Gluten free diet ... living without?

Over twelve years ago a nutritionist challenged me to get off wheat. What I discovered is, after having a headache every day for fifteen years, I could virtually extinguish my migraine-like headaches by eating gluten free. Of course I've fallen off the wheat wagon many times. It is just plain hard to live in a world of glutinous options especially when you're traveling or eating out! But several years ago when my oldest son tested positive for wheat allergy, I had to regain my resolve, it wasn't just me who suffered when I didn't work hard at providing alternatives. A teenager living in a glutinous world had even more challenges. I called the school dining hall to find out what options there would be for him. The answer: "we don't do that". So it was up to mom to figure it all out. Through trial and error we soon discovered how important it was for him to adhere to the diet. I would pick him up from school and I could tell by the way he carried himself when he ate pizza. Not only did it make him fatigued it affected his entire demeanor and cognitive abilities. I'm really proud of him today, as an athlete trying to perform at the top of his ability he knows what he needs to do, and he's doing it! This past summer, I decided to try the diet on my youngest son who's symptoms were moodiness and chronic dark circles under the eyes. The result: a new kid!

Last year my little sis gave me a subscription to Living Without, a magazine for people with food sensitivities. It's been a good source of baking ideas and medical information. But one of the things that intrigues me is this idea that I'm "living without". It leaves me with this feeling that I'm somehow missing out. Well I'm here to tell you that embracing a lifestyle that chooses to eat the foods that fuel your body without burdening it with foods you're allergic to is far from living without. I guess you could call it living within. Sure, living within the constraints of my body's needs has been so frustrating. And having two kids that have followed my genetic disposition for food sensitivity has been really hard! At first I internalized it as pressure, I felt this great huge burden to provide for them. And while I have been working hard at providing options for them I've had this growing list of new food sensitivities to deal with for myself. So at times I would be providing sometimes up to three different meal options for my family of five! Providing food for myself and my family this past year truly has been one of the most challenging tasks of my parenting "career".

But what I've discovered as the key to success in this journey is as simple as the perspective shift from "living without" to "living within". It is that simple. I'm living within the constraints of mine and my family's needs. And what I've discovered is that food can taste really good, even without wheat, sugar, eggs, etc. In the past I hadn't been much of an experimenter in the kitchen. One of the things that becoming a soap artist has taught me is to experiment with new things all the time. And those experiments of good and bad have led to great new discoveries of what I like, things that I didn't know I would like. So now after years of following food recipes to a tee I'm finally experimenting with them. Having multiple food sensitivities of my own, and the needs of my boys, have pushed me to a new level of creativity in the kitchen.

But I could not have gone down this path without the help of people who were willing to share their ideas, people I REALLY appreciate! I met Jody last year, soon we were conversing about diet and discovered our common concerns. She being farther down the road than me has been an amazing source of ideas and inspiration. Thank you Jody! She also pointed me to Tom and Ali's cookbook and blog. Ali's recipes are amazing! She has totally engineered her recipes to perfection. I have not tried a single one that wasn't good, in fact, most of them are just downright awesome. I followed the elimination diet in their cookbook and on their website and it has been enlightening. One of my discoveries is that I'm allergic to rice. Even though many of Ali's recipes incorporate rice flour I've been able to adjust the flours in her recipes and they still turn out fabulous.

So here's a note of gratitude for the people who've shared their gluten-free experiences with me. And you know what I've discovered now that I've made the perspective shift to living within? It's really not as hard as I thought it was because mom feels so much better and so do the kids! And there's also something satisfying about taking an insurmountable challenge by the horns and going with it.

So here our some of my favorites for Tom and Ali's blog to help get you started:

Gluten free waffles I have to make these every Saturday now! We freeze the leftovers and the boys eat them throughout the week. They taste great slathered with my new sugar free jam!

Cucumber Tomato Basil Salad I was eating this daily at the height of our tomato and cucumber harvest. So fresh and scrumptious!

Spicy Summer Black Bean Salad This was another amazing harvest salad recipe. Love the flavors all together, and the black beans for protein.

Maple Raspberry Scones Now this one is downright awesome. I was so sad when our raspberry harvest came to an abrupt end with the coming of frost.