Disclosure: Any post may contain links to my shop or affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission from any purchase you make. All opinions about products I use are my own. Read the full disclosure and Privacy Policy HERE.
This week in my pantry I came across the bread machine. Oh, the bread machine. A few of my children have been diagnosed with extreme gluten allergies over the last couple of years, so this bread machine has sat un-used for just as long.
(And please don’t come at me about the gluten thing. I’m shocked by how much this bothers people. Like people think those with gluten allergies make it up to be cool?! Several trips to the emergency room and some scary times led to this diagnosis. We don’t take it lightly. It was actually one of the hardest things we’ve done.) Anyway …
Our favorite weekend ritual of āfamily pizza nightā lost the thrill when not everyone in the family could participate. Finally, yesterday I was ready to let the bread machine go. I spent about 15 minutes giving it a good cleaning, then thought āI should make sure it still turns on.ā Well, it didnāt. I wish I could get back those 15 minutes I spent cleaning it!
I shouldnāt have been surprised, things left alone for a while usually donāt fare well. How many times have you been saving something āfor just in caseā only to have it become obsolete?
One of my experiences with this is exactly what I write about in “When in Doubt, Get Rid of It,” which is, you guessed it, similar to this post except I had kept the thing for five years instead of two.
This happens to us all and is an important reminder not to wait. Give it away while itās got some life left for someone else!
But still, people responding to my facebook post about this the other day got really confused about my point. There were many versions of “But I love my bread machine” as a comment.
That is NOT the point. I used to love my bread machine too. We own lots of things that we loved and used at some point (or if not, that’s a different topic). But, at some point, lots of our stuff stops being used for some reason or another –
- Babies grow out of things
- Our lifestyle changes
- Hobbies come and go
Only keep the stuff you actually use!!! Besides things specifically for emergency preparedness, like 72 hour kits, emergency food supply, etc. that you hope you’ll never need, anything else should be let go if it isn’t used.
That’s the way it has to be if you want to live a decluttered life. Our homes should not be storage units of stuff, but a place for living!
And it’s my job to tell you like it is. When in doubt, toss it out.
From my home to yours,
Mary
Brilliant. We let our bread machine go too after a few very poor gf attempts. Not worth it. Iāve used it twice in 17 yrs. Stephen was attached because he used it daily in his mission. Great. Mother-in-law started making GF bread in hers. Wanted to share recipe – nope. Doesnāt work to home make GF bread for a family of 8 at this point in my life. We do have to do what really works for us. You are so right!!
Sorry so much of the fun stuff can be dampened by a GF diet. I hear you – few of us really choose it. After 8 yrs, I do believe itās cut out a lot processed foods for us. *Donāt worry though, Steve makes up for all that with sugar š
Honestly, we decided we didn’t like gf bread, so we just eat things besides sandwiches and french toast! lol. I did find a yeast roll recipe I’ll make for special occasions where roll are expected (Thanksgiving, etc.). We’ve been finding new traditions!
Yes, we definitely aren’t hurting for sweets. It would be much harder to eliminate sugar from our diet!!! You are such an inspiration to me. I think of you all the time cooking GF for such a big crew. Thanks for all the advice you’ve given me over the past couple of years!
Why in the world would anyone care if YOUR family follows a GF diet? How does that affect them in any way? Sorry you even had to defend yourself for that.
Anyway, thanks for the reminder! Off to donate some things! š
I know, I was surprised by all the anti-GF feedback we get. You’d be surprised at what people say. Like they think we make it up for attention? Or “that wasn’t a thing in my day.” Anyhow, yeah, thanks for understanding!
Happy donating!
True, it may not have been “a thing” in their day, but the thing is, today’s wheat is not the same as the wheat of past years. A story of someone who found she was allergic to gluten/wheat and over time due to the reactions she’d get, decided it just wasn’t worth it to eat that stuff. But on a trip to Italy, she decided it *would* be worth the pain and trouble to have tasted and eaten Italian pasta. It was very delicious…..and… she never had any grief afterwards. Huh. Thought maybe she didn’t eat enough to make an impact, or it was a fluke or she outgrew it or whatever. Had another Italian dinner. All was good. So she ended up having several more meals (spaced out so as not to overload and trigger her body again) assuming she maybe had outgrown it. But upon arriving home, one day she had a bit of gluten. Pain and grief!!! What? It was fine in Italy……. she eventually figured out it was connected to the stuff sprayed on our wheat here in America, rather than the actual wheat grown the old fashioned/normal way in Europe. So, I think that makes sense for how much the numbers have gone up in people who can’t eat that, because of what is ON the wheat and how it is grown/harvested. They spray stuff on it to kill weeds, kill bugs, and to cause it to ripen/dry faster for quicker harvesting. (I see it all the time here in AZ on the cotton fields, they spray a defoiliant on the crops once the cotton bolls have matured, so that the plant quickly turns brown and dry and the white cotton can be extracted easier. Something similar is done to the wheat, I’m not sure exactly what.)
I’ve heard that was happening to wheat here. I wish there was a way of finding wheat that is harvested the traditional way.
Mary, there is a mill that only mills heritage wheat. Sunrise Flour Mill is the name. They are in Minnesota. Very interesting story. For some people who are gluten intolerant, they can have bread made with this flour. Although I donāt know if it would benefit your family members with severe gluten allergies. You might enjoy their story.
I have investigated that before and love what they’re doing with the heritage wheat. My sister-in-law uses their flours. With my kids’ specific issues, I don’t feel comfortable with it, but I really appreciate you sharing that in case it could work for us!
That was my experience too. Amazing how Europe protects their processed food industry and eats produce āin seasonā only. We have ruined our food supply over here.
Thank you for this! I needed to hear it (again, and again)!!
We too are gluten free and found in general it was easier to just eat naturally gluten free foods as a family. Since our gluten free journey started with my son as an infant I also had this feeling that he shouldn’t be getting second rate cupcakes, rolls, etc. I have settled on my go-to cookbook for treats that fools even the most ardent ‘Gluten free doesn’t taste as good’ deniers and I even came across a super easy brazilian roll recipe that is naturally gluten free and doesn’t use any weird ingredients. If I can help you in that way, since you’ve helped so me so much, I’d be happy to share if you want to shoot want email! Thanks, from someone who gets it š
I say the exact same thing – we prefer “naturally” gluten free food. I was actually surprised by how many things I already made that were gluten free – tacos, shepherd’s pie, most of my meat-centered recipes, and a million soups. I feel like we’ve got a good variety of dinners going, but of course, whenever I get a recommendation from a GF friend, I’m willing to give new things a try too.
Treats have obviously been a little harder. There were still some we made that were naturally GF, like monster cookies, rice krispy treats (if we get cereal without malt), puppy chow, etc. We’ve been on a journey the last 2.5 years to slowly accumulate a variety of treat recipes that replace former favorites. We are still searching for sure!! One of my teens tries a new GF treat recipe every single weekend as if it were a homework assignment. I’d love info about your favorite recipes, including that Brazilian roll one! I’ll email you!