These are so addicting it's not even funny. Matt ate five the first day I made them. I ate three. Today I've had two so far. I'm working out double time to make up for it. Ha! Thankfully they have a bit of a health benefit as they are filled with Teff flour!! Teff is filled with minerals like calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, potassium and essential amino acids like protein. It's also high in fiber!

thanks again to the Pioneer Woman!

Pecan Sticky Buns

INGREDIENTS
1 recipe of the Maple Cinnamon Buns (I used 2 cups teff, 1/2 cup white rice, 1/2 cup sorughm, and 1 cup tapioca for the flour)
1 stick of butter (DF)
Pecans, chopped into small bits
1 cup karo syrup

Make the dough with the Maple Cinnamon Buns Recipe.

In a separate pan, melt 1 stick of butter and add chopped pecans, corn syrup, and vanilla. Stir to combine, then remove from heat and set aside.

To make the rolls, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough into a 30 x 8-inch rectangle. Pour on some melted butter, then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface. Sprinkle some of the chopped pecans on there as well. Starting at the far end, roll the dough into a long roll, rolling toward you. You'll end up with a 30-inch-long roll of dough. With a sharp knife, cut into thin slices, about 1/2-inch thick.

Spoon 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of the pecan/butter/syrup mixture into mini-muffin tins. Set sliced rolls into each muffin tin, pressing slightly to secure them to the pecans below.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove pans from oven and invert carefully so that rolls turn out and pecans stay stuck to the bottoms (which are now the tops!) If a little pecans stick in the tins, just dig them out with a spoon and reapply them to the rolls.

man's best friend....

Saw this article on the TODAY show and was absolutely disgusted. Want to be sure you get your money's worth? ADOPT. Just freaking ADOPT. Don't feel bad for the dog's in the puppy mills and think you are 'rescuing' a puppy by paying a thousand dollars to your local pet store. Those puppies almost always have extreme health issues and are inbred. And guess what? RESCUEs and the HUMANE SOCIETY go in and shut the puppy mills down, take the dogs in, get them well vaccinated and in better health, and then adopt them out for about $150.

There are too many PUREBRED dogs in rescues and even purebred rescues. And guess what? A MUTT is one of the best dogs you will ever own. I don't know the breed of my dog, so what? Do you honestly know your entire heritage? Not everyone does.


(From my old 1977 Minolta. The weird colored section to the left of her head? Bad light leak. Fixed by duct tape.)

My first dog, Maggie, was a one and a half year old mutt we adopted from a rescue group outside of a pet store. I searched through books and figured out she was probably a Belgian Malinois. I didn't realize how special she was until I got older but she was amazing. She didn't fetch, or chase balls but she listened so well. She was so obedient. She loved to run and we played chase around my backyard. She also loved to jump and I made many obstacle courses for her. We had an electric fence for a good part of her life but she probably would have stayed in our yard regardless. Every once in a while she would get out and go on an adventure but she always ended up back in her dog house or asleep by the front porch the next day. She was so good. My parents never spent too much on her, just got her the necessary shots and food that she liked. She lived outside, except during thunderstorms and cold weather when we brought her into the basement. She lived such a long healthy life. And she was ADOPTED.

Moral of the story - Before you get a dog, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Google dogs (especially cesar millan!) and learn some extremely simple tips for being a responsible dog owner. If you have a breed in mind, RESEARCH it. Every dog is different but breeds do have certain characteristics. Go see the dog before you decide you will take them home. Don't make a spontaneous decision especially if you are a first time dog owner. If the dog has a problem, google it. If you can't seem to figure it out, take some dog training classes. A lot of the time the trainer can show you how to solve it in the first class. And most of all, ADOPT.

Tips to being a succesful dog owner, by Sarah.

• Feed the best food you can afford. Always look for meat (NO meals) as the first ingredient. A meal is okay but you don't want it as the FIRST ingredient. Try to avoid corn in the first 5 ingredients. This website http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ is awesome. I currently feed a 4 star food that I can afford. Perfect.


• Exercise your dog at least 30 min a day. 30 min twice a day is preferred especially for larger dogs.


• Socialize your dog. READ carefully - not every dog enjoys social interaction. Some dogs prefer people. Some dogs just prefer you. But if your dog likes other dogs, go to the dog park or have play dates!


