by Elizabeth on May 20, 2013
I should say that I haven’t actually tried these yet, but when I do, I’m hoping to recreate the above cake with the same bold color but with peace of mind that I’m not eating nothing but carcinogens.
Last week I was at the gym with my friend Lyssie and she was raving about the natural food coloring that she received at an event. I was intrigued and really excited when she offered to let me try some. Rather than liquid, these pigments are powdered and made from all natural ingredients like purple carrots, blueberries and tomatoes. The packaging reminds me of the pigment stores down in the garment district in New York, where one can find whatever pigment the heart desires, only those pigments are inedible.
Anyway, this week is really busy, but I’m hoping to give these natural food colorings a spin. I’ll keep you posted. Have you tried them? What did you think?
by Elizabeth on May 13, 2013
I don’t have a photo for this post, because I don’t have a great shot of me waving good-bye.
I have quit so many things in my life, but don’t misunderstand, I am not a quitter. The things that I have quit are generally things that bring me pleasure but that aren’t good for me. Yes, I quit smoking forever ago. Actually, it was more than 10 years to be exact. I quit eating wheat, eggs and string beans (and more recently figs) because I found out that I’m allergic to them and that my body likes to get all itchy and red when I eat them. I quit laying in the sun because it causes skin cancer. I quit drinking caffeine because it made me jittery. The list goes on (and it feels like on and on and on). The things that I hate doing I almost never quit. For example, I’ve never quit a job no matter how much I disliked it. I didn’t quit school or my major, and God forbid if I’d ever quit in the middle of a race or something. I’m pretty tenacious. I don’t like quitting unless I have to do it.
This weekend, I looked down at my arms and noticed lots of new psoriasis cropping up in a place that I’ve never had it: between my wrist and elbow on my inner arm. It’s climbing up my left leg, too. I’ve had it on my right leg for some time. Of course I went to Facebook to see if others on my fan page havs Psoriasis, and if so, what they do to keep it at bay. Every single one of the people who responded said that the best thing that they ever did was giving up dairy. One more thing to give up.
However, as I type with my right hand and scratch my scalp (the place where the psoriasis has been the worst since I was 6 years old), I think it’s time to give it a try. I gave up milk last year, and though it made my coffee far less exciting, it wasn’t so hard. I think it actually did improve my skin. It’s really only been since I reintroduced it into my diet that I’ve notice the scales cropping up all over my epidermis. So here I go again, quitting something I really love. I’m not allergic to this one, so it seems kind of unfair, but when people talk about the heart break of psoriasis, they are not kidding. Really, this autoimmune disease sucks. It itches, it hurts, it looks ugly, it feels isolating. I mean, who wants to get into a bathing suit with psoriasis plaques moving up one’s spine?
Wish me luck on my new endeavor. Did you give up dairy? Do you miss it? What made the transition easier?
