Day One

My Step-mom suggested writing a blog on my experiences of eating gluten-free, dairly-free, vegetarian, and living on government assistance... so here it is.

I joined AmeriCorps in July 2011. For those of you who don't know much about AmeriCorps, basically it's the domestic version of the PeaceCorps. I work at a church running the community garden. It's a really great program and I make an impact in people's everyday lives by providing them with fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. Soon we will have tilapia and chicken eggs as well. But... the pay is awful. You don't join AmeriCorps to get rich financially. With my program, which is run though OASHF (Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks), I am required to apply for food assistance, which I can honestly say has been one of the best things since I make less than $800 a month and live on my own.

I also recently found out that I have a gluten intolerance. It causes a lot of strange symptoms like migraines, bad skin, and aggravates my postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (basically makes my heart race really fast).  I'm also allergic to dairy products, which I've known since I was a kid but never really cared. Up until basically today, I'd eat cheese a least at every meal everyday. I've never really been a milk drinker, but even the smallest bit of dairy is starting to mess with my stomach. And, I'm a vegetarian, and have been for about 15 years.

I find it hard to eat somedays. What in the world is gluten-free and vegan? I also hate cooking, salads, and a variety of other normal vegetarian foods. So usually I just stick to gluten-free pastas with red sauce and some veggies, Amy's Gluten-free, dairy-free burritos, mashed potatoes (flakes, of course), gluten-free waffles, or gluten-free potato leek soup. Seriously, that's pretty much all I eat.

I just found this great website: Gluten-Free Goddess. It's full of gluten-free, dairy-free recipes and they sound pretty easy and look delicious!

So, here's my attempt at cooking everyday, on a small budget, gluten-free and vegan. Tonight I'm going to make the asparagus leek risotto. Someone please wish me luck.