No, I'm kidding. There isn't a short answer for this. I'll try to condense. A few months ago, we started looking at how we were living, what we were eating, how we were feeling. Both of us agreed that we weren't eating enough "fresh" fruits and veggies, we felt tired and lazy, just not very good. So we did some research. Most of what we were feeling could be traced back to a gluten intolerance. This shouldn't be confused with a gluten allergy or celiac disease. Those are serious medical conditions. Ours is simply a body's inability to properly digest gluten when eaten in mass quantities. What's gluten? Basically anything tasty.
Kidding again! :) Gluten is like a glue that keeps food together. This would be any grains, flours, rye, barley. For a better definition, click here.
So we made the switch. It seems like people's initial reaction is one of two things. Either they say "Oh, when were you diagnosed with celiac" OR "What do you eat??"
I have to admit that I kinda thought the same thing at first though. I thought "no pasta??? I'll die!!" Then I opened my eyes a bit and did what I do best...googled it. I was amazed at how much we could eat. There are even plenty of gluten-free breads and pastas out there. And they're actually good! And Hy-Vee has a great GF section of their store! And they offer 10% off on Wednesdays! AHHH!!! I was in GF overload.
I knew if I didn't get to eat some of my favorite things, I'd quit. I'd just give up. So I went to my favorite recipe website. Allrecipes.com. LOVE THEM! On a whim, I just entered "gluten free" in the search option. Low and behold, there were tons of them! Now, some had weird ingredients that A) I didn't know how to pronounce or B) you had to buy a big bag for $20 then only needed 1 teaspoon. Not my cup of tea. Then I found some pretty easy chicken recipes. Hey, I like chicken. Oh and I can have parmesan cheese. Coupled with a few other ingredients, I made an incredible parmesan crusted chicken.
After a few weeks, I found that I could alter a recipe to make it GF without causing much difference in the taste. There are days I just want to have a piece of toast or a big bowl of cereal. I still can but I just have to choose the GF items. They're not exactly cheap so it makes me choose a little more wisely.
So how are we feeling? Well, immediately I had more energy. That was the biggest thing. After a week I noticed that I didn't feel so bloated all the time. My pants fit looser too! I lost some weight. Not a ton and to be fair, I've been hitting the gym more often. But that goes back to having more energy so it's a win/win.
Being gluten-free isn't for everyone. Some people just can't fathom giving up their pizza or spaghetti or beer. To that I say this...I made a pizza using GF crust and it was better than any pizza from Godfathers. There's GF spaghetti noodles that are actually good. And for beer? There is a GF beer out there. And it's actually good. Tastes like Boulevard, which happens to be my favorite beer.
So I'm not missing out on anything...except gluten. :)