• Love your dog. Every day, as much as possible. That is what they live for :)

absolute GENIUS!

Um best thing ever. Especially if you are gluten free you know that baked goods don't last long. So why waste a pan of brownies or gain 15 pounds because you try to eat all of them before they go bad?

BROWNIE IN A MUG!

4 tablespoons Flour (GF or normal all-purpose)
4 tablespoons Sugar
2 tablespoons Cocoa
Dash of salt
-Mix all of these in a mug. Then add:
1 tablespoon oil
2-3 tablespoons water (I used 2 and a half)
Drop of Vanilla Extract
Chocolate Chips (Optional)
-Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Microwave for 1 min 30 seconds. Let it sit in the microwave for a minute or two. BEWARE it is very hot but SO delicious!!

baked chocolate donuts - for those of us with a chocolate obsession

These donuts were so easy and absolutely delicious! If you are in desperate need of a chocolate fix these are perfect. If not, I would suggest glazing them with the usual powder sugar/milk glaze. I converted this recipe to GF so it works with your normal flour as well! (You will only need 3/4 cup of flour) I'm so excited to have a donut pan now too :)

Baked Chocolate Donuts

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup tapioca
1/4 cup white rice
1/4 cup millet
1/4 cup almond
1/4 cup dutch-process cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons canola oil
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and coat a donut pan liberally with cooking spray. Stir together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the egg, vanilla, and milk and stir together for 1 minute. Add the oil and continue to whisk until just combined. Transfer the batter to a large measuring cup (or a bowl with a spout) for easy pouring. Fill each cavity in the pan 2/3 of the way full with batter. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until the donuts spring back when lightly touched. Cool completely before icing. Yields 10 to 12 donuts.

Chocolate Glaze
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
To make the glaze: combine the chocolate chips, butter, corn syrup and vanilla extract in a double boiler (or in a stainless steel or glass bowl over some simmering water). Stir until the chocolate is melted and everything is incorporated. Use immediately.

hello, my name is sarah, i love to bake, and i'm a pintrest addict.

Seriously addicted to Pintrest. It's almost bordering on obsession. The best part about Pintrest? Everything. Ha. Actually I love that I have a place to pin recipes that makes it so easy when I go to find a new one to try. Genius. Whoever created this site is just genius. I hope it sticks around for a while because I have so many dream home ideas stored on there. Ah so much easier then flipping through magazines, cutting out pictures and gluing them to poster board or pages in an album. Thank the Lord for the digital age (minus digital cameras. there is something too magical about developing your own photos and watching a picture come to life in front of your eyes).

Any who, I have tried many recipes from Pintrest, so please check out my pin boards. I've just created one for all of the recipes that I have tried that worked, or not. Just last night I made one Matt had been CRAVING for days. They were quite yummy. I think we ate about 15 right after they came out of the oven. Bahaha.

picture and recipe courtesy of oh my! SUGAR HIGH

Baked Cinnamon Breakfast Bites

1-1/3 cups all-purpose GF flour (I just used one from Namaste Foods)
1 cup crisp GF rice cereal, coarsely crushed
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup DF butter
1/2 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted

**Make sure that you add a flax seed slurry if your flour does not have xanathan or guar gum!**Mix flour, crisp rice, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter just like you would shortening. (You can use shortening but I've found that the DF butter I use works just as well). Stir in the milk until moistened and then form dough into small balls. Dip the balls in the melted butter then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place onto a cookie sheet, or for softer bites place into a round cake pan like you would cinnamon rolls. Bake for about 10-12 minutes at 425 degrees (or 14-17 if in a cake pan). Let cool, and enjoy! Or just pop them into your mouth while hot :) Ahaha

**Side note - I bought (and Matt bought me some :) I have such an amazing guy who shares my passion for good, healthy, all natural food. He bought a living social deal for whole foods and then went and bought me really expensive flours. *sigh*) a number of different flours: Millet, Almond, Teff, plus I already had Sorghum, White Rice, Tapioca Starch, Cornmeal, and Potato Starch (hmm i'm pretty sure i'm missing one). So I've been experimenting with different blends. Expect posts on this in the near future!

absolutely positively DELICIOUS maple cinnamon buns

These are amazing. AMAZING. I really wish I had a great camera to take pictures, or even better, a way to send one of these yummy cinnamon rolls over the internet and onto the desk in front of you. Everyone needs to be able to enjoy these :)

This recipe is adapted from the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls - they work so well as GF!

