And if you take a look at our little bio thing, you'll see the word "crazy" there. Yeah, right next to "culinary". And after that is the word "adventures". Well, I'm writing this because I want to share a crazy culinary adventure of mine. One that makes even my best friends look at me as if I'm some person that just told them I was going to climb Mount Everest.
"Why on EARTH would you do something like that?"
My answer is actually quite similiar to someone that might climb Mt. Everest. For the challenge.
I love challenges, though I think that a good many people don't know that, even my closest companions.
Perhaps because I tend to be feminine and appear to not be adventurous.
And maybe that is in part true, I mean, I'm definitely feminine in that I really like wearing dresses...but I'm also quite adventurous in that I wear a knife underneath that dress. But maybe that's not good enough for you. Maybe you need some more proof of my adventurous spirit.
It's very true, I'm not the dare devil and do-it-or-die type, but I'm more of the on-going, long term adventurer.
So today, what is my adventure?
Starting, yikes, only 5 days ago, I went gluten free for a month. (Do you all know what gluten is? In essence, it's "A substance present in cereal grains, esp. wheat, that is responsible for the elastic texture of dough."
Wheat, spelt, all that bread that you eat and all those cookies you consume are filled with it. My Dad's actually GF, because it really helps him with headaches, though the main harbinger to his aches would be wheat, so he stays away from that avidly.
And therefore, I'm quite used to gluten free menus and have even gone a month without gluten every now and then to support my Dad and rid myself of gluten nasties.
With that in mind, going gluten free for me isn't much of a challenge then, now is it? I've done it plenty of times before and even enjoy it!
"So, what could I add to make it harder?" thought I.
It was while I was on a walk with my Mother and we were discussing just really how bad sugar is when I said, "You know, since school is going to be starting and I really don't need sugary foods wearing my metabolism down, I think I'm going to go sugar free for a month...and gluten free." Mom immediately said she would team up with me and after we set the date for starting (October 21st) it began to sink in just how much we wouldn't be able to eat.
"Apple..apple pie..." I said forlornly, but then I remembered that apple crisp is just as good and can easily be made gluten free and really, apples are sweet enough themselves without sugar, so I perked up.
What really got me hard though, like, really hard, was the ice cream factor.
Ice cream, I believe I've said before, is my life. I guess I was wrong though, because here I am, 5 days without ice cream and I'm still alive.
We talked to a close friend about it and she said she'd like to do it to, and then Mattea jumped in (little did she know the temptations she'd face as she began working at a banquet, therefore, pastry filled museum!)
And Misha also joined, though only for the gluten free part, "I'm not going sugar free." And maybe she's the only sane one among us. I don't know.
Now, I wasn't going to write about it, because I think that people sometimes think that going gluten free and sugar free puts me at the top of the hierarchy of health. And it's sometimes assumed that we are know-it-alls, health guru's, snobbish and wealthy because we can afford the gluten free stuff.
All of that, completely. not. true.
When you're gluten free, you will have to pay a little more for the gluten free stuff, but that's why I proposed going sugar free as well. Because eating gluten free is so easy nowadays, we can get any kind of junk with the label "gluten free "and though that's great for people that are allergic and all, it's just an excuse for non-allergic people to buy yummy snacks at a higher price while looking healthy!
With the dismissal of sugar, you're getting rid of a lot of options.
And I've been feeling it.
So what are some pros of going gluten free and sugar free (besides the obvious)?
Well, I'm beginning to really appreciate foods just for their honest tastes. Mom made baked, spiced, apple's sliced dish last night for dessert. There were a few GF oats on top of it, lots of nutmeg and cinnamon and apples. Purely apple taste was heavenly. I couldn't stop eating it!
And before that, Mom experimented with paleo pumpkin bars, they tasted like pumpkin pie filling and were good, but probably only because I've been sugar deprived. I don't know if a sugar eater would like them. But I certainly did! So honest taste appreciation is something that I've gained so far.
Another pro would be that you're not tempted to overeat, especially at my house. Because everything that is qualified for me to eat, is also open game for everyone else and therefore is quickly consumed.
When I get up in the morning, (5:25am is the usual), I'm quite awake and I've had good dreams...I have no idea if that has anything to do with it...but whatever! And I no longer get those, "Oh, I'm so full" feelings, because there really isn't much to eat.
Yeah, it's hard, but I am enjoying it.
Going to friend's houses and my Grandma's weekly soup night are definitely much harder. In fact, last Monday, my first full day of GF and SF, was also the night that Grandma hosts soup night. Which is soup and then bread, crackers, chips, and APPLE CRISP!!! It was so hard to keep myself from thinking about that crisp that I seriously went straight up to the house after my last bowl of soup and didn't even say goodbye. I know. It's weird.
But I had to get out of there, I couldn't cave on my first day! I think it will be easier next week, because I now have the assurance that Mom can make some wicked good desserts without gluten and without sugar but with lots of love. :)
To finish up this post, I'm just going to give a brief overview of stuff that I eat:
Breakfast has been eggs, scrambled or made into spinach and ham omelets every day. I might eventually get tired of that, but for now I'm good!
Lunch is either leftovers, or...leftovers. :) I think that yesterday I had an omelet for lunch instead of one for breakfast though, because I didn't eat breakfast that morning. We bought some hummus, a big bunch of it, and a huge head of cauliflower so I hope to enjoy that for lunch sometime soon, like tomorrow. Or whenever we don't have leftovers for lunch.
Dinner has been burgers, (without buns and ketchup) steamed veggies like broccoli and peppers, lots of rice with meat and broth, roasted cauliflower, baked sweet potatoes, and of course, salad.
Snacks would be GF and SF rice cakes with all natural, organic peanut butter, and unsweetened applesauce.
I think I should mention one last thing too. It's not just getting rid of refined sugar, but other natural sweeteners as well. No honey, agave, or maple syrup. Though I think that if I were to want to continue after the month is up, I'd ease in some honey to sweeten things up. Meanwhile though, you obviously can't escape sugar, it's necessary. So bananas and apples are great fruits to use as sweeteners because they really are quite sweet!
And that wraps up today's post, just something you might find interesting and a good background in case I post a gluten free and sugar free recipe sometime soon. :)
