What does a gluten free vegan eat? (Part One)

When I went gluten free, I remember my family's reaction. They worried that we would all be required to eat different things, making it a bit inconvenient and costly for all of us eating at home. I like too cook and I love to bake so going gluten free wasn't a problem for me... it just took a bit of research and experimentation. In no time I was making family meals that we all could eat together. I was also baking with gluten free flours and we were all enjoying our cupcakes and brownies, cookies and cakes. My family almost forgot that I was gluten free.

Then I decided to go vegan. The universe split apart and the sun disappeared. Suddenly there was food trauma because I live with two carnivores. Was I going to expect THEM to give up the flesh?

Nope...

The deal is, I eat the way I want as long as I don't preach them out of the kitchen. I have no problem making what they like to eat, as long as they don't try to make me feel bad for not eating the same thing.

So far, so good...

What was really unexpected was everyone else's reaction to my dietary choices. People seem flat out freaked that I not only can't eat gluten but I no longer eat meat or dairy. "WELL WHAT THE HECK DO YOU EAT NOW, AIR?" is the usual response. Planning meals with groups of people has become more stressful than I could have imagined. There are meetings set around trying to figure out where we should eat and what I can order.

I sometimes catch the glimpses of frustration they exchange when they think I'm not looking. And I get it.

I remember when my best friend told me she was gluten free about 9 years ago. She came to visit me and I had fully stocked my kitchen for her visit. She took one look in my pantry and said "I can't eat this... do you have a health food store around?" I was crushed! I didn't get it at ALL. I fact, I remember thinking that maybe she was being a bit picky and maybe even a tiny bit rude to refuse everything I had in the house.

Years later, I get it, I totally get it.

If you're one of the lucky ones, you can (and do) eat anything. No thought has to go into figuring out what ingredients make up what menu item. How I miss those days.

But for the rest of us, there are consequences to ordering the wrong thing or eating a meal at someone's house without first asking "what's in it?" Sadly I lived a few of the worst days of my life in a Disney World hotel room after making the wrong choices. So I get it now.

I hope that through this blog I can give reviews of foods I've eaten out, foods I've ordered through expensive online health food stores and recipes I've created at home. But most of all, I hope to share some experiences through this food journey and hopefully get responses from others going through similar experiences.

Cheers!
Gina