Gluten free eating, and food allergies, bring about so many changes to your life and in many ways things will never be the same.
I have come to realize that some foods may never be the same, but that is okay.
I have realized that pizza will never taste quite the same. Yes, I can get make a really good gluten free pizza crust, but it is still not quite the same. It is good, but different than a gluten filled pizza crust and I have come to realize that.
A gluten free doughnut or bagel is probably not going to be as good as the real thing, but that is okay. Just because it is not the same, does not mean that it cannot be good. The alternative to our favorite foods may not be exactly like what we used to enjoy, but it can still be good. And over the last few years I have tried hard to remember this.
One thing I will admit to really struggling with though is SunButter
. SunButter is a great product and I am so glad that there is a company like SunButter that makes life with nut and peanut allergies so much easier.
But here is where I have struggled, SunButter is not peanut butter. It does not taste like peanut butter and it has a different texture than peanut butter. There is a difference.
If you take a spoonful of each, you can tell the difference. And you can tell a difference in cooking. A SunButter cookie does not taste the same as a peanut butter cookie.
However, I have realized where I have gone wrong with SunButter. I need to stop looking at SunButter as a replacement for peanut butter. For the last two years I have wanted SunButter to be peanut butter and it is not. SunButter is its own product and a good one at that. I realized recently that I need to stop wanting Sunbutter to be peanut butter and to let it shine for what it is, which is SunButter.
It is made from sunflower seeds, so it is going to taste like sunflower seeds do, this is not a bad thing, it is a fact. I am realizing how good Sunbutter can be. I just need to remember it is SunButter, not peanut butter.
As I told my kids the other day I am learning to embrace SunButter. So, coming soon will be some very delicious recipes using SunButter.
Am I the only one that struggles with wanting some foods to be the same? What are your tips for overcoming that?
I was just thinking the same thing recently while eating a sandwich on an Udi’s hamburger bun. It was really good, and I was grateful to have it, but it definitely wasn’t the same as a regular sandwich roll. I would really miss peanut butter!
I feel the same about everything you have said. But I have to tell you that my son is a huge pb and fluff kid. Because his school is peanut free I decided to try this. He eats it almost everyday, and as I was reading this, he decided that he wanted a sunbutter and fluff today!!! (on sat when he could have had pb)
So I will continue watching to see what recipes you come up with! 😉
I struggle with the pb thing too. Although I haven’t tried BunButter!! I usually eat almond butter and that is definitely not the same but it is tasty in cookies and other baked goods. I’ll have to try sunbutter in some of the things that the oily almond butter doesn’t work very well in….. and change my attitude about pb “replacements”.
On the PB thing, I use Barney Butter, which is actually almonds. If you can eat almonds, you might want to try that. I think it tastes really really close to PB & I’m a PB lover, put the stuff on EVERYTHING, but have some other health issues & needed to decrease the peanut thing. I prefer the smooth over the crunchy with barney butter & was shocked when I tasted it that it tasted so good. I was sent a sample by the company quite awhile ago, you may want to call them & see if they will send a sample out to you.
I’m in the morning stage 🙁 I have discovered Udi’s bagels & have been using them for sloppy joes, meatball subs, hot dog buns (use half) etc. Its not the same, but it is pretty good & sure better than being sick. Right now it just me who is GF, but we think our son might have it too since he has other digestive issues. I need to arm myself with a good repertoire of GF baking first 😉 (thanks Lynn!)
I have heard good things about the nut butters, but unfortunately my daughter is allergic to tree nuts also. 🙁 So, we have to avoid those as well. It is basically the Sunflower butters and the soy butters for us, but we are adjusting. And we love Udi’s products. They are some of the best gluten free breads and bread products that we have tried. So, I agree, they are good, but still now quite the same.
Lynn, I think that’s where people have issues when dealing with food allergies. You’re totally right, Sunbutter is not peanut butter, it’s totally different. It’s like dairy free mac and cheese and such, it just isn’t the same thing. When you learn how to look at it for what it is rather than what it’s subbing for, whole new worlds open up. I’m glad you’ve made it to that point with Sunbutter 🙂 It’s delicious.
I first encountered Sunbutter before it was a ever a need. My husband and I had tried almond butter and came across it in a grocery near the pb and thought it sounded good since we both like sunflower seeds and I like tahini (sesame paste). We thought it was awesome with oatmeal and on sandwiches. I never tried cooking with it. I also realized that part of the reason it tasted so good was the sweeteners (the natural version wasn’t offered at the store we found it). So back to natural unsweeted pb it was for me.
Now, years later with autoimmune issues pushing me to gluten free and reading more studies on better eating from anthropological nutrition (grain free, no legumes, no sugar) standpoints I found myself circling back to Sunbutter. I think when it comes to products like Sunbutter, it really does take embracing them as they are and not as substitutes.
GF pasta is OK, but it doesn’t cook up the same. I had already made the change to whole grain pastas, but these still behave differently with a “not quite right” something about them. They are alright and will do when I *have* to have noodles. But really, when it’s on the plate and covered with sauce, they are fine. It’s only some sort of inner thing in me as I am cooking them that sees the difference.
I agree about Udi’s bread. It’s bread and that’s about all I can say. Nothing to write home about. It gives my husband a carb serving and something he can butter or dip in olive oil. It’s a quick and easy carb serving if I haven’t got potatoes or another starchy vegetable on the menu. But to be honest, I’d rather serve rice or a starchy vegetable to get the carb serving in him. From the time I was 11 I’d been eating bread full of whole wheat and barely-cut wheat berries, so nothing gluten free has come close.
I was thinking about your baking with Sunbutter. Since sugar plays a role in texture of baked goods, have you experimented with the unsweetened natural version as well as the sweetened to see how they react in recipes differently?
I have Celiac disease, but gluten-free is hitting the mainstream now that word is out about our wheat is now so genetically modified that our digestive systems aren’t able to digest it.
Thankfully, my daughter was not huge fan of peanuts in the first place. I on the other hand suffer from denial in terms of finding gluten-free foods that taste the same (to answer your question). I figure if I try just one other thing, it might be the right recipe. I’m actually glad I didn’t give up. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have tried your chocolate cake recipes. They taste just like the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted. Your sister’s pastry flour blend is another example. And like I said before, the search is over for me for spaghetti pasta (Trader Joes corn pasta taste exactly the same). Up until recently, I had been putting spaghetti sauce on tasteless white rice pasta.
But, I can see how something like peanut butter would be impossible. I’m sorry that an exact alternative doesn’t exist.
I actually really like Sunbutter, but I agree we can’t expect each product to be an exact replacement. In the end though feeling healthy is better than having the peanut butter or the pizza.
Very true! Feeling better and no reactions is the important part, we can live without the foods and keeping a good attitude is so important.