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Angela's Kitchen

Cooking gluten and diary free... because everyone deserves a cookie!

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About the Blog

Make December Matter

November 11, 2020 by angelaskitchen

I’ve always told anyone who told me that they’re feeling off their game or having trouble focusing on things during tough times to be kind to themselves. To allow themselves grace for the season they are in and that trying to weather storms in life is challenging, messing and stretching, and sometimes you just need to roll with things the way you need to roll with them. If that means you aren’t as tidy, or cheerful or productive as usual, that is cool. Tough seasons of life are a time to be gentle with yourself.

Having said that, I often go and do the opposite when talking to myself. Instead of reassuring myself that I’ve actually been doing pretty well over the past couple years with really difficult personal and family circumstances, I tend to make little lists for myself of all the things I haven’t been doing or taken care of… You know, things like isn’t the house supposed to be cleaner than ever now that I am in it ALL THE TIME. Hey guess what? It turns out, being in your house constantly and using it for every aspect of your life can trash the joint. Who knew? 🙂

I’ll go to bed thinking that the next day is the day I “get myself all together,” which is NOT a great set-up for the next day. It’s a goal that is so vague that I set myself up to be disappointed in what I haven’t completed instead of what I did accomplish. That cycle is just one big self-esteem trap, and it turns out I am really good at it.

One tool that I have been using to help organize myself that has been so positive in my life to get me out of that rut is Mia’s FLOW365 plan at Plan Simple. Her system has helped reframe my planning for the day to focus my time on what really matters to me, to what is truly important in my day-to-day life. I have appreciated how it works no matter what your circumstances are or where your current focus is. It helped me realize all I was showing up for, helped me plan down time to care for myself and to also find space for all the little things that has to happen day-to-day to get the pesky work and home things done as well. The biggest gift for me has been realizing that I really do have a choice to how I spend my day and it has helped make my ordinary everyday times truly matter by helping me shift my perspective. I love that she breaks goal planning into manageable chunks that can be started whenever you want and need to. That has been a lifesaver for me, especially with all the changing circumstances in these uncertain times.

Mia has a FREE 2 day retreat coming up this weekend, November 13-14, 2020 called Make December Matter. It is her gift to women “balancing it all” who want to create something different this holiday season and into the next year. She has amazing speakers lined up, a tasty menu to nourish you during the weekend, planning sheets, and times built into the day to help you recharge. I’ll be popping in and out throughout the days myself, so I hope to see you there!

****************************************************************

I’ve been wondering for so long how to come back to the blog when I’ve been away for so long and it stalls me from writing before I even start. I’ll have to apologize AGAIN I tell myself. Then I tell myself I’ll just need to do better from here on out and this will be the day I finally get my act together, whatever that means….

To be honest, my biggest block to get back to writing here is that I have been just in survival mode for a long time. Working in a job where you stand for hours at a time with really bad knees left me with very little energy to do much of anything beyond care for my family, and we had a lot happening around here that needed my energy. I haven’t given myself the grace and kindness to realize I honestly was doing the best I could do for what I needed to do for what was most important for myself and my family during that season. It has been so important for me to finally realize this. I hope if you learn nothing else from my writing today, is that you remember to treat yourselves with the grace and kindness you would extend to others.

And so it turns out, I am finally ok with doing the best I can. This blog and my work here is a one woman show. But it is written by a woman with a family who has really needed her a bit extra for the past little a while, and I feel really good about showing up for them when it was needed. It is written by someone who has been in survival mode for a few years due to intense joint pain, but was trying to wait until I was a bit older to get those joints replaced. And I finally did! This year, after I turned the big 50, I had one knee replaced in July and one 3 weeks ago. I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in that area. Woo! But the truth is that it will be a year of PT exercises, extra naps when needed while I am healing, and generally reminding myself that this is a process and to be kind to myself and it is ok if I just do the best I can.

