Okay, so I have realized that I can’t plow out all of the gluten-free 101 posts in a month. I really didn’t think this series through back when I first made the announcement in early February. I kinda forgot that baseball season was right around the corner and that I would have not one, but TWO players to navigate this year (yep, my 4 year old has hit the age of T-ball).
Come to think of it, I didn’t think through all the “behind the scenes” aspects of blogging when I first launched Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom in June of 2009. Nope, I just dove right in and have been swimming to keep up (actually, to keep from drowning) ever since! Take my first photo of gluten-free “Twix” as an example, July 25, 2009.
Quite different from my second photo of gluten-free Twix in April of 2010, wouldn’t you say?
Still, not very good from a food blogger’s perspective. Not when you compare your piddly photos to those in Bon Appetite magazine. No, I am not a budding food photographer, but blogging has instilled in me a passion for beautiful photography, one I could never appreciate before I started taking pictures of my food.
I still have a long way to go.
Over the past 3 years, I have learned that we truly do eat with our eyes first. If it looks good, then you’ll {probably} at least try it once. If the picture looks not so great (but conceivably good)…then you might {probably} give it a shot and be pleasantly surprised that the end result is much better than the photograph. I have strived to become better at food photos not because I want praise as a “good enough” photographer, but because I want my fellow gluten-free stugglers to breathe a sigh of relief and say to themselves…hey, this lifetime diet may not be so bad after-all! 😀
And for the record…one or two “semi-decent” photos on my blog takes roughly 7 hours, 32 minutes and 19 seconds between cooking, plating, finding the correct lighting/time of day, choosing the correct piece of glass (a.k.a. lens), aperture, the correct backdrop and props, editing in Adobe Lightroom
So, I’m going to stretch out the Gluten-Free 101 series for a few months longer than originally anticipated. In fact, I’m going to take up until the return of our Disney Cruise in July. It’s about learning what the heck herbs and spices are, that you can add all of the tarragon and basil you want to, but you need to be careful with cumin. Lemon juice, olive oil, and butter will make any piece of meat taste better, but you need to be careful with salt…very careful. We are going to learn how to smoke a turkey, how to make amazing Crock-Pot (a.k.a. slowcooker) recipes with the help of many of my gluten free friends.
And boys, get ready to fire up the grill, because you are part of this too!
I’m pulling all of the great gluten-free bloggers into this series. The links will fly and I hope all of you will find some new favorites.
My greatest hope is that you will simply reclaim your lives in the process…just as I am in the process of reclaiming mine as well. 🙂
Heidi’s Menu Plan: Naturally Gluten Free, Grain Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Soy Free and Sugar Free
Monday: Butternut Squash Chowder with Bacon and Sage (I will use coconut milk in place of the cream), Grilled Chicken, Peas with Pancetta (I will use homemade dairy-free, corn-free, and soy-free “butter”) and Salad
Tuesday: Greek Chicken Kabobs, Asparagus and Salad
Wednesday (Have a Leap Year Baby?? Check out this fun page!): Double Pork Stuffed Chicken Breasts, Baked Sweet Potatoes and Salad
Thursday: Fish Tacos with Pineapple Jicama Slaw (minus the corn tortillas for me, I will use Romaine Lettuce “shells” instead)
Friday: Creamy Avocado Pasta with grilled chicken or shrimp (Tinkyada gluten-free pasta for my guys and Zucchini “pasta” for me) and salad
Saturday: Easy Stuffed Portabella Pizza in a Cashew Basil “Cheese” Sauce (yeah, I thought the same thing but if you don’t at least try it, how will you know for sure???) and salad
Sunday: Leftovers
A Couple “Just” Gluten Free Recipe Ideas
Make sure you double check to make sure all ingredients are gluten free (ie: make sure the soy sauce is gluten free, etc.)
Sweet and Sticky Barbecue Chicken Wings
General Tso’s Chicken (one of my old favorites…just be sure to use gluten free soy sauce)
And welcome to my blog!
