Talk Me Out Of A Cheat Birthday Patty Melt Please

[jensey]

it's been 3 1/2 months since being diagnosed, and living as gluten free as possible while working in a bakery. I have cheated twice in the past month, each time with a bite of cake (with icing). I haven't felt anything major but there is a little gurgle in my stomach, NOTHING compared to what I WAS dealing with.

I just recently determined I can add some dairy back into my diet that made my dietary woes decreas 99.7%. I am really ok overall with living gluten free, but I am thinking about having a patty melt on my birthday in December. I know it's not the best idea, but OMG will it really be THAT bad for me? If so I am ready to hear from you.

I don't have a problem giving up bread, never really liked it that much to begin with. Pasta, well the alternatives are awesome now so that doesn't matter much to me either. The only other areas avoiding gluten hits me hard is in sauces and cross contamination, but I am coming to terms with that.

I don't plan on ingesting gluten regularly or even as a treat once a year, but I was thinking ONE LAST HOORAH might not be too horrible for me.

Having read other posts I have a feeling I already know what my Doc would say, but he isn't living with the disease, we are. I look forward to hearing from folks who have cheated and how it affected them.

My best to all.

[Lisa16]

Dear Jensey,

I do not know how old you are, but judging from the language of your letter you are certainly old enough to make your own health decisions.

I am 43 and I went undiagnosed for over 23 years. I got very sick. If I get even a microscopic amount of gluten from cross-contamination I am sick for days. It is so painful I would never knowingly, willingly eat that crap again. I am terrified that the seeds of the lymphoma that killed my grandmother are already lying within me from going so long without knowing. I have still not fully recovered.

I simply cannot understand even the concept of "cheating". Why on earth would you do it? It would knock me down flat on the bathroom floor. Why risk your life for a second of pleasure?

So here is your alternative: A gluten free patty melt!

Take some premium gluten-free bread and grill it in real butter. Let the bread soak up the buttery goodness.

Then make your patty melt: make your own hamburger patty (to match the size of the bread, add your own fried onions, mushrooms (if you like) and decadent melty cheese. Annoit with condiments if you like. Add some fries (why not go for broke on the grease-o-meter? It is your birthday after all.)

Jensey, the wonder of the patty melt lies not in the bread, but in the magical combination of ooey gooey meat, cheese and onions. You will not even notice it is not regular bread.

So go to the grocery store right now and get yourself the ingredients you will need. Why wait until December?

Good luck. And happy birthday. In advance. Here's wishing you many, many more.

[Wolicki]

Here's something to consider. for most of us, the reactions are MUCH MORE PRONOUNCED the longer you have been gluten-free. The gurgling you've had could be a gigantic festival of D, nausea, jittery, muscle pains, etc. I guess you have to decide if it's worth it. I will never knowlingly consume gluten again, it's just not worth it.

You can use some gluten-free bread, brush it with butter and caraway seeds- that will give it that Rye bread feel. If you use Udi's bread, you will love the result. Don't do it!

[Frances03]

and Bolthouse Farms has gluten free 1000 island dressing too!!

[WW340]

I have never, ever even considered cheating. Anytime I have a real craving for something, I figure out how to make it the best tasting gluten free version I can make.

Oddly enough, lately I have been craving a patty melt. I plan to make it on Udi's bread and pretty much like Lisa suggested.

[tarnalberry]

given that cheating, as "rarely" as once a month, has the same health risks as not even doing the gluten free diet, and given that it is inevitable that our lives will have *some* cross contamination pop up, I would never cheat. and no, I do not have hugely pronounced symptoms, and am only diagnosed on symptoms, not a biopsy.

I figure that the pain au chocolat (which is what I've been wanting, and no, I'm not going to make one), or the sourdough, or the whatever today is not worth going through chemo in twenty years because I ended up with cancer.

[Ahorsesoul]

Now I've got to have a patty melt. You people with your suggestions are going to make me gain weight. Off to the store for hamburger. Yesterday I drove to get Udi bread while it was raining, sleeting and snowing. Well worth being out in the weather for that bread.

[Ahorsesoul]

jensey,

Sorry got carried away about the patty melts! Do not cheat. It is not worth it. You can find everything you crave in a gluten free form so your health does not suffer. It's worth the extra trouble to go completely gluten free.

