Day one is (almost) complete!

I made it! :) Day one is under my belt! Three cheers for me!! ;)
I met a coworker from our Peoria office at Panera here in Bloomington for breakfast at 8:30 and purchased 2 small fresh fruit cups (they apparently don't make the large ones anymore!) and rinsed off the fruit with the water in the soda fountain. Yup, I was THAT girl ;). Such a weirdo, such a spectical...but hey, I was trying to get as many gluten-containing molecules off of the fruit (ok, honestly, Panera is like gluten central! I know it's on everything, including the fruit...those crumbs get everywhere!). To further my weirdness ;), I also brought a box of cereal with me in my purse (yup, really! I have a big purse, what can I say?!)....these little flaxseed puff thingies. I sprinkled them on the fruit to make it a bit more substantial ;). I didn't eat anything before I left home, as I mentioned I might in my previous post...so bringing the little bit of extra sustenance (the flax puff dealios) was a good choice.
After breakfast I had class from 10-2. Due to ISU's homecoming today and what a mess it probably was on campus or anywhere remotely near campus, for that matter...we had our class at a hotel near Panera. So, I just hopped on over there when it was time for class! I have class the 3rd Saturday of each month until May. Last month was our first class meeting of this semester. At that point we signed up to bring snacks on class days. I signed up for the first day. I used the opportunity to bring lots of gluten-y stuff that I wanted to get out of the house! :) I also ate some grapes and a SoyJoy bar, something new (gluten free of course....raisin walnut flavored, or something along those lines). It has an oddly dense texture but overall wasn't too bad. It was better than the ThinkThin high protein peanut butter (also gluten free) bar that I tried later toward the end of class when I was pretty hungry...I honestly ate only one bite and shoved the nasty thing back in my purse. Maybe I'll try it again later ;) I also brought the gluten free brownies that I made last night...well, I brought a few small squares of them, anyway. I thought I'd share them with people so they could see what a gluten free item is like. They really weren't too bad...
After class I was STARVING. Really. I went to Naturally Yours again to look for more groceries and bought a few things to make an experimental chicken dish later and then I went to the gym. I just did the elliptical for 65 minutes and then called it a day. I probably should've done some weights but I was tired...and hungry!
I went home and ate some gluten free ;) baked sour cream and cheddar potato chips (I had purchased them previously from Naturally Yours...they are actually really good. I might even like them better than Baked Lays, actually! Speaking of which...I wonder if I can eat them or if they have a bunch of added stuff. Potato is generally good, it's just when they start adding gluten in spices, flavorings, etc. that it becomes a problem) and worked on making my first real gluten free meal ;). I made 2 chicken breasts...thawed the chicken, rolled in Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free baking mix (a mix of different flours), rolled them in egg, and last rolled them in rice "bread" crumbs. The, I put them in an 8x8 baking dish and sprinkled some butter and sliced almonds on top. The plan was to bring these with us over to Laura and Josh's tonight in case I couldn't eat what they were serving for dinner (they had invited us over, along with a few other friends, for an evening of "fall food and fall fun"). Josh had texted me letting me know what they were making and it didn't sound as if anything was "safe" for me and my silly diet...aside from perhaps the salad.
At some point early on in the day today I decided I need to come up with some kind of "guide" to e-mail out or mail out to all of our friends that we would be hanging out with in the near future and/or possibly eating dinner with them, particularly in their homes. I really don't want people to be offended if I don't eat some of their food or if I ask to know all of the ingredients in things. I also don't want them to be put out if I decide to bring a few "safe" items for myself...that way I know for sure I will have something there I can eat. I don't mean it personally, I just don't want a stomachache or anything worse! I know it's going to be tricky....both with friends and family...but I hope I can find that people are really open and not annoyed by having to deal with this along with me. I am NOT going to ask people to accommodate my "diet" when they have us over for dinner...I don't expect people to have to make food that will be ok for me! I can bring my own things! I just want to have everything out there in the open to minimize irritation and/or hurt feelings. So, I think within the next week I am going to type up a little mini guide of some kind to explain what exactly celiac disease is and how I have to live now since my doctor thinks there's a good chance that I have it.
Ok, so Jeremy and I headed over to Josh and Laura's home around 6...chicken in tow ;). I also brought some cheese dip and Garden of Eatin' blue corn chips (organic and made from non GMO corn...and gluten free of course ;) ) and the gluten free brownies I baked Friday night for myself to eat for dessert and for others to try if they were curious! Laura convinced me that the main course, cream of asparagus soup, was safe for me to eat. She told me that, instead of flour, she had used cornstarch in the soup. I was skeptical (not to be bratty, just because I need to be careful!) but I gave in...basically because I felt bad and didn't want to make a big issue out of it when some nice friends of us had made a really kind gesture and invited us to a fun event in their home! I ate the soup and some salad, forgoing the sweet potato casserole (even though I love sweet potatoes! It had graham crackers in the crumble topping), bread (duh! ;) ), and salad dressing....and dessert for the most part. Gosh, dessert is one painful thing for me to miss out on! I am such a major dessert junkie!!! ;) Laura had made these HEAVENLY-looking mini pumpkin cheesecake treats in individual muffin papers. They looked AWESOME! Pumpkin and cheesecake are two of my favorite things...combined?! I can't even imagine! Honestly, I am going to experiment soon, I think, and come up with a gluten free variation on that recipe! She also made some cookies...that I helped frost with Reid and Kara after dinner while the others watched the Illinois football game. I did, however, get to enjoy a do-it-yourself caramel apple! I checked the ingredients on the caramels and was fairly certain they were gluten free...so I indulged! :) Laura had bowls of crushed peanuts and crushed oreos that we could roll our caramel apples in...of course I had to avoid the oreos but I did take some peanuts!
All in all it was a very fun night...I put the chicken I brought in their fridge and brought it home later. I will eat it, reheated, sometime this week. I am sure it will come in handy. Aside from the fact that I am trying to avoid microwaves because I've learned what they supposedly do to the nutrients in foods! But I digress...
I did have a rather big stomachache after the soup and salad...it's hard to tell if it was from the meal (either from a forgotten gluten-containing ingredient or from cross contamination from another ingredient), because I still have lots of gluten left in my system that isn't gone yet, or from any other variety of causes. I didn't eat enough, really, to have a stomachache from TOO much food...so I think I can rule that out. It's a mystery! My stomachache, though, subsided before they usually do...and I ate my dessert (the brownie and caramel apple) without any repercussions.
All in all, my first day as a gluten-free woman was somewhat of a success. I know it's going to be a long road!
The first dinner party as a gluten-free woman was also a success...I am sure it's hard for everyone to go to that initial party, and the fact that it fell on the day of my first day of living gluten free was probably a good thing. I know I still have a lot of up-hill battling to do, but I am glad to have one day under my belt :)
OK....I am so tired. I am going to end this post now....more tomorrow, perhaps. Bring on Day Two! :)