foods that DON'T hate me

As I said in my disclaimer - I am NOT a nutritionist. Through trial and MUCH error I have learned what foods are 'harmonious' to me and which ones have 'mad hate for the Ginger'. Here is a good starter list of gluten-free and friendly(contain only trace amounts of wheat as long as the labels aren't lying to me) foods that I keep my kitchen stocked with  -

1. RICE. This is a must have for me. Now let me tell ya' folks - not all rice is considered 'happy rice' at my house. Watch CLOSELY to the labels on flavored rices, especially the ones that uses the words cheesy or creamy in the name. Wheat is often used as a base for these. These mixes aren't 'Ginger friendly'-AT. ALL. *for example, I accidentally ate one of these mixes and woke up the next morning with a neck so stiff I could barely turn it. I managed to get up and successfully get myself ready for work without waking up Gamer Boy or Cason(which was EPIC since I am totally EMO and whiny when I get glutenized) when I dropped my car keys. I sat down on the floor and cried. Cason woke up, picked me up off the floor, hugged me and went and cranked the car while I pulled myself together.(Reference back here to me calling him awesome.)


2. DAIRY - this for me translates to CHEESE(glorious cheese, how I love thee so), meats without breading, eggs, skim milk(not because the others contain gluten, but because I detest how 'thick' whole milk tastes-gack!), butter, yogurt and of course - ICE CREAM :)

3. FRUITS(ALL)- fresh and frozen. I honestly believe I am a strawberry junkie. I could mainline those things through a syringe if they could be pureed down fine enough to not rupture a vein. I make homemade smoothies all of the time. I stock frozen bananas(chop em' up and throw em' in a freezer bag), mangos, strawberries, peaches, blueberries and grapes,etc. Add some yogurt to them and you are talkin' Ginger heaven!

4. VEGETABLES(ALL)- fresh, frozen and a little bit of canned in water variety. Any vegetable not battered and fried(a.k.a - made with Southern lovin') is gluten free. Yep. Even french fries(thank the LAWD) are gluten free as long as they aren't 'coated, seasoned or battered' with wheat products. So read the bags closely. Salads are a staple food for me. I load em' up with veggies and gluten free dressings. I also am a huge fan of sauteing up a boat load of fresh cut cabbage, corn, zucchini, tomatoes and onions in Olive oil and fresh garlic. (We keep mints in pretty much every room of our house since garlic is a staple of our diet.)

5. SNACK FOODS- All hail to the Cheetos and microwave popcorn for saving movie night for me!!! I also am a fan of Pirate's Booty(laugh if you must, but try it you should). Its a puffed rice snack that is just freaking good. I also will tear up a bag of veggie chips in a flat second y'all. *Did I mention I love movie night?*

6. CONDIMENTS 'N' JUNK- I use a variety of seasonings and sauces(except Soy sauce cause' its loaded with the glutenator- therefore making it - FROM THE DEBIL!) I am a fan of dry seasonings(mainly seasoning salt, lemon pepper and garlic salt), herbs(ALL), extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic(well to be honest, garlic in any form) and saving the household hero for last - TEXAS PETE. We put that stuff on EVERYTHING y'all.

7. BEVERAGES- I pretty much survive on water and coffee(life has no luster or focus for me until caffeine is ingested) and an occasional glass of wine. Cason is good with water, sweet tea, coffee and 'adult beverages' from time to time. Now, Gamer Boy would be totally content to never drink anything but orange soda. To his dismay - Ginger is also MOM. So he has to balance it out with water as his mainstay as well. Both he and his complexion will thank me later..


That should give you a baseline of foods that I have discovered I can eat, drink and be merry(instead of scary) afterwards. I will be posting my list for when we have one of our 'adventures in grocery gettin' with product names and such.

Products I LOVE -

Bolthouse Farms and Naked Brand Smoothies(strawberry bananna and Green Goddess are my FAV's)

Tinkyada brand gluten free spiral noodles(this SAVED spaghetti night at our house y'all)

O-Live brand Olive Oil(for salads and stir-frys, YUM!)





******NEW OUTLOOK as of the end of 2013****** While all of the above are completely happy n' junk for a gluten-free lifestyle they are NOT the best choices for good healthy living. I have eliminated processed foods(buh-BYE Cheetos), leaned heavily towards Jasmine and Basmati Rice when I do eat it and now am leaving the world of processed sugar and foods behind me to live a whole foods adventure. You see- gluten-free is a MUST do for me. Living as a picture of good health is a WANT to do for me. After all....how am I gonna talk to the world about living to the utmost 'ME' I can be if I don't also walk the path? The answer is simple for me - I can't. I must take this lifestyle to the next level and SHINE even more.