FAQ

Which foods are off limits for you?

I am gluten intolerant so any foods containing gluten or cross contaminated with gluten are off limits for me. I only trust purity protocol gluten free oats (never mechanically sorted) but they are hard to find so you won't see any recipes using oats on this site. I also have allergies to bananas and dairy products but I didn't develop those allergies until almost three years into my blog so those ingredients are in some of my recipes. I started reacting to nightshades at the same time I developed my two food allergies and made a lot of nightshade free recipes during that time. During my pregnancy, I was able to tolerate nightshades again and today, the only nightshades that bother me are potatoes and tomatoes. I'm currently being mindful of how many potatoes and tomatoes I'm eating to hopefully avoid another reaction so you will still see some nightshade free and low nightshade recipes today.

What do you mean by "allergy-friendly" recipes?

First, let me start by saying that if you have food allergies or intolerances, it's extremely important to check over all your ingredients carefully. Just because my recipe says it's free from a particular allergen doesn't mean you won't find it in the particular ingredients you bought to make the recipe with due to cross contamination or any other means. For example, my recipes are peanut free but maybe the brand of almond butter you are using also makes peanut butter in the same facility and could cause you or your guests to have allergic reactions. Always contact companies if you have questions about their particular products.

"Allergy-friendly" just means that there have been some common allergens removed from a recipe. I never include wheat or peanuts in my recipes and I try eliminate several other allergens if possible. However, aside from wheat and peanuts, I don't eliminate any single allergen from all recipes because I want to make sure there's a good variety of recipes for everybody and also because I am still learning to make certain, more complicated substitutions such omitting eggs from a cake.

Why are so many of your recipes paleo-friendly if you don't follow a paleo diet?

Paleo foods are free from a lot of common allergens such as wheat, dairy, corn, and peanuts. I want to recreate recipes that people with such allergies may not be able to eat anymore. By adhering to paleo guidelines, I've automatically eliminated several common allergens. I use tags in my recipes to indicate additional allergens they're free of and other diets the recipes may be compatible with (vegan, Whole 30, etc). I'm hoping to get a filter one day that will allow you to sort through all these tags but I haven't gotten to that point just yet. In time, my friends!

What is paleo?

The paleo lifestyle focuses on areas like diet, movement, toxin avoidance, stress, sleep, relationships, and mindset.  As somebody who loves to cook, I'll just explain the diet piece of the paleo lifestyle. We don't have all day.

The diet consists of eating only foods that were believed to be in the original human diet and excludes modern foods that our bodies may not be equipped to digest.  It's probably more accurate to say that we are eating and eliminating food types rather than specific foods.  After all, how many of those specific plants and animals our ancestors ate are extinct today?  Probably the majority of them.  However, vegetables have always been on the menu!

In general, paleo includes these types of foods:

meat
vegetables (including root vegetables)
fruits
nuts
seeds
natural animal fats
dairy (sometimes)

It excludes these foods:

refined sugar
industrial seed oils
grains
legumes
heavily processed foods
dairy (sometimes)

So you're not vegetarian/vegan/keto/low carb/...either?

Nope. I just eat whatever I feel good eating. The reason why I have a few vegan and vegetarian recipes on the blog is because being around my vegetarian mom and my former vegetarian sister has me in the habit of noticing really simple substitutes for the meat component of a dish. And since I'm allergic to dairy, all of those meat-eliminated recipes are dairy free. Sometimes that's all I need to make a dish vegan, other times there are more animal products to eliminate - some easier than others. So no, I'm not vegetarian or vegan but if I see a substitute, I like to make that available to my readers who may eat that way.

As far as being low carb or doing keto... I have no idea how I'm giving off that impression. I don't think I've ever labeled a recipe as keto friendly yet I've had people thank me for "keto recipes" that were anything but that.

I don't eat low carb either. When I first eliminated gluten, there were days where my carbs would be super low because I was still learning how to replace the grains in my diet. It's really easy to do by accident in that situation. However, I never experienced this to my knowledge after I started the blog so again, I don't know how I'm giving off that impression.

I know there are a few low carb recipes on the blog and a goal of mine is to add some more because it seems to be what my readers want. I likely will never do any low carb sweets though because I can't digest a lot of low calorie sugar alternatives.

How did you discover all your food sensitivities and gluten intolerance?

Here's the short version:

I spent a good portion of my life being sick but never really realized I was sick. Weird, I know. It started around age 9, maybe earlier. I always assumed the way I felt was normal. It seemed like everyone supplied their home medicine cabinets with over-the-counter pain medications like aspirin. They were so commonplace that I never really gave much thought to the Excedrin I took every few hours almost daily in attempt to manage my headaches and joint pain.

