Wheat-free

Unrelated photos throughout...

Jeff and I are performing an experiment. We're trying out living wheat-free to see how it makes us feel. Do our bodies look or feel different? In what way? Is there a change in our energy?

Since neither of us are allergic to wheat or gluten there isn't any official medical reason for us to do this now, but it just seemed like something we might benefit from doing. I know that much of what I used to eat throughout the day was filler bread stuff - Calder's crusts of toast or sandwiches, a cookie here, a sliver of cake or a handful of crackers there. I can see how wheat-based foods were adding up to be a big percentage of my daily calories.

And then, just like that, they're gone. It's been a week, but I have already felt some changes. There was a morning last week when it was raining on our walk to Calder's playschool so we started to run. And it didn't suck. Running always feels awful to me like I can't fine an efficient stride so everything moves jalopy-style, very clunky and uncomfortable. Well, in this brief moment, in my rainboots, pushing a stroller, at 8:30 in the morning I actually felt like I could keep right on running and maybe even go for a jog. Wow. So not my thing. Who can say if this is because I hadn't eaten wheat, but I'm keeping my eye on the way I feel as this experiment progresses. It may just turn out to be the best thing I never knew I needed to do.

What's pretty great about all this is that I haven't even missed the wheat. I made a batch of granola. We're enjoying our corn tortillas, and making good use of them more than ever. These pumpkin muffins are really good - both the gluten-free and all-purpose flour versions. I made this split pea soup 'cause I thought I had the country ham on hand. It was risky 'cuz Jeff is not a fan, and it turned out he and Calder had to choke it down. More for me, I say. Ended up using a slice of regular ham, but my mom kindly brought me a few slices of my uncle's country ham to use in the next few batches.

We went out for Thai food with my parents for my birthday. No problems finding something to love off that menu. Followed it up with treats for all tastes at the bakery. I had my heart set on chocolate mouse, but we were surprised how many other gluten/wheat-free options they had.

I'm in line for a couple relevant books at the library, and will be taking a look at the recipes on both these sites for more inspiration. Jeff's interested in a wheat-free pizza dough, and I'm sure we'll have luck there.

See the "C" and "L" there? Let the spelling begin!

So far so good.