**I had the recipe for these typed up ages ago but unfortunately my hard drive is failing. So it's taken me a bit longer to finally post this.

courtesy of the Pioneer Woman Cooks!

Maple Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients

2 cups Milk (I always use Almond Milk, original)
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1/2 cup Sugar (You can use whatever kind of sugar, I love brown sugar!)
1 package Active Dry Yeast (7g)
5 cups GF flour blend (I used the usual Mama's Almond Blend but I really like using a corn meal blend...more experimenting and then a blog post to follow!)
1/2 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1/2 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
2 Tablespoons Flax seed Meal
Boiling Water
Plenty Of Melted Butter (I use whatever dairy free one I can find - Currently I like Shedd's Willow Run)
More Sugar
Lots Of Cinnamon

MAPLE GLAZE:
1/2 bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Milk
1/8 cup Melted Butter
1/8 cup Brewed Coffee
Pinch of Salt

For the rolls: Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Heat until just before the boiling point then turn off the heat and let it cool for 45 minutes to an hour. When it is lukewarm to the touch sprinkle in the Active Dry Yeast and let it sit for a few minutes.

While the yeast mixture sits boil a cup or two of water and then add a few tablespoons to the flax seed. This is your binding agent (I made this recipe without the flax seed, oops,and they still came out quite delicious! Just very crumbly). I usually use about 2 to 3 tablespoons, sometimes more. After sitting for a few minutes the consistency should be almost like Elmer's glue. Hehe.

Add 4 cups of flour to the yeast mixture along with the flax seed slurry and stir everything together. Cover it and let it rise for about an hour. After an hour add 1 more cup of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. If you don't need the dough right away you can store it in the fridge overnight.

To make the rolls: sprinkle surface with flour (I usually use corn meal). Roll the dough out on the floured surface into a rectangle making the dough as thin as you would like (sometimes I enjoy mine a bit thicker!) Drizzle the melted butter (about a quarter to half a stick) over the dough and spread it out. Sprinkle a generous amount of sugar followed by cinnamon over the dough.

In a jelly roll fashion, roll the dough up (hot dog style) and pinch the seam to seal it. Cut the rolls about an inch thick and lay them into a cake or pie pan (spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray or use a bit of melted butter to coat the pan). I use a spring loaded pie pan that fits all the rolls. If you cut them smaller you may need two pans or a brownie pan.

Let the rolls rise for about 30 minutes then bake at 375 - 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. They should be golden brown on top.

For the glaze: Mix together all the ingredients until smooth. I make mine a bit runnier than I normally would with a glaze so sometimes a splash more of milk is needed. I also add more coffee or maple syrup depending on how I feel that day. Pour over the rolls while they are still quite warm.

It may seem like a lot of glaze but trust me, those babies will soak it up and that is exactly what makes these buns so delicious.

chicken and pancakes :)

Last night I had a craving for pancakes and Matt had the brilliant idea to make chicken and waffles. Well I unfortunately don't have a waffle maker so we settled for pancakes. After searching the internet for a good GF-DF pancake recipe (the previous one I used wasn't that great) I got started. I didn't have a few of the ingredients and I messed up some of the measurements so after some playing around I came up with a good looking batter. OMG. The first pancake was PERFECT. Just like gluten pancakes. About halfway through the batter I had to sprinkle some more baking soda into the batter as they weren't bubbling up as much but I think my baking soda is a bit old. Other than that they were delicious!! I read that the creator of the original recipe has used a couple of different blends of GF flours and they always come out the same. I think this recipe is pretty foolproof and would work well with adding some nutmeg, cinnamon, nuts, fruit, etc.

Fluffy Pancakes

Ingredients
1 ¼ c. any dairy free milk
1 egg
1 T. honey or a little agave syrup
1 T. water
1/8 t. salt
3 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
2 c. GF flour blend
OPTIONAL - 1 t. cinnamon and/or nutmeg. any fruits or nuts are also yummy. (banana chocolate chip is by far the BEST!)

