I decided I may be better off with ghee or goat butter, considering my reaction to cow's milk, so I finally decided to try goat butter. I am crazy about this stuff. It's my new secret ingredient in sauces, as it adds a goat-cheesy flavor that I can't get compliantly anywhere else. Heat with sweet rice flour to make a fine roux.

Here's a rough version of my penne alfredo recipe, which my super picky pasta-eating husband loves. He's so very picky about pasta and usually wont try any unauthentic type of noodle. My son love it too...calls it macaroni and cheese.

I totally approximate the amounts and add what I feel like, so I don't yet have meaningful measurements, but if you like to cook that way too, this recipe should work out great

Penne Alfredo

Boil:

1/3 package of Tinkyada penne pasta

Brown:

1 package of Shelton's Turkey sausage patties, chop them up as they cook, remove from pan, but leave drippings in

Add:

4+ tablespoons goat butter

1/4-1/2 cup sweet rice flour (enough to make a nice bubbly roux with the butter and sausage dripings.)

After this starts to brown just a little (rice flour doesn't brown like wheat, but it'll tan a bit), add milk or milk subsitute of choice depending on type. Stir it in quickly as it will immediately start to thicken. I just eyeball the amount, somewhere near 1 cup usually. Stir until desired consistency, turn heat down, then add about 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast, and salt to taste (pepper is good, or some such as allowed)

Once the sauce and pasta are done, add them all together with the turkey, and serve

Yes, it's too grainy a meal for an O to have much of, so treat it as a side dish...my As treat it as the main meal.

I've finally gone and subscribed to the Scott-Free Celiac Newsletter, from www.celiac.com. I think I now subscribe to most every newsletter or magazine there is in the US about celiac disease, (which isn't many) but this one is by far the most information-packed. I've been spending the last week reading all the back-issues, and learning a great deal of good information about diet strategies, future treatment, diagnostic procedures, and how other celiacs manage the diet.

Next to the abyssimal diagnostic rates for sufferers of celiac disease, the saddest part is that 30-40 percent of all diagnosed celiacs DON'T follow a Gluten-Free diet. That shocked me, until I thought about it, and realized how common it is even among the few celiacs that I know. I know a few others who won't go through the diagnosis simply because they don't want to do the diet. That isn't helped at all by their various doctor's attitudes regarding the disease...you practically have to tell a doctor "my sister has celiac disease, and I get diarrhea only and always after eating gluten...and I'm miserably sick" before they'll consider running any screening tests. Most celiacs can't honestly say all that, as the older you are at diagnosis, they less likely you are to have notable diarrhea, and most siblings don't have their diagnosis yet either! Yet, such easily-ignored symptoms as anemia, osteopenia and constipation can mean high risks for more severe outcomes, such as lymphoma and severe autoimmune disorders.

Rather than bemoaning ignorant doctors and non-adaptive patients, I'm going to try to focus on those who do embark on this dietary way of life. You all need to pat yourself on the back for your efforts, and I commend you. I'm proud of everyone I know who considers it, looks into it, gets checked for it, then tries the diet out and sticks with it. It really does change your way of thinking, your appreciation for life and health, and your appreciation for friends and family who help you along the way. Not to mention that it can improve your communication skills!

I also learned that my recent anemia is pretty common, even long after diagnosis and the gluten-free diet. Interestingly, Dr. Tom Greenfield pointed out to me that on the gene maps, hemochromatis (high iron) is tightly linked (neighbors on the genome) to the gene for celiac disease. This trait of hanging on to all the iron you can get could be somewhat of an advantage historically for celiacs, in my opinion (before iron supplements made it too easy to go overboard). I think it's what warded off my anemia for years...I started out with fairly high iron (ferritin) before I stopped absorbing it well (I'm fairly certain that my bad case of mono at age 19 is what put my celiac disease into full-swing, so I wasn't always an active celiac - though surely gluten intolerant from my early teens.) My son's anemia, on the other hand, resolved itself without extra supplementation within 2 months on the GF diet. Youth must speed healing, even though he had such an active classical case of it. I hardly remember the little monster he would become when he had gluten...biting me, screaming, arching his back and not letting anyone try to comfort him. He's such a sweet little person naturally, when he's healthy.

I've been spending time with family lately and haven't had time to blog, so I just wanted to pop in and catch up. Thanks to all who sent me comments, and for all the happy mamma and baby vibes :-)

I'm doing well, though I think the rest of my pregnancy will be spent either drinking water, looking for a toilet, or having a contraction, with the first two activities being the priority. My sister had the same phenomenon.