My other symptoms (listed under the next question) were an issue too but it was the joint pain that made a particular blog post stand out to me. Now, this was in 2012 and the blog is no longer around but it was basically a woman telling her story about how she no longer has joint pain after giving up grains. This lead to me finally receiving a diagnosis of gluten intolerance which lead to me uncovering all (hopefully) of my food sensitivities which lead to me finally being healthy. Yay!

Aaaand you can continue with the long version if you're curious:

After reading that woman's story, I decided to try a grain free diet to see what happened.  Within days, I was amazed to find I had no headache or joint pain.  Not only that, but I had so much energy too!  Not far into my diet, my husband and I were joking around about it.  He pulled an M&M out of a cookie and called it my grain-free dessert.  Within a half hour, I was suddenly sick, miserable, and back to the way I used to feel.  I thought, "sure, there was a little bit of cookie stuck to that M&M but I didn't really eat any grain."  I quickly concluded that my diet didn't work and I just had a few good days by coincidence.

Something kept me thinking about the diet and I gave it another chance.  I noticed that when I made exceptions to the diet with gluten containing grains, I got sick. Like, severely sick. However when I ate gluten free products that contained grain, nothing really happened.  That's when I realized that by eliminating grains, I had inadvertently eliminated gluten too.  My doctor was able to diagnose me with gluten intolerance but wasn't able to distinguish between celiac disease and non-celiac gluten intolerance because I no longer had gluten in my diet.

At first, I thought I could get away with just a gluten free diet but while I was still healing, I still had discomfort/minor reactions to most gluten free grains, beans, dairy, okra, stevia, and other artificial sweeteners. Sure, I wasn't sick but I wasn't feeling my best so I decided to keep these problematic foods out for a while. A friend mentioned to me that my new diet sounded very similar to something she was doing called "paleo".  I soon realized that there was an entire group of people who were already aware of what grains can do to our bodies.  My immediate thought was "If they know THAT, what else do they know?!?!" Well, I gave it a try which was helpful while figuring out what foods I could eat and what I couldn't. However, it wasn't for me and I didn't see any issues with eating foods that didn't bother me to begin with.

As I healed, I was able to add back the gluten free grains and beans without any issues whatsoever. So long as I didn't get glutened. If that happened, I'd have to eliminate them again so I could be more comfortable while I heal. Dairy, okra, and stevia/artificial sweeteners have remained problematic for me after all these years.

About 5 years later, I developed an allergies to bananas and dairy. (Prior to that, I was not allergic to dairy but it gave me digestive upset and horrible acne.) I also began to have problems with potatoes and tomatoes but no other nightshades. So today, I don't eat any gluten, dairy, bananas, potatoes, tomatoes, okra, stevia (except in very small quantities), or other artificial sweeteners.

What happens when you eat gluten?

When I accidentally ingest gluten, every symptom I used to have on a daily basis for years comes back almost immediately and I become sick for the next 5-6 weeks. I won't bore you with the details. Here's a quick list of my symptoms:

• headaches
• joint pain
• nausea
• vertigo
• eye inflammation
• psoriasis
• digestive issues (let's leave it at that)
• constant exhaustion regardless of how much sleep I get
• nosebleeds
• always cold (purple nail beds, no color in lips)
• very high resting heart rate (anywhere between 95 and 115 bpm.  Today it's around 60-65 bpm.)
• moles and scars would occasionally "flare up" and get red, swollen, and itchy.
• numerous cavities despite excellent oral hygiene.

How strictly do you adhere to your diet?

Probably not as well as I should. However, I have to be 100% strict with gluten. No exceptions. For the rest of my life. Yes, it's that serious. I can't even eat food a friend makes me because if my food was cross contaminated with even the slightest bit of gluten, I will be sick for about 5-6 weeks. It's not worth the risk at all. If I did take that risk and got sick, I wouldn't be able to hide that fact from my friend for over a month. She would feel awful when she found out. Things seem to work out best when I make my own food or eat food that was made in a dedicated gluten free kitchen. I used to get sick all the time before I figured this out. I'm so fortunate to have friends and family that understand that's what I need to do to stay safe.

Additionally, my allergies to dairy and bananas have never caused me more than a chronic cough, a swollen and itchy tongue, and a very itchy sore throat but I've been warned that any food allergy, including mine, can become life threatening and to always take it seriously. I don't worry about cross contamination of those ingredients the way I do with gluten because I've never had a cross contamination reaction from them but please don't follow my example on this. It probably is a small risk that I shouldn't take but I do.

