Gluten Free, R U?: May 2021

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Partake Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had heard about Partake cookies from a few online people and they were a Facebook ad more times that I would like to see.

So when I was placing an order at Vitacost and had a great percent deal off my order, I decided to add the chocolate chip cookie from Partake, as I like to try different chocolate chip cookies.

Let's just start with, I am glad they were inexpensive with my Vitacost deal. I personally do not think they are worth the price even when I got them so much less.

For one I expected a larger cookie, they are more like nuggets or like the mound of dough you place on the cookie sheet to make a full sized cookie. I did get momentarily excited, after the shock of the cookie size wore off, that it would taste like cookie dough... it does not. Actually it doesn't really taste like anything.

It is very hard, crumbly, dry and dense. Also one of the cookies out of the three I ate only had a small piece of chocolate in it, so that was definitely not good for a chocolate chip cookie.

I am really sad. I don't like to not like things but these cookies seem like a step back in the gluten free world. Although I have to say since they are free of so much, they are hopefully perfect for someone who needs to have a cookie without all the other things in them.

I am 100% aware that everyone has different tastes and likes and I am sure this is someone's favorite cookie but it unfortunately is not mine.

My gluten free history

When I turned 30 years old, I started to gain weight that I couldn't lose and I was getting back to back colds. The final straw was I got bronchitis and I had to take an antibiotic to help me get better. The side effect for 4% of people on this antibiotic was gastrointestinal issues. Yes, I was part of that 4%. The medicine basically stripped away whatever had been protecting me through my first 30 years of life. You see I have always had gastrointestinal issues since I can remember. My father also had the same issues and my paternal grandmother too. I was so sick from the medicine (or so I thought) that I had to go back to the doctor and do a series of tests. During this time I was following the BRAT diet (Banana, rice, a, toast). Saltines and toast were my go to comfort, little did I know they were NOT what I should be eating. My co-worker gave me an article about food allergies and there was a quiz. You only needed to answer 4 of the 8 questions with yes to fall under their designation and I had answered 6 of the 8 with yes. I was on my way. My husband and I cleaned out all our cabinets of the 7 allergens… all that was left was rice. After a few weeks, I was feeling somewhat better when I stayed at a home where they told me to eat whatever was in the fridge. I saw the rice and started eating. Within a hour I was violently ill. I couldn't understand. I took the rice with me to work the next day and when I told my other co-worker about my issue she asked to see the rice. It was orzo… pasta… gluten/wheat filled pasta! I had my first allergen to check off the list as being an issue. It turned out at the time dairy and eggs were also triggers but I have since been able to add them back. My husband and I went on a full gluten free diet and within a few months I had lost my weight, stopped living in my bathroom, looked healthy and was not terrified to eat things any more. Now it has been 15 years and while I have gained some weight back (darn those yummy gluten free cookies and pretzels) my issues are still in check and I couldn't be happier to figure out what was wrong with my body and be able to fix it.