I got you, didn’t I?! There are very few reasons why you would be reading this blog post and one of them is simply because my title advertised free pizza. Now, I’m sorry to disappoint, but reading this blog will not help you obtain free pizza nor does it actually have much to do with pizza. In fact, pizza was one of my least favorite foods in elementary school.

Anyway, so why did I name my site free pizza if I’m not giving away free pizza? If you really are interested, please feel free to read my story and you’ll hopefully understand.

As a new freshman entering Penn State, I have learned some very basic principles of college survival: study hard, get involved, and always take advantage of free food. During the first week, every sign I passed advertised free pizza as their main draw for people to come. Even some churches were advertising free pizza for after their services. Everywhere I looked, free pizza was in abundance and students all around were taking advantage of this bountiful gift.

Except me. I’m allergic to pizza.

Even if you have no interest in joining the Penn State knitting club, jocks and nerds alike will gather if they advertise free pizza. Free pizza has an unyielding power, yet to me, it symbolizes empty hopes and promises. When I see the 100th free pizza advertisement of the day, it starts to really suck.

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease during my freshman year of high school and not eating gluten is pretty much as fun as it sounds (it sucks). For those of you who are unaware, uneducated, or just choose not to care, gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye (yes, this means that it’s in bread). But don’t worry, I’m not starving myself to death. I can eat pizza, cakes, cookies, and pies, as long as they are made with an alternative kind of flour such as rice flour. There are plenty of options available, they just aren’t as commonly found (especially at events advertising free pizza).

One of my favorite (yes, it doesn’t suck all the time) things about being gluten free is that I am given a platform in which I can educate people on what gluten is and the truth behind Celiac Disease. There are also some very entertaining stories that come out through these experiences. Here is my favorite interaction with a gluten-eater:

Gracie – Freshman in high school, very ditsy but surprisingly athletic

Me- “sorry, I can’t eat that, it has gluten”

Gracie- “Oh ok, but you can have bread, right?”

Me- “No, almost all bread has gluten”

Gracie- “But it just has flour in it! No gluten!”

Me- “Well, what’s in flour?”

Gracie- “Flour, duh! How stupid do you think I am?!”

Me- (sighs)

And with that, I encourage you to stay tuned to my blog posts as I look forward to telling more stories about everyday life as a gluten free college student (trust me, there are some really good ones!) I will also include a new gluten free recipe with every blog post if you’re feeling curious about cooking gluten free recipes. For today’s post, I included one of my favorite recipes for gluten free pizza! You can find this recipe and others to come in the recipe section of this site.

AND IT’S (gluten) FREE PIZZA!

Hopefully your week is full of much more free pizza, but please just keep those of us who are allergic to pizza in mind!

Happily,

(Gluten) Free Pizza Girl