Running an Etsy Shop while Dealing with a Chronic Illness

When I started my Etsy shop I never wanted to become famous or even so popular that I would need to hire employees.  And I haven't.  This post is not about my Etsy story; it is about how my celiac disease has affected the way I run my Etsy shop.  Most of you who are regular readers here know that I was diagnosed with celiac disease 3 years ago.  Celiac disease is a chronic illness and it's an autoimmune disease.  I haven't had enough energy to work a "real job" since September 2015, and I've accidentally ingested gluten twice in the past two months.  For me that means not being able to keep most food down, insomnia, sleeping for 12+ hours when I do sleep, brain fog, and constant fever, among other symptoms.  To really complicate things I haven't been able to walk since the beginning of September 2016, probably due to gluten ataxia.  All of these things combined mean that I'm really tired all of the time and my muscles are very sore as well.  Luckily for me I rarely get more than two orders a month and I always manage to fill and ship them on time.  Sometimes I send my fiancee to the post office if I can't do it but I always stick to my commitments.  If you also have a chronic/invisible illness I have some tips that might help you run your Etsy shop with less stress.

1. When you set your shipping windows make sure you give yourself enough time to definitely get it done.  You never want to ship orders late (and if you ever do have to ship late make sure you let the customer know why!)  I used to have mine set to ship in 1-3 business days but last year I switched it to ship in 3-5 business days.  That time works for me because it gives me a full week to pack and ship orders.  I can space it out through that week if I'm sick and not get stressed about missing the deadline.

2. Don't do custom made-to-order items.  I only sell ready-to-ship products.  I added a custom made-to-order item which was a $7 beaded dragonfly suncatcher during the Summer and I sold so many!  People were ordering as many as 6 to 12 suncatchers in each order.  Then I had to make each one according to their custom choices and I was struggling to get them all done and packed in time.  It really stressed me out and I removed them from my shop.

Add either custom or made-to-order items to your shop but once again make the shipping time longer than you think you will need to fulfill the order.  Keep in mind that sometimes you will have multiple orders to make at the same time.  If you do ever have more orders than you can fill in a time frame communicate it to the customers who have ordered from you.  If they aren't willing to wait longer they can cancel their order and if they're willing to wait the extra stress is off of you.

3. If your shop starts getting more sales than you can handle, increase your shipping times.  People tend to buy less often when shipping times are longer but it should help you get through all of those orders without getting completely overwhelmed.

4. If you ever get too sick to be able to fulfill any orders turn on vacation mode until you feel better.

5. This is one that I haven't done yet but super need to: come up with a low-price item that's super quick and easy to make and make them in a variety of colors and designs.  That way you'll get at least a little bit of money from the low-price items in between sales of higher priced items in your shop.

So that's obviously not an all-inclusive list but these are things that really help me.  Clearly my biggest Etsy stress is shipping, so I tried to make it as stress-free as possible for myself.  If you have any questions about running an Etsy shop with a chronic illness ask me in the comments and I'll try my best to answer.

Makeup Monday: Brija Cosmetics

After I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2013 it was overwhelming enough just to figure out what foods I could eat, so I didn't even bother with makeup.  I just stopped wearing makeup completely.  Now that I can't walk again I am even more exhausted than ever and I got tired of just seeing a sick person when I looked in the mirror, so I started looking into gluten free makeup.  I ordered a few samples and I'll be talking about what I like and I what I don't in these Monday posts.

I discovered Brija Cosmetics after looking for vloggers with celiac disease on Youtube.  I discovered Brianna, a great lifestyle vlogger, and immediately subscribed.  She introduced me to the huge range of affordable gluten-free products available on Vitacost.com and I am so grateful, so of course I looked into her line of completely gluten-free beauty products, Brija Cosmetics.  My first order was for the Blogger Pack because I would get four surprise samples and one full size eye shadow of my choice, and I love surprises!  I picked the full size Lace Dresses eye shadow because I love the color and the name.  It's such a pretty color!  I also received three eye shadow samples and a highlight sample.

Please excuse the blurry photo.  I am wearing Brija Cosmetics eye shadow and highlight in this photo but the glasses glare makes it hard to see the eye shadow.  I also did a more natural and subtle eye look.

