I have several new gluten free items that Anndee says are actually good!
These were from Aldi. The chicken nuggets even warm up good! The general tso’s chicken has yet to be tried. We have high hopes!!! Anndee loves the spinach wraps with hummus or cream cheese and chicken.
The oatmeal came from target, but I know they carry it at Kroger as well. This is the only oatmeal she has liked so far.
Last but not least, this is her FAVORITE snack these days! I bought this at Marshalls. A little bit of sweet and a little bit of crunch.
NO gluten attacks this week! Thank goodness!! I am also getting a bit quicker at checking the ingredients as well.
We are always looking for new gluten free snacks. If you have any favorites feel free to leave them in the comments.
I walk to my car every evening and this is what I see. Of course, this photo doesn’t even come close to how pretty it is without the camera lens. No matter how tired I am, that little bit of light that shines truly makes me smile every day.
I tend to look at life that way. Always looking for the light, no matter the circumstance. I can usually find it. I think that is a super power!! There is no way I could walk through life sour and grouchy. I’ve seen enough people that way. Yes, I do have my moments… we all do, but I can always reel it back in to something optimistic. So, today, on the craziest day of my week, I am thankful for those simple Christmas lights just outside my work. I am thankful for the reminder to “see the light.”
I grew up in a musical family. Music is something we would just do for fun. My dad was a pastor and since I lived right next to a church I would go over in the evening as the sun was going down and just sit on the steps in front of the alter. Sometimes I would lay down and just stare at the ceiling in silence. There is something about being in such a sacred place, in the stillness, just feeling what you need to feel.
I grew up and for 12 years I worked full time in ministry. Any time I wanted I could drive to the church and sit down in the front and just feel what I needed to feel. Soon I started bringing an iPad full of music, or i’d play the piano, and I would sing. I would sing for myself, my greatest form of worship. I would sing my heart out in that room with no one watching. Feeling what I would need to feel always came out even better through music. I would always feel a little lighter when I was done.
Recently, I stepped down from my full time church job. I don’t intend to talk much about that, but I will say, the place that gave me so much joy also took it away. Stealing a line that my friend once used “the house that broke me.” I stopped singing. I stopped a lot of things. The feelings that I felt were no longer freeing… they completely sucked me of every bit of joy. Now, many months later, after MUCH HEALING (and much more healing to come) I feel the yearn for music again. I wondered if I ever would again. I no longer work at a church… I no longer have a sanctuary. I really only have a house full of people that are always loud. So, I sit in my car and sing sometimes, but what I really want to do is sit down in the silence, in my spot in the church, and feel all the feels that I have, and worship…. Sometimes I feel so cheated. I know that God has a plan. That joy is in the process and that in the midst of this season God is shaping me. THIS. I. KNOW. but that doesn’t mean my soul doesn’t hurt a bit. I heard this song today by Lauren Daigle and I wanted my dark and silent sanctuary so bad. I wanted the words to this song in front of me and I wanted to sing. So, instead of doing that I decided to share with you this beautiful song. For me, a song of hope. A reminder that my needs will always be supplied. A reminder that I am dearly loved by a Father that gives me everything I need. No matter what. Please look below to hear these song EVERYTHING by Lauren Daigle
The last couple posts were long…. and dramatic. Time to switch it up a bit. Aldi has tons of gluten free options. Some GF foods have a funky texture. These are Anndee approved.
*Brekkie Bites by Simply Nature they make these in Choc. Chip, but Anndee loves the ones in the photo the best. These are wrapped in packages for easy grab and go access. *Blue corn tortillas A hit for everyone in the family. I buy 2 bags at a time. *Black Forest Juicy Burst Gummies This was one of the first things Anndee wanted me to find for her. She specifically wanted this brand. I buy the value pack so that all 3 girls can use them in their lunch at school. *Stackers by Clancy’s These are an alternative for pringles. PRINGLES are NOT GF. *Reese’s … no description necessary. *Peppermint Mocha Whipped Topping by Friendy Farms. Anndee was so excited about this one! She uses it in her coffee… I won’t lie, so do I!
