Charlottesville Celiac Support Group - Meeting Highlights
Highlights from the May 17th Meeting

“Heart Healthy & Gluten Free” —that was the theme for our May meeting.  We started off the morning by informally participating in the International Walk For Celiac Disease Day.  Although it was a rainy day, that didn’t stop us from cruising the link through the hospital in our new Charlottesvilli T-shirts!  Following the walk, Andrea gave a presentation on Heart Healthy eating.  Heart disease is the number one cause of death among Americans at present.  We discussed various diet modifications that can help to decrease heart disease risk. 

  • Eat a variety of foods in moderation—balance intake with energy expenditure
  • Form the foundation of your diet on whole grains, fruits & vegetables
  • Choose more meatless meals based on legumes, soy, or meat alternatives
  • Choose low or nonfat dairy products
  • Choose lean meats and limit portion sizes to 6 ounces or less daily
  • Include fish twice weekly
  • Limit use of fats and oils—choose unsaturated oils
  • Limit sodium and salt intake
  • Incorporate physical activity into your day

For those of you who are not familiar with some of the wonderful gluten free whole grains, I would encourage you to try buckwheat, quinoa, millet, and amaranth for a little change of pace.

I (Andrea) told you I would include in this newsletter substitutions you can make for eggs in a recipe.  Listed below are other foods you can substitute for 1 egg:

  • 1 ounce (2 Tbsp pureed soft tofu)
  • ½ banana
  • 1/3 cup applesauce
  • 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed blended with ¼ cup water
  • 1 Tbsp soy flour mixed with 2 Tbsp water

Announcements:

July 26:  Glutenfreeda

Please join Jessica Hale, co-editor & chef at Glutenfreeda.com for an informative workshop on cooking delicious, easy, gourmet meals that are naturally gluten-free.    The demonstration will show you how to prepare wonderful recipes from naturally gluten-free food that are nutritious, authentic and great tasting.  There are hundreds, thousands of healthy, naturally gluten-free foods that do not need to be 'altered' to be safe.  If you're tired of 'funny' tasting food, or tired of saying, 'it tastes almost like...',

this demonstration/workshop is for you.  We'll show you how, once again, to buy your groceries from the market instead of the post office, and save money doing so!  Expand your culinary horizons, learn helpful tips and get excited about food again, naturally, with Glutenfreeda.

Camp Holiday Trails :  Andrea was recently contacted by the medical director of Camp Holiday Trails.  This is a summer camp facility in Charlottesville for children with special health needs.  They recently hired a new medical director and are giving their entire program a face-lift.  Andrea will be meeting with their staff during orientation to help educate them on celiac disease and the gluten free diet.  They currently only have one child with celiac disease registered for this summer, but it isn’t too late to register if you have a child that might like to attend.   I’m not sure what their capabilities are for gluten free baking/cooking right now, but they are  very interested in becoming more accommodating for gluten free food preparation.  If any of you have tried and true kid-friendly recipes, please send them to me!  Also, if you would be interested in helping out in any way during the summer—cooking, baking gluten free foods, or even leading educational activities for campers to learn more about celiac disease—please let me know!  They are excited about integrating the support of our group and we welcome any extra hands and minds to help.  You can visit their website at http://avenue.org/cht/ for more information on the camp or to access a registration form.

They are at it again!   Madelyn Smith and Anna Ashworth are hard at work setting up a new support group in Richmond!!  The support group is named “The West End Gluten Intolerance Group” They are a branch office of the national nonprofit organization, Gluten Intolerance Group in Seattle,Washington.  Meetings will be held monthly on the first Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM in room 156 at the St. Mary's Hospital Education Center. Everyone is welcome!  For more information of directions, please contact Madelyn Smith ( Smith10900@aol.com, 804-968-4111) or Anna Ashworth ( agashworth@aol.com, 804 364-3794).

