2 posts tagged “whole foods”
behold the beginnings of my new gluten-free
pantry. it's a very empty pantry right now because i've already
cleared out four large grocery bags of 'no more' foods. i've
taken one down to my parents (which i'm not convinced is a good idea,
because i think they have shown signs of needing to go GF as well), and
the others to check with robin and her family and they rest to the food
bank.
and i still have probably another 6 bags i could fill with soups and
couscous mixes and all the other stuff lurking in other areas of the
kitchen.
as always, i love my local whole foods. there is a reason i
drive a 1/2 hour out of the way to go there every week. last
night it took me over an hour to shop with my list of what to get, what
to look out foron the food labels, and just larning to read the shelves
entirely differently and find where everything is. luckily, early
on in the aking aisle i met Bob by stoping him to ask if they had the
Chébé bread mix (which the Chébé website said this locale did
carry). he thought itsounded familiar, and wewent on a hunt
around the whol store to see if it was hidden someplace non-sensical
considering it should be with teh other bread mixes. alog the
way, Bob stopped to point out the various spots where gluten-free
products were nested together. there is a huge aray of GF pizza
crusts alone -- including frozen dough which will be likely what i'll
use until i figure out a good recipe on my own.
Bob also provided mewith review of various items, and offered to
inspect my basket so far. he wasconcerned the quinoa speghetti i
picked up wasn't the bast choice because of the corn. "it isn't
as forgiving." turns out Bob's wife has celiac, and he eats GF
with her as well. he was a super help, and spent about 15 minutes
with me touring the store and making suggestions. he then
suggested i head back to the info desk and ask for the printout of all
the GF products the providence store carried.
and the staff at the desk was also super helpful, giving reviews for
the best brownie mixes, and reminding me to check out the WF
gluten-free bakery section on the freezer aisle. the GF kicthens
for WF prepared food is up and running!! it is a great selection
of allergen free foods, in all sorts of yummy things, including one
staple for everyones diet: chocolate chip cookies. gluten,
egg, dairy and nut free.
needless to say, shoping was completely over budget, but i feel like
i'm setting up a new house with all this stuff i need to get. i
never did find the Chébé bread mix i wanted, but i did find their
frozen breadsticks. WF said they would hold aside some of the
bread mix for me with the next order that came in.
i'm also holding on to last nights recipt so i can check out to see
if i can save anything with buying some of the flours and mixes in bulk
from amazon.com. their GF section is also really great, but i
have noticed on their organic food that they can't beat the price at WF
already.
and all this for doing this change-over in "baby-steps". i
think going cold turkey would absolutely break me. and my bank
account!
i'm not setting a time-line for myself for going gluten-free. heck, i haven't even heard from the doctor yet if the test says anything and if further tests (i.e. biopsy) would be needed, so going cold turkey doesn't make much sense.
but, whatever the test results, i've decided i need to do this. i have too many mysterious symptoms that might tie to this, so trying can't hurt. it will just suck a lot.
so baby-steps it is. besides, my budget can't afford a completely pantry empty and restock.
as of today, i'm going to start the elimination of bread and pasta. I have a ton of pasta in the cupboard that will have to make a trip to the food pantry. (but my annie chun's udon noodle bowls will be consumed by me. . . ) i also have a huge amount of bulk bread flour, but i can give that to Robin since she and Jeff use their bread machine all the time.
all shopping from now on will be for gluten-free products. i've already scooped out amazon.com's gluten-free grocery section, and it looks great. annie rice-noodle and cheese mix! since everything there is in bulk, i'll have to do test runs of things as i pick them up from whole foods. then i can decide if i want them in huge amounts.
and i need to talk to my friendly whole food peeps. i noticed last week their fresh bread section was lacking in any gluten-free staples. for shame! bad enough i have to give up my cuban pork burritos (wheat tortilla) and honey jalapeno pulled pork quesadillas. ::sob:: they have to give me something i can make a b.l.t. with.
and i just noticed the abundance of pig meat in that last ramble. i think i know where my food on the hoof preference lies.
