Gluten free -- or close 80)

Howdy all,
About a month ago, I decided to go gluten free(eliminating wheat gluten at this point) for a variety of reasons. I have been researching it and gluten can be tied to complications with autism, fibromyalgia, diabetes, weight-gain, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, etc. And I felt in my heart, that gluten is something that's causing my family (me included) definite issues.

As I just started to cook meals here and there gluten free, I noticed a huge change in all of us. Gluten makes us moody. 80) I've read this, but we're definitely seeing that in our case too...

I'm not militant with it at this point. If I go to a friend's house, I'm not going to require gluten free cuisine... (i may be getting gluten in sauces or flavor mixes) but I'm definitely working on it...

It's so much easier than I thought it would be. Maybe why I'm sticking with it after 1 month.

Also, I have found that there *is* gluten free chocolate out there. I know this may not sound like a big deal, but this way, we can have our cake and eat it too!

there are soooo many gluten free meccas on the web, but here are a few that I highly recommend for recipes, tips, etc

http://gingerlemongirl.blogspot.com/2008/02/successful-gluten-free-master-baking.html

All recipes has a fairly good selection as well.

http://glutenfreegirl.com/

There are so many more as well...

Once I found a place to get the flours (a good friend and her fam took me to an Asian market, which has tons of starches for a great price...), i felt much more comfortable with it all. Also, i'm grinding my own rices and nuts into flours and meals.

People keep asking me if it's expensive. The answer is Sort of and it can be... To me, it's not much difference, because I make most things from scratch. Before this, I was making my own bread, pasta, etc... We don't eat a lot of ready-made foods at all. I'm finding that many of the recipes I try, taste just as good or even better than their gluteny counterpart... A sidenote - Have you ever noticed that gluteny and gluttony are very close together? 80) Just a bit humorous... But back to how much it is -- I'm seeing that I'm spending more money on flours to get started, but I have 4 pounds of rice flour so I'll be good for awhile (this is the flour I reach for most right now...)

As far as eating out, it's not as bad as you think. I'm still to the point that I completely cheat sometimes when eating out... I don't eat out super often at all (once every two weeks or therabouts...) but when I do, it's very tempting not to get fried chicken, etc. I'm working on it, and I'll work on my self control...

My boys are gluten free about half time, but it's already making a difference.

I'm also finding my vegetable intake is increasing. Vegetables and fruits naturally don't have gluten... So why not eat more of them? It's going really well...

I'm really excited all in all... I have a tendency to start things and not follow through early on... But I've reached the hardest part for me in a diet, which is the first two weeks, and I'm still going strong...

I feel so much healthier going gluten free and the boys are giving me positive feedback as well 80)

Thanks for listening!
Namaste.