Gluten-Free Simplicity

Way #36: Deal with those Comfort Food Issues in Order to Get Closer to Gluten-Free Simplicity.

  What?  OK… now that’s a bit personal.. don’t ya think?

  May be, … then again… Maybe Not.

Talk about your comfort foods -- Yesssir!!! (c.2009, WTB)

  Really folks.  Seriously now.  According to Wikipedia, Comfort foods are:

“Comfort food is typically inexpensive, uncomplicated, and easy to prepare. Many people turn to comfort food for familiarity, emotional security, or as a special reward. The reasons a dish becomes a comfort food are diverse but often include pleasant associations of childhood[1]. Small children often seem to latch on to a specific food or drink (in a way similar to a security blanket) and will repeatedly request it in high stress situations. Adults eat comfort food for a sense of continuity” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_food .

  So what is your culinary security blanket?  Don’t you have one?  I  got way too many.

  I got “Honeycomb“, a breakfast cereal that came along just in time for me to notice as a child.

  BUT… Its possibly (at least there is a discussion to this leaning) got gluten in it — I think.  Somewhere in this list:

“CORN FLOUR AND BRAN BLEND (CORN FLOUR, WHOLE GRAIN CORN FLOUR, CORN BRAN), SUGAR, WHOLE GRAIN OAT FLOUR, HONEY, SALT, YELLOW 5, BHT ADDED TO PACKAGING MATERIAL TO PRESERVE PRODUCT FRESHNESS. VITAMINS & MINERALS: NIACINAMIDE (B VITAMIN), REDUCED IRON, ZINC OXIDE (SOURCE OF ZINC), VITAMIN B6, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), FOLIC ACID (B VITAMIN), VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D”  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeycomb_(cereal)#Ingredients).

  Or perhaps there is a cross-contamination factor involved.

  And of course, there are pancakes and practically any sort of fresh bread(a no brainer).

  Boy have I been depressed over the last decade sometimes feeling as though there were few options.  How could I deal with my need for comfort food when I was grieving or feeling bad?

  I would sometimes just hate the world for days at a time.  This was perhaps a form of necessary “processing”, but I am not sure how productive it is for just anyone.

  Eventually, I got to a point where I finally had a truly clear thought… deep down in this painful area where rationale seldom waxes. 

   My thought was like this… OK…

1. If all my old comforts have Gluten in them, and
2. I cannot eat Gluten because it makes me feel UN-comfortable, and
3. There are reasonable alternatively attractive substances out there,
4. I just need to find NEW COMFORT FOODS that contain NO GLUTEN.

  So I have started trying to do that. 

  It is a challenge, but it is a much healthier quest (if not just a natural progression from) than/that point where I was just enveloped in grief, anger, and yes… some self pity.

  What are your new Gluten-Free Comfort Foods?

  I will let you know as I identify mine.  Surely as I move along this path, I am getting closer to Gluten-Free Simplicity.

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