2011: A Year of Big Life Changes...

This year is definitely set to be a life-changing one.  Yes, adding not one, but TWO more to the family...but also, we just found out that Myke has celiac's disease.  I won't go into the long, drawn out story, but after over a year of tests, etc, we finally got to the bottom of the mystery as to why his liver enzyme numbers were so elevated.  Celiac's is not an allergy to, but an intolerance of gluten (or wheat).  Your small intestine is damaged by wheat and over time stops absorbing nutrients into your body, no matter how healthy you eat.  Unlike many people with celiac's disease (or people who KNOW they have celiac's disease) Myke had no digestive issues or symptoms.  This diagnosis was quite a big shock.  At the same time, it was a relief to finally know what was going on so we can move forward.  (FYI- life insurance companies don't want to carry you if your liver enzymes are elevated--which is how we realized there was something wrong in the first place).

Soooo, we are 2 weeks into our new gluten-free diet.  Chloë and I still eat gluten here and there, but we try to all eat together as often as possible, so by default the two of us are also eating a lot less gluten.  So far it hasn't been too bad at all.  At first I thought it would be a nightmare with Myke already being on a vegan diet.  He already eats no animal products whatsoever.  (no meat, fish, chicken, eggs, dairy, milk, etc, you name it, if it comes from an animal, it's not in his diet).  NOW, with a gluten-free diet he can't have all the mock meats (BOCA burgers, fake meats, etc) that we used to eat so much of.  Not to mention no regular  breads & pastas.   Not even a peanut butter & jelly sandwich.   And no beer!!!

So far the diet change has not been a problem at all.  We have cooked so much healthier and more whole foods.  This is something we have wanted to do all along but the difference is now we are forced to.  We are also forced to be more creative.  We are still learning about the disease and the rules so I know there is a long road ahead of us until we got it down, but we're taking it one day at a time.

This afternoon was my first attempt at vegan/gluten-free baking.  Thanks to my close friend, Crickett (we have been friends since before 3rd grade!)- she gave me a GF banana muffin recipe.  She also has celiac's disease and has been our go-to expert on the diet so far.  These muffins turned out to be delicious!!  Very moist and mouth-watering!  You would never know they are free of common allergens (like dairy, eggs, wheat).  Thanks, Crickett!!

Muffins 

These look like fake smiles to me...but they LOVED the muffins!