Sad to see.....

Last week I was wandering down the local Dillons cereal aisle and noticed the "new" gluten free Rice Krispies cereal is on clearance and they are not to be carrying it anymore...:(  Dislike!  I hope this isn't the same in all Dillons and Walmart stores. Bought a few boxes to stock up one since I had coupons...yes, this girl has a hard time buying anything without a coupon :)

A Great Day to Go Shopping....

A great day to go shopping....NOT!  I don't know if it was the weather or just last minute Christmas shopping, but the traffic was insane today on the east side.  About made me drive to the local bar instead of the local Starbucks.  (I did choose the latter of those two, just in case you were wondering.)  My friend and I ate at HuHot (which has gluten free options) and then went to the new Natural Grocers that I talked about in my previous post.  What a wonderful store and a great selection of gluten free items!  And guess what, my wish was granted!  They carry Against the Grain products!  Something I thought I would never see unless I drove down to Dallas or went out east.  I guess they supply to this chain, which is a bonus for all GF friends.  You need to try this line of food.  I also saw that several of the GF items that I buy on a regular basis were cheaper than any other natural food store in the area and also cheaper than Dillons.  So excited for something like this to come to town!

Adventures in Turkey Shopping

Took me awhile this morning to pick out a turkey at Dillons.  The cheapest ones they had were the JennyO turkeys for 79 cents a pound.  Warning-these are not gluten free, says so right on the ingredient list.  JennyO does have gluten free turkeys, just not the ones on sale right now at Dillons. This is what makes it hard to go to other peoples houses to eat dinner, especially during the holidays, not knowing what brand of turkey they bought or what they marinated their turkey with. Please don't take offense if I don't eat anything that you serve.
  I ended up buying Butterball Premium :)  Can't wait to have my GF Thanksgiving dinner, takes a little extra work, but it is all worth it in the end.  (

Chocolate GF Goodness-Do I Need to Say More...

Towards the end of a rainy, yet well rested weekend, I ventured to Dillons to get a few things that I needed to complete outp pantry. As I walked towards the bakery section, which is usually the place that I just skip altogether in any grocery store setting, I happened to glance at the clearance rack. My anxious eyes leared towards the bottom of this rack and to my surprise I found Udi's Double Chocolate Chip Muffins on sale, not just any sale, a "let's mark these down cuz they are about to expire and we need to get them off our shelf" type of sale. Now let me tell you how excited I was to find these on this rainy Sunday night. I appreciate any kind of sale on GF food items, since they rob you blind. Normally these chocolate muffins would run your $6.99 for four. They were marked 50% and I snatched those bad boys and guarded them with my life as I gathered the rest of my items and moved my way to the front of the store to check out.

It is always interesting to see how some cashiers react when you purchase GF foods. I am talking about the types that seem to examine EVERY item that comes down that moving belt to the scanner...And talk about every item and let me know if they have tried it or not. I find it humerous when a get a cashier that, when ringing up a gf pizza, states "Oh, I heard about this gluten free thing, I need to try it. I need to start eating healthier". Well, yes, I think to myself, it is healthy in ways, but you can still get fat eating GF double chocolate muffins...Then you get the cashiers that state, "You eat gluten free? No wonder why you are so skinny." First of all, I am not that skinny. I have curves and I like them thank you very much. And secondly, some gf flours that are found in GF items actually have a higher fat content than wheat flour. So no, in not all ways am I eating healthier, just different than you. And I don't have a choice....I wish I did, I would be a little poor when grocery shopping every other week.

When I returned home from this wonderful shopping trip, I was unloading my paper sack full of groceries that were the ones intended for the trip. The last thing that I unloaded was those wonderful muffins and my husband states, "Now I know what took you so long at the store." I just looked at him with those lustful eyes of mine and stated "It was so worth it"......

6 Years of Adjustment

6 years ago marked a time in my life when all things food changed. I know you are probably thinking that this was due to diabetes, weight loss, cholesterol, etc. But no, it was something called celiac disease. At this time, which would have been 2005, when you told a person of this disease, it was unheard of. You would have to explain what is it and give the same detailed explanation of what a gluten free diet entails (yes, this is the only cure). I can't complain considering it is a disease that is treatable, if you stick to a gluten free diet. And yet, of all places in the world, I live in Kansas, the wheat state of the USA. This would be like living in Wisconsin and not being able to eat cheese curds (For all my Wisconsin followers, you know what I am talking about).

After explaining celiac disease to everyone, the next question that is ALWAYS asked is "What happens if you do eat something with gluten in it?" And most of the time, I tell them that they would not want to know, for reason of not embarrassing myself or them. For those of you that have been around someone that is gluten intolerant and accidentally consumes it, you know what happens and you would understand why I say the above.

Over that last 6 years, I wonder how many times I have explained my disease. It has become ALOT easier as the years go on due to many GF foods that are available at your local Dillons grocery store. I have learned many new recipes and ways to prepare food, as well as handling celiacs in public places such as restaurants and even such events as weddings (which are the most awkward if you have celiacs). The popularity has even increased due to some unnamed celebrities that are "going gluten free".

The purpose of this blog is to talk about my everyday experiences with living gluten free and for people to ask questions. Everyday I have several people I know ask me for my input on celiac disease due to them having a newly diagnosed family member or they are thinking that they themselves may be gluten intolerant. So please ask away....

It is possible to be gluten free and happy, even if you do live in the wheat state.