Gluten Free???

My food allergies have happened in waves.  I couldn't tolerate milk as a baby, but grew out of it (supposedly).  Then, all of a sudden, in my early twenties I started to have reactions again.  When I cut out dairy and added a lot of soy products to my diet, I  began to react to soy.  Also, my digestive issues never fully resolved.  Within the past couple of months, I've started to react to eggs....not horribly, just a little skin rash, but I'm thinking, what's going on with my body???

Recently, my dad went gluten free to help some of his health issues, and within 2 weeks, he was feeling better.  I had a revelation: maybe I have an underlying sensitivity to gluten that is causing my immune system to go haywire (I've read about this many times)...
SO, heres my question:  is it ok to just cut it out and see what happens? or should I go to the doctor and get a diagnosis? I have heard many differing opinions, so if anyone has any advice to offer, please let me know!!!!

*Ashley*

UPDATE: saving money, homemade style!

This week I tried homemade recipes for 3 things we usually buy prepackaged from our food co-op grocery store.  I made homemade almond milk, granola, and whole wheat bread.  The almond milk was tricky to make (it involved the use of  cheesecloth, which was completely new to me!), and the almonds were about $7.00 a pound ($16/lb for organic!!!!) to buy in bulk....which makes buying a 1/2 gallon of Almond Breeze much more cost-effective.   The bread and granola, however, both turned out to be just as good as the packaged brands, and much less expensive! The bread required a lot of time to rise, bake, and cool, but it was worth it because it tasted fresh, lasted the whole week, and was made from ingredients I already had in my kitchen (which means I saved about $5 not buying bread for the week).  The granola was also easy, delicious, and made from ingredients already in my kitchen. I ate it in the mornings as cereal with blueberries and almond milk.  Here's the recipe I found on Go Dairy Free....

Super Simple Spiced Overnight Granola  (this recipe is optionally vegan, dairy-free, soy-free, egg-free, nut-free, wheat-free, and optionally gluten-free)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil (or other oil)
1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 to 1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups rolled oats*
1 cup quick oats (not instant oats)*

(*for a gluten-free version, use certified gluten-free oats)

Preheat your oven to 300ºF.

Combine the oil, honey, vanilla, spices, and salt in a small dish and stir to combine. Place the oats in a large bowl and stir to mix the two kinds up, then add the liquid ingredients and stir until all those little oats are nicely coated. Spread the oat mixture out on a baking sheet, preferably one with rimmed sides so the granola doesn't slide off the sheet.

Place the oats in the oven and allow them to bake for just 10 minutes, not a minute more, then turn off the oven and leave the granola inside to finish baking. Don't peak! Leave them in the oven for 2-3 hrs, or as long as overnight.  Stir to declump a bit and store the granola in an airtight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!!

*Ashley*

saving money, homemade-style!

So....eating healthy is expensive.  Eating organically is even more expensive.  Eating healthy, organic, NON-ALLERGIC foods can prove to be a very big task to take on when you're trying to save money.  So, over the next few weeks, I've decided to try some homemade recipes for three different pre-packaged items we usually buy weekly at our food co-op: BREAD, GRANOLA CEREAL, and ALMOND MILK.   I figure I can save money by buying the ingredients in bulk and doing a lot of preparing on the weekends.  My goal is to see whether or not the amount of money saved is worth the amount of time spent in this endeavor.

1.  BREAD.   For dairy-free, soy-free bread (also chemical-free and non-GMO!!)  my husband and I really enojy Rudi's Organic Bakery bread.  However, this bread can be $5.00 or more for 1 loaf...ouch. Of course, there are coupons....but even with a dollar off, it's still more than twice as expensive as, say, Publix brand whole wheat bread (what I used to buy before I was aware of my allergies).

So, I'm going to try this whole wheat bread recipe from www.AlisaCooks.com.  The only ingredients I don't already have at home are the ground flax and the bread flour.

2.  GRANOLA CEREAL.   Over $5.00 for a box of granola?? No Thanks.  However, this is what I have to pay if I don't want ingredients like whey, whey protein concentrate, soy lecithin, and not to mention THREE different sweetener ingredients: sugar, molasses, AND honey (these are all ingredients present in Quaker's natural granola cereal).

I'm going to sample this kitchen raid granola from smallbites.andybellatti.com and this super-simple spiced "overnight" granola from www.godairyfree.org and see how they turn out!

3.  ALMOND MILK.  Thank goodness for almond milk.  We drink it by itself, use it in cereal, put it in our coffee, cook with it, make hot cocoa with it, you name it.  (I also use rice and coconut  milk to cook with...but I'm not so sure those would be as easy to make at home.)  Almond milk is delicious, but it is still considerably processed, and sometimes can be up to $4.00 for a half-gallon.

I'll trial this almond milk recipe from smallbites.andybellatti.com.


Here's to eating healthy, buying in bulk, and (HOPEFULLY) saving money!!