One thing I do promise is that I will finish answering all the emails from questions I received from the Online Nourished Festival presentation. I appreciate your patience if I have not answered you yet. I did have over 1700 people in my session and received hundreds of emails with questions. I’ve worked through a lot of them, but still have about 100 or so to go. I will get back to you as I am answering as many as I can each day for about an hour at a time. It is time dedicated to you all blocked out in my planner. 🙂 That is as long as I can currently stay at the computer with my knees still healing at this time. Thank you so much for your understanding and patience. I appreciate it more than I can express!

Filed Under: About the Blog, Christmas, Holiday, Links, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized Tagged With: holidays, organize, plan simple

It turns out, you still need to eat…

October 29, 2018 by angelaskitchen


“Are you done yet?” ~ Blaze, the wonder pup

Hello, there. I’ve taken so much time off from the blog, that as time has gone on it has become more and more difficult to restart things. I also felt maybe I should explain where I’ve been, which slowed me down from posting as well. Some things that happened were just the business of life, some things were other peoples’ stories to tell. And some things…. well, some things are just tough to talk about on what I always think of as my safe, delicious place.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom that kept me busy. I was up to some fun things, too, while away. I had some great job opportunities. I had 2 kids graduate from high school. I wrote a couple cookbooks (a gluten free and a slow cooker one) and a dairy free one will be out in March. My oldest graduated from college and started being a full-time Adult (notice the capital letter). I celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary, which just proves that if you can find that one special someone you can annoy for the rest of your life, you’ll be set. However, in the midst of all the good things, bad things got tangled together as well. Life can be like that sometimes.

My parents have lived with us for the past 16 years and last summer my dad was diagnosed with Espophegal Cancer. In fact, I had gotten the advance copy of my first book on the same day that his cancer was confirmed.  My book, which I had been dreaming about doing for who knows how long, suddenly didn’t seem important in the of scheme of things. Like I said, all the good and bad tangled up with each other. My dad’s cancer was pretty tough to treat and he did end up passing away this past March.

Yesterday I finally shook my head clear of the fog it’s been in, and decided that it was time to get myself in gear. I’m feeling the stirring of creativity again, the desire to share, the energy to put back into it again. Grief is a funny thing. It can really sap your energy on a deep level. I have suffered, what I can only describe as a grief relapse from time to time. While I know it is a perfectly normal thing to go through, when they happen they are hard on my productivity. Trying to push through grief is like moving through mud, where everything takes a little more energy, like something (or several things) has been added to my to-do list every day.  Have breakfast, miss dad, get ready for the day, miss dad, send emails, miss dad, start laundry, miss dad, go to work, miss dad, pick up groceries, miss dad… Grief just takes up so much time, like having a whole other job that wants all of your attention.

The fog is receding now, the work of it, anyway, and I’m settling back into a groove. I hope you’re all well, and sorry for the silence. To be honest, I had quite a bit of struggle around writing about this. When he was sick, I felt it was his story to tell, and he wanted to play it out pretty close to his chest… But now, well, even in my everyday life I find I edit much of my talk about it all. How I miss him and how much sometimes I am angry at the cancer or at him for not taking care of himself, but mainly how the whole thing was just hard. When talking about it with friends I find myself scanning their faces for signs that I should change the subject, or that I am not very fun right now, or that it is just too, too much… I do know I need to be honest with how I feel, but still worry about what the other person needs enough that I do try to keep it to myself as much as I am able. I am a person that is pretty good at sorting out my own insides anyway. But sometimes grief can have a way of leaking out, so be warned I may give in to the urge to write about it now and then. Don’t worry, I’ll try to balance it out with something delicious.

…

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Filed Under: About the Blog, Autumn Menu Plan, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Menu Plan

Thoughts on a spiffy blog…

May 3, 2012 by angelaskitchen Leave a Comment


 

Hi!  You might have noticed the blog had a bit of a face-lift last week.  It has been around for almost 6 years and needed a little something.  Ok, honestly, it needed a LOT of something.  🙂  I didn’t do this by myself.  Oh, no…  I make food, people.  Computer code makes me cry…

This is on my Facebook page...

The wonderful person who helped me was Amanda of Small Packages Media.  Besides web design,…

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Filed Under: About the Blog

Menu Plan Monday will be a day late…

January 9, 2012 by angelaskitchen Leave a Comment


Oof…  The day has just gotten away from me.  Busy, busy with work and busy, busy with family and other bits of life…  We just got back from the 8th grade night to check out the high school.  Eek!

