Theories, Stories, and Musings | DC Parting Shots

Being GF is not a diet. It's a lifestyle. It's sometimes not a choice (id est, coeliac, IBS, leaky gut, intolerances, allergies).

A recent NY Times article by Kim Severson pointed out how life as a GF diner is becoming somewhat easier. 

I do and don't understand why someone would become gluten-free just to try it. After initially losing weight due to losing an entire food substance from one's diet, being GF (or being vegan, for that matter) is no guarantee of weight control/maintenance.

This dog is GF because he has food allergies.




Severson notes, "And [being GF] is not an easy or necessarily inexpensive diet to pursue, which adds an air of elitism."

Indeed. Neither is veganism...if you only buy specialty products that mimic traditional ones! Bulk rice, quinoa, and millet are quite affordable (millet extremely so, sometimes less than $1.00/lb). Nevertheless, yes, to a certain extent, only the wealthy can afford to have food allergies. It's sad. Doctors, labwork, and even the access to education about food allergies will cost some serious coin.

"In other circles, eating gluten-free is dismissed outright as a trend for the rich, the white and the political left," and this is certainly a stereotype based on truth. The number of celebrities and star athletes who have "gone GF" in recent years for reasons other than allergy or Coeliac supports this cliche of the GF-ers.

I don't have much to add to the stereotype other than yeah, I fit it (my family is bourgeois), but I'm not GF because it's trendy. I'm GF because I have to be. Since I like being different, I guess I wouldn't have it any other way. I miss some things made with wheat or spelt flour, but I can also separate the emotional memory of food from the food itself. Eating a spelt pain au chocolate will not bring back the feeling of Friday afternoons in Montclair!

To catch up on what I was up to in May, here we go, the pictorial history.

TC and I visited this stupa on our way to Harper's Ferry, our last outing in the DC area.

Chocolate hazelnut bread with almost the last of the sourdough

I went to a corporate wellness conference and the breakfast was eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, pastries, coffee, tea, and OJ. Nary a piece of fruit in sight. The bacon was removed because it's so awful for you. No, really, pick your poison. Conference content was educational, though.

German Chocolate Cookies

The last of the chickpea flour became flatbread covered with almost every spice I had.

Raw chocolate tart: buckwheat crust with coconut oil and black cocoa-acai filling

Buckwheat pudding: kasha, black cocoa, maple syrup, acai

One of many typical dinners: steamed kale, beans, leftover sourdough cinnamon waffles.

More walkies with Bandit.

Last late lunch at Sticky Fingers: GF black bean quesadillas with sriracha

And a GF mint chocolate chip cupcake.

Finally, finally made VGF Twinkies for my friend Stephanie after she encouraged me in OCTOBER to buy a cream canoe kit.

The cake is Gluten-free Goddess's Vanilla Cupcakes.

The icing is from the Norpro kit recipe.

I doubt kids read this blog, so I'm saying the following. The icing has the consistency of jizz. It sets up overnight into very thick custard. But right out of the Vitamix? Yeah. Moving on...

The very last bit of baking: Pumpkin Ale Cinnamon Rolls. Made with all the flours, all the starter, and all the alcohol (rum and hard cider).

Rising...

 

Baked...

 

 

And glazed. Pants and Pomely say, "This was a little too much alco-lol for our little plush heads!"

 

 Bandit being a naughty dog and rolling in the goose shit.

So I bought these vegan calamari at MOM's in January or February and ate them in May. They are...interesting. They smell like bad Japanese food and taste like seaweed.

They are just as chewy as calamari, though. A for effort, Sophie's Vegan Kitchen. I would eat these at a family gathering.

Bandit is a gamer dog, just like his older brother.

Bandit is a warm dog. I tired him out on our three walks a day. I was walking about six miles a day since I would walk to and from work (four miles total) and I'd walk Bandit a good while, too.

The last of the multicolour popcorn from 2013, made on the stove 

and doused with nooch.

Another raw acai cheezecake with kasha crust, but I never ate it. It pained me to have to get rid of it, but this shit don't travel well.

Banana chocolate peanut butter smoothie.

Recess!

All that coconut oil eaten, from August 2013-May 2014.

Ain't that the truth. The Universe is helping me!

Last time eating supper (Chippy) in the Smithsonian American Art Museum Kogod Courtyard.

 

Second row, on the floor, at the Mystics game with Stephanie.

 

VGF white velvet cupcake at red velvet.

 

These are just begging to be stolen, City of Gaithersburg. Just sayin'.

Breakfast: green juice, raw tart, and tea.

Bandit terrorizes the geese.

Swinging and brainstorming about a short story.

Teff injera at Zenebech. So tasty. 'Nuff said.

Dinner with roommate's mom at Dogfish Head Alehouse. I liked how they had black beans as a side dish. Otherwise, mediocre, and that bread wasn't VGF; my gut told me otherwise.

The last of everything.

How to steam kale: boil water. Pour on kale. Put on lid and let sit.

 

Voila!

Brown rice bread with Earth Balance coconut spread, kale, tofu, and almond butter. Eating that frozen loaf of bread was the beginning of a trend where I like to eat EB coco on tortillas or bread, as a snack.

 

 

Pure synchronicity: my Satanist friend wrote this book and gave me one of the galley copies when he learned I was a religion major with an interest in the occult. I used to fall asleep on the Metro while reading this book, every time. Not because I wasn't interested, mind you, but the prose was hypnotic. The cover fused with the floor the night before I moved out of the DMV. The book stayed in the DMV. 

 

 

Cats on a plane!

And finally, Colorado! Bit of Mica found in Lefthand Canyon.

My reiki healer said to ground myself in Colorado soil the first chance I got. I figured Shambhala Mountain Center was as good a place as any.

Ciao,
Q

Come to the Dark Side...we have vegan and gluten-free goodies.