Why Gluten-Free?

I've been lazy about going to the grocery store over the past few months. One of the joys of living alone is you can eat whatever and whenever you want. That means you don't have to have conventional meals at conventional times. Sometimes it was cheese and crackers for dinner and sometimes it was a bowl of buttered noodles for breakfast - and no one complains that there isn't meat and veggies or that you are eating lunch at 3 o'clock.

The problem with being lazy about grocery shopping is that you eventually run out of things to eat and have to resort to eating the staples in your pantry. In my case, that means I eventually eat rice and scrambled eggs for a few days and then I only grocery shop when I have run out of Diet Coke. (Don't judge me - sometimes it is nice to be irresponsible in a few areas of your life.)

During those periods of rice filled meals, I noticed that I didn't feel as bloated as I normally did and I liked it. After I would go the grocery store and start eating like I normally would (bread, pasta, crackers, etc...) I would feel bloated again. I especially noticed it after my trip to California where I ate all the good stuff you normally eat on vacation - pastries for breakfast, burgers for lunch and dessert at dinner. Let's just say that the seat belt on the plane ride home let me know just how bloated I was. It doesn't take being a genius to figure that there might be a connection between what I was eating and how I was feeling. So, I thought I would look into a gluten free diet.

What is gluten? Basically gluten is wheat, barley and rye. Sounds easy enough to eliminate, right? Wrong!!! Gluten is in a lot of prepared foods in the form of stabilizers, thickeners, and coloring. You also have to be careful about the ingredients in medications. There is also the question of whether the food has been processed in a plant that also processes wheat - like oats. So it isn't as easy as it sounds. And don't even get me started on what to order when you are traveling and want to go through a McDonald's drive-thru.

Stay tuned for my first adventure in gluten free baking.