Since I am currently ordering some gluten-free foods offline - I thought it would be a good time to post about my gluten-less life !
I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease a few years ago, and have had gluten intolerance since I can remember. It was always such a foreign thing to me and am still struggling with the fact that this is even a problem in the world. But because it affects me directly every single day, it's kinda of important to educate people in what it ACTUALLY is and how it can change your life - for the better!
My personal story:
I had always been a 2 bagel a day, bacon on top, eggo waffle, chicken leg, cheeseburger, extra sauce on the side, cheese nip eating, beer lover...since I can even remember! I drank beer and have eaten whatever I wanted my whole life. Luckily I've never had a weight problem but began to have a lot of stomach issues when I got to college. I knew I didn't have the best eating habits and have always had a super sweet and salty tooth, but I knew something was seriously wrong when I was getting sick left and right - catching bizarre colds and the most off time of year, & couldn't eat a meal without feeling super uncomfortable. I would get super dizzy, faint very easily, feel terrible after eating the simplest things and had an extreme decrease in energy.
It took years of different doctors and numerous tests that finally came concluded that I had a rare strand of Celiac Disease, meaning - I'm intolerant to gluten and wheat products, some way..some how.
It's such a weird thing that affects every single human differently, and still boggles my mind that it is even an actual "thing" - for people to not eat a bagel if they want to. It's weird. It will always be weird to me no matter how long i've had it!
There are also different levels of intolerances - which is another thing that I guess makes sense but I still find weird. It's not like when you find out you have Celiac or a form of it, that you get a pill you take every day to "heal" you or make you feel better. It's a complete lifestyle change that I was forced to hop in to with both feet, and fast!
There is gluten in practically EVERYTHING you eat : Pasta, bread, some ice cream, ice cream cones, pizza crust, soy sauce, granola bars, soup, gold fish snacks, meatless meatballs, etc! Literally, the list goes on. But thankkkk the universe that there are so many people intolerant to all sorts of things (which is terrible and insane to me) but that makes it possible for sooo many products to have been made for people like myself to live a completely normal life & eat gluten free!
I can grocery shop without having to think twice about it now at this point in my life, and get exactly what I WANT to eat, not just because I HAVE to. It's a lifestyle, not a diet - and when you have no choice but to make the best out of it, you can get pretty creative!
I am also a vegetarian! Well, I eat seafood - so that makes me a pescetarian which apparently isn't even a real word, but anyways. I don't eat any meat of any sort, but I do eat every type of seafood & love every second of it!
I can eat & drink practically everything you can, it's just a substituted version ~
My every day meals are a little like this for example :
Breakfast: some sort of eggs, gluten free toast, veggie sausage, avocado, tomato on the side
Lunch: gluten free bread with brie cheese and tomato or cucumbers on it
Snacks: gluten free granola bar, popcorn, ice cream, lots of cheese & gluten free crackers & (usually some candy in there somewhere!)
Dinner: veggies, rice, gluten free pasta, pizza, all sorts of yummy salads, spicy shrimp, fish taco's, swordfish, anything corn related, etc!
Drinks: gluten free beer, wine, twisted ice tea, cider
Now-a-days there are amazingly delicious gluten free pastas (corn or rice) - which you would really never know the difference from regular pasta. Also tons of grain and granola products that are "whole grain" but are indeed, gluten free! You will never feel deprived, because trust me! ... I certainly eat just about everything and anything , and because it is out there and decently available to everyone at most grocery stores, you won't have to feel like being gluten free is a hard and or difficult thing.
Now that i've been completely gluten free (and a vegetarian) for over 3 years, I feel SO much better, get sick spells way less often and feel NORMAL after I eat a regular meal! My weight has always maintained the same comfortable weight for my body, and I just live and go out to dinner and order whatever I want not even thinking about it anymore!
It's amazing now that SO many restaurants even have their own gluten free menu's! It's pretty cool & makes eating out a whole lot easier.
Here are some of my favorite things to eat that are all gluten free and are super delicious!
(did I mention my husband is 90% gluten free and a half vegetarian by default , but doesn't mind one bit because there are so many delicious gluten free options, he barely even notices the difference! :-)
^^^ This is the little label on almost everything gluten free found in stores! If it is certified gluten-free, it WILL say so on the box somewhere!!!
^^^ Bakery On Main has amazing gluten free granola, granola bars, & oatmeal!
^^^ Canyon Bakehouse has THE BEST BREAD out there!!! I beg to differer when grocery stores only carry UDI's.... i'm not a fan & think it takes like cardboard in comparison to this bread! It's the closest to "normal" bread as you can get - trust me, i've tried them all!
You can order some of their products offline and freeze them for later, it's awesome! It can also be found at most Whole Foods markets.
^^^ These 3 brands of gluten free pasta are super good and you would honestly never know the different once the butter or sauce is on between regular ol' pasta and these delicious non-gluten infested pastas, haha.
They can be found at most local grocery stores such as Stop & Shop & Big Y as well as most specialty markets.
^^^ Gluten free pretzels! nom nom nomm.
The only thing that bugs me about GLUTINO (all their food is good and fine, thats not the point) is that their name is GLUTINO... i mean, come on. The fact that they put the word gluten in there is just so annoying. It sounds like a disease...but they taste good so I let it slide.
^^^ MARYS GONE CRACKERS is an amazing company! I absolutely love all their crackers. They are super crispy and just all around delicious. My absolute favorite are the Black Pepper crackers with cheese on top...voila!! So good!
^^^ Their pretzels aren't your average pretzels which is awesome because these guys taste like curry and are insanely crunchy and delicious, never seem to get affected by humidity and never get soggy!!...my kind of pretzel.
^^^ If you know me at all, you know if LOVE pizza! I make a point to eat pizza at least once a week because who doesn't love melty, cheesy, saucy, deliciousness?!...
AMY'S makes a pretty delicious gluten free pizza if I do say so myself!
(as well as a ton of other awesome gluten free foods!)
*** If you live near a BIG Y grocery store, there is a pizza they sell in the frozen section that I never remember the brand name of, that is not in a box but in a clear plastic wrapper with a tin bottom that is pretty big and is SUPER good! It only comes in plain cheese, so you can take it home and add all your own toppings!
^^^ I'm a beer girl ! I absolutely have always loved beer and was literally devastated at the thought of not being able to drink a beer at my house with my husband or go grab a beer with my friends out at night and only be confined to drinking wine and cider.
Thank goodness there are some amazing and delicious gluten free beers out there these days!
I had CELIA's for the first time at a bar in Boston about a year ago - It was the only gluten free beer they had and I was glad it turned out for the best! It is now my go-to and absolute favorite gluten free beer out there!
^^^ Omission is another one of my top favorite gluten free beer and is usually served at most bars and restaurants if they aren't living under a rock.
^^^ New Planet is another one of my top favorite gluten free beers that has a ton of awesome options for all beer lovers alike !
^^^ RedBridge is the most commonly known gluten free beer out there. It was the first ever gluten free beer I ever had, and is still one of my favorite gluten-less beer's but there are so many new gluten free beers that kind of took RedBridges spot on my favorite beer's list!
Now that i've covered my basic eating habits and what you can eat & drink to replace your gluten'ous foods -
I hope this post helped even just one person understand a bit more about being gluten-free and how good you can actually feel because of being gluten free, as well as give you some replacement substitute foods that will make your life easier and keep you from ever feeling deprived!!!
If anyone ever has any questions please feel free to email me any time - I would be happy to help :-)
Email : Steffy@MayaLune.com
No comments:
Post a Comment