Directions
Preheat a pan or griddle to medium-high heat. You'll want it nice and hot before you drop the batter onto it. Put the ingredients into a bowl in the order listed and mix well with a whisk. Spray your pan with cooking spray and pour about a 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. This makes a nice medium sized pancake. Cook on one side until the sides start to set and bubbles form all over. Flip and cook another 2 minutes or so on the other side. I like for both sides to be golden brown.
If you are not planning on eating them right off the griddle you can heat the oven to 350, turn it off, and place the pancakes in the warm oven on a baking sheet. Any leftover pancakes can also be frozen and then toasted whenever you want one!

What about the GF fried chicken recipe? Sorry but that's Matt's secret recipe :)

The BEST gluten free toast!

So in trying to find an amazing sandwich bread I came up with a recipe that turns out an AWESOME loaf of bread for toast! I play around with this recipe almost every time I make it and it always comes out yummy so don't be afraid to experiment! Sometimes I use applesauce and hot water instead of beer, just depends on what is in my fridge/pantry!

Honey White Toast

Ingredients:
3 ¼ cups of Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp Flax seed Meal
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 packet (7g) of bread machine yeast
¼ cup Honey (about 76g)
2 eggs
½ cup of gluten free beer or club soda (the beer keeps the bread moist for longer)
Hot but not Boiling Water

Directions:
Sift together the dry ingredients. Using a mixer on a slow speed add honey and eggs. Stream in the beer and beat on high speed for 3-5 minutes. The dough should be like thick cake batter (very similar to quick breads). If the dough/batter is dry add some of the hot water. Pour into a bread pan and let rise for 90-120 minutes. Do not let the bread rise longer than 2 hours!! The bread should rise just over the top of the pan. Bake for 45 min or until golden brown on top at 350 degrees F. Transfer bread onto a baking sheet or pizza stone and bake for additional 15mins. Bread should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

Next time I'll have to post my great-grandmothers banana bread recipe. It is the BEST banana bread you will ever taste, and guess what?? It tastes even better gluten and dairy free!

just a quick one...

I've been doing a lot of baking lately but have yet to post the recipes. I'm really waiting for a camera so I can get some pictures posted as well but it doesn't look like I'm going to have anything but some pictures off a phone. Anywho, here is my latest chocolate addiction :)

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

(I really need to come up with some original names!)

1/2 stick of butter or 1/4 cup of oil (i used olive oil but i would love to try sunflower oil!)
1/2 cup of cocoa
1/4 cup of brown sugar
drizzle of agave nectar
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/4 - 1/2 cups of milk

3 cups of oatmeal

Directions

Melt the butter with the brown sugar in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the cocoa, agave nectar, and milk. Finally add the peanut butter and stir until smooth.

Remove from heat and line a baking sheet or two with wax paper. In a mixing bowl with a spoon combine the chocolate mixture with the oatmeal. If it seems too wet, add more oatmeal. Using an ice cream scoop drop onto the wax paper and put them in the fridge to set. I store mine in large plastic bags in the fridge as well.

The awesome thing about this recipe is that you can play with the amount of each ingredient. I have made this three times now (I usually half the recipe) and each time I change it up. They always come out yummy so don't be afraid to experiment!

gums VS seeds

I have been reading alot of gluten and dairy free blogs online and I am just amazed at what I find. Many gluten free recipes call for xanathan or guar gum. Most people will tell you that you cannot make a gluten free recipe, especially bread, without them. Thankfully, one of the first blogs I came across, The Gluten Free Girl and The Chef, uses flax or chia seeds instead. I opted to use flaxseed, as it has great health benefits, and started googling why it worked just as well.

(**disclaimer** I use Wikipedia quite often for my researching as a starting point. Despite the negative image it sometimes has I for one find it very helpful.)

