As of tomorrow, May 13, it has been two months since my last post.

In those two months I have gained hundreds of Facebook followers, dozens of Pinterest and Google+followers and a handful of Twitter followers.

You know what that tells me?

It tells me that, even in my absence, you are still sharing my information…my site stats tell me you are still visiting…and the e-mails I have received tell me that you are worried about this unusual break.

I appreciate your concern. I appreciate you checking in on me. Most of all, I appreciate you still being here.

Please know that the off-line realities that have held me back these last couple of months are starting to dwindle. I will be back in the swing of things before you know it, and I have many new recipes to share when the time comes.

Today though, today I wanted to stop and talk with you a moment about Mother’s Day.

You see, I was never supposed to be able to have children.

Well, in the very least, it was supposed to be difficult for me. Or so I was told.

I lost an ovary at a very young age due to a cystic tumor that had grown to a tremendous size. Later I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS); a rather newly identified autoimmune syndrome that often leads to infertility.

It was not until after the birth of my youngest that I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, but I now know undiagnosed/untreated Celiac Disease should have made it even more difficult for me to conceive.

The more I reflect on the battles my body had to overcome before I could reproduce, the more I understand that my children are true miracles.

Beyond that, the more I ponder on the miracle of adoption, the more I realize it is because I was told that I would probably never conceive on my own that my heart was open to adopting…which is how two of my amazing children came to me.

Undoubtedly, I am blessed beyond measure.

For some reason, motherhood has been weighing on me more than usual this past year.

I don’t mean that things have gotten more difficult, they haven’t.

I just mean that my responsibility as a mother and what I need to do to ensure I fulfill every sacred duty laid before me has been heavy on my mind. 

Because of this, some life adjustments are in order which have added to my unexpected blogging break. 

Rest assured, the changes that are coming will not only allow me more time to focus on my family, these changes will also allow me to focus more on writing, more on cooking and recipe writing, and more on the needs of those around me.

So when I return, expect that I will return in full force with more dedication than ever before and blogging on a more frequent basis than ever before.

But for now, for now I want to wish you all a happy Mother’s Day. 

To all women with “A Mother’s Heart,” those of you who have children and those of you who don’t, Happy Mother’s Day.

Most importantly though, I would like to take a moment to appreciate and “acknowledge the wide continuum of mothering,” through this perfectly worded letter from Amy over at The Messy Middle:

“To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you

To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst

To those who have aborted children – we remember them and you on this day

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children – we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be

To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths

To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you

To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.”

Please know that wherever you stand in the continuum of mothering, you are loved and appreciated.

God bless you all.

xoxo

No doubt we all go about it in our own way, but for me it starts with a memory, a craving or a challenge from a friend or follower.

Yep, I have been known to turn my kitchen upside down to help someone reconnect with an old food love in a new, healthier, gluten-free/dairy-free way.

Have ideas? Send them my way!

Sometimes, especially when I am just trying to satisfy a food craving, I simply gather up ingredients based on past experience, throw them together and continue to play and tweak until everything seems ‘just right.’

The problem with this?

When I hit the nail on the head, I may know what I put in it but I am left with no clue as to how much so when it comes time to write the recipe down, I might as well be starting from scratch.

This happened with the recipe I am sharing today.

The creamy, nut-free mozzarella topping was developed when I decided to whip up some baked spaghetti for my family.

While I use this in its liquid form for this recipe, I can tell you that the mozzarella refrigerates well and becomes solid as it does. It is shredable and meltable, but what I love best about using it on this baked spaghetti with zucchini noodles is the fact that it browns and bubbles so nicely.

Not stretchy like traditional mozzarella, the flavor combination of this sauce with the tomato sauce is so wonderful, you’ll appreciate it all the same!

If you are in need of a completely autoimmune friendly version, I strongly recommend checking out this tomato-free marinara sauce.  Heidi’s recipe was a god-send when I was doing a nightshade elimination and works wonderfully as a meat sauce.

If you are looking for a vegan version, simply leave out the meat! So much goodness packed in already, one doesn’t require the meat to make this a meal.

Want to change things up? Leave out the meat sauce altogether. The mozzarella sauce makes a mean alfredo and is perfect when paired with chicken and broccoli.

