What is celiac disease?
Celiac disease is the proper name for those with intolerance of gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and triticale (and for most, oats). Many conventional foods, including cereal, pasta, bread, beer, cookies, and other processed foods, are off-limits to those with Celiac disease. There is no known cure for the disease, and its only treatment is a lifelong commitment to a gluten-free diet. Accidental ingestion of gluten can result in nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea,  rash, or a host of other symptoms.

OMG you can’t have bread?! What do you eat? Will going gluten-free help me lose weight?
Contrary to popular belief, going gluten-free is not a surefire weight loss strategy. For those with Celiac disease, elimination of gluten may help them gain weight, because the ingestion of gluten blocks the absorption of proper nutrients and result in malnutrition. However, eliminating gluten from one’s diet and focusing on eating lots of fruits, vegetables, beans, lean meats, dairy, and other whole foods will contribute to a healthier lifestyle. Still, Celiac Disease Awareness Month is all about promoting wholesome, tasty, gluten-free alternatives to the foods we love!

Easy Gluten-Free Alternative Meals
Cereal: Rice, Corn, Honey Nut, Cinnamon and Chocolate Chex Cereals are all now certified gluten-free!
Pasta: Try quinoa or rice pasta (available in the organic food aisle) as an alternative to wheat pasta. Bonus: quinoa has the highest protein value of any grain!
Sandwiches or Wraps: Just because you can’t have bread doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a nice sandwich! Try swapping your panini for a corn tortilla or rice cakes, which are low in calories.
Cookies, cakes, brownies: Bob’s Red Mill makes terrific gluten-free all-purpose baking flour to substitute in any recipe. And you can still make your fave cupcakes and brownies with Betty Crocker’s new (and inexpensive!) gluten-free baking line.  If you’re like me and love your brownies extra-fudgy, you’ll find that gluten-free brownies seal the deal every time!

Caveats and Helpful Hints
1. Always check the label to make sure an item is gluten free. Ingredients like “modified food starch” and anything with malt flavoring (which comes from barley) may secretely contain gluten.
2. Quinoa, rice, and teff are excellent alternative grains to serve as side dishes.
3. All fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, and legumes are inherently gluten-free.

The Recipe: Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Bars
Just because you’re gluten-free doesn’t mean you can’t be indulgent! Check out these SUPER easy, super tasty peanut butter bars from the awesome gals at CeliacChicks to satisfy your urge to eat PB straight from the jar (but with a bit more decorum).

Ingredients:
1 16oz. jar all-natural peanut butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup honey
Handful each of chocolate chips,  peanut butter chips, and diced almonds
Strawberry jam (optional)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
2. Spread into a greased baking pan and mix in the swirl of jam (optional) and top with the chips and almonds.
3. Bake for 15-20 mins or until edges are golden brown and a fork poked into the middle comes out clean.

My personal favorite of hers is a recipe for Spanish Ratatouille, which I’ve modified slightly below. It’s great to make in one big batch, either to portion out over the week (it reheats nicely) or to serve when you’re trying to impress the roomies. Besides being gluten-free, this hearty, filling, and flavorful dish is also vegetarian!

Ingredients

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
salt & pepper
1 large red onion
3 cloves garlic
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 eggplant
1 jalapeño
2 jars roasted red peppers
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can cannellini beans, drained
3 cups (dry) brown rice, cooked (optional)

Directions

1. Wash and dice the zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, and jalapeño. The smaller the pieces, the better. Set aside in one bowl.

2. Meanwhile, start preparing the brown rice (if you choose to make it) as instructed.

3. Peel and dice the onion and mince the garlic (or you can get those jars that are already minced for you!). Heat a VERY large saucepan (if you don’t have a large one, use two regular-sized saucepans and divide the ingredients equally) and coat the bottom with olive oil. Add onion first, wait a minute, then add garlic. Add dashes of olive oil as needed until the onions brown.

4. Add the zucchini, squash, eggplant, and jalapeño and stir until they lose volume and the zucchini are browned at the edges.

5. Remove red peppers from jars and slice thinly. Add the peppers and cannellini, stir about 1 minute.

6.  Last, add the diced tomatoes and stir another 2-3 minutes until all ingredients are soft. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over rice, as desired. Yum!

It’s shakshouka!