Here is a screen shot of our conversation.
I also got a couple bags of frozen fruit, green apples, bananas, and rotisserie chicken slices! I can’t believe I forgot a photo of that one! It is her FAVORITE lunch meat.
Aldi has so many GF options. They are usually on the end caps through out the store. Do you have a favorite find at Aldi? GF or not??
*ANNDEE’S STORY This time last year we had already been to the ER a few times with our oldest, Anndee. She couldn’t breathe well, her chest was sore, and she would have great anxiety in the moment because it was scary. Soon exhaustion started hitting hard and strong. Her color started becoming pale, she would come home from school and sleep.
December 2019 began pretty rough. Anndee had to sit in a wheel chair at school because walking to classes was exhausting. We went to specialist after specialist and the best they could come up with was the possibility of vocal chord disfunction. More tests- more doctors- still no answers.
*A GLIMMER OF HOPE My childhood chiropractor’s daughter messaged me on Facebook and told me that a lot of these symptoms reminded her of how she was before she stopped eating gluten. So, I packed Anndee up in the car and drove a couple of hours to our family chiropractor. Dr. Fisher tested for allergies by using Kinesiology. If you don’t know what it is, look it up! It’s pretty cool. Its weird… but it’s cool. Her reaction when tested with gluten was very strong. We immediately stopped gluten in her diet and within DAYS her energy level was up and her color started coming back. Seriously, all the tests, all the dr visits, all the ER visits, all the fear and anxiety were literally dissolved in a matter of minutes in ONE visit to our chiropractor.
*THE GLUTEN FREE (GF) JOURNEY BEGINS It took us from November 2019 until about June 2020 to get this all figured out. As a mother, I felt instant relief. I was going through all sorts of scenarios in my head and none of them were good. Anndee was stressed, anxious, and hurting but was soon able to feel hopeful. The journey of gluten free began and boy did we have lots to learn. <Side note: I have been keto for years. Looking back we laugh cause Anndee would always say she felt better when she ate like me. We never thought much about it until later. Because I am keto, I have learned to make the things I always loved in a new way so I wasn’t missing out. This was GREAT for living gluten free.> What we were NOT prepared for was cross contamination, checking EVERYTHING even spices, how to help the body once it has been glutened, and how people treated her once they knew she was GF.
*THE HARD STUFF I am going to start with ingredient searching. Wheat, Rye, and Barley are the main things we search for. After we look for those in the ingredients we scan down to the bottom of the ingredient list. If it says <Contains: Wheat> then its a no go. I love when things say GF/Gluten Free. We still scan to double check.
Being Glutened is real. That’s basically when you injest something that has gluten. Sometimes its by accident or cross contamination (example: making a peanut butter sandwich and redipping the knife in the pb after it has been on the bread… those bread crumbs cause cross contamination). Sometimes its just because ingredients were not checked. We have learned that Anndee reacts differently with different kinds of gluten. Wheat causes inflammation in her chest. She will feel pain in her chest, breathing literally hurts, she will become extremely tired and weak. She will sweat a lot and she will have to sleep for a few hours while it gets out of her system. Usually after that she is ok. To help with this type of gluten attack she has to take Ibuprofen. Barley makes her itch. Like CRAZY itch down her esophagus. It drives her insane. She doesn’t have as much inflammation in her chest. She will also have to sleep for several hours as this runs its course. Usually with Barley she will still be sick even through the next day. We have only seen barley (so far) in a chocolate popsicle. We have decided we REALLY don’t like barley. To help with this type of gluten attack she has to take Benadryl and Ibuprofen.