THE GUMS:

• Xanathan gum as described by Wikipedia, "It is produced by fermentation of glucose, sucrose, or lactose by the Xanthomonas campestris bacterium. After a fermentation period, the polysaccharide is precipitated from a growth medium with isopropyl alcohol, dried, and ground into a fine powder. Later, it is added to a liquid medium to form the gum." There are a few things wrong with this. First off - it can be derived from lactose. Not good if you are dairy-free. Secondly, there are a few words in there I can not pronounce nor do I have any idea what they are. I would prefer not to put this in my body, thank you. (**I have noticed a HUGE difference lately in my body when I eat very clean and healthy foods. The first few weeks were definitely an adjustment period but now I crave foods that are much better for me.**)


Another website, http://www.xanthangum.org/, notes that xanathan gum comes from the same bacteria that makes leafy vegetables rot. Let me repeat this: the bacteria forms that nasty slimy gunk on rotting leafy vegetables. Ew. Sure it may be 'natural', but are we not told to throw lettuce away when it looks like that???


• Guar Gum comes from guar beans. Thats definitely better than a sugar-y bacteria. Wikipedia explains that guar gum has a much higher water thickening potency than cornstarch so only a small amount is needed. Now that's pretty cool, right? Wrong. The medicinal effects? "Guar gum is a water-soluble fiber that acts as a bulk forming laxative, and as such, it is claimed to be effective in promoting regular bowel movements and relieve constipation and chronic related functional bowel ailments". That's right, it's used as a laxative.
  

THE SEEDS:
Okay so guar gum honestly doesn't look to be all that bad, minus the laxative effect if too much is used. But where are the health benefits?? If you are looking to stay 'regular' in the bathroom flaxseeds are a much better option.

• Flaxseeds contain high fiber, Omega-3's, lignan, and are low in carbs. They help regulate your digestive system, battle inflammation, and stabilize your blood sugar. There are so many healthy components to this tiny seed its almost unbelievable! Web MD has a great article on flaxseeds with all the health benefits. But how do these amazing little seeds act as a 'gluten'? Flaxseed is a lesser used hydrocolloid - which acts like a gelatin in water. Both xanathan and guar gums are also hydrocolloids. So why not use the one that has more health benefits?
  A recent article I came across on Food Navigator USA talks about mixing flaxseed with maize starch to form a gum. The part that I found interesting is that the mixture, especially with a higher content of flaxseed, acted better under cooler temperatures. That would be why the dough always becomes more pliable after sitting in the fridge for a bit.
  



• Chia seeds (yes they are the same seeds as the infamous 'chia pets') are my most recent study and I would love to start using them in my baking. Chia seeds have similar benefits as flax and naturally curb hunger. They have high levels of Omega-3's, contain 20 percent protein, 34 percent oil, 25 percent dietary fiber, and lots of antioxidents. Just a tablespoon or two of chia will give you a huge boost of energy that lasts for almost 90 minutes! Many marathon runners eat chia seeds as they are great fuel for endurance. Google search chia seeds and you will find many health benefits.
  

The conclusion? Seeds have much better health benefits for you. Why use anything else?

first loaf ever!

For my very first loaf I decided to make one of my favorite bread machine breads - Cinnamon Raisin. When my mother actually used our bread machine this was the bread I remember devouring as soon as it was cool enough to slice. So yummy.

After doing a lot of research I decided to use a recipe I found on Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. She has a lot of good information on baking gluten free (GF) breads and how to make a good all-purpose GF flour. Unfortunately my financial situation does not allow me to buy multiple flours so I went with a pre-made blend from the Gluten Free Mama. Its made of White Rice Flour, Tapioca Flour, Potato Starch, Sweet Rice Flour, and Almond Meal.

The recipe I have is all measured in grams and for this first loaf I was so afraid that it would overflow so I ended up halving the recipe. The first half was awful. Very dense and dry. I decided to add more water to the second half and it actually came out much nicer. However, I forgot the raisins the second time around. So it ended up just being cinnamon bread which actually formed an awesome idea from Matt to make french toast. Using an egg and almond milk we soaked the pieces and cooked them on a skillet. I didn't have any maple syrup so we sprinkled them with a little bit of sugar and some more cinnamon and then a small amount of honey to top it all off. DELICIOUS! So so good.

Cinnamon (Raisin) Bread (adapted from the Gluten Free Girl)
**made in an old school bread machine**

30 grams ground flax seed meal
60 grams boiling-hot water

1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
115 grams water

570 grams GF all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 large eggs
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

FIRST mix together boiling water and flax seed. Set aside to cool.

