A brief update

If you are actually interested in my life/gluten-free, you may have actually noticed my prolonged absence from the blogosphere.

I'd say I've been busy with homework, but that's only partially true. I spent most of the weekend watching Lord of the Rings with my friends, and my roommate is out of town so I've been sleeping terribly late.

In my defense, it feels wonderful.

I've also gone through almost a full box of Twinings green tea since I've gotten back (only 3 weeks, but it still seems like an eternity). 

Here is my to-do list, in case you are curious:

Read chapter 6 of my Cell Bio text, and take notes on chapters 1, 2, and 4. I have a test on the 31st.

Print out physics slideshows and make flashcards.

LAUNDRY. I'm wearing a dress today. My friends know that when I wear dresses in the winter it means that I am totally out of clean clothes. 

I also need to start my multivariable calculus homework and my ordinary differential equations homework, but that's not due until Thursday.

I went grocery shopping the other day, and I came back with a few strange purchases. This is not uncommon. Roommate used to joke that I was pregnant because I would buy a pint of ice cream and some pickles. 

I'm trying to be healthier now; so no more ice cream. I did, however, buy extra sharp cheddar cheese, liverwurst, an onion, some Reese's Pieces to put in popcorn for movie nights, popcorn, and a carton of orange juice, which I am drinking now. It's delicious. I also got salad dressing because there are no gluten-free salad dressings in the dining hall.

I would love to write about how much has happened since my last post, but the simple truth is that there is so much that I couldn't remember it with any degree of accuracy. I will leave you with one word:

Aleia's .

Martin's, the Virginia equivalent of Stop&Shop, carries Aleia's cookies and croutons. I haven't tried the croutons yet, but their almond horns and macaroons are TO DIE FOR. They are rather expensive though ($9.99) so I can only indulge every so often.

Ciao!

Eclairs

My birthday is next week, exams are this week.

Somehow, despite all the stress, my roommate managed to (totally without my knowledge) bake me GF eclairs.

I'd noticed she kept leaving the room where we were studying but thought she was avoiding me. I suspected nothing. 

Around 9 last night, I was studying alone and Castor came to ask me if she could borrow a dollar for the vending machine downstairs. I pointed her to my purse, which was atop the microwave in the lounge.

(They told me later that they had expected me to walk back to my room to get the money, where they were waiting.)

A few minutes later, Saab (named because she was looking at the Elie Saab spring collection with my roommate) came to ask if I had a copy of The Hobbit. 

I do have a copy of The Hobbit. And I am always happy to talk about Tolkien with anyone, especially with the movie coming out in a mere FOUR DAYS.

But I was working, so I said, "Sure! It's on my windowsill. The one next to my bed."

Saab: "I don't feel comfortable being in there without you."

I knew this was a load of horse crap, because I'd walked in on her getting almond extract out of College Girl's (roommate's) fridge the previous night, sans College Girl, but since I am a wonderful and understanding person I went with her.

The lights were off and there were candles in the eclairs. Then, all my friends jumped out from various hiding places.

Then we ate the eclairs. They were delicious.

I'll see if I can get the recipe from CG. In the meantime, you should check out her blog! It's called Just a Little Bit Squirrely.

About Me

Hi! My name is Basil.

I'd start talking gluten-free now, but it wouldn't make very much sense so I'll start at the very beginning:

Three years ago, when I was a freshman in high school, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Sjogren's syndrome. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it) I don't have a goiter or super-dry eyes and mouth, but I do get the fatigue, sensitivity to cold, difficulty concentrating, and, when I'm really tired or stressed, dry eyes and skin. Since the symptoms I do have are basically arthritis symptoms, I just say I have arthritis. It's much easier to explain to people.

Anyway, after a year of arthritis pain, my mother (who I will refer to as GF-Mom) read somewhere that a gluten-free diet was beneficial to people with autoimmune disorders. So, my parents and I went gluten-free.

It was hard, at first. I'm a hefty girl of Germanic descent from my dad's side, and I love starches and cheese. Pizza was my favorite food, and it was hard to give up. It didn't help that it was December, and all the Christmas breads and pastries were calling my name.

Slowly and painfully, we went completely gluten-free. And I did notice that I felt a lot better.

Fast-forward 3 years: I'm 16, a sophomore in college, and still gluten-free. There is only one significant setback. I'm in Virginia, and my mom's pantry with its sacks of GF flours is in Connecticut.

The dining hall does have a GF fridge, but it's rarely stocked. At the moment, I think it has half a loaf of stale cheddar-jalepeno bread, which I strongly dislike. Good GF food can get expensive, and even though the parents are willing to fund me as long as it's food, I try not to splurge too much. This leads to some interesting improvisation, and me being a food ninja to look for flours  in sauces and gravies, and even sausages. Apparently some sausages use flour in their fillers. Who knew?

(Actually, one of the things on my to-do list is to talk to the dining hall staff about labeling their food for allergens. We had an incident last year where I asked if a veggie burger was gluten-free, staff said yes. I ate the burger. Fellow GF friend (suspected celiac) asked if the burger had couscous. Staff said yes, apparently unaware that couscous has gluten. Friend and I spent the evening in great pain.)

I've talked about all the things I had to give up, which is kind of negative, so now I'll talk about what I can eat, which is much more important:

I can eat sushi (I LOVE sushi), and a lot of Chinese/Japanese foods, the ones with rice noodles. This is great because there are a lot of instant noodles with rice noodles instead of wheat noodles, and they're much tastier than ramen anyway.

I can eat fruits and veggies! Fruits and vegetables are always good and contain lots of nutrients. Plus, I go to school in Virginia, home of the chicken-fried steak and cheesy grits, and I feel like I've avoided significant weight gain whenever I look at all the gluten-full food on the menu.

I can still eat pizza, too. At home, my mother makes a killer GF crust, and tops it off with Daiya dairy-free cheese. Here, there's a pizza place that sells GF pizza and Udi's just started to make frozen pizzas for much less. I can walk a mile to the grocery store, buy a pizza, walk back, and have it for dinner. That way I don't have to scavenge the dining hall, and I get some exercise in.

Being gluten-free in college does make my life a little harder, but I still have a lot of fun, and I hope this blog will reflect all the joy and laughter, the cooking, the eating, and the learning that I do this year.

~Basil