• Gluten-Free Eating: How and Where to Shop

    20/03/2018 - By 

    I have been eating gluten-free for a few years now. I am by no means an expert, but I do feel that I have some tricks and tips up my sleeve and love to share, so here we go! First, a little background. Why am I gluten-free? A few years ago, I suffered an extremely harsh bout of food poisoning, which ruined my gut villi and lining, making me extremely sensitive to gluten. I react to gluten like a Celiac, so I avoid it all even though my diagnosis came back as “extreme gluten intolerance”.  Looking back on my medical…

  • The Gut Makeover

    17/05/2017 - By 

    I’m almost finished this book: I’m impressed with it so far and ready to try it in June. I am sick of always feeling crampy and bloated after meals. I feel tired, have horrible acne and sore joints. There are a lot of other symptoms, as well, that cross the line from “discomfort” in to “chronic illness”. I have leaky gut in a big way. I have a couple of friends who have suffered from it and have healed themselves using a similar diet that is outlined in this book. I can’t wait to start eating from an elimination diet…

  • Gut Health Help: Article Roundup.

    12/04/2017 - By 

    I have massive problems with my gut health and I have had them since suffering severe food poisoning two years ago. Since that day, my gut has turned into an unhappy monster. I now have a severe intolerance to gluten (although my doctor says she suspects that I have always had a sensitivity to it) and I am adverse to a bunch of other foods (including sweet potatoes! *tear*). What happened? I was out with my mother-in-law and Grammy-in-law a couple of years ago for my husband’s bday dinner. The restaurant we were thinking of was takeout only. Since it…

  • Gluten-Free Baking Alternatives: Three of The Best.

    11/01/2017 - By 

    Okay, so I have 3 key products I rely on since becoming gluten-free and thought I would share. Robin Hood Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour Blend  Although you can make your own blend of gluten-free flour using several ingredients, sometimes it is nice to have a pre-made blend on hand. However, if you have the ingredients, I strongly recommend Charlotte J’s GF flour blend on Food.com, which you can find here.  Her mix can be used almost anywhere regular flour is called for in the same amount.  If you find yourself pressed for time, or without the individual ingredients to make…

  • Eating gut-friendly meals during holidays. www.babblingpanda.com

    Gut Health and the Holidays.

    19/12/2016 - By 

    All that rich food. All those yummy drinks. All those amazing desserts. All literally gut-wrenching for some of us. Christmas doesn’t have to derail us so that we suffer gut pain and bloating afterward. Here are some things that work for me and help my gut work more efficiently, so far. In January, I think I am going to try the Wahls-Protocol diet and see if it acts as a reset for me. But in the meantime, here is what I do when I am having one of my best days without nausea, bloating, gas or pain. All of these…

  • Super Easy Tomato Sauce

    11/11/2016 - By 

    The other night I was super rushed for time. I worked late and it seemed that supper time snuck up on me. We had activities to rush to after supper (#momlife, right?), so as soon as I got the kids from school it was time to start supper. If you work and do ANYTHING ELSE in life, you’ve had these nights too. We had a speaker come talk to our school council meeting and she said, ‘You’re busy. I’m busy. We are all too busy all of the time so there is no need to talk about that anymore. We make…

  • Deliciously Ella’s Oat Bars

    07/11/2016 - By 

    As you know, I have to stay gluten-free. Most of the time I just troll the internet for gluten-free recipes that may or may not work. I rarely buy cookbooks, but when I saw the cookbook “Deliciously Ella” in the discount section at Chapters, I knew I had to have it! I recognized her name from her blog, which I had happened to visit once or twice, and had liked the couple of recipes I had gotten from it. The biggest appeal for me was that the cookbook used a few core ingredients over and over. None of the buying…

  • How to Lose Weight: Without Dieting or Extra Exercise.

    20/10/2016 - By 

    My gut was always healthy as a kid. I could eat anything, and did. Since my bout with severe food poisoning a couple of years ago, I have suffered from destroyed villi and a severe gluten intolerance. (You can read about the history of that here , where I optimistically predict 6 months gluten-free). After awhile of being gluten-free, I started to feel a little better, then all of a sudden I felt gross again. Gut pain, cramps, gas, bloating and joint pain, after eating some meals, persisted. I was at a loss, until I remembered something a girl had told me…

  • Exploring Gut Health

    14/09/2016 - By 

    I will never take my health for granted again. I used to eat whatever I wanted, at any time of day, without a second thought. Now, I have a severe gluten-intolerance and I will never take my health for granted again. A couple of years ago, on my husband’s birthday, we went out for Vietnamese. I used the bathroom as soon as we got there. It was okay clean, but not great, and the pipe under the sink was held together with duct tape. All of a sudden, I thought of Anthony Bourdain’s comment in one of his books. He…

  • Mother’s Day Weekend AND My Sixth Wedding Anniversary

    09/05/2016 - By 

    I hope all of you momma’s had an enormously good Mother’s Day Weekend. I spent a lot of it wondering how the mothers from Fort McMurray were holding up, and if the Syrian refugee mothers would be celebrated somehow. Let’s keep them in our thoughts. I donated to both causes this weekend, not sure how I could handle such a tragedy. Especially since my weekend was the opposite- my weekend was exquisite. I spent Saturday finishing up cleaning and shopping for my husband’s anniversary present. I was on a budget but found a suitable present within my budget. Just those…