Guest Post: Highfalutin Gluten

Today we check in with gluten-free moral support buddy Olivia to see how she's doing on the fourth day of these two test weeks...

As you know, I jumped on the no-gluten train to help a friend in need. It is a train I’ve never been on, and I’m not sure I want to take it again. HOWEVER, it’s been very interesting and forced me to cook a little more than I usually do!

I went grocery shopping on Sunday, and there were no carts, so I just grabbed a basket. Not off to a great start. I got some sweet potatoes, peppers, onions, made my way to the rice and beans area, finished up (because I had to, basket was full) with some dairy. Cheese. It’s what’s for dinner.

I just sliced up the red, orange and yellow peppers and a couple onions, lathered them in olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted ‘em! And I sliced up a sweet potato and roasted that with olive oil separately as well. It all tasted delish and I had it for lunch the next couple of days at work.

Monday night we had originally planned a dinner out and it was sort of going to be a final hurrah before the beginning of the no-gluten adventure. The dinner was canceled, but I still wanted to be a bit gluten-ous. GET IT? So, I had a cheese quesadilla. I didn’t eat the whole thing, so took half home, and it continues to stare at me longingly from the fridge. I’m trying my best.

Breakfast has been the easiest. Oatmeal, almonds, milk. No gluten, check. I usually have a bowl of cereal, so that I’ve missed, but oatmeal is another staple, so that’s been grand!

Wednesday for dinner my boyfriend kindly obliged to the no-gluten plan and made us some eggs with chorizo, topped with provolone and some toasted tortillas (the tortillas were safe, I checked).

I skipped having a (wheat-ey) beer, and had some seltzer with lime and vodka (why not, it’s Wednesday, right?). Guess what happens when you haven’t had bread in a few days and then have a strong drink? It works.

WHEW. That one drink did some damage! Note to self: You like bread, and bread likes you.

Here we are at Thursday. I have a date with my mom and we’re going out to eat, but hopefully some salad will entice me so I can stay clean! Really, doing gluten free is not that difficult, especially with SO MANY gluten-free options these days. Plus I am interested to see if I start to feel differently after a week or two of it. But also after a week I might be okay with going back to bread (sorry Steph).

Here’s to new adventures in food and accepting challenges!

~Olivia