HashiGlutenFreeLife

For me, being near the ocean is an instant de-stressor. Since I'm still trying out a few new supplements for a future post, I decided to write this week about a pretty common and reoccurring feeling: stress. I feel like a bit of a hypocrite writing a whole post about being stressed since it seems to be my typical response to "How are you?" Full disclosure: Writing to the world about stress actually made me feel a bit stressed. Again, I'm not a licensed health professional of any sort, I'm just writing what I know and what I'm still learning in the hopes that it might help others. I'll honestly probably end up consulting my own post when I'm having a tough day in the future. As a teacher with a very packed schedule, it was intimidating for me to learn how to take time off for myself, especially when I needed it. Even summer vacation can feel like a curse when you have too much free time after having relatively no free time. Plus, Hashimotos dis...

I couldn't end this EuroTrip2k17 Gluten Free Food Travel Series (I know, the title is unbelievably long, but it's accurate!) without a post discussing another important travel staple: snacks and drinks. Obviously an essential part of any vacation is packing or purchasing munchable goodies, but in Europe, you are surrounded by cultural delicacies that can be intimidating to pick up and enjoy if you have a food allergy. Snacks Various Potato Chips Let's start with my good ol' (usually) gluten free standby: potato chips. Chips have been and will always be my Kryptonite. I don't usually buy them unless I KNOW I'm hanging out with at least one other person because I'll finish a bag solo in one sitting. However, traveling is another story. When you are in a foreign country and can't find ANYTHING on the go that looks safe to eat, why not just grab a bag of chips where the major ingredients are potato, oil and salt? I had to do this a few times on our ...

This wouldn't be a worthwhile EuroTrip Gluten Free Food blog series if I wasn't specific about the incredible places where I went to eat, now would it? Don't worry, I didn't forget! I'm sharing some of my standout restaurant experiences below! Nando's  in London, England Now I always wanted to go to  Nando's  after hearing about the whole "cheeky  Nando's " Internet joke (which I still don't understand) and because I read about their South African/Portuguese style chicken with a variety of flavorful sauces; some of which are gluten free! This half Portuguese girl loves her spicy food, so it was an absolute must on my travel list. Let me tell you, in the three days we spent touring London, we ended up in  Nando's   TWICE . My God, this food is good! The waiters were more than happy to bring out an allergen binder (which is also available online!) and make meal recommendations. I ultimately went with chicken thighs with medium sa...

My first time traveling to Europe was in 2013 when I didn't have any food allergies...at least none that I knew of yet. Now that I'm eating with restrictions, I look back fondly on that first trip, remembering it as a nonstop smorgasbord of trying tons of new foods knowing that I might not find them back home in America. I still believe this is exactly the right mindset for how everyone should vacation, no matter what you can or cannot eat. Even though you think you might have to eat "safe" with an allergy, it doesn't mean that you can't eat savory! You should go and eat all the gluten free culinary culture that the country, town or city has to offer! #allthefood This year, my husband and I embarked on an epic thirteen day Eurotrip where we took just about every form of transportation to travel to an awesome array of amazing locations: London, England Amsterdam, Netherlands, Rhine Valley, Germany Munich, Germany Venice, Italy Rome, Italy...

Hi, Internet! My name is Kim and like the millions of other people online, I decided to create a blog. What am I contributing to the trillions of pieces of web content already on the interweb? Maybe not a lot, but possibly something important. There's no way to know unless I try this out for myself. My best friend has been urging me to create this blog for almost two years and finally reached her breaking point. Yesterday afternoon, over a lovely lunch at a gluten free bakery, she looked me straight in the eye and said that it was time for me to "Pay it forward to someone who is sh*tting their brains out and vomiting constantly." Despite her colorful choice of words, she has a point. For the last eight years, I've spent countless hours Googling everything under the sun about my health issues and I've been through a TON of trials and tribulations. I'm slowly figuring out some things that work for me through the help of doctors, family, friends and Internet...