The Wheat-Free Experiment- Preliminaries

I get these ideas into my head.  And I think they are great ideas.  And so The Wheat-Free Experiment begins.  I can’t yet call it The GREAT Wheat-Free Experiment.  Because it remains to be seen…

We are not required to be gluten free or wheat free, but there’s lots of talk and research these days on the benefits of eliminating wheat from the diet. So, why not try it?  After all, I love to cook. I’ve already refined a great wheat-free bread recipe.  And isn’t bread the staff of life?  Indeed, we go through three to four loaves a week of the “staff”.  There is also so much information online about being wheat-free, including a recipe to take the place of every wheat-full one we love.  And the buying opportunities abound as well, enabling me to get the essential ingredients (namely, flours) to make this little experiment work.

Can we live in a world without (wheat flour) cake?

To me, it’s a game. And it sounds just plain fun.  I know. I’m a sicko.  The ones who truly must be gluten free are cursing me right now. They are thinking “Just you wait and see how FUN this really is!”.  I know, I know.  I’m expecting some unfunny moments.  But this is just an experiment.

And it’s not just an experiment on Josh and I. The kids are involved too.  Thursday night, when they have gone to bed, what remains of wheat-full snacks and foods will be packed away and replaced with wheat-free choices.  Yes, Friday morning, March 1^st is the first day of our experiment.  We’ll go the entire month of March, perhaps having a fabulous wheat-less Easter feast on the 31^st, or perhaps deciding we have had enough and having a fabulous wheat-full feast!  It is our prerogative, but in any case, we will be going for at least 30 days without wheat.

I won’t expound on the evils of wheat.  I can’t say I’m even convinced that wheat is the enemy.  And yet, I wonder.  I wonder how we’ll feel after thirty days without this “Frankengrain” as The Wheat Belly Diet calls our current version of wheat.  I wonder if we’ll have more energy.  I wonder if we’ll lose weight.  I wonder if, nothing else, we’ll be able to say we just feel better.  I wonder how the kids will respond.  Physically, but also emotionally. There won’t be a goldfish cracker in the house.  I wonder if, by the end, we’ll be ready to burn every book out there on the evils of wheat and grains.  We shall see.

We’ve decided a few things.  If we go to anyone’s house for a meal, we will gladly eat whatever is set before us. After all, we do not have any known medical reason why we shouldn’t eat wheat.  Therefore, we will be thankful for whatever we are given. This includes the kids eating the snacks that are typically provided for them at church.  And we have also decided not to mention this wheat-free experiment to the kids, for the moment.  But I’m sure the question will arise sometime this month- Where are my goldfish crackers?  Where’s our usual bread?

Last night I did the shopping to get ready for The Wheat-Free  Experiment.  I’m not calling it The Gluten Free Experiment because we will be eating un-certified oats and the like. However, the GF label is very helpful in choosing wheat-free products.  My shopping venture in and of itself was eye opening. I walked down the cracker and snack aisle just to see if there was anything we could eat.  Nope. Nothing.  Wheat in everything.  I didn’t even stop to look at the Oops We Baked Too Much cart, always a favorite. Because, after all, it’s all made with wheat. Didn’t even look at the bread aisle, where I usually buy five loaves of bread. I was just beginning to think I was going to save a ton of money on groceries.  But of course, these wheat-full snacks must be replaced by wheat-less ones.  I had already done some research on foods to buy.  Rice cakes (my kids love them), popcorn (my favorite.  I can never go on a diet that doesn’t allow me to eat popcorn. Or peanut butter.  That’s just the way it is), baked corn chips.  100% grape juice and frozen berries to make slushies and juice pops.  Dried fruits and fresh fruits.  Many of these are staples around here anyway.  But then there were some essential replacements like brown rice pasta and some treats like The Peanut Butter Company’s dark chocolate peanut butter- something special to spread on those rice cakes!  I bought more than the usual frozen veggies and fresh produce.  I was delighted by all the processed foods we just “naturally” can’t have because they have wheat in them.  When all was said and done, my grocery bill was no leaner, but neither was it heftier.  It seemed like the typical amount I spend on my stock up trips that occur every two weeks or so.

But much remains to be seen.  And I think it’s going to be just plain fun finding out if this wheat-less lifestyle works for us.  I’m thankful for a really fun husband who will eat just about anything and really likes my great ideas when it comes to food.  As he said, we eat a lot of naturally wheat-free foods anyway.  He thinks I am cool and interesting.  He likes learning all this foodie stuff from me.  I get  fulfillment out of designing a menu the way he gets fulfillment out of designing a woodshed.

So let the experiment begin (on Friday!).