Teriyaki Me Crazy

The most mundane foods can trip you up when you least expect it.  This evening I was hungry...starving.  I had no idea what I wanted but knew that I did not have the energy to cook a full meal from scratch again tonight.

I've been working diligently on preparing gluten free meals for myself (and my family where possible!) for the last two weeks.  Technically, I am in transition, I suppose.  Well, today definitely proved that I must be.  I broke down and purchased a book about gluten free cooking (and living).  Out of the many book choices I selected Gluten-Free Quick & Easy by Carol Fenster, Ph.D.

I began reading it lunch and continued reading on my commute home.  I placed my order for Teriyaki Chicken and veggie fried rice and sat down to wait for my order.  I continued to read as I waited.  The minutes ticked by and I read through most of the introductory portion and skipped through to some recipes.  Why did my eye land on the Thai Chicken Pizza recipe on page 84?  What did I spy?  This recipe calls for gluten-free teriyaki sauce!!!  Oh, Dear.

My order is practically ready as I've been waiting for about 6 minutes.  Do I eat this meal hoping that I don't have a reaction?  Or, do I pay for it toss it and start over again??  You guessed it.  I'm a cheapie.  I paid for it brought it home and ate it (remember I was starving!).

Less than 5 minutes after I finished eating I had to blow my nose.  In an hour, my sense of smell began to wane.  By one and a half, my sense of smell was gone.  (Yeah, that's my reaction to eating gluten.)

At that point, I researched soy sauce and found a great article on Celiac.com that discussed the two main manufacturers of soy sauce had less than 5 ppm of gluten per serving.  At this low presence in the food, most people do not react.  The soy sauce manufacturers are Kikkoman and Lima Foods.  This is probably the reason I never reacted to regular Chinese food.  But Teriyaki sauce?  It is fermented soy sauce and wheat.  You have to specifically buy a gluten-free teriyaki sauce.  <sigh>

Why did I read so slowly?!?  The lesson of the day?  If I'm not sure what's in something -- DON'T EAT IT!

And how was your day?