Well who would have thought, me spending countless hours reading about food and recipes, learning about a handful of grocery stores (which I normally hate) and spending hours upon hours grocery shopping (which I hate even more). Who would have thought I would actually be "cooking" on a daily basis and baking almost as often? I have been known to speak of my displeasure of cooking in general. Just don't like it, never have. I have been known to say, "I would rather clean toilets, than go grocery shopping."
Whether it be my punishment for not cooking all these years or just a mean way of showing me that I too can enjoy cooking, the time has come and it is now inevitable, I MUST LEARN TO COOK AND LIKE IT! Why you ask? Here's why.
Wylie has been struggling for almost 5 years now with stomach, gastrointestinal issues that have progressively gotten worse over the years. He has gone through more tests in his short life than Jacques and I have both gone through together in ours. The last rounds of tests were done 6 months ago. He had a colonoscopy and endoscopy done along with more rounds of blood work. The doctor was almost certain that he would test positive for Celiacs Disease. Luckily, the test came back negative. Good news=no disease. Bad news=no explanation for his pain, lack of growth, skin sores etc. The doctor did notice several irritated spots on his intestines however. That combined with a variety of other symptoms made him think that Wylie may have a high intolerance for gluten. After a second opinion of his tests we were advised to go on a 90 day gluten free diet. I was instantly relieved to have a possible answer to his problems and for a chance for him to have pain free days. It wasn't until about the second minute that I realized that this would be a huge challenge for me, I must learn to cook.
Overwhelmed would be a great word to describe how I felt. It took me 4 days before I even moved forward with the planning because each time I would get reading, it would get more in-depth and more complicated. I needed time to process (aka whine) for a while.Thank you to all my friends who listened and were there for me to vent too. After that, I got right down to business. Reading, reading and reading more to learn about what gluten was exactly and what foods it was in. To sum it up, I felt like I learned it was nearly in everything. Again, overwhelmed.
<-------- a list of things that contain gluten (OVERWHELMED)
Took it literally two days at a time that first week. Wrote down what we would eat at each meal and made grocery list. Oh, I almost forgot. Forget just running to Target quick to grab your grocery items. Oh no, now you need to run to Trader Joes, Target, Fresh and Natural Foods and County Market and even then you will not have found everything if you are just a beginner at this. I literally left Fresh and Natural in near tears the first time. It was last stop of the day, I had been to the above listed stores to get our items for the week. I spent 1 1/2 hours at Fresh and Natural the first time I was there and left with 3 bags (not even all the way full) and spent $149. See picture below of what $149 got me. Again... overwhelmed.
Moving forward because we have no choice. We made some foods that were definitely NOT good, some foods that were okay, still not good but not terrible and a few things that were decent (good but not great). It was a glum week and I had to try my hardest to keep my spirits up for Wylie. He was being a trooper and trying everything, although not holding in his true thoughts for some of the foods. Week two went a little better. I have found baking is not too bad, now that I have the main 16 ingredients needed to replace flour (partially joking). I learned what xanthan gum is and where to find it in the store. Week two went a little better than week one. We had 2 or 3 meals that were good and only 1 or 2 that were bad. I baked cupcakes for Wylie to take to a birthday party and those were great! As was the pumpkin bread I made for the kids. I made a meal so complex (to me) that it took 45 minutes to prepare and another 45 to cook. Thank goodness it had wine in the ingredient list because I sure needed some to get through that meal. No Kidding there.
So anyway, we are making progress, slowly but surely. I am hoping this next week, week 3, will be better yet. Oh gosh, that reminds me, I better make my weeks menu and grocery list. It is my new Sunday night activity while watching football. Wish us luck and most importantly hope that this will help Wylie feel better, which is ALL that matters. I will do anything for that kid!
~It's My Life
