Food and Health Carnival Dec. 30

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and I hope you have a Happy New Year.

Do you have a Favorite Recipe, a Great Tip, a Great Resource or a Giveaway? Do you have a Giveaway Linky or Recipe Carnival on your blog? Or maybe you would just like to share your Food or Health Blog/Website.

Add your link to my Food and Health Carnival.

All I ask for in return is for you to add my blog button above to your blog and/or a link to my website. Lisa's Gluten-Free Advice and Healthy Living. Another idea is that you could add my link to your blog roll. Thank-You.

Add Your Gluten-Free and/or Healthy Living Blog to my Directory.

This week I will share with you: What is Gluten Intolerance or Celiac Disease?

Be sure and check out my current giveaways located on my right side bar. Have a great week.

Steamed Vegetables

I like to alternate these vegetables in my steamer pot or you can use an electric food steamer. Steam for 20 minutes or until tender.

Quarter cut these vegetables.

2 Potatoes, yams or sweet potatoes

1 Acorn squash, spaghetti squash or butternut squash

1 Rutabaga or red beet

1 Cup Baby carrots

1 Cup Celery

1 Green pepper or red pepper

1 Cup Broccoli or cauliflower

1/2 Green Cabbage or red cabbage

Top off with some leafy greens, like collard, mustard greens or spinach. 

You can also add 3 or 4 eggs to the bottom of the pot for poached eggs.

Place your choice of vegetables on a plate and add a little bit of butter and Bragg Liquid Aminos (or salt and pepper) for taste. And if you want add some shredded cheese. You can then serve with your choice of meat.

This is my very favorite way to eat vegetables, it tastes so good and it is very healthy.

Dermatitis Herpetitformis

Dermatitis Herpetitformis is a chronic disease of the skin marked by watery, itchy blisters that may resemble pimples or blisters. The ingestion of gluten (from wheat, rye and barley) triggers an immune system response that deposits a substance, IgA (Immunoglobulin A), under the top layer of the skin. IgA is present in affected as well as unaffected skin. Dermatitis Herpetitformis is a hereditary autoimmune gluten intolerance disease linked with celiac disease. If you have Dermatitis Herpetitformis you will always have gluten intolerance. With Dermatitis Herpetitformis, the primary lesion is on the skin, whereas with celiac disease the lesions are in the small intestine. The degree of damage to the small intestine is often less severe or more patchy than those with celiac disease. Both diseases are permanent and the symptoms and damage will occur after eating gluten.

The symptoms of dermatitis herpetitformis are:

• Watery, itchy skin that resembles pimples or blisters
• Itching and burning sensation
• Scratching will irritate it more
• May appear on pressure points, such as, elbows, knees, buttocks, face and scalp, but can appear anywhere.
• Can effect men, women and children

The diagnosis of dermatitis herpetitformis is to have your dermatologist take a small biopsy of the unaffected skin. The presence of IgA deposits will confirm a diagnosis of Dermatitis Herpetitformis. Sometimes the dermatologist may also want you to do blood work for celiac disease and see a GI Doctor.

The treatment for dermatitis herpetitformis is to strictly follow a gluten free diet. It may take a two years or more on a gluten free diet for the IgA deposits under the skin to clear. Your doctor may prescribe medications for relief from the itching and burning, it requires close monitoring by your doctor (because of serious side effects). Medications should not be used during pregnancy. If you are using medications to relieve the itching make sure you are also following a gluten-free diet.

The questions you should ask your doctor are:

• Should I be taking medications for this disease?
• How long should I take this medicine?
• What are the side effects of the medicine?
• How often do I need to get my blood drawn?
• What else can trigger Dermatitis Herpetitformis?

The Prognosis is excellent if you stay on the gluten free diet. The severity and frequency of the itching and burning will decrease as you continue on with the gluten free diet. Iodine is essential and should not be removed from your diet without your doctor's supervision.

The related disorders with Dermatitis Herpetitformis and Celiac Disease are:

• Thyroid disease (most common)
• Addison's disease
• Autoimmune chronic active hepatitis
• Alopecia Areata
• Graves disease
• Insulin-Dependant Diabetes mellitus (type 1)
• Myasthenia gravis
• Scleroderma
• Sjogren's syndrome
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• there may be other diseases associated

Thyroid disease and diabetes are the two most commonly associated diseases. You may have other skin conditions as well.

Pizza Stone Review from CSN Stores

I decided to do a review on this pizza stone, which is what I need for my gluten-free lifestyle. I love making gluten-free pizza.

