My New GF (0)
So this weekend I went 100% gluten-free. Yeah, that's my new GF—not "girlfriend", but "gluten-free". My Sweetie & I spent a good part of Saturday afternoon sweeping the kitchen of all the foodstuffs with hidden (and unhidden) glutens, inspired by a great article at Karina's Kitchen that Ainsley found online. (Isn't she great? :)
Ainsley had already done some GF shopping on Saturday, but I went ahead again tonight. Lots of fresh fruit, veggies, meat, eggs, etc.—all good stuff... but still I kind of wanted to cry (but being the Manly Man that I am, of course I did not). To complicate things, I am trying to go entirely milk-free for the first couple months, after which I will see if I can reintroduce it; this meant that I had to find viable replacements for the few milkful items I still use, notably coffee creamer and butter. This is an affront to my Swedish heritage—not only am I giving up all the marvelous breads and cookies, but butter! <sigh/> I still shudder at the thought of the new fakey margarine that is newly lurking in my fridge.
Of course, there are some great benefits I expect out of this effort. First and foremost, of course, is that I expect to feel so much better. Not only will I not be destroying my digestion by "pouring Draino down my gut" (in the words of a new friend), but I will be eating unprocessed, fresh, "real" food all the time. I'll probably lose a few pounds, then gain some muscle as I can get back to regular exercise. And hopefully there will be some financial benefits too, as I no longer have the luxury of eating out willy-nilly when I don't feel like packing a lunch for work. And I'll get to spend more time at home cooking and eating with my Sweetie.
Anyway, that's that I guess. Two days down, and many more to go. Stay tuned for more updates on the transition (yes, reader, I intend to post here more often ;). Now I'm off to munch some fresh cherries and cook up some BBQ pulled chicken for tomorrow's lunch. To your health!
