Author Archive: JF

Hey, Surprise! There’s Gluten in Your Meds!

 Hey, Surprise! There’s Gluten in Your Meds!

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I know. And I sort of hope you were sitting down before you read that. It happens less frequently now than it used to, but it does still happen. Whether it’s your prescription, or your favorite over-the-counter box of cold meds, if you’re super sensitive to gluten, you should probably call the company or check out GlutenFreeMeds.com to see if it’s on their list, at the least.

Maybe you’re wondering why there would be gluten in your medication? It’s simple, and sort of the same reason why there is gluten in spices, shampoo, lotions, and makeup. It’s a binding agent in many things. In this case, it helps make your pills stay together.

If any of the prescription or OTC medications you take have any of these ingredients, you may want to further your investigating skills and verify for the sake of your body.

  • Wheat
  • Modified starch (source not specified)
  • Pregelatinized starch (source not specified)
  • Pregelatinized modified starch (source not specified)
  • Dextrates (source not specified)
  • Dextrimaltose (when barley malt is used)
  • Caramel coloring (when barley malt is used)
  • Dextrin (source not specified, but usually by corn or potato)

Pharmacists face many dilemmas in the gluten-free world. There are no requirements for companies to label their medicines as “gluten free,” or just what they contain. In the same breath, all gluten sensitivities are different, and that 1 particle of gluten dust may not do much to Suzy, but it was enough to put Tom in the hospital. It is also true that medications don’t work the same way in a body without a gluten issue, as they do in a body that severely reacts to gluten. I just don’t feel it should be left up to the pharmacist to decipher, and I think that put them into a bad spot, as well.

More and more, we’re seeing the push to ban GMOs, and label things appropriately for allergens. I am hopeful that even more labeling will be approved to fully label prescriptions, shampoos, and anything else that is used by humans containing gluten. I’ve learned through my years of personal experience, and that of my child’s, that gluten, GMOs, and the harsh chemicals in our world ARE affecting our bodies, and creating internal disasters that no one knows how to deal with.

So, just a gentle reminder, fellow Celiac sufferers- CHECK YOUR MEDS!!

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Resources Used:

GlutenFreeMeds.com- linked their gluten free med sheet

 

 

Gluten Free for Me OH, FORKS!! Cook Book Minor Catastrophes

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Gluten Free for Me OH, FORKS!! Cook Book Minor Catastrophes

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As with many published cook book, books, novels, and even the occasional slip up in adult reading materials…we’ve found a few part of the cook book that were either left out, forgotten, or misprinted! This page will be updated as things come to our attention, and we’ll fix the main files and double check these issues before we print again!

If you’ve tried a recipe, and something was missing or didn’t seem right, please send us a message! That said, remember that cooking gluten free is trickier than “normal” cooking, and until you’ve tested our recipes a time or two, things may not turn out perfectly! This sort of “issue” is NOT what we are referring to on this page!! However, you can message us cooking issues, too, and we’ll try to help!

 Here’s the Missing Info!!

*Mexican Wedding Cookie Balls, page 172: missing: note after -1 cup confectioners’ sugar (1/2 mixed into dough, ½ used to coat cookies after baking.)

*Cinnamon Rolls, page 29: missing: Step #8- For immediate cooking, allow to rise at room temperature for one to two hours. Bake at 325 degrees for 15-25 minutes, depending on your oven’s temperature. For cooking in the morning: After cutting dough, and covering with plastic wrap, put dough in refrigerator overnight. Allow to rise in 200 degree oven for at least one hour before baking.

Thank You for Your Patience and Understanding!

 

Gluten Free for Me Upcoming Taste Testing & Updates!

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Gluten Free for Me Upcoming Taste Testing & Updates!

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We’re in 2015 now, which means this year we’ll be participating in our first book signings, taste testing, and local events around the area! If creating the recipes, designing the cook, formatting the layout, making the nutrition labels and working on images wasn’t hard enough… now I’ve got to decide which foods to make in mass for people to try at our events!!

For this, I’ve decided to not decide myself, and let my followers and cook book owners help me figure it out! You’ll find a Google Form attached in this blog update (that I will post on our Facebook page eventually, too) that you can fill out to help me with this process! Don’t worry- you’re not signing up for anything at all. Just helping me to choose which recipes to consider for my early 2015 events!

For the first form, I’d like to get an idea of what your favorite recipes in the cook book, on our Facebook page, or from our blog are. If you’ve tried something in the cook book you love, please enter that in this form. After I get a general idea of “favorites,” I’ll then send out one last form choosing the “winners.”

USE THIS LINK FOR OUR GOOGLE FORM! OR, check our Facebook page for the link!!

