How To Go Gluten Free

I have eaten a gluten free diet for quite some time now. I understand many people have no choice and can not eat a drop of gluten because of Celiac disease. Others say gluten free is just a fad that will come and go. We decided to cut it out and see if we felt a difference and it made sense for us. Since cutting gluten out of our diet, I always felt satisfied but never grossly full or bloated. Headaches decreased and my energy level increased. While doing this with my husband we were always lenient with our kids and allowed them to eat gluten while out or have certain snacks. Recently, we took gluten 100% out of our 4 year old daughters diet. I initially thought she may be anemic. She had a low energy level and was more trying than the typical 3/4 year old. While researching anemia, everything brought me back to Celiac disease and gluten intolerance. I did more research and learned that anemia, diabetes, and arthritis are closely connected to Celiac Disease. This was very interesting to me and I felt that eliminating gluten out of my daughter's diet was worth a try. I was absolutely shocked at how quickly I saw a difference in her behavior, energy level, and overall attitude. She started eating more regularly, was much happier and was not dragging an hour after waking up. I am a strong believer in feeling better when cutting the gluten out. While sharing my story, many people have asked me how to go about taking gluten out of your diet. It is believed that gluten is in everything and that by cutting it out of your diet you will just be eating fruits, vegetables, and meats.
When we decided to change our diet, we decided to go wheat free first and slowly progress into a gluten free diet. We changed out wheat flour over to spelt which was very easy to substitute into any recipe. We just equally changed the flours out. I also started out with an 80/20 philosophy. I said I would be gluten free 80% of the time but gave myself 20% of the time to have gluten to ease into it all. I naturally moved into 100% gluten free pretty quickly. I have an all or nothing attitude and I felt so much better when I didn't eat it.
At first, lunch was difficult for me. I didn't know what to pack since I couldn't throw together a sandwich. My fruit and veggie intake increased and we bought less and less processed food. The staples like bread, pasta, and cereal can easily be substituted. There are a million gluten free products on the market now. As a family, we don't buy much of the gluten free stuff. We will buy bread and thats really it. We started out still eating oatmeal and then went over to gluten free oatmeal too. We have also tried to stay away from products made with white rice flour. If buying gluten free I always check the labels to see what flours are used. When baking, we use almond flour and have gotten used to the texture and taste. Below is a breakdown by meal and what we often eat. We now do this as a whole family and don't miss out on anything.

Breakfast-
eggs- anyway. we love to scramble them with veggies and cheese
any breakfast meat
almond pancakes
almond waffles
Chex cereal
GF oatmeal
GF toast with almond butter and sliced banana
Plain Greek yogurt with agave and fruit

Lunch-
we eat a lot of dinner leftovers
salad
veggies and hummus
yogurt/cottage cheese and fruit
meat and cheese roll ups or lettuce wrapped
tuna with veggies
chicken salad
nachos-with corn chips

Dinner-
grilled meat with veggies and quinea or rice
Quinea pasta- make spaghetti, pasta salad, homemade mac n cheese. Use it in anyway you would make a regular pasta dish.
Tacos with corn tortillas
Salads
Enchiladas with corn tortillas
soups-pasta free
Pizza with gluten free dough Bob's Red Mill makes a great one
Chicken tenders- bread them with almond flour
kabobs

Dinner for us is the easiest one. We just don't eat bread with it and changed the pasta over to quinea. W always make dinner fresh and use very little processed products.

Snacks-
Corn chips and salsa
potato chips
almonds
fruit
veggies
cheese
rie cakes with almond butter
popcorn
A million GF products out there including pretzels and animal crackers

Desserts
Choc. covered strawberries
A million mixes for cakes, brownies, cookies, and treats
dark chocolate

There are a million blogs and websites full of recipes out there too. It really is easy once you decide to do it!