sddvasquez

bwahahahhahahahahahhaaaa! oh my goodness, i could have told you that marmite is the vilest thing on the face of the planet (the company's slogan is "love it or hate it" but it should be something along the lines of "if you're insane enough to put something that looks and smells this bad in your mouth than you might have been dropped on your head when you were young"!)

my friend takes it when she has migraines because it's the only thing she can keep down (isn't that about the saddest thing you've ever heard!) but it has never stopped her getting them.

plus i don't think you can have it - hasn't it got gluten something in it? that stuff is everywhere. i'm so lucky that we don't have any major allergies. one of the monster baby's friends has celiac's disease. thank goodness they diagnosed it early on but can you imagine a little kid not being able to eat the pizza or pasta or cookies or cakes that everyone else is? that is so cruel.

i really hope the new doctor can figure this out for you, waterlilybarb. i know how frustrating it is not being able to do the most basic things. one of my students spent a couple of years with "friends" telling her to just get up and stop complaining already. doctors were no help until she happened to meet and fall in love with a doctor on a train (remind me to tell you that romance story sometime. i can barely believe it myself!) he kept taking her to different doctors until they finally got a diagnosis of ms. i know it sounds horrible and scary but it was such a relief that they had a name that they could fight and options for care. the happily-ever-after of their fairy tale is that now they have a beautiful little boy.

i've got my fingers crossed for you to have shinny's friend's dad's syndrome and that your body is going to sort it all out after it gets enough of a time out. until then i'm praying for the new doctor to come up with some good brainstorms!

waterlilybarb

LOL!  It's main ingredient is yeast, but my lord, I couldn't have imagined anything more evil tasting if I tried - and I've eaten some weird things in my time.  I like your idea for what their slogan should be.

The food allergies suck, more because of the convenience factor than anything else (AND the cost factor).  Here, full on celiac disease and wheat intolerances are becoming ever more common, so it's getting a bit easier to find alternatives - we even have a couple pizza places that offer gluten free crusts, but mostly, you have to make everything from scratch.  I know that's better in the long run, but it takes a lot of energy (which I don't have) and does cost more - though once you have your pantry GF it gets a bit better - initially it's really expensive.  I don't envy any family having to go through it, especially celiac, as even the tiniest bit of gluten can make them so sick.  Hopefully, they're ingenuitive.  There are a lot of good GF sites with great kid friendly recipes that include cookies & cakes, for those that are willing to make them.

I'm hoping for better things from the new doc, though am not holding my breath.  I'd love to wake up and be my old self - you wouldn't see me for dust! haha  Just kidding - I'd stop in and tell you all how fabulous I was feeling.   Thanks for keeping the good vibes coming my way.  I'll take all I can get.

studiojek

Marmite, ewwwww! What about "vegimite"? Is that like marmite? I always think of that song lyric "She just smiled and gave me a vegimite sandwich"! (I come from the Land Down Under...) =)

I have a friend who is diabetic and has to eat all GF and I know she's had a very hard time with it- though things, like you said, are getting better and improving and there are more (good tasting) GF solutions. Yes, though, I know they do cost a lot.

My family's still a little sick over here. The little one, thank goodness, seems to be ok, but my husband and I are still coughing/sneezing. This flu was a rough one, wish me luck in finally getting over it!!!

bala

I am still coughing from last week it seem not gone but everything else has i feel a lot better.  

i missed Marmite debate i love it but it hard put it on anything apart from biscuit it's so far the only i like it with cracker .

waterlilybarb

Sorry to hear you're still not up to par.  I hope you get feeling back to yourself soon, especially trying to keep up with a wee one.  It does seem the bugs this year are hanging on longer.  So far I've not caught any respiratory bugs, just have had some sniffles and sore throat off & on, and a stomach bug.  I'm hoping it stays that way because it generally takes me about a month to get over a bout of flu.

I think vegemite would be even harder to find, since it's mainly an Australian thing.  From what I can tell, it's quite similar to marmite.  Both, it seems, are things you either like right off or hate.  I don't think you could develop a taste for them - unless your tastes change (like they do for some women during pregnancy).  I always think of that song too when I think of vegemite.

bala

A whole month that really sound awful the longest i ever been sick is 2 weeks that included a hospital visit because GP gave a medicine that too strong for the body lead to complication .

shinny

Ok I can give you the low down on all things Marmite and Vegemite, lol. I loved Marmite when I was younger and still eat it occasionally. Just an FYI, Marmite produced in the UK is Gluten Free but otherwise you need to be careful. Vegemite is not Gluten Free so you wouldn't be able to eat it anyway.

Because we've a lot of Aussie's living in Ireland you can buy Vegemite very easily here. There is definitely a difference in the taste of the two, with Vegemite not being as strong.

However, the secret to eating Marmite is to literally smear a very small piece on bread/crackers etc. If you spread it like you would jam, your mouth will probably close up from the shock.

Marmite is packed with complex B vitamins which are very good for you, but it also has a lot of sodium in it and as such you should take it sparingly if you need to watch your sodium levels.

To recap:

If you spread it like this, your taste buds will probably up and leave you:



Spread it like this and they will remain your friend:



Barb, I'm afraid you can blame your Irish gene's on this. Ireland has one of the highest prevalence of Coeliac Disease in the world.

waterlilybarb

I probably had spread it somewhere between the two, but even the smell put me off.   Too bad I couldn't gag it down - B vitamins are so good for the nervous system, and I tend to not get enough sodium, so have to consciously remember to increase my sodium intake so my blood pressure doesn't get too low.

