Week 1: Gluten Free

Well, here's how we did. This is especially targeted towards anyone starting new to this diet and needing ideas on what a weekly menu might look like. For a single person with little previous experience, this is what I came up with broken down roughly by meals breakfast, lunch and dinner. As you will see, there's not always a whole meal going on- just lots of snacks.

Day 1

Breakfast:  GF chocolate zucchini muffins, coffee
Lunch: GF chicken teriyaki, orange
Dinner: GF pasta with my new favorite tomato sauce
Snacks: Swiss Miss hot chocolate, hot tea, homemade trail mix, Honey Nut Chex (HNC)
Verdict: Pasta saved the day. Plus, craving carbs like crazy.

Day 2

B: muffins, coffee
L: pasta with sauce
D: lemon-butter snow peas
S: trail mix, hot chocolate, tea, HNC, grapes, olives, GF crackers with horseradish cheese dip, flourless chocolate cake

Day 3

B: muffins, HNC, coffee
L: pasta with sauce
D: rice and soy sauce
S: hot chocolate, tortilla chips and salsa, lemonade, trail mix, GF crackers with toasted marshmallow fluff and chocolate chips (smores)

Day 4:

B: hot chocolate, muffins
L: pasta with sauce
D: spinach salad
S: trail mix, HNC, lime popsicle, grapes, stovetop popcorn, smores
Day 5:

B: tea
L: a handful of chex
D: Tobias frog- tomato and roasted red pepper soup, salad, and scallops (cheated with half a garlic bread stick and roll)
S: trail mix, tea, HNC with chocolate chips
Verdict: I was out most of the earlier part of the day. Eating out is hard.

Day 6:

B: cheese omelette, tea
L: muffins
D: cornbread, pumpkin soup, lemonade
S: trail mix, homemade popcorn, smores

Day 7:

B: Peanut butter cookie, coffee
L: spinach salad with GF dressing, pumpkin soup with cornbread
D: lemon-garlic tilapia with zucchini and rice, lemonade
S: hot chocolate, tea, banana, smores, lime popsicle
Verdict: probably the best day so far.

Overall I think my first week went well. I cheated a total of three times: once to try a bite of guava-cheese pastry, once at Tobias frog for a dinner roll and half a garlic breadstick, and once for a peanut butter cookie. I don't think that's half bad.

Other than that, I'm realizing how hard it can be to eat out like this. On Saturday, it took me forever to decide on a place because nearly everything has bread. Even ordering a soup and entree without either, they still bring you bread as a side. There's no noticable difference in how I feel, or so I think. Too early to tell. Plus, it's really weird to look back on my week and see what I've eaten.

Let's try another week out and see where this goes. There are some recipes I made this past week that are coming up soon as well. Any gluten-free recipes out there you think I should know about?