About us

I began my blog as a way to give of myself and share recipes and what I am learning in my healing journey. The road has not always been easy, but it gets better just knowing that maybe I can help someone else move faster through their healing process. 

My family and I have many food and chemical sensitivities that make cooking and shopping a challenge. We need to eat organic, no: additives, preservatives, gluten, dairy, rice, sugar and more.

In 1999, I was diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenic purpura or ITP, a bleeding condition where the blood does not clot as it is supposed to.  It was this pivotal turning point that changed my life.  After traditional medical treatments, my recovery was short lived.  This is when I decided to seek medical care from a naturopathic physician.  The results in my body were dramatic and I have never had another episode of low platelets.  I learned that if my body was given the necessary nutritional and herbal support my body could heal and recover.

Other conditions- leaky gut, candida, chronic fatigue syndrome, adrenal exhaustion and environmental illness have needed more time and effort to heal. This is where I have become a student of my body while researching and learning everything that I can.

I believe that during the years of undiagnosed and mostly "silent celiac disease," damage was occurring in my body as a result of nutritional malabsorption.  I removed gluten and dairy from my diet to heal an opportunistic candida infection, a side-effect of the high dose steroids given to me for the ITP.  A few months later, I tried to reintroduce gluten and my body revolted!  This trial of gluten resulted in my body covered in a red rash with itchy blisters.  The only area on my body that did not have blisters was my face. Definitely gluten was a problem for me. Since I had removed gluten, at this point, it was difficult to detect antibodies to determine if I had celiac disease. My body had to be the best test.


But after my trial of gluten free and the overwhelming results,  I began to suspect that the digestive disturbances and bone pain experienced by my oldest son might be celiac disease.  After testing, he was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2004.  He is my biggest helper on the technical side of my blog.  Without his help, you probably wouldn't see any photos, since I'm not very technical minded.   My youngest son reacts to gluten and dairy, too.  I'm glad my boys have each other to go through the difficulties of being a kid with food intolerances.  They are precious blessings to my husband, Scott and I. 
 


I blog when I have energy and when I feel I have learned something that might be helpful to others.  I don't follow the typical blogging schedule as most bloggers, but I write when my energy allows and usually by then my heart is full!  It's funny, when I started my blog, I was taking a supplement that had one of my food sensitivities and this gave me a false energy.  Enough to start my blog, so if I'm not posting it might just be that I am doing well on my diet and there are no overstimulating allergens in my system!   Thankfully, I have learned to follow my own pace in life.  My body knows what it needs and rest is important to my recovery.


Most importantly, I like having a place where I can reach out in this great big world, that allows me to give what I can.  The opportunities to meet and support others who may be dealing with the trials and successes of cooking with multiple food sensitivities is exciting. I love collecting recipes and have stashes all over my house with anticipation of finding a gluten-free recipe treasure! 

I am honored to have you visit and love to hear from readers!

My family~ Nags Head, NC ~ 2009

Justin, Cameron & our dog, Beau ~ Summer 2010

  


Links to more of My Story