theNotice: a beauty blog

(Before you get started: don’t miss part one of this series, here!)

Food that’s just gluten-free, without any recipe-tweaking

The easiest foods to pass over while you’re gluten-free? Probably the ones that never contained gluten to begin with. These foods didn’t need any alteration or tweaking, so it’s pretty easy to forget that they are gluten-free.

Think sushi, Chinese fried rice, Greek rice with feta and lemon (which I am a total sucker for, oh my god), nachos (depends on who makes the chips, mind you), chips (crisps and fries; potato, sweet potato, and rice), popcorn, most meat and vegetable dishes… the list goes on. Japanese, Chinese, and Korean restaurants will almost always have something you can eat while gluten-free, and there’s usually at least one appetizer on a basic menu that you’ll be able to have – fries, or (if you’re nightshade-free) sweet potato fries, for instance.

At home, try eating more things like meatloaf with rice, shepherd’s pie (aka pâté chinois or cottage pie, depending on where you live), potato-free shepherd’s pie (boil a head of cauliflower until soft, then strain and blend through a food processor; makes a flawless impostor mashed potato) – basically, any “normally” gluten-free dish.

A number of breakfast cereals are gluten-free, too – it might just take some time to sort through the ingredients lists, if your supermarket hasn’t already separated them out. I’ve been head over heels for Honey Nut Chex recently, and I was hooked on Barbara’s Puffins line before that. (The Peanut Butter ones are super tasty on their own, and the Cinnamon cereal is delicious with a banana cut in.)

And then there’s the oatmeal.

I could write an entire post just on oatmeal; I’m a total sucker for it. I grew up hating oatmeal, actually, avoiding it at all costs and grudgingly swallowing it down if I had to, but it turns out… well, it turns out that my mom and I just like very, very different oatmeal. She likes hers soft and watered-down with milk; I like mine with more texture, a dash of cinnamon, and just a touch of honey. If oatmeal’s always been too soggy for you, try cooking it with a sprinkling of cinnamon and a smaller water-to-oats ration, then stir in a tiny bit of honey and just a drop of vanilla once it’s done.

I kid you not, good oatmeal is practically life-changing. 

If that gets boring, try it with apple chunks (cut up a quarter of an apple and throw it in as your oatmeal cooks), dried cranberries (add them in at the end), or –to make it totally unhealthy–toss in a few semi-sweet chocolate chips right before you eat it. Or, try it baked – a recipe like this one or this one should do it.

Snacks and desserts

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I was talking to Elaine (@TOBeautyReviews) on Twitter last week, and I promised to send her an email about going gluten-free. While writing that email, though, it occurred to me that I might as well post it on theNotice, because why not, right?

From there, the post sort of got out of hand (because that’s how I roll, apparently), so here’s a not-so-quick starter guide on going gluten-free. I hope you find it helpful!

Why I’m gluten-free

I went gluten-free a few years ago, after my sister had some blood testing done & found out she was gluten-intolerant. (She’s supposedly intolerant to most other things, too, but… well, we didn’t really buy into it. After three weeks of an extremely restricted diet, she decided it wasn’t for her, but kept the gluten out.) My family cut gluten out of her diet, and it sort of fell out of ours, too.

I ended up going G-Free by accident. It was gradual, but with less gluten just “kicking around” in the house, I just started consuming less and less. And the longer I was off it, the more I noticed when I did eat it - I’d grab a sandwich while out and about, for instance, and find myself lethargic and mildly bloated afterwards.

So, I cut it out entirely. As you may or may not already know, I have fibromyalgia and (currently in remission) rheumatoid arthritis, so every little bit of energy really counts in my day to day life. Not everyone with fibro and RA will also be intolerant to gluten, but for me, it was a no-brainer: as much as I love “real” bread, when the flipside was being tired, bloated, and feeling kind of foggy, going g-free just made sense for my lifestyle.

