Something Simple. Something Complicated.

Food. For some, it's easy. For Sean and me, it's seemingly more complicated.

That is not to say we can't eat. God knows we can, and do.

Sean likes to joke that my body must hate life, and to be truthful there was a time when I agreed; almost anything and everything I could eat that your average person takes for granted today would cause me to be violently ill. That is because I am allergic to both gluten and dairy. Which might be easier if it weren't for how our society has chosen to prepare, package, and produce the common foods we eat.

So what does that mean? Because I am not the best expert, I will try to make this simple. Gluten is a protein within the endosperm of some grains that acts like a glue in most things we eat today. Which grains are those? Wheat, Barley, and Rye. However, it isn’t that simple. Wheat consists of a plethora of different types, and barley can be malted and added to make many different foods (not limited to just beer).

So what can I eat? A short list is rice, potatoes, quinoa, buckwheat, and corn. The tricky part is all of the different ways food scientists have been able to add gluten to seemingly innocuous every day items. Take for example soy sauce; the second ingredient is wheat. Or even dried fruit from the grocery store, it is dusted with flour to make it not stick together. There truly is an endless list.

Now, dairy. This one may seem easier; it is just milk and cheese, right? Unfortunately, No.  Food scientists have invented innovative ways to utilize every portion of milk. In doing so it has been added to just as many things as gluten, the easy ones are things like flavored chips or pasta sauces. However, some things bear a surprise, like soy cheese. That's right, soy cheese. Casein (a milk protein) is used as a texture enhancer.

So at this point, it could be said there is nothing simple about how Sean and I go about eating. However, we would argue the way we used to eat was complicated. This, this is simple. And this blog, and the passion behind it, is to make things simple. Simple, delicious, natural food. It just so happens everything you will see here is dairy and gluten free. I bet you wont even notice, we don't. Well, most of the time.