In the effort of getting my shit together, I made an appointment with an integrated medicine doctor in Philly and was EAGER to learn why I always felt sick. At the time, I wanted it to be simple. I wanted her to tell me I had a bug, condition, etc, and that medicine would make me better. The exact opposite happened. After the doctor (who may I mention showed up in red leather pants – I liked her immediately) explained there was no way to know the cause of the issue without ruling things common things out, I left the office with her order to eliminate gluten and dairy from my diet for 6 months (more on that in this post). At the time, that seemed terrible. I grew up on a very Standard American Diet where cheese and bread were a STAPLE. I didn’t know what I was going to do.
Once I stopped being dramatic and having a pity party, I decided to do some research on dairy free/gluten free foods. I’d heard there were alternatives, but didn’t know anyone who was really into health food. That’s when it all started. I stumbled upon LOADS of food blogs, and became obsessed with reading every recipe and cooking every night. All I thought about was new recipes and food ideas, it was addicting. Since cooking was never something I was into as a kid, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, and it quickly became a hobby that I couldn’t get out of my head.
After the 6 months of the elimination diet were up, I felt great. I didn’t want to admit it, but damn it made a difference. After slowly introducing both food groups back into my diet, I determined that it wasn’t gluten, but I was/am extremely lactose intolerant due to dairy. Determined to feel this good forever, I kept on cooking and creating new healthy recipes every day. Sometimes for fun, I would create a pretty food scene (cue white plates, syrup, and sprinkles) and post photos of my creations on my Instagram and socials for my friends to see.
To my surprise, a lot of people were interested. After a few weeks, I started to get comments from people asking “how are those dairy free?” “can you send me the recipe?” “hey i’m trying an elimination diet, can you help?”. At first, I thought it was just a few curious people, but over time, the responses came flooding in. As a place to put the answers to these questions without having to send every person the info individually, I started a blog, aka Katerinacooks.com.
This is where it all began.
Hey loves! Happy Monday. Hope your week is off to a great start. I know Mondays can be a total drag but you know what makes them better? SHOPPPPPPING. Today, I’m bringing you the only pants you will need this summer at a steal of a price. You know ya girl is all about the bargains so I love to share pieces with you guys that I know are super cute + but also a great deal.
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The fireplace is on, the Christmas tree is lit, the sun is starting to rise, and it’s all foggy outside this morning. I love summer, but nothing beats these cozy mornings. I do need to get off this couch and get my son up and ready for school, but it’s hard to rip off this fuzzy throw blanket and start my day. I am a morning person, but the kind who likes to sit on the couch and work—not the kind who wants to get up off the couch and work.I have a lot to tackle around the house this week. We’re hosting Thanksgiving, so I’ll be busy getting everything ready for dinner, preparing for guests to stay, and, of course, blogging some new Thanksgiving recipes. My goal is to post a new recipe every day this week—if I can manage to stay awake past 8 PM! I made some really delicious recipes over the weekend, and cannot wait to share them with you all. But for now, I needed to get the latest recap blog posted; otherwise, it would run into Thanksgiving and end up longer than book three of the ACOTAR series.
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Haircare, makeup, skincare… the list goes on and on. Have you ever looked in your bathroom and realized just how many personal care products you use every single day? For someone like me who loves trying new things, it is a lot haha. I always love to try the latest and greatest, but unfortunately, a lot of times this comes with a cost to the environment. With more products comes more packaging, and most of the time: more plastic. Single use plastics like these contribute to a lot of waste that ends up in the environment, the oceans, and our waterways, so i’ve been trying to be more conscious on how I can eliminate them when possible. At the beginning of the new year, I decided I really wanted to try to make as many sustainable changes as I could, and one of those started with personal care.
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SPRING IS FINALLY HERE. Even though it felt like winter would never end, the days are getting longer, the sun is getting hotter, and the warm weather is coming! As you guys know, i’m not a winter gal. Never have been, never will be. I don’t hate the snow/cold, I just think it’s a pain. Too many layers, too much work to do anything outside.
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