Sometimes during Thanksgiving people with food allergies can feel overwhelmed. The truth is it's not as bad as they think! I have Celiac Disease which is a disease in which the small intestine is hypersensitive to gluten, leading to difficulty in digesting food.
There are always substitutes for everything that you can't eat. It may be difficult because you can't have any of the muffins, gravy or bread, but you can find other ways to eat all of those things.
1) If you want muffins you can order Udi's Double Chocolate Chip Muffins. Trust me you wont regret it!
2) For gluten free bread, the brand "Grand Canyon" is so delicious. You can get this bread at Best Market.
To make gluten free gravy:
1) In a small pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add sweet rice flour and whisk until a paste forms. Continue whisking until paste turns light beige. This should take about 3 minutes.
2) In a slow and steady stream, whisk in about 1 1/2 cups of stock. Continue to whisk until gravy has thickened and begins to bubble.
Having Celiac Disease can be complicated. You have to bring all of these substitutions with you all of the time and you may feel embarrassed to do this on an occasion like Thanksgiving. You may think that your family is judging you, but they aren't.
Once you really explain to people how sick you can get if you eat wheat they start to become more aware of how dangerous it can be for you. It's hard to explain to all of your family and friends why you can't eat all of the food that they made and you may even start to feel rude.
The most important thing about Thanksgiving is the turkey and people who have Celiac CAN EAT TURKEY! Anyone who has Celiac can just bring their own gravy that they know is Gluten Free it is not offense, it will help you to prevent getting sick.
If you're looking for stores to buy gluten free Items for Thanksgiving, Best Market has "Grand Canyon" bread and a few other gluten free items. Wild By Nature has gluten free bread, soup, pizza, cookies, brownies, muffins, bagels, chips and sauce. They have a huge gluten free selection and all of it is amazing! Target also has a gluten free aisle with pizza, bread, bagels and some gluten free meals you can microwave. King Kullen has a selection of gluten free items as well. Stop and Shop even sells gluten free Eggo's and a whole aisle dedicated to being gluten free.
Go shopping ahead of time and prepare gluten free meals so that you do not feel awkward or left out on Thanksgiving. Just remember that you are not alone and you are not the only person with a food allergy in this world. Even if you feel like you are "weird" and the only one who has to bring different foods on holidays, you aren't! Thanksgiving is the toughest holiday having a food allergy, because it's the holiday where you have the most variety of food. Keep your head up and don't let your allergy define you!
