Three Weeks now

For the ONE person who is actually reading my blogs (and persuaded me to start doing this), here is an update on our gluten-free lifestyle. It is now three weeks since we started abstaining from wheat, barley and rye, and I think it has been positive. Bill says he feels better, and is having a lot less flatulence (and less stinky). I have lost some weight, although I have to admit that I am not 100% sure that is because of being gluten-free. I have to give a lot of credit to the lap-band because I am certainly limited on how much I can eat at a time!

I have made several gluten-free dishes that we have both liked, although Tim hasn't cared for them much - except for the Hawaiian Dream Drop Cookies! He didn't care for the Banana-Pineapple cake, although Bill and I both like it. So far the dishes I have made include Tamale Pie, Chicken with Noodles (gluten-free of course), Fruited Rice with Chicken, and Tuna Casserole. I have also made of couple of our traditional dishes that I knew didn't have gluten in them - Chicken Stew and Lima Beans with Ham Hocks.

We have also purchased several things from the health-food store that are gluten-free. I particularly liked the ranch-flavored crackers, and Bill has fallen in love with the shortbread cookies. I finally found a teriyaki marinade that is gluten-free (most of them have soy sauce in them and that contains wheat) and I have found a line of bars that are gluten-free and pretty tasty - Larabars. I particularly like their cherry pie and cinnamon roll flavors.

However, I have to remind myself that gluten-free is not necessarily low-calorie. When I was in San Diego I made a pig of myself with the two boxes of See's candy that my cousin provided - as I had gone on-line to find out that See's is gluten-free (at least their prepackaged boxes of candy). I have also given up (temporarily) on going lactose-free as well as gluten-free. I find dealing with one deletion from our diet is enough to handle right now - but I have it hovering in the back of my mind that I may have to give up chocolate in the long run.

Gluten-free is also not a cheap way to eat - at least at the start. All the specialty flours get expensive, although they last for a while. Funny - I haven't really missed bread at all. We bought some gluten-free brands but I don't care much for them. Of course, with the lap-band I wasn't eating much bread before either.

Oops - running out of time. I'll post again later - just for YOU, daughter dear.