How in the world did I get here? Part 4

Making the decision to cut gluten from our lives was, obviously, a hard one. Once I made that decision, however, things changed quickly for us. I cleaned out our cupboards, gave away most of my gluten based foods and dove into this gluten-free world I had been avoiding for too long.

By nature, I study everything I can get my hands on when it comes to things like this. I checked out numerous books from the library, read blogs and articles on the Internet and talked to everyone I knew that would know anything about living gluten-free. It was literally an overnight thing for my family. One day we were eating gluten-laden foods and the next day it was all changed.

Was it easy on my family? NO WAY! I made so many nasty tasting dishes and we missed good food for quite some time. I felt like I was never going to get the hang of it all, but after a while of trying, things started to click. I quickly learned what flours we liked and didn't like. I got more adventurous and tried recipes that "scared" me.

For me, my whole life, cooking has been what I just do. Struggling with it, was not an easy thing for me to "swallow" and I worked extra hard to overcome the fear and frustration that came with making this change to our lives. Trust me, this was not an EASY overnight change. Yes, we cut gluten from our food choices, but there was much frustration that came with that change.

My kids had a really hard time in the beginning, feeling deprived and "different." Thankfully, our circle of family and friends includes many that also avoid gluten, so that made things a bit easier. When we had a dinner at church, there were always many options on the table for us. As my recipe arsenal grew, I was able to add new dishes to that table.

Soon, we were eating almost "normal" again and things were fine. I was still frustrated over the limited dishes I had mastered. Missing some of the old favorites, but also still afraid to branch out more on my own. I spent countless hours on the computer reading all about what worked for other people. Trying to learn from some of their mistakes and successes. Hoping to find more successes of my own.

The best part of the change to our diet was the change in my kids and myself! My stomach issues began to improve. The kids were having fewer issues and in time we realized that our youngest son was having fewer asthma issues as well. Those things helped to encourage me to keep going, keep learning, keep trying!

For a while, we sometimes "cheated" and ate things that had gluten in them. At first it was the occasional "treat" when we would be away from home. After a while, those occasional "treats" became more numerous. What happened? Were we OK?

Well, you guessed it. NO! We were not OK. In time, one of our kids ended up in the emergency room with severe stomach pain. Come to find out, all of our "cheating" had created a serious issue in his bowels and his system couldn't process all that he was eating correctly. The doctor told me after the second "attack" that I needed to continue with NO gluten for him. That brought a fast halt to his cheating days!

In the midst of all of this, our youngest son started getting sick quite often. That fall, he had pneumonia 3 times. Each time having to go on steroids, stronger medication for his asthma and several rounds of very strong antibiotics. Did I get it? No, not at first. For some reason, it often takes me a while to see what is right in front of my face.

Not until my daughter started having severe mood swings, stomach issues and a return of her eczema that it all clicked. I was also having more of the same old sick feeling days that I had suffered with for years before this. Once again, I knew something had to change.

We got serious again and this also inspired me to find MORE great food options for my family. More of what we were used to, more foods that we were tempted to "cheat" with. I got bolder in my cooking and experimenting and found some great options for my family to help fill the void.

Trust me, I know that not everyone is comfortable in the kitchen. Some of you just need someone telling you what to use, how to use it and leave it at that. You need recipes and detailed instructions, hints, tips and advice. In the beginning, I needed that constantly. I still do some days!

Going from cooking the way our grandmother did, with wheat flour and such to having to avoid something we have always just trusted as nutritious is a hard change to make. My husband and I were just talking about this very thing at dinner the other night. Why is this whole "gluten-free" thing so huge now? Our grandparents never had to deal with this kind of thing, our parents never had to either. Why now?

That is something that I do not have an answer for, other than my own opinion. My opinion is not worth much in the grand scheme of things. I am not a nutritionist or an educated expert on food and why there are so many people with this same issue, seemly all of the sudden.

My feeling is, for what it is worth, is that we have been forced to consume way more wheat products in our diet than was ever intended. You all read labels, you know what I know. Wheat is in everything! My husbands question, and mine many times over, was "Why?" I wish I had a clear answer for that question. I know we are not alone in asking it either.

If you are reading this, you are or are contemplating living a gluten-free lifestyle. You know how hard it is to eat like everyone else and how many products you have to avoid because they contain gluten. Given the choice, I don't think any of us would "choose" this road. Like it or not, we are on it and this journey is not always easy.

Thankfully, we all have an invaluable resource to turn to. Gling was created to help us on this journey. I have searched the web for a resource, all in one place, all inclusive to make this journey a bit easier. The community here, the recipes, information, the REAL people that live this life every day.

The fact that I get to share with all of you is a huge blessing to me! I would have LOVED to have someone "real" to turn to, a group of "someones" to help me find the answers that are found here. As time goes on, this site will grow and bring even more insight into the world of "food intolerance and allergy." There will be countless helping hands to help us all on our journey to feeling better and living without the frustration that all of these restrictions can bring.

My family is still learning. I am still learning. There are so many options out there to help your family not miss their favorite foods. My goal through all of this has been to make foods that taste as good, if not better, than what we loved before leaving gluten out of our diets. I approach every dish with that mind set. "How can I make this taste like the memory of what we had before?"

I wrote our story to show you that you are not on this journey alone. There are other people that have been where you are. Also, it is not impossible to enjoy foods on this journey. The options are so limitless. You don't have to live on rice cakes, plain veggies, fruit and meat. You can have pizza, pie, pasta, gravy, cookies, breads and pastries!

There are many food manufacturers that are finally getting it. There are new products coming out all the time for those of us who need to avoid gluten. Betty Crocker, General Mills and several other food producers are figuring out that if they clearly label their products as gluten-free, that we will buy them. They are even developing their own gluten-free mixes.

More and more possibilities are coming out all the time. This is good news for all of us! The more companies that realize how invaluable our business is, the more likely they are to make the changes needed to make their products safe for us. This will make our gluten-free lifestyle even easier to "live" with!