not a food blog

My intention for this blog when I started it was initially to practice my creative writing... then I decided more people in my life would be interested in updates on my diy craft projects. Well, it's been a busy busy summer and all my fun little projects got cast aside temporarily to make room for other things in my life I've been wanting to do like spend more time with Andrew (I know we live together, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to spend an entire Saturday in the same room and pay zero attention to each other), work out more, enjoy the sunshine, and that all good stuff. I haven't sewed in weeks, and worse, my fantastic chairs I started sanding have remained partially sanded and taking up room in my spare bedroom.

It seems the only creative thing I've had time for lately is cooking. Hey - a girl's gotta eat. I'm also conducting an interesting food experiment: going wheat-free. One of my college roommates suggested I try it, and I thought, what the heck? To be honest, I feel a lot better after a month of steering clear of wheat. The reason I know this is I had three bud lights last night at a comedy show. They were delicious, every one. Here's the kicker: I was crazy swollen and felt like garbage this morning... kinda like I used to feel every morning. It was an "ah-ha!" moment, if you will... and I will. Here's what I discovered:

Not pretty, eh?

But beyond that, maybe I should avoid wheat when I can. I've made a lot of delicious meals this past month (I even baked!) and didn't once feel like I was missing out. I do have some "don't be a pain in the a**" rules, though:

1. I promise to never ask the server at a restaurant, "is this gluten-free?" I won't die if I accidentally have wheat and my server is not my personal research assistant.
2. If I am invited to dinner at a friend's I will eat what is served and not say, "oh sorry - I have this thing..."
3. I will not buy gluten-free bread. There is a reason it's hard to find: no one wants to eat it; it wasn't meant to be.

This brings me to the bowl of soup you see pictured above. It's SO DELICIOUS! I took the recipe from Deb at Smitten Kitchen, and replaced ham with bacon (of course). She suggested to serve it with a salad and bread, but I did cucumbers as a side - cool, crisp, and refreshing - and that was just perfect. The other thing this soup is great for is drizzling on breakfast tacos. Two corn tortillas, a scrabled egg, and a little dab of this soup is my new fave breakfast (RIP english muffin half... you are made of wheat and I will miss you very much). Please try this soup. You'll be glad you did!