Um……….OK.  But where does one start?  Well, I don’t have all the answers but here’s what I did.

*Emptied all kitchen cabinets, donated what I could to a local food bank, and threw away more things than I thought was possible.

*Cleaned, scrubbed, and organized our kitchen from top to bottom.  We even moved our appliances out, cleaned under them, and found some missing toys and dog food from 2 years ago!  Hey, it was a good excuse to get an early jump on our spring cleaning and I was trying to stay positive after all.

*Went shopping for new GF groceries.  It was crazy expensive and difficult!  All I can say is thank goodness for bananas and KozyShack Pudding in those first few days.  I couldn’t think straight and the pudding was the first thing I noticed was clearly labeled GF while walking around like a Zombie during my first trip to the grocery store.  That first week was definitely the hardest.  It seems easier now as my list of “safe things” is growing.  Of course, I haven’t even begun to think about eating out at a restaurant or at someone else’s house.

*Finally broke down and bought my first pair of reading glasses.  Wow!  I can see what’s on all those labels now.

*After shedding some tears, decided to stay positive and focus on the thousands of naturally gluten free things that I can still eat.  I’ve always loved my meat, potatoes, fruits, and veggies anyway.  And, if I felt better going gluten free, clearly that would be all the motivation I needed.

*Purchased a new toaster, colander, and nonstick pan.  It bothered me that our old nonstick pan was scratched up and NOT PTFE/PFOA-free anyway!