The blog has been “dark” for a few weeks now (to borrow a show biz term). I haven’t posted anything in a while because I’ve been a bit distracted by some changing food events within my house.
A few weeks ago it came to our attention that our three year old is allergic to wheat, more specifically (or broadly depending on your perspective) to gluten. Or maybe it’s a gluten intolerance and not an allergy. Or maybe it’s celiac disease. I’m rapidly learning the technical differences among allergies, intolerances, and diseases. I’m also rapidly learning that the technical differences don’t really mean much of a darn when you’re trying to clean out the system of a three year old who just wants a bagel!
The simple truth is that my diet got put on hold because I have only so much brain space available to concentrate on food. I actually think I have significantly more brain space allocated to food than many people, but this has filled me to capacity. I’ve spent nearly all of my “spare time” these past couple of weeks baking gluten free brownies, cookies, cupcakes, sweet quick-breads, and cakes. I’ve been sampling boxes and boxes of crackers while trying to see if there is anything that can compare with a Chez-it or matzo with margarine on it to a three year old. At one point I basically deep-fried a grilled cheese sandwich in butter to disguise the taste of the gluten free bread in the hopes that The Boy would eat it. He didn’t. I did. Oh well.
If nothing else these past few weeks have given me a well needed reminder of perspective. Yeah, I may be 15 pounds and two pant sizes more than I’d like to be. But I’m an adult and I get to indulge in my love/hate relationship with food at my leisure. My son is 3 years old and it’s my job to nurture him and make sure the foods he eats can nurture his body, not slowly and gently poison it. Food for him isn’t a pleasure or indulgence. It’s what is going to either help him grow big and strong or make him feel tired and uncoordinated.
If anyone’s stumbled onto this post because I’ve use the phrase “gluten free” enough to get a search engine’s attention let me say that I have no idea what I’m talking about so please don’t take anything I say to mean anything factual. I’m at a culinary loss here and essentially starting from scratch. It’s good that I have the cooking experience I do and the love of the process that I do, because that’s all that I’ve got going for me when I face the prospect of cooking for my boy right now.
He’s sort of a picky eater to begin with so I don’t have much to work with. But, I have got good instincts, practiced kitchen skills, an an enthusiasm for food related adventure. Hopefully, when those things combine I’ll have some justification for the somewhat baseless optimism I have at the moment.
So, the question this situation begs is what do these culinary constraints and philosophical shifting mean to this blog? There are an awful lot of great gluten free cooking blogs out there. And, as I said, I don’t actually know what I’m doing here so it’s going to be a while before I have many practiced successes in gluten free baking to post. It also seems that many of my followers were on board for the “not getting fat again” agenda but my weigh-ins and weight-loss goals have taken a backseat to my son’s diet related concerns.
I guess, I’m open to suggestion. Is it time for a change or to pack it in for a while? I suppose it’s my blog so I can do what I want. Funny… I wonder what that’s going to be…
I think this would be another wonderful facet to the blog, documenting these challenges. Nothing has changed, really; you’re trying to stay as healthful as you can, and that includes the boy. If you have the energy, keep it up! Your experiences could be invaluable to someone else. Cheers!
I agree with the first Susan (funny, I always thought of myself as the first Susan). I think you should write about your journey. I know there are plenty of people out there who can relate!
Ditto the two Susans. The blog has been your creative outlet for almost a year. Try to stay with it, but only if you can do it without stressing and setting yourself back.
If you don’t own a breadmaker already, you want to get one immediately. Or ask someone to give you one this holiday season. Good luck.
I agree with your other readers (hi, fellow readers!). I think *IF* you have the energy for it, you can use this blog to document your journey into this brave, new world of gluten-free cooking.
I have been trying to give up wheat in solidarity with my son, who is also wheat/gluten intolerant. Just this past weekend, there wasn’t enough GF pasta for our lunches, so I had the ‘regular’ pasta, my first wheat in over a week. Within a half an hour, I couldn’t keep my eyes open! It’s a beautiful fall day, 65 degrees out, 1:00 in the afternoon, and I’m asleep on the couch!! 🙁
To me, this was a clear indication that, while I don’t have a typical ‘allergic’ reaction to wheat, I should continue to avoid it. It spikes (then crashes) my bloodsugar, my normal spunky energy is drained away, and it fogs up my brain. We probably ALL should be avoiding wheat…. it’s what you’d call “empty calories”, I’m afraid. There are better, more nutrient-rich ways to get carbs and fiber; like crunchy veggies, whole fruits, seeds and nuts, and healthier grains. It’s not as easy and readily available to eat gluten-free (how many bagels have I had, in my lifetime? impossible to count…), but I certainly FEEL better when I go out of my way to avoid the stuff.
So I’m eager to see how you incorporate being gluten-free for your son, into your meals and baking, and your own health journey. As much as this change has been spurred on by your son, this will probably also have a positive impact on your health, as well!
🙂
You might explore Dr William Davis’ book Wheat Bellly. He would probably tell you to ditch the wheat too.
You’d help your son and loose weight at the same time. Beware of the special “gluten free products.” There’s a lot of empty carbs there and likely you could find naturally gluten free foods that he would eat and thrive on.