My name is Mary, and this is where I will share a little about me…

my food journey

Welcome and thank you for visiting my website!

 A Passion For Fitness 

Riding bikes, hiking and walking on the beach are some of my very favorite things to do. I love to exercise and stay as fit as possible. I plan on doing this “aging thing” as healthy as I can. Exercise to me is just as important as the food that goes into my mouth. With that said…I’m human, and I like to indulge a little here and there like anyone else.

I love to bake; it’s one of my very favorite hobbies. I like lots of food options in my kitchen and on my plate. On my website, I have a wide range of recipes to share with you that vary in allergy-friendly ingredients, such as gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free and even meat-free. 

A Family With Food Allergies

I created a website that followed the footprint of our family as my kids were growing up. Three of us had various food allergies and sensitivities, my husband not included. Lucky guy!! Therefore I would try to make meals that could be adjusted as needed for my daughter, my son and myself.

Growing up with food allergies can be challenging especially for kids. I didn’t want my kids to feel the deprivation that food allergies and sensitivities can cause, none of us do. I tried really hard to make things that were similar to many of our favorite recipes and of course had fun creating new ones too.

If you are interested in my personal food allergy journey, continue on reading, otherwise, head back to the recipes and let’s get cooking!!

A Food Allergy Journey

My allergies/sensitivities are as follows: all dairy, eggs, asparagus, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, pineapples, peaches, wheat, spelt, amaranth, buckwheat,  beef, coffee, and sugar cane, with moderate sensitivity to soy, mushrooms, tomatoes, and even most herbal teas. The reason I list my allergies/sensitivities is simply for the reader to see what I am working with on a daily basis. I have lived with a dairy allergy my entire life and other sensitivities for 20 plus years.  Some food sensitivities can change, but mine haven’t much.

It took years to figure out what was wrong with me. There were many doctor appointments, tests, and never any answers as to why I was so sick.

I started getting stomach aches in elementary school which was blamed on my nerves. My stomach would bloat up during the day and often I would throw up at night after dinner. By the time I got in junior high school, I skipped eating lunch whenever possible to avoid sitting in pain for the rest of the day while in class. Then when I got home from school I would eat. It was just easier that way.

Doctors tried to help, but I think with so many foods involved it was difficult to find the solution. As a baby I had to be on banana powder, even soy and goat milk made me sick.

In my early twenties, I went to my first Naturopathic Doctor, who did some blood tests and told me I was allergic to all meats, not to eat potatoes with grains, and to stop drinking Diet Pepsi and Crystal Light. At first, I started to feel better, but it wasn’t the answer.

As that year went on things just got worse. I even had to go to the ER during a night class, because the pain in my stomach was so severe that I couldn’t even stand up straight. The ER doctor said he thought it must be gas pains, and explained how these pains can be felt from below the neck to the groin area. But I knew that wasn’t the answer.

Somehow I made it through college and even teaching High School Home Economics and through two pregnancies. Yes, still eating only breakfast until after school every day. I would get stomach aches from breakfast, but if I ate lunch it was just too painful.

After my son was born, my second pregnancy, I was starting to lose everything I ate. This is where celiac symptoms started to really show up.  My husband and I could never go to a friend’s house for dinner for fear what would result after eating, and often I had to walk a lot or lay on my back to deal with the pain.

Going out to dinner was a nightmare. When my husband and I went out for dinner we always had to go straight home.

My husband is a trooper I would like to add. He has always been supportive and has never made me feel bad about all the problems I always seemed to cause or the things we have missed out on with friends. He is always so kind and understanding… and very politely gets me out of awkward situations still to this day. Because unfortunately, even now, when I think I have eaten a safe food somewhere…. it is never a guarantee.

Fast forward about ten years…a new Naturopathic Doctor insisted I eat a high protein gluten-free diet and did a whole new series of food allergy/sensitivity tests on me.  My stomach improved but my headaches were worse than ever.  A year later this same doctor suggested I try a plant-based diet. My headaches improved. After a year or so I added some occasional meat back into my diet, due to some confusion on what exactly was the healthiest diet for me… seriously, by now I was pretty burned out!  I just wanted to feel good, have energy, and live a long healthy life.

Eventually, I decided to return to my mostly non-meat eating lifestyle.  Since I am allergic to milk and eggs that conveniently made me very close to eating a completely, plant-based diet.  This way of eating had been a great choice for me, and I felt great for many years.

Then in 2021, I found out I had SIBO, a challenging diet to say the least! But I have faithfully followed it graduating to a Low FODMAP diet. The good news is this new diagnosis adds some new Low FODMAP recipes to my site as I continue to learn what I can and can not tolerate in my system.

I hope you enjoy visiting my blog. And remember…focus on what you CAN have rather than focusing on what you can’t have.

Happy eating!

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