Interestingly, on one of the GF blogs I subscribe to, they have a thread asking if members are of Irish heritage and/or red hair.  Lucky me -  I have both.  I remember you speaking of the high incidence of Celiac in Ireland.  I'm grateful not to have that, as the wheat intolerance is inconvenient enough.  The dairy intolerance & egg allergy certainly don't help in finding prepackaged foods.  I accidentally ate some wheat yesterday (I hadn't read the box properly - it said "may contain wheat"), and I paid for it.  Thankfully, I looked up some info & it said to eat something with high protein, and it did help.

Bala - It does suck.  On the couple occasions I've had to go to hospital, the best they could do was rehydrate me and send me home (that's when it's been a virus).  My immune system just doesn't work properly, so it takes longer to get over any bug I catch.

bala

How long has it not work properly or have you had this immune system problem all your life?

waterlilybarb

It's part of the ME, and it's been about 20 years now.  I was quite healthy before that (except for a bout of mono at 16), and was one of the most energetic people around.

shinny

Yeh, they reckon that wheat intolerence stems from the same thing.. I'd love to know what causes it! We have a high rate of wheat intolerence here too. I used to think that's what I had but since my appendix came out I have no problem so it was just that. It was intermitant too which wouldn't be standard for food intolerence so it makes sense it was my appendix.



[ Last edited by shinny at 1-15-2011 23:11 ]

waterlilybarb

I think I remember that's when we were chatting about it.  I'm so glad for you that it turned out to be your appendix (but NOT how you discovered that).  

I'm actually making some GF bread right now, as I've almost finished off the 1st loaf I made.  This is a different recipe, so I'm curious as to how it will turn out.  I was able to get some of the different flours last time I went shopping.  Always makes me wish I had a Harold Crick to bring me "flours".   It's a very small scene in the movie "Stranger Than Fiction", but considering my situation, it stuck in my head.

waterlilybarb

My 2nd attempt at bread making did not go as well as the first.  It's SO heavy - and took FOREVER to cook.  I'll have to figure out what I did wrong, but thank goodness I only planned to eat it as toast, because if I was expecting it to be OK untoasted, I would be very disappointed.  On the positive side, the taste isn't too bad.  Trial & error is the name of the game - so I hear.

shinny

Exactly, if you don't experiment you'll never know what works well together and what doesn't!!

sanggye

I agree with shinny, experiment and test.  I am not much of a baker, as baking, unless you know what you are doing, is very precise, so the bakers I had managed in my kitchen, I let them stay in charge with that, with only me giving what kind of bread and pastries I wanted done.

I do know that making GF bread is one of the harder breads to make.  Good Luck and enjoy

waterlilybarb

You're correct - GF bread (and baking in general) is more challenging than regular baking.  When I feel well - or just have a good day - baking is something I enjoy and am good at.  I've not had much practice with yeast bread at all, never mind GF bread, so this is a new adventure.  The baker at the local GF bakery was kind enough to give me a few tips, but she warned me it would be trial & error until I got the hang of it, so I wasn't surprised.  I'm just relieved the loaf I made is at least edible. :)

I actually wish I'd had a few good days in a row so I could do a bunch of cooking & baking to get ahead.  I have a box freezer, which is very handy, and enables me to take advantage of sales on freezable items as well as make things ahead & freeze them in batches.  

Today is a migraine day - which means I'll be offline & in bed most of the day.  Kind of wish I had felt a bit more energetic yesterday, as I have a GF gingersnap recipe I would like to try & a couple of gingersnaps would be nice today since my stomach doesn't feel too great.

studiojek

A friend of mine who's a graphic designer often is prone to bad migraines, you can imagine how painful it is for her to have to push through it and work at the computer anyway. Ouch.

Good luck with your next GF loaves! I'm a fan of nuts (walnuts especially) in my bread, maybe you could try one with walnuts in it, maybe add some raisins too? That'd be delicious with some butter and cinnamon on it - since I know you're working on keeping some meat on your bones, too!

My cough's still hanging around but I"m feeling a bit more energetic - but this is now almost 15 days after I first felt sick, a record for me (usually just a couple days resting and I can get rid of these bugs). Definitely think the bugs are wicked brutal this year!

waterlilybarb

One of the recipes in my GF cookbook is for a walnut bread.  I'm sure I'll make it eventually, but I need to get a good basic recipe down pat first.  I do eat nuts almost daily as snacks - usually almonds, but I try to change it up so as to get different nutrients.  If I could put the weight where I need it, I'd be set (my face could use some, as it makes people think I'm even thinner than I am).  I'm hoping to start doing some resistance training, just at home, on the days that I can.  Adding muscle is more vital than just putting on weight right now.  It's so hard to even do that with these stupid migraines.   

Glad you're starting to get your energy back.  Fifteen days is a long time to be laid up when you're used to being well, and when you have a child to look after.  My brother is very healthy & he caught a bug last winter which had him sick in bed for a week, then still feeling rough for at least another week.  It's so rare for him to catch anything.  The one good thing that came of it was it gave him a little more empathy for me, since he forgets how hard it can be to do things when you're sick.

shinny

I've managed to pick up a bad cold but I didn't get the cough thankfully (well, not yet!) - My Dad had the cold about a week and a half ago and he's still got the cough too. It's driving him mad that it's lingering. Hopefully it will go soon and you'll be back to normal.

studiojek

Thanks Shinny! I'm feeling much better today. Get well soon and I hope you don't get the lingering cough!

Barb: I often forget how hard it is to get anything accomplished when you don't feel well, like your brother. Actually, pre-baby, when I got sick, like I said, I just laid myself up for a couple days and always got better quickly. With a little one, I don't have that liberty anymore, so things tend to last longer since I can't really take care of myself. Even showering is complicated business!