I learned how to do swatches!  From top to bottom these are: Consulting Detective eyeshadow, You Only Have to Do It Once eyeshadow, 90s Kid eyeshadow, ESPN highlight, and Lace Dresses eyeshadow.

Another blurry photo but it is not easy to take a photo of your eye!  I just used Lace Dresses eyeshadow for this look.

I love all of these products!  I will absolutely be purchasing more products from Brija Cosmetics.  The products are all really pigmented.  I only used the little bits of powdery residue on the baggies from the samples for the swatches and seriously just look at them!  These eyeshadows are going to last a really long time.  They're super affordable at just $5.50 for a 5g jar, and they're made of only natural ingredients.  The color really packs a punch and it stays on wonderfully all day long.  (I don't even use eye primer and it still stays perfectly.)  The highlight is really pretty and looks great on.  It really brightens up the corner of eyes and makes me look more awake and lively.  I love these products and highly recommend them for anyone who has celiac disease or just likes natural or affordable makeup.

The Brija Cosmetics products on my wishlist include: the upcoming glitter collection (all of the glitters are named after stones/minerals and the glitter is amazing! Like the I would buy all 19 colors if I had the money kind of amazing.),Can I Keep You? eyeshadow, the Gilmore Girls matte eyeshadow collection, and the Poise Cream Blush.

I also super love that most of the products have nerdy pop culture inspired names.  That just makes me love them even more.  She also has a monthly subscription box that I want to try.  So the final verdict is that you should definitely try Brija Cosmetics.  It's so incredibly affordable and really great quality all-natural makeup.

My Mental and Physical Health

I was thinking about stopping blogging but instead I think I'd like to switch the focus to being more about jewelry making and Etsy stuff and less personal life.  That being said this post will be about my personal life because I need to ... vent isn't really the right word, just process what I'm dealing with, I guess.

If you haven't been here from the beginning you might not know about me not being able to walk for nine months for no apparent reason when I was in college and then ultimately having to do a hardship withdrawal from school after having daily seizures.  This post tells about that.  Since that time I was diagnosed with celiac disease and stopped eating gluten.  I still get sick from time to time, most recently September through December of last year.  Even after being able to hold down food again my energy level never returned to normal.  I am exhausted constantly, sleeping a minimum of 12 hours a night and still waking up tired.  Because of this I had to quit my retail job and the last day I worked was in August last year before I got sick.  I applied for disability but I was denied because "there is a cure for celiac disease" (there's not) and I won't be unable to work for over a year (It's been a year this month.)  I was trying to find a place to move with Jordan closer to my parents because I am super tired of not having our own bathroom and kitchen.  We live in sort of a boarding house and there is one shared kitchen and five shared bathrooms for 30+ people.  The kitchen is on the first floor and our room is in the basement so I haven't had enough energy to go up there and cook since before I got sick in September.  Anyway we couldn't find a place in our budget in the small town and then I got glutened so we had to renew our lease here.  For the first three days since accidentally ingesting gluten I had my normal symptoms of not being able to keep food or water down, low fever, and a seizure.  The next day my stomach was actually feeling mostly better but by the end of the day I stopped being able to walk.  This is the first time I've been unable to walk again since 2011 and it is incredibly frustrating.  Jordan bought me crutches and a wheelchair on Amazon (Prime is a lifesaver) so I can get around our room and get to the bathroom by myself.  Our house is full of stairs.  To get out of our room and to the bathroom I have to go up two stairs.  I can use the crutches to skip the first step because the second step has a lip on it that trips me if I do both steps.  It is very frightening and dangerous and that's what I have to do every time I have to go the bathroom.  Even worse is that I can't leave the house, which is kind of ironic since when I could walk I left the house as little as possible.  I am going to have to get groceries very soon and eventually I'll have doctor appointments to go to and I don't know how to go outside right now.  There are between 6-8 concrete steps out the back door (never counted to be honest) and I don't have enough upper body strength to get up them with my crutches.  Jordan has been sick recently and can't carry me up that many stairs.  I also can't send him with a grocery list for me because Safeway stopped selling all of my main staple foods and I'm currently unable to cook, so I would have to go myself.  I would order groceries through Amazon but I have food stamps and very little money in savings, which I don't want to have to spend unless necessary.

