Trader Joe's Almond Butter Crisis

For those of you following me on Twitter, you know I have a serious addiction to two things: sweet potato chips and Trader Joe's Unsweetened Almond Butter. Both of these foods have gotten me through this annoying elimination diet since they are both considered "ok" to eat. Probably not the best food choices in the world, but they aren't banned from my diet.

Much to my dismay, it has proven very difficult to find the Trader Joe's Unsweetened Almond Butter. I've been two a Trader Joe's in Manhattan, NY and one in West Hartford, CT. Both had empty shelves. My mom went to two Trader Joe's on Long Island (NY) and she also found a hole where the unsweetened almond butter once lived. I finally spoke to an employee at Trader Joe's and he said there was an almond butter shortage and they rarely got deliveries any more. This sounded slightly unbelievable but I took his word and went on the hunt for more.

I finally did find some almond butter at Trader Joe's Chelsea and bought three jars. At $5.99 a jar, this is by far the cheapest unsweetened almond butter on the market and if I knew how hard it would be to find it I would have bought more. Yes, there are other almond butters on the market but I refuse to pay more than $10 for only 6-10oz at most. That is just craziness.

Fast forward about 3 weeks since I finished my last jar and I am in a severe drought and having withdrawal symtoms. I tried sunflower butter but it just doesn't cut it. Insert sad face here. I rarely write to companies but I was missing my treat and my elimination diet has led me to do some weird things (don't ask!). Yesterday, I got this response from Trader Joe's:

Hi Erin,
Thank you so much for contacting us. We sincerely apologize for the stock issues we have had with our almond butter. Each store is able to order only one case (12 jars) at a time, and delivery is not always guaranteed. 

There is a delay in sourcing the raw materials, so production of the almond butter will be slowed until at least the end of June. Please know that, going forward, we are working hard to be able to keep this product on the shelves at all times - we love it, too! 

Regards,KerryCustomer Relations

One case at a time?! 12 jars for a city of 8 million people?! Almond sourcing issues?! Trader Joe's get it together. Ship some more of that almond butter to Manhattan, PRONTO. Gluten-Free Fun needs her fix!

Elimination Experiment: Almond Meal Pancakes

I got the go ahead to add eggs back into my diet on Friday. This made me very happy. The one thing I really feel that is lacking during this elimination diet is protein. Actually, I always feel like I should have more protein in my diet. Anyway, with the green light for eggs I decided to make some almond meal pancakes both days this weekend.

On Saturday, I made pancakes using this low-carb recipe minus the sweetener. They were good although I was missing that pancake syrup big time! On Sunday, I decided to change it up a little bit. I wanted more flavor so I put my own spin on these Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes. I basically took the first recipe and added pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice instead of all of the individual spices. Although I didn't get the ingredients quite right and the pancakes fell apart a little bit, I liked these much better than Saturday's batch. They had more flavor, which is what I was looking for.

Although I miss my sugary maple syrup, it is nice to know I can once again have a weekend breakfast favorite like pancakes.

Food Frustrations

I am on day 12 of my elimination diet and I am frustrated. You see, I love food. I write this blog about living a lifestyle that revolves around particular food choices. I run a Meetup group that encourages others to not be afraid to socialize (many times with food) outside of the home. I enjoy meeting up with friends for a bite to eat and to catch up. But over the past 12 days, food has become a nuisance. Planning a meal is a chore, not something that I enjoy doing anymore. I get annoyed in the kitchen when I have to spend so much time thinking about what I am going to eat and not just grab something and go.

On this elimination diet, I feel very restricted. I realize how much I love fruit and how often I eat eggs. These are two big no-nos on this elimination diet. I also realize that sugar is in damn near everything. I know there are still a ton of things I CAN eat, but for some reason I cannot get over what I CANNOT eat. For me, this is the first major elimination diet of my life. I was diagnosed with Celiac when I was only 2.5 years old, so I don't remember what it is like to cut out gluten. In my mind, I just always ate gluten-free. This is different and this is hard. Really hard.

Last night, I hosted an awesome NYC Celiac Meetup event at S'MAC. This is one of my favorite gluten-free places to eat in New York City. Who doesn't like gluten-free mac-n-cheese? I sat there chit-chatting with the group members but I was not eating anything. Everyone else was devouring their gluten-free dinner and I was just talking and getting more and more hungry and a worse headache by the minute. It wasn't fun at all. I met great people but I was so annoyed that I couldn't kick back and enjoy the food that they were eating right next to me.

I know I need to eat more on this elimination diet and that I am not eating nearly enough. This is obvious to me, my daily headaches are proof. But with such a busy weekday schedule and a lack of ideas, I just eat what I can. This is not good enough. If I was home all day every day, perhaps I could make a meal plan and spend more time actually planning ahead but I do not have this luxury. I am actually somewhat jealous of these stay-at-home bloggers who make these elaborate meal plans for each week and then cook those meals. Or these people in New York City that spend a quarter of their weekly paycheck to get fresh meals delivered to their homes each day. I know I CAN cook these meals but I just don't have the time nor can I justify paying that much money for someone to do what I know I can do myself.