The only problem with all this water is that my blood volume is increasing faster than my iron stores. Increased blood volume is a very good thing during pregnancy, I just figured I was certainly getting enough iron with 100% in my prenatals and plenty of red meat, but I started to feel light-headed occasionally and the doctor checked my iron and found it to be a little too low. It's allowed to drop a bit in pregnancy, due to the blood volume, but mine dropped a little too much. So now I'm taking Flora iron supplement, Floravitex I believe, the gluten-free version. I'm also eating even more red meat, and craving it. I'm thinking my celiac disease was triggered when I had mono at 19, and all my higher iron levels became a thing of the past at that point.

I went to my favorite restaurant out near my town or origin, Stockman's, and had one of the more compliant meals I've had in a while...all-you-can-eat sirloin with sauteed vegetables (broccoli, squash, mushrooms, onions, tomato) and it's a lovely combination. I need to cook like that for myself! Most everything is cooked with just butter, salt and garlic, and the local beef they serve is mostly free-range.

Anyway, thanks for tuning in!

Thanks for the comments and concern everyone! I'm getting lots of help, and getting used to drinking lots of water. I had one painful contraction early yesterday morning, so decided that I need to drink my water throughout the day (and night), and I haven't had any bit of trouble since. I'd like to sleep through the night better, but I'd rather keep my pregnancy on track. I've heard your body adjusts to more water, after a few days, and maybe I won't have to get up in the night quite as much...but I'm not counting on it!

Thank goodness it was false, because it's much too soon for any trips to the hospital. This pregnancy has been full of Braxton Hicks contractions, some fairly hard ones, but last night they became regular enough to worry about and get checked out. I didn't think it was anything of consequence, but it was hard not to worry about it when everyone else around me was going bonkers. At least the moved me to the front of the line in the Emergency room...it was quite busy for a weeknight (2-3 hour wait), and the contractions were already stopping by the time I got upstairs to maternity. When I walked in, they asked with a great deal of worry, many times over, "You're how far along??" I just started looking pregnant at 26 weeks.

This hospital is great, I delivered my first there and have always been impressed by the staff. The nurses there have probably delivered more babies than most doctors, and they are equipped to handle any situation, even the situation this could have been. The thought of having a baby this early is truly horrifying, I am so glad it wasn't to be. I'm glad some test results were already in before I turned on the TV and saw their show on premmies, and how tiny a baby is at this stage, it really is the limit of survivability, and that's one limit we don't want to push.

All the tests came out fine, I wasn't in any sort of real labor. Most likely it was due to dehydration, as I'd been outside earlier in the day and had forgotten to bring water with me. I got quite thirsty by the time I got back to water, and I drank like a camel, but it was a bit too late. Now water is my top priority, and I'm really guzzling it, with a goal of 80 oz. per day.

After a big-needled IV to make sure I was good and hydrated, and the results from all the tests, I got to go home. Nice as the hospital is (it really is), I really didn't want to stay there just yet. I don't have to be on bed rest or anything, but I will be taking better care of myself for sure. I want to be the great pumpkin for Halloween!

I'll never understand why I throw myself overboard sometimes, but I'm grateful to have a life preserver so I get back out of the deep water. I have knowledge of the effectiveness of the BTD, the benefits of beneficials, the agony of avoids...I know this stuff completely in my brain, body and memory, yet I still fall off the wagon every now and then.

I guess it goes back to "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" Part of me just wants to go on dietary Mardi Gras every now and then. I get enough bio-feedback on the gluten front that wheat is not a temptation, but sometimes everything else is. I think it all started with a snack-sized Almond Joy... I used to love those. It escalated into a couple (okay, three) McDonald's double cheeseburgers with no bun, but everything else, and I mean everything. I hate to say it, but those sure tasted good-at the time. They prepare the bunless version quite nicely, with a bit of lettuce around it...but I digress. There were probably three ears of corn in that thing between the sauces and cheese, and numerous other avoids. I suppose one or twice a year won't do any lasting damage, but I'm done with that binge for now. Of course, it made me a foggy-headed slug, then I couldn't get my rings off at bedtime, and my heartburn was back. I'm a walking commercial for dandruff shampoo now, as well...lovely corn.

Good news is, this new day has been compliant so far. I so wanted to put cheese on my broccoli omelette this morning, but I stuck with nutritional yeast. Let the healing begin!