Welcome and More Information

Welcome, readers, and thanks for visiting my newest blogging attempt! For family and friends who are familiar with my previous blogs, I plan to keep this one current. That's not to say, however, that I will be posting daily. I have no plans to make that kind of promise. I'm a mom with a busy life and that won't be changing in the foreseeable future -- but I do plan on posting on a semi-regular basis and I hope you'll hold me to that!

I love food. I am part Cajun and both sides of my family love food. I love to cook Cajun food, Italian food, Mexican food, American food, seafood, French food and nearly any other kind of food -- as well as a combination of them. I love to cook gourmet as well as bake (yes, I made both the ice cream -- pictured in a melamine princess bowl belonging to my daughters -- and the cake pictured at the top), but let's be honest -- a busy mom doesn't always have time to immerse herself in the kitchen for hours at a time. Here at Mama Me you're most likely to find recipes that are easy to make, and fairly quick, but still delicious. I will give you the occasional cook-all-day recipe, though. I hope you have as much fun trying these recipes out as I do making and eating them!

(Edit 2/20/2011) More about Caneel (This is where I'll most likely add more information as time goes on if necessary.)
I'm a journalist, wife and mother to two spirited daughters. All four of us have lived a strict gluten-free life since fall 2008 due to celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. My husband has celiac (blood tests & biopsy) and my daughters and I showed that we were reacting to gluten in tests, which was enough to know we needed to get rid of it without a biopsy to prove anything. And so you know, I'm pretty sensitive to it since I've been off of it. The small handful of times I've been accidentally glutened since removing it from my diet have made me extremely sick. My chronic stomach problems went away after getting off gluten. I have absolutely no temptation to eat anything with gluten in it, because I don't ever want to voluntarily feel that way again.


(Here is our celiac and gluten sensitivity story.)


I love to cook and I love to eat -- if it tastes wonderful. I try to make sure my food tastes just as good or better than it did before being GF, so I don't usually have a problem getting our children to eat it. I hope you'll agree when you try the recipes I share on my gluten-free blog. Many of my non-GF friends can't tell the difference, so feel free to try the recipes if you aren't GF! 


Baking/cooking information: 
Unless otherwise noted, *I cook and bake with sea salt or kosher salt. *I use organic cane sugar instead of refined white cane sugar unless otherwise noted. *My baking powder is always aluminum-free (and gf, of course). *I also try to use organic, fresh and local whenever possible. *I do have the occasional very unhealthy, processed ingredient thrown into a recipe sometimes. I try to avoid it, but you may see it from time to time. *My measurements are always a level cup/spoon unless otherwise noted.


In recipes calling for weight and/or ratio, the scale I currently use is the 5 lb from OXO. I plan on getting a larger one at some point.


You can see all of my recipes and product recommendations through the recipe/subject index link provided in the sidebar of each page.


Just so you know:


Photography questions: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/p/photography.html


Product of the week posts and any other product I mention is because I like it and want to be helpful, not because I've been given anything to say so. If I receive a freebie or any kind of payment for trying a product, I will state so.


I am not a healthcare professional. My knowledge of the gluten-free lifestyle is given to you from personal experience and research. You should always discuss your individual issues with a healthcare professional.


Ads you see on this site are part of an ad network and I don't control the content. Please note that ads may show gluten-free foods, as well as foods that aren't gluten-free.


A reminder
All content on this blog is protected by copyright. If you want to print out a recipe for personal use, that's fine as long as the source is on your copy. If you want to link to this blog or a recipe within it, etc., that is fine as long as the source goes with it. If you aren't sure, please ask.


How to contact me
Until I provide an e-mail address for you to contact me, the best way is through comments on the blog, through the Mama Me facebook page, or through Twitter @MamaMeGF.


Want a little more information? I provided a few tidbits about myself in this Stylish Blogger Award post and in this Valentine's Day post.


Want a button for your site? Feel free to use this one and link it back to Mama Me (if you prefer to copy/paste a code, you can get the button code on the right sidebar of each page):