Gluten Free Pizza?

I love me some pizza.  My favorite?  Deep dish, pepperoni and lots of cheese.  I could eat pizza three times a week if I had to.  After my diagnosis, the first sit-down restaurant we visited offered gluten free pizza.  The anticipation was intoxicating.  I couldn't wait to delve into a pizza parlor pie that wouldn't cause my body to ambush itself.  And then it arrived.  And my hope deflated.  The crust was crumbly and tasteless and I was so disappointed.  If this restaurant prided itself on it's gf pizza, was I in for a life of the pie that I'd rather pass on?

I visited the local wacky health food store in search for the premade stuff and was shocked at the price.  For a few tiny pre-made crusts I could buy a large fresh pizza from a chain.  I tried a few different brands without success.  Too sweet, too grainy, too crumbly.  Seriously, who has sugar as the second ingredient in something that's supposed to be savory?  Anyway, I picked up another package of premade crusts ONLY because I knew I wouldn't have time to make my own dough for pizza night last night.

And....it was full of the awesome.  The taste was right on.  It didn't fall apart.  It wasn't begging for a topping of canned cherries and whipped cream, but tomato sauce and cheese and pepperoni.  Although it wasn't deep dish (I will still search for the perfect gf deep dish) it was great if you love thin crust.  Oh yeah, the brand?  Udi's.  I love Udi's.  Their bread and now their pizza crust.  Thanks Udi's for making pizza night a lot less depressing!

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Glutenfreeda Burrito

Of the many things I miss now that I have to omit gluten from my diet is a good ole flour tortilla. I've tried two brands of gluten free tortillas and neither of them held their shape without taking on the texture of an uncooked lasagna noodle. When you bite into a burrito you don't expect to hear "CRUNCH!". I googled and found my own recipe which turned out ok but still not perfect. I headed to Sprouts today to do my weekly produce shopping and came across this beauty:

It was life changing. The tortilla was soft, and stretchy just like a wheat flour tortilla. It was filled with vegan refries, cheddar, rice, corn and jalapenos and a bunch of yum. My only complaint is that I didn't have another one.

Taste Test

Cinnamon Chex gets two thumbs up. Plus I can usually get coupons for Chex which is great considering how much gluten free food costs. Puffins? Eh, either way. So far, the Van's gf blueberry waffles are pretty good. I found the plain ones at Target yesterday for $1.77 on sale which was much better than the $3.59 I paid at Sprouts. I haven't tried the Udi bread yet, which is said to be the best of the gf bread. I figured I should finish the gross $5 a loaf bread first. It's much better toasted, but there's a warning on the bag that says to watch it while it toasts because of fire hazard! WHAT?! I feel like I'm on some weird fad diet.

It's all Uphill from Here

I'm starting this blog so that it doesn't interfere with my other one. I don't want my personal, snarky, kid story blog to be overtaken by something that most people don't care about. I didn't even know what Celiac Disease was until a week and a half ago when my doctor's assistant left a message notifying me that my blood results for celiac came back "abnormal". Nothing like that to make an OCD google addict spend the weekend researching.

What I found was actually pretty gross. Fortunately I didn't have most of the signs or symptoms of the disease. Diseeeeaaase. That sounds so contagious. Anyway, the only reason I got tested in the first place is because of my chronic (and extremely high) level of anemia. On the one hand, it's nice to know that there's actually a reason I feel like I've pulled an all nighter pretty much every day. Now I just have to change the way I live....forever. No drugs or surgery. Just a gluten free diet for LIFE. Ugh. Did you know that gluten is in pretty much everything? I have to read labels and buy funny looking, expensive food from stores that hippies frequent. No more flour tortillas. No sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches. No breaded chicken parmesan. Can't just drive through Burger King anymore. Olive Garden? Out. Oreos? Nope. S'mores? Not unless I buy the gluten free graham crackers first. I've always loved my starches so this is already a difficult journey and I've just started the race.

I've been gluten free for two days now. I think. I had some questionable syrup on my gf waffles this morning. I got my official diagnosis on April 12, 2010. I really wish there was a supplement I could take. I almost feel like a diabetic where I have to limit what I can eat. Another restriction is that I have to be careful of cross contamination! The celiac sites suggest getting a separate toaster. My special pancakes will have to be on the griddle first. I can't flip my rice bread grilled cheese sandwich with the same spatula I use for my daughter's whole grain one. No more sampling of the sugar cookies I make with the kids four times a year...at least. And my biggest set back: I am now that pain in the butt at the get together who is asking what's in the food and bringing my own weird stuff in my Whole Foods reusable bag. I hate bringing attention to myself as it is and now I know I will have people rolling their eyes at me. I've always been skeptical of certain food allergies. And now I have one. As far as I know, this is the only allergy I have, and I'm really fond of the thing that can make me sick, weaken my bones and even cause cancer.

Celiac sucks.