The Gluten Free Diet....sometimes it just sucks

I just read this blog entry form another person's gluten free blog....The Gluten Free Diet--Sometimes it just sucks

I completely agree with all of the emotions brought up in the blog entry and the comments on the post.

I have been relatively "fine" lately, diet-wise.....but that doesn't mean it's always easy. Sure, it's been 19 months of gluten-free living (and still, no cheating!)....but that doesn't make social situations, which we all know often center around food (and mainstream party/social food tends to be chock-full of gluten!), any easier.

You really don't get just how much our lives revolve around food (which is really kind of sick/pathetic when you really get right down to it....I mean, here I am complaining about not being able to eat gluten when there are people in the world STARVING).....until you are faced with some sort of food allergy or intolerance.

Anyway, I could go on and on about that all day....

I'll just steal a couple of the quotes from the blog entry I mentioned above and the comments after it that really resonated with me:

"Sometimes being forced to be on a gluten-free diet just sucks. There’s no getting around it. I wish I could run out and grab a slice of pizza or get a sandwich at my favorite deli for lunch."

"Sometimes I just want to be able to eat a Twinkie or a box of Wheat Thins (of course I haven’t eaten a Twinkie since I was in elementary school, but somehow knowing that I won’t ever be able to eat one again makes me mourn the loss)." I know it probably sounds super overly dramatic to talk about "mourning a loss" when it comes to food...but it does stink to go without old favorites, such as bread bowls from Panera, Oreos, etc., etc.

"In the last year I have become so adept at eating/living gluten-free it has started to seem less like a burden, but it still is really hard sometimes." Absolutely agree. Most days it is so easy, basically second nature. However, there are days when it is truly hard.

"I usually don’t have that much of a problem sitting at a table while other people eat, but I had already been so demoralized by the previous evening that this was just too much. I fought back tears and tried to silence a rumbling stomach as we talked business." It really stinks sitting at a table full of people eating when you can't eat....or people enjoying the bread basket before a meal at a restaurant that serves bread (especially when you know how delicious it is!)

"In general I am a really positive person, but sometimes it really just sucks to be gluten-free." 'Nuff said! :)

"I’d say those social situations where someone thinks they have done you a favor are the hardest. And when someone takes a bite of an incredible sandwich, and they want to offer you a bite." Agreed. It is awful to know that a friend/family member really, really tried to take your diet needs into account....but to know that, somewhere in the preparation, a mistake was made. What do you do? Chance it? Or, turn it down? UGH!!!!!

"I hate feeling like a burden when I’m a guest." YES, a thousand times, YES!!!!!!!!

"What I hate more than anything is that gluten free eating has killed any spontaneity in my daily schedule. I hate planning my meals and researching every restaurant. I want to be in a rush, grab a sandwich, and keep on rushing. Why aren’t there more grab-and-go GF foods?" Being a rather busy person (I know we all are! :)), it really stinks not having many grab-and-go GF foods like a simple sandwich or something. Honestly, I go without lunch most days....or just snack on things that aren't as healthy or fulfilling as a good lunch. That probably doesn't make me the most productive or pleasant in the afternoons! :)

"It’s not like this all the time, obviously…but sometimes." It's not; it truly isn't. And, the longer I am on this diet, the easier it truly does become and the less "bad" days I have.

“a little bit won’t hurt you” Some people say this and/or ask related questions. No, no, no! Sorry!! A little bit, a lot....it doesn't matter about the quantity! I have gotten the sickest from the smallest amounts of gluten (from supposed cross-contamination).

I don't really mean this post to be as "negative" sounding as it is.....I just wanted to take the time to post a reaction to that blog post that I just discovered tonight :).

All in all, things are going well on the diet-front of life :). I did have a running mishap a few weeks ago that is surely due to gluten and some cross-contamination SOMEWHERE...if you dare (it's prettttty gross, as I am sure you can imagine!), go read it HERE: The Crappiest Run of My Life

:)

Have a wonderful day, all!

Rachel

Shout-out to my fabulous mother :)

So along this gluten free journey, there have definitely been some pretty definied ups and downs....the best part, though, has been the support of my super-amazing husband, family, and friends :).

