A few years ago I found myself in a new predicament: thanks, I think, to some diet changes I was making, my normal clothes suddenly no longer fit. As I was unsure about where my weight would eventually end up, I found myself reluctant to purchase new clothes that might only work for a few months. So, in desperate need of things to wear, I decided to try shopping for used clothing for the first time in my life.…
5 Secrets for Success When Shopping for Used Clothing at Thrift Stores
How to Pick a Perfect Avocado
I LOVE avocados. They’re creamy and flavorful and go great with so many different things—from Mexican food to eggs to salads to sandwiches. I buy a lot of avocados, and without a doubt, one of the biggest disappointments of an avocado enthusiast is to cut into what you assume to be a ripe avocado only to discover that it’s riddled with brown spots.
Back when I was first starting to shop for myself, this used to happen to me a lot. Eventually I got completely fed up and started experimenting with the best way to pick delicious avocados every time. Over the last five-ish years I’ve honed my method—and these days I very rarely get stuck with a bad avocado.…
Planning for Our 2013 Garden
I am really not a winter person. If it were up to me I’d probably just skip the season entirely, but at the moment I live in Colorado so winter is very much a part of my life. This year, one of the things that’s been getting me through the cold (and recently very snowy) weather has been planning my 2013 garden.
This will only be my second year of gardening. Last year we had a small container garden out on our balcony. Late in the season we also planted a few crops in an outdoor plot in our apartment complex’s community garden (which I never got around to blogging about).…
Make Your Own Lactose-free Pizza with Real Cheese
Pizza has been one of my big pregnancy cravings. Unfortunately, satisfying that craving has not been as easy as calling for take-out. Even though I’m no longer grain-free, I’m still lactose-free because I’m pretty sure I’m lactose intolerant. While butter, aged cheeses and my homemade yogurt and kefir don’t give me any trouble, I’ve experienced intestinal upset from as little as half a tablespoon of commercial sour cream. Lactose just doesn’t seem to agree with me—so I knew that if I really wanted pizza, it would have to be a lactose-free pizza.
I’d experimented with lactose-free pizza during my two plus years on the GAPS diet, but I eventually gave up my search because aged cheeses like cheddar, Monterey jack, and Parmesan just weren’t giving me the taste and texture I was looking for.…
Life Update; or, Where I’ve Been Since December
Big news here at Whole Natural Life: I’m pregnant!
Since I disappeared without any warning two plus months ago, this may not be a big surprise to some of you. 🙂 It was certainly not the most elegant way to take a blogging break, but around week 5 of my pregnancy I rapidly started losing my ability to deal with anything other than absolute essentials, so blogging just had to take a backseat for a while.
After a rough first trimester, I’m now almost to week 15 and happy to say that I’m feeling dramatically better most of the time. So, I’m looking forward to getting back to blogging regularly.…