Gluten Free, R U?: July 2021

Sunday, July 11, 2021

Stouffer’s Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese

Many of my online gluten free “friends” were very excited for this new offering in the gluten free world.

I am not a huge macaroni & cheese fan but since going gluten free, I have actually eaten more of it than when I was still eating gluten. So when I found this at Wegmans I decided to pick it up and try it.

Well it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great as I was hoping it would be. I would say the number one thing I didn’t like was its gritty texture. I was surprised too since most gluten free foods have figured out how to not be gritty but this felt that way to me. I did do the microwave method to make it so perhaps the oven method would turn out differently.

I know that photos on the boxes for food are never what the food will look like when you make it at home and this was true here too. There was sooooo much cheese. I feel like I shouldn’t complain about that :) but a little more pasta would be nice so it was a little more filling. Mind you we did divide the supposed single serving into two. I guarantee I could never eat one of these on my own and not just because that would be 450 calories but it would just be too much cheese.

I am curious if anyone else has tried this and how they liked it or not.

Thursday, July 1, 2021

Wegmans Gluten Free Pretzel Sticks

So I first must point out that I haven't eaten any pretzels in over 1.5 years. When I decided to lose weight I knew the number one thing I had to give up was pretzels and really the only thing I had to give up. They are my kryptonite and guess what? They still are.

The crunch, the salt, the stick form, all of it. I LOVE pretzels and these are pretty good, if a little generic. I don't like saying that because it sounds really bad and to some it might be. But I like a generic pretzel. My favorite pretzel doesn't exist anymore once they changed their recipe - as they said to make them healthier. It's a pretzel, it is not supposed to be healthy.

Anyway, for $2.99 and I had a $1 off coupon, these are a great buy. However, I can never buy them again, as the bag didn't even make it a week. There is no way I can eat just 33 pretzels as a serving. Sad but true. At least I know my kryptonite and can choose to avoid it.

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.