Three Year Blogiversary

(I know the picture above doesn’t have to do with food but daisies are my favorite flowers of all time) 

This month I’ll be celebrating my three-year blogiversary – June 27th to be exact. I have been trying to think about a great way to celebrate it and I think I’ve finally figured it out.  I’m going to do a giveaway!  This is not a giveaway sponsored by anyone or company in particular.  What I am planning to do is get a good-sized box and fill it with all different kinds of goodies: gluten-free treats, coupons, kitchen items etc.  Below you will see a list of what has been included in the box so far.  I’ll continue to add to the box as I find things I think you all might like.  There are going to be plenty of opportunities for all of you to enter so be sure to read them all and post a separate comment for each entry.

I started Creative Cooking Gluten Free as a way to release my frustrations in this new lifestyle.  I knew from the beginning that this wasn’t going to be a very easy transition for me.  I am Italian and French and lets just say we love our bread and pasta in my family.  I couldn’t imagine life with out the two but was determined to find amazing substitutions that were suitable for this new adventure in my life.  Over these past three years I have tried many different gluten-free items, many of which have been sent to me from the companies directly (which I am beyond thankful for and feel very fortunate to work with these companies).  However, in the beginning of this new lifestyle I tried so many different foods that made me want to cry – and not in a good way.  I couldn’t believe that people actually ate some of this food and thought it was good.  The bread was absolutely disgusting – looked and tasted like a brick (I won’t mention brand names).  So instead of giving up and eating what I wanted to eat I did research, read books, but most of all I found some pretty amazing gluten-free bloggers who gave me hope.  With out these lovely ladies I don’t know if the transition would have been as easy as it was.  It was such an amazing feeling and relief to see that there were others out there with Celiac Disease and their food looked amazingly delicious.  Almost too good to be true, but thankfully the look of their food and the taste were spot on.

I have been sick for most of my life.  I was diagnosed when I was younger with IBS and Lactose Intolerance, however I don’t know if I have either – I know for sure I am not Lactose Intolerant because I could eat all the dairy I want and be fine, it was everything I was eating with it that made me sick.  Since going gluten-free I have never felt better.  My Fibromyalgia also has improved greatly.  There used to be days where I couldn’t even get out of bed but I haven’t had one of those days in years – Wooo Hooo! (If you are someone who also has Fibromyalgia, you know how exciting that is). It was so nice to finally have an answer to all of my symptoms, even if it took them almost twenty years to figure it out.  I’m much happier and healthier now.  I don’t really miss gluten much.  Every once in a while I will crave a nice piece of Italian or French Bread but when Bryan buys a sandwich or something containing lots of gluten, I ask to smell it no, really I do and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  Thankfully he is used to it now and will even offer me a sniff.

The majority of the recipes you will find on this blog are recipes that I enjoyed before going gluten-free and adapted them to be gluten-free.  Some of my favorite recipes to adapt are my grandmother’s and the recipes found in Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine.  These recipes are simple, easy to find ingredients, and delicious.  I’m also a huge fan of Asian food so you will see plenty Asian inspired recipes on here with a handful of recipes that I adapted from P.F. Chang’s.

I will be the first to admit that I am not perfect and neither is this blog.  I have no problem talking about my mistakes and failures on here.  As I mentioned, this was first started to release my frustrations and track my progress and in three years it has turned into what it is.  Creative Cooking Gluten Free is a forever changing blog and it will continue to evolve over the coming years especially when I begin my culinary labs.

If you weren’t aware already, in March I enrolled in my dream college to pursue my dream of being a chef.  My goal is to complete my degree in Culinary Nutrition and become a Registered Dietitian – and to do this whole program as gluten-free as I possibly can.  Thankfully the Chefs that Johnson & Wales University are very accommodating.  So please stay tuned to more of my adventures.

