Having a Break Down!

Well, last night, we had a bit of a break down here.  It is really hot here in Atlanta and today is going to be worse.  Yes, we have two air conditioning units, but the illustrator's office is upstairs and there is far too much equipment to move downstairs.  Besides, he is really busy right now and the constant commotion of kids and animals running in and out is way too distracting.  Long story short, the manufacturer of the AC unit went bankrupt in 2006.  Luckily, we kept our home warranty so it is covered through them, but the parts are really hard to come by.  So, after a month and a half, they have found the parts.  I hope this will fix it...if not, they will replace the unit.  They don't call it Hotlanta for nothin'!  Anyway, I have not used the oven in the afternoons in quite a while and I don't know about you, a nice hot meal when you are sweating to death really does not sound appealing.  So, we decided on sandwiches and salads for dinner last night.  We bought our first loaf of gluten free bread from the freezer section since I wasn't about to crank the oven up for an hour to bake a loaf (which is what I normally do) since heat rises.  We also purchased some gluten free beer.  That stop at the grocery store for the few things we bought was $40.  Seriously, we bought 5 things.  Then it was time for me to make dinner.  The illustrator wanted a ham and cheese sandwich.  I had to do the quick defrost on the bread since it was frozen.  I toasted it up a little so it would not be soggy.  I brought the food up to him since he is busting his butt working to feed our family.  He took a deep sigh and I asked what was wrong.  He said he was tired of having celiac.  Trust me, we both know it is not the worst thing.  It is just frustrating.  I found out about my food intolerances before he did, so it is still shocking to both of us that he is gluten intolerant.  It is hard in the beginning to get used to the "can't haves"!  Honestly, I don't care about the things I can't have anymore.  I have gotten past that point.  I have come up with alternatives, so I just go with it.  The illustrator on the other hand, it is still too new.  His stuff is really expensive too.  He dearly loves beer and that one is extremely tricky to find and it is not so easy on the wallet.  He has done such a good job working through this so far...last night was just a hard one.  Something as simple as a sandwich and a beer was just not easy.  The heat made everything worse!

Back to the bread...I liked the convenience factor, but the Food For Life Rice Almond Bread was a little too sweet for the illustrator's taste.  It toasts up really well, so as a peanut butter sandwich or french toast, I think it would be perfect.  Maybe a monte cristo would be good too!  He just was not a fan of the savory sandwich on this one.  Don't get me wrong, it was good, we just need to use it in different ways.  Have you tried the rice flour wraps?  We love those.  They are different from regular wraps, but tasty in their own way!

I had the job of cleaning out the fridge for my dinner.  I needed to eat the green beans, pasta sauce and lettuce that was on its last leg.  I also had one of my homemade protein rolls.  This was the perfect mix of crazy.  Think Italian gazpacho on a salad.  I know it looks weird, but it tasted right on!

This month is Celiac Awareness Month.  When my grandmother was diagnosed years ago, it was so unknown and thought to be rare.  I would have never thought my husband would end up having it as well.  It can be so frustrating and overwhelming to not be able to just eat what you want when you want. For those of you out there that can't have certain foods and have frustrations, know that you are not alone.  I blog about our food issues to work through my frustrations and learn new ways of cooking.  Trust me, they did not teach me anything about food alternatives like this in culinary school!  I am on a culinary adventure in hopes to find easy alternatives to our everyday favorites!

Do you have food allergies or intolerances?  Does a family member?  What was the hardest part for you to deal with?