jenngolightly

I think you have hit on the right points. I have a password and a screen saver, but people still come up and shake the mouse or tap on the keys. I really like the idea of making the space personal. That may work to differentiate my desk from the public ones.

So it's super stormy outside right now and I'm all alone in the house. It's lightening in the neighborhood so I'm too afraid to go to bed. I've unplugged all the electronics and am using my laptop on its battery. Need something to distract me until the lightening hits my house and it goes up in flames. Seriously, I have my shoes on and my bag next to the door. Now my question. I work for a university and my department is pretty small - around 12 people. The building we used to work in is under construction and we've just moved to a very tiny (um... cozy) location where we are working in close-quarters. I used to have my own office, but now I share one office with 5 other people. The person next to me has to get up and move when I need to leave my desk. That's pretty small. The other change is that this area is also open for faculty who need to come in and do something quickly using one of the "public" computers (that look the same as mine). So I've left my nice, big office for a tiny corner with gluten eaters and gluten/corn/nut carriers. I can handle my colleagues. They're great. The hard part is handling all the traffic that comes and goes. People assume that if you are in an open area, the computer can be touched. In a private office, a computer "belongs" to the person and people keep their hands off. I've tried putting a sticky on the monitor. "Highly Allergic! Wash hands before using this computer." I was sitting at my desk and some guy comes up and pushes me to the side and starts typing away. RUDE! And he didn't see (or didn't obey) my note. BTW he was installing the printer. What's happening when I'm not there? My colleagues say that people won't just sit down and start using my computer, but I'm not so sure. Maybe they'll be installing something, you know? My son says to put an "out of order" sign on the monitor. Clever. What to do? Storm is passing. House is not on fire. Gotta celebrate the small stuff.

I ditto on the the physical improvements, but I was talking to a person at work today and I realized that since my Celiac diagnosis I have totally re-prioritized my life. I finally get to put "me" first. I know a lot of moms have that problem, and it took me many years to figure out how to do it without feeling guilty or whatever. But now I put my health, happiness, and family ahead of my career. I used to want to be the "boss" - but now I'm comfortable in my job and know that what I do outside of my work day is what makes me be the best I can be. I'm much healthier now, but I'm oh-so-much happier than before because I spend more time getting to know who I am (besides what I do for work), and I get to enjoy my kids without worrying that I'm not at work. I also like my job. I'm fulfilled. So how do I spend those extra hours that I used to spend at work? Well, I've learned to cook a little. And the kids help out sometimes, so it's a great chance to spend some time being healthy and getting to spend some time with them - hard to find that time now that they're teens.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2010/06/01/what-do-readers-say-about-our-gluten-free-pizza-crust-%E2%80%9Camazing%E2%80%9D/ I made this last weekend and it was really crispy! Baked crust first, then added toppings. I was worried because they said to cook on 425 on lowest rack, but it didn't burn at all. They say that olive oil makes it crispy. It was so good! I hope the recipe helps, but mostly you can just read what they say about how to make the crust crispy. I used a Teflon pizza pan and made a thin crust as directed. Can't wait to try it again.

...Yet...

You can almost always sub honey for sugar. The taste will be different, but you will get used to it. I prefer the taste now and almost always substitute with honey. There are different kinds of honey. I do not like clover honey.

The first time I made them, they crumbled. I think it was because I melted the butter. Now I add room temperature butter - and maybe a little extra until the batter becomes creamy - like regular cookie batter. If the batter is crumbly, the cookies are crumbly. But don't add too much, because you have to roll them into balls. The balls should stick together, not crumble and not fall out of shape. We love them. Easy to make and quickly disappear. Remember, for all cookies, if you want them soft for the next day, cook them until the edges are brown, but the bottoms shouldn't be too brown. Just between undercooked and perfectly crisp - otherwise, you'll have crusty, crumbly 2 day old cookies.

