It's one thing to have to buy or bake gluten free bread, which kind of sucks, but that's really just the tip of the iceberg.
Shopping (and the research that has to go into it) is more difficult than I imagined. So I did a little homework, and I printed a list of stuff that's not allowed. This list is not short. By any means. And I found out on Whole Foods' website that they have a handy dandy little book when you walk in, detailing all of the GF products on the shelves. I loaded NCS up in the car, and we set out in search of everything GF, and I really mean everything.
You see, NCS has a sensory processing disorder, which affects his feeding. Long story short, some textures just really freak him out. Not freak out as in "I really don't like this," but FREAK OUT as in "my brain does not know what to do with this stuff in my mouth, and not only can I not take it, but I am going to go all Exorcist on you!" I can't even begin to really explain it, but let's just say that carbs (breads, crackers, pizza crusts, etc.) are very, very important to him. The sensory stuff kind of makes the GF choices much more narrow.
Whole Foods was out of the handy dandy GF shopping guide, so the nice lady printed it out for me on computer paper. Although I really do appreciate the thought behind the guide, it's pretty difficult to use, especially when you have a boy in the large part of the grocery cart who really would like to be anywhere else. I think I'm a pretty tough person, and I can take many of the crazy curve balls that motherhood sends me, but this shopping list + the long list of stuff that he can't eat almost reduced me to tears. I mean really, is maltodextrin GF or not? The list says he can't have it, but the internet says he can.
Soap box alert: Would someone just stop putting this sort of crap in our food? Maltodextrin? Sodium diphosphate? Artificial flavorings? Caramel color? All of this, by the way, is exactly why I think people have this ridiculous disease. Wheat should be found IN BREAD, NOT SHREDDED CHEESE OR SHAMPOO!
Two such trips to Whole Foods and one such trip to Publix (whose website has a LOT of great GF information), and I think I kind of have an idea of what I'm doing. And then I find out about the whole concept of cross contamination, which was a bit mind-blowing. I just think of gluten like it's a virus or a terrible bacteria. I mean, it's just a microscopic little protein particle that can be passed from person to object/person/pet. If it's on your hands because maybe you ate a turkey wrap, and then you touch a GF cookie to give to your son, you've contaminated him. Perhaps you aren't even so stupid as to just go ahead and handle his cookie... maybe you just touch the handle of the refrigerator, and then your celiac child (yes, that's what they call them, celiacs..) opens the fridge and then eats the cookie on his own accord, BAM! Cross contamination. You've just infected your kid, or glutened him.
Now as you begin to embrace the concept of cross contamination, think about this... Say that you made some regular pasta in your kitchen back in those happy days when you didn't know the term "celiac disease." Perhaps you even stirred the boiling pasta with a $12 wooden spoon from Crate & Barrel... You guessed it, BAM! Cross contamination. Throw it out. Same with your toaster, waffle iron, cast iron skillet, kitchen sponges, plastic kitchenware, all cutting boards, etc. I'm sure there still more that I haven't even thought of yet.. I'm learning more every day. And I really, really miss my wooden spoons.
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