Anyhow; that’s my story. I hope it can help inspire you to have your own gluten-free adventure, even if you’re just going to try it on for fit! ;)

Breakfast breads (are the best kind of breads)

I have a soft spot for breakfast food, but it’s a good starting point for going gluten-free, too. Quick breads do all their rising in the pan (or the oven), so there’s no waiting or extra timing involved – just a bit of xanthan gum added to the recipe (sometimes), but aside from that, it’s just like making “normal” breakfast foods. 

I’d start with Gluten Free Cooking School’s Light and Fluffy Gluten-Free Biscuits, which are hands-down the tastiest biscuits you’ll find, gluten-free or not. (Seriously; they’re really, really tasty.) They bake on cookie sheets and don’t need kneading or time to rise, so the recipe is easy to put together – the hardest part is that you have to grate a chunk of frozen margarine, which, well, weird. But also kind of fun.

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Thoughts: most of the attendees were too skinny. And, to be honest, quite a few of the dresses looked like they fell out of the pages of a schizophrenic fashion spread. A good number of people looked extremely uncomfortable having to stand next to each other, too, which is always fun to catch on film.

All that said and done, though, it’s still the Met Gala. So, without further adieu, here are a few of the photos that I loved.

All image sources attributed in the file name.

Favourite dress of the night: probably this gorgeously feminine number on Rashida Jones. At right, Rooney Mara.

Anna Wintour and Bee Shaffer

I’m just not sure how I feel about either of these.

Ashley Greene and Solange Knowles, lovely in white and bright lemon yellow

Left, Dianna Agron / Right, Jessica Stam

As much as i’m really hoping this see-through-skirts thing doesn’t become a trend, I love Marion’s violet and black gown. Anja Rubik’s hip bone, however, looks like a weapon and needs to be put away.

Doutzen Kroes and Amy Adams channelling Veronica Lake glamour

And one last photo…

You subvert that gender binary, Marc Jacobs. # perfect human being (…)

(Just in case we have readers who aren’t caught up with Sherlock – no detailed spoilers in the comments, please!)

Alright, so this video isn’t makeup-related in the least, but it has absolutely made my week. Give it a watch if you have a moment – it’s not only hilarious, but it’s a wonderful example of viral marketing done absolutely right. Duval Guillaume and TNT, my hat is off to you and your “push to add drama” campaign!

I’ve been thinking some Serious Thoughts about leather jackets recently, and (in light of a short Twitter conversation with a few of my favourite human beings on the interwebs), I thought I may as well get my predicament out there.

Because I’m sure lots of you will be having the same problem.

Just kidding! No one else is having this problem, because I’m a good number of degrees weirder than the rest of the world. But hey! What’s a blog for if you can’t bitch about clothes every now and again?

(Basically, I just want to find a warm, soft, secondhand leather jacket with an asymmetrical zipper and a bit of a masculine edge. Is that really so much to ask for?)

(See, but that’s funny, because it really, really is.)

The problem(s)

Basically, there’s this thing wherein when I put on a leather jacket, I look like I’m on my way to beat someone up. (Conversely, when my adorable older sister puts on the same jackets, everyone around her is faced with an unbearable urge to give her candy or pat her on the head.) It’s not my best look, by far.

(Unless I’m going for “aggressive to a fault,” I guess. Though I can’t really think of a situation which would call for that.)

That’s problem one.

Problem two is that I’m not really into leather. I’m not vegan, or even vegetarian, but there’s just something kind of uncomfortable about the idea of wearing something else’s skin around, you know? I’ll make an exception for shoes (preventing back problems is always a priority for me, and I’ll take good arch support wherever I can find it), but I’ll avoid leather bags and belts if I can.

[ Aside: If it's something that I could find non-leather, I'll go for the non-leather version. If not, I try not to get too hung up over it. At the end of the day, it's a squeamish issue for me, not an ethical one. ]

Anyhow, leather biker jacket ramble –> over. I think I’d like to go secondhand or vintage if I do pick one up (smaller eco footprint, not directly supporting the businesses producing leather, etc), but I’m still not sure.

In all likelihood, I’ll just put it off until I forget that I wanted a leather jacket in the first place. Crisis averted! 

Quips, questions, qualms: hit us up in the comments.