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Gluten Free Me? Who? What? Why?
So maybe you
are new to being gluten free, just found out you have celiac disease or have
someone is your life who has given up gluten. First off it isn’t an eating
disorder, and most people who find out they have to be gluten free, it’s a
lifetime sort of thing. But thank goodness for modern times, options, and
Gluten Free Pizza! I first went gluten free in 2003; things have changed so
much since then! Oh my now I can buy a freshly baked Gluten Free Donut, say
what?
Back in 2003 I never thought I would eat another piece of bread, that said I’m not gonna lie, it really hasn’t been as hard for me as others, mainly because I have been making hard core choices about my diet for most of my life, going vegetarian for the first time at 14, and then vegan at 17 (though now I do eat eggs), and have tried all sorts of things. Was a raw-foodist before it was cool, and was even a raw food chef for a while. Now I try to infuse all that together to bring some major healthiness and some damn good treats. Dairy? Corn? Soy? Oh My! Most Celiac’s feel good when they give up dairy, meaning milk, butter, and yogurt completely. Most Celiac’s go through periods of time not feeling good, and trying to refigure out what they can eat, like corn or soy doesn’t maybe feel that good either. It’s a process and that’s ok, it’s ok to backslide and get your ass back on track. One thing I do know is it is an all day all the time thing, not a “if it’s convenient” thing, you might need to have some hard conversations and really tell your mom that you CAN NOT ever again eat her Christmas cookies, but you could probably recreate that recipe gluten free and most people who love you just wanna make food that you can eat, so tell them! I will say it again TELL THEM! Nothing is worse than when people find out at a dinner party held in your honor that you can’t eat anything, they will feel so guilty, it may take a minute for them to adjust but who doesn’t wanna support your health? It doesn’t mean everyone has to understand but it will keep you true to yourself, and remind yourself that you CAN’T eat those cookies at work, but ya know what that’s ok cause they aren’t that good for you anyway, so keep gluten free snacks at your desk for those moments, and DON’T let yourself go hungry which will be the hardest time to avoid things you shouldn’t be eating. Travel When I travel overseas I always bring a ton of almond butter and peanut butter serving packets, they always save me during the day, if I am having a hard time finding something to eat, I can snack on those. Remember you just made your life better, so be proud of yourself! Need a Restaurant? check here The Rules Look we all like to do whatever we want in the kitchen but a couple things don’t work and here they are Don’t substitute liquid sugar for dry sugar an example would be to use agave for a granulated sugar, it does not work due to liquid to dry balance, you can sometimes do a liquid for a liquid sugar like maple syrup for agave but only sometimes and honey is always a different ratio than anything else these rules especially apply to baking, with raw foods it usually doesn’t matter the same way Use DISTILLED coconut oil, if you don’t want EVERYTHING to taste like coconut, I love coconut but not everything to taste like it. And I have uber strict rules about oils, and ONLY EVER use olive oil or coconut oil, cause they are the ONLY oils I feel are healthy for you. Find yourself some awesome distilled coconut oil; best bought online if you want a good price, I love Tropical Traditions. Wow that’s only 2 how awesome, follow them and get cooking! Kitchen Essentials Look I like things to be easy I only own 2 knifes, one small and one big one (it can open young coconuts even) when your veggie that’s all you need. Also I live and die by my rice cooker, it’s a Stainless Steel Aroma, it is not aluminum which is really important, no more aluminum poisoning please. So I basically make just about everything in my rice cooker, soups, quinoa, beans, ect. I use it almost every day. The best thing is I can put something in there and forget about it which makes life super easy especially for multi-taskers like me, and it is really hard to mess up rice in them. Random Fancy Things! I like to have random fancy things on hand like Bundt cake pans, seriously everything looks awesome in a Bundt pan so own one! And it's so easy to just put a glaze frosting on cakes. Embrace pretty bowls for bringing over dips to friends, special tea cups or tea kettles. Basically anything that makes you feel like your kitchen rocks! Cast iron pans, I have had the same ones for 10 years, I have brought them with me to all the different places I have lived over the years, and they still seem brand new. You can even bake in them! They put iron into your food, which is super important for women, and everything cooks well in these so get some already. And Last but not least What The Heck is Gluten Anyway? Gluten is a protein like substance that is only in modern grains. That is why it is ok to eat grains like rice and quinoa, because they are ancient grains. But wheat is a modern grain and therefore has GLUTEN! Gluten is only in grains, no other natural food source has it, but it is added to all sorts of processed foods like Soy Sauce, French Fries, the list goes on and on if any modern grains like: -wheat (which is what white flour is made out of) -spelt -kamut -farro -semolina -barley -rye is added to a product, it WILL NOT BE GLUTEN FREE (feel free to make a sad face here) One of the easiest ways to help you start avoiding it is to start shopping at a health food store if you aren’t already. I say this because most natural food products tend to leave out unnecessary stuff making it easier to find foods that are gluten free. I know normal grocery stores are carrying more and more gluten free products, but it still can be challenging to read through those long lists. Even processed natural foods tend to have less ingredients in them and are easier to decipher. Another great thing to do is to make more of your own food. No better time than now to start cooking. That is what my show Gluten Fee With Emily is all about getting you in the kitchen, to make your gluten free lifestyle a little easier (feel free to make a happy face here). Safe Grains: Corn, Rice, Buckwheat, Amaranth, Millet, Quinoa, Sorghum, And Teff. For diet info check my blog post here |
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