Native to North Africa and the Middle East, shakshouka is a breakfast often served straight out of the skillet, with a side of pita bread in which to stuff the piping hot concoction. However, I am a celiac, which means I’m gluten-intolerant (can’t eat anything containing wheat, barley, or rye).  I’m also a distance runner, and I’m constantly looking for more protein to stay full and rebuild muscle. Hence, the following recipe, which reflects my own spin on the ethnic favorite. The chickpeas and black beans offer lean, healthy proteins and the rice, a staple in the celiac diet, allows this classic breakfast to transition easily to lunch or dinner.

Yeah, it might be hard to pronounce, but this stuff is easy to make.
See for yourself! 

Ingredients:
Extra virgin olive oil
1 chopped green (or red or yellow) bell pepper
1 can chickpeas
1 can black beans
1 chopped red (or white) onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1 clove chopped garlic
1 jar tomato sauce
4-6 eggs
Black pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, and tumeric, to taste
2 cups brown rice
4 cups water

Instructions:

1. Boil the water in a sauce pan. Once the water is on high boil, add the rice and cover, removing the top periodically to allow steam to escape. Do not stir the rice, let it absorb the water on its own.

2.  Coat extra large skillet pan with the oil, turn heat on medium-high. Add onion and peppers, stir until they begin to brown.

3. Add chickpeas, beans, tomato, and garlic. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add tomato sauce, heat until it begins to boil. Add spices at your discretion.

5. Once sauce is boiling and vegetables are cooked through, crack the eggs atop the mixture. No need to break the yolks. Cover the frying pan and turn the heat to low until the eggs are cooked through.

6. Once the eggs are cooked, serve over rice directly from the skillet. Makes 4-5 servings.

What You Need:

1 cup chunky peanut butter

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

1/2 cup chocolate chunks

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 small bag of mini peanut butter cups

What You Do:

Pre-heat conventional oven to 375.

Combine first six ingredients in a bowl.

The dough is super sticky, so wet your hands and roll the dough into 1/2 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Unwrap PB cups and place in the center of the dough. Bake for 7 – 10 minutes

Let cool and serve!

OPTIONAL: Melt leftover cups & chocolate and drizzle over cookies when cool. Drooooool.

This is my tribute, my thank you, my ode to certain foods for being so delicious (albeit not very nutritious) that I consume them in mass quantities and therefore am forced to spend far more time at the gym than I’d like. In no particular order the foods that I’d do anything for are:

1) French fries: Regular, sweet potato, waffle, frozen, deep fried to crispy, baked – I don’t care how they were cooked or in what form I get them, but I need them and I need them with like half of a bottle of ketchup. They’re vegetables though, right? No matter how much I eat, I always always always have room for fries, whether I order them or you do. I especially have room if you ordered them and I got a side salad.

2) Nutella: It’s really versatile if you consider all of the pairing options. Fruit like strawberries and bananas are begging for Nutella and it’is fantastic on bread or waffles or crackers. I am such a mixer that I also add it to ice cream and cake and you can use it in pies to line the graham cracker crusts with chocolately goodness (well, I do). Despite the mixing options, my favorite way to consume it: off of a spoon, straight from the jar.

3) Peanut Butter: It’s normally good for you because of the vitamin E and because of fiber and protein as well, however, the way in which I consume is it anything but healthy. Because usually I chase spoonfuls of Nutella with PB. Seriously the best sandwich in the world is peanut butter and Nutella on toasted potato bread. My favorite PB brand is Peanut Butter and Co. because not only is natural peanut butter simply amazing, the good people there have found ways to incorporate dark chocolate, white chocolate, honey and maple syrup in their already delicious PB to enhance the peanut butter experience.

4) Cookie Dough: It’s the perfect food because whether you consume it raw or cooked it all, it equals the most yummy thing ever. I remember one night making a dinner entirely of raw Pilsbury chocolate chip cookie dough. And I remember the day that I discovered that some genius put cookie dough in ICE CREAM. Sweet, sweet perfection. Despite my allergy to wheat, I still get my cookie dough fix because they make some pretty great gluten free varities. Score.

5) Fritos: Dipsy Doodles (or any other corn chip for that matter) never compared. God, I love Fritos. Scoops (the best because they are the biggest), regular, whatever, just give me Fritos. Especially after all of that Nutella and cookie dough. Frito Lays people, if you read this – please make a scoop the size of my face. Because I’d totally try to finish that.

Does your top five look anything like mine, which is carb and sweet chocolate and salty carb/fat followed by more sweet with chocolate and salty carb/fat?