This is all very stressful.  I have anxiety and depression and when I get glutened my anxiety and depression go into hyperdrive so I either sleep all day, have trouble falling asleep because my brain won't stop being anxious, or don't want to sleep at all despite being exhausted because the fever dreams have been horrible.  To make matters even worse I'm nearly out of Prozac and haven't managed to be awake during the day to call in the refill.  So I'm just trying to keep my mind occupied for the most part with Netflix, Youtube, or Etsy.

This post is more for myself than anything.  I kind of just needed to get my frustrations out.  So thanks for reading, if you did, and I hope that you are able to enjoy the outdoors and life's everyday wonders.  I'm still remaining mostly optimistic and have definitely kept my sense of humor.  I just hope I can walk again in less than nine months.

Me Lately

Lately I’ve only had enough energy each day to either get dressed or do one small productive thing (sweep the floor or clean a little bit) and feed myself (microwave potato or hamburger patty), and that’s it.  I am so frustrated with being sick and so tired of not being able to get anything done.  I have left the house exactly once since September 1st and that was for a doctor’s appointment.  Currently I don’t even have enough energy to schedule doctors appointments, let alone attend them.

The only bright side is that I have had plenty of time to watch Netflix.  I just finished American Horror Story Freak Show, Hemlock Grove, and iZombie, and I've finally started watching X Files.

I've taken an indefinite leave of absence from work until I find out if my health can improve.  The doctors think I might have something other than celiac disease.  So that's where I'm at now.  It's pretty frustrating.  Don't expect me to post on hear much for awhile.

Love with Food Gluten Free Box Review #1

I have been comparison shopping for gluten-free subscription boxes for awhile now.  I just happened upon the Love with Food Gluten-Free Box when I saw an ad for it on Facebook.  It looked like a good value and a lot of food, including snacks, which was important to me.  They also donate a meal to a food bank with every box sold.  I really appreciate that since I grew up poor and most of our food came from my mom's garden or the food bank.

I got my first box last month and the theme was Fiesta Fiesta.  It contained so much food, all from brands I had never heard of.  The food is all natural and healthy.  I loved most of it enough that I would definitely seek out the brands in stores (or just buy more for a discounted price from the Love with Food website).  Let's see what I got!

Here's the whole haul, aside from the product booklet and coupons.

I am bad at selfies but this popsicle was soooooo good.

tamale pie with sour cream and sliced avocado

My favorites were the tamale pie, the Smooze frozen treat, and the Beanfield's chips.  The tamale pie was easy to make and Jordan and I both loved it so much that we polished off the whole pan between the two of us in one night.  The Smooze frozen treat was like a grown-up version of those popsicles we would sometimes get with school lunches as a child.  It was guava coconut flavored and so refreshing and tasty.  I want a whole pack!  I also want an entire case of Beanfield's chips.  The pico de gallo flavor was so good and went perfectly with the bean flavor of the chips.  I gobbled them up way too fast and wished I had more!

My least favorites were the honey and the sweet salt.  The honey would have probably been better if I had used it in something instead of eating it straight up.  It was good enough but I wouldn't buy it.  I'm pretty sure I just haven't used the sweet salt on the right thing yet, maybe porkchops or chicken?  It's spicy, sweet, and salty.

Overall I was over the moon about my first Love with Food box.  My second one just shipped and I can hardly wait for it to arrive!

You can try the Love with Food Gluten-Free Box for $5.99 (50% off) or the glutenous Tasting Box for $12.49 (40% off).

This post contains affiliate links but I am truly 100% in love with the Love with Food box and want you to try it too!

