Saturday, November 20, 2010

Gluten sensitivity...

That's apparently what Bill's stomach problems have been all about... he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis a few years back and has been having stomach problems for a long time. His meds stopped working, so we started trying eliminating certain stuff from his diet, and getting rid of gluten is doing the job so far. I'm certainly glad we've found something that helps him, but it sure makes cooking more difficult as gluten is in every convenience food ever created. It's also hard figuring out about cross-contamination. Even if wheat or any other form of gluten isn't in the ingredients, I still get online to check if it's officially gluten free. The way I cook has been drastically changed. The baking kick I was on has come to an abrupt halt. Sadness.

On a good note, though, this diet does encourage mostly natural foods, which is better for both of us. Here's what we've been basically living on: Salads, chili, veggie soup, rice, chicken, omelets, popcorn and a few other things. There are still a lot of good things we can eat, it's just time consuming checking all of that. We've also both lost some weight, so that's good too!

I'm going to start experimenting with different kinds of flour, hoping I can still make bread, cake, and all the other yummy stuff. Thing that stinks is that these ingredients are hard to find if you don't live close to a Raisin Rack or Trader Joe's... and they're expensive... more sadness.

Anyone else out there gluten free? Any tips?