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| Reducing the Stress: Gluten-Free Holiday's |
There are many articles, blog posts and articles about the
Holiday’s and Gluten-Free Food. So when challenged with the idea of writing an article
for the Holiday’s presented itself, I pondered what I should write about.
Food is an integral part of the Holiday’s, therefore being on
a restricted diet during the holiday’s adds a lot of stress during an already
stressful time. I reflected on my gluten-free/dairy-free journey and realized that I have come
a long way.
My first holiday was Thanksgiving and I was going to family, who was making the meal the "traditional" way. I made
an entire gluten-free/dairy-free meal to bring with me, since 4 of us were now gluten-free
and dairy-free. It was a tremendous
amount of work and truthfully the food was just okay. I was tired and a little disappointed. Not only did I have to eat food that was just average
but I had to endure the unsolicited comments from one of the non- gluten-free
members that tried the food and was a little unkind about the taste. It hurt my
feelings and I become anxious about cooking for others.
Five holiday seasons later, I have become a much better
gluten-free/dairy-free cook and baker. When planning what I will cook/bake, I think about
what foods gives me that “feeling” of the specific holiday; I am cooking/baking
for. This way I am not overworking by reproducing the entire meal. For example,
I don’t care about certain Thanksgiving traditional foods but I love the
stuffing and gravy, so I focus on making the best gluten-free and dairy-free
stuffing and gravy, I can. To me pumpkin pie is just okay but I love a good
apple pie, so that is what I make.
Though I have tried to please everyone in my
“food issue group” it has not worked because it becomes overwhelming. If others
in my “food issue group” want a certain food that I am not making, I now let
them figure it out rather than trying to do it all for everyone. This way on
the day of the holiday I am not burnt out and too tired to enjoy the gathering.
Family and friends now know that there are 2 sets of foods,
regular and gluten-free. The gluten-free
is in a separate location that prevents any cross contamination, especially with
serving utensils. Believe me when I tell you, it is heartbreaking when you have cooked/baked for days and someone proceeds to take the serving spoon from the regular stuffing and sticks it in the gluten-free/dairy-free stuffing, rendering it uneatable, for those of us who can not have any cross contamination. The first time it happened to me, I cried.
I no longer care what others think about my cooking or my
food choices. If they don’t like it then they don’t have to eat it. I have let
it be known that I am not interested in a critic unless I ask for it. Setting
boundaries with family and friends helps reduce the stress. It is essential for
me to take charge of my food issues and stand proud that I am taking care of myself.
Instead of reproducing some already excellent information, I
have listed several places for you to find gluten-free recipes and baked goods
for the holidays. These are only a fraction of the options now available to us.
- Blogs: Holiday
Recipes can be found on many blogs
such as:
- Magazines such
as: Gff Magazine at http://gffmag.com/ Gluten Free Living at http://www.glutenfreeliving.com/ Gluten Free & More at http://www.glutenfreeandmore.com/ Simply
Gluten Free at https://simplygluten-free.com/glutenfreemagazine/
- Pinterest: Go to Pinterest
and enter gluten-free recipes in the search box and 1000’s of recipes
will come up. Pinterest sites such as these have many tried and true
gluten-free holiday recipes.
Local Bakeries: Here
in Southern California there are several good bakery options. When going to a gluten-free bakery
please ask if it is dedicated gluten-free bakery. Celiac people should not eat
baked goods made in a location that could have cross contamination.
Cookies con Amore/ Glutenetto: Has a large variety of Italian cookies. Read my post for further information.
Cloud
9 Bakers:
San
Juan Capistrano - 31654 Rancho Viejo Rd
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
(949) 388-8311
Sensitive
Sweets: Has 2 locations now:
San
Clemente - 362 Camino De Estrella
San Clemente, CA 92672
(949) 388-5764
Fountain Valley - Slater Plaza: 17431 Brookhurst St
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
(714)968-9169
Passover: Yehuda and Gefen are brands that carry gluten-free Passover items.
Gluten-Free Matzo by Yehuda is really quite good. (I have found this Matzo at Ralphs, Whole Foods, Wal Mart etc. It can be very expensive on line so shop around.)
Amazon has an entire section of gluten-free Passover items.
If you are up in Los Angeles there are some wonderful bakeries:
Erin
McKenna (once BabyCakes): (Great donuts)
236
North Larchmont
Los
Angeles, CA 9004
855-462-2292
Rising
Hearts Bakery: (bagels, breads, treats, etc)
10836 W. Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 815-1800
Cartoon via ToledaBlade.com, www.whatnext.com
HAPPY HOLIDAY'S TO ALL!
