gluten freedom with spinach and rice noodles

Dave's gone back east for the weekend so I  have the freedom to play around with silly meals to my hearts content. He had really embraced gf cooking at home and while I enjoy his cooking I don't crave a full meat and potatos meal every night. He tends be the default chef and needs a solid meal after working on the mountain and outside all day. My office dwelling self does not need that many calories but there's no point in cooking two dinners each night so we tend to eat GF meat and starch.

I cooked some rice noodles and sauteed some spinach then stir fried them together. My lesson for this late dinner was the discovery that two cloves of garlic was too much for my simple style. I'm not really a garlic fan but since the Joy of Cooking suggested it I tried it. I felt very Julie as I reference the iconic cookbook- even if it was just the JoC instead of  MtAoFC. I did get to see the movie when it came to town and loved it. I hadn't read the book but took care of that last Friday afternoon in the sunshine with Chaos on the porch while enjoying some redbridge. I really like the rice noodles and when I reheat the leftovers tomorrow I'm going to try to add a bit more flavor to them. Tonight I had added some gluten free soy sauce and it didn't take on as much flavor as I thought it would.

I took Dave to the airport today and since we live in a small mountain town this means that this was a hour and a half drive each way. We headed down early to run a few errands and grab a late lunch. Although Dave's not glutarded it's still hard to find food in airports these days during layovers and his layover in Denver was going to be short with a long run from his puddle jumper to the big jet. We hit the pizza place with a gluten free dough option. Since I've become a lot more sensitive to everything  I had to ask about their peanut sauce and was bummed to learn that it was off limits. The waiter was great about double checking and I appreciated the extra time he put forth. They make their peanut sauce with peanut butter and SOY sauce... I didn't ask him to check the soy. I just assumed that they used the cheap stuff that is loaded with wheat like most others. I was pretty bummed since I was already planning on leaving out the cheese and was craving a thai chicken pie. I went with a pesto, chicken, onion and broccoli pie on a gluten free crust. Dave had a gooey cheese filled gluten filled pie with peperoni and sausage. I was jealous for a second until I remembered how sick that pie would make me.

Speaking of... I am officially glutarded. I can now join the club and get the t-shirt. I've been to the gastroenterologist and sent my DNA off to the lab. I have the DQ2 Alleles (DQA1*05/DQB1*02) given this and my vast array of symptoms the GI Doc confirmed that I have a big problem with gluten. He didn't think it was worth the time and energy to do an endoscopy since I haven't had  any real amount of gluten in so many months. I could go and eat gluten for two months and have the test done but this seems silly for a few reasons- I don't think I could deal with doing that much damage to myself and I don't think Dave, my friends or I could tolerate me on gluten again.... the few times I have ingested gluten were HELL. Migraines and body aches are not something I look forward to. Given all this evidence the GI handed me a small trifold pamphlet of info and welcomed me to the club. The trifold gave Dave and I a good laugh since I have consumed books and spent countless hours reseaching everything about gluten since last November!

Side Note: If you happen to share genes with me I suggest you pay attention! You and your offspring are at risk~ feel moody, poopy or funny after meals or are you tired and lethargic, grumpy or gassy~ you could be glutarded too. It's a fun club... along with a growing arsenal of books and products there's even t-shirts and stickers to help with the gluten free life. Going Gluten Free has really helped me... 

The GI Doctor did suggest that I keep a food and symptom log since a lot of foods seem to be messing with me. It's been pretty frustrating- I'm ok with losing gluten. I've accepted that and moved on but dairy including cheese... please say it ain't so! I've been avoiding it and then re-challenging. The re-challenge seems to prove that dairy and I are not friends right now. It sucks but I've been finding ways to get my fixes without causing myself dairy hell. I seem to tolerate butter in cooking but have swapped to Silk Soymilk and have avoided cheese. I can't believe it but Dave even found this "ice cream" that is gluten and dairy free. It's the first time I've had cookie dough ice cream in almost a year. I love the coconut tones in it. It's not much more then a pint of Ben & Jerry's and is so worth it.