T-shirts

T-SHIRTS ARE IN!!  After adopting our new name, “Charlottesvilli,” we decided we needed a T-shirt to go along with it.  Anna Ashworth has headed up this project.  For those of you who were not able to attend the May meeting, you can pick up your t-shirt from Anna at the July meeting.  If you didn’t order a shirt but would like one, Anna will be placing one more order—the deadline for placing your order will be at the July meeting.  Let her know if you are interested.  Cost per shirt will be $12.62.  If you have any questions about the shirts, contact Anna agashworth@aol.com

Gaynelle Morris contacted the company that makes Blue Crab Bay Products .  Here is the response they gave her.  “Although most of our products do not contain gluten, there is no way we can guarantee that possible cross contamination from contact or atmosphere, however remote, might occur at the facilities that produce our products or suppliers of ingredients.  Considering the serious health risks of your allergic reactions to gluten, we recommend that you use food products that are specifically labeled as "Gluten Free." Thanks for your interest in our products and sorry I couldn't give a positive reply.”

Best regards,
Frank Urban
Product Manager

JAVA JAVA —I have spoken with the owners of this soon to be opened coffee shop in The Townside Shopping Center on Ivy Road (Near Zazus and Arch’s Frozen Yogurt Shop).  John Leschke and his wife are anticipating to open their coffee shop somewhere around June 8.  They will be offering various coffee and tea beverages as well as pastries.  All of their tea is from “Republic of Tea” company.  They have contacted this company and confirmed that their teabags are gluten free.  I encouraged them to have ingredient lists available for the various tea varieties so you can review them and make sure they are gluten free (some herbal tea blends do have barley malt or similar ingredients in them—most often they are the ones with vanilla or almond flavors in them).  As far as the coffee goes, you can get whipped cream on your drink as they are making it from real whipping cream—no other extraneous fillers added.  On the topic of pastries—all of their pastries will be provided by Starbake, a local baker.  I have spoken with the baker and informed her about celiac disease and the importance of preventing cross contamination in a bake shop.  At present, she is renting kitchen space with several other bakers.  Also, because of the volume of products and demand she has for wheat flour baked goods, she can not guarantee that the gluten free products will be the only products being produced in the kitchen at one time.  Although there may be a chance of airborne cross-contamination, she will use all gluten free ingredients and thoroughly wash her tools, utensils, and work space.  Her plan is to designate one or two mornings a week to do all the gluten free baking.  I have asked her to contact me if her set up changes so I can keep you all informed.   Also, the owners of Java Java may not be labeling the gluten free baked goods as such, but they plan to have at least one GF biscotti and one other GF baked good available daily.  I have encouraged them to have ingredient lists available for these products also—so don’t be afraid to ask.

  • For those of you who are trying out some of the new products you received in the raffle at the May meeting, please send me your opinions on the products.  I’d like to share your thoughts with the group as well as with the manufacturer.

GIG:  The annual GIG conference will be held June 6-8 in Denver, Colorado.  Contact the Gluten Intolerance Group at www.gluten.net for more details, or call 206.246.6652.

Gluten-Free Living Conference :  September 5-7, 2003; The Hilton San Diego Resort

Cost for the conference is $299 which includes all meals (Hotel not included).  Featured speakers include Danna Korn, Cynthia Kupper RD, Ann Whelan, Dr. Fasano, and Bette Hagman.  For a detailed agenda and registration form, call 1-319-895-6111

Special Offer - Pasta, Pasta, Pasta
We (Ener-G Foods) are excited to offer our wonderful gluten free low protein spaghetti on special.  This spaghetti is excellent if you have not tried it.  We are offering BUY 1 GET 1 FREE through June 2003.  Please contact us at WWW.ENER-G.COM or call 1-800-331-5222.  It is a great time to stock up on your gluten free pasta! This is available to all.

That’s it for the news---not too much to report on this month.  We wish everyone a safe, happy and healthy summer.  See you in July!