The Bad: I wanted to love Chick fil a for making a gluten free bun but they hyped it too much. They talked about how they worked so long and so hard with a bakery to get it just right. The owner of the bakery was even gluten free. I still doubted because if you’ve ever eaten gluten free bread, you know it sucks. So last week I took the plunge and gave that bun a try. Now I wish I had not. The bun comes in an individual plastic wrapper and you make the sandwich yourself. That made me nervous as I wondered how long they had it hanging around. While I have to say it wasn’t disgusting, to say it was a good bun, was a long stretch. Very long. If you like full wheat grain bread you would like it better. It kind of has a dirt texture and basically tasted like a stale whole grain wheat bun. I wouldn’t order again.

The Ugly: Canyon Bakery bread. Celiac site said oh it’s great. Hmmmm NO. If you like nasty, spongy, weird tasting bread it was delish for only $6 a loaf. I looked and they are one of the sponsors of the celiac website. That explains a lot.

The Good: If you’re gluten free you’re likely like me and have given up on bread. A good one haven’t found it’s way to me in the past. However, I found one this week that I would buy again and recommend. Not only is the bread good, but the name and descriptions crack me up. It’s called HAPPY CAMPER BREAD. I ordered the Classy Slice and it was good. It actually made my to date, favorite grilled cheese. I also tried the Buckwheat molasses and it made great toast. In fact it’s rare to find a GF bread that will actually toast but it does. Next week I’ll be trying to Hemp Hemp Horray. Crazy name but I think it will be good. It’s pricey but so is any gluten free bread and this is one you can eat.

Have a blessed day.

Being gluten free means so much pre planning. I have to know what I have for breakfast and lunch so it’s ready to go. Not too hard as I can simply make some grilled chicken for a few days at a time or slice ham in advance.

Today I was enlightened. Everyone was ordering Chick Fil A and asked what I wanted before remembering I can’t eat gluten. But hey, did you know? When I looked it turns out Chick Fil A offers a gluten free bun. It’s individually packaged so it doesn’t touch other buns and comes sealed so you have to assemble your own sandwich. I called and they also said while not a gluten free environment, the waffle fries are in a dedicated fryer and gluten free and so is the grilled chicken breast.

So while I know I chance a slight gluten cross contamination, it’s Chick Fil A. I’ll let you know how it was after lunch.

Well, my doctor feels almost certain I have celiac disease. My prior tests came back inconclusive so rather than pay for those high price tests again, we are trying 30 days gluten free. So far even after the second day I see a difference.

Gluten free isn’t near as easy as you would think. It is close to impossible to eat out or use pre-made foods unless you ask a thousand questions but that’s ok as I’m not really into processed pre-made foods all that much. While it would be much easier to make a list of things I’d eat than it would things I won’t, I am trying to convince myself to try new foods. I will miss Chinese but msg is a main gluten ingredient so . . . . .

I am discovering some things I wouldn’t have thought of. Gluten free waffles made at home are much crisper and light than regular waffles. Bacon is gluten free thank goodness and most sausage is nowadays also as many companies are leaving out the msg. I found McDonalds will cook your eggs in a pan if you tell them you are allergic to gluten so you can still eat there.

I am trying very hard to make myself like sweet potatoes and while it’s not going that well I did try making twice baked sweet potatoes. OMG I loved them. They were even better heated up as I put it under the broiler and the bacon got so crunchy. I’m sure they are a lot more fattening that way but so tasty.

By the way I also discovered that while most restaurants offer a gluten free menu you better ask. I was surprised I could eat gluten free at Olive Garden. I thought I’d get the steak and potato dish but it’s gone from the menu so I ordered the gluten free pasta dish. Oh I should have asked. There is fairly good gluten free pasta out and I assumed they would just cook in a separate. NOPE. It comes to them pre-packaged and precooked. They just microwave the pouch of noodles and pouch of sauce and put it on a plate for a whopping $15.99. I made it thru 2 bites and just couldn’t. It was absolutely disgusting.

Breakfast today was a sausage pattie and over easy egg. Lunch was a grilled burger with no bun topped with grilled onions and that leftover sweet potato – very tasty.

Now I’m off to decide on lunch tomorrow.

I had high hopes that 2021 might be a much better year but it’s looking kinda iffy. With Biden coming in office making so many mandates and so much mis-information on Covid, I doubt much will change. Government wants to shut down businesses and ban travel. Bottom line, we are ruining people’s lives. But I leave that debate for another day as I try not to hash out politics I can’t change. Wait for the next election and hope people vote wiser.

But what changes for the common man, or woman in this case? Not a lot. I live a pretty quiet life. Some might call it boring but I’ve done enough in my younger years that quiet or boring is ok with me. I take care of my job, my house and my pups and that’s a good life. I get to see my sexy sister and her handsome hubby and couple times a year so that’s just icing on my cake.

One thing I hope to be able to change is how I handle my RA. Another walk in visit and it’s decided gluten is an issue so I am going to try my best to cut out gluten. Funny when I tell medical people that they are, it’s not a try, you have to do it. I do understand that it’s a food allergy just like any other and that you’re damaging your body eating it, but avoiding things like berries or certain meds is a whole lot easier than avoiding gluten. It’s in nearly everything you eat. You literally have to read every single label and do a lot of research. For instance, oatmeal is naturally gluten free so you’d think ok oatmeal is good. Nope. It’s usually contaminated with other things they process so you have to buy gluten free oatmeal which by the way costs almost twice as much. Doesn’t make sense to me that I have to pay more for it not to be cross contaminated. If I buy chicken I don’t expect it to be contaminated with fish. You don’t have to go in and ask for fish free chicken.

If you amble across this blog feel free to read along on the new endeavor. I’ll post what’s good, what’s bad and maybe even learn to like new foods. I wouldn’t bet money on the last one as I don’t like most foods. Well off to plan a make ahead gluten free breakfast.