Also, while I use my handy dandy vegetable slicer to turn my zucchini into noodles, you can just as easily make noodles by slicing your zucchini in to strips either by hand or by mandolin. Whatever you do, have fun!

Hungry yet?

Enjoy!

Looking for more comfort food ideas? Be sure to change out the gluten as appropriate, but there is plenty of comfort food inspiration in this weeks Comfort Food Feast!

The Cultural Dish: Pasta Carbonara

The Sensitive Epicure: Individual Goat Cheese Mac & Cheese (Gluten-Free, Lactose-Free)

Feed Me Phoebe: Green Eggs and Ham: Pasta Carbonara With Zucchini and Crispy Prosciutto

Red or Green?: Spicy Italian Sausage and Peppers Pasta

Napa Farmhouse 1885: Pasta With Apple-Sage Sausage, White Beans and Greens

Jeanette’s Healthy Living: A Healthier Crock-Pot Meat Lovers Pasta Sauce

Dishin & Dishes: Skillet Gnocchi

The Heritage Cook: Macaroni and Cheese for Everyone

Devour: Low-Key Lasagna

Virtually Homemade: Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese With Crispy Bacon

Cooking With Elise: Scallops and Linguini

Big Girls, Small Kitchen: Swiss Chard Lasagna

FN Dish: The Most Satisfying Pasta Dishes

My largest challenge came after discovering that I am sensitive to nuts.

Over the last several years I have played with dozens of gluten-free recipes, most of them grain-free but all of them containing nuts.

So when Food Network asked bloggers to post their favorite biscuit recipe, I knew I wanted to create something that was not only nut-free but also auto-immune friendly.

No matter the allergy, we all deserve to enjoy a flaky, golden biscuit every now and then…

Right?

Perfect with your favorite homemade jam, a drizzle of honey or even your favorite gluten-free and dairy-free gravy; I hope these biscuits fill your belly and satisfy your craving…wherever you are!

This recipe is also linked to: Eat, Recycle, Repeat’s Virtual Whole Foods Pot Luck

Love it or leave it, undoubtedly your mom had some version of meatloaf that would occasionally grace your table growing up.

I’ve had many guests through the years raise an eyebrow when I offer them a dinner of this traditionally dry, often unpleasing hunk of meat…these same guests seem surprisingly pleased when they take their first bite into a flavorful, moist and juicy slice that has the tendency to turn their memories of meatloaf upside down.

In my pre gluten-free lifestyle, my secret ingredient included pre-seasoned croutons. More recently, I discovered almond flour to be a great replacement for the traditional bread crumb; although after my most recent Whole30, following the auto-immune protocol where I also eliminated eggs, nuts and nightshades, I discovered (much to my surprise) that I am slightly sensitive to nuts.

I suspected that I suffered a sensitivity to nightshades and quite possibly was sensitive to eggs as well…not once did I suspect nuts would be the issue.

Alas, I have no trouble with nightshades. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant all sit well with me…

Eggs are still as delicious as ever and amazingly do nothing to upset my gut or my skin.

But when I reintroduced nuts, my acne flared slightly and my tummy gave me some trouble.

Nothing like dairy, and certainly nothing like gluten…but the sensitivity is undoubtedly there.

Walnuts and pecans seem to cause me the greatest upset, though I will be cautious with my use of all nuts from here on out.

So when Food Network brought forth their Comfort Food Feast and meatloaf was on the list, I knew I wanted to perfect an auto-immune friendly version that everyone could enjoy.

Somewhere between my Autoimmune Friendly Paleo Apple Sausage and a more traditional ranch-style meatloaf; weaving the bacon over the top not only makes for a lovely presentation, it seals in the natural juices and ensures a deliciously moist and tender loaf unlike any other.

Delicious when served with my Bacon-Infused Wilted Spinach this moist, egg-free, gluten-free, nightshade free, nut-free and dairy-free version is far from your momma’s recipe but undoubtedly will become a classic in your home.

Enjoy!

Looking for more versions of this beloved comfort food?

Be certain to stop by and visit my FoodNetwork friends over at this week’s Comfort Food Feast!

