Going Gluten Free (GF) & Dairy Free (DF)

It was incredibly daunting when we first learned that we all needed to go gluten free & dairy free.

Truthfully, it’s something I’ve wondered about for years (GF at least), and getting away from processed foods. I used to cook everything from scratch, even bread, buns, tortillas, etc… But once I started dealing with chronic pain & health issues 8 years ago (how has it been that long already?!), I just couldn’t keep up.

At any rate, here’s where we are now. It has been challenging, but not as overwhelming as I expected.

What I have learned is that it takes a lot more planning & prep. We used to let kids forage for breakfast & lunch, snacks, etc. (they knew what they were allowed to have & I didn’t typically make those meals). No longer. So now I am (we are) making 3 meals a day and needing to provide snacks also. I’m so grateful for kids who love helping in the kitchen!

We have been finding fun, delicious recipes to try out. Some are more successful than others, but I’m grateful every time we make something that’s a hit! 🙂

The most helpful advice I got when we first started out was to not try to replace all our old foods that we used to eat. We used to eat some type of bread, pasta, pizza, etc, every day!! That would be incredibly expensive to buy all GF/DF.

What do I miss the most? Cheese! (although a friend gifted us some DF, plant based cheese that has been amazing to have!)

And the ability to just let the kids eat chicken nuggets because I’m too tired to cook. 🙂

What am I grateful for? It is teaching me to be better about meal planning. And, it’s not as challenging or overwhelming as I expected. Honestly, it’s way easier than what I was doing before, basically cooking different foods for 4 different people or groups! Now we’re all (mostly) on the same page. We still have a few individual sensitivities that have to be avoided for a particular person or another, but that’s pretty manageable!