The taste test

I was really worried when we first embarked on this adventure, that my kids (and husband), who am I kidding...and myself, would hate the gluten free food.  To the contrary, we have loved it. I have a few extra pounds I'm carrying around right now to prove it. But I was curious if others would notice a difference in their food, if we didn't tell them it was gluten-free.  In walks my lab rats, aka, my step kids.  My step children are 12 and 11 and we don't get to see them nearly enough. They came for a quick visit this weekend, and we didn't really say anything, at first, about our new diet. We have always eaten far healthier than in their Moms house, so more fruits and veggies didn't catch them off guard. Then I threw in some mac and cheese to see what they would say. They loved it, all they knew was it was homemade, nothing else, but they devoured it. Then I tried some pizza, also homemade, and they couldn't get enough of it.  Pancakes, "thirds please." The only comments I got was that they loved all the home cooking and they wanted more, more, more.  I'd say, based on this very scientific finding, that the gluten free was not only undetectable, but a big hit. When we did finally tell them about the gluten free, they shrugged their shoulders and had no idea what I was even talking about. 

Lots of people have been asking me about recipes and what I have been using to make this a success.  I have tried to keep things pretty normal as far as making sure that we are eating a lot of comfort foods, probably too many. Now I am going to start branching out a little more and delve further into my cookbooks.

Here is a picture of the staples that I have acquired so far:

These are all kid, friend, adult, tested and approved.  If you are looking to go gluten free, you need these.  If you plan to make your own bread, which I highly recommend for both taste and cost, then you must buy a bread machine with a gluten free setting. Like this one....

I have also found some help on the internet using places like pintrest. Amazon has some great cookbooks to download, and I have acquired a few gluten free cookbooks for my kitchen, none of which I love enough to share quite yet.  I don't want to spout recommendations without standing behind them 100%. But I'll keep testing out the recipes and make some recommendations soon. I am looking for some great baking recipes, especially for cakes and cupcakes. With Ryder's birthday around the corner, I am getting nervous I won't find one that tastes great. I do have a couple of boxed cake mixes that are good, but like most people, I prefer to make it from scratch if I can.