Six phases through a really bad gluten flare #1

Speaking unscientifically, based on my own experience and children I've worked with, during a significant autoimmune reaction to gluten several difficult physical and psychological reactions converge. Nausea, diahrea, depression, irrational emotions, tremendous fatigue, lack of appetite followed by great hunger. This is how I cope and recover. I can't swear that given the same amount of time that I wouldn't have recovered anyway, but this is how I get through it, and I feel like it helps me survive.

It has been explained to me that during a gluten reaction, the person with celiac disease needs five times the normal amount of protein to rebuild damaged tissue, but also it's likely the person has little appetite for anything but simple carbs and sugars. So, the food has to be appealing, easy to eat and digest and full of protein.

After a week of being sort of sick, and not eating properly, I was getting worse, more gluten and not enough nutrition, I knew it was time to call in the big guns. Chicken soup. It tastes wonderful, is always there and ready. I just leave it in the pot on the stove and keep heating it up until it's gone, about two days later. I try to stuff it with vegetables too, so it's balanced

I have giant round zuchinnis in my garden. They aren't supposed to be this big, but they're over grown. In my mind I say they're big as cow's heads. (No reason why.) And they cook up very soft and unobtrusive. So I used half a cow's head of zuchinni.

1. 3 chicken quarters, washed well, fat cut off

2. One large onion

3. Half a cow's head of zuchinni, cut into 1 X 2 inch chucks, or 6 normal sized squashes cut into 2 inch sections

4. Lots of garlic, about 8 cloves, whole, but skins off

That's it. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 1 and a half to 2 hours.

I did put it in the frig for awhile to let the fat collect at the top because it seemed a little greasy. When it's cold, the fat makes a layer on the top. I remove it with a spatula and put it in a baggy and throw it away. My grandma saved it in the frig for frying, but I don't.

I salt it in the bowl. Usually, I take a section, like a thigh and pick the chicken off it before putting it in the bowl, but not always. If people come and smell it and want some, unless they are children, I let them pick their own chicken off the bone. In that case I put the whole piece in the bowl.

You can make some brown rice and keep it to eat with the soup. You know, chicken soup with rice? Does anyone remember that old Carole King song, from the "Really Rosie" album? If the soup is hot, it will heat the rice in the bowl as you serve it. What could be better for a miserable, tired, unhappy person with celiac disease who is trying to recover from gluten exposure?

Be certain I did not eat any gluten on purpose. But I'm sensitive, and contamination is my downfall, some gluten on my hands from the shopping cart when I eat my lunch in the car. Or giving someone a hello kiss on the cheek right after they ate a sandwich. My daughter said it was probably the garlic powder. I stopped eating it and stopped getting worse, so maybe that was it.

In this case the saying is, "Make it and you will eat it." So, if you're sick, just do it.