Calling all subscribers!!

Hey everyone! I posted yesterday about my move to Wordpress and have been playing around trying to figure everything out. Here's the thing--I THINK YOU NEED TO RESUBSCRIBE on my new blog in order to get my post through e-mail. I have tried everything I know to get it to transfer all my lovely subscribers over to the new blog and I can't figure it out. Does anyone know if there is a way to do this?? Anyway, I was skeptical about changing over because I don't want to lose any faithful readers and now I realize that NONE of my subscribers got transferred! I'm sorry about the inconvenience, but really, it will only take you a couple of seconds:) Go to my new site http://livingfreeforever.wordpress.com/ and look in the right hand side bar. There is a place that says "Subscribe to Living Free". Just click on that to subscribe. I hope I don't lose you as readers. What good is a blog if no one reads it:) I'm especially sorry to all of you who JUST subscribed to this site:( OOPS! Please move with me!:)

Moving!

Happy Monday everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I am changing my blog. I have been a little frustrated with not being able to do certain things on this blog--so, I'm moving:) I hope you'll come along for the ride. I think the change will be great! Now, if I can just get everything figured out on Wordpress. Bear with me as I continue to tweak and remodel. Please come check it out @http://livingfreeforever.wordpress.com/ Hope to see ya there! XOXOXO

Cat Nap and a Winner:)

Anyone need a nap? I sure did! I crashed after church today!

This is my lovely kitty--Lyla:)

Okay, are you ready for the winner of the almond flour give away? Drumroll please......

And the winner IS------JOANNA

Please e-mail me at earlybirds5@verizon.net with your address and I will ship it ASAP:) Congratulations!

Off for some Father's Day fun now:) My poor hubby had to work ALL weekend, so we will celebrate HIS day tomorrow. We are headed to see the parents. Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Where did all my commentors go?

PlantFusion

I made my weekly trip to the health food store the other day and nearly broke the bank! Well, not really, but I was floored at how much things are costing me these days. Sometimes I feel pretty guilty because I am a HUGE expense! The stuff in this picture cost $52.00!! WOW! The biggest expense was the protein powder though($19.99 for 15 servings!). I use protein powder pretty much every day so this was not something I was willing to pass on. I am having trouble with SO many foods right now that I realize I have to pay good money for things like this. I have never used this powder before but was so interested in it because it has some things that other protein powders don't have. First of all, it has twice the amount of protein as my other powder. It's got 22g per serving which is good. Not ridiculously high, but not too low either. The thing that sold me on it the most though was the fact that it has 18 different amino acids including L-Glutamine which is very important for healthy intestines. I don't really know too much about amino acids other than the fact that we need them to be healthy. This powder also has enzymes to help with absorption of nutrients. The powder is all natural, gluten free, dairy and soy free. So, how about taste? I think I like it:) It doesn't have a very strong flavor. It says unflavored on it, but it does have some flavor to it. It doesn't come in chocolate or vanilla that I know of. The only thing I did notice is that it leaves an odd aftertaste that I'm not crazy about. I just brush my teeth afterwards:) The smoothie I had with it contained the following:

1/2 homemade coconut milk yogurt
1/2 filtered water
4 ice cubes
1 tsp. raw local honey
BIG handful of spinach
1 tsp. coconut oil
1 scoop of PlantFusion

VERY nutritious start to my day after doing some yoga and getting my toes attacked by my cat:)

Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter the almond flour give away:) I will probably post the winner on Monday because I am going to be out of town tomorrow and Sunday will be filled with Father's Day stuff.

One more thought---Please, Please, Please don't stop leaving comments once the give away is over. I SO LOVE to hear from readers! I absolutely loved and appreciated all of the comments and support for Marissa on my last post:) Her mom also told me that they did read them all and Marissa was very blessed and cried some good tears of joy! Thank you to ALL who commented!

Have a blessed day!
"I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure..." Psalm 16:8-9

From the Lips of Children

Today is a very special day for several reasons. First of all, it is my blog's one year anniversary! Secondly, I have a give away for you! But, I think the most important reason is because of a little girl I want to introduce you to.

I have been thinking a lot the last couple of weeks about how blogging has benefited my gluten free living SO much. There have been tons of yummy recipes. I have learned more about food than I ever thought possible and I have met some new friends. Before I found the blogging world, I sometimes felt very alone in this journey to live free of gluten and other foods I can't tolerate. Granted, there are still days that are hard and I still get discouraged. Unexplained pain day after day can take a toll on a person's peace and joy. A couple of weeks ago, I was having a particularly hard time and found myself grumbling and complaining in my heart a LOT about my health woes. That's when my mom forwarded something to me that really blessed me.

I want to tell you about a little girl that I go to church with that just simply amazes me! I wish I had a picture of her (she is a doll) but I don't. Anyway, her name is Marissa and she is 9 years old. This child has been sick pretty much her whole life! She has ulcerative colitis and celiac. The most recent health scare for her and her family is the possibility of diabetes. She has been in and out of the hospital numerous times even this last year. But, EVERY time I see her she is smiling. Her mom said that she never complains or asks 'why'. She never gives the Drs. a hard time and even thanks the nurses when they take her blood over and over again! The last time she was in the hospital, she posted an entry on her new blog without her parents even being aware of it. This post is what really made me think about how grateful I should be for my life--even in the midst of difficult health issues.

