So Glad I Found You!

digitalcanuck

I was poking around and literally tripped upon this group. Thank goodness. Having like-minds is so important.

I am a celiac and my life is completely different from pre-diagnosis. Not just the absolute upheaval that occurred in my kitchen and the hoops to jump through - I feel fabulous.

I was sitting drinking my coffee today and I thought about some of the good things that have happened because of my diagnosis:

1. My kitchen is perpetually organized! I could never say that before.
2. I am aware and educated about everything I feed my body
3. I have never eaten such yummy food as I do now
4. I am finally learning how to cook properly

Yes, having celiac is a pain in the butt sometimes. But on the whole - I'm doing just fine.

For those just starting out on the adventure that is living without gluten: stay strong, ask questions, know you are not alone, and I promise that with time things will run nice and smoothly.

I look forward to meeting and chatting with you all.

Have a great day.

Lisa

blupanda12

Welcome! I'm glad you have found success with your gluten-free lifestyle! My husband has Celiac too, but I do the majority of the meal cooking/planning. It has certainly been a change to our lifestyle!

I'm always on the lookout for recipes that rope in veggies and protein, so feel free to pass along your favorites if you like. Our initial forays into gluten-free meals were mainly meat , but now that I'm trying to get back to a healthier weight, it's been a struggle to develop recipes that are lower calorie yet still have higher counts of protein and are satisfying. My biggest success this year was a chicken soup recipe I managed to develop that's all my own

canadjineh

I've certainly found that I save a ton of money from not eating out at fast food joints much anymore. There are very few items (except at Wendy's in Canada) that are gluten free at these places so I just bring my own picnic wherever I go most of the time. Except for a really good meal at a proper restaurant that knows what they are doing when it comes to GF ONCE in a while. I don't eat many GF 'substitutes' for regular foods like cakes, cookies, muffins or bread (1 loaf a month) so I save a lot that way too.

digitalcanuck

Thanks for the welcome. Yes it is a great challenge in the beginning. But, I have indeed come to enjoy cooking (shh, don't tell anyone that knows my past dislike of cooking). I have a lot of recipes I have been working on. I am actually developing my own personal cookbook to hold my families favourites. I would be happy to pass them on. Tonight we had a fantastic pork tenderloin with a tamarind sauce, some amazing buckwheat (first time trying it) and a lovely salad. As a treat we had peanut butter and chocolate quinoa squares. Yumm and healthy. I am really excited about pulses like chickpeas and lentils. Massive protein punch. I love socca now. And homemade baked beans are fabulous, nutritious and cheap.

I do not buy or bake cake and cookie subs either. They are so full of starches and sugars. If I can find recipes that are nutritionally dense I will make it from scratch (like the quinoa squares) I am a perimeter shopper. We eat high protein/fiber and low sugar.

Thanks again for the welcome. I look forward to connecting with everyone.

canadjineh

Digitalcanuck, I like your 'perimeter shopper' description. Me too, lol. I generally am doing a higher normal protein, lower carb (between 100-150 net grams a day) and a higherish fat diet (avocado, raw nuts, full fat dairy, EVOO, etc). I wouldn't mind seeing your cookbook - I cook Asian a lot (Indian and Thai and Chinese using GF tamari or Braggs)

digitalcanuck

My cookbook is a work in progress but I will post recipes or links to my recipes as they come (if others here are game). You eat very similar to me (higher protein, higher fat, less sugar and carbs). I have done a lot of research and am totally against eating "low fat", "no fat" foods because they are devoid of good fat and high in sugar/refined carbs. Fat does not make you fat, sugar makes you fat. I am learning about Thai cooking and looove tamarind and tamari. I am so much more adventurous with food since my diagnosis than I ever was before. It really is wonderful.

I look forward to sharing ideas.

Lisa

canadjineh

Please share recipes/links - there may be a "Recipes" or "Favorite Foods" site here on the GF threads, that might be the best spot? I love using Asian Home Gourmet spice pastes in the envelopes for a lazy Asian dinner. They generally don't have weird ingredients - are 95% GF choices (except for a couple with soy sauce in them so watch out). I also loooove Patak's Hot Lime Pickle on tuna for sandwiches or salads. (Indian (*) )