Brain Farts and Gluten

So hubby and I went to town to pick up a few things. I was driving. We had to pick up the dog at the vet, which I forgot, but he reminded. He's much smaller now.. the dog that is. Nothing like a good grooming. But the one he got will have to do. ;o)

Anyway, hubby asked what was next when we got back into the car. I backed out of the spot and headed for the main intersection of town.

"The drugstore. Gotta get that caulking," I said.

I could feel him looking at me. "You mean, the hardware store?"

I started to laugh. "Well, yeah.. yeah... that would be the better place to get caulking," I agreed.

"Yer freakin' me out," he said, shaking his head.

I looked at him and smiled. "Hey, I stopped for the red light," I offered, pointing at the stop light.

After the hardware store, we headed to the local grocery store. I had been going to make hubby spaghetti, his fave. But while the day wasn't really, really hot, it had turned out very humid, and our teen wasn't going to be home for supper either, so I changed my mind. Since I hadn't taken anything out of the freezer, we needed to pick up something for hubby's meal. I would have something gluten-free.. or at least, so I thought.

When we got to the grocery store parking lot, he did up his window as if he was coming in with me. He never comes in with me. He hates shopping. I looked at him. "Coming in?" He nodded. "You just want to make sure you don't wind up with bananas for supper, don't you?" I asked a little accusingly.

"You bet I do," he replied, nodding again.

OK, so I'd had a series of brain farts, not to mention headaches, abdominal pain and bloating... again. I had been really ill before and discovered that wheat, and probably all gluten, were probably things I should no longer consume. I'd kept it really simple to start with and felt a lot better. But now something was fogging my brain and causing pain and discomfort again.

Turns out that gluten can be "hidden" in other food ingredients, such as malto dextrin, for instance. I got this book from the library called, "gluten-free girl," by Shauna James Ahern. Very enlightening. Seems that as I increased the number of foods in my "safe" diet, I've been ingesting gluten without even knowing it. Back to the drawing board, as it were. Or at least, to the health food section of local grocery stores for things like gluten-free mustard and mayo. Heh. Amazing.

There are recipes in this book too. Gonna try some. I think I've said it before: losing more foods seems terrible, but once you discover new foods and new taste sensations, it's not so bad. It's just going to take a little guidance from someone who's been there. :)

http://glutenfreegirlabout.blogspot.com/

Picture: Me, in a kitchen. How 'bout that.