Going Gluten Free

A month or so ago, Hubby and I decided that we wanted to try eating GLUTEN FREE.  There wasn't really a "good reason"; however, recently I had been getting some bad headaches and was having trouble sleeping and I was willing to try just about anything to see if either or both would improve.  So, we decided we'd cut out Gluten.  I was a little intimidated at first, but did some research and found some really great Gluten free blogs...such as this one or this one and I can't forget this one.  Once I found these blogs, I felt a little bit more confident about meal planning & changing our eating habits.  

So, what exactly is Gluten?  The definition states it's "a substance present in cereal grains, especially wheat, that is responsible for the elastic texture of dough".  In "Leah-Terms", it's the glue that holds yummy food together ;)  I did a little research and planned out all of our meals and found it to be a lot easier than I had anticipated.  It seems as though Celiac Disease is on the rise and most grocery stores carry Gluten free foods.  I've never really had to look what I was buying before, so having to read labels closely was a foreign concept.  It definitely took longer to grocery shop, but in the end, I bought all Gluten free foods.  Everything from pasta, to breakfast foods, sweet treats, salad dressings and pretty much everything else in-between :)

I will say that even though it was easy to find GF products, it was not so nice on the wallet.  GF foods tend to be a lot more expensive.  I bought a GF cookie mix and it was $6 and made about 15 cookies.  I am sure there are better places to buy GF foods, but I stuck with my local grocery store.

How do I feel?  For the first 2 weeks, I didn't really notice a change, but into week 3, it sort of hit me that I was sleeping better and hadn't had a headache in over a week.  Who knows - maybe it's coincidence or all in my head, but maybe just maybe eating GF will help my headaches and sleep patterns!  For now, we're trying to eat GF as often as possible and we hope to continue this for a while.  

Here are a few pictures of the GF meals we made:

And, last, but certainly not least, stay tuned this week for a BIG announcement!  Yep, our household has BIG things happening...and I'm excited to finally share it with you ;)  

Happy Wednesday!