Gluten-Free Cheat Sheet book review

Gluten-Free Cheat Sheet book

Do you need to be gluten-free and don’t know where to start? Do you have questions about celiac disease and the differences between celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and a wheat allergy? April Peveteaux, author of the blog and very popular book, Gluten Is My Bitch, details her own story, breaks down information about celiac disease, and provides the reader with a guide to how to get started in her latest book, Gluten-Free Cheat Sheet.

What I liked about the book was the simplicity. Peveteaux’s style feels like she is sitting next to you in the room, telling you her story and what to expect. If you are new to gluten-free or have decided to step up your game with being more strict, Gluten-Free Cheat Sheet is the perfect book (yes, that’s an affiliate link; no cost to you but a little goes to me, from amazon, for suggesting it. This helps cover costs so thank you in advance!).

Chapters include what foods to eat (and what to throw out), how to adjust to a gf lifestyle in 30 days (meal plans included), basic gluten-free cooking and a pantry list.

• The Gluten-Free Cheat Sheet is the gf consumer’s guide to survival. It tackles issues like:
• Myths and facts about gluten (i.e. “a hundred years ago, no one was gluten intolerant”)
• Restaurant impossible? Which cuisines are usually naturally gluten-free
• Depression, anxiety, and celiac disease: it’s not easy
• The breakdown: what are the differences between celiac disease, gluten intolerance, wheat allergies, and other autoimmune diseases that require a gf diet
• Recipes! Like hush puppies, tortillas, bread pudding and more

This book provides realistic advice. It’s not what your doctor would tell you. Instead, it’s what your girlfriend might share with you to get ready for a gluten-free lifestyle. It also provides good cooking advice.

Peveteaux talks about cross contamination and why it is important to avoid it. Realize that you can be gluten intolerant or have celiac disease without major symptoms. In this case, you may not notice when you have been “glutened”. Even if you don’t feel it, gluten is doing damage. Do the best you can in this case. She offers advice of what to do and what to avoid.

It’s true that some restaurants are not that safe. You really shouldn’t eat there. When this happens, Peveteaux gives you ideas for how to manage this tricky situation.

She seems to be able to read your mind and brings up the feelings you are likely to have. She also provides good advice for what to do if you get glutened. Guess what? It’s probably going to happen. She offers suggestions that work for her.

At the end of the day, you have to have your gluten-free friends, aka GFFs! These are the people who will support you, help you, and commiserate with you. I know for myself, it always helps to have an ally.  And when you have made a large batch of some delicious dish, it’s always good to share this with a GFF. Maybe you could try one of the recipes with yours??

Hush Puppies from the book, Gluten-Free Cheat Sheet

We tried 3 recipes from the book; Breakfast Strata, Hushpuppies, and Sweet and Sour Chicken. For all of the recipes, the ingredients were straight forward and easy to find. I made the strata without some of the ingredients including dairy (my issue) but it was still a good recipe. I had never made hushpuppies before (also made dairy-free) and I was surprised at how easy they were! These were a little peppery for my taste but that’s easy to cut back on. The recipe can be found here. One of the most unexpected hits was the sweet and sour chicken. I wasn’t sure if my little critics (and their friends) would like the pineapple-based sauce but it ended up being a big hit.

So, besides being a guide to how to go gluten-free, Gluten-Free Cheat Sheet also provides meal plans and recipes. This book is intended for more of a newbie but even us old pros can learn something from Peveteaux!