Jeanette’s Healthy Living: Balsamic-Glazed Roasted Vegetable Meatloaf
The Cultural Dish: Classic Meatloaf
Red or Green?: Meatloaf With Green Chile
Napa Farmhouse 1885: My Mom’s Meatloaf (Connie’s)
Made By Michelle: Turkey Meatloaf
The Heritage Cook: Succulent Gluten-Free Meatloaf, The Ultimate Comfort Food
Feed Me Phoebe: Smoky Meatloaf With Three Paprikas
Virtually Homemade: Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf With a Spicy Sweet Ketchup Glaze (Gluten-Free)
Devour: Pick Your Meat (Loaf): Beef, Pork or Turkey
Dishin & Dishes: The Ultimate Southwest Meatloaf
FN Dish: For the Love of Meatloaf

Nope. Never. Not once.

You see, my husband has this thing against a commercially exploited day supposedly designed to tell the person you love that you love them. He believes that love is something to be expressed on a daily basis, that one should surprise and spoil randomly and not have to have a designated day to express love.

Luckily, he follows through this belief in his actions. And even though I do know without a doubt that he loves me; and while I understand where he is coming from, the girl inside of me still wants to be pampered with roses, sweet surprises, dinner dates and all the other things you dream of when Valentine’s is around the corner.

So when we were deciding on the perfect day to schedule our wedding, there seemed to be two main options; 1. Either we get married on my mother’s birthday, February 13^th and he could spoil me that day so I’d never feel a loss on Valentine’s or, 2. We get married in March and we do Valentine’s like all of the other couples we know.

Needless to say, he opted for option #1. Given that he asked me to marry him on his mother’s birthday (her suggestion), it seemed only fitting to be wedded on the day of my mother’s birth.

So in this week filled with love, sweets for your sweet, happy memories and wonderful surprises; we still have plenty of excuses to celebrate…even if we don’t do Valentine’s Day.

This year, my surprise treat for my husband came in the form of one of his favorite gluten and dairy-filled desserts…only, true to my nature, this one is Paleorific.

Boston Cream Pie comes in many ways, topped with a chocolate glaze or ganache, simply sprinkled with powder sugar, and on a more rare occasion, topped with strawberries and frosting.

My husband’s favorite? The latter, more complicated recipe…but the end result is worth every second.

The added drizzle of chocolate sends this cake up over the top, and the leftover ganache can be used to cover any leftover strawberries for you to enjoy separately. Or together. Whichever you prefer.

Most of this cake can be made up to two days ahead of time, although I recommend making the ganache on the day of.

I know this recipe is up too late for your Valentine’s Day celebration, but why not extend your joy and give this to the one you love this weekend. Or next week, or anytime. Just because. I mean, really, doesn’t the one you love deserve a sweet surprise…Valentine’s Day or not?

Enjoy and happy Valentine’s Day!

Most recently, we received several heads of something called Salad Savoy (http://www.saladsavoy.com/saladsavoy.htm). Having no clue what this vegetable was, I turned down the opportunity to grab a couple of extra heads in favor of doing a bit of discovery first.

I have been kicking myself ever since.

I should have grabbed more while I had the chance!

To my surprise these beautiful green, white and purple leaves are not some simple salad green. This vegetable is described as being somewhere between cauliflower and kale. The flavor is light and delicious, steams well with a squeeze of lemon and a touch of garlic, cooks like kale, freezes well.

While flipping through Bountiful Basket (http://www9.bountifulbaskets.org/?page_id=18) ideas and suggestions, a number of people suggested using Salad Savoy in an Olive Garden-type Zuppa Toscana.

With a sick husband at home and cool winter nights, making a large batch of a nice hearty soup sounded like a perfect idea.

Using a pre-mixed batch of my auto-immune friendly paleo apple sausage (http://andloveittoo.com/autoimmune-friendly-paleo-apple-sausage/) helped make this soup quick, easy and over-the-top delicious.

Enjoy!

These lemon-infused brussels made it easy to deceive my children into trying more than just one bite and helped them discover that they like brussels.

Only, I don’t like deceiving my children.

