New Blogger- Kristen!

Hello! I just wanted to post to introduce myself as one of the new bloggers for Gluten Free Raleigh! My name is Kristen, and I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease this past September. Having always been a foodie and loving to cook and go out to eat, I was at first devastated with my diagnosis. However, I have learned to not let being restricted to gluten free foods stop me. Instead, its become my hobby to find new restaurants that accommodate to gluten free, exploring and testing new gluten free products, and find new ways to make my old favorite foods taste just as good without the gluten (which is surprisingly not that hard, even though I am Italian and my world pretty much revolved around pasta, bread, and breaded things).

As I am new to the whole Celiac thing, my "focus" for the blog will be on converting life to gluten free in the Raleigh/Chapel Hill area- from locating new GF foods at grocery stores, to finding GF health/beauty products you can find around here (how is gluten in almost ALL of my old makeup, styling products, and medicines!?!), to seeking out new restaurants both with a gluten free menu and those with an extensive knowledge of safely preparing gluten free foods.

Additionally, my fiance and I are currently planning our NC wedding- completely gluten free! I will also be sharing our experiences with finding local venues that can accommodate, a gluten free wedding cake, etc.

I look forward to posting!