I called this blog Gluten-Free Fun for a reason. I really do love living a healthy, gluten-free life and having fun while doing it. So this elimination is putting a temporary kink in my fun for the time being and I need to deal with it. End of story.

Ok, I am done venting for today. Thanks for bearing with me, dear readers! 

Brain Fog

Foggy brain day

This picture is a pretty close representation of what my brain was like coming to work in New York City last week. Foggy. Thick. Not clear. Yeah, I had some pretty bad brain fog last week. I could't form complete sentences, I was forgetting what I was doing, and I was so exhausted. While I think a lot of it had to do with changing my diet so dramatically for this elimination diet, I also think it had to do with a new "gluten-free" food I put into my mouth.

Last week, I introduced Trader Joe's gluten-free oats into my diet. I had those GF oats in cookies a few times over the past year. I only got sick the very first time but after that I had no noticeable side effects from eating the oats. As a Celiac diagnosed in the 1980s, I was always told to avoid oats. So for more than 25 years, I avoided oats. I did try some crackers and cookies made from certified GF oat flour over the past few years, but I always got sick. I decided I needed something for breakfast each morning and after checking on my elimination diet worksheet, oats seemed to be allowed. I took the plunge and I tried a bowl for dinner one night. I did this at night in case I got "glutened" and needed to be home (aka, near the toilet!) I had no tell-tale signs of my "glutening". No stomach ache, no throwing up, no bathroom runs. I figured I was in the clear. I had oats 3 more times last week and still no regular gluten reaction. But I was foggy, oh so foggy.

I went to the chiro on Friday for my weekly exam. (He is the doctor working with me on this elimination diet.) I told him about my fogginess and he said it might be the sugar withdrawal. He put me on some additional supplements to help me work through the major changes going on in my body. He told me to drink more water, which I think is impossible since I already drink tons each day, and to increase my protein. I left there feeling frustrated and even more foggy.

That night, I thought maybe the gluten-free oats were causing this fogginess. Brain fog is a very real symptom of ingesting gluten and it occurred to me that the oats were the culprit. I actually had a really bad bought of brain fog after my last glutening. I decided that I have lived 30 years without oats in my diet so what is another 30 more without oats. Right there and then I put the oats in the back of the cabinet and decided no more oats.

I have now been GF oat free since Friday and you know what? No more fog! Seriously, I have been more alert and able to remember so much more in the past three days. It is interesting to me that I now have a new symptom to be aware of in case of possible gluten ingesting. I definitely wasn't aware of this symptom in the past but now I know that  this is how my body might react to eating gluten.* I am ok with no oats, especially when I feel like this instead:

Clear brain day

* I did use Trader Joe's gluten-free oats during this experiment. I am not saying these oats have gluten, I am just saying that my experience with ingesting them left me with similiar symptoms as when I eat gluten. By no means does my reaction mean you will have the same reaction. I just want to share my experience with  my readers.

Day 2-4: Sugar is Everywhere... and Headaches

I admit, after being gluten-free for more than 32 years I have gotten lazy with my label reading. I stick with foods I know and trust. I eat more whole foods than packaged foods and only read labels when I am unsure of a new product or if I see that something on the packaging has changed. With this elimination diet, I have become hyper vigilant in reading labels again. And you know what?? Sugar is in EVERYTHING!!!

Seriously, I am shocked where I am finding sugar. I guess I never really thought about sugar that much until now. I don't live under a rock, so obviously I know sugar is ridiculously prevalent in most diets but the way it sneaks in is just crazy. I think I was most shocked to see sugar in sausage. Mild, Italian, breakfast, "healthy", it doesn't matter. Sugar or a derivative is literally in every sausage package I picked up (and then put down) this week. 

I think the hardest thing for me this week so far has been eating no fruit or eggs. I make fruit smoothies every morning but not during this elimination diet. It's been hard to have fruitless smoothies. Straight up kale and almond milk just doesn't taste the same without a banana and some berries. As for the eggs, I don't think I get enough protein even when not on this diet. Eggs are usually a go-to source of protein for me. I usually boil up a few at the beginning of the week and snack on them during the day. Without these eggs, I have begun to rely heavily on nuts. I do not eat that many nuts, but I am loading up on almonds, walnuts, and cashews. I also bought sunflower seeds which I haven't had in years. I was actually worrying tonight that I having too much almond products: milk, meal, almonds, and butter. I have heard of people developing allergies from eating too much of one thing so I am hoping this really doesn't happen to me.

My main issue since I started this on Friday has been awful headaches. I don't know if it is that I am not eating enough or it is a side effect of the sugar leaving my system, but I've had a headache 3 out of 4 days. I don't usually get headaches this bad so I am assuming it is related to this elimination.

