Nut Butter Bread (GF) and my Blogging Story

    So.....it seems I've come down with some sort of virus. Low grade fever, chills and sore throat. So boo about that but also yay because I can blog again! Since I tend to primarily include recipes here, I thought I might write a post about myself and my story for being here.

     I am a university student with a passion for experimentation and creation of all types. Most bloggers have a story behind the birth of their sites. My motivation was to cure my acne issues. Additionally it offered a great way to save recipes for later use and encouraged my cooking creativity. After visiting many doctors and doing my own research, the only issue I have found that might cause my acne is probably a hormonal imbalance of low progesterone. Other than my acne symptoms, I sometimes have mild bouts of depression and excess energy. Both of which I have learned how to cope with and correct. However the acne is another story. It presents itself severely around my mouth and cheeks and flares near my cycle. I've had it since puberty and have been prescribed many topical and oral medicines for my condition. Everything I have been given such as antibiotics, steroids, and even dried chinese herbal supplements have had significant and sometimes debilitating side effects. I am hesitant to try synthetic hormone replacement and hope that I can cure myself through self diagnosis with topical and oral herbal medicines, and diet changes. I have always eaten relatively healthy because my mother has always fed our family well. However, it doesn't seem to be enough and I hope to record any other successes I might find on this site. I know many other people are struggling with severe acne and realize that treatment for every person is extremely unique. I feel as though most treatments I have received have been blanket diagnoses that are assumed to work for everyone with the same symptom even though the condition arises from different sources. I hope one day to find a way to fix my condition and not my symptoms and do so with tolerable side effects.

   I have tried implementing several changes in my lifestyle that are well known for curing acne.
Of these are:

• Eliminating food groups (gluten, dairy) to find allergies: none were found
• Eliminating junk food (such as chips, sugar and all natural sources of sugar such as honey, certain fruits and etc.). The results: I lost weight. No change in acne and it was very difficult, meaning it was something I probably could not maintain. I still avoid these foods as much as I can, just not entirely.
• Different levels of regular exercise (moderate to very intense): Again I lost weight. No change in acne.
• Washing my face several times a day with many topical treatments. Including not washing my face. I've had mild successes.
• Oil Cleansing Method with hemp oil: probably the most successful thing I have tried, however it is nowhere near strong enough to deal with PMS acne. I apply it at night before bed for optimal suppression of facial oil production.
• Currently I am experimenting with seed cycling to regulate my hormones, but results are supposed to take several months to appear.

So that is my story and why I am motivated to make changes in my lifestyle. My blog here is a chronicle of my journey and I hope it might help others resolve their own issues.

Now for that recipe as promised:

Gluten-Free Nut Butter Bread

 ~50 min

Adapted from Choisis La Joie's recipe for walnut butter bread (which I can't wait to try). I used simple unsweetened peanut butter and made small cupcake sized breads to test the taste. These took around 25 min to cook in the oven instead of 40.

 The taste and texture of this bread was wonderful for a gluten-less recipe! It very strongly tasted of peanut butter, but it was very simple to make. I can easily see myself buttering a slice for toast in the mornings.