I need to go upstairs now and see if I can convince my teens to let me build a cryogenic freezer in the back yard.  I need to stick my kids in there so they stop growing, but for some reason they aren’t keen on that even though I know how to double wrap so they wouldn’t get freezer burn.  Apparently they think I should let them grow up.  Sigh.  I guess I’ll have to settle for some big hugs then…

See you tomorrow with the week’s menu!


Filed Under: About the Blog

Getting ready for a trip…

October 3, 2011 by angelaskitchen Leave a Comment


Hi, everyone!  I am taking this week to get ready for a family trip to the Outer Banks with my family.  The past couple of weeks I have been a busy little blogger – baking, taking photos of food and getting a bit “ahead” on posts to give me a bit of a cushion for when these busy weeks come up in life.  So, even though this next week I’ll be on vacation, I’ll be here with Menu Plan Monday and some other fun things I have pre-posted.  It feels good to have regrouped and get a bit ahead for you guys!

 

If you just can’t wait until next week and need a new recipe now, don’t forget to check the archives and see what I have tucked away.  I have 5 years of recipes and menu plans for you to explore.  You just might find something you didn’t know was there!  🙂

 

See you next Monday.  Hope you all have a great week!

 

If anyone knows of gluten free friendly restaurants, grocery stores, or bakeries in the Nags Head, NC area or the Williamsburg area, I would love to hear about it!  What do you recommend?


Filed Under: About the Blog

Just a bloggy break… The sunshine is calling me, baby!

July 22, 2011 by angelaskitchen


I’ve been taking a bit of a bloggy break since our camping trip, working on some upcoming e-books, hanging with the kiddos, canning, enjoying the sunshine.   I’ll be back on Monday, July 25th.  See ya then!


Filed Under: About the Blog

Need my recipes sorted by your food allergies?

June 17, 2011 by angelaskitchen Leave a Comment


All the recipes on this blog are Gluten Free, Wheat Free, and Dairy Free.

Have another dietary needs?  All recipes from here on will be labeled with allergen info.  I will also be sorting the older recipes out by the same categories. Please remember I have to sort these one recipe at a time, for five years of blog entries (that is a LOT of sorting!)…  Thank you for your patience!

Allergen specific recipe tabs can be found on my recipe page.  I am hoping it is another helpful tool for you.

If you are feeling abundantly generous feel free to donate. Don’t feel guilty if you are not able.  Any donations go toward keeping Angela’s Kitchen running and toward getting extra ingredients to to develop recipes for you, my readers.   :) Thank you!


Filed Under: About the Blog, Dairy Free, GFCF, Gluten Free, Recipe Tagged With: Corn Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Fish Free, GFCF, Gluten Free, Peanut Free, Pork Free, Shellfish Free, Soy Free, Tree Nut Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Gluten Free-zer Friday… Not so much…

June 10, 2011 by angelaskitchen Leave a Comment


I’m skipping this today.   It’s not so fun putting stuff out there every week with no response.  Boring for me and boring for you.  Let’s move on, shall we?  Instead of posting, I’m going to spend the time with my kiddos instead.  :o)  And maybe mow the lawn, do some laundry or bake a gf pound cake.  I am not sure when/if this feature will return.  I’ll just have to see how it goes…

 

I’m felling a blog revamp coming on…


Filed Under: About the Blog

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I am so happy when someone tries one of my recipes. I do ask, though, that you link back to the recipe instead of posting it on your site unless you have made major changes. I have big plans for some of my recipes. Please remember, recipes are for personal use only. I do NOT give permission for any recipe, article, photo, etc. partially or in whole from angelaskitchen.com to be used for profit on another site, in published medium of any kind, or to be copied in part or whole. You MUST contact me for permission if you would like to use a recipe on a paid/membership website, in a restaurant, store, bakery, etc. for profit even with your adaption (this includes any “clubs”, membership sites, etc. that repackage other bloggers work for a fee, even if the original had been adapted or put into another form). THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING. 🙂

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