 

A Gluten Free Christmas!

OH, Forks!! A Little Bit of Everything and All That's Gluten Free ©2014

OH, Forks!! A Little Bit of Everything and All That’s Gluten Free ©2014

A Gluten Free Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! I hope you got everything your heart desired! We have had a fabulous Christmas, although completely different than what we’re all use to!

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost New Year’s! I’m running towards that ball drop faster than ever this year. So many great things happened this year, some of them with your help and backing! I’m so thankful to have had created my SECOND cook book, and have it come to print. Thankfully, so far, there have only been a few things I’ve noticed were omitted in printing! Otherwise, I still think it’s a pretty damn great book!

Let’s talk about editing. I’ve paid for editors that have done horrid jobs. I’ve earned free editing services by huge companies, just to get shafted in the end. Because of the wasted money (that won’t happen again) I’ve decided to do things “my way” until I get my base created. I’m sure by now you’ve seen that I’m #allaboutthatbase. (That’s a hashtag I use regularly on social media.) What’s my “base?” It’s the next few publications I’m working on. Don’t worry, the few things I found as “errors” will have a blog page dedicated to them. One is just oven temperature, and the other is temperature and cook time! Coming soon!

2015 will bring book signings, and taste testing’s in different areas of the county. I’m excited to spread the word of gluten free eating in a simple, laid back sort of way. I would love to have more open dialect about how difficult it truly is to live a gluten free lifestyle in today’s world. Even more so living the paleo lifestyle, with children.

Isn’t it interesting to know that no human can digest gluten? Gluten is made to be indigestible by us. Did you know that? Some people just have a strong enough system to tolerate it as it passes through. In any case, it is an inflammatory agent. Inflammatory agents DO interfere with your organs and body, just how depends on your immune system.

If you’re trying to go gluten free, you are gluten free, or you have thoughts on the topic, please feel free to inbox us, or comment! We hope your Christmas holiday was filled with love and traditions!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

OH, FORKS!! Here Come the Holidays!! Holiday Packages and Big Order Discount Info Inside!

OH, Forks!! A Little Bit of Everything and All That's Gluten Free ©2014

OH, Forks!! A Little Bit of Everything and All That’s Gluten Free ©2014

OH, FORKS!! Here Come the Holidays!! Holiday Packages and Big Order Discount Info Inside!

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By now you’ve surely heard that our new gluten free cook book, OH, Forks!! A Little Bit of Everything and All That’s Gluten Free is for sale!! Our cook books feature heavy, wipe-able pages (over 200 of them!) made from 100% recycled paper! We have pictures, simple directions, awesome nutrition labels, and an index that keeps everything fancy, and easy to find!

Ingredient flexibility! Our recipes are simple, and ingredients can be found at your normal grocery shopping locations. (We frequented Meijer, Kroger, WalMart. Now adding in Fresh Market, too.) For example, if you’re not gluten free, simply swap your tradition flour for the GF variety on the recipe. Or, if there’s a dairy cheese listed, swap to vegan cheese. No eggs? Egg free scrambles can be used, too. There are MANY ways to make these recipes dairy free, vegan, or geared around your allergy or autoimmune disease. Questions? Just inbox us, or send us a message on Facebook!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

For anyone interested in giving these fabulous cook book’s as gifts for the holidays, I will be offering a Holiday Package. For $35, the package includes one signed OH, Forks!! Cook book, 4 recipe cards, and one fridge magnet, wrapped, and shipped. (Or delivered, if you’re close.)

If you’re not interested in the package, but will need 4 or more cook books, please message me to find out about special discounts for bigger orders!!

And remember, proceeds from these book sales are going to Riley Children’s Hospital, and the Scleroderma Foundation!! Happy Holiday Season to You!!

OH, FORKS!! A Little Bit of Everything and All That’s Gluten Free Cook Book is HERE!!!

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OH, FORKS!! A Little bit of Everything and All That’s Gluten Free Cook Book Is HERE!!

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I’m so excited to say, it’s here!! After years, and months of planning, fund finding, and correcting issues…I’ve finally gotten my hands on my first prints of the cook book, and they are selling, selling, selling! I even took my books to my first author event at our local library (Allen County Public Library) this past weekend. We were the ONLY gluten free cook book there, and we talked to many, many people about so many things related to gluten and dietary issues.

Many have asked about the formats of the books, and how you can buy them. I had hardbacks printed ONLY for backers, for now. Eventually, hardbacks will be available for anyone to buy, but they will be more than the coil books. The coil copies are available now, and weigh approximately 1.5 pounds each! For a book, that’s heavy! The pages are thick, 100% recycled materials, and are you can wipe them off if they have drips or spills! There are over 105 recipes, and over 200 pages.