I never ate healthy either! We ate things out of boxes (hamburger helper), or frozen foods, or take out. I was an extremely picky eater. And I almost never cooked anything from scratch. But you change because you HAVE to change. Now it's been almost 4 years and I have more kitchen appliances and gadgets than anyone else I know. I love my kitchen. I love trying new foods from the produce section. I love seeing recipes here and on other forums and testing them on the kids. It'll happen for you, too. It may be slow and creep up on you (it did for me), but it will happen. You may not accumulate all of the gadgets and adapt to every new food, but you'll become self-sustaining and learn to cook. It. Will. Happen.

Corn starch was one of the ingredients that made me realize that I was corn-intolerant. When I ate something made with it I got really sick - just like you.

I did the SCD diet for a year, that's how I kept from corning myself. Now that I'm eating "real" food again, I'm having a difficult time learning what ingredients mean "corn." I know the keywords for gluten, but corn is another story. I just haven't had the time to learn them yet. I'm sure this won't be the last time I accidentally corn myself, but it was a stupid mistake and I'm hoping I don't do it every few weeks like you! I learned from the SCD diet to cook all of my own foods, so I doubt that I'll get sick very often. It's just those goodies that tempt me and have a high likelihood of containing corn that will be my downfall. Candy. I'll have to learn how to make my own I guess.

Of course! It's just so easy to get carried away. Plus, I'm usually a good sport. :-)

Endangered Species is very good.

I had this for years and years. It still bothered me even after I went gluten-free. However, it FINALLY cleared up when I went on an elimination diet and found I was allergic to tree-nuts and intolerant to corn. After removing these from my diet, the symptom cleared up. I totally feel for your misery. I hope you feel better soon. Maybe you are intolerant to something else and can find what it is with an elimination diet? Is it constant? Have you kept a food diary?

Psoriasis sucks. Try to get your skin out in the sun if you can. Sunshine helps. I get skin problems when I eat food that I'm allergic to. Namely, nuts. Also, when I am around cleaning supplies because I have super-sensitive skin. This has some benefits. The kids have to do all the cleaning. If you haven't been around an allergen and you really think it's something you've eaten, then I think you're on the right track with your elimination diet. I had to cut out corn last year and it's really, really hard. Corn is in so many foods. My pantry is almost bare because most processed foods have corn in them. I was going to make home-made chili yesterday for the first time and I was looking for a can of kidney beans. Do you know that there are almost NO brands of plain kidney beans that don't have corn in them? That's just for beans. Not chili. Just beans. I finally found one, but that's after getting really frustrated. You have to read the ingredients on EVERYTHING. Beans is not beans. Since you're working so many hours, you'll need to dedicate a day each week to cooking and freezing your food for the week. That way you won't cheat. If you want a structured diet, you can try either the GAPS or SCD. I did the SCD diet for a year and found the foods that were bad for me and gave my tummy time to heal. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It was also one of the best thing I've ever done for myself. Don't do it unless you have a lot of perseverance and a great support system. Good luck!

My food allergy was missed by my gastro and immunologist. It took my elimination diet (Specific Carb Diet) and a dermatologist to figure out that I was allergic to tree nuts. Originally, I was having problems getting better on a gluten-free diet. My gastro sent me to an immunologist who did allergy testing via prick tests and blood tests, but I had weird results when I didn't react to any of the pricks, including the histamine "control." It has something to do with antibody deficiency... so I still don't know everything that I'm allergic to (if any). But those pricks only tell you what you're allergic to, not intolerant or sensitive to. Through the diet I was able to see that when I added nuts into my diet I broke out into hives, eczema, rhinitus, throat swelling, and other "allergy" symptoms. I went to the dermatologist for meds to control the eczema, and he helped me tie together the symptoms to the food trigger. When I added corn, I developed gastro issues, brain fog, lethargy, neuro issues, among others. For me - nuts is an allergy, and corn is an intolerance. Good luck!