How to Get People to Take Your Celiac Disease Seriously

AKA a ranty-rant of a post at 2 in the morning because I've been sick since Thursday

When you have celiac disease and you go to a restaurant that is not completely gluten-free, you'll probably have a conversation that's something like this (at least this is how the conversation sounds in my head):

you: Is the (whatever food) gluten-free?
Waiter: I think so.
you: I need to know if it is though because I have celiac disease so I can't eat gluten.
Waiter:  Would you die if you ate gluten?
you: Yes I would literally die if I ate gluten. (Because literally means figuratively now and don't even get me started on that!)
Waiter (if they are the sort of person who doesn't want to be responsible for a dead body being in the restaurant): Maybe you should eat at a different restaurant instead.

This is literally (almost) a conversation I had at a restaurant about six months after being diagnosed with celiac disease.  My friends took me there because they had gluten-free sandwiches!  After a lot of interrogation I learned that the gluten-free bread for the sandwiches is put on the same grill as the gluten bread, causing cross-contamination.  It's not all bad though because I discovered an amazing gluten-free bakery a block away and may or may not have filled up on pastry samples and then bought a dozen more pastries to take with me.

My point (if I even have one) is that gluten is a tricky little thing.  My doctor had me do an allergy test earlier this month to make sure I was getting the proper nutrients on my gluten-free diet.  I was low on vitamin D and iron, so she gave me vitamins to take to bring my energy levels back to normal.  Everything was going along normally, except I was burping a lot more than normal during the first week, but whatever!  And then on Thursday none of my food stayed down, and I thought, "Here we go again".  Because one of the super fun things about celiac disease is that without a pill that doesn't exist yet to take in addition to a gluten-free diet, you're just going to get sick every so often.  Just because.  Cut to Tuesday and I have a realization.  The symptoms started when I started taking those vitamins.  And wouldn't you know it that since stopping the vitamins and not taking the ones I was supposed to take that night, my symptoms have improved.  I even managed to keep down a half a bowl of cereal today, and then later a bowl of soup!  So I'm pretty sure that the vitamins my doctor gave me to make me better have gluten in them, despite the fact that she knows I have celiac disease because she diagnosed me and we were discussing it right before that.

So I got a week off of work unexpectedly.  But it was not fun.  I spent it in various ways of being sick, Pinning delicious looking gluten free recipes because I couldn't keep food down but I was so HUNGRY, alternating with crying a lot, and sleeping for up to 18 hours a day.  So I was frustrated.  So I ranted.  And that is all.

Gluten-Free Food Review 2

It's been over a year since my last round-up and review of gluten-free foods I've discovered.  Here are some of my favorite finds.  There is one affiliate link in this post.  I have no affiliation with Safeway; that's just the store I usually shop at so most of these items are from there.  These are all items that I purchased myself.  If you are a brand and would like to send me a gluten-free item to review, feel free to contact me.

Muffins:

These muffins are so good!  They're moist and taste just like you would want a blueberry muffin to.  I got these at Safeway.  I'm not sure if this brand has shown up at Safeways nationwide, but it is in most Seattle Safeway locations.

Granola:

KIND is the best granola I have tried.  I don't buy granola very often, but every once in a while I'll buy some and use it sparingly on yogurt with fruit or jam. They also make really good (but expensive) granola bars.

This is the flavor of granola I got.  If you buy through this Amazon seller, you can subscribe to monthly delivery and save money.  I bought mine for about $6 in a grocery store (Metropolitan Market in Seattle), and this is $14.34 for a 3-pack, plus whatever for shipping.

Pizza:

I love Udi's three cheese pizza.  It's the best gluten-free pizza I've had, that I haven't had to make myself.  You can find it in the frozen pizza section of many stores, including Safeway.

Soup:

Progresso has a few gluten-free varieties.  Not all of their soups are gluten-free, so make sure you read the ingredients.  My favorite flavors are New England Clam Chowder, Chicken Corn Chowder, and Split Pea Soup.

Ice Cream:

I was delighted when I discovered that one of my favorite flavors of ice cream from before my diagnosis is gluten-free!  It's Haagen-Dazs White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, pictured above.  Other gluten-free flavors of ice cream that I love are Safeway brand Mint Chocolate Chip, Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia, and Ben and Jerry's Hazed and Confused Core (which has half chocolate ice cream, half hazelnut ice cream, and a chocolate-hazelnut core).  The Hazed and Confused is so good that I have only been able to buy it twice and every other time I've looked it's been sold out.

