I just have to rant for a bit and then I will be okay again….so bear with me….. First and worst! I am tired of asking what is in the recipe you are making for me; is there wheat, rye, barley, farro, spelt, flour in it? Or asking about the spice mix, the food starch or the rice mixture you are creating for supper.

Plus, I am exhausted in the grocery store reading every freaking label! But I do, I must, I am the crazy lady reading the tiny print of ever box/can/jar in sight…

I am sick of explaining again and again to waiters what wheat free means.  I get stressed out every time I eat out for my fears of your unsafe (for me) professional kitchen crammed with gluten despite your GF menu options.  I deeply fear your sticky, gluten covered colanders.  Please, please hear me restaurants…….

The flip side of the eating out coin is when my boyfriend says he won’t eat at our old (pre-gf) restaurant because he thinks their kitchen is too small to safely make gf food for me; I then feel like running screaming into the night!  I want what I want and it stinks to not be able to enjoy their amazing food anymore.

One day, I was subbing in a school about 3 months after I went GF and someone asked me about what I was eating and replied they would rather be dead than have to eat GF…that sort of statement does not help us celiacs!

Then, there was the time last year when I went to a social function with a 40 foot long table of baked goods and the only thing I could put in my stomach was plain bottled water; I felt crazed. And depressed for a week or two.

It is emotionally exhausting when I have to go into great detail about how you need to cook for me and what you should never make.  It makes me nearly insane when I arrive for supper and find you did exactly what I begged you not to do…damn that spice rub on those crazy good barbecued ribs!

I despise people who write articles trying to debunk celiac, to make it seem like it is not real.  I find myself grinding my teeth as I read that tripe.  “Idiots” is the word I mutter under my breath.

But then…there are great times: there are the meals I make for my family that are still so yummy and they are all safe for me.  Those are happy moments I treasure.  The cowboy cookies people begs for another to munch on, the apple streusel tart I created from scratch that is banging good, the gf angel food cake my mom still adores and the zucchini yeast bread my goddaughter and her mom gobbled down as though it was the best bread ever!  Which it was!  Good times.  And safe for my consumption.  Yes, very good times.

Those are memories to hold on to when I am trying to figure out something I can make for lunch in a hurry or when I am faced with a meal for company I have to throw together in an hour from stuff I have on hand.  GF of course and they expect it to be darn tasty, regardless of my requirement to avoid gluten in any tiny amount.

This is the stuff that most people with celiac go through.  So keep that in mind when you have dealings with those who eat gluten free. This is to help you wheat eaters understand us gf peoples!

Nothing I can do but keep trucking on.  Baking my heart out in a safe, gluten free manner.  Making tasty chicken pot pie, fantastic meatloaf with my gf bread crumbs, best ever brownies (wheat or not!) and otherwise preparing food that is delicious and safe.  That keeps me sane….that and this blog which I often find myself writing late at night for your reading pleasure.  There…I do feel better!

Ciao!