Friday evening we are going to a food tasting for the wedding. A night spent eating hors d'oeuvres, pasta & every dessert under the sun would usually fill me with glee, but, not this time. I found out less than 2 weeks ago that I'm allergic to wheat & gluten. I didn't share earlier because I was in a state of denial. How can an Italian girl who is writing a cookbook with Italian recipes not eat bread or pasta? Yes, I did cry a bit when I found out, although I really wasn't surprised. I've suspected it for some time. I'm dealing with it as best I can. When life gives you lemons make lemonade - or at the very least, gluten-free pasta.

I met with a nutritionist yesterday & on Monday I begin a 3 week cleanse. Here's what I can not eat; wheat, gluten, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, corn, strawberries, citrus, bananas, peanuts, cashews, all soy foods, all dairy foods including butter, vinegar, alcohol & I can only have 2 eggs twice a week. AHHHGHH!!!F****ing sum-in-a-**tch!!@!!!

Once the 3 weeks of hell are over, I get to slowly test all of foods that are on the not list to see if I get sick from them. Then, I take all of those foods that make me feel poopy & I test my tolerance threshold for each of them. So basically, everyday I increase the amount of these foods until my body just can't take it anymore or I burst into flames, whatever comes first. JOY!!! The entire process can take up to 5 months. DOUBLE JOY!!

Yes, I do know that by the end of all of the testing I'll be glad that I did this. No more sinus infections, congestion, wheezing, coughing, mountains of mucus. No more stomach aches, constipation, bloating, runs, & rashes. Heck, I might even begin to sleep through the entire night without waking up at least five times.

So, how am I going to finish the cookbook? Well, 13 recipes are done & will soon be tested by some beloved friends. That leaves 13 more to test. Half of them I can eat & half I can not. I'm going to have to rely on the tastebuds of Tom & friends & co-workers on those. I know that everything will be just fine. Now, I really want to get this book done, so I can begin testing gluten-free versions of all of my fav Italian recipes.

Posted by Dawn Falcone @ 4:41 AM 8 comments

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