And while these brussels defy rule #1 of my previous recipe (shredding), by cutting each brussel in half before roasting, you still manage to prevent gasses and the resulting bitterness from building up in the cooking process.  The remaining rules still stand as you want these slightly undercooked and the acid from the vinegar helps ensure these greens turn from bitter to benevolent!

And while I knew these were fantastic, I was beyond hesitant to introduce these to my family.

To my surprise though, they loved them!

Even knowing exactly what they were eating.

Now powered with two easy and delicious brussel sprout recipes, I cannot wait to find new and exciting ways to continue to encourage my family to enjoy these glorious globes.

Enjoy!

I first created this sausage back when I did my first Whole30 and needed something that was quick yet nutritional, easy to put together yet delicious, and would last all week long.

Because my initial recipe included both eggs and nightshades, I have adjusted and played with this recipe until it met the needs of an autoimmune protocol while still meeting all of the requirements above.

If your system does not allow for seed-based seasonings, I can tell you this recipe is positively delicious without the caraway or fennel; even so, I still prefer the licorice and floral undertones these seasonings offer and didn’t want to leave these out for those who can have them.

This recipe also works well with most any type of ground meat. While, because of ease of access and affordability thanks to my local rancher, I typically pair it with grass-fed beef; this recipe is also delicious with ground pork, lamb, chicken or turkey.  Most often I sub ½ pound ground meat for an equal amount of organ meat. Kidney or heart seem to work well, liver is a bit overpowering to us although it is worth playing in that direction if your family enjoys liver.

A great solution for egg-free breakfasts, a delicious addition to most any dinner and a great substitute for the traditional meatball recipe, I hope you enjoy this sausage as much as we do!

xoxo

Funny thing? In addition to our usual grain-free and dairy-free fare; every meal I have made and every meal I have photographed over the last five days has also been free of eggs, nightshades, nuts, seeds, legumes and sugar.

I know that in my previous life my first thought would have been “what are you eating then?”

My answer today? Food! Real food. Really, really good food!

Among the things I have made recently, one of the items my family has been most excited about was also one of the more simple sides I have made.

These Sweet Potato Hasselbeck Potatoes are not only visually appeasing, they are soft in the middle have just the slighted crunch on the edge.

Mix and match your seasonings to match the flavor of your meal couplings. With so many options, these will undoubtedly become your favorite potatoes as well.

xoxo

Need more potato-rific ideas? Be sure to visit these other FoodNetwork Comfortfest Recipes!

Jeanette’s Healthy Living: Grilled Smashed Baby Potatoes With Green Harissa Sauce

Devour: 5 Ways to Cook Potatoes

Haute Apple Pie: Twice-Baked Southwestern Sweet Potatoes

Napa Farmhouse 1885: Healthy Warm Potato Salad With Onion and Vinegar

Red or Green?: Spicy Baked Sweet Potatoes

Virtually Homemade: Twice-Baked Potatoes With Cheddar and Caramelized Onions

Big Girls, Small Kitchen: Crispy Potatoes With Baked Eggs and Pesto Yogurt

Cooking With Elise: Vavos Stewed Potatoes

The Heritage Cook: Potato and Sweet Potato Gratin With Bourbon-Laced Cream Sauce

The Cultural Dish: Garlic and Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Thursday Night Dinner: If You Need Me, I’ll Be With My Potato Soup

Feed Me Phoebe: Baked Sweet Potato Fries With Rosemary

Add a Pinch: Loaded Smashed Potatoes

From My Corner of Saratoga: Garlic and Herb Infused Cheesy Potatoes

FN Dish: Well-Loved Potato Sides

When she shared the link over on Facebook, I commented on how amazing her biscuits looked to which she said:

“Sunny, I’m looking for you to make a grain-free version. I haven’t gotten to that yet, but I know it’s possible.”

Now how could I turn that down?

Only, to make these completely grain-free, I couldn’t use traditional dairy-free cheese options available locally as they all have some form of grain in them.

So I came up with my own.

In case you missed it, the dairy-free paleo friendly cheese used in this recipe can be found here.

After much playing, adjusting and perfecting…I believe these garlic-cheese biscuits are something even Shirley’s husband would enjoy.