Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Whole Foods and the joy it brings!

Well, while my husband and I were out at Babies' "R" Us on Sunday, we decided since we were nearby Whole Foods (it's a good 40 minute drive from our house) that we would stop by and look around. With the way gas prices are now, it's not a trip I embark upon very often. Since going gluten free, I've realized that bread and baked goods are now something to be savoured. Going to the grocery store and picking up a two dollar loaf of bread is not a luxury we celiac's have. Since Whole Foods is the natural, organic mecca, I figured I'd go check out their Whole Foods brand gluten free baked goods section. Oh, the choices!! I browsed through the frozen section and found pizza crusts, banana bread, blueberry muffins, cheddar biscuits, and the best one of all, gluten free sourdough bread!! Just before I went gluten free I recieved a sourdough bread starter as a gift but had yet to use it because it contained wheat. I new for years that I had a wheat sensitivity, but always thought "well, a little won't hurt me," so I had every intention of using it with the thought that eventually the starter would be so watered down with the spelt flour that I had intended on using (also contains gluten) that the wheat would eventually be undetectable. Well, a few short weeks later, I decided to go gluten free (finally succumbing to the non-chalant gluten sensitivity diagnosis that I recieved 6 years prior) and that sourdough mix is still sitting in my pantry. Maybe I will give it back to the person who originally gave it to me! Boy was I happy to find gluten free sourdough bread already made. I thawed it in the refrigerator, and when it was room temperature, I began to slice a hunk off of the perfectly rounded loaf. It began to crumble, so I placed it on a plate and microwaved it for a few seconds. Instead of trying to piece the crumbs together to spread butter on it, I decided to dip the bite size morsels into some hummus. It definitely paled in comparison to a freshly baked loaf of gluten-filled sourdough, but turned out to be a nice substitute. I think I'll try my luck and bake my own sourdough next time instead of spending 6 dollars for a loaf. Does anyone have any recipes for gluten free sourdough bread?

The next purchase was the cheddar biscuits. I've actually had these before and they sort of taste like Red Lobster's cheddar biscuits. And finally, after craving pizza for weeks on end, my final indulgence was the pizza crusts. A crispy crust pizza topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni and veggies is exactly what the baby is needing right now (well, maybe not the baby, just me :) And my final selection of the day was Nancy's Organic cultured cottage cheese. .
I've always been a huge fan of yogurt and cultured products like sourdough bread, sauerkraut, kombucha tea, kefir and kimchee, so when I first discovered Nancy's Cottage cheese, I was filled with anticipation to try the tangy, sour treat. Now, I can find it at a local health foods store about 20 minutes from my house and at Sprouts, a local natural grocery store about 5 minutes from my work, so I never have to be without it again. As an added bonus, because live cultures help with digestion, and this cottage cheese is LOADED with live cultures, it seemed to help with my nausea a bit. I just eat a little before going to bed, and I feel great in the morning!

Another thing I've learned about gluten free products is that you have to pay good money to get convenience items like premade pizza crusts and bread. We left the store with the grand total of $23, where If I were to purchase mainstream goods at a regular grocery store, I could get out of there spending closer to $10 or $11. For this reason, I savour my gluten free goodies. Now I just need to learn to rely on my own baking abilities rather than on packaged goods.

2 comments:

Gluten Free...licious! said...

Hi, I just saw your blog! Congratulations on your pregnancy, boy I can relate to all that nausea! I LOVE Whole Foods, I'm just south of Cleveland and they just opened one up close to me! However, I haven't seen the sourdough bread yet, but that sounds good. I don't know of a recipe either, but will keep checking around. Have you seen the cookbook; Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts? If not, check it out! I've made several of her bread recipes and they are good! Much better than buying an expensive frozen loaf! Stop by my blog sometime www.glutenfreelicious.blogspot.com ! We'll be in touch!

Lisa :)

Gluten Free Mama said...

Hey thanks for checking out my blog! I'm gonna try to make those gluten free chocolate peanut butter things on your site also!