Day 10, Trip 3 - Haiti Mission - Discuss Amongst Yourselves....

Though I've made it no secret in everyday life, I have yet to really dive into my new undertaking of switching to a gluten free diet here on the blog. There is a sneaky mommy part of me that is trying to make this switch and have it be oblivious to my children. However, had I served them my first attempt at a frozen gluten free pizza crust, I think they would have clearly ran to the bathroom making vomiting noises the entire way. Yes....it was that bad. Truly.

There are some real bonuses to being gluten free. For instance, M&M's are gluten free, (which explains the sudden weight gain), and it forces me to cook outside the box. I made some killer vegetable soup, an apple sweet potato soup, and a wonderful chicken and veggies in the crockpot. Today I even had a Double cheeseburger with grilled onions and mushrooms from Five Guys Burgers and Fries (www.fiveguys.com), without the bun of course and it was FAB-U-LOUS. The downside? No rolls. No muffin. No biscuits. No bread. This is definitely bothersome to me as bread can be so comforting. What am I going to do without a good ol' PB & J? Today my boss so graciously ordered pizza for our entire department and while I put the order in for her, I realized I couldn't eat any of it. Well, that sucks.


So, I went on a mission tonight.....finding something, ANYTHING, that will help me dive into the realm of baking my own gluten free goodies. First stop? Trader Joe's. While I know that some people rave about the place, I found it very difficult to figure out what was gluten free and what was not as they were all mixed in together and I couldn't find the little "g" they put on their gluten free stuff and people (snooty, earthy people) were mad because I was taking too long looking at the ingredients....**sigh** I did walk away with some gluten free pancake mix, ginger snaps, and crackers. I also picked up some sweet apple chicken sausage, which intrigued me.

My next stop was Meijer, only because I had some gift cards that I could use and it was right next to Trader Joe's. To my pleasant surprise....the wonderful people at Meijer had a section of the store that was dedicated to gluten free. Imagine that. All in one spot. But my greatest discovery was in the traditional baking goods supply aisle. What to my wondering eyes did appear? That's right....the infamous Betty Crocker spoon stared me right in the face floating above a title banner that I never thought possible. "Gluten Free". I did a double take. "Betty Crocker". "Gluten Free". Well alright then, I'll give that a try. Go ahead, twist my arm. I also picked up some pizza crust mix and am hoping for a much better result than the first. I NEED a perfected pizza crust and QUICK!!

So the week will be filled with gluten free experimental recipes, just don't tell my kids. I should know within this week if this gluten free thing is going to work at reducing my pain. To say that I'm skeptical is putting it lightly. It feels like I'm always being told that "if you just" do this or that you could reduce your pain. Sleep more, exercise, eat more fish, avoid gluten, take supplements, don't over exercise, don't just sit around, but be sure to rest when you need to. I truly believe there is no "miracle" treatment plan, especially for the fibromyalgia. The rheumatoid arthritis is a beast of it's own, but the fibro is what I'm fighting so hard to get past. Just when I think this no gluten thing is working, my pain level is going up this evening.

But maybe it's the Tai Chi.
It could be I was on my feet too much today.
Is there a weather front moving in?
Did I lift something?
Am I walking right?

It's just so hard to figure out what's causing the pain. I can see how doctor's get frustrated with us with all of these possibilities, none of which there is really a test for. The key is to keep the positive attitude and the optimism that something will help. Perhaps I won't notice it at first, but something will work. I just keep plugging away and seeing what happens.