Celiac and the Junk Food Junkie

This was my lunch today:

We were at a family party yesterday and there were leftover veggies--I suppose maybe it was the drool dribbling down my chin that clued my niece to ask if I'd like to bring them home. 

WHO AM I AND WHAT DID I DO WITH ME?

Me. Drooling over fresh vegetables. Me. The person to whom everyone would send all the cookies and cakes and candy leftovers. Me. The person would be perfectly happy with a day full of cookies only for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Oh Celiac, look what you've done to me!

Not a day goes by that I don't have some type of fruits or vegetables. This is astounding! I'm still sorting through this new world of being gluten-free and certainly still have my doubts and concerns, but something about this must be good. I'm reading labels and increasingly avoiding those that have things that are too hard to pronounce or soy which I believe is more of a culprit in our health than gluten but that's another story.

My first steps into gluten free cooking brought me to the store and this was my cart:

My eyes were crossing, my head was spinning and my wallet was CLEANED OUT. The pizza I made wasn't bad but definitely needed improvement. 

I've tried to concoct and improvise: 

First bread attempt, only weighed about 50 pounds lol!

I read articles. I looked at pictures. I pinterested. I read blogs. As I realized converting my recipes over to gluten free was going to take a while, that strange thing I eluded to as this started happened. I began to eat fruit and raw vegetables. Finally I tried roasting some veggies with olive oil and a little seasoning, and a beautiful new relationship began. Never did I realize the burst of flavor that comes from a bite of roasted cauliflower with olive oil, fresh garlic, tomatoes, and seasoning. I had no idea the lusciousness baked zucchini with tomatoes and mozzarella held! What a wonderful (foody) world!

Don't worry, I've discovered Cup4Cup flour and through experimenting with it, I've been able to have my cookies, too--and no one can tell they are gluten free! 

White Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Cream Cheese Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

And breads. Yes, breads are coming along. These rolls were made using Gluten Free on a Shoestring Nicole's recipe from her cookbook:

 

 Much more to come, stay tuned!