As far as tomatoes and potatoes (the only nightshades I have problems with), I will eat them in small amounts and on occasion. I don't notice any issues with small amounts. I try to be mindful of how much of them I eat and also try to eat them before bed so I can be unconscious while I deal with the repercussions. Yep, probably shouldn't be eating those either.

Stevia is another that I can have very small amounts of but I don't even enjoy it so why bother?

I love okra but haven't eaten it in years because it bothers me so bad. Sure, I would try it again but for the most part, it's easier for me to avoid than it is to deal with the after effects.

Have you lost weight after eliminating all those problematic foods?

No.  As a matter of fact, between my dietary changes and starting CrossFit two years later, I've gained 17 pounds after being the same size since age 13 (5'0", 88 lbs).  I also rapidly lose weight when I accidentally get "glutened" so eliminating gluten from my diet probably played a big role in my weight change. I've never tried to manipulate my weight but I was very small to begin with and feel better at this weight.  Maybe I feel better because I gained weight or maybe it's because I'm healthier and the weight gain was a side effect.  I don't know.  Regardless, I like how I looked 17 pounds lighter and I like how I look now.  I'm really indifferent to it all and simply want to be feel good and have a body that can keep up with the lifestyle that I want to live.

Will I lose weight by making your recipes?

Probably not but I really have no idea. Although I have an appreciation for nutrition and love learning about it, I don't claim to practice good nutrition myself. It's just not a priority in my life right now and I'm 100% okay with that. I don't try to focus my recipes around nutrition partially because it doesn't excite me and partially because I don't want to make any health claims about my recipes. I'm not a health or nutrition expert by any means - I'm simply somebody who loves to cook. My goal with this site is that all of my readers will be able to locate a collection of recipes they can enjoy regardless of any food sensitivities or allergies they may have.

Do you have any tips for transitioning to a gluten free diet?

I think it's helpful to eat easy to make meals that you enjoy and keep them as similar as possible to what you're already eating by making simple substitutions.  For example, if you want tacos, ditch the shells and serve over lettuce, salad-style.  If you enjoy spaghetti, swap out the noodles for some julienned or spiralized zucchini.  Or how about some steak with a side of steamed veggies?  I think it can sometimes hurt to attempt to meal plan using nothing but blog recipes and cookbooks.  I can't speak for all recipe-creators out there but many of us, myself included, like to make fun recipes that we would never expect somebody to make every day.  You would get burnt out cooking and ingredient hunting if you did nothing but try new recipes.  Keeping meals similar to your current diet will make the switch to paleo feel smaller and more intuitive.

What is your favorite cookbook?

I have a huge collection of cookbooks and I love them all but The Ancestral Table by Russ Crandall is by far my favorite.  I cook from it very often and the recipes are simply amazing!  Plus my husband and I can both agree on the recipes, which is rare.

What is your favorite Eat Something Delicious recipe?

Easy question!  There's nothing I love more than maple glazed donuts.

Why can't I find you on Facebook?

I get this question a lot!  Facebook (or any social media, really) just never really interested me so I never set one up.  My best friend had to practically beg me just to set up on Instagram account.  She finally convinced me by doing a Christmas photo challenge, then I discovered I could just post food photos if I wanted.  That's when I became completely addicted but even then, I kept my account private for the longest time.  (I'm really shy!)  I have a feeling that even though I still don't have any interest in Facebook, I would probably become addicted to that too.  In a bad way.  I may set one up someday just because so many people ask me about it but for now, the best way to connect with me is here or on Instagram.

Do you have an email newsletter?

Yes! I'm currently sending RSS emails (you'll get an email every time there's a new post here) but I plan on sending out other, more newsletter-type emails in the future. You can sign up using the form in my sidebar (that's the bottom of the page if you're on a mobile device) or sign up at this link.

What kind of camera do you use?

My older photos were shot with a Canon PowerShot D10 (point & shoot).  I love that camera but it's really best for traveling and everyday pictures.  It is terrible for food photography and I used to really struggle with it.  I really didn't have a whole lot of control over the camera and was mostly at the mercy of the automatic settings with a few exceptions.  I know very little when it comes to photography but my best advice for anybody using a camera like this for food photography is to invest in some reflectors and diffusers.  That helped me a ton and made taking photos easier.

My more recent photos were taken with a Canon Rebel T6i.  I really struggled to upgrade my camera because I didn't think my photography skills were good enough to justify such an expensive toy.  Especially since its main purpose would be for my food blogging hobby.  I just couldn't bring myself to make the purchase so my husband surprised me with it for our anniversary.  I'm so happy he did!  Not only do I have more control over my photos but it's so much faster to take the photos too.  This combined with the fact that I always leave my camera out with a full battery and lens attached means I pick it up and practice with it almost daily.  This has helped me improve a lot in only a few months.