Bread:

I don't usually buy bread.  I usually just go without or use corn tortillas.  But sometimes I want a grilled cheese sandwich or a BLT, and when I do this is my go-to bread.

Chips and Crackers:

Juanita's tortilla chips are the best tasting and the cheapest gluten-free tortilla chips.  They are even the brand of choice of three of my non-gluten-free friends.  Nabisco started making Rice Thins crackers a few months ago, or at least they arrived locally a few months ago.  I love these crackers but I will eat an entire box in one sitting, which is fine when they're less than $3 a box.  White Cheddar is my favorite flavor, but they also come in Original, Sea Salt and Pepper, and Sweet Barbecue.

Many flavors of Lay's potato chips are also gluten-free, including Cheesy Garlic Bread and Cheddar Sour Cream.

Frozen Dinners:

I love EVOL brand frozen dinners.  They are a little bit expensive but worth it, in my opinion.  My favorite kind is the Fire-Grilled Steak.

So that's what I've found lately.  Is there anything gluten-free that you've loved and would recommend to me?  Tell me in the comments.

Gluten Free Finds: The Best Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix

My mom sent me a care package full of gluten-free baking mixes and other gluten-free foods.  One of the items in it was this pizza crust mix.  If you know anything about gluten-free food, you know that you need to enter into any new-to-you food situation with very low expectations.  I expected this pizza crust to be bland, weird-textured, and thin.  And I was pleasantly surprised to find it was just the opposite.  I can honestly say that this is the best pizza crust I've ever had.  Period.  And I'm including gluten crusts I've had in the past!  This beats any restaurant, delivery, or frozen pizza crust I've ever had.

This is the box for the pizza mix.  It's King Arthur Flour brand, which I've never heard of before.  I can't find this exact one, but on their website I found a gluten-free bread and pizza mix, which might be the same thing.  It's gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free.  It makes two crusts or one giant crust, and I went for the one giant crust.  The crust takes about five minutes to mix up, then 1 hour to rise in 2 30-minute increments.  It's really easy to make and the instructions worked out perfectly for me.  After it rose for 30 minutes, it didn't really look like it rose at all and I was a little worried, but it turned out great.

This pizza crust turned out thick, golden brown, flaky, and delicious.  I topped it with alfredo sauce, five slices of bacon chopped up, baby bella mushrooms, artichoke hearts, three kinds of shredded cheese (mozzarella, Parmesan, and mild cheddar), avocado, and tomato.  I also added a secret spice blend.  I drizzled the whole thing with the bacon grease before popping it into the oven.  That's how you make a pizza extra good.

Here's a link to King Arthur Flour's other gluten-free mixes, which I'll definitely have to try in the future.  Tell your wallet I'm sorry.

Gluten-free Granola Bars

I love to carry granola bars in my purse so I have something to eat in case I'm not around a store or just have to eat on the run.  However gluten-free granola bars are expensive!  So after buying them for awhile I decided to make my own.  This recipe seemed really easy (the same difficulty level as rice krispy treats), so I decided to try it out.  I didn't have all of the ingredients but I did have stuff that would work, so I improvised, and they turned out amazing!  I gave some to eight different friends, none of whom have to eat gluten-free, and they all loved them.  Their comments included telling me I should sell these and asking me if I would make more of them tomorrow.

What I used this time was: 2 cups gluten-free certified oatmeal, 2 cups of Honey Nut Chex (crushed up), diced pecans, a handful of craisins, 1 cup of chocolate chips, 3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter, and 1 cup of maple syrup (highly recommended!).

This recipe didn't make nearly as much as I thought it would!  Next time I will definitely double the recipe.  They don't really taste like granola bars.  They taste more like no-bake cookies (which is not a bad thing in my book!)  Next time I want to make some with more craisins, white chocolate chips instead of chocolate chips, coconut, almonds, and honey and corn syrup, because I don't want them to taste peanut buttery.

