The latest from Schär
May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month
May is a month that always brings feelings of new beginnings as we are able to get outside more, we honor our Mothers and our fallen military. It is also Celiac Disease Awareness month. This is a monumental occurrence to have a month dedicated to raising the awareness of celiac disease. If we look at the history of the recognition of the disease we can understand even more the importance of raising awareness of this relatively new – yet old disease. Let’s take a historical look back on discovery of celiac disease.
Aretaeus the Cappadocian first described celiac disease in 50 AD as a debilitating disease with chronic diarrhea (Murrary 1999). It was not researched or further mentioned in medical tests or medical history until in 1888 when Dr. Gee further described symptoms of celiac disease involving large foul smelling stools, lack of growth, and abdominal distress (Dicke 1953). Dr. Gee felt that some component of the diet was the cause of celiac disease (Dicke 1953). His treatment at that time consisted of adhering to a diet of rice, bananas, and cream. In the early 1900’s Dr. Dicke, a medical resident at the time, started researching the works of Hertrus and Anderson.It was during the bread and flour rationing of WWI that Dicke began to make the connection between wheat and the symptoms of celiac disease. Dicke then focused on the impact of celiac disease on growth as well as the gastrointestinal disturbances. It was his research and observations in the 1930’s that lead to the isolating of wheat as the toxic food agent (Dicke). It was not until the 1980’s that Dr. Marsh described the damage to the small intestine and developed a scale for diagnostic purposes (Marsh 1992). The antibody blood tests where not developed until the 1980’s also. The genetic testing was developed even later. So in a relatively short time celiac disease has come a long way. Today we understand that celiac disease is an autoimmune response to the ingestion of gluten causing damage to the small intestine (Green 2003). The one downside to all this great historical news is that the rate of diagnosis does not match our rate of discovery about the disease, its process, and the diet. With the recognition of a month dedicated to celiac awareness we can hope our future is even brighter.
So wear your green during May for Celiac awareness and spread the word!.
May recipes features
As May is the month for celiac awareness, Mothers day, and Memorial Day. So I thought what fun to create an easy Bar-B-Q menu the whole family can enjoy! The idea behind this easy menu is that the pasta salad and cookie bars can be made ahead so everyone can enjoy the day off!
But with any picnic or Bar-B-Q don’t forget to keep any meats, proteins, or salads well chilled. Use a cooler with ice or ice packs to keep food safe. Make the hamburger patties ahead and freeze them. Pack them in the cooler frozen, this way you can be sure the meat will be safe – as well as acting as an extra “freezer pack” for the rest of the food in the cooler. Be sure to keep the cooler in the shade.
Don’t forget to bring a comfortable chair for Mom and a Frisbee or softball for the rest of the family!
Here is my favorite Bar-B-Q menu:
Hamburgers on Schar Classic White Rolls
Sliced tomato, onion, pickles and lettuce leaves for toppings
Pasta salad (recipe below)
Fruit salad
Oatmeal Bars (recipe below)
Raspberry lemonade
Hamburgers
1 pound ground meat
1 egg, beaten
½ cup Schar breadcrumbs
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp thyme
1. Mix all dry ingredients together. Set aside
2. In large bowl, beat egg till well mixed.
3. Add ground meat and dry ingredients.
4. Mix well.
5. Form into patties.
6. Freeze until ready to use.
Pasta salad
1 box Schar multigrain penne
1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
½ chopped celery
½ cup chopped apple
1 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil.
2. Add pasta. Stir occasionally
3. Cook until just tender.
4. Drain and rinse with cool water
5. While the pasta is cooking chop the apple and celery.
6. Mix the salad dressing, apples, celery, salt pepper and thyme together.
7. When the pasta is rinsed and cool mix thoroughly with the salad dressing mixture.
8. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Oatmeal Cookies or Bars
1 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups gluten free flour ( can use 1 1/2c Schar Bread Mix – just do not use the yeast packet)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
3 cups oats
1 cup raisins
1. Heat oven to 350
2. 2. Beat together butter and sugars till creamy
3. 3Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well.
4. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix well.
5. Stir in oats and raisins; mix well.
6. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Bar Cookies: Bake 30 to 35 minutes in an ungreased 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
