Saying goodbye to pizza, bagels, pasta, cookies 4 years ago may sound like torture but it was nothing short of a miracle to me. Within days I was already feeling better...No more tummy aches, canker sores, and I had so much energy. I knew I was going to live this lifestyle 100%. I was not going to go back to living my life half way. I loved that I was feeling better and could not wait for the next day just knowing it was going to get better and better.
I ate a lot of meat and potatoes the first couple of weeks while researching what I could have and not have. I went through my kitchen, refrigerator, freezer and boxed up all the food with gluten in it and gave it to my neighbors. It was so much food that I remember being astounded of how much gluten I actually ate and how many things had gluten in them. Things like shredded cheese and spices. Food you would think that wouldn't have gluten in it. It wasn't natural.
I also realized I was going to learn how to cook. I was never really a "cooking from scratch" type of person. I was more of a "open a box" kinda of girl. I got a couple of gluten free cookbooks to start with but became overwhelmed with all the different kinds of flours the recipes needed to make one thing. I decided I needed easier recipes to start with. I found all purpose flour from Bob's Redmill. Yay! Only one flour now. After making a couple of baked things that didn't not turn out I realized I need Xantham Gum....What an adventure cooking had become for me. I loved it though. I remember the first time my banana bread came out delicious and soft, exactly the way it was supposed to be, I was so excited I shared a piece with everyone. haha
I order a lot of my stuff from Amazon.com. Buying in bulk makes the items so much cheaper than buying them in a grocery store. Here are some things I loved before becoming Organic Gluten Free:
Gluten Free Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread Mix: Very easy to make....Awesome bread!
Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix: Great pancakes!!
Betty Crocker Gluten free Mixes: We loved them all!
Chex Cereal: Cinnamon was our favorite!
If you want more of my favorite gluten free items let me know!
(picture from http://beta.brusroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/gluten-free-symbol.jpg)
That was quite the challenge when Lee went gluten-free as well (cooking from scratch). He ate mostly veggies and rice all the time until I found myself unemployed and had time to cook for him. I cook dinners for the entire family gluten-free about 4 to 5 days a week now and I love to surprise him with homemade gluten-free cookies! ;0)
ReplyDeleteThat is great! I bet he loves it!!! :)
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