My Wheat-free Journey--- I LOVE cooking yummy things for my family and of course for ME.
It is a delight to bring wonderful foods to the table that are pleasing to the eye, tickle the tastebuds and most importantly are-----FUN---to-----EAT
So you can imagine my dilemma when I was first diagnosed with a Wheat allergy.
My entire way of life vanished in a puff of smoke!
I felt totally abandoned and alone in a desolate food desert wasteland!
Where I had once found JOY and a sense of accomplishment I now trembled with fear and dread as I went into my kitchen and looked at the beautiful freshly ground wheat flour that sat in its beautiful crystalline container on my kitchen counter mocking me. Then cautiously, as if some snake could strike me dead at any given time I proceeded to go through my pantry and to read the ingredients on the labels of everything my pantry held.
As I completed my task I nearly collapsed to the floor in disbelief. Stunned, and panicked by this new revelation I burst out in tears and in between heart-wrenching sobs I proceeded to bang my head on the refrigerator door out of sheer disbelief and frustration. For nearly every item in my pantry contained a form of wheat or gluten.
(Note: I am kind of squemish so I didn't hurt myself)
I thought to myself how am I going to cook for my family? I use Wheat in everything!
I love great tasting foods with their myriads of flavors, colors, textures and memories that one should experience.
I am a food snob!
How was I going to relearn how to cook when my entire foundation had been instantly stripped away?
Then as my two daughters were diagnosed with the same condition that Motherly instinct set in like a raging fire deep within my soul. I may find things hard to do for myself, however, now that my daughters needed help I could and would find a way!
Well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize I needed to get to work!
Like a mother bear protecting her cubs the first thing I did was to rid my cabinets of anything that had or may even contain wheat or gluten. I then donated these items to the local food pantry.
When I was done I stared at the near empty shelves in my pantry and this experience reminded me of the old nursery rhyme, "Old Mother Hubbard," in that now my cupboards were now also bare. Yet, I felt a sense of peace as I knew this was the beginning of a new journey in my life.
I began pouring over internet sites, research studies and nutritional studies.
I checked out virtually all of the wheat/gluten free cookbooks our local library possessed. I also bought wheat/gluten free cookbooks, tried many recipes and gagged!
I wondered countless times, "do people even try their own recipes?"
So I set to work and created a dinner menu plan with some of our favorite foods. I was determined on making them wheat/gluten free without compromising my food snobbish list.
This is how my first cookbook ,"A Wheat Free Life" was born.
I also wanted to make life easier for all of those working Moms out there.
So I created the weekly grocery shopping list to accompany each week's worth of menu's.
Then as I was becoming more comfortable cooking this way and finding suppliers for what I needed, my beautiful daughters, Tiffany and Charity convinced me to begin working on comfort foods. Like 3 Ninja's in the kitchen, we worked with precision and excellence to create fabulous foods and make our family meals a delight.
For the Holidays look for, "A Wheat Free Life vs. the Holidays." We hope you enjoy it as much as we have.
You can also follow our Journey on: http://mishieob.wix.com/wheatfreeninjas
and on the Facebook page, A Wheat Free Life
God Bless you on your Journey