makes me smile

it has been my concern for a few years now that j. has to eat the highly glutenous sacrament bread every Sunday. i always told him to try and take the smallest piece he could find so he would only get a smidgen of gluten. however, he would always complain of tummy trouble every Monday. we dismissed it every week, thinking that it was impossible to feel the effects so soon after eating the gluten. i mean, how could such a little amount of gluten cause a reaction like that so soon afterward? doesn't there have to be more than that to trigger a response. well, that is what i thought until learning that i also have celiac's. sure enough, every monday morning my tummy would hurt. i never said anything to anyone and just decided that we would just live with the pain each week in order to take the sacrament. BUT apparently, there are others in our congregation that also have wheat and gluten sensitivities. they aren't as quiet about it. now, the whole congregation is taking gluten-free bread for the sacrament. how cool is that? the last two weeks j. and i have turned to each other and smiled when the bread comes to our row. we smile because we feel loved. we smile because we won't hurt the next day. we smile because it is yummy, soft, gluten free bread!

busy

I have been so busy living life, that I had forgotten my quest for new bread and that I even had this blog. What is the quote? "The road to He[ck] is paved with good intentions". How could I let life get in the way of my quest to make the gluten-free world a better place?

I can truly sympathize with the gluten free/wheat-free community now that I have been on this diet for nearly three months {which feels like three years}! I think I have lost weight (but I am not sure since we don't own a scale), so that is a bonus in addition to feeling lots better! In fact, I feel so much healthier and happier eating a more whole foods diet, that I am starting to understand what PROVERBS 3:8 really means!

I never realized what truly poor health I was living with! AND can you believe I used to scoff at people who took eating so seriously? I used to think that THOSE people were fanatics! You know, the ones that read labels, buy organic, avoid refined sugars, exclude food with partially hydrogenated oils, and anything that is unnatural. I used to never check the ingredients in my food, "IF it looks good, smells good, tastes good...it IS good", RIGHT?

I never knew that there was a better way to eat! NOW I avoid anything unnatural...I still eat some processed foods, but at least we are avoiding artificial sweeteners, flavorings and dyes. We never ate much "junk" food, but now we eat even less. Occasionally, the kids ask for lolly pops and candy that contain unnatural ingredients {and look down right toxic}, but I try to sub similar healthy snacks in their place. Nobody complains!

What makes me the happiest, is to think that my kids are growing up healthier. I didn't eat very well as a child and would sneak candies and goodies every chance I got. my kids beg for carrots and broccoli, fresh or steamed! SCORE! We make green smoothies and eat lots of cheese. We snack on rice cakes with spun honey. We eat nuts and seeds daily. It seems so strange to be saying these things! Until last year, I never thought I would be/could be a health nut. But here I am, making daily efforts to live healthy, be healthy.