To order these books, one would simply need to message either Gluten Free for Me via web page, or Facebook page, Author Skye Falcon via Facebook or web page email, or inbox my personal page, if you’re one of the few who can. (Insert raised eyebrow smiley face here) Coil copies are available for $30 each, plus tax and shipping if it needs shipped. One can pay via PayPal invoice which is emailed to you, Square marketplace (card reader), or by sending check or money order in the mail.

I am currently working on the e-book format of OH, FORKS!! And also a few smaller e-books that will be connected to the OH, FORKS!! Series of books. At this point, I am hopeful to have this done in the beginning of 2015. (I really, REALLY want and need to push a few hundred thousand words out to print, first. My poor, poor brain this past year….now things will settle, and my fingers will resume their typing fury.)

Print books should be available on Amazon soon, too. In the meantime, if you’ve gotten a copy of OH, FORKS!! Please send us your review! Share recipes made from the cook book with the hashtag #OHFORKS. Thank you SO MUCH for supporting me, and helping me out with the OH, FORKS campaign!

 

PS. Look for this blog to be back on track, and posting regularly again soon!!! Thank you for your patience!

OH, Forks!! Waiting is the Hardest Part!!

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OH, Forks!! Waiting is the Hardest Part!!

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GREAT NEWS!! I’m waiting for the proofs to arrive, and according to my printers….most all images and pictures were good to go! I bet you never even knew that I had to re-do every single one of them… Honestly, I’m still a bit nervous to see if they’ll all turn out, but, I shouldn’t have to wait much longer, right? Sigh.

Once I get the proofs, I’ll go through the book with a fine tooth comb, and once I approve it, and make any changes (hoping there are none…I was really going for “perfect on the first try”) then I’ll be ordering the first few hundred copies, and hardbacks for all of my backers!!!

I have to take an extra minute, to again thank my backers, and thank you again for your patience!! SWAG items have also been ordered, and every day I check their progress, too. I keep hoping that when I Sign in, I’ll see “shipped” instead of “in progress.” “In progress” is so….tiresome. Did I mention my patience is wearing weak and thin?? I’ll be beginning the handwritten thank you notes soon, and replenishing my novel supply to send out, too!

Sometimes this is still so hard to believe. Even harder to believe is that I’ll be at my first author event, hopefully selling all my books INCLUDING OH, Forks!!, in November 2014!! (Thanks to my Aunt for passing on the info!!)

I’ve had a few questions like, “So, what are you doing while you wait for the cook book?” Well, moving. Packing, cleaning, boxing, ceramic flooring, and making shower curtains. Moving is not my favorite thing ever, and I can tell you it’s never happening again. SO, if any one needs a nice, quaint, country house….with a swing set, GIANT garden (tears…), shed, and big fenced in yard….keep your eyes peeled for our house listing soon!!

Thank you all again for your continued support!! I’m still thinking once we’re all settled and moved that I may be doing a taste testing party by invite only!! (Of course there will be others with other book signings, too!)

Campaigns, Stress, and New Recipes…

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Campaigns, Stress, and New Recipes…

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Funny thing about stress and me: when stress comes into my life, not like the serious heavy stress in the past month—but just the kind that keeps your brain going constantly—I create some of my BEST things. Whether it be with words, or food….the busier my brain, the more productive and crazy busy I get! (I think for some people it’s the opposite!)

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With only 3 days to go on my campaign to get this awesome cook book printed, I’m pretty much a twitching, nervous wreck. When you want something soo bad you can taste it, and then see that you’re so far off….still…it’s just unspeakable. Regardless of how I have to do it, I will indeed get this cook book printed. I’ve gotten lots of questions why I don’t just sell to a publisher. Cook book publishing is difficult, and complicated. There are more than words, there are pictures, and recipes. Each things needs a copyright, making the work load quadruple. If I were to sell this cook book to a large publisher, I’d lose control of everything. The recipes would still be “mine,” but at the will of the agency who bought it. They would be in charge of setting price points, and no deals could be made any longer. Right now, I’m content in hanging on to my own rights on my work. Do I have bigger plans? Absolutely, and I’ve been quietly working on them for months. (Again, stress= mega work)

Even though I’ve been stressed, worried, bogged down, and taking care of my heart patient, I’m still pushing out new recipes. This crafty number I made last night. It’s my take on a Italian warm sub, crafted into a GF dough ring. I only had a bite or two, but arrived to the fridge this afternoon to find it GONE. So, I guess it’s safe to say it’s freaking delicious, like everything else!!! This would be a great party addition, and I can’t wait to make it for more of you!!

