9-year-old foodie Ella Celani encouraging those with gluten intolerance

Facebook page offers recipes, reviews, tips

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

One of the more useful, informative and reassuring websites for those with a gluten intolerance, or for those looking to go gluten-free, is not from the Food Network, the surgeon general or even celebrity chefs.

No, it’s a Facebook page called “Ella’s Gluten Free Recipes” – and it’s the brainchild of 9-year-old Ella Celani.

The daughter of Totally Buffalo (Lewiston) owners Scott Celani and Mary Friona-Celani tests recipes, examines products, cooks and bakes with a goal of educating herself and others on healthy, tasty, gluten-free dishes and desserts.

“I just wanted to help people,” Ella said. “I mean, I saw a lot of other gluten-free accounts for gluten-free people, and I was like, ‘I want to do this, too.’ So, I asked my mom about it, and she agreed.”

She added, “Ever since I got a gluten allergy, I've wanted to bake and cook even more for these recipes – and so does my mom, and basically the entire family. We just love cooking. We’re a cooking family.”

Ella said her goal is “knowing that we're doing good; our progress is worth it; we're making other people happy. …

“I love making other people happy and feel better over the struggles with celiac.

“It's a lot, you know?”

Always check labels to see if an item contains gluten, or if it’s gluten-free. Youngstown Marketside offers many gluten-free products.

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What is gluten, and why is it a problem for some people?

Johns Hopkins Medicine defines gluten as “a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and some oats. It gives dough its elasticity and makes breads and pastries fluffy and chewy.”

The JHM site explained, “Most people can handle the undigested gluten with no problems. But in some people, gluten can trigger a severe autoimmune response or other unpleasant symptoms.

“An autoimmune response to gluten is called celiac disease. Celiac can damage the small intestine. Some people who don’t have celiac disease still seem to feel sick after eating foods that contain gluten. They may experience bloating, diarrhea, headaches or skin rashes.”

Food, parenting and health writer Taylor Murphy said, “People usually follow a strict gluten-free diet once they’ve been diagnosed with celiac disease – which means the small intestine is extra sensitive to gluten, making it difficult to digest. Other people who choose to omit gluten usually have another type of gluten sensitivity or wheat allergy.”

Heather Klug, M.Ed., a registered dietitian and cardiac educator at the Karen Yontz Women's Cardiac Awareness Center at Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee, noted, “For the approximately one in 100 people who are affected by celiac disease, eating gluten causes the body to create an immune response that damages the villi in the small intestine. Even the tiniest amount of gluten can cause damage in someone with celiac disease, so it’s very important to stay away from gluten entirely.”

With Ella, Friona-Celani recalled, “When she was first diagnosed, from year to year, at her annual physical, she didn't gain any weight; she didn't get any taller; and the doctor was like, ‘Oh, it's fine. You know, sometimes kids just, you know, that happens.’ Then the next year, she actually lost a pound. It made me nervous – and she got stomachaches a lot.

“So, they gave her the blood test for celiac, and then she had a biopsy of her small intestine, and she was diagnosed officially with celiac in May of 2023. And this is a kid who ate ... bread literally every single day. She loved bread. She loved pasta – all of the things – bagels. So, when she was first diagnosed, she was absolutely devastated, and it was really hard for her. She was 8 when she was diagnosed, and she was just so sad.”

Making a lifestyle change like eliminating gluten is a challenge for most adults, let alone a child.

But with Ella, “She's always been a really joyful, happy kid, and it takes a lot to get her down,” Friona-Celani said. “So, she sort of took it as almost like a ‘Challenge accepted’ kind of thing. And she knew; Scott and I sat her down and said, ‘OK, this is why you can't have the gluten.’ And the doctor really explained it to her.

“She doesn't want to get sick. You know, she accidentally ate gluten over the summer, and she was so sick the next day; so, she knows what it will do to her body. She's old enough now to say, ‘OK, this is going to give me a really bad stomachache. I don't want to go through that.’

