Gluten-Free Cookie Pizza

So being a celiac who loves to cook, I am constantly looking up recipes or new ideas of foods to incorporate into my diet. I love making sweets! I came across this recipe awhile back and had to share it with y’all!

It is called Gluten-Free Cookie Pizza!!

delicious 🙂

Ingredients

• 4 cups Rice Chex®, Corn Chex®, Chocolate Chex®, Honey Nut Chex® or Cinnamon Chex® cereal
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons honey roasted peanuts
• 1 Betty Crocker® Fruit Roll-Ups® chewy fruit snack (any red variety), torn into pieces

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Place cereal in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag and crush with rolling pin or meat mallet.
2. In large bowl, mix sugars, peanut butter, butter, egg and vanilla. Stir in crushed cereal. Spread in ungreased 12-inch pizza pan.
3. Bake 12 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with marshmallows to within 1 inch of edge. Bake 5 minutes longer or until marshmallows are light golden brown. Sprinkle chocolate chips, peanuts and fruit snack pieces over marshmallows to look like pizza toppings. Cool completely on cooling rack. Cut into 16 wedges. Store tightly covered.

Footnotes

• Cooking Gluten Free? Always read labels to make sure each recipe ingredient is gluten free. Products and ingredient sources can change.
• How-To: Spread this mixture easily–just spray the back of a large spoon with cooking spray, then press the mixture into the pan with the back of the spoon.

Camp Celiac Update

I wanted to let everyone know that I have been accepted to be a camp counselor this July! I am so excited! Celiac disease is now my entire life, and this camp will now give me the opportunity to help kids younger than I am deal with living life with Celiac.

I cannot wait (:

Thank you to those of you who crossed your fingers for me!

Things I Miss About Eating Gluten

For this post I am including a really cute video I found on YouTube! It is basically, all the things we can’t eat that we wish we still could!! Just a simple song about the daily struggles of Celiacs!

It’s kinda hard to hear, so turn the volume up (:

Things I Miss About Gluten

Camp Celiac

So I am from Northern California, precisely from the East Bay. I heard about a summer camp from a family friend that was designed specifically for kids ages 9 to 17 years old who have been diagnosed with Celiac disease. Camp Celiac is made possible by The Taylor Family Foundation who hosts the camp at Camp Arroyo in Livermore, California (about a 30 minute drive from my house).

The applications to become a camp counselor recently opened up and I filled it out as soon as I saw it! I find out this Wednesday, February 22nd if I am offered an interview! It will be such a great experience, I am crossing my fingers! Not only do I love working with kids, I also used to love attending summer camp as a kid. This is the best of both worlds, I get to be a counselor and eat gluten free for a week!

The Taylor Family Foundation’s mission is to preserve the wellness and enhance the quality of life for children in Northern California with life-threatening and chronic illnesses, disabilities, and youth at risk through unique therapeutic experiences and support. At the 138 acre Camp Arroyo for its sixth year, Camp Celiac 2012’s campers, counselors, and volunteers eat delicious gluten-free food and enjoy traditional camp activities such as a ropes course, rock climbing, ziplining, boating, swimming, archery, arts and crafts, skit night, and outdoor sports.  Three meals a day without having to ask if any of the foods are gluten free is life changing for many campers and staff!

For more information, feel free to visit http://celiaccamp.com/index.html

And by Wednesday I will let you know if I got the job or not 🙂

Cross your fingers for me!!

Why am I blogging?

Hello world,

I have created this blog site for my entry-level college English class. We have been given an assignment that we will be writing a research paper and twice a week we will need to blog about our specific research topic.

My specific research topic is going to be about Celiac disease. It is very interesting to me, seeing as that I have the disease and am always wanting to learn more about new and intersting facts or foods. In these upcoming few weeks, you will learn things about the food I eat, the articles and facts I find, and maybe the occasional times that I get “glutened!”

What the heck is gluten and Celiac Diease? Gluten is a protein found in many foods we eat every day; wheat, rye, barley, oats and malt. Most people can eat foods with gluten with no trouble; for example, bread, pizza, pasta, cake, cereals, etc. For some people, eating gluten can cause a reaction in their bodies, someone who has this problem has Celiac Disease. Someone with Celiac, eating gluten—causes an immune system reaction. Your immune system keeps you from getting sick, but for someone with Celiac, the body starts damaging and destroying the lining of your small intestines, which is not good! There is no cure for Celiac disease, but you can cure it, simply by taking gluten out of your diet!

I found out about Celiac disease when my mom was diagnosed in December 2010. It was a big change for my family, taking the time to find out what the disease was, what it did to your body, and how to get through all of the changes. I wasn’t having the same symptoms as my mom, therefore i didn’t fully cut gluten out of my diet until I started getting extremely sick after I came to college! Celiac disease is extremely hereditary, and in August of 2011, I was diagnosed.

A gluten free diet in college is very hard to deal with sometimes because I don’t have access to prepare my own food, like my mom can at home and I have to rely on the chef’s at the cafeteria to keep contaminants away from my food!

This is my now a HUGE part of my life and I look forward to sharing more soon! 🙂

Jessica

The Celiac's!

About Me

Jessica Deno;

but I go by Jed (:

Fam[ily]♥

Soccer is the ♥ of my life.

California is my home♥

Celiac is the disease.

peace.love.happiness.