We were not prepared for how people would react to the GF changes we had to put in place. Most people think this is a DIET CHOICE. Trust me, my teenage daughter would MUCH rather eat anything she wants and not spend her time reading labels and worrying about if something with gluten touched her food. It still amazes me that my daughter can adjust her life so greatly, but it is so hard for people to just be understanding. Sometimes being understanding means keeping silent instead of giving uneducated opinions. I could go on with this frustration, but for me, that will just lead to more frustration.
*THE BRIGHT SIDE There is a bright side. Peanut Butter Cups are GF! LOL! All joking aside (and the knowledge that she really is thankful they are GF) we know that this is something we can control. It might be a pain, but we know what the pain is.
The photo with Anndee and her cat, Riggy, at the start of this post is the healthy Anndee – living the GF life in full force. She goes to high school and is the VP of her Junior Class. She takes all honors classes and is in the Beta Club. She works at an animal clinic after school and also teaches guitar. She doesn’t let this gluten mess define her. I am sharing her story because I hope that maybe our journey will help someone else feel hope. Maybe it will just open your eyes on how kindness can go a long way even if you don’t understand an issue in full. Maybe this will remind you of someone else you heard struggling with gluten issues and you share this post and they learn they are not alone for the first time.
I hope to use this blog as a platform to share articles, recipes, the ups and the downs, and all things GF!
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post on our GF Aldi finds! Love, B
I am an optimistic person, by nature. I am a giver. I love real big. I am a number 2 on the enneagram (which really annoys me MOST of the time) Wrap all that up and you will see that really, I am just a big bundle of feelings. LOL! That can be good when you need it, but it can also be my undoing as well. The year of 2020 pretty much felt like it chewed me up and spit me out. I quit my job of 12 years. One of the hardest things I have ever done. I left well with those that truly mattered. I kept my story to myself, but yet months later, there are those that still talk. People that THINK they know your story, but really don’t. **Power trippin’ –is a real thing!** Me, I would much rather live a happy and healthy life with my family. That was the choice my husband and I chose. The path less followed. It was hard! I wanted to cry, and scream, and be angry. I kind of did those things, but my close friends and family were there reminding me to stand strong, because God had a bigger plan for my life. I have always known that He does, but sometimes I still hurt. Sometimes I am sad. Sometimes I will hop on here and talk about it…. Just because I need an outlet. I promise I won’t make this entire blog just about me! Let me tell you a little about our life. At the start of the pandemic we got chickens, thanks to a well played move by child #1 who made a power point presentation explaining WHY we needed them. The entire summer evening hours were spent turning our kids play house in to a chicken coop.
During this time we watched the majority of the chickens that we raised slowly grow in to roosters! We were able to rehome all the roosters and now have 4 hens! The eggs (lovingly called fresh butt nuggets) have been fun to gather. You will hear a lot about our pets! During quarantine we got 2 kittens. I have never been a cat lover. Riggy was the first to come home. My oldest plopped him in my arms and told me to bond. I rolled my eyes knowing what was about to happen. And soon after Riggy’s brother was in my arms. Beau is a blind kitten that looks like the cat off shrek… I could not say no. Sometimes I regret that. The 3 dogs outside are always barking at the chickens and then if they see the kittens in the house they bark some more. Our house is either noisy from the girls OR from the animals. As if all that wasn’t enough 2020 was the year we found out about my oldest daughter’s gluten allergy. It is rough! I will spend quite a bit of time talking about the issues we have faced and how we have overcome them… or not… This has consumed my brain a lot recently. Sitting down after our Thanksgiving meal I was a bit surprised with how much I was thankful for. I just kept thinking, “Joy in the journey”… It’s a thing, I guess. We aren’t normal folks. We don’t dwell on the bad… We might sit and process for a hot minute, but we will let it go. We would much rather find something to be thankful for. Are you ready for the story of us? Are you ready for the adventures of a gluten free life with a teenager that wants to LIVE her life REALLY BIG despite the gluten issues? Are you ready to see how we continue to find joy in the small things even thought life sometimes throws us some curve balls? You better hang on tight because this is gonna be a wild ride!!!!! Love, B
Love, B 