We've Come A Long Way

When I began eating gluten free about five years ago, I was living in a smaller town with few specialty groceries, no gluten free sections at our main grocery store, and a budget completely incapable of sustaining any kind of regular orders from the few companies I had stumbled upon online with gluten free offerings.



Fast forward to today. I have thousands of options. My online choices have exploded and with them are opportunities for free shipping, monthly orders stocked with my favorites and new items to try on a regular basis. Not to mention the local bounty now available at my fingertips!



In the past 18 months or so I have gone from eating a diet rich in plain corn tortillas stuffed with every sort of filling to substitute for bread, to a varied menu filled with tasty stuff I wouldn't have thought possible when I began this journey.



I am only going to discuss one item today, but check back often for recipes, item reviews and "a ha" discoveries that actually have turned what started out as a burdensome trail into a literal trail of beauty in my life and that of others I have met along the way.



So let's get down to the ingredients of that yummy-looking sandwich in the photo! Thanks to the wonderful folks at Udi's, I was able to leave behind my lettuce wrapped or corn tortilla juggled burger in favor of a delicious sandwich bun that has a distinctly similar flavor when grilled with butter on it to a King's Hawaiian roll. I am not kidding.



Now these buns are available at my local Kroger, Publix and even at good old Walmart. I watch for them to go on sale, so I think I got these for $4.00 for four. They are definitely worth the splurge occasionally, but I will share more in another post about some of the more frugal and yummy finds I have discovered recently at my local Aldi USA grocery.



I'm pleased to report though in stacking a bunch of fresh ingredients on this Udi's bun that it held up really well and didn't fall apart under the strain of so much yumminess. Those of you who eat gluten free know from experience how often our bread offerings can disappoint and collapse under the pressure of the fillings we try to load onto them. I've learned to keep several napkins handy when trying a new "bread" product intended to perform like its glutenous counterparts. Udi's sandwich/hamburger buns do not disappoint, so I will be adding them to all future picnic/grilling I do.



What products have you discovered that have been a pleasant surprise? What would you tell friends to steer clear of? I am finding the gluten free community to be far larger than I ever anticipated, so I am eager to link arms with others who have travelled this path ahead of me and glean their wisdom along the way. In the words of those High School Musical "philosophers", "We're all in this together." So let's have each other's backs and help the relative newbies navigate the gluten free market a little easier.



Now that I have you singing with your best Zac Efron falsetto, have a great day and check back soon for more on gluten free products, reviews and tips.

On His Adventure~
Pam