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Grain-Free Churro Cupcakes
Today I am celebrating another trip around the sun! 37 glorious trips around, to be exact. Birthdays, for me, are always a really wonderful reminder of my ongoing health journey. It was on this day 7 years ago, after my surprise 30th birthday party, that I made the choice for quite possibly the very first time, to put ME and my health first. (You can read a little bit more about that in this post from 2013) While this choice initially stemmed mostly from an ego-driven place, being unhappy with my appearance, I also made the choice at 30 to no longer be OK with feeling OK! I deserved so much more than that. Every year, as this day marks another year gone and as my healing journey continues, so does my commitment to myself and my self care. This day provides an incredible opportunity to check in with how I am feeling, to compare to years past and to be reminded that my hard work is not for nothing. And while this body may be aging, it is always apparent to me that it is more than possible to continue feeling better and better with each passing year, as I continue to prioritize my vitality and my wellness.
If you ask me, birthdays are just as much a cause for major celebration as any other major holiday and what better way to celebrate than with a grain-free sweet treat! But, not just any sweet, this year I’m celebrating with Grain-Free Churro Cupcakes! These beautiful, spicy and sweet cupcakes are adapted from the Vanilla Cake recipe from Danielle Walker’s brand new cookbook: Celebrations! A Year of Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Paleo Recipes for Every Occasion.
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Strawberry Hibiscus Jello
Happy 5th Birthday Tasty Yummies!!!
This week we are celebrating Tasty Yummies’ Birthday / Anniversary / Blogaversary!! I seriously cannot believe it has been 5 years since I sat down to share the first gluten-free recipe here. Where, oh where has this time gone? From the deepest depths of my heart, I thank each and every one of you for supporting me and this website over the last 5 years. I can say in all sincerity, this blog and my life wouldn’t be what they are – without all of you!!
Besides the usual feelings of excitement surrounding a big anniversary like this, it has also stirred up some unique emotions, as well. Given the state of things currently, I am reminded fondly on this special day of the idea that this blog was built from my desire to create a space, a virtual community where I could share my journey and my creations! I also always had the hope that in the process of sharing, I might help to empower others to find strength amidst a less than ideal situation with their health and diet. Here we are, 5 years later, continuing our journey together, with new struggles and challenges unique to us, yet still reminded that we are not alone.
Sometimes in life, you have to shift your focus and your energy, finding the positive in whatever situation you are in, no matter how challenging. Being in the middle of the autoimmune protocol, I have actually been finding so much joy in the restrictions. I get so excited I find myself dancing around the kitchen when I can pull together a delicious recipe that not only fits the long list of things that are not allowed but actually tastes good and makes me as happy as any other recipe would. This has all been so much more rewarding than the usual creations. With each recipe I develop, it feels like I have completed the most challenging board in a video game, I get my gold crown and I get to move on to the next level. I’ve actually have been quite enjoying this forced shift in my perspective, the encouragement and motivation to be creative in the kitchen – it’s all so invigorating and it makes each step and each day easier!
I won’t lie to you though, with all of the many restrictions on my diet currently, I nearly let this special celebration pass. I was worried that without some grandiose, pinterest-worthy baked good, a layered cake or dainty little cupcakes with cute little number 5s on them – that it wouldn’t feel much like a birthday. But that just simply isn’t true! So what, I can’t have my favorite grain-free chocolate cake right now? There is still so much celebrate and it’s just as special of a holiday, chocolate or not!
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Paleo Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting {gluten-free, dairy-free}
This Paleo Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting requires no strange or hard to find flours or starches, its simple to make, rich, decadent and most people would never believe it’s totally gluten-free and grain-free!
I feel like it’s alarming and shocking whenever I share a dessert recipe here on Tasty Yummies. I do it so infrequently. In the nearly 5 years I have had this blog, you have probably heard me say more than a dozen times, that I have never really cared much about baking and I don’t get super excited about sweets. But, this month (January 2017) marks the 10 year anniversary of me going gluten-free, so this is certainly something to celebrate and what better way than a super epic Grain-free Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting. With nearly 5 years of gluten-free recipes here on Tasty Yummies, it’s time we have a good special occasion cake up in here!
I know to some of you, celebrating the complete removal of some of your favorite foods from your diet, forever – wouldn’t likely be something you would get excited enough to bake a cake for, but for me it is! Before my diagnosis, I spent so many years with silly health issues, an unhappy gut, unexplained migraines and many sicknesses. Discovering my gluten intolerance is something I am forever grateful for and I never regret seeking out the answers that led me to such a huge lifestyle change, nor do I ever wish that it hadn’t happened to me. It truly has been a blessing disguised as a curse. It has made me a stronger person and has led me to look at things in a much different way. Without that discovery and that huge life change, I wouldn’t be who I am today, this site wouldn’t exist and I don’t think my love for cooking would have evolved in the way that it has.
Without knowing where my severe gluten intolerance stemmed from, I simply ate 100% gluten-free upon discovering how gravely it affected me after that month-long cleanse, at the end of January, 10 years ago this week. By the time a doctor finally tested me for celiac disease, I had already been gluten-free for 5 years and it of course came up negative. So for me, an exact reason or diagnosis was never as important as simply knowing my body couldn’t tolerate it and therefore avoiding it at all costs and never looking back, for 10 whole years (and counting)! {You can read more about my journey to living 100% gluten-free, here. Written Aug. 2013}
The irony of this big anniversary for me is that I am currently in the middle of a whole new health exploration, if you can call it that. This past summer I was diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy, a kidney disease. This kidney disease was presenting, what I thought, were little to no symptoms and I only discovered that I had it, by a routine life insurance physical in the spring of 2013. After being declined life insurance due to high levels of protein in my urine, as well as blood, I had to get myself health insurance so I could begin the journey to discovering what was causing it. After over a year, many tests and several doctors, finally a kidney biopsy this past summer confirmed that I had an autoimmune kidney disease called IgA Nephropathy.
In speaking with several doctors and doing some research, I have learned that it is very common for there to be a crossover with celiac patients and IgA patients. So, I suppose it is even more possible than I once thought, that I do actually have celiac disease.
After finding a nephrologist and getting a second opinion from another, I started by protecting my kidneys in the short term and I began taking several pharmaceutical drugs as prescribed. These drugs immediately set off a slew of new symptoms and seemed to tip the scales of balance in my body in epic ways. Two weeks ago I had my first appointment with my new naturopath, to not only treat my kidney disease but to also help me heal some other health related issues I’ve been dealing with over the past few months. Unhappy digestion, strange skin rashes and acne, low B12, allergies & sinus issues, etc. At our first appointment we discussed the probability that I am likely dealing with leaky gut and candida and we started with a small amount of supplements and herbs to start healing my gut and balancing things out a bit, so we can begin to get to the root of what might be causing all of these issues.
