Relatedly, I'm suspecting that I might be gluten-intolerant instead of having IBS. (Or, more complexly, it's possible that 2 years of IBS has fucked up my GI tract to the point where gluten is being interpreted as a toxin, and my body can't tolerate it. The difference between "just" being gluten-intolerant and this more complex possibility is that in the latter scenario, I'm wondering if I lay off gluten for a while, if my innards will heal and I can resume eating gluten.)

Anyway, I don't know that gluten is necessarily a culprit; I'm really just going on the fact that, in the past week, there were 2 instances where I ate dinner and was then bloated like a blimp within 30 minutes. And the only thing that the 2 meals had in common was a large amount of bread.

So I'm going to cut out gluten for a couple of weeks and then (1) see how I feel and (2) eat a bagel or something after that couple of weeks and see what happens.

I'm not crazy about giving up wheaty things, but I'm tired of stomach pain and getting all insanely bloaty.

So of course we went to some friends' place last night, and they made fondue. But we knew this ahead of time, so we stopped at Whole Paycheck and got me some gluten-free rolls that worked fantastically for fondue dipping. (Yes, I realize that since the other 3 of them were dipping real bread in the fondue, I probably got some gluten, but I didn't have a bad reaction, so at least I know I'm not massively gluten-sensitive.)

I may go back to Whole Foods today, since we didn't have time to really look around, and grab some GF cookies or cookie mix, and maybe some GF pizza dough.

Oh, sweet. Thich Nhat Hanh is my favorite.

Steph, were you guys using straight cheese in your fondue, because fondue cheese often has flour in it?

I tried an experiment wiht Oz today to see if I could let him out, keep in contact with him, see if he would still go all feral. And it ended in him attacking me. Which is fine, since he doesn't have claws, and I was still wearing my gardening gloves anyway. Inside he went. But as I was lugging all my gardening tools in, he escaped. That cat is now in the dog house.

I'm wondering if I lay off gluten for a while, if my innards will heal and I can resume eating gluten

This seems to be what's happened with me. I couldn't eat bread at all without getting sick, run-to-the-john-getouttatheway sick, but after I was "off" bread entirely for about a year (losing weight in the process), I was able to slowly re-introduce gluten into my diet without bad side effects. I still shouldn't eat a whole lot in a day, but I can have, like, a sandwich and pie.

Trudy, I've heard that Iceland's naming convention makes genealogy a snap. I would be Zenkitty Thomasdottir. Or, since they split when I was little, maybe I'd use my mom's name and be Zenkitty Marilynsdottir, which is pretty much what the townsfolk called me anyway.

Steph, were you guys using straight cheese in your fondue, because fondue cheese often has flour in it?

Straight cheese and kirsch and...is that it? Our friend was making the fondue, so I didn't really interfere. But I do know it was a few different cheeses that she grated.

t edit And man, it was good! Melted cheese on bread -- what's not to love? She also made tabouli, which made me laugh (tabouli is cracked wheat, among other nummy things). I picked one hell of a time to give up gluten. I did, however, bring hummus and pita crackers and rice crackers (rice crackers for me; I've been buying them from TJs for a while now just because I like them, not b/c of any GF thing). So I was well-fed.

What's interesting in the past few days is how NOT ravenous I am; normally I eat a meal and think "Oh my god, I hope there's more because I must EAT IT ALL!" And in the past couple of days, I've just had my meal and been done. Weird.

As Seen on TV - a tribute to doing it wrong. A montage of infomercial clips set to "Help!" It's pretty great.

Steph, whenever my DH has major allergy problems we shift away from overly refined products, go easy on sugary stuff and lay off the white flour and white rice in favor of whole grains. It always helps. In fact, I now cook with a lot of whole grains most of the time, but white flour and sugar are by no means banished. Which I guess is my way of agreeing that perhaps avoiding the gluten for a short while might fix things.

I am enjoying the food discussion! Teppy, sounds like your dietary detective work is paying off.

Oy. Stayed up way too late watching "Kidnapped"! Now for coffee and getting my act together for dim sum! Then a long dog walk along the beach in Alameda while I listen to my Giants try for 3-0 against the St. Louis Cardinals (sorry, Anne!).

But what I really want to do is watch more "Kidnapped"! It reminds me of first season "Damages" in it's crack flavor.

(rice crackers for me; I've been buying them from TJs for a while now just because I like them, not b/c of any GF thing).

I bought those by accident recently, and have bought them again on purpose! Delish.

Simple carbs often make me hungrier -- or at least, make me feel like eating more.

(rice crackers for me; I've been buying them from TJs for a while now just because I like them, not b/c of any GF thing).

I bought those by accident recently, and have bought them again on purpose! Delish.

They also have little edamame crackers that are very similar to the rice crackers (except, made from edamame instead of rice, natch), and they are addictive. I think they're sprinkled with crack before they go in the bag.