HAWMC Day 4, Why I Write About My Health

Today's challenge topic is; I write about my health because… Reflect on why you write about your health for 15-20 minutes without stopping.

After I found out I was allergic to gluten, dairy, and eggs, just to name the big ones, I found it hard to find information and recipes with all of my allergies combined. I could find what sounded like a great recipe for gluten free muffins, but it was also filled with dairy and eggs. Or I would find a great recipe that was vegan but it was loaded with gluten. I had no idea where to even start with substituting ingredients (let alone even heard of ingredients like xanthan gum). So as I started to do research, learn tips, and experiment with recipes on my own, I thought about others who might be in the same boat as I was. How could I share what I had learned through my allergy journey? I can't count how many failed loafs of bread I have made! And how could I find others so I could learn from what they knew? Wouldn't it be nice if all this information was in one place? From those questions, and with a lot of encouragement from my husband, I was inspired to start my blog. I wanted to share what I had learned in order to help others adapt to living an allergen free life.

I'll be honest, when I first started writing this blog, I had no idea what I was doing; most of the time I still don't! I wasn't comfortable with sharing personal stories so I stuck mostly to the sharing recipes and information. As I have continued along my journey, Ive started to also write a little more about healthy, natural, whole living and why that is important to me. Now it's not as important to me to make that perfect gluten-free loaf of bread (in reality I don't eat it that often anyway and my health is probably better off without it), my focus has branched out beyond mastering a loaf of bread to overall healthy living.

I'm not a master at anything and I am still exploring and learning with cooking and baking allergen free. I still read something new I didn't know about allergies almost everyday. But that's a part of my journey and that is what I hope to share.

We all have different journeys when it comes to our health, but I hope writing my blog has helped others realize they are not alone. We are all in this together.

posted by Allergy Free and Cheap Like Me! at 1:14 PM 2 comments

HAWMC Day 3, Superpower Day

Today's challenge topic is Superpower Day; If you had a superpower – what would it be? How would you use it?

I was having a hard time deciding which superpower to have. So I decided to ask the "man of steel" himself, Superman, for some advice on superpowers and which ones are worth having. Below is an excerpt of my interview.

Elizabeth: "What should I call you? Mr. Superman, Mr. Kent, or just Superman? 

Superman: "You can call me whatever you like, most people just go with Superman."

Elizabeth: "Okay, Superman. So everyone knows you have many superpowers; like superhuman strength, invulnerability, you can fly, superhuman speed, x-ray vision, etc. Of all the superpowers you do have, is there one that don't have that you wish you did have?"

Superman: "Wow, now that is I question I do not get asked very often. Let me think…well…it would probably be some kind of power that would not make me allergic to Kryptonite. Yes, that would be it."

Elizabeth: "Seriously? Given all the superhero powers you and your Super Friends have, the power to overcome your allergic reaction to Kryptonite would be the one you would pick?"

Superman: "Sure. What a lot of people do not realize is that, like other people with allergies and/or food intolerances, having an allergic reaction can really ruin my day. I just do not feel good and it can take days for me to feel better. Lois always feels bad because there is not a whole lot she can do to help make me feel better.  As you can imagine, I am not the world's easiest patient."

Elizabeth: "But it's not like there is Kryptonite on every street corner or it's a common ingredient in bread that you have to worry about avoiding."

Superman: "True, but from time to time, Lex and his fellow Legion of Doom members decide to send me random 'care packages' wrapped in thin, lead-foil wrapping paper. Often time these 'care packages' have some sort of Kryptonite laced bomb, baked goods, shirt,…"

Elizabeth: "Kryptonite shirt?"

Superman: "The buttons on the shirt were carved Kryptonite."

Elizabeth: "Wow."

In the rest of the interview, we went on to talk about his favorite foods, how he and Lois maintain their relationship, and what blogs he reads (unfortunately not mine, but I understand, he's a busy guy).

Anyhow, although I am not sure that my interview with Superman helped me decide which superpower I would want if I could have one, it did help me realize even the most powerful people, or superheroes in this case, have their own "Kryptonite allergy" to overcome. Maybe my superpower would be the ability to spread empathy for those of us who live with allergies to those without allergies.

If you could have a superpower what would it be?

posted by Allergy Free and Cheap Like Me! at 7:00 AM 0 comments

HAWMC Day 2, Quotation Inspiration

Todays prompt is Quotation Inspiration: Find a quote that inspires you (either positively or negatively) and free write about it for 15 minutes.

Since there are so many great quotes out there I had a hard time narrowing it down to one, or five! (So I sort of mashed them all together in this post.)

Most of us, at one point or another, think about keeping up our overall health like Mark Twain; "The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not." When we really should be thinking more like Buddha, "To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear." Or like Jim Rohn, "Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."  

We all have days like Mark Twain, especially those of us with food allergies and intolerances. We feel as though we have to eat things we would rather not; we slave away all day in the kitchen only to produce a dry, crumbly, short loaf of bread instead of being able to eat that moist, airy baguette we saw at the bakery. Or drink things we would rather not; we only have a black cup of coffee to look forward to in the morning instead of that rich creamy triple french vanilla latte at the coffee shop. We somehow rationalize our unhealthy choices so that when all is said and done we say, "Life isn’t a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, latte in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ‘Woohoo WHAT A RIDE’!" Anonymous. 

But, I like to think of it like Hippocrates, "A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses."  