Here are a few of my favorite recipes/posts over the last three years:

• Sweet and Spicy Chicken
• Balsamic Steak
• Garlic Basil Shrimp
• Beef a La Sichuan 
• Garlic Green Beans
• Tomato and Goat Cheese Salad with Basil Vinaigrette 
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Apple Crisp
• Bacon Cheddar Scones
• Granola 

I would like to thank my inspirations and all of my readers and followers.  Without all of you this blog truly wouldn’t be what it is today.  I can’t thank you enough for all of your support, kind words, encouragement, and wisdom.

To thank YOU I am doing a giveaway! As I said, there are plenty of ways to enter and this list will continue to grow as I find different items to add, but for now here is a list of the items to be included in the box (even if you don’t like/or can’t use everything enclosed in the box you can share with a friend!):

• 1 Package (22oz) of Bob’s Red Mill All Purposed Baking Flour
• 1 Package (21oz) Bob’s Red Mill Brownie Mix
• 1 Bag of Mini Pops (3oz)
• 1 Cute little cupcake holder
• 1 Set of 2010 Chef Series Recipes from POM Wonderful
• 2 POM Wonderful Rubber Bracelets
• 1 Carton (12oz) Pacific Natural Foods Organic Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup
• 1 Carton (12oz) Pacific Natural Foods Organic Cream of Celery Condensed Soup
• 1 Carton (12oz) Pacific Natural Foods Organic Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup
• 1 Small Bamboo Cutting Board
• Coupons: Thai Kitchen (1-free item), Coffee House Breve Creme (1-$.55), Breakstone’s Sour Cream Dip (3 – $1.000), Breakstone’s Sourcream Zesty Blends (3 – $1.00), World Harbors (1 -$1.00), Tribe Hummus (1- $1.00)
• 1 POM Wonderful Apron
• 2 Small Flex Cutting Boards
• 1 Reusable Tote/Grocery Bag from FoodieBlogroll.com
• 1 Box (6.3 oz) of Enjoy Life Food’s Crunchy Sugar Crisp Cookies
• 1 Bottle *16.9 Fl oz) of “Pre-Brus Whitening Mouth Rince” from the Natural Dentist
• 1 Tube (5 oz) of “Healthy Teeth and Gums, Anticavity Toothpaste” from the Natural Dentist
• 1 Tube (5 oz) of “Healthy Teeth and Gums, Whitening Toothpaste” from the Natural Dentist
• 1 Box (10oz) Lundberg Plain Roasted Brown Rice Couscous
• 1 box (10oz) Lundberg Mediterranean Curry Roasted Brown Rice Couscous
• 1 Package of “No Pan Required” Cupcake Liners (Brown and Teal)
• 1 Box (12oz) Kellogg’s Gluten-Free Rice Krispy Cereal
  

Ways to enter:

**Please be sure to leave a comment for EACH entry – and if you already do one of these please leave a comment below saying so – Thank you!!

Mandatory Entry:

Leave a comment below saying what you would like to see more of on Creative Cooking Gluten Free

Optional Entries:

Subscribe to Creative Cooking Gluten Free

“Like” Creative Cooking Gluten Free on Facebook

“Follow” Creatively_GF on Twitter

Leave a daily entry saying “Daily Entry” and then the date

Tweet about this giveaway and be sure to include @Creatively_GF and #3Blogiversary

Mention either on your blog or on Facebook (and be sure to link back to this post)

The giveaway will run until Thursday June 30th at 11:59 pm (EST).  The giveaway is open to US Residents (continental) only.  One winner will be chosen and will have 48 hours after they receive an e-mail notification from me to respond with their shipping details.  If the original winner does not respond within the allotted time another winner will be chosen.  I use Random.Org to pick winners of any and all giveaways on this blog.  

Thank you all for an awesome three years- you are all awesome!  It has been a huge learning curve but I wouldn’t really change much about it.  I’m looking forward to many more years to come and plenty more recipes, reviews, restaurants, and more to share with you.

Good Luck!