These were super easy to make.  They were done in ten minutes, aside from setting up.  I will definitely keep making variations of them instead of buying expensive granola bars.  The ingredients are way cheaper and last for more than one use.  I definitely recommend this recipe, especially for kids who have to eat gluten-free.  They can even help make it!  And it's really easy to customize to your own tastes and dietary needs.  Let me know if you make these and what you used in yours!

More photos:

Gluten Free Cough Medicine

If you have celiac disease, you probably know that gluten is in a ton of medicine.  When I had the flu last month, I went into the pharmacy at one of my local drugstores and asked the pharmacist if any of the cough medicine was gluten free.  She said no and I left feeling sick and disappointed.  Because while I hate taking cough medicine, I hate being sick for two weeks straight because I can't take cough medicine even worse.  After a week of misery, my boss emailed me about a new gluten-free cough medicine she discovered and told me I should try it.  So I found a store near me that carried it and bought some.  It did the trick and knocked my flu out most of the way the day before I was leaving to visit my parents.

Now one month later, I have a cold and I'm taking this medicine again.  And let me tell you, it tastes disgusting.  It's got that nasty menthol flavor mixed with honey, but does not taste like honey.  I visited the Dayquil site again and discovered that now they make cold and flu relief caplets that are gluten free, so when I run out of cough syrup, I will definitely be picking those up.  The way that I take the cough syrup is plug my nose, toss it back, and then eat an entire packet of fruit snacks that I have open and ready to eat and then I unplug my nose.  It tastes that bad, but it does its job.

It's probably obvious that I wasn't paid to write this, but just in case here's that sentence:  I bought this product with my own money and my opinion is my own.  I was not compensated in any way for this post.  I just think more people should know that there is gluten free cold and flu medicine available now, and you don't have to just suffer through it.

Aside from the medicine I have been drinking massive amounts of tea to soothe my sore throat and getting a ton of sleep (14 hours last night).

What I Did this Weekend

This weekend I went to G's and cooked a lot of yummy food.  Since being diagnosed with celiac disease, I have gotten a lot more confident in my cooking skills, since I have to cook a lot more or become a bunny rabbit and just eat fresh fruits and veggies.  I successfully (and by successfully, I mean G loved it too and said it was restaurant-worthy) cooked corn pasta and hot dogs with veggies, chicken wraps on corn tortillas (gluten-free but not as expensive as fancy gluten-free tortillas), and omelets with the leftover chicken, green peppers, onion, and mushrooms.

I watched two football games and three movies.  The University of Washington Huskies won and didn't get scored on once!  And the Seattle Seahawks won too.  I got a new Seahawks shirt from the men's section at the mall.  They had women's ones but none of them had the player's names or numbers on them.  I got a Russell Wilson shirt.  I wanted Marshawn Lynch, but they were all sold out except for size XL.  We watched the Seahawks game at Roosevelt Ale House, which is a truly amazing bar because it serves delicious gluten-free food.  So far I've had a delicious breakfast sandwich there, a good burger, and amazing and ginormous nachos.  All of the food I've tried there has been really good, but I don't think I would order the burger again.  For burgers, my go-to restaurant is Blue Moon Burgers.  They are good burgers period, not just good for being gluten-free.

We got some movies from Redbox: World War Z, Now You See Me, and Olympus Has Fallen.  Have you noticed how many movies have Morgan Freeman in them lately?!  I've seen three recently that had him: World War Z, Oblivion, and Olympus Has Fallen.  World War Z was pretty great, and not just because I love zombie movies.  I really enjoyed it and I especially liked the look of the zombies.  They didn't look like their flesh was rotting right after being bit.  They were also fast zombies, which I'm not a huge fan of.  I give it a 4 out of 5.  Now You See Me was really good.  It kept me guessing the whole time.  It had a really original story (as far as I know) and a good cast.  Plus Jesse Eisenberg was in it, but not as the goof-off guy who never grows up, which was refreshing from him.  I give it a 4 out of 5 as well.  Olympus Has Fallen was better than G or I thought it would be.  It was the one I thought I might not like, but it was actually okay.  It was very action-y with lots of shooting and politics, but the story was pretty good anyway.  I give it a 3 out of 5.