What quotes inspire you to make healthy choices or rationalize less healthy choices?

posted by Allergy Free and Cheap Like Me! at 11:23 AM 0 comments

Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge (HAWMC) Day 1, Time Capsule

Today's prompt was, Health Time Capsule: Pretend you’re making a time capsule of you & your health focus that won’t be opened until 2112. What’s in it? What would people think of it when they found it?

This theme was a challenging one for me. Maybe it is because it is the first theme and my creative juices are not flowing yet or maybe it is because I just can't think of what anyone could possibly want to know about me and my allergies that is worthy of putting in a time capsule for someone in 100 years to open. I'll be honest, my first thought was to put my first attempt at making gluten free bread in a time capsule; I have no doubt the hard dry thing still exists somewhere, in its original form, preserved for many generations to come! (Talk about burying and forgetting your failures.) 

But seriously, all joking aside, what would I put in a time capsule? What is even supposed to go in a time capsule? All I know of time capsules is my foggy memory of a hometown time capsule my class helped fill one year in grade school. As far as I know, it is still buried at the local park where we left it all those years ago. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a time capsule is: "a container holding historical records or objects representative of current culture that is deposited (as in a cornerstone) for preservation until discovery by some future age". Historians suggest that items which describe the daily lives of the people who created them, such as personal notes, pictures, and documents, would provide an excellent snapshot of daily life during a specific time period and greatly increase the value of the time capsule to future historians.

So with that in mind, this is what I would put in my time capsule, for my future historians to find (the future historians I have in mind are my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and their families).

Besides the obvious stuff, family photographs, home movies, and personal diaries (although honestly the thought of my future historians reading my personal diaries horrifies me!), I'd also include pictures I've taken of places I have traveled to and lived in; who knows what those places are going to look like 100 years from now or even if some of them will exist. I would include a family recipe scrapbook too, filled with allergen safe recipes (and maybe a few special ones that aren't), along with the stories behind each recipe. Wouldn't it be wonderful to make your great-great-grandmother's famed allergen friendly dish from a recipe written and explained by her? I am pretty sure my future historians will still have to eat food and they will also be able to tell the stories behind them as they share my dishes with friends and family. What else should be included? Something about frugal living? Maybe I would include a list of tips on how we lived frugally; who knows some of them still might apply 100 years from now! And if not, it might at least provide my future historians with a good laugh! (e.g. like how their great-great grandfather would limit the amount of toilet paper used to four squares a wipe.) 

In the end, my hope is in 100 years my grandchildren or great-grandchildren will open up my time capsule to reveal something about their long forgotten heritage, learn something new about their family history, and understand where their food allergies and intolerances came from, read about my struggles and challenges, and see how I overcame them.

What started out for me as a challenging first theme ended up really making me think about what I want to leave behind for the future generations of my family. Maybe I won't actually go to the extent of burying a "time capsule", but, at the very least, why not have a box full of personal belongings and stories for grandchildren and great-grandchildren to learn about me. It is kind of a romantic idea, like writing your memoirs, but I kind of like it.

I would love to hear from all of you in the comments what you would put in your time capsule! Check back tomorrow for Day 2!

(Sorry this wasn't posted sooner, it took me a while to convince my husband to dig my time capsule hole this morning!)

posted by Allergy Free and Cheap Like Me! at 5:31 PM 0 comments

WEGO's Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge, 30 posts in 30 days!

To help get me motivated and started blogging again, I decided to take WEGO's Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge (#HAWMC); 30 posts in 30 days during the month of April!  The challenge is in honor of April being their Health Activist month. The challenge provides me with daily themes or topics, one for each day of the month, that are full of creative ideas. When I was first asked to participate in this challenge, I wasn't sure I would be up for the challenge, but after thinking about it, I knew it would a great way to push myself and stretch my writing abilities. Also, with May being Celiac Awareness month, I thought this would be a great way to lead up to it! I will try to keep with the themes that are provided as much as possible, but I may bend from them a little.  The rules of the challenge are as follows:

1. Write something every day in April. Note: You don't have to use our prompts; remember that those are fun suggestions.
2. You have 2 "Get Out of Post Free" days if you need them-so use them wisely!
3. Share your posts with us and fellow posters on our WEGO Health Facebook page and on Twitter with #HAWMC.
4. Feel free to customize each prompt, be as creative as you like, and have fun!

So here I go, hopefully I am able to keep up! Check back on Sunday, April 1st for post #1!

posted by Allergy Free and Cheap Like Me! at 12:54 PM 0 comments

I had a Bun in the Oven!

Charlotte, 2 months

Hi everyone!  I am sorry for my absence. I've had some exciting life events happening. First and foremost, I am happy to share that my husband and I welcomed our first little bundle of joy into the world in October; our beautiful baby girl, Charlotte Marie. We couldn't be happier or more in love with her. We also decided during our pregnancy to move away from Alaska, back down to Oregon, for a number of reasons, but most importantly so we were able to have the baby near family and friends. So we are now + 1 and living in Oregon! Time has gotten away from me while settling into being a first time mother and I found my priorities temporarily shifting away from Allergy Free and Cheap Like Me. But now as the little one is getting bigger, and I'm getting slightly more sleep, I find myself with more time to begin sharing my experiences and ideas again. So many exciting things have been happening in the allergen free world since I've been absent, from gluten free bread at Subway to a gluten free cupcake winning Cupcake Wars; I'm not sure where to begin! I hope you will check back with me often (now that I'm back) because I've got so much to share in the upcoming months; look for great recipes, tips, and tasty blog entries! 

posted by Allergy Free and Cheap Like Me! at 7:00 AM 0 comments