The middle of April means a lot of things to me. Taxes (meh), the start of an onslaught of birthdays for the next few months, and also the anniversary of me discovering my gluten allergy. Yay!

Sort of.

I mentioned to a friend that on the anniversary of my gluten-free-ness, I wanted to make a list of things I haven't eaten in two years, and she didn't think it was a good idea. But as someone who loves not only cooking but also EATING food, I find it kind of fascinating that I've been able to give up some of the things I ate on a pretty regular basis. So let's make a list...

Things Whitney Has Not Consumed in Two Years

• bagels
  
• burritos
  
• croissants
  
• banh mi
  
• TJ's Joe-Joe's cookies
  
• cookies from Specialty's
  
• fried calamari (any sort of fried appetizery anything, really)
  
• pita chips
  
• croutons
  
• fish and chips
  
• wheat beer

Okay, so it's not that bad. There are gluten-free substitues for a lot of things. But my diet has also changed enough, that I don't eat very many things that might have gluten in them anyways. I do really miss banh-mi though (I love a good vietnamese sandwich). And the wheat beer. It was my favorite kind of beer to order and it makes me sad that I can't order one when I'm out. (If only more places served hard cider!)

When I get down about not being able to order a sandwich and a beer, I remind myself that there are still so many things I can eat! This weekend, for example, I ate all of the tacos. ALL OF THEM! And there are so many hard ciders available at the grocery store, and so many gluten-friendly menus when I go out.

To all of the people before me that had to deal with a lack of gluten-free options in years past, thank you for paving the way for those of us dealing with it today. We really do appreciate it.

Now if someone could get started on that gluten-free banh mi, this list will be a little bit shorter next year...