We also watched The Office and The League on Netflix, which are always favorites of mine.  All in all it was a good weekend.

And in other news, my boss told me today that she's looking for another person to help out at work, which is fantastic and will hopefully relieve a lot of my stress.

Gluten-Free Food Review 1

I have been eating a gluten-free diet since January when I found out that I have celiac disease.  I have found that gluten-free food is extremely hit-or-miss and also very expensive.  I thought it would helpful to other gluten-free people if I would share the products that I would highly recommend and the products that I would highly recommend you to avoid.

If you are gluten-free and you live in or near Seattle, there is this Fred Meyer that you have to go to.  It's in Lynnwood and the address is 4615 196th St SW Ste 175 Lynnwood, WA 98036.  There is a fantastic selection of gluten-free products located on the left side of the store.  I bought the pizza crusts in the above picture.  The brand is Kinnikinnick.  These are actually not expensive.  There are four personal-sized pizza crusts in a box.  They are frozen and you have to cook them in the oven.  I actually wanted to put mostly cold toppings on my pizza, so I cooked just the crust and added the toppings after removing it from the oven.  The crust is made of rice flour and it tastes just as good as a gluten pizza crust.  I have only made one of these so far, but it was really delicious.  I used Kraft brand Creamy Poppyseed dressing as sauce and bacon, avocado, tomato, and mozzarella as toppings.

I also bought some blueberry muffins by the same brand and they tasted just as good as muffins that have gluten.  I had previously tried Udi's brand blueberry muffins and they were ridiculously dry and I was not impressed.  Some people swear by the Udi's brand but I am not a fan.  I have also purchased the Udi's brand of granola and it is some of the least flavorful granola I have ever tasted.  It also doesn't agree with my stomach.  I would definitely recommend the Kinnikinnick muffins.  They are also located in the freezer case and you can just heat them up on a plate in the microwave for about a minute to thaw them before eating.

As far as granola, I'm still trying to find a really good kind.  I bought some by the Enjoy Life brand at Fred Meyer.  Their brand is really cool because they make sure not to have the 8 most common food ingredients in any of their food, which are wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts. egg, soy, fish, and shellfish.  The granola I got is really delicious, but it will probably break your teeth if you eat it by itself.  I have been letting it soak in soy milk to soften it up before I eat it.

As far as delivery pizza goes, if you live in the Seattle area, I highly recommend Garlic Jim's.  Their pizza crust is thin but very tasty and they have lots of gluten-free options for pizza toppings.  I always get the Hawaiian.  The gluten-free pizzas are only available in two sizes and do cost more than an ordinary pizza, but they are also delicious, and in my opinion, completely worth it.

The other brand that I highly recommend is Gluten Free Cafe.  Their canned soups are nothing special, but their frozen meals are delicious.  I especially like the Lemon Basil Chicken and the Fettuccine Alfredo, which uses rice noodles and I actually prefer it to any other fettuccine alfredo.

Last but not least is ice cream.  Sadly my three favorite flavors, Ben and Jerry's Dublin Mudslide, Ben and Jerry's Boston Cream Pie, and Ben and Jerry's Red Velvet Cake, all contain gluten.  But I have already discovered my new favorite.  It's called Safeway Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry and there's not gluten in it.  It has strawberry ice cream with real strawberry pieces and fudge swirl and it's delicious.

I hope that someone will find these recommendations helpful.  I think the worst part of accidentally wasting your money on disgusting or less-than-delicious food is that you (or at least I) feel bad just throwing it away, so I usually make myself eat it all so it's not a waste of money.

Why my Stomach Hates Me

I had another blood test, this time for gluten intolerance.  It came back positive.  I have celiac disease, which means that anytime I eat food with even a tiny bit of gluten in it, my immune system detects it as some sort of invader and attacks my small intestine.  So the reason that I have been so sick is that my body has been attacking itself.  It really doesn't help that the doctor had me on a diet of bland food and every single thing I was eating, other than the white rice, had gluten in it.  I have to never eat gluten again and after some amount of time, my small intestine will repair itself and I'll be able to eat more and more foods again.  At the moment I can handle hardly any dairy, no chocolate, no spicy foods, and the only fruit I can eat is bananas because they aren't at all acidic.

