Gratitude: Food...

Source: paidcontent.org via Robin on Pinterest

It has been almost a full year since my Celiac disease diagnosis.

I know, right?!?! Time flies when you're having fun.

Prior to food causing me hours of pain forcing me to roll around and groan in a very unattractive manner, I was a good eater.

And prior to my job where I worked 60 + hours a week, aka 2003, I loved to cook.

I just flat ran out of time starting in 2004.

Loved good, healthy food. Loved the craptastic, cheap food too. Little Debbie snack cakes. Lucky Charms. And ridiculous amounts of pasta.

Now, for the most part, I get to eat just the healthy stuff.

Oh, there's plenty of craptastic food that's gluten-free. It's just not cheap.

Except for Fruity Pebbles. Those are cheap. And delicious. Also full of ingredients I can't pronounce so likely not at all beneficial.

Since my diagnosis, I have not been a great eater.

I have found some things I can eat and things I like and so I stick with those.

No pain = yes, thank you.

There have been a great deal of lessons learned along the way. Can't kiss Pumpkin after she's been eating a cracker. Just because there are no ingredients with gluten listed on the bag, it can still make you sick because of how and where it's processed. And after a while, I can honestly say I don't give bread, pasta, baked goods or being able to eat out anywhere much thought.

I have also gotten more emphatic about this. I now routinely tell the waiter/waitress that should the order be wrong, I will be sick for days. When someone asks if there's a cure, I politely as possible say See, it's a genetic thing so it's like any other genetic thing and there are no cures for genetic disorders. The treatment's way easy though. I eat the right foods.

We had two menu tastings at work last week and I got sick both days. Not awful but sick enough. That says "cross-contamination" to me. Had I eaten 1/22 of a bread crumb, I would have been much more unhappy. My comments back to them were full of statics like 2 million folks in the US with Celiac's. Or 1 in every 133 people. And at an event with 1,000+, I likely won't be the only one staring in fear at the buffet. Needless to say, we will be labeling the food on the buffet and in the menu with these two statements: No gluten ingredients included and Prepared in a kitchen where gluten ingredients are used.

Flour can travel pretty easily.

But lately, thanks to my dear friend Pinterest, I've been exploring some new recipes. I've found some that were naturally g-free and others I can substitute ingredients pretty easily. I've made two this week and have two more slated for this weekend.

Caramelized Chicken

Source: food.com via Robin on Pinterest

And Lemon Garlic Chicken...in the crockpot

Source: laaloosh.com via Robin on Pinterest

Both were absolutely fabulous. I think Chris even liked the Lemon Garlic one. Neither one took long to prepare.

This gives me hope. Hope I can find simple, delicious recipes to make that don't include six hundred different ingredients that I have to order online and in bulk.

Thank you Lord for the chance to explore new, healthy foods. And for Pinterest. It's a brilliant thing.