Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

On this day dedicated to love, I was inspired to share my most favorite and inspirational greeting card that I've kept with me and close to my heart for ten years. I bought it at a little card shop in Sun Valley, ID one cold winter day right when I needed it. The warmth and depth of the words expressed on the card melted my heart and inspired me...so much so that I've always kept them close and have read and re-read the lines more times than I can recall over the last decade.

The power of words light up my life.

What might light up your life or heart today, as we celebrate Valentine's Day, is knowing which yummy candies are gluten- free and safe, and which sweets are to be avoided. Be sure to review the list and read all the ingredients before you bite into that sweet treat. There's no better way to put the kibosh on any romantic dinner than by getting gluten poisoning...so, might I suggest spending a few less seconds gazing into your sweetie's baby blues and instead, avert your longing gaze towards the menu items that you KNOW are safe and/or carefully read over the entire ingredients list of any packaged goodies. I'm betting that an extra smooch will make up for the diversion.

Say I love you to someone special today...and don't forget to remember how special you are too. :)

Happy chocolate.

Gluten-Free Halloween ~

The spookiest day of the year is just around the corner, Halloween - isn't that hard to believe? I have such fond memories of trick-o-treating through our Northern California neighborhood as a kid, buckets bursting over the top with candy as my friends and I safely made our way up and down every street in our neighborhood...ahh, the good old days.

That was long before I was diagnosed with Celiac and wouldn't have had the slightest clue about all of the ingredients wrapped up inside each piece of candy. At that time, it was our parent's job to search for opened wrappers or something that looked "suspicious"...but gluten, heck, that was the least of our worries. Come to think of it, I didn't even know what gluten was!

Oh how times have rapidly changed. Now Halloween for a Celiac child or even us big kids means diligently reading wrappers and ingredient listings to ensure that no trace amount of gluten sneaks in. I've found some fun and information articles about safe Halloween candies, some tips for enjoying this holiday safely and gluten-free, along with some fun homemade recipes sure to please the most particular goblin or Superman.

- Gluten-Free Safe Candy List

- Five Tips for Enjoying Halloween Safely

- Ten Gluten-Free Yummy Candy Recipes

- Fun Gluten-Free Halloween Foods

Have a safe and fun Halloween everyone!

As the Light Changes...

As I have touted before on this blog, I LOVE the season of Fall! The colors change, the light shifts to a golden hue in the sky, subtly reflecting off each gorgeous leaf that's on its way out...and...the J.Crew catalog is loaded with amazing goodies every fall season - this one is NO exception, my friends.

I used to love Halloween as a child. I remember fondly that our mom would always hand make my brother and my costumes each year. She was really talented and creative, and somewhere out there, there's a smashing photo of the two of us impersonating "Donny and Marie Osmond" to a tee, with our flowing lavender/purple costumes - microphones in hand. If you are of a certain age, then you know what I'm talking about! However, back in those days I did not have to worry about every morsel of food that I put into my mouth in fear of it containing gluten. The biggest concern that we faced at the end of every Halloween night was HOW much candy we were able to collect on our journey through the neighborhood, and our parents making sure there were no items that were suspiciously "unwrapped"...oh, and no homemade Carmel apples. ohhhhh

How I long sometimes for those "good old days."

Every Halloween, I try to imagine what it must be like to be a child with Celiac Disease and what a positive and creative parent one must be in order to still create a sense of "magic" and excitement for their child, without creating a huge amount of fear around all the "do's and dont's" of eating gluten-free.

In some of my research, I came across a blog with a fairly comprehensive list of "safe" Halloween candy. But as always, it's a good idea to double-check every ingredient in the event that the manufacturer has changed anything since the last time you checked!


And since October is Celiac Disease Awareness Month, I thought it important to share this Reuters story, updating us all on General Mills and their five Chex cereals which are now completely gluten-free.

I know that on Saturday night as I'm handing out gluten-free candy to all of the little ghosts, goblins, and Miley Cyrus's at my door...I'll be wishing all the Celiac kids out there a safe, fun and enjoyable Halloween eve...and wishing I could still dress up as Marie Osmond!

Happy Fall ~