Whether you're here looking for advice on how to go gluten free (with delicious kid-approved recipes of course!), or to read some of the latest medical research on celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity...or even to read about one woman's rise from the depths of gluten-free despair to a place of downright enthusiasm, it makes no matter. The point is, you are here now so let's have some fun!
I went to the store yesterday to get the ingredients for the avocado zucchini pasta!
Doesn’t it look incredible? 😀
To use that old expression, so often “our eyes are bigger than our stomach”! It’s no surprise and not a bad thing at all that you could not cover that series in a month, Heidi … even if the kids were not involved in activities. It’s good for us all to know that you are human 😉 (as we all are!) and stretching out the series for several months seems to parallel how it really works when we’re all making the transition to gluten free! 🙂
Finally, your photos are stunning these days, girlie, and it looks like another super yummy week at the Kelly house! Off to share! xoxo,
Shirley
I always look forward to your comments Shirley, you definitely are everyone’s “gluten free mom!” You always say what I need to hear…when I need to hear it the most and I so love you for that.
Just breath, right?
As for the being human statement…I feel fairly sub-human at the moment (it might help if I can find my way out of my pajamas before 10am, LOL!)
xoxo,
Heidi
Heidi, I so feel that “drowning” pain! Take your time on this series – we’ll be here when you’re ready! And those pizza mushroom things actually sound REALLY freaking good. Let me know how they turn out, will ya?
Alta,
I knew we were kindred spirits the day I found your gluten free churros recipe back in 2010: http://www.tastyeatsathome.com/2010/03/kids-in-the-kitchen-gluten-free-churros/ and quickly had to make some myself: https://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/2010/05/gluten-free-churros/.
Funny how we have followed so much of the same path, both in food tastes and health issues…and now that whole motherhood, alternative diet and blogging conundrum!
We will figure it all out my friend…and sometimes a pause is exactly what we need (so you have my permission “to breathe” for a moment…but only if I can have yours, LOL!). 😀
xoxo,
Heidi
Heidi, You are amazing and you have done so much for so many since you started this. Take as long of a breather as you need — you totally deserve it! I hope you feel as supported as you make others feel, and know that you are very much appreciated whether you’re posting just a little or a lot, and whether your photos are drool-worthy or simply mouth-watering. 🙂 Take care of your beautiful family and enjoy baseball season! -Katie
Katie,
Thank you – and yes, I do feel amazing warmth and support from my fellow “women-at-arms” in this never-ending and bittersweet battle called the gluten free lifestyle. We all understand each other very well…without even speaking any words.
Martha Stewart, I am not (nope, not wealthy enough to have the same hired help, LOL!).
I’m not going away, just slowing down. At least until they begin to market a new drug called blog-agra. Or better yet, mom-agra!
Seriously, why should men get all the benefits? They wouldn’t even exist without us!!! 😉
Much love to you and your beautiful family!
xo,
Heidi
Ahh..I swear we are leading parallel lives, my friend. I have been thinking the same thing about my blog lately (and I am not even doing a series like this, LOL). Both boys are in Little League, too, right now, and juggling their different practices, and now games as well, is crazy. Plus they also take tennis lessons AND TaeKwonDo, all at their request – I wish they did not want to be doing all of these things because all of these practice schedules are crazy!! Anyway, take your time on this series. We all SO get it. And you are doing something so awesome – no one will hold you to any timeline! 🙂
Huge hugs to you, my fellow taxi Mom!
xoxo
k
Kim,
I miss you girl. And just for the record…you are the one who inspired me to just let go of the pressure to “perform” several times a week.
Is it just me, or do we women have a particularly tough time “simply being?”
Why can’t we (in the very least, I) be perfectly content with “good enough????”
Please give Conner and Carson big hugs from us, Sam and Luke still ask when they can go back to “that cool house with the pool in the middle of Tatoooine.” (whatever THAT means!).
xoxo,
Heidi