Transforming Family Traditions with Gluten-Free Creativity

Text Carrie!

When my oldest son was diagnosed with celiac disease, my heart sank—not because of the diagnosis itself, but because of everything I feared he might miss out on. As a mom with celiac disease myself, I knew the challenges we were about to face. From navigating birthday parties and school lunches to mastering gluten-free cooking, I was determined to make sure my son didn’t have to give up the joy of childhood.

In this episode, I’ll take you through the early days of our gluten-free journey, including the challenges, my first big cooking success, and the lessons I learned along the way. I’ll also share practical tips, like how to save money on gluten-free ingredients and avoid cross-contamination.

Whether you or a loved one are celiac, gluten intolerant, or just starting your gluten-free lifestyle, this story will inspire and encourage you. Let’s tackle the barriers of gluten-free living together—one delicious dish at a time!

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Episode Transcript

Carrie Saunders (00:00):
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode.
This podcast is based on mypersonal experiences and isn't
medical advice.
I still remember the momentthat I got the results and my
oldest son had celiac.
My heart sank, but not for thereason you might think.
I wasn't worried about thediagnosis itself.
I was worried about everythinghe might miss out on.

(00:21):
You see, I'd gotten thediagnosis myself just a year and
a half earlier, so I knew whatwe were in for.
As a mom, you can acceptmissing out on things, but when
it's your child, everythingchanges.
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer Podcast.
I'm your host, k Saunders.
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease, a moment that

(00:43):
changed everything, but I wasdetermined not to let it hold me
back.
With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer
the gluten-free lifestyle,breaking down recipes, safety
tips, travel hacks andeverything in between, to
rebuild a life I love.
Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply
choose to live gluten-free, thispodcast is for you.

(01:04):
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
on anything.
My oldest was just 10 years oldwhen we got the news that he had
celiac.
Like me, he was in fifth grade,the life of the classroom,
always making friends and goingto just about everyone's
birthday parties.
I'm sure you can imagine thethoughts going through my head.

(01:26):
How will we handle him going tobirthday parties now?
How do we make sure he doesn'tfeel left out?
No one else we knew in hisclass had the disease, and I was
barely on this journey myself.
I had only heard of celiacabout a year and a half before
when I was diagnosed.
It wasn't something most peopletalked about in 2012.
We had already figured out thatI struggled greatly with

(01:49):
cross-contamination.
I worried about how he wouldhandle that at school, during
parties, in the lunchroom or atsleepovers.
For his long-term health, Iknew it was important to avoid
gluten as much as possible.
Little did we know that, as hisbody healed, even a small
amount of gluten would trigger astrong reaction.
Like most 10-year-olds inAmerica, his favorite foods

(02:13):
included cookies, cakes, waffles, bread, pasta and, of course,
chicken nuggets.
Right Now, don't get me wrong,he was a good eater and didn't
have these foods all the time,but they were things that he did
love.
After processing his diagnosis,I made a decision I wouldn't let
celiac disease steal my child'schildhood.

(02:33):
As a person with twoengineering degrees, I was
determined to pull apart recipes, understand the science and art
behind them and recreategluten-free foods he loved.
That's when the gluten-freeengineer in me came out.
The more I practiced, thebetter I got.
And talk about practice, hisdiagnosis came right before

(02:54):
Thanksgiving, throwing us intothe deep end.
We had to navigate twoThanksgiving gatherings and
celebrations, five Christmascelebrations the next month, and
then his birthday was inJanuary.
Talk about mom overwhelm andreally wanting to make sure I
protect my child on this newjourney we had to do.

(03:14):
His favorite holiday dish is mycurried chicken casserole.
The gluten in this dish comesfrom cream of chicken soup and
breadcrumbs that are on top ofthe casserole.
I was on a mission to find agluten-free cream of chicken
soup for Thanksgiving.
I wasn't experienced enough tomake it from scratch back then,
but here's a hint it's actuallyreally easy and tastes better

(03:35):
too, and that is to come infuture episodes.
But if you're celiac, whenyou're looking for substitute
ingredients you must make surethey're certified gluten-free.
Check for labels that don't sayprocessed in a facility that
also processes wheat to avoidcross-contamination.
If you're gluten intolerant orchoose to eat gluten-free.
The process in a facilitywarning, though, might not

(03:57):
bother you.
For the breadcrumbs, I came upwith a money-saving trick.
We all know how expensivegluten-free bread is, even
before the price hikes after thepandemic, so we saved all the
heels of our loaves of breadfrom early on in this
gluten-free journey.
No one really eats those anyway, I know, I don't.
I didn't really like glutenbread heels, but gluten-free

(04:21):
heels, I feel like, tasted evenworse and the texture and
dryness was even worse.
So what did we do?
We stuck them in our freezer.
We saved them up and madebreadcrumbs or croutons from
them, depending upon what wewere doing with our dishes.
It was a great cost-saving hackand super easy to do too.
What resulted?
A chicken curry casserole thatyou couldn't tell was

(04:43):
gluten-free.
It was my first major success.
The kids even thought it wastastier than the original, and
that's saying a lot, given itwas a 10-year-old, an 8-year-old
and a 4-year-old eating this.
Am I right?
So celiac doesn't have to meanmissing out, or even if you're
gluten intolerant or choose tobe gluten-free, it doesn't mean

(05:05):
you have to be missing out.
It just means we need to dothings a little differently, and
that's okay.
In this podcast, I'll bebreaking down the barriers of
eating gluten-free.
Whether you or a family memberare celiac gluten intolerant or
choose to be gluten-free, you'rein the right place.
We'll talk about everythingfrom cooking recipes,

(05:26):
gluten-free product reviews todining out, travel strategies,
celebrations and handling socialsituations.
Most importantly, we'll focuson making gluten-free living fun
, simple and enjoyable.
As a busy mom of three, I hadto adapt quickly and make
gluten-free living easier for us.
Now, with over 12 years ofexperience, I want to take what

(05:49):
I've learned and help make iteasier for you too.
I want to take what I'velearned and help make it easier
for you, too.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Gluten-Free
Engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.

(06:10):
It's your one-stop place tomake gluten-free living simple,
fun and full of flavor, anddon't forget to subscribe so you
never miss out on an episode.
Here's to making gluten-freeliving simple, fun and delicious
.
Talk to you soon.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
entertainment purposes only.

(06:30):
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not provide amedical advice.
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.