What does a Gluten Free Vegan Eat Anyway?

I love food. Basic functions that we have to do like eating and sleeping might as well be done with some art and care since we HAVE to do them! I also see food in a spiritual and magical sense, like alchemy. Science tells us that what we put in our bodies becomes a part of us at the microscopic level. This is, to me, like a confirmation of magical principles. For instance, some things like high fructose corn syrup get stuck in our bodies since we can't break them down. How does this affect us health wise and spiritually? Does it encourage sluggishness because something foreign is weighing us down?

Wild rice and veggie stew.

Ok, enough metaphysical talk! I'm not here to preach or convert anyone to my way of eating. No, instead I want to answer a question that I get asked ALL THE TIME. "What do you eat?".

Well, there are a lot of things that I cannot eat. My body can't process gluten, a protein found in grains like wheat and barley. Thus most commercially prepared foods, snacks, and almost all restaurant meals are impossible for me to consume without dire consequences. I also have a separate allergy to wheat which causes an additional reaction when the gluten comes from wheat. Being very sensitive to gluten I have gotten cross contaminated multiple times. Last year I spent a hellish week in the hospital due to a series of reactions. The cafeteria did not understand what a gluten free diet was or being vegan. They sent me fatty pork and toast!

Gluten is a very sticky molecule, even at the atomic level. It's very pervasive and hard to destroy.

On top of this I choose to be vegan. I've been vegetarian for a little over 18 years, and vegan off and on. The only caveat to that was that I made a bad choice and got married when I was a freshman in college. When I got divorced I went through an identity crisis and ate meat off and on for the next year. However, my health started to go downhill soon after and I soon felt I had to go back to my old habits of being a...BUNNY!

With that out of the way you're surely still wondering WHAT DO YOU EAT!! Enough exposition, tell us!

Stocking up on sale items and fresh veggies.

The good news is that there is a lot out there that I can eat and enjoy! My choices to go out to eat are pretty limited, but I can eat at most Indian restaurants (most Indian dishes are gluten free and many restaurants will make them vegan for you), sushi places (again, vegan sushi is available and amazing), and some other Asian restaurants. In bigger cities, for example Chicago, I can even get gluten free vegan cupcakes!

Eating out: Summer rolls (rice paper with rice noodles, thai basil and tofu)

Most of the time I eat at home. Here are some examples of foods that I regularly buy:

Carbs

• Wild Rice
• Quinoa (actually a complete protein seed, but replaces cous cous and small pastas)
• Gluten Free Oatmeal (very expensive)
• Brown Rice Flour

(Special note here. I am also reactive hypoglycemic so I eat low-glycemic to counteract symptoms of anxiety, dizziness, depression, and fainting. It works amazingly well. I've done it for three months and had no panic attacks or vertigo!)

Proteins

• Nuts and nut milks (like Almond milk)
• Hemp protein (and Hemp milk)
• Peas
• My favorite beans: black, white and red (so GOTH!)
• Tofu
• Edamame (soy beans, so good)
• Mung beans (these make incredible balls cooked and then food processed)
• Mung bean noodles, black bean noodles (made from bean flour)
• Tofu noodles (same as above, sold in refrigerated area)

(If you are interested you can google "the protein myth". Most Americans get way too much protein)

Gluten free spaghetti. For cheesiness top with nutritional yeast or vegan cheese like Daiya.

Aside from those foods there is a whole world of delicious fruits and vegetables out there that I eat with relish. The only plant food I've encountered that I don't like is the turnip.

A typical week of meals for me looks like:

Breakfast : Cooked beans with flackers (Raw Flax Seed Crackers) and Hummus

                    Gluten Free Oatmeal with Almonds and, or fruit

                    Larabar (for when I am called in to sub)

                    Tofu Scramble (my husbands specialty) with stewed apples and pecans.

Lunch :       Skillet refried beans with avocado and peppers 

                   Veggie Stir-Fry

                   Raw wraps with rainbow chard or kale as the wraps 

                   Massive salad!

Snacks :    Fruit and veg smoothies

                  Dried, crunchy Seaweed

                  Sprouted nuts

                  Chocolate and So Delicious Coconut ice cream products

                  Fruit leather

                  Apples and other fresh fruit

                  Carrots and hummus (hummus is a must! flavor plain to make many dips)

Dinner :     Curry ( I make various veg curries a lot.)

                  Red or white chili (I usually put in some Quinoa)

                  Sweet Potatoes and Beans with Brown Rice Flour Noodles Mac n Cheez

                  Mung bean balls with noodles

                  Stews and soups with whatever is seasonal and low cost

                  Raw dinners like mango curry wrapped in swiss chard leaves

                  Mexican dishes with plenty of heat

                  Falafel

                  Brown Rice Flour Pizza

I made this pizza earlier this week. 

I feel like my life is excellent thanks to the food I eat. In fact, I love being a gluten free vegan. I don't mind that I have a disorder that keeps me from eating so many foods. If something acts like a poison in my body I don't view it as a food anymore. I never feel deprived or neglected because I know how ill I get from what is safe for others to eat.  

Luckily I also really love cooking. To pick up my starting point I see cooking as a magical, alchemical process. The energy I put in my food matters to me, as much as the energy the food contains when I get it. Thus, I buy local and organic. I look for sales, coupons, and am blessed to live near a grocery store with its own store brand of organic. I also buy marked down, manager's special organic produce and use it immediately or freeze it. My husband is also a vegan. He can eat gluten and does so for some of his lunches or snacks. Often he eats gluten free with me, even at restaurants so we can share food. He's truly wonderful. And if you're curious our grocery bill is about $85 a week, but it would be less if I didn't buy expensive coffee! Since we don't eat out I think we are saving money in the long run.

