My Story:

About Me:

Hey!

I'm Karissa and I'm so glad you stopped by!

Here are a few things about myself:

- I'm 23

-I'm third in a family of seven

-A Christian

-I love cooking, baking, sewing, cleaning, being active in my church and spending time with my family.

-I work at home; babysitting full-time and sewing (mending mostly) on the side

-I was home schooled from Kindergarten through 12th grade and graduated in 2009

-I started this blog as a way for me to keep track of my recipes and I hope that it can be a help to others as well.

My Story:

I started on the gluten-free diet in 2006 at the age of 14. I had had stomach trouble for several years and nothing really ever seemed to help. I forgot what it was like to feel good. We were at a Chiropractor's office one day and mentioned it too him. He then asked me about 100 questions that didn't seem to make any sense. When he was done, he said, "I think I've got it!" He told me to try going off of wheat for a while and see what happens. I thought that meant like no bread, noodles, crackers, things like. So I did it and nothing really changed. About a month later when I went back and told him nothing really changed, so it must not be wheat. He then proceeded to really explain about the gluten-free diet. No wheat whatsoever! Even if that meant soy sauce, canned soups, candy...you name it! Read every label and don't eat it if it has gluten. I didn't realize how hard it would be, but I REALLY wanted to feel better. The beginning of November, was the beginning of my journey. By Christmas, I had lost A LOT of extra fluid, and felt 100% better. It was hard, but it was also great. At first, I only ate mostly nuts, dried fruit, vegetables, things like. I didn't really know what I could have, so I just stuck with the basics. That got old real fast!!!! Plus, after my great results and days of research learning that the symptoms for gluten-intolerance are just about everything you can imagine, my mom, Kaitlyn and Kaleb, who had been having other health problems, decided to give the diet a try as well. It worked great for them, but they got tired of the boring food faster than I did.  So I started researching like crazy and experimenting with new recipes and flours. It was encouraging sometimes and disastrous other times! But I kept on keeping on, and it got better and better!!! Now, we serve gluten-free food to even our guests, and most of the time they have no clue. My dad, Kelley and Katrina still eat wheat things, but generally that's only sandwiches and things like that. We only make one meal for all of us. It's still hard at times, but the way I feel NOT eating wheat, by far outweighs the feeling I have when I do eat wheat. People don't understand sometimes, and either they are fine with it, or just think you're crazy. It's hard when people don't understand, but it's not worth compromising just to please them. You are the only one who has to live with you! I really enjoy helping others who may be starting on this diet, so if you have any questions, just leave me a comment or send me an e-mail, and if I can possibly help you, I would love to!

Note:

All of the recipes I post will be gluten-free, but if you are not gluten-intolerant, feel free to try out my recipes anyways! All you have to do is, if any recipe calls for flour - substitute wheat flour, and if it calls for xanthan gum, leave it out! I hope you enjoy them!