5 DAYS OF GLUTEN-FREE EATING

The more time I spend learning about my son, the way he thinks, behaves, and reacts to the world around him combined with the new knowledge I've gained about nutrition, health and how food really effects the body (thank you Dr. Oz, running magazine and CHERAB foundation) I've decided to swim in REALLY deep waters and try going GLUTEN-FREE for a whole month, starting with just 5 days.

Sometimes even having really great resources (like the internet) available isn't enough to make you change your family's eating habits. Why? Three main reasons I found:

1. Energy: Let's face it, its A LOT of work. It takes planning, organizing meals, finding the right substitute ingredients and TIME. As mom who is already very busy and likes quick convenient meals I admit that putting the energy into this is overwhelming and daunting to me. 
2. Comfort: I admit that I've become comfortable with my style of grocery shopping. I know what to get, where to get it and how much it's typically going to cost. However, this does not mean that I'm buying quality food for my kids or myself.
3. Laziness: Ouch I said it! It's easy to throw frozen nuggets in the oven with yogurt and baby carrots for a quick lunch. In other words, sin aka complacency/laziness can affect even mom's meal planning or lack thereof.

 Okay so here's where I begin: First, I decide that even if I don't see a huge change in his behavior I know I'm feeding my kids healthier food. Second, I have get over my QUANTITY vs. QUALITY hurdle. Yes, its hard for me to spend $4.00 on a box of Gluten-free cereal when I can buy a double quantity at Costco for $7.00-- $6.00 with my coupon. Thirdly, I take one-hour away from my "unwind time" after I come home from working at night and instead of watching TV or reading I plan meals carefully and figure out my ingredients. I'm not starting out with a month of meals planned. Actually its just 5 days. Why? Because I'm gone 5 nights a week. This means that for 5 nights meals need to be planned ahead of time so my husband is not left hanging on the question, "What do I feed the kids?" Also I can drop whatever meals we all liked to a grand list of family dinners.

Three things to remember for encouragement:

1. The more I learn new recipes and new ingredients, the easier it will be to make them.
2. The more time I spend shopping at the health food store the quicker and more efficient I will be with the time and energy it takes to go shopping.
3. It will be fun to try new things and even if a dinner goes terribly wrong there's always "pancake night" to save the day ;) With gluten-free flower of course.

*on a side note I'm not introducing new meals to my family just yet because I do have picky eaters, I'm just changing those foods they like into healthier homemade versions that are GLUTEN-FREE.


Examples of wheat products and foods that may contain wheat include:

Wheat Products	Wheat-Containing Ingredients	Wheat-Containing Food
Whole wheat or enriched flour High gluten flour High protein flour Bran Farina Graham flour Bulgur Durum Semolina Wheat malt Wheat starch Modified starch Starch	Gluten Gelatinized starch Hydrolyzed vegetable protein Vital gluten Wheat bran Wheat germ Wheat gluten Vegetable gum Vegetable starch	Many breads, cookies, cakes, and other baked goods Bread crumbs Crackers Many cereals Acker meal Couscous Cracker meal Pasta Spelt

Substitutes for wheat include corn, potato, barley, oat, soy, and rice flours and arrowroot starch.