Wow, it has been a REALLY long time since I posted. Being at home with the kids has kept me very busy indeed. Besides, to be completely honest, I also discovered a little thing called Facebook. It became my super-fast mini-blog for my family and friends. And that’s been working for me. But it is time to return to the old blog, because I’m ready to post some more substantial “status updates”.
I am truly, truly blessed to be able to be at home. This time it is because of my own health. Over the past year I’ve been dealing with an allergy crises of unknown origin, that the doctors could not figure out. They sent me home with steriods and antihistamines and a shrug of their shoulders. I was depressed and drugged and angry, but I was not ready to give up. On a last ditch effort, I tried what is commonly known as an ”elimination diet”, eliminating all common allergens, and that has me making EVERYTHING from scratch. Pretty impossible to do when one is working!
So, for the past year I have been off of gluten, corn, eggs, and apples as well as the dairy and sulfites (wine, shellfish) I have been allergic to for years. Recently, I stumbled upon what may have been the underlying allergy, vitamin D3 supplements, which, it turns out, are either made from fish oil, or, more likely, from lanolin treated with ultraviolet light, something I would never have guessed in a million years. Perhaps it is time to head back to the allergist and test for a lanolin allergy. I didn’t suspect for many months and kept taking it because, really, who ever heard of being allergic to a vitamin??? I always thought they were chemically made, and that the body wouldn’t distinguish it from a vitamin from food. Not so. In my case, it brought a rash on my legs, arms and torso, and eventually nasty digestive issues. Not fun. I tried different brands, thinking maybe it was the corn or the gluten in the pills, but then finally I stopped the vitamins altogether this summer. The rash cleared up, but it took a few weeks (the body holds vitamin D for several weeks). Then this fall I did a “challenge”, and within 3 days, had the same nasty rash. It seems to be the main culprit at the moment. Obviously I have much to learn about vitamins, but it reaffirms something I have believed for a long time: health does not come in a bottle, even if it is a bottle of “allergen free” vitamins from the health food store.
At any rate, it has been an interesting year and I can never, ever thank other gluten-free, allergy free bloggers enough for sharing their recipes. I would have been lost and rather depressed without them! (And God bless my husband, who is always happy to eat whatever I happen to make!)
My favorite today is: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/. Seriously, if you are gluten free, her bread recipe is the best!
