No one ever said that life was going to be easy. And on a much smaller scale, the same can be said for cooking gluten free. You will never truly understand how many products contain gluten until a Celiac diagnosis forces you to read every single label in the grocery store aisles before you toss that baby into the shopping cart.
The reason I am babbling on about this is because a great deal of my stress in the kitchen has been put to ease by local farmers markets and by growing my own food. I learned very quickly when my boyfriend, who has Celiac Disease, and I moved in together that I had to cook everything from scratch and choose items that were truly unprocessed.
You name it, I’ve figured out how to make it gluten free…. mac and cheese made in a butternut squash cheese sauce, fresh braised rabbit in a morel mushroom gravy, and even buffalo chicken nuggets with a garden vegetable medley.
There is so much satisfaction in growing and harvesting your own food, and every more so, creating something beautiful out of them. Not to mention, it taste so much better. I mean, let’s be honest, there is nothing better than a sun-warmed heirloom tomato plucked from its vine in my backyard garden, sliced and sprinkled with salt! Mmmmm… make’s my mouth water just thinking about it!
With all of that being said, we moved to Northeast Iowa just a few months back. We traded in our 1,200 square foot apartment in a busy town for a 1,200-acre dairy farm in the country. I missed the spring planting of the garden, but I’ve managed to carve out a section of the two-acre food garden for Brandon and I to grow some of our favorites this upcoming spring. Let the planning begin…
Our journey here in Iowa has just started. I’m still getting used to sharing my morning cup of coffee with the cows peeking their heads in the windows and the chickens gathering in the afternoon on my front steps. Living on the farm is something so new and so exciting, and I wish I had made the move five years ago. The move has really rejuvenated my zest for life!
I want all of you to join me on this expedition, as I want to show you that gluten-free and healthy foods don’t have to be boring or bland, and that they can even grow in your backyard. Don’t get ‘hangry,’ I’ll be writing again soon!
