Today I embark on a new mini-adventure. I’ve been toying
with the notion of attempting life gluten-free for a while now. My best friend
has a gluten intolerance and I, admittedly, have far too high a tolerance! So
here, June 1, starts two weeks without the big gluteney things, including wheat
bread, baked goods with flour, pasta, and probably almost all snacks. Here are
the ground rules:
1.
No wheat products. However, I want to live like
a normal gluten-free person does, so I don’t expect others to cater their menus
to me. I will prepare, adjust, and adapt on my own.
2.
While I will avoid the obvious no-nos, I am also
aware that manufacturers can slip gluten into weird things, like soy sauce. I
don’t have time to read every single ingredient list for myself, especially
since I already do that on behalf of my youngest, who has food allergies. I’m
not allergic, so if I accidentally ingest some gluten in some random form I’m
not going to sweat it. (That being said, if you give me a loaf of bread shaped
like an ear of corn does that give me permission to eat it?)
3.
My family in no way has to conform to this experiment.
4.
I was going to try this for a month, but my
birthday is on the 24th and, let’s face it, I want the cake.
I’m curious to see if I feel differently. I’m curious
to see if it forces my creative hand in the kitchen. I’m curious to realize
just how much bread I normally ingest in a two week period. I’m curious to live
the life of so many with Celiac disease and walk a few days in their shoes.
So, here goes nothing!
Good luck! A couple months ago I read "Eating Clean" by Amie Valpone (no gluten, dairy, egg, soy, corn, meat, or refined sugar). I haven't strictly followed her regime, but I cut out nearly all gluten (short of buying gluten-free oats at over 2x the price). We always eat lots of veggies and we've been eating more beans/grains and less meat, as well. I'm not really looking to add snacks with wheat-substitutes (like bread, crackers, etc.), but she has quite a few recipes of that ilk. A couple years ago, Jason made me some delicious vegan gluten-free cupcakes with chocolate avocado frosting. Last year Marcy made me a chocolate black bean cake (mostly black beans and eggs!) with coconut cream/peanut butter icing. For your birthday, you should have whatever kind of cake you want! Let me know if you'd like some gluten-free recipes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback Carina! I definitely intend to have gluten-filled cake for my birthday. :D If you have any awesome recipes I'll take 'em! I'm thinking that the one area I may make my family indulge me is in a gluten-free pizza crust...any recommendations?
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