Darn you, Condiments

Because I start my new job on Monday, I've been stockpiling food for the great apocalypse, also known as "when Courtney has no more free time."

Over the past week I've made a massive vat of beef and veggie soup with lentils (protein!), roasted a huge Costco bag of broccoli, and mashed ten pounds of potatoes, all of which are now happily nestled in our freezer awaiting one of those nights when my husband and I drag ourselves home all exhausted and without any energy to cook a new meal.

I also made turkey meatloaf. Mmm... meatloaf. For some reason I can't entirely explain, I love turkey meatloaf. I make it rich with rosemary and mozzarella, a touch of gf-worchestershire sauce, and some sort of gf-grain filler (gf-breadcrumbs, crushed gf-cereal, or gf-cracker crumbs). And I love it. It's comfort food, it's relatively healthy, particularly when compared with its beefy cousin, and if I'm tired and hungry it's just the thing to satiate me.

I tried one of each of my bulk meals this week just to check and make sure they were tasty reheated. The beef soup was quite good, though both my husband and I agreed that it needed more beef stock upon warming, and perhaps a dash of hot sauce. The broccoli was tasty, and the potatoes were nice and fluffy, to my joy.

The meatloaf? Delicious. Even my husband, who proclaimed ground turkey not his favorite before taking a bite, loved it. He cleaned his plate and asked for more. I loved it too, but then, half an hour later, the tummy rumblings began.

Oh no... I thought. I'd been healthy for so long! I'd checked my ingredients so thoroughly! I was in my own gf-kitchen!

The attack was mild, only causing me to miss a barbecue I'd planned on attending. I felt fine again in the morning. Usually my attacks are much more severe. Still, I was convinced something was wrong. But what?

I checked through each ingredient I had used in my preparation. Ground turkey? A-okay. Crumbs? Perfectly fine. Herbs and spices? Check, check, check. What could it be?

Husband and I continued unpacking and rearranging our new place, when suddenly it hit me: the ketchup.

When I was at the store I hesitated a moment between buying the Heinz regular ketchup (a condiment I know to be gf) and the Heinz organic ketchup (a condiment I was unsure about). Still, I read the packages of both and the ingredients of both looked fine. They were the same number of ounces and the same price, so I thought, "What the heck, let's have some healthier ketchup."

Add to that the fact that I do not ever, ever eat any ketchup, and I thought it was fine. I forgot that my meatloaf recipe calls for a tiny bit. Less than 2 tablespoons in two pounds of turkey. Thus, when I was in cooking-mode, I didn't think a thing about it and just added it right in.

After a bit of googling, I determined the culprit for sure. From the Heinz website:

"Are the products offered gluten-free? All Heinz Ketchups, with the exception of Heinz Organic Ketchup, are free of gluten-containing ingredients."

Baaaahhhh... To make things more confusing, the Heinz Organic Ketchup is gluten free in England and in Canada, just not here.

Just so we're clear: this one = gluten-free friendly...

And THIS one = STAY AWAY. Unless, of course, you're in the U.K. or Canada, but then what are you doing eating ketchup? Go and have a cultural experience and eat haggis or french fries with gravy or something. Seriously...

Well, it's good that my husband likes the meatloaf, because there are four more pounds of it in our freezer waiting for dinner.

I'll have the beef soup, thanks.