New Name...New View...New Outlook

I'm back! Yeah, I've been quiet for a while. NaNoWriMo came and went, and I successfully finished the first draft of my FIRST FICTION NOVEL!! I'm a little excited.

The holidays hit, and then January sent Indiana into a whirlwind of horrible weather. Actually, that's what I kept hearing. What I felt like I was experiencing was an Indiana winter from my childhood...only a little colder than I remember. Seriously, I don't remember having that many days under 0 degrees F.

I've also done some thinking on my diet. I totally blew the Paleo thing over the holidays and never completely jumped back on the bandwagon, so to speak. While Paleo does give me a decent blueprint for dealing with some of my allergies, I have a hard time with the whole "no grain...EVER" thing.

I kinda miss rice.

And Kroger has some really good gluten free frozen waffles.

And Udi makes really good gluten free bread (better than I ever came up with, anyway), pizza crust, and blueberry muffins (though I was less than impressed with the cinammon rolls).

My doctor had said that I could incorporate gluten free grains back into my diet in small amounts...and preferably as whole grains. While I still don't eat a lot of grains...and most of my baking still only involves using almond and coconut flour...I just don't feel like I'm..."religious,"...or even dedicated enough to call myself Paleo or Primal.

But I am a totally a Hoosier (whether I like it or not). And I still love food!

And I've had some amazing food (non-Paleo) that I really want to talk about, and I want to do it guilt-free. Because I'm tired of feeling guilty about eating. And I'm tired of being labeled for what I eat.

Leaves Falling and Recipe Gathering

It's the Holiday Season...but not that one!

So I was walking into Costco a couple of weeks ago to pick up a couple of things, and I saw all the lovely Christmas decorations.

It was the BEGINNING of September. What???!!!!

Really, Christmas decorations being out before the middle of November, in my humble opinion, is a sin! Before my birthday is an abomination! (My birthday is at the end of September, in case you were wondering.) It's Autumn, people! We should be eagerly watching for the leaves to be falling from the trees, not looking for snow falling from the sky.

My brother doesn't even acknowledge Christmas decorations are in the store until the weekend after Thanksgiving. He will look at the shelves and comment, "Look at all those empty shelves. You would think the store would want to put merchandise on those shelves."

My brother cracks me up. Never a dull moment around that man.

But this does make me start thinking about that wonderful holiday tradition that everyone in my family loves...cookie baking season. I'm going to start hunting around for awesome Paleo/Primal cookie recipes. Keep coming back for more yummy ideas as I find and test them out.

Since it's currently Autumn, what are your favorite Fall recipes? Do any include cookies?

A Long Time Gone...But Now I'm Back

I dropped the ball. I'm sorry.

I admit it. I said I would post once a week, and then several weeks past with...nothing. I swear I didn't fall off the face of the world.

I got a contract job. And it ate my life.

And I wasn't prepared!

I should have had some posts back-logged, so I could just go in and post instead of needing to take the time to write one out (because time was something I didn't have).

My excuses are lame...I know. But it is what it is. And I'm back, ready to blog again...and backlogging like a mad woman!