My sister got married last Saturday (YAYYY!), and my mother...though there were dozens of other things to worry about....was totally on top of making sure there were ample things for me to eat from the moment I arrived at her house on Wednesday until I left to go back home last Sunday. She arranged for a friend to pick up Biaggi's take-out and bring it to the reception so I would have a safe meal to eat (shout-out to Jen as well for picking it up for me!). And, during the reception...my dad went out to get a bag with some GF brownies my mom had baked for me so I could have something to eat when everyone was eating the yummy gourmet cupcakes at the reception :). (I must add that the brownies were made using the relatively new Betty Crocker gluten free brownie mix....and were absolutely fabulous. I would HIGHLY recommend that baking mix...plus it is pretty widely available! Just here in Bloomington, I know you can find the Betty Crocker mixes at Cub and at Wal Mart, among other stores!).

She also made an awesome coffee cake using the Betty Crocker yellow cake mix....she basically prepared the cake mix, put half of it in a cake pan, put some butter/cinnamon/brown sugar mixture (the typical cinnamon-y coffee cake concoction stuff) in the middle, put the remaining cake batter on top, and added more of the butter/cinnamon/brown sugar, etc. mixture to the top along with some chopped pecans. It was divine! She made it for breakfast on Thursday morning and I ate it after returning from a 4-mile run with the bride-to-be. She also brought leftovers of it to the hotel where we got ready for the wedding on Saturday morning...which was also fantastic! :) I would definitely recommend experimenting with the apparently very versatile Betty Crocker yellow cake mix to make some yummy coffee cake concoctions!

So, thanks, Mom! You always take care of me! :)

Chunky Potato Soup Recipe

So, I subscribe to The Gluten Free Checklist...and get a GF recipe via e-mail each day. Today's looks great....I think I will definitely be trying this one! (However, I am a big baby and personally don't care for onions...I'll probably either omit them or use a lot less than 2 cups ;)).

Chunky Potato Soup
Ingredients
6 Tbs. butter
2 c. purple onion, sliced
2 medium carrots, chopped
3 Tbs. ARROWHEAD MILLS – white rice flour
1 qt. water 1 qt. IMAGINE - Organic Low Sodium Free Range Chicken Broth
4 c. red potatoes, peeled & cubed
1/2 c. heavy cream
3 Tbs. parsley, chopped
Coarse salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions
Melt 3 Tbs. butter in a 5 qt. stock pot. Add onions and cook slowly for 5 minutes without browning. Blend in gluten free flour and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually add water and chicken broth, stirring to prevent lumps. Add potatoes and carrots and bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and simmer partially covered for 45 minutes. While soup is simmering, stir in cream, parsley, remaining butter and salt & pepper to taste. Continue simmering to allow butter to melt and flavors to blend.

KIND bars free at Starbucks 2-5-10!

Hop over to your local Starbucks on Fri. Feb 5 to try KIND bars for free! I will vouch for these yummy bars' deliciousness! In fact, I had one for breakfast this very morning! :) :) I typically carry one-two of them in my work bag because they are so yummy, nutritious, and convenient to carry around. My personal favs are ANY of them with macadamia nuts in them! YUMMY to the maximal power!

"Surprisingly GOOD!"

...Thus said my dear loving husband....who tends to be skeptical at times of my GF creations ;). Tonight he made his delicious spaghetti sauce for our dinner...

I had one Schaar pizza crust left in my box of two and I decided to make some garlic toast (just spread on some melted butter that I mixed with garlic salt...not exactly rocket science!) in the toaster oven to go with our salad and spaghetti. I enjoyed my piece...and Jeremy looked at what was left on the serving plate and asked, "SO, is it good? Like, would I like it?" I told him I thought he might, so he tried it.

He actually told me (and he is PICKY about food!!) that it was really great, "Surprisingly good" were really his exact words...and he went on to say that I wasn't missing anything when I ate this, compared to "real" bread! So, if you are GF like me...hook yourself up!! :)

Clearly, this is versatile stuff and can be used for things other than just making pizza...it is not frozen, and it is sold 2 to a package. I've also used it as "toast" with (homemade from my mother) apple butter for breakfast! YUMMY!

Three cheers for Schaar! Definitely has the Rachel and Jeremy stamp of approval! :) :)

Awesome Christmas Gift--Namaste Baking Mixes!

Happy New Year!! Maybe I'll write more this year...and maybe I won't ;). We'll see!

I did, though, want to share about an awesome Christmas gift I received from my mother- and father-in-law: a gift certificate for Namaste food!

