Heartfelt Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

Somehow I've gotten off my schedule. I slept in till 8:50 this morning. I must have needed the extra sleep. Yesterday I was thinking of the next holiday and made this heart pinch bowl adding underglaze decoration. I decided to make the rim flat and thick. It's a nice sturdy pinch bowl. I have ideas for other Valentine's pieces I'll be making coming up soon.

I made gluten free blueberry muffins yesterday. For simplicity I used a gluten free muffin mix and added blueberries and walnuts. They aren't half bad; Gary gave them his approval. This is the first baking I've done since I found out I have celiac disease. I was seriously ill for more than a year. My legs were swollen to five times their size and I had a severe rash over most of my body. The rash was the most terrible thing I've ever experienced. For months I could barely walk and Gary had to help me do most everything, shower, get to the bathroom, etc. I'm sparing you the really gory details. Then I had a partial bowl obstruction which thankfully resolved itself without surgery.

I still have bad days but I keep plugging along. I've learned not to eat in restaurants because I can never tell what their food might contain. I find if I only eat what I know is ok I do much better. When shopping I read every label of food before I purchase it. I can't use most processed foods. I even found out one grocery store adds gluten to their turkeys before they freeze them. I also found anything which says 'modified food starch' on the label I'm pretty sure has gluten in it. Now that I'm feeling more confident in my health, I plan to make more goals for myself this year. I also plan on venturing more into baking from scratch. Suzi from Smartcat sent me a cookbook which has lots of recipes I'll be working from. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.