Book Review: The Gluten Free Cheat Sheet by April Peveteaux

I reviewed April Peveteaux’s first book, Gluten is my BITCH, a while ago and this is her second book, a follow-up to the first. 

She uses the same humorous tone and way of writing in The Gluten Free Cheat Sheet, as she expresses her frustrations about being gluten-free once more, but accompanied by one-hundred simple recipes complete with meal plans, tips and resources. 

I may reference back to this book and what I’ve learnt from it throughout my blog posts. 

The premise of this handy-sized book is to ‘Go Gluten-Free in 30 Days or Less’, so if you’re one of the many thyroid patients who feel better off gluten, or wish to trial if you do, then using a resource such as this book may well help you get started.

Not only including recipes to ensure you that eating gluten-free needn’t be boring or complicated, it also contains meal plans to see you through that first month – taking all the hassle out of it.

Straight away from the introduction, you gather that it’s a humorous and light-hearted take on adjusting to a gluten-free diet, as author April acknowledges that it can be a daunting and frustrating time. However, with her comedic tone, she also helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed or at least too angry about it all. Her writing style is very unique and not at all serious.

What I also appreciate is that she includes not only coeliacs, but also those who are gluten sensitive (like many of us autoimmune thyroid patients) and those who are just wanting to see if they feel better on a gluten-free diet. She acknowledges everyone.

The recipes make up two thirds of the book, with the first third introducing us to what gluten is exactly, where it occurs, why various people feel better off it, the myths and truths about gluten, ingredients to stock your kitchen with, tips for eating out when avoiding gluten, mental health and gluten, getting through the first thirty days and even alcohol containing gluten.

Her recipes include alcoholic drinks, desserts, snacks and main meals from around the world, really taking in to account a range of cultures and interesting food.

Overall, I think it’s a good addition on top of her first book, but it lacks a lot of the substance behind being gluten-free that her first contains. So I’d probably recommend it after reading the first, Gluten is my BITCH. 

You can get a copy of this book from Amazon.

Have you read this book? What did you think?