I used up the gift certificate shortly after Christmas and received the big box of food last week. I ordered a cookbook (it uses their mixes with a variety of added ingredients...some really great suggestions!), bread mix, brownie mix (I've had this one before...it's great!!), blondie mix, pizza crust mix, sugar-free muffin mix, pancake/waffle mix, and cookie mix. I made the blondies last night for a small dinner party we had with a couple of friends. They tasted pretty yummy! Oh a whim, I added some crushed pecans to the batter, and sprinkled some more crushed pecans and brown sugar on top. Success! :) (I just ate a leftover one a few minutes ago ;)).

I would highly recommend checking out the Namaste website....they have a ton of great products. They also have many of their products available here in Bloomington at Naturally Yours. I've also tried their Biscuit/Pie Crust mix (used it to make a great pie crust for pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, to rave reviews from my father-in-law ;)), and their Taco Pasta (comes with pasta and a seasoning packet; I added tomato soup and ground beef to it for a yummy dinner!). I have truly loved all of their products! :)

Namaste's website says, among other things, "...Our facility contains no wheat, gluten, corn, soy, potato, dairy or nuts. It is our attempt to try to eliminate any chance of cross-contamination so you can enjoy Namaste Foods products worry-free...." Awesome!! :) :)

Yummy yummy cake balls!

Ok, ok, I have been absent from the blogging world for like 2.5 months....WOW! Guess I've been busy ;). Maybe "being a better blogger" will make its way onto my "new year's resolution" list...and maybe it won't. We'll see! ;)

Anyway, in more exciting news....here's a fun new GF "recipe"!!

Yeah, so...."cake balls" doesn't sound overly eloquent ;)....but these little guys are mighty tasty! I must give credit where credit is due, I got the idea here...at MckMama's blog (a fabulously entertaining blog I peruse regularly).

Here's MckMama's entry about her "cake ball" extravaganza (she stuck sucker sticks in them, made pretty-colored frosting, and named them "snow pops"....a little more eloquent ;)). MckMama's Snow Pops. THAT is where I got the idea for my own variation!

I am going to a party tonight (a going-away party for a co-worker/friend who recently got a different job) and wanted to have some kind of yummy chocolate-y GF treat to bring! Based on the aforementioned idea from MckMama's blog, I decided to make some GF cake balls....



**{Please note} My idea of baking/cooking/food preparation in general is often throwing random quantities of random crap together. I inherited the wonderful gift of "eyeballing" something I am making/baking/cooking from my mother who also seldom measures (aside from the obvious baked goods that naturally require more precise measurements).


Process......

Get 1 box of GF cake mix (I used Betty Crocker GF yellow cake). Prepare per instructions on the box, cook cake in refrigerator. When cool, cut into chunks and put in food processor. Pulse until cake becomes fine and powder-like (don't over-process, like I did! It may turn into a big ol' lump!)

Prepare 1 box of GF/dairy free/peanut free (because a friend I am eating with tonight cannot have dairy or peanuts) vanilla frosting. (YOU can likely use whatever kind of frosting you'd like. Mckmama suggests cream cheese frosting. Naturally, being a cream cheese lover, I think that sounds phenomenal. However, I opted out of that this time since a friend of mine who will likely be eating these can't do dairy).

Mix frosting and powdery-cake-bits together. I noted that my frosting/cake heap seemed kinda squishy, probably too much so. Mckmama had written that she added some rolled oats to hers to thicken it up. So, I pulverized some GF animal crackers in my handy-dandy food processor and added those to the mix to thicken things up. I think it was a good choice.

Shape into balls (approx 1"-1 1'/2" diameter), put on a cookie sheet/plate that you've lined with wax paper. Put into freezer for a while to harden.

Remove from freezer when they seem sufficiently hard (I waited an hour). Melt some coating for your balls. Mckmama used Hershey's white chocolate (that she colored with food coloring! They are super-cute). I would assume almond bark would also be good. I used Enjoy Life's allergen-free chocolate chips for the aforementioned reasons. I melted them slowly in the microwave and then swirled the balls in the chocolate. After swirling, remove with toothpick and set on wax paper-ed surface to dry.

You could top these little beauties with anything...a swirl of a contrasting colored chocolate/coating, red sprinkles (what I used!), crushed up peppermints (I thought this would be yummy but, frankly, was too lazy to crush them up to try it out), crushed nuts, etc, etc, etc. Just make sure you sprinkle on your topping before the coating is dry!!

ENJOY!!!!