grain are my staples.
Occasionally, if there is a brand I've used favorably in the past, and it's on sale for super cheap, I will buy it- Kinnickinnick or Whole Foods (got a loaf on sale last week). My Marine (who is not picky and eats many of the gf pastas, pancakes, and Bell&Evans gf breaded chicken), does not like any gluten free bread at all. He chooses to go without bread and buns at home, waiting to inhale the real deal out in restaurants. He eats a sandwich and soup every day at a deli or lunch cart.
I have baked some good stuff myself, but then I have to freeze most of it (defeating the point of making it fresh-as well as hogging freezer space), or eat it (which is how I gained weight last winter). So, I've pretty much resorted to buying a 4pack of Udi Chocolate cupcakes or muffins, a single cupcake from Red Velvet Cupcakery (divine!), or a peanut butter bomb or brownie from Buzz Cafe down the street from me. If I can find French Meadow Bakery goodies, I'll get those. Other than that, I eat mainstream indulgences that don't contain gluten (I have never liked cheesecake, creme brulee, meringue cookies, or tapioca, all of which are usually recommended for us and doled out on cruises and in restaurants-I didn't like the food accommodated for me on my cruise). I will try to link to my list of sinful foods later.

Celiebo's interview with Elias, the gluten sniffing dog

I stumbled upon Celiebo's website yesterday in my search for info on the gluten-sniffing dog.  Celiebo, a relatively new celiac who sells her own dining out cards, had an informative interview with the dog's owners on a videoblog.  Training, costs, and method of finding gluten were all covered.  She said she wished she could have a dog like him, and I totally agree!  My mind even pictured how cool it would be if restaurants had the dogs sniff out gluten before serving gluten free customers...imagine that!

Here's the link to the video interview:

Gluten-sniffing dog