Welcome to the beginning of our gluten-free blog. We are starting this blog not only as a reference for ourselves, but to also share with you our experiences so far. Here we will post some of the food we enjoy eating, that are easy to prepare, healthy (mostly) and full of flavour. Through trial and error we have discovered the best tasting gluten free products, among the many, not so good products. We promise to share our favourites.

The two of us were born in New Zealand and that’s where our Celiac disease originates from. Our father/grandfather had stomach problems for many years and was treated for colitis. Sadly he passed away many years before we were diagnosed and we do believe he had celiac disease. For some unknown reason all of the eldest cousins have this issue. It has only been in the last 8 years that it has been discovered in the family.

Myself (Mary), found out that I had Celiac disease due to my iron being very low. I went to the doctor because I thought I had the flu and I could not get out of bed… I was so tired. My doctor was one of the few to figure out that I had Celiac disease in such a short time. Sometimes it takes many years of people thinking they have other stomach issues before it is diagnosed.

Now I experience terrible migraine headaches, along with vomiting for half a day, when I am accidentally glutened. My first year of being gluten free was very hard. I would try not to cry because there was not too much I could eat when we would go to other people’s houses.

Myself (Stephanie), found out in 2014 that I was diagnosed with celiac disease. After a few years of going to the doctors for migraines and having my hair start to fall out more than usual, I finally had the blood test done. My mom had been telling me to get it done for a very long time, as she was sure I had celiac disease, and sure enough I did. Everyone seems to have a lot of the same symptoms, but at the same time many symptoms are different from each other. Finding out you have Celiac disease can be devastating, but it is very manageable with more and more companies being aware of the disease.

It is easy to eat gluten free when your kitchen is set up for it, but venturing out to other homes, or to unknown restaurants can be difficult. People do not always realize the issue of cross contamination or the way that wheat, rye and barley products can sneak into our foods. Especially sauces, syrups or even dried fruit and nuts.

One area we can guarantee our food to be good for us, is to grow our own vegetable garden, including fruit trees, grapes and berries. We freeze, can (or bottle) the produce and we brew our own Kombucha.

This blog is a place to help support those who may be starting on a new journey living with celiac disease and those already on it. We understand how devastating this new realization can be and to have all those unanswered questions. What can I eat? Where am I able to eat? Will people be careful enough when preparing food to avoid any cross-contamination? Will people completely understand how many products contain gluten?

We hope you will follow along with us as we continue to learn more about living a gluten free life and we hope this blog will help you on your own journey. Please feel free to comment, and to discuss different issues, products or anything else relating to the effects of Celiac Disease in your own lives.

Thanks for stopping by.

Steph and Mary.