Gluten Free Living - Day 5

Well today was just lousy! Today is the day I decided I really don't like this whole gluten free living thing.

This morning, I made some very delicious homemade bread, which smelled up my entire house and was calling to me, and I couldn't take a single bite. All of it will be for my family. I am more than happy to make it for them, but I would at least like to be able to have a slice of it, thank you very much! I tried to make my own gluten free sourdough bread, but that was a total disaster. Dismal failure! Hopefully it can be redeemed when I try to make some gluten free "cornbread" dressing with it in a few weeks. (Believe me when I say, though, I will have a pan of REGULAR cornbread dressing just in case the gluten free batch is terrible!)

And then when it was time for lunch, and I made the girls some very delicious PB&J on regular bread, I had the thought to make one for me. Then I remembered, I CAN'T!

I was doing OK with all of that, until it came time for supper. I was reheating the last of those yummy delicious veggie enchiladas I made a few days ago, because, since we are leaving in the morning and will be gone all weekend, I was trying to finish off what was left in the fridge. They were looking all nice, hot, and bubbly reheating in the oven. And then, when I pulled them out and was just about ready to serve them onto my plate, I realized they are made with FLOUR TORTILLAS, which means they have gluten in them. UGH!

And I was just plain not happy when I baked the last of the homemade sugar cookie dough that I had been keeping in the freezer for the kids. As I smelled their delicious yumminess from my oven, I thought back to all that flour that I had added to the recipe.

So I have spent most of my day today thinking about all the foods I CAN'T have because EVERYTHING seems to be made with flour! But my sweet friend, Marci, told me she was going out of town and would be heading by a Whole Foods Market near where she would be staying, and she told me she would pick me up anything I might would like. Well, since we don't have a Whole Foods near where I live (sad, yes, I know), I really have no idea what they offer. So I told her to just surprise me and pick me up a loaf of gluten free bread and a box of gluten free crackers. I have no idea what she's going to come back with, but I am anxious to try it.

I can seriously tell a difference in the way my stomach feels. No more pain or heaviness or anything like that this week since I have eaten gluten free. So I really believe I may have found the root cause of my stomach issues. That's a GREAT thing! But it's a LOUSY thing that one of my FAVORITE THINGS in the whole world to eat is the cause of my problems. But at least now I know I have a choice. I can stay away from what ails me, or I can eat it and pay the consequences. But I have a choice. At least now I know.

And for tonight, well, let's just say I am VERY glad that they make gluten free chocolate/chocolate chip rice cakes! I have made a severe dent in them tonight. And at this moment, I am attempting to reclaim the last bit of today by slowly savoring a Hershey's chocolate bar. Yep, that's gluten free, too! So I guess the whole day isn't a total loss.

Gluten Free Living - Day 3

I decided that I really need some gluten free crackers if I'm going to survive this way of eating. Since opting for vegetarianism, I have been loading up on great dips, like hummus, and salsas. But what is one to do with NO CRACKERS?? So last night, I started looking online for a good cracker recipe - gluten free. And here is what I came up with.

I found a cracker that looked absolutely delicious in the picture. It had ingredients that I had on hand (OK, the NEW ingredients that I bought the other night. It's not like they are just things I keep on hand every day.), and I liked all the seasonings that went in it. So I whipped up a batch. The recipe said to press them onto your tray, and use a knife to score the crackers (that means to cut lines through them so they are actual crackers when you're finished), and then bake them in the oven for like 15 minutes. Sounded easy enough. Only problem was, when I got ready to pick them up off of my baking stone, they started to break. So I had a few actual crackers, but most were just broken into small pieces. Now, I will say that the flavor was great! I loved how that part turned out, and I decided that I will definitely be able to use these as croutons on my next salad. But as far as dipping, well, I just don't think that's going to happen. I did eat pinto bean soup today for lunch, and they held up pretty well when I put the beans on top. Still though, they weren't quite what I was hoping for.

All in all, I really liked the flavor. But I don't think I will be making these again. I just don't eat croutons on my salad enough to worry with making this recipe just for that reason. Later I'll see if I can find a different recipe that might turn out a better cracker that doesn't crumble when I try to lift it off the pan.

So day 3 of gluten free eating went really well. Looking forward to tomorrow and whatever awaits me in my kitchen!