The small intestine normally has little fibery things in it called villi.  The best analogy I can find for it online is that a normal small intestine is kind of like a carpet inside.  The villi are what help you absorb the nutrients in food during digestion.  In a person with celiac disease, the inside of the small intestine are more like a tile floor, and all (or most) of the nutrients in food just slide through instead of being caught and absorbed.

Being gluten-free is tricky because there is gluten in almost everything.  Anything with breading or bread or most thickened sauces including gravy contain gluten.  I can no longer enjoy crepes, cream puffs, onion rings, chicken nuggets, or French toast, unless gluten free.  Despite G and I being broken up, we are still great friends and he is super supportive.  He doesn't grasp the fact that gluten is automatically in anything that contains flour and he's been all upset thinking that manufacturers just add this thing called gluten to food that doesn't need it.  I tried to explain but for some reason he doesn't get it.  It's weird because he's extremely intelligent.  He was all upset because last quarter he got a 3.99 GPA in his college classes instead of a 4.0.  Anyway he took me on my first gluten-free shopping trip and tried to help me find things I could eat.  He even searched the entire frozen food aisle for this one brand of gluten-free frozen dinners that I had found online called Glutino's.  They didn't end up having it.  He also found a little tiny section of the store that was all gluten-free food.  I found gluten free crackers, gluten free oatmeal (oats themselves are gluten free but one of the foods that is very likely to get cross-contaminated by being processed on the same equipment as wheat), gluten free rice cakes, and some gluten free Thaifood that I can't eat yet because it's too flavorful and delicious for my intestine to handle.  I actually ended up finding quite a bit of food that I can eat, and there will be way more once I can handle dairy and flavor and spice again.  The shopping trip took so long because I had to read through the ingredients on every single product and if there was wheat flour or maltodextrin that didn't specify what it was made from (not sure what it is but it can be made from wheat or corn or other things) or a single ingredient that I didn't recognize, I couldn't buy it.  Safeway brand products are really good about writing exactly which allergen causing ingredients are in them after the ingredients list, but most brands don't do that, so it's very time-consuming.

It's going to be a very long process.  Even some things that don't contain gluten or dairy or spiciness still make me sick, because my small intestine is messed up.  It's definitely been a learning experience and it's a real relief to finally know what is wrong and also not to have to have expensive tests that I can't afford.  My birthday is in 24 days, the big 21.  I won't be able to drink because alcohol is pretty harsh on even a normal body.  I won't be able to have cake (because gluten-free cakes are expensive) or ice cream (because dairy doesn't like me), but I am probably going to go home to spend at least my birthday weekend with my parents.  It will probably only be the weekend because otherwise I'd have to go on another gluten-free shopping trip and since they live in a very small town, I don't think that the grocery store, which is the next town over, would have many gluten-free foods.  It's a very small grocery store.  And also I want to be able to have a good time and not get all frustrated because they have hardly anything that I can eat.

So that's where I'm at now.  I'm still very very tired, sleeping as much as 12 hours a night.  I'm still having fevers, which I found out is caused by my immune system fighting all the time.  They should go away after a while.  I still haven't been able to go back to work and my Etsy shop has become stagnant.  I haven't made any sales lately, other than one sale before Christmas.  But at least now I know what I'm dealing with and that's most of the battle.  Oh yeah, there isn't any cure for celiac disease.  It's a lifelong condition.  Most adults who have it don't throw up when they eat gluten, but I do, so mine is pretty bad.  There are different levels of celiac disease too.  There aren't any medicines for celiac disease itself, but I am taking a medicine for the acid reflux that it causes me.  To make matters worse, gluten can also be in makeup and medicine, so I have to research every single food, medicine, and makeup before using it.  Also some food companies put gluten in things that it doesn't even need to be in.  For example, candy canes themselves are gluten free, but some manufacturers roll them in flour before packaging them.  This is what I'm dealing with, people.  It is not fun but thankfully there is a huge community of people who have been dealing with it for years and quite a few of my Twitter followers are gluten-free, so at least there are plenty of people I can ask for advice.