So that's probably more than you wanted to know, but too bad! I get asked this question so often! Sometimes I answer that I eat babies... In any case, I actually want to give a thoughtful response, but I never know how serious the person asking might be and I don't want to take up too much time answering. The bottom line is that anyone can eat the way they feel aligns with their values and still enjoy food. It takes some transitioning, having guilty pleasures (like chocolate) on hand and most importantly re-thinking what a meal should look like. Our local customs and cultures really shape us and it's easy to stay in that box and think a meal automatically equals something specific. If you want to change your diet you can. If you want to be a part-time vegan, you can! There's no harm in trying something or even trying it over and over again. Most importantly, enjoy yourself!

Yes this is a vegan gluten free cookie bar!

* Note: A gluten free vegan who doesn't have blood sugar issues can also add in a large variety of prepared foods that use white rice and potato flour, even gluten free vegan oreo style cookies exist! Polenta, potatoes, and a huge assortment of gf pastas are out there for others.

Links: 

Celiac Disease   (great starting point for going gluten-free and their message board has saved me!)

Suzie the Foodie (for non-vegans and vegans who like to adapt recipes)

The Spooky Vegan (another Goth vegan)

Vegan Black Metal Chef (this guy is amazing! hilarious videos and great recipes! also videos on youtube)

                 

A Feminist who Loves Death Metal?

Last night we drove to St. Louis to attend a two-stage metal fest that featured the bands Goatwhore and Dying Fetus. Our friend's band All Eyes Upon Adelaide also played and we love seeing them live.

To me, there is nothing like live, loud music to drown out all the sorrows and suffering in the world. Not only does my body physically benefit from the amazing pain relieving properties of throbbing amps, but I get a lot out of hanging out with metal heads. I'm going to tell you a secret. . .

Louis Benjamin Falgoust II of Goatwhore making time for fans during the sound check.

 Metal guys are among the most intelligent and sweetest guys in the world. Yes, you get the occasional jerk who's there to use his drinking as excuse to start fights in the pit, but those guys are so easy to spot.  I love talking to people at shows because if you have a dark sense of humour like I do there aren't many places to adequately express oneself.

Don't I have a conflict with my liberal feminist beliefs and metal lyrics? No. I don't. Art is a different category for me and metal bands, for the most part, are not out there perpetuating stereotypes about real women.  Instead, the type of metal I love most, death metal, is for the most part a way to relieve rage through music. Maybe that's why so many of those guys are so genuinely awesome? Rage filled, hate spewing music actually gives us an outlet to relieve feelings like those. Weirdly, music that to some people may resemble a wall of unwanted noise is a way for those of us who love it to get in touch with our emotions.

Now sitting here at home the day after with a headbanging hangover (stupid girl!) I realize that I have the time to analyze the metal subculture. At the show most of us aren't thinking along these lines. We are socializing, drinking, and having fun. Metal is a tribe that those of us who are passionate about it would and do literally bleed for. The ritualistic, shamanic connection in live metal shows is so obvious. Headbanging, moshing, even standing still alters the consciousness of each person and we are transported along with the music.

When Goatwhore played I felt this incredible energy rise from the crowd. The air was thrumming with not just the bass lines, but with a movable force that shimmered over us, sped through us, and whirled in a vortex matching the movement of the moshers behind those of us in the front row. I felt like a priestess churning a cauldron of pure spirit.

Beautiful madness.

Much like my love of Goth music and my self-identification as a Gothy type, the metal I listen to deals with themes of death, isolation, and the darker side of life that the wider culture shuns away from. Being in touch with our shadow (if you want to get Jungian) is a key to unlocking our full person.  The lyrics of the bands I truly enjoy are incredibly poetic and some political in nature.

To end this I'll leave you with a snippet of lyrics from Collapse in Eternal Worth from Goatwhore's latest album Blood for the Master.

The spirit of twilight
Reclaim this dark power
Digest the archetype
In this verse of hate

This abhorrent manner
Filthy rite of outrage
A trembling coldness
The collapse of reason

Mount the wings of death
Wield the scythe of this ancient craft
Poison heavens in the blackest flame
Rise forth from this decay

Vampire Halloween

Typically I dress in all black, but for Halloween I decided to dress up as a sort of vampire doll in all white. The veneers are flexible dental veneers that I got from Vampfangs.com and even though they come with a custom mold maker I decided it would be easier and less toxic to buy dye/additive free denture paste and stick them in with that. This proved to work out well and after a few hours with them in I got used to talking and sipping a vodka tonic with my new teeth.

The wig is from a cosplay site on Ebay and was shipped from Hong Kong (my favorite city in the world!).  The choker used to belong to a friend but she gave it to me. I happened to have it in my bag and decided it just added the right touch.

Here's the full dress. The lighting wasn't great at the tavern we went to, but the dress is an Elegant Gothic Lolita one-piece or OP from Bodyline. I love the EGL subculture, but I rarely wear my dresses because of my pain levels. Usually I think, oh blah I hurt too much to wear a dress, but it was actually
surprisingly fine.

The bands that played included one of our friend's who my husband used to be in a metal band with.  The other band that played was one of the bands that played at our wedding. They are so amazing and such kind men.  While their music sounds really brutal and loud it is their way of coping with issues like depression and even for one of them chronic illness. I can relate to that.  


All in all it was a wonderful night. The tavern had padded bar stools circa 1985 that were in great shape and very comfortable. I even did a bit of dancing. Loud music distracts me from how I feel physically and I love that!  Hubby was a black and white Mad Hatter. He looked great!

Tonight we are going to a friend's house for Halloween party number two!  I have a different costume for tonight!