To be honest, I think I could/should cut out even more. I have been eating carrots which are ok according to my doctor. He just doesn't want me eating them all the time and drinking tons of carrot juice. I also feel I am heavy on the nuts, as I said before.

Oh and who decides to go away from home (and their own kitchen) the very first weekend of their elimination diet? Me, of course. I went to babysit my nieces and nephew and went armed with a bunch of food. I was really hungry on Saturday and not as bad on Sunday but did get another huge headache. I probably should have planned ahead a little bit better and brought some additional food with me. It wasn't too bad, but it could have been better.

Let's see how the rest of this week goes. I have dinner plans and a brunch. I think the socializing and dining part of this week is going to be tough.

Thank you for your emails and support so far!

Day 1: Elimination Diet Worries and Woes

Today is the first day of my new elimination diet. Under guidance of my chiropractor, I am starting a three-week anti-yeast, fungus, and mold diet. Ever since the toxic mold in my old apartment in 2011, I haven't been quite right. Although not constantly in pain, I do feel like I am sick 4 or 5 days out of the week. I still go about my life, but I am not ever feeling 100% and haven't been for a long time. I have been to so many doctors, had so many tests, and took so many pills that I pretty much gave up on traditional medicine around December. I started seeing this chiro at the beginning of the year and besides the molds (which are still in my system according to blood work) my chiropractor says my adrenals, stomach, and gut are all in need of help. Since everything is connected within your body, I think he has finally convinced me that I need to do something to get my body in check. I am not a total believer of these alternative medicines yet, but we will see how I feel in a month. Whether or not I believe what my chiro is telling me, he listens to me. This is more than I can say about most of the doctors I have seen in the past year.

I just turned 35 and I use a nebulizer breathing treatment twice a day. I feel like a damn old lady on oxygen. I travel frequently so try explaining why a healthy-looking young female has this machine with wires and switches and 20-40 viles of medication in her carry-on bag. It always makes for an interesting conversation, to say the least. I am on PPI (proton pump inhibitors) for acid reflux but I have no traditional reflux symptoms like heartburn. My ENT said it was silent reflux which manifests itself in me as asthma symptoms and constant hoarseness in my throat. The dosage of PPI I was on in the beginning had me lose 9 lbs in 10 weeks. Everyone always says they want to lose ten pounds, but for someone that has pretty much been the same weight since college this was alarming. Basically, I want to get off the PPIs and treat the cause not the symptoms anymore. The doctor reduced my dosage but I am still on the PPIs and don't want to be anymore.

In comes the new diet as suggested by my doctor. I was diagnosed with Celiac as a toddler so I don't remember making the switch to gluten-free. My parents obviously prepared my food so I didn't have to do anything but eat the safe foods they gave me. This is the first time EVER that I have to seriously eliminate anything from my diet. I did make some changes when I went on the acid reflux medication (no caffeine, chocolate, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and any other triggers) but this new diet seems HUGE to me. I love sweets. As a blogger, I am sent samples all of the time and I eat those samples and then some. I travel and love seeking out new gluten-free bakeries in the cities I am in. I love chips and snacks and if I didn't go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week, I think I would be "as fat as a house" as my grandma Peggy would always say about her sweet tooth as well.

Today is Day 1 of the anti-yeast, fungus, mold diet. This means meats/fowl/fish, veggies, limited grains,  legumes, some nuts, and seeds are allowed. This means absolutely no sugar in any form, no fruit, no dairy, no alcohol, no fermented foods, processed meats, yeast, and snack foods are allowed. The fruit is going to be the hardest, I think. That and sugar is in EVERYTHING! Don't believe me, read the ingredients of your packaged gluten-free food. Where there is no gluten, there is sugar and lots of it. Sugar in mayonnaise. I had no idea! I am also taking some supplements on direction of my doctor as well as my normal medications (for now), vitamins, and a pro-biotic.

Last night, I gorged myself on nachos for dinner with not one but two desserts. I went to bed feeling overfull and not great. I cleaned out my cupboards to remove anything that might be tempting as well as isolated things in my fridge and freezer that I cannot eat. I am such a snacker that I physically had to move snacks to a place I wouldn't just mindlessly reach for them when I was hungry or bored. This is what I needed to do for me and might seem extreme but it is the only way I think I can control myself.

I want to use this blog to vent, hold me accountable, and share my progress with my readers. But I also need your help. I want you to share your recipes, favorite websites, and tips with me. I need your support to go through this. I know so many of you have gone gluten-free as adults so you have already made this major life change. Remember, I was a child and have no recollection of changing my diet. I think I nee to make a meal plan for the first time in my life and figure out what I am going to eat days in advance. This freaks me out a bit.

It is now 10am and I haven't had any food to eat yet today. My normal morning starts with a huge bowl of gluten-free cereal and a fruit smoothie. I am at a loss on how to start this but know I should eat something. The idea of eating chicken for breakfast just seems too weird to me. Ugh. ok. here I go...