Pizza, Autism, & Food-Blogging Nieces: You Need 2 out of 3

My sweet niece is a food blogger–an amazing food blogger, by the way. You should follow her, like her, and do all that other social media stuff to her. She has poured out her energy into finding the healthiest, most delicious ways to tweak everyone's favorite recipes so we will all live longer and happier and all that. Honestly, check out her website-- krystenskitchen.com. But don't click the link yet!! Allow me to continue first.....

Krysten has been kinda like the sister I never had. I used to beg my parents to give me a sister when I was young––'beg' might not even be a strong enough word. And, as some of you know, that just never happened. But now I have one. You'd never know that I'm 24 years older than her. Have laughed more with her than anybody--she's hilarious. So thankful for such a precious friendship, and even more blessed & grateful that she is family.

Krysten had always been the "fun cousin" my five kids looked forward to spending time with. But when Jeremy came along? It was an instant bond both ways. They love hanging out. They have inside jokes. They face-time. They sing. Doesn't matter that

they're 23 years apart–they're best buddies.

So when Jeremy was diagnosed with Autism–and being the amazing food-blogger she is, knowing how much diet affects health–Krysten started in on researching ways we could help him through this crazy, difficult scenario by choosing foods that would give him a better chance at controlling his emotions, his outbursts, his tantrums. We had already realized how much white refined sugar had been adversely affecting him and had removed that from his diet, but Krysten then suggested trying The Autism Diet to see if that would help things. (see my original blog on Jeremy here).

So what is the Autism Diet? It basically removes all of my favorite foods, ha. No sugar, no gluten, no dairy, no fun. OK, yeah, it's not about me. This is about giving my son the tools to fight a very real diagnosis that is crippling him. And if this helps curb some or all of his difficult mood swings, we're in. Jeremy does work with an ABA Therapist four hours a day, and this has helped tremendously, but we are very open to finding other ways to help him. The bonus comes with having a professional food blogging niece. 😊 I'm telling ya–every parent of an autistic child should get one; but since that's difficult to come by, I'll share mine with you. Here's her link: krystenskitchen.com. But WAIT. Stop it. Don't click it yet, I'm not done!

Pizza is one of Jeremy's go-to foods. Pizza with bacon. He craves it. He talks about it non-stop. Begs for it. Since Krysten knew this, she started taste-testing gluten free options for us–(yet another reason every parent of an autistic child needs a professional food blogging-niece. Nasty job, but somebody has to do it. Thank you, K!!) Here is what she found: the BEST TASTING GLUTEN-FREE/SUGAR-FREE PIZZA DOUGH hands down is made by Namaste Foods.

(And yes, I do know what their name means--"the god in me greets the god in you." Yikes. But I don't have to agree with their worldview in order to enjoy their food. If that were the case, I'd probably starve since that would eliminate most every food company around.) You can order it here and thank me later. But again, do this later. 😊

So last night we tried this as one of Jeremy's "activities" during therapy. Great fun for him, and took care of the chore of making dinner all in one fell swoop. Sweet!

Not only did Jeremy love it, but the whole family thought it was one of the best tasting pizzas we've ever tried. Totally! Couldn't believe it. Thought it would taste like cardboard. Nope. And the aroma that filled the kitchen while it baked was also amazing. SCORE!

God is good. He gives good gifts. Jeremy is one of them. And how I take care of this precious gift shows the depth of my gratitude. No sugar? ✔️ No gluten? Working on it. And thankful to be working on it with my professional food-blogging niece (you just have to get one!). NOW you may go check out her website. And you WILL thank me later...guaranteed.