There are people who want the world to know they are not gluten free by choice. These are usually individuals diagnosed with celiac disease who feel forced to live in a way they find distasteful (pun intended).
I think this is a sad way to live. Things happen over which we have no control. But one thing always remains totally within our control — our attitude.
When I first began the gluten free lifestyle I was afraid it would not be the answer to my serious health problems. But I was also afraid it would be. How could I not be angry and resentful learning that years of suffering, much of it at the hands of doctors, had been for nothing?
When symptoms started going away and I began thinking clearly, none of that mattered. Staying away from gluten isn’t a problem for me. All I have to do is remember the way my life was. I will never go back. I choose to live gluten free because I choose health.
Being resentful over not being able to eat certain things is not an option for me. Why would I resent something that gave me my life back? Life is good.
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Rogene Robbins’ eBook The Gluten Free Good Lifeis Available in the Kindle Store. It gives more information on enjoying gluten free life including recipes to get you started.
“For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” — Isaiah 57:12, The Bible (KJV)
Gluten free bread is expensive. Given the size of the loaves, it is very expensive. So, what are we supposed to do about those things we think have to be served on bread? We find other ways. Here are a few of my favorite bread substitutes I think even my non-gluten free readers will enjoy.
1. Corn Tortillas are a good way to make tuna melts or grilled cheese. Specialty tortillas are also available from other gluten free grains.
2. Lettuce Wraps are one of my favorite ways to do sandwiches. I love biting into crisp, crunchy lettuce.
3. Pancakes and Crepes are easy to make at home with gluten free flour and may be used to wrap around either sweet or savory fillings for desserts, main courses or even snacks.
4. Salad makes a healthy replacement for bread. Put your sandwich toppings on a bed of lettuce.
5. Homemade Muffins or Biscuits can be used as a replacement for toast or split and topped with your favorite fillings to make sandwiches.
6. Homemade Bread is always an option. With the cost of gluten free flours this is still a bit pricey but less than buying bread, since you are supplying the labor.
7. Rice Cakes have helped Bob still be able to have his peanut butter sandwiches he loves so much. Check the label for gluten status. With something yummy on top, they aren’t at all bad.
8. Waffles aren’t just for breakfast. I have made waffle pizzas, waffle tacos, waffles and gravy, waffle sloppy joes and even ice cream sundaes on a waffle raft instead of in a waffle cone or bowl. I try to make extra waffles and freeze the leftovers for the convenience of having “toaster waffles” later.
9. Load a Baked Potato with all your favorite sandwich fillings and toppings.
10. My absolute all time favorite is the Pepperwich, a halved green pepper shell cleaned out and filled with sandwich fixin’s.
You really don’t have to spend a small fortune on gluten free bread. Put your thinking cap on and I’m sure you can come up with even more ideas. Anyone want to share?
Joy is one of those words that is hard to define, but Merriam-Webster tries. Two of the definitions for Joy are: state of happiness or felicity and a source or cause of delight. Well they tried. I think joy is one of those things you just have to experience and you recognize when you are experiencing it.
Joy is the wonder of the miracle of life at the birth of a baby.
Joy is the excitement as couple start out in life together at a wedding.
Joy is also (and this is my favorite) that unexplainable and unstoppable burst of happiness that starts as a little giggle down deep in your soul and then explodes all over everyone.
Joy can also be that feeling of quiet contentment that feels like a warm blanket wrapped around you.
To experience joy you have to be open to it. Singing also helps.
“The world needs dreamers and the world need doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach, [Soucre: Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, 1996]
espirational.com 
