Gluten Free - The Food Cost, The Social Cost And A Decent Gluten Free Bread Recipe.

A great deal has been written about gluten and other food intolerances mostly to do with the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment of symptoms, what food we can eat and then getting variety into our diet.

Once a diagnosis of some sort has been made, often it seems the hardest part is over as now we at least know what is causing the symptoms. For the most part we are able to adequately modify out diet and the ingredients we put onto our food.

One of the least talked about consequences of living the gluten free lifestyle is the difference it makes to the way we must think about how we eat every day.

It did not occur to us once my diagnosis had been made that this seemingly simple protein contained within wheat which is then in turn used in multiple ways in much of the food we eat, could make such a huge impact socially in our lives.

For example, there is this chain of pizza restaurants here in Australia called La Porchetta. They have great pizza, have a relaxed atmosphere and are family friendly.

They make this fantastic fresh bread which I find almost impossible to stop eating. If there is one single thing I miss most with the gluten free diet it is bread. My kingdom for some decent and cost effective gluten free bread recipes !!?

Their prices are great and we and our two kids could eat well for under $25. This is very cheap indeed for a family of four to eat out.

A lot of families in our circle of friends and family would use La Porchetta for a family get together for the same reason. It became the first restaurant we looked for when looking to eat out as there is one in just about every suburb and in every town in our part of the country.

As a family, we could share a pizza, a couple of side salads, some chips for the kids and drinks for us including coffee for our $25. The pizza was the main filler and we shared a large which they charged only about $7.

**Eating After The Diagnosis**

After my gluten intolerance diagnosis though, the pizza was off the menu as far as I was concerned. A great pity as the pizza at La Porchetta always seemed to have a soft, fluffy base and didnt seem too heavy as a lot of pizzas did to me. Their pizzas also always seemed to come with ample topping.

We often wondered how they did them for such a cheap price as it was often around half the price of others pizza places who served similar pizzas. We guessed that it was just the volume they did as a chain and they were able to order big quantities and get great deals with their suppliers.

We continued going there though as they have a fairly extensive menu and there was always something on there which was gluten free and I therefore could eat. Although I still looked on in envy as the rest of my family ate the lovely pizza.

I would usually ask the waiting staff if they could ask the chef if there was any gluten in the meal as I could not have it. It always pay to make sure as some seemingly innocuous things you would think would have no need to contain gluten, contain it as a filler.

This was fine though most of the time but it did add $15 to $20 to our bill there and not as attractive, but still one of the best eating out options for us now.