“So, we'll be in the store. It takes forever for us to go to the grocery store, because she literally reads every single label, and she knows what stuff means. And if she doesn't, she asks Siri, or she asks me, and she figures it out.

“It’s amazing to see.”

‘Ella’s Gluten Free Recipes’

Today, “We just see how happy (Ella) is, and she feels so much better,” Friona-Celani said. “She's gotten taller; she's gained weight; she's just so much healthier than she was before – and she's learned that that is really what's important. That's what it's all about.

“And when I bring her to her doctor, Dr. Schmidt, who is amazing, he laughs because she asks him questions. She asks him questions, and really kind of digs deep into it and wants to know more about it, and learn more about it.

“I think her social media is like an outlet for her to be able to sort of not just share it with other people, but learn new things herself. She has it there to be able to kind of keep track of it and look at it.

“She loves when people message her – and they do. She loves it; and I'm so proud of her.”

Ella shared some recommendations for NFP readers:

•“A bakery that I really recommend is Vin-Chet Bakery. It has amazing, gluten-free things in it. I made multiple posts about it. … Vin-Chet is probably the best gluten-free bakery out there. They have the best desserts. They’re all gluten-free. You don’t have to be scared, like, ‘Is this gluten-free?’ Everything there is gluten-free.”

•“I used to not really like gluten-free bread. I was like, ‘No, this is bad. I'd rather just not eat toast.’ And then I saw this YouTube video of another person that's gluten-free. They said, ‘I know you might not like gluten-free bread, but toast it; it'll be delicious.’ And I tried it, and I could barely tell the difference between normal bread.

“So, if you don't like gluten-free bread, then I would recommend to toast it.”

•“I love King Arthur flour, because there's not very many gluten-free flours that are actually good, or that are actually gluten-free. King Arthur is really good – and they commented on one of our posts, actually. We're really grateful that there's a gluten-free flour that'll work for any recipe, or pancakes and stuff, and it won't ruin it or anything. It's just amazing, delicious.”

(Note: Not all King Arthur flours are gluten-free – check the labels!)

•“I used to love these, like, shells pasta. … I couldn't eat them after I had a gluten allergy. But then I found this Jovial pasta. It has bowties and spaghetti. I'm pretty sure it has some other things, too, that I'm hoping to try. It's delicious.

“I really love things that taste like they're not gluten-free, but they are, and it makes them so delicious. And Jovial is one of those things. So, I recommend it 100%. Delicious.

“And one time we got a message saying that someone's husband was diagnosed with celiac, and then they looked at my page and found Jovial, and then they loved it. So, I recommend that.”

Ella Celani and her prized, gluten-free french fries. (Image courtesy of the Celani family)

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Ella recently shared a post about finding gluten-free fast food across the border.

In her interview, she explained, “When I heard I had a gluten allergy, I was like, ‘So, what can and can't I eat?’ So, (my doctor) named a bunch of things that I can't eat, and one of them was McDonald's fries, and chicken nuggets – which I still can't eat. We're still trying to find a solution to that. But the fries, I was like, ‘Oh, no! Oh, no! It's ruined!’

“But then I found the Canadian ones (are gluten-free), and I was on top of the world. They’re delicious, amazing. I 100% recommend it. Canadian fries are better than in the U.S. In the U.S., they just put a bunch of random things in their food.”

Friona-Celani said Ella’s online platform “means so much to her.

“I'm telling you that message that she got from this woman who said she used to live in Buffalo, she and her husband moved to Florida three years ago, and her husband was diagnosed with celiac, and he's been so depressed because he can't have pasta. And when she posted that about that brand of pasta, they tried it, and she's like, ‘He's a changed man now that he can eat pasta.’

“And it sounds so silly, but it's really not. It's like, when you love something so much and you can't have it, it's really hard to accept – even if it's something that's as simple as food.”

For those people, Ella is here to help.

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Neither Ella Celani nor Niagara Frontier Publications are trained medical professionals. The information contained herein does not constitute medical advice. Please check with your doctor or medical provider before making any diet or lifestyle choices.