OK folks, Kristin here. Still doing my best to keep any wheat at least 10 feet from my mouth at all times, and OMG is it ever hard!!! I am doing OK. I have moments of weakness. Like last night, when I inhaled not one, but TWO huge bowls of Fruity Pebbles with milk; leftovers from a sleepover my daughter had Saturday night.
But most of the time, the sacrifice is ABSOLUTELY worth it, and not impossible to do. My sister mentioned my "new way" to a friend of hers the other day, and that friend has been gluten-free for 10 years - and she emailed my sis a long list of GF products she loves! VERY helpful to me, so I'm sharing here. It's tough to know where to start, yes?
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Kristin, I hear you've gone GF. Thought I'd pass on some tips to you.
Glorious GF items I cannot live without:
Pamela's Pancake Mix (not only can you make mmmm pancakes, but also muffins, cakes, scones, cookies!)
Tinkyada pasta (in a variety of shapes, plus lasagna). I think Tinkyada is the best, but Mrs. Leepers and Lundbergs isn't bad. Also, there's a place in Hayward (I think) that makes their own GF goods under the name of Grandma Ferdon.
The best GF bread is Udi's bread. It's pricey. Buy if for yourself (it's worth it) and give the rest of your fam regular bread. It's best toasted.
Pamela's brownie and cake mix. Ridiculously delicious!
Vicolo cornmeal pizza crusts (in the frozen food section at the Coop), I think, are very good.
The Coop also sells some GF desserty items. Their flourless chocolate cake is to die for. They also have muffins & other baked goods.
Diamond rice crackers - crispy and great with cheese or dipped in hummus.
There's a variety of other snacks that are GF too. They are really expensive. I usually only buy the when they are on sale. There's some yummy lentil crackers in different flavors too.
Bob's Red Mill Hot cereal - if'n yer missin' oatmeal.
You can also grind brown rice (in coffee or spice grinder) and make hot cereal with that.
eNergy (or something like that) makes bread. It's gawdawful! Don't buy it, however their pretzels (regular and sesame) are quite good. Glutino makes good pretzels too - but be prepared to pay!
If you haven't heard of the Gluten-free Goddess, you'll wanna check it out. Good luck! Have fun! It's a whole new world. You're going to discover things you would have never discovered otherwise.
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Hope this is helpful, ladies! Anyone still out there? How about Sarah? How are things? See you at Book Club Thursday? :o)
I also should mention that I did post a l-o-n-g, ranting post on my own blog about both the Wheat Belly stuff and also about the Four Basic Rules of Dieting, which is what I am following now and it's still TOTALLY working for me. I haven't gained anything back yet - and I'm SO motivated, and I have SO MUCH @#$%* energy with little to no wheat clogging up my system - that I know I'm going to hit my final goal by Christmas!!!
Anyone who wants to read my long rant can find it at: http://otherblatantlies.blogspot.com/
Soldier on, ladies! Anxious to hear how you're all doing! How many followers do we have?
Hi Kristin, I'm still here but I am totally off the diet bandwagon. I would like to join you on the eliminating wheat, but I strongly suspect that Frosted Mini Wheats have wheat in them and I can't face giving them up. And also Chex Mix. CHEX MIX! Hopefully I will find my motivation soon.
ReplyDeleteSarah
OMG, I forgot about Chex Mix. I can't give up Chex Mix. Dana has me make her a huge roaster pan of Chex Mix every Thanksgiving (and Christmas) with nothing but Wheat Chex and the buttery garlic-goo. My grandma had the best Chex Mix recipe EVER! If you ever want to try it, here it is. (I'm gonna go make some Chex Mix now.)
ReplyDeleteDUmp the following into a big-ass roaster pan:
1 box Wheat Chex
1 box Crispix (OR half a box Rice Chex and half a box Corn Chex)
1 bag pretzel sticks
1 bag Fritos
optional: 1 can mixed nuts
Buttery garlic-goo sauce:
1 pound butter (melt 4 sticks in a medium saucepan)
add:
3 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
4 teaspoons garlic powder
3 teaspoons celery salt
mix well, until salts are dissolved
Toss stuff evenly in roaster pan, without crushing everything into pulp, and evenly drizzle the goo over the top - and then toss again, coating everything with goo.
Bake for 7-8 hours at very low oven temp - when I'm hanging out near the oven all day, I set it just under 200 degrees. It actually dehydrates the goo into the dry stuff, and everything is much crispier when it's baked on low for a longer time. Make sure you toss everything a bunch of times the first two hours... otherwise your butter goo will scorch to the bottom of the pan, and there is NOTHING worse than throwing out a huge, blackened roaster pan full of burned Chex Mix!!!
You can also bake it faster at 300 degrees...for about 3 hours...BUT you must stir it every 15 minutes or so the first hour to avoid scorching, and every 30 minutes after that. I very much prefer how it turns out doing it the long way. Sometimes I even do it over-night! I pop it in a 175-degree oven at bedtime, making sure to stir it off and on for about 45 minutes, then go to bed. It's PERFECT when I wake up! Voila - Chex Mix for breakfast!!! :o)