Thank you to Lyndsay from Officially Gluten Free for nominating me for the Sunshine Award! This award is meant to bring awareness to small blogs and spread the word about blogs that make you smile 🙂 I love Lyndsay’s blog and all her awesome recipes so be sure to check her out!
Awarding and receiving these awards help in connecting the blogging community, help in encouraging one another, and help in promoting honor, respect and recognition. Continue reading
Last week I was fortunate enough to visit Chicago during my spring break! Lucky for me, we were there on St. Patty’s Day and got to see the green river. Nevermind that the visit was to see a doctor and the weather in the city was drastically different from my 80* home: the food was amazing!
I planned this trip to a “T” including all reservations on open table for each meal prior to leaving. That way, I had looked up locations, menus, and reserved my times before getting too busy on the road. The plus to making reservations is you know there will be a table for you AND the table will most likely be a good one, like a booth or table on the outside. This is so important, when your dietary restrictions prevent you from just going across the street if they are booked.
GF Menu (upon request)
3 Locations in Chicago (I visited Chicago location)
Rating: 8/10
This place is fantastic with food allergies! As soon as we sat down the waitress said “I noticed you have a gluten free menu” and asked if I had any other allergies.
She proceeded to tell me that they take food allergies very seriously and after she takes our order she will write it up on a separate red allergy alert card, which is then reviewed by the manager or chef and is sent through the kitchen with my order written on it. Â I didn’t even have to tell her about how serious it was, she just assumed! Continue reading
So, before this oatmeal recipe I really hated oatmeal. I mean, I disguised it. Since I’m on a sugar-free, gluten-free diet, my only breakfast option was eggs. I really wanted to expand that and after trying several oatmeal recipes, I finally found one I really like! The trick is to add in all kinds of great toppings and flavors. I never thought I would say this, but, now I think I’m falling in love with oatmeal!!
GF, DF, SF, Vegan
This should not even require a trip to the grocery store! If you have peaches laying around the house, you should have the other ingredients too, making it the perfect evening treat for those cold winter nights!
It’s here! The countdown to rare disease day comes to an end. However, since I started the 100 Positive Days very late, I will keep going on into March, April, and May! In any case, I thought I should stop and take a minute to share some education about the rare illnesses that I have, and hopefully bring some awareness.
Ehlers-Danlos (EDS) is a genetic connective tissue disorder, which can present itself in a variety of forms or types, including a vascular form which can be life-threatening. However, I have type III, also known as “hypermobile” form. They call us “zebras,” – since we are often medically complicated and hard to figure out – hence the zebra on my blog banner. Hypermobile EDS, also often identified as “Joint Hypermobility Syndrome”, affects 1 in 10,000 people. What it means for me, is I do not have enough collagen and my joints are very loose and stretchy. I’m really good at yoga and gymnastics but should never be allowed to do them because there’s a good chance my joints will dislocate or at least sublux (partially dislocate). I have severe joint pain and my shoulders often sublux, creating further trauma. EDS is the cause of many of my other issues, including two I will mention below, so diagnosis is important to help understand other symptoms. Often a rheumatologist or geneticist can help make the diagnosis, which is typically made from physical manipulations (beighton scale) and symptoms, rather than genetic testing.
GF, DF, SF, Vegan, Paleo
I love those recipes, that you can text to your friend in under 160 characters. Or tweet in less than 140. AND send a picture! You know those recipes?
Well this is one of them.
Optional toppings: frozen (or fresh) bananas, blueberries, or peaches, cacao nibs, unsweetened coconut flakes
This is my favorite soup in the entire world. It has SO much flavor, so many good veggies, and is just a great broth-based soup. Your sinuses will be running by the time you’ve taken the 3rd bite because of the intense flavor. Just wait until you try it!
“Wakin’ up too early
Maybe we could sleep in.
I’ll make you banana pancakes
Pretend like it’s the weekend now.”– Jack Johnson
This song describes my boyfriend so well. He ISÂ Jack Johnson (Well… maybe just a little less famous). He is all about forgetting the world, jammin’ to some music, and living in the present. That’s why he’s part of my medicine.
So last week, Gabe was craving something sweet. Since such a thing does not exist in my house (at least not with sugar) he said, “Babe! We could make those pancakes tonight!” And so we did. At 10 pm, we made banana & egg pancakes. Cuz we’re awesome.
Sooo the color for gastroparesis awareness just happens to be the same as celiac! Green. Cool. Anyways “they” (the powers that be) decided we should all wear it on Valentines Day. My question: Why valentines day? When everyone is wearing pink or red (or if you’re on my campus, today is a huge basketball game so they are all covered in blue). Is it because we have awful digestive tracts that makes dating awkward? Is it because most associate valentines with candy which might make us sick? Who knows. Anyways, I’m all about awareness, so here it is!
GF, DF, SF
This is an old family favorite. Instead of traditional macaroni, add quinoa for a low-carb and healthy grain alternative! We now fondly refer to it as gullah-goulash, since my uncle dubbed it it that during our beach house vacation in South Carolina (where many Gullah Geechee people live). It was a big hit with my fam!
Ingredients:
Rich with Life 