Fox Run Craftsmen Square Pizza Stone

Features:
•pizza stone
•Ceramic construction
•Can be used for baking cookies and rolls

•Overall dimensions: 0.375" H x 16" W x 14" D

This pizza stone works great for already made pizza crust. When I made a pizza crust from a pizza crust mix it stuck, probably because it is a new pizza stone. Anyways the pizza turned out good and it tasted really good. We have used the pizza stone to bake other things as well and it turned out great. The pizza stone seems to get nicked easy. It has to be cleaned with just water and I use olive oil to cure it. All in all I give this pizza stone 3 stars out of 5.

I just love CSN Stores, they have lots of great products to pick from. Check out CSN Stores, you can click on their website for a full list of categories they carry. Happy Shopping.

King Arthur Flour Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to the winner of the King Arthur Flour Giveaway. And the winner is #113 SLS(atlmuzikfanzinc), you have won two boxes of your choice of the King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free mix.

King Arthur Flour is America’s oldest flour company, founded in 1790. They became an employee-owned company in 1996, when Frank Sands instated the employee stock ownership program (ESOP). They are now 100% employee-owned, and have always been 100% committed to quality. Their headquarters in Norwich, Vermont, is a 16,600-square-foot timber-frame structure called, appropriately, Camelot.

King Arthur Flour now carries gluten-free mix. Their gluten-free products are packed off site, at a dedicated gluten-free facility. This facility processes only gluten-free foods, and all personnel are carefully trained in practices and procedures that support gluten-free manufacturing of food products.

King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Mixes are:

• Gluten-Free
• Soy-Free
• Nut-Free
• Tree Nut-Free
• Fish-Free
• Shell Fish-Free
• Egg-Free
• Dairy-Free
• Free of Preservatives
• Kosher

(Note: Their mixes may require eggs and/or dairy; please take a look at their packaging. I used rice milk when I made both of these mixes and you could use an egg replacer).

The Gluten-Free Flour Mix comes in a:

• Gluten-Free Bread Mix
• Gluten-Free Cake Mix
• Gluten-Free Brownie Mix
• Gluten-Free Cookie Mix
• Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Mix
• Gluten-Free Pancake Mix
• Gluten-Free Muffin Mix
• Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour Mix

Check out The King Arthur Gluten-Free Mixes on their website. On their website they have a list of gluten-free recipes. The mixes are all available on their website, and in supermarkets nationwide. If you don't see them in your regular grocery stores, ask the store manager to bring them in. They are also available on Amazon.com

Thank-you everyone for entering this giveaway. I hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

Food and Health Carnival Dec. 23

Sorry I did not have this up earlier, our internet was down all day. I am back up and running now. I was very pleased to see so many posts on here last week, please keep them coming. I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

Every Thursday I will have this Food and Health Carnival on my website.

Do you have a Favorite Recipe, a Great Tip, a Great Resource or a Giveaway? Do you have a Giveaway Linky or Recipe Carnival on your blog? Or maybe you would just like to share your Food or Health Blog/Website.

Add your link to my Food and Health Carnival.

All I ask for in return is for you to add my blog button above to your blog and/or a link to my website. Lisa's Gluten-Free Advice and Healthy Living. Another idea is that you could add my link to your blog roll. Thank-You.

Add Your Gluten-Free and/or Healthy Living Blog to my Directory.

This week I will share with you: Gluten-Free Breakfast and Snack Ideas

Be sure and check out my current giveaways located on my right side bar. Have a great week.

Gluten-Free Gift Basket Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to the winner of the Gluten-Free Gift Basket Giveaway. And the winner is #16 Victoria99, you have won a Gluten-free Gift Tower from Gluten-Free Gift Baskets. I will be sending you an e-mail shortly. I used random.org to determine the winner.

The Christmas Gluten-free Gift Tower is in reindeer decor including gluten-free graham crackers, gluten-free chocolate bar, NuGo free bar, gluten-free flavored popcorn (cheddar, caramel and kettle), gluten-free licorice, gluten-free pretzels, and gluten-free shortbread cookies. (valued at $59.99)

Your can purchase gluten-free gift baskets at: Gluten-Free Gift Baskets. Carla's other links: Gluten-Free Recipe Box and Carla's Cooking Gluten-Free Radio Show.

Thank-you to everyone who entered this giveaway, it was a fun giveaway. Have a very Merry Christmas.