Hi i'm issa and i have celiac and colitis and have a chance to have diabieties. I'm actually in the hospital because my blood sugar was 708. thank the lord i went down to 135 today we are praising the lord that i'm still ailve and my blood sugar is down. we have such faith and trust and strength in god. because he is our savior and our might. i'm still a normal kid and run dance & play. my life can be hard but i still have faith in him. isn't it amazing how he can do that. he can heal anyone and anything. it was so dissapointing. last night i was on the computer listening to music and dancing. my sister had tears in her eyes and said that my mom wanted me upstairs and i went upstairs and she said sweetie we need to go to the hospital my blood sugar was high. and my sister had a friend over. it was so awful but i'm probably leaving tomorrow. so praise the lord! gotta run by issa

Isn't that the sweetest thing you have ever read?

Matthew 21:16 "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise"

I wanted to share this with you to show the simple faith of a child. That's the kind of faith I want to have:) I also want to ask those of you that are Christians to please pray for Marissa's health. Also, pray for her parents as they care for her. Pray for strength and faith for them all:)

Okay, are you ready for the give away? In light of the fact that I can no longer eats nuts and to celebrate my first year of blogging, I am giving away 2.5 lbs of almond flour! There are a couple of ways to get your name in the hat.

1. Leave a comment on this post for Marissa/family. I'm sure they would read every one of them and appreciate them.

2. You can get your name in a second time for subscribing to my blog and leave me a comment telling me you did so. If you are already a subscriber, let me know.


Please leave comments for Marissa even if you are not interested in the give away:) I know how much comments encourage me so I'm sure a 9 year old would be blessed!

I will leave this give away open for comments until Friday(the 19th). Make sure you don't miss out!

Excuse the font confusion on this post. I can't get this stupid thing to work right!:)

Fill'er Up!

Happy Monday everyone! I guess you noticed I changed my blog--again:) I was playing around and deleted the template I had and so I just left it at this. I felt like my other background was too busy anyway. Plain and simple(just like my food:) works for me.

I am happy to say that I can drink my greens again--thanks to Heather. I saw the idea of putting frozen avocado in the smoothie instead of banana. I'm tellin' ya, this was the creamiest smoothie EVER! I didn't even miss the banana. The only problem is, I am getting hungry way too fast after a smoothie. So, this morning I tried green cream of buckwheat. Polly eats green oats all the time, so I wanted to give green buckwheat a try. I was NOT disappointed either. I was a little worried about the carbs in the buckwheat but I made sure to put protein powder and some good fat with a little coconut oil. So far so good. I didn't feel all wacky with my sugar and I am not hungry yet! It seems like I am always hungry these days and never really feel full with what I am eating. This bowl of cereal was actually a tad too much though:) Are you eating or drinking your greens? I promise you can NOT taste the spinach! I do put a little stevia or sometimes a little honey in mine:) If you've never tried a green smoothie or green cereal, you should definitely check it out.

Gotta run now. Make sure and stop by tomorrow. It's going to be a special day with a surprise:)

Post note: I felt way more satisfied today as far as hunger but I'm not sure the buckwheat is working for my tummy. By early afternoon, my tummy was all bloated and WAY out of whack! That really stinks! I will try green buckwheat again soon and see how it goes. Until then, I will keep searching for the perfect filling and nourishing breakfast:) Any ideas?

Greens and Grains

Have you been eating your greens lately? I really love greens, which is funny because my mom used to always try to get me to eat them more when I was a kid and I HATED them! I have had bouts of low iron throughout my lifetime and my mom would always tell me how much I needed greens. At that time, I really could have cared less about what my body 'needed'. Well, my mom was right. Spinach is a great source of iron along with many other benefits. In Jonny Bowden's book 'The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth', he says, "Calorie for calorie, green leafy vegetables like spinach provide more nutrients than almost any other food on the planet." It is also a good source of vitamins K and D which are important for strong bones. My all time favorite way to have spinach is to drink it! It is SO good blended with frozen banana and non-dairy milk! I am taking a break from bananas for a bit, so I won't be 'drinking' my spinach for a while. I had a whole bag of this gloriously green stuff in my fridge just waiting to be eaten. For lunch today I steamed a bunch with some purple onion and served it with tuna on top. Not too shabby! The only thing I hate about it is, when it looks like you are cooking a TON--it shrinks down to nothing. So, make sure you cook a bunch. Now, go eat your spinach:)

Now, onto my grains. I have slowly been adding a small amount of grains back into my diet over the last few days. I mentioned in my last post about some bread my hubby found that was egg, dairy and gluten free. What I seem to have overlooked was that it had corn and millet in it--both of which I can't eat. Thankfully, I hadn't eaten hardly any of it before I realized this. Anyway, so I was on a hunt for a good high quality, lower-carb, egg free, dairy free and gluten free bread. That's a pretty tall order for a loaf of humble bread. I know--man does not live by bread alone, but it sure is nice to have a piece every now and then:) Anyway, I found this recipe on Cheryl's blog and was so excited to make it. I did have to change a few things about it to meet my dietary restrictions but at least I had a good place to start. I made the bread and calculated away trying to figure out how many carbs etc. each piece had. I let the bread sit in the fridge(wrapped) over night so that it would slice easily. I sliced it pretty thin and got 27 pieces out of the loaf. Here are the 'stats' I came up with: 64 calories, 10.6 carbs, 1.5 fiber, 1.2 protein, 2.3 fat. It's not the fiber heavy weight I was hoping for, but I am pretty pleased with it overall. Below is the list of flours I used. See the original recipe for complete instructions.

1/4 c. rice bran(I may use more next time)
1/3 c. sorghum
1/2 c. quinoa
1/3 c. amaranth
1/3 c. buckwheat(nutritional powerhouse--may use more next time)
1/3 c. arrowroot
1/2 c. tapioca

I also left out the sesame seeds called for in the original recipe.