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To close this windy post up on this rainy day, my hands are stained red, and my back is screaming the worst profanities you can imagine. While typing, I’ve been canning 9 dozen garden tomatoes. No way was I going to lose those babies! I’d ask that if you haven’t yet, you check out my campaign. If you can, please PLEASE pledge. I’m so thankful to each of my backers!!!

OH, Forks!! A Little Bit of Everything and All That’s Gluten Free KickStarter link

Sunflowers & Growing Dreams…and LOTS of Gratitude!!

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Sunflowers & Growing Dreams… and LOTS of Gratitude!

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By now, you’ve probably seen me post things about the KickStarter campaign for publishing funds for the cook book. Oh, Forks!! just needs a bit of help to get the first publications done on the first few hundred copies, and then, will be able to sustain its own sales!! Little did I know that taking the leap to put myself out there would result in 32% completion of my $4,000 goal, with 26 days to go!!

I’ve got to admit… I couldn’t have picked a worse, or more complicated time to release this cook book, and attempt to successfully complete this publication drive. I’m eyeball deep in 6 different things I’ve written to say in court on the 25th to hopefully help the judge understand how detrimental it is for that horrible man that stole my Grandma’s life, and give him the MAXIMUM sentence allowable. And I’m also past the point of worry for my daughter’s looming heart surgery at the end of the month. That said, I also love a good challenge, and this will give me something to work on, instead of pacing the hallways at Riley…

If you’ve already pledged, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you haven’t yet, please consider it. Depending on your pledge, you’ll get copies of my books, swag, signed cook books, or even recognition and a message inside of the cook book itself! The nutrition labels help keep track of those calories, for you counters out there, and the pictures will help you to see what it “should” look like. Each recipe has an “ingredient” section, and many have “simple directions,” to avoid all the extra fluff that sometimes happens with written recipes. There are many options for substitutions in a myriad of the recipes, and there are over 100 of those! The cook book sits now at just over 200 pages!!

So, again, please consider helping me out. This would be such a huge break for my family!! Every little bit helps! Share, Share, Share!! Spread the word!! I’ve already got book signings lined up, and many MANY pre-sales ready to go! I would just love the ability to have a book to hand to my customers for their payment….not take their cash, and do a monthly order! I appreciate every second of consideration you give this!!!

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And, while all of that happens, my nervously excited-self took to the garden today, diving in with my husband, as I’ll not be seeing him much this week while he’s trapped at work. Thankful for his help on the weeds and such. Now to transition to preparing for the big Darling’s second week of camp…

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!!! PLEDGE! PLEDGE! PLEDGE!

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary… How does Your Garden Grow?

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Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary… How does Your Garden Grow?

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Today was my first day back in my garden after nearly two weeks of knocking on Heaven’s door. (Yes, I think it’s a fabulous reference to my illnesses!) The garden beds are all exploding, and we picked our first basket full of green beans, and some peppers today. The sunflower heads are finally blossoming, and I cannot wait to see how big they get, as Darling #1 is really hoping for some awards! There are more tomatoes than I can count, so in a week or two, I’ll be canning like a mad woman again.

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Good news? Yes, there’s a bit. I’m on my way of getting past this last bout of illness, AND I’ve secured the first ISBN numbers for the Oh, Forks! Cook book coming to you in the next few months. I’ve also decided on my method of financial backing for this adventure, too. Just this week, a man was in the news for starting a $10 Kickstarter fund for potato salad. He got his ten dollars, and then $40k more! For potato salad! I’m planning to utilize this feature for a publishing push, in that, I’ll already have the book done. These funds will allow me to pre-print book copies to have on hand to sell! Much easier, and this also allows for the most professional “packaging” for the cook book, as well. If I can get these funds, I’ll also be beginning a campaign with the cook book that gives $1 from each book sale to the Scleroderma Foundation!!! I’m excited about the future plans for the cook book, and can’t wait to make those announcements closer to publication!

Bad news? Yeah, there’s always some floating closely behind me. Many of you know of the circumstances and situations my family is currently facing with my Grandma. On top of that, I’m planning an upcoming Riley trip, we’re dealing with ridiculously immature situations with an employer—due to their anger with others, and illnesses, work, medical bills, and about 500 other things all happening at the same time. I don’t do stress well anymore. Not that I can’t handle it, but my body refuses to. I’m doing my best to slow myself down a bit, without stopping any of the projects I’ve got. SO, my hopes for an August release may be a little overzealous….. but it won’t be too much longer, I swear!!!

Thanks for your patience! Thanks for your support!