Yes, another apology!

I don't know if anyone is even coming here yet, but I feel terrible about not posting, anyway.  The problem is that I don't have a lot of free time at the moment.  I am a "temp" office worker, and I have a couple more months until my 2013 contract is up for the winter.  I should be off for a few months, if I can be financially stable without a job during that time; then I start over at the same office mid-January 2014.  If our expenses outweigh our savings, I'll have to look for another temp job during the down time from my regular temp job!

Another reason that I've been absent from posting, I hate to admit--I finally had to undergo gall bladder removal surgery.  I developed acute pancreatitis from having let my bad gall bladder go for so long without treatment.  Had I started eating "clean" much earlier in life, I may have been able to avoid the ailment altogether.  

I already have plans for my down-time, but please keep in mind that I have a rambunctious two year old who will be home with me during that time.  He needs his mom, so I'm going to be "working" on the blog and recipe testing at home around his schedule.

I have amassed quite a few delicious-sounding recipes from Pinterest, but most need alteration in order to become allergy-friendly recipes.  I plan on creating a test-kitchen, and being my own guinea pig (although the family will have to help out with that, too).  Once I'm able to get the ball rolling, I will be posting my results.  For now, you can expect a few recipes here and there as time allows.

I'm currently making a wish list of new cooking items to replace my non-allergy-friendly recipe stuff with.  I have read in multiple places that you can't use cookware for allergy-free foods if it has previously been used with allergenic ingredients--no matter how well it's been washed.

Pre-made foods are terribly expensive in comparison to home-made components; so I'm buying myself a pasta maker to test out some allergy-friendly pasta recipes.  I haven't tried any allergy-friendly breads in the past few years, but those that I tried years ago (2007-ish) were TERRIBLE.  So, I'll be buying things to make all of my own breads, too.  I'm not sure that I'll go to the expense of a bread-maker just yet; but new baking pans are a good start.
In addition, I will be tackling all of our other non-natural family staples.  We have a very picky family, so our less-obvious staples are:  

• chocolatey breakfast things for me (mmmm--all natural cacao "energy ball" recipe)

•  faux "Kool Aid" for my younger two sons (cool herbal tea with fruit juices--alternating with filtered water flavored only with mint leaves or fruit slices)

•  chips made of sliced baked veggies without oil or salt (maybe even some cinnamon apple chips)

•  healthy snack crackers, dips and spreads

• fruit leathers and gummies made without sugar or syrups

 My oldest son has come to love Pop-Tarts (thank you school breakfast program, for giving them absolute crap as a choice), so I plan on making him a healthy alternative with a gluten free tart base, and organic naturally sweetened jam.

My goal is for our menu to be gluten free, sugar free (at least refined sugar), GMO free, additive free, and almost entirely cow's milk free.  I am looking into "alternative" cheeses and hoping to find some tasty options; but still plan on buying GMO free/additive free natural butter.  We eat a lot more cheese, than we do butter.  We only have one milk-drinker in the household so that should be a fairly easy switch for him, and there are certainly good alternatives for cooking purposes.

We are going to try our hand at growing our own veggies and herbs, and sticking to buying organic fruits.  Growing fruit trees isn't easy where we live, or we'd be doing that, too.  Vine fruits like strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, and peppers are easy, we'll definitely grow our own with those.  There will be times when we'll have to buy organic when we're out of season, but I would like to grow as much as we can during the warmer months.

What I wouldn't give for fruit trees (including avocado) and olive trees!  Honestly, reading about the arsenic levels in packaged rice scares me too, and makes me wish that I could grow my own.  Throw in some nut trees, tea shrubs, chickpea and peanut plants, and I'd rarely need to go grocery shopping.

I have also considered making almond milk, but it seems that my youngest may have an irritable reaction to nuts, so I'll have to consider coconut milk instead...and will probably be buying that rather than milking my own organic coconuts.

We're also going to be pre-made free.  I'm going to make all of our "mixes" and "bases" from real, whole food ingredients--and I'm faithfully considering making our own condiments and dressings as well.  The fewer things that I have to pick up at the store, the better!

Besides, a good friend gave me an awesome home-made catsup recipe, and I found an equally good-sounding BBQ sauce recipe to try.  Mustard may be a tad more difficult, but I'm willing to give it a shot.  As for worchestershire, soy, and pepper sauces...I will just have to research the brands that I currently buy, and see if they're the most wholesome ones out there, or if there are better alternatives.

Once I have all of our staples under control, I may even try my hand at canning, and I plan on buying a vacuum sealing tool so that I can make some Mason jar salads.  Those look SO good, and I tend to be lazy when it comes to making a salad in a hurry.  I am bad and just skip it and eat something else, instead.