SECOND heat 115 grams of water to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk with yeast and sugar; set aside in a warm place for about 8-15 mins.

THIRD mix together flour and salt.

FOURTH beat the eggs with the Apple Cider Vinegar. Mix in flax seed and yeasty water.

FIFTH pour wet ingredients into your bread machine pan, add 115 grams of more warm water, and dry ingredients on top of that.

SIXTH turn your bread maker on and go enjoy your day until it's finished baking! (my bread machine suggests using the basic bread setting with a lighter crust for all GF breads. I have yet to experiment. My bread machine is also so old that the company that makes it no longer exists. ha) During the kneading cycles, check on the bread and add water if it looks too dry. GF dough is a bit more sticky than regular dough.

Now if you know anything about GF breads or baking most people will tell you that you MUST use xanathan or guar gum. Do you even know what those are??? Stay tuned for my next post about those and why I use flax seed instead.

And why am I up at 3am you ask?? Just waiting on my next loaf of bread to finish! It's just a plain old loaf of bread that will hopefully be good for sandwiches.

lucky i'm in love with my best friend, lucky to have been where i have been, lucky to be coming home again

Most of my free time lately is spent researching gluten and dairy free lifestyles. And it made me come up with a brilliant idea.

I'm going to open a gluten and dairy free bakery.

As most people know, I've wanted a bakery for a long time. And now I know exactly what I want to do with it. I just need to start baking.

When you are living a gluten and dairy free lifestyle it is extremely difficult to find even the most basic of grocery items. I'm also surprised that I find so many gluten free items but they contain dairy. One thing I've learned is that most gluten intolerant individuals or those with Celiac disease are also intolerant to lactose or even allergic to milk (casein). So I'm going to have a bakery that covers the basics (breads, sweets, etc.). Of course I can't resist yummy items, but I want to help people stock their pantry's without worry. Honestly, shopping in a grocery store has become a nightmare. Not only because practically everything has either gluten or dairy in it but also because there are also so many additives and preservatives in food.

Currently I'm buying frozen bread. Gluten free breads usually contain one preservative (as a mold inhibitor) and so they must be frozen to keep it fresh. After being frozen the bread tastes gross when thawed, and is only good toasted. This is why I'm making my own. I'm buying ingredients in bulk and going to be able to make up to 50 loaves of bread in 6 months and saving hundreds of dollars by doing so (thank you Matt for doing the math). My mother is lending me her bread maker, which is a life saver considering I only have a hand mixer. Maybe I'll win that Kitchenaid....

I'm so excited to start baking and moving into the new apartment is all part of that. But whats even more exciting is the future that lies ahead....I've been dreaming of the Colorado Rockies :)

and here we go!

A few weeks ago I was sick every single day with the worst 'attacks' (this is what I call it when I'm experiencing all the lovely pains and such that are caused by an intolerance) I had ever experienced. I missed classes, was exhausted, and couldn't eat ANYTHING without getting sick. Absolutely miserable.

Sometime in my mid-high school years I saw my doctor about these attacks. I was tested for Celiac but the results came back negative so it was ruled that I was gluten intolerant and was most likely developing a lactose intolerance as well. At the time these attacks were infrequent and uncomfortable, but nothing I couldn't handle and I didn't see any reason to change my diet drastically. Instead I avoided whole wheat and tried to drink less milk. Ha.

After the week of the awful attacks I did a lot of research online about gluten and lactose intolerance and was surprised by what I read. I knew the difference between an allergy and an intolerance as I had to explain that to people for years. But I did not know that if you are gluten or lactose intolerant and continue consuming those foods that you are tearing apart your digestive system. There are many long term problems associated with continuing to eat the wrong foods including cancer.

I have been trying to go gluten and lactose free for almost a month now and the more I learn, the harder it becomes. Even the smallest things have gluten or dairy in them. The easiest way is to cook for myself. Then again that's not easy at all considering how busy I am. But I think the hardest part so far has been trying to eat on campus in the dining hall. I am still getting sick even after eating the simplest of foods. I'm starting to think I need to see an allergy specialist to figure out exactly what bothers me.

For now, I'll continue to explore these gluten and dairy free options and hopefully be baking plenty of yummy goodies :)