What Will Happen With a Gluten-Free Diet....

If you're truly gluten-intolerant it will make you feel 100% better!

I've recently began to eliminate gluten from my diet. This is my 2nd go-round. Back in January I'd been suffering with pain in my stomach, bathroom issues, bloating..... and I could not figure it out. Not until I friend with gluten-intolerance began to tell me about her symptoms. So I cut gluten from my diet. Within a week my symptoms began to clear up. I stayed off gluten for over a month and it made a HUGE difference.

It will make you hungry!

When I first started cutting the gluten from my diet, I was so stinkin' hungry. Do you realize what all has gluten in it? Everything good! Not really...but so many foods are made from grass grains like wheat and rye. Flour is used in most food items that need thickener...like cream soups. And cream soups are a staple of my home....I use them in EVERYTHING--almost.

It took a little while to figure out what I could and couldn't eat and to find substitutes. Gluten-free breads, crackers and bakery items are EXPENSIVE! But if you're the only one eating them, take the splurge....or you'll starve!

You'll be reminded that there is a reason you are on this diet.

Then this past spring I started to have lots of joint pain. Now remember, I started incorporating gluten into my diet again.... I didn't have the initial symptoms so I figured I was okay. Then a friend looked up info about joint pain and saw that many gluten-intolerant people have issues with their joints. So guess what.....I've once again cut gluten from my diet. And I'm hungry again. Because to tell the truth, when I open the fridge, nothing looks better than that gluten-filled brownie or the left over spaghetti.... Or I go to the cupboard and graham crackers are calling my name.

You will become culinarily creative (is culinarily a word?)

I told you all the above just to tell you about my new recipe! And to be honest, it didn't strike me as sounding too appetizing to begin with. I don't even know what to call it....ummmm, hamburger rice casserole or something similarly unoriginal.

3 cups rice, uncooked
1.5 lbs ground beef
1 med onion, chopped
salt, pepper, garlic to taste
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
3 cubes beef bouillon
8 oz shredded cheddar or cojack cheese

Cook rice until just UNDER done. Spread in large casserole dish. Meanwhile, brown beef , onion, and seasonings. Add tomatoes and bouillon to to browned beef and cook until hot. Pour over rice in casserole and mix. Top with shredded cheese and bake in 350* oven 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

My son, Samuel, likes it with Red Hot sauce. And it is quite good that way. He enjoyed the casserole so much, he took leftovers to school today. My husband liked it too. And that made me feel real good!

Notice: I have not had gluten-intolerance confirmed by a doctor and I do not claim to know much at all about it....just that eliminating it from my diet made ME feel much better.

Enjoy the recipe!