Happy Celiac Awareness Month!

To kick off the month, I thought I'd start with a post about what I've been up to.

My life, my friends, has been full! I got pregnant and had a beautiful baby girl!!! In order to do both well, I found myself pulling back from the blog and then, ultimately, quitting it for awhile.  We've now found ourselves with a happy, spunky little one year old who's currently napping as I write this post! Life is sweet!



To digress a little and tell you about my health journey for the last two years, I was sick throughout my entire pregnancy.  Now, however, I wonder if it could have looked different.

You see, while going gluten free after being diagnosed with Celiac helped me to feel better, I still did not feel well. Can you relate? Our house was completely gluten free and we were very selective in where we went out to eat, yet I would still get sick and found myself feeling ok, but never "good." When I got pregnant I get even sicker, maintaining "morning sickness" throughout the whole pregnancy. By the time I had our baby I was really weak.

BUT, all things work out for good! Thanks to the help of my mom, I started eating predominantly Paleo soon after delivering our baby. Within a few months, I found myself extremely sleep deprived (babies are so worth the lost sleep!) yet with more energy than I had prepregnancy! Who knew, for me, going gluten free was not enough.

Now, I say predominantly Paleo because I have found I can eat raw dairy and rice without feeling ill!

Woohoo!!! It's been about a decade, but I can now say...I FEEL GOOD! Not ok, not alright, GOOD!!!  And that, my friends, is worth celebrating!

What about you?

Was going gluten free enough for you?

Have you found yourself cutting out other foods as you journey toward good health?

Just in time for Halloween this year...an updated candy list courtesy of our friends at GfreeFoodie.

In honor of Celiac Awareness Day I HAD to share with you this amazing recipe that was shared with me.

Source

As Celiac's, and others who have to avoid gluten, you understand the excitement when you find a good cookie or cake.  I mean, a GOOD one!  Right?  It's like finding the perfect shoe for your wedding (or prom if you're a little younger).  For guys, umm, it's like watching a good game?  Ha, sorry, I'm not so savvy in that department.

But, anyways, back to the cookie.  When you can't have "normal" cookies, you've had to go through some awkward, if not awful, cookies looking for something yummy.  And, due to that fact, your awesome friends (you know, those who understand) send you recipes when they find something gluten free that they think you might like.

So, this recipe today is for a gluten free AND vegan S'mores cookie!  Doesn't that just sound divine!  My lovely friend, Crystal, sent me the recipe and I can't WAIT to try to make them.  Yes, I have not yet tried these cookies.  But, I did look through the ingredients (and some delectable pictures) and I just couldn't wait to share with you.  Having been quite sick the last few months (more on that later, but we don't have time now...HELLO, I'm about to give you a cookie recipe!) I'm not sure when I'll finally have the energy to whip up a batch of these.

I figured, hey, my readers are good people.  Good people who have, sadly, had to endure some not so good gluten free cookies.  So, if I can get your hands on what I'm betting is a great recipe, why make you wait?  Seriously, I haven't been able to cook in like three months, so it could be a LONG while before I can give my opinion.

In the meantime, check these out.

Gluten Free and Vegan S'mores Cookies...complete with tons of gooey pics!

Hope you enjoy!  If you do make them, PLEASE share your thoughts...I can live vicariously through your baking. :)

Summer may be winding down as kids and teachers have gone back to school, but that doesn't mean the fun of summer has to be over.

Well, maybe a little.  I mean, we can't just continue to stay home because we want to. :) 

BUT, we can definitely still enjoy some of the great flavors as we sit by the pool or BBQ this weekend.  Maybe even a little treat for yourselves tonight?  I say, go for it! 

As I've shared before, I'm loving the joys of Pinterest.  It's completely addicting (at least for me).  Have you been sucked into the world of pinning yet?  If not, let me know and I'd be more than happy to send you an invite. :)  If not, that's ok too.  But, you may find some of these pins I'm about to share just too enticing!

In honor of summer, I wanted to share some refreshing treats with you today. 

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First up we have, peach popsicles.
Gluten free AND refined sugar free!  Yum!

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Next, a fun blueberry, basil lemon water.
This may sound a little different, but check out the the ingredient list.  Simple and delicious!

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Another icy treat.  This time, blackberry frozen yogurt. 
Added bonus for this one is that it only has three ingredients.

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Lastly, I just couldn't resist adding this one for all you margarita lovers.  Watermelon Margarita.
I'm sure this will be a BBQ favorite for many of you!

***NOTE:  As always, double check any ingredients you are using to insure they are gluten free.

Enjoy!  As always, we'd love to hear of you've tried any of these or if you have a different, favorite refreshing treat for the summer.

Summer is winding down and the school year is just around the corner!

The sleeping in for students (and us teachers) is coming to a close. :( It's a bittersweet time as I get excited to meet new students, yet sad to no longer be on my own schedule. While this summer has been different than others (more on that later) I still very much enjoy not having to pack breakfast, lunch and a few snacks.

Which brings me to today's post...

If your child is anything like me, they get really hungry throughout the day. That can prove especially difficult if they have food allergies. From slushies to gummy worms and Gatorade, while the snack selection at your child's school may have these gluten free options, it may not be what you want your child to eat. I can tell you, it's definitely not what your child's teacher wants them to be eating. A classroom full of 40 freshmen hyped up on sugar after lunch is definitely an interesting environment (not speaking from experience or anything). :)

However, healthy snacks are an essential way to keep your child's energy and attention up during the day.




So, here's a quick list of snacks that will hopefully help get you started and keep their tummies satisfied:

-Trail Mix (like the amazing one pictured above, from Trader Joes).
-Fresh fruit and veggies (I find it super helpful to bag these up ahead of time so they can just grab and go in the morning).
-Snack bars (NoGii kids or paleo bars and Larabars have some great, kid-friendly, flavors...I particularly love the pure ingredients of the Larabars).
-String cheese and pretzels (we love Glutino pretzels).
-Yogurt
-Applesauce

It's amazing, but although coming up with kid and school friendly snacks for your child with allergies can initially be a daunting task, once you start you may find that (like the short list above) there are quite a few options that will be similar to other kids.

It's never a quick, or easy, task coming up with foods to feed your child, but hopefully this list will help get the wheels in your head turning.

So, what did I miss? I know I didn't get ALL the good stuff!

One quick side note before I go. I heard a great idea awhile back from a mother whose son has Celiac. To help him feel more "normal" and included, she would talk with his teacher so she could keep track of when there were parties in his class. This way, when the occasion came up, she would make sure he had a cupcake or brownies in his lunch so that he never felt like he was being left out! He didn't have to just smell their dessert (am I the only one that does that?!?!), he could eat his own!

How cool is that?


Rachel aka Gfreegal