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Health & Fitness

A World Without Wheat....One Year Gluten Free and Happy For It!

I wanted to write about being GF for a whole year. And to thank my readers for their support.

 It is one year, this coming Sunday, since I went totally gluten free.  Other than a few accidental food items, one bottle of suntan lotion with wheat and a couple minor but intentional gluten consumptions I have been pretty scrupulous about avoiding the demon gluten….. 

This is my post celebrating this year of no gluten.  It was a gradual transition all January and half of February 2013. I did a crazy gluten binge the last four weeks which made me really sick!  Not a smart plan.  Kinda did make me glad to not eat any more of it…..

Things that were tough; no croissants, no puff pastry, no donuts, and no bagels.  I have tried store bought gf bagels.  Uggh.  I am going to try and make some this winter.  Freeze them and enjoy toasted bagels for a few weeks.  I have a couple gf donut recipes but fear the weight gain a successful recipe could induce.

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Other tough stuff was the issue of eating out.  I’m finding it hard to eat anything safe at church functions.  They do seem to put out more fresh fruit and cheese…..sometimes even deviled eggs.  Thank you!  It remains difficult to safely eat a meal in a restaurant.  So many of them say they can give you a GF meal but they don’t keep a GF clean section to cook in or GF pots/pans and the dreaded colander. (Wheat is gummy and really sticks in colanders when you drain cooked pasta!)  I have had unhappy discussions with family and my man over places to eat out.  Sometimes it was they who refused to go somewhere as they were afraid for me…  I miss a lot of my favorite restaurants and long for the variety of meals out I used to enjoy. 

I met some nice people at a celiac support group that used to meet at Warren Hospital. Sadly they disbanded this fall.  I still keep in touch with one or two of them.  I joined a celiac fb group and that has been quite informational and a good thing support wise.  I want to get to one of their actual meetings in Allentown one of these months.

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I feel much better without wheat.  At first, right after my diagnosis, it was tough to realize how sick it was making me.  But once I was about two weeks gf I suddenly realized how different my tummy felt.  The pain that was basically constant had vanished.  It was utterly amazing!

Writing this blog has been a real boon to me.  Putting my feelings and fears in words helped me get through this first year which is generally the toughest for us celiacs. I appreciate all the encouragement from my readers.  I enjoy sharing recipes with you via postings. 

To be honest, I eat a lot of yummy food still.  I was a baker before this and I remain one to this day.  It has been a real challenge to bake gf.  But one I accept and continue to explore in many different ways.  I now make brownies that are so good everyone eating them wants the recipe.  My cookies include some that are just plain freaking amazing. Better than before: more delicate, more flavorful and just awesome!

Bread has been the challenge.  There have been many attempts and few that are truly successful.  I don’t mean quick breads as they are really tasty gf. I mean the yeast beast! The only truly success I have had was my French bread from cooks.com. It is a yeasty treat I am proud to serve company.  But as to sandwich bread….there were many so so efforts that often end up as crumbs which I freeze for use in many recipes.  Recently, I bought Nicole Hunn’s GF on a Shoestring Bakes Bread cookbook.  I have had some success.  The soft breadsticks are quite tasty and the texture is a lot like wheat bread.  Unfortunately the ingredients are rather pricy so making a recipe has to be a special deal that is not often repeated.  It also requires a long refrigerator rise for most recipes which you can use to your advantage if you plan carefully.  The recipes are not that complex but you shouldn’t vary them at all.  If you crave that real yeast bread taste I do suggest you check out that cookbook.

So, a year later.  Looking at me now: healthier, safer food choices, and slightly thinner; although Christmas and cookies made a big dent in that weight loss. 

I am glad I discovered what was making me so sick. 

I am sad that sometimes people are not that understanding and even snarky about my gf food needs. 

I am enlightened as to what celiac was and that I actually have had it most if not all my life: explains a lot about my childhood ailments.

I am joyful that there are so many tasty gf choices out there for we who cannot eat gluten. 

I am hopeful that someone will make gf puff pastry sometime soon! 

And I am thankful for you readers of my blog.  You have helped me get past the hurdle of this major shift in my food and lifestyle…to a much healthier and happier one.  Many many thanks!

Have a great weekend everyone.  Snowy weather induces baking and soup making!

PS: I am hoping Josh starts a website that I can transfer over my blog onto.  I will be so happy to join him.  As you Patch readers know, Josh is wonderful at covering local news and local stories. I am sad that Patch is not the site it used to be.  Most of the stories on it now are not at all local.  The planned purpose of Patch is no longer being fulfilled.  A major bummer for those of us in this area who enjoyed reading what was going on here in our little town.  Can’t wait Josh
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