As you may or may not have noticed, I’ve been a little absent lately due to a significant increase in my work schedule… Whether or not I continue doing daily blog posts, I’ll be steadily pinning all the inspirational design images I find on the internets if you’d like to follow me on Pinterest. I’ll keep posting updates on Facebook as well, so “like” that page for updates and interesting links. I haven’t had the chance to sit down and decide what my new blogging schedule/format is going to be but I’ll get to that soon!
In the meanwhile, the hubs and I are embarking on a new project for this, my favorite month: We are going gluten-free! Starting tomorrow, the next month of meals will be, as much as possible, free of wheat, barley, oats, rye and on the minimal side of processed. As neither of us suffer from Celiac disease, I’m not overly concerned if it turns out that some ingredient might have crossed the same threshold as a grain of wheat, but I am particularly interested in omitting the majority of processed foods.
I read an article in the New York Times saying that Americans eat 31% more packaged food than fresh food, and as a whole, we eat more packaged food per person than our counterparts in nearly all countries. We are also widely known to be the most obese country in the world. I wonder if any of this is connected…
Even if we’re non-Celiac sufferers, which apparently 1 in every 133 healthy American adults happens to be, the odds of anyone being sensitive to gluten are really high. Either way, the possible benefits of a gluten-free diet, as gleaned from the interwebs: Better digestion, deeper and more restful sleep, improved skin and energy levels, weight loss, and relief from gluten sensitivity-related issues. I think it’s worth a go, so I’ll chronicle the next few weeks and see how we do.
Which brings me to Gluten-Free on a Shoestring, the cookbook I’ve just purchased from Amazon, written by Nicole Hunn. 
She’s got a really great website and also post recipes and updates on her Facebook page. Getting any criticism out of the way I’ll say that there aren’t a ton of photos in the cookbook… but the easy recipes and tips for switching to a gluten-free diet plan totally make up for the lack of visual aid. I really like her emphasis on doing gluten-free on a budget, from tips on where to buy ingredients and sign-up for coupons to advice on how to “piggyback” meals and maximize any fresh produce. She also has a bonus feature on many of the recipes letting you know how much the recipe costs to make v.s. purchasing the pre-packaged version. It’s really an excellent purchase and I’m looking forward to the next month of experimentation.
So, before kicking off this gastronomic journey I think I’ll go for some Indian food today and satisfy my craving for delicious naan…
Design Sensibility 
You know, it really struck me how few processed foods we eat when I rummaged through the grocery ads last week. Not once did I look at a photograph of something boxed, canned, or jarred and say, “Thank god _____ is on sale! I love ______!!” I’ll succumb to Trader Joe’s frozen entrees, but that’s about it.
I am actually shocked at how little actual cooking I do!!! 🙂 We’ll see how this next month goes… by the way, the rumor is that Trader Joes is coming soon to Lexington!!! *gasp*
There is absolutely a correlation between processed foods and obesity. And I’ve been planning to go gluten-free for a couple of weeks now. Maybe I’ll start tomorrow.
I support you!!!