[Ahorsesoul]

You can use some gluten-free bread, brush it with butter and caraway seeds- that will give it that Rye bread feel. If you use Udi's bread, you will love the result. Don't do it!

Ok, I made patty melts this weekend. I used Udi's Whole Grain Bread and a pound of hamburger. The hamburger made enough patties for 8 sandwiches. I frozen the extra patties after cooking. I didn't use any spice in it, just plain. I used Woliki's idea with the caraways seeds. It was wonderful! I'm having one for lunch today.

Thanks for the idea!

[MaryJones2]

ONE LAST HOORAH might not be too horrible for me.

I think it's perfectly natural to want to do this. I did. And I did - about 3 months into my diet. It was pizza. And it was awesome...for all of about 15 minutes. The next 3 weeks are an absolute blur but I learned my lesson and haven't thought about doing it again. I'm certainly not advocating eating gluten but everyone has to arrive at their own pace so you'll not get any guff from me.

[jerseyangel]

Gluten Free Pantry French Bread also makes good patty melts. No need to cheat, there is almost without exception a gluten-free substitute to quell any cravings we have.

[WW340]

Glad to hear the patty melt came out good.

I have not made one yet. I have the bread, onions and hamburger, but somehow I missed the suggestion by Wolicki to use the caraway seeds. So now I will wait until I have those too.

[jensey]

So last month I was considering having a "traditional" patty melt for my birthday. I was going to do this as a "cheat" meal. Not long after I posted asking folks to give cause to avoid this temptation I managed to somehow gluten myself. I honestly think that setting an open plate of food in the baking area of my department (I am a bakery manager) is what did it.

I had forgotten the PAIN, the horrible seemingly never ending amount of time needed to be spent in the bathroom, the WEEKS it takes to recover from having eating gluten. I will NEVER knowingly ingest gluten again! I recently thought about going to a restaurant that has a gluten free menu, but alas I cannot risk it. I wanted to be served and not have to cook my meal for once, but after the last reminder I have a hard time trusting my digestive health to anyone but me.

To everyone who replied I express sincere thanks. I didn't have to read your posts to learn that cheating is really not "cheating" in fact it is ,for me at least, inviting myself to 3 weeks of hell!

To any celiac considering consuming gluten to "TREAT" yourself try to remember how horrible you felt before you knew what the problem was and before you committed to a gluten free diet. There are many options for us now, I am grateful that we now have so many alternative options in our diet. YAY RICE PASTA! YAY TARTE BAKERY BREADS! YAY CRAVE BAKERY!

BAck to the patty melt...I bought some Tarte bakery (Eugene, Or. GLuten free bakery) pumpernickel bread and made my own DELICIOUS patty melt! Dare I say one of the best I ever had!

As always Thanks for all the support.

J

[jensey]

Thanks for your input...I didn't do it and posted why today. Check it out if you would like.

it's been 3 1/2 months since being diagnosed, and living as gluten free as possible while working in a bakery. I have cheated twice in the past month, each time with a bite of cake (with icing). I haven't felt anything major but there is a little gurgle in my stomach, NOTHING compared to what I WAS dealing with.

I just recently determined I can add some dairy back into my diet that made my dietary woes decreas 99.7%. I am really ok overall with living gluten free, but I am thinking about having a patty melt on my birthday in December. I know it's not the best idea, but OMG will it really be THAT bad for me? If so I am ready to hear from you.

I don't have a problem giving up bread, never really liked it that much to begin with. Pasta, well the alternatives are awesome now so that doesn't matter much to me either. The only other areas avoiding gluten hits me hard is in sauces and cross contamination, but I am coming to terms with that.

I don't plan on ingesting gluten regularly or even as a treat once a year, but I was thinking ONE LAST HOORAH might not be too horrible for me.

Having read other posts I have a feeling I already know what my Doc would say, but he isn't living with the disease, we are. I look forward to hearing from folks who have cheated and how it affected them.

My best to all.

[Ahorsesoul]

jensey,

I want to thank you for posting about your craving for patty melts. I had forgotten about them. They now are a staple in my house. I've fixed them for company, for dinner, lunch and any other excuse.