While browsing through my new copy of The Essential Gluten-Free Grocery Guide, I was shocked to find out that one of my old favorite soups is now gluten-free. I remember reading the package of “Darn Good” Chili mix from Bear Creek shortly after my celiac diagnosis. It clearly listed wheat right in the ingredients. So, we haven’t had that chili in almost four years.
People without any food intolerances can’t understand why we get so excited when we find out we can once again eat something we used to enjoy, but had to give up when we started the gluten-free diet. Remember when gluten-free Rice Chex first became available? People (including me) were dancing in the supermarket aisles when they first saw the bold GLUTEN-FREE on the front of the reformulated Chex cereal.
There is no way to explain why we get so excited about foods we can eat, especially when we were never that attached to food when we ate gluten. I really don’t understand my own reactions regarding food some times. Something just happens when you have to give up most everything you grew up eating and learn to stay gluten-free. Shortly after my celiac diagnosis, I remember feeling like an alien had invaded my body.
It was such a shock that everything I knew about food was turned upside down on a dime. The alien feeling passed after a couple of months, but still today I occasionally get the two headed alien look from people who never heard of gluten. If you’ve mentioned gluten or gluten-free to glutenoids who don’t know what those terms mean, you know the look I’m talking about.
This weekend we’ll be making “Darn Good” (turkey) Chili from Bear Creek, along with some gluten-free cornbread. I’m so excited to have one of my old favorite things again! It seems like every time we turn around these days that gluten is being replaced in countless mainstream products and that is a very good thing indeed. OK – maybe it’s not so good for glutenoids, but they might not realize what’s happening anyway!
The following soups from by Bear Creek are gluten-free:
- “Darn Good” Chili
- Creamy Wild Rice
- Cheddar Broccoli
- Cheddar Potato
- Clam Chowder
- Creamy Potato
- Navy Bean
- Split Pea
- Tortilla
Please let us know if one of your old favorite foods that used to contain gluten is now gluten-free.
