Grocery Scavenging

One of the worst things about staying gluten-free is that weekly trip to the grocery store. Some stores, like Publix, Whole Foods & Winn Dixie, make it a little easier than others, like Wal*Mart. But no matter where you shop, doing your gluten-free shopping is possible, it takes getting used to! Now that I have some regular snack items I always eat, I am able to make a grocery list before I go which makes things SO much easier, especially when I'm trying to do the gluten-free scavenger hunt. Living in Miami, Publix is basically the ONLY grocery store choice nearby so that's where I do my weekly shopping..and as I was unpacking my groceries today I thought it might be helpful to share what I bought & what some of my essentials are. I make a list by department to make it easier to grab what I need without forgetting anything. 

Oh, Gluten freedom

  

 

So these are probably not the kind of photos you were expecting to see on a gluten-free blog but a few months ago this was my life. I looked forward to ordering a belgian waffle when I went out to breakfast with the family on the weekends, indulged in a Publix sub for lunch every once in awhile, stopped to grab chicken nuggets whenever I was traveling on the road & when asked the question "where should we go for dinner?" it was always somewhere italian, usually Carrabba's. At Carrabba's I could easily take an entire loaf of bread to the face before my salad order even made it to the kitchen. Then my entree was always chicken parmesan, no questions asked.

Then this past July I had what was probably the worst 2 weeks of my life. Long story short, blood work confirmed I had both gluten & wheat sensitivities & that, eventually, my stomach would be able tolerate a small amount of gluten or wheat once a week. But, my days of hoarding loaves of Carrabba's bread to myself.. were over. 

Hi, my name is Melissa, and I have been gluten free for four months. If you're just starting out on the journey to gluten freedom then there's one thing I can tell you with confidence- It's way easier than it seems, especially if you are going gluten free for health reasons. Nothing works quite like negative reinforcement..

So far in my four months I've found awesome restaurants, apps, recipes, tricks & products that I'm looking forward to sharing with all of you. Gluten-free products are almost always more expensive than their normal gluten containing counterparts, and as a recent graduate living completely on my own dollar, I can speak from experience that it adds insult to injury when you buy an expensive gluten-free product and then you end up HATING how it tastes. So hopefully I'll be able to save you a few bucks & make gluten-free feel a little more like gluten-freedom.