This intro is long and a little bit personal, if you want to skip straight to some recipes and sales going on this weekend feel free to scroll past it! 

If you are part of my Thrive email list you may have seen my email from earlier this week where I shared a little bit about my personal life and a new health issue I was diagnosed with.  To read more about that story read the email archive here.  I was throwing a little bit of a pity party for myself because I am going to have to completely change the way I eat, it's going to make new challenges with how I do my food storage, and it's all feeling a little bit overwhelming.

 

Well after I sent that email I got such an outpouring of love and support from my readers it really made me feel so grateful that I've developed these relationships over the past ten years.  I was also contacted by about 20 others who have similar dietary constraints and who have been looking for some help with recipes and food storage ideas for these specific ways of eating.  This led me to have a complete shift in the way I've been thinking.  Instead of feeling sorry for myself I now feel like I have a purpose. 

 

I don't whether God gave me this new trial to encourage me to help others who are struggling with similar dietary limitations ... or whether he is just helping me to finally see the positive side of being faced with this.  But either way, I feel his hand involved somehow.  Today I feel grateful.  Grateful that I can start to help people in a different way.  Grateful that I have others who I can talk to that are going through this too.  Grateful that I have each and every one of you as readers (and friends).  

 

So what did I do this week?  Well I was making some fun patriotic macaroon cookies (since they are on sale this weekend) and feeling bummed that I couldn't eat them.  So I figured out how to make my own delicious allergen-free cookies and made a blog post out of it.  So there ya go, my new mantra: 
🍪"When life gets hard ... you make cookies!" 🍪

 

 

This recipe is based off of my mom's delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe which has been a family favorite for years.  With a few substitutions (ok a lot of substitutions) I was able to create something that wasn't exactly the same but was equally delicious!   The texture is a little more cakey rather than ooey gooey but they are still awesome.  The cacao nibs are a little bit bitter so adding the cherries into the mix really sweetened it up.  I made my kids their own macaroon cookies (see below) and they kept wanting to steal mine!

 

These yummy in your tummy cookies are on sale as part of Thrive's Memorial Day Weekend flash sale.  I made half a batch at a time (1 cup of mix and 1/4 cup of water) and added about 1/2 cup of crushed up strawberries and blueberries to the batter.  You may have to add a tiny bit more water if you add the fruit.  They made the most delicious, patriotic cookies that are perfect to bring to any event where you have to bring a side dish this summer.  I always get asked for the recipe and love telling them it is a cookie mix from my food storage!

Another recipe that is awesome to make for potlucks or other get togethers is this bean salsa that some people call Texas Caviar.  I made a few tweaks to make this healthier when I discovered some sneaky additives in my can of black-eyed peas.

You can follow my original recipe posted on the blog, or you can customize it as follows.  Instead of the canned beans (I was shocked at what was in some of mine!) I just used Instant Beans (the only ingredient is the BEANS).  I did 1.5 cups of black and 1.5 cups of pinto beans and it was the right amount.  Instead of the little bit of sugar in the recipe I used Monk Fruit Sweetener and it turned out just fine!  I didn't have any pimentos on hand so I just used extra red and green bell peppers, and I also used freeze dried corn.  

 

I've been eating delicious healthy dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, soy-free food and it is just fine!

I posted in my Facebook Group looking for others who are eating these specific diets.  I think it would be great if we could all share and learn from each other.  Feel free to reach out to me via email if you'd like to collaborate further or simple join in the discussion on Facebook.  I hope I can become a resource to help people learn how to adjust their food storage to meet these new dietary needs, as well as come up with yummy, convenient substitutions so it's not as big of a struggle on a daily basis.  I know having freeze-dried food on hand was a huge help to me when I was first diagnosed last week and didn't have the energy to get to the store yet.

Don't forget to follow me on InstaGram for my daily updates on food storage and preparedness.  I'm trying to post more often on there!

 

Jodi Weiss
http://FoodStorageMadeEasy.Net