Yesterday I had a major meltdown, seriously I stood with my pantry door open looking at all the food I could not eat and cried. This gluten free diet is more challenging than I thought it would be. Temporary or not this is hard. I feel like I am learning to cook and eat all over again.
I had no I idea how much stuff contained wheat, barley, and rye and to top it off I realized I should not be eating oats either. Well, I can eat gluten free oats, but they are like 3 times more expensive than the regular ones. I think I am going to have to break down and buy some even though I don’t want to.
Yesterday, I was so hungry. This is a problem I am having going gluten free. Last week was not so bad, but this week I feel like I am starving. The gluten free stuff is just not as filling.
It was 1:00 and I was trying to decide what to fix for dinner. I finally found a crockpot soup recipe that I “thought” would be perfect because it did not contain any gluten. I started opening a couple of cans of food to make the soup and decided I should read the labels to make sure they were gluten free before putting them into the crock pot. Sure enough two of them contained wheat. There went my dinner plans.
So I feel apart, it was not exactly my best moment and I was glad my kids were busy playing upstairs because they missed the whole thing. After a few mintues I pulled myself back together realizing that I had to figure out something. We had to eat dinner.
I started reading labels and figuring out things I could have. Then I just started dumping things in the crockpot and hoped for the best. I was not sure how good it would be, but it was food and gluten free food at that, so at that point I really did not care.
I served up the soup for dinner not saying a word about what happened. I figured I would just keep that part quiet until everyone tasted the soup. What happened was the soup was surprisingly good. Everyone enjoyed it. What I created may become a family favorite. Maybe I should have a meltdown more often if I come up with dishes like this. Seriously, this soup was so good and it was gluten free, so I could eat it.
(I will post the recipe soon)
I have now packed up all the things I can’t have and put them in this tub so I don’t have to keep looking at them. I am hoping out of sight, out of mind will work, but I am not so sure.
check out this site if you need some ideas for gluten free crock pot ideas – some of the stuff looks pretty tasty 🙂
https://crockpot365.blogspot.com/search/label/gluten%20free
Callista, I have looked around her site some but it was before I started on this GF diet. I need to go back and check it out some more.
I made swiss steak for my MIL (who is GF) in my crockpot. I just omitted the flour, and she loved it served over rice.
(https://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/02/crockpot-swiss-steak.html)
Dear friend, I understand you perfectly.
I’m so glad that your soup was a success!
And yes, I agree that gluten-free foods are very expensive.
In the UK and in Italy, are collect signatures to send to the government, I think the other countries should do the same.
For now we will spend much more than any other citizen, until we have laws to help us.
Congratulations on the soup, no doubt the celiac hare my granddaughter.
KindestRegards
sonia gluten free
I have done the same sort of thing when dealing with some food allergies I am in the middle of identifying (suspects: peppers, tomatoes, corn, apples). No family favorites yet, but boy it can be frustrating. I also have a friend that is a recently diagnosed celiac, and I am learning from her how many things she’s had to change. Plus it is sad for me that she cannot eat any of the baked goods I make to share with groups. But again, with the allergies, I understand – it is just not an option! It is interesting reading how the genetic engineering done on our food may be to blame for the increasing rates of these conditions people are dealing with. It can be so overwhelming. All the more encouragement to eat as simply and organically as we can afford, and say a prayer that God blesses our efforts! 🙂
I know gluten free isn’t always easy – We’ve all had our moments, but you can do it. I promise you that. No matter what anyone says, it can be simple, and rewarding and fun. It may not be quite as filling because it doesn’t have the gluten proteins to fill you up with, but it can make you feel worlds better, and give you the most surprising results (just like your soup!) =D.
While I’m very sorry to hear you I am so glad you posted this gluten free meal on you website. My father-in-law is allergic to gluten and has a very hard time dealing with it. I will be passing this recipes to him and my mother-in-law. I totally enjoy your posts. We tried the breakfast muffins last week (I can’t find it on your webiste now) and absolutely loved them. They will be a regular breakfast now for us.
Thank you for your honesty! I am very thankful for this site since I have just started my own journey with the gluten-free diet. I too get quite hungry and so does my family on the gluten-free diet. I have found that eating the gluten-free oats are very filling. I look forward to trying more of your recipes! THANK YOU!
I hate to admit but I have also had several meltdowns. Gluten free is not easy especially once you know all the yummy things you can’t have anymore not to mention the expense of it. I can only hope that with awareness we will have more choices.
So happy to see this post…not happy you had to go through that, but I just did the same thing on Friday. I wanted to cry and throw everything out of my pantry. Only 5 days into the diet though and I feel so much better, I keep trying to hang on to that motivation! Then, at the same time scared of how I’m going to be adapting my blog to fit what I’m eating now!
I am glad you are feeling better and it gets easier so hang in there.