In 1998 I was diagnosed with celiac disease. The gluten-free diet did little to relieve my pain and symptoms. Quickly, I realized my ticket to health would not be the typical high-carb, gluten-free diet comprised of corn, rice, and potatoes. So I went grain-free, following a strict Paleo Diet and found almost immediate relief. Within a month I began to feel better. Soon after that, I began writing grain-free recipes to help others with autoimmune disorders like celiac.
This Amazing Community
I launched this website to share my easy recipes and healing tips with you. One of my favorite things has been answering your questions here on the website. You’re an amazing group of people and I love hearing from you! Elana’s Pantry is an incredible community that is very dedicated to healing. And when Times Have Been Tough you’ve blessed me with your unconditional support.
Top Reader Questions
I love chatting with you here! Most days I spend a good amount of time answering everything you ask. It is time well spent. I love helping people by sharing everything I’ve learned since that celiac diagnosis in 1998, and I also learn a lot from you!
Substitutions
The question I get asked most frequently is about substituting ingredients. I can’t be as helpful as I’d like with those queries because the only way to answer and know definitively is to test each possibility. I wish I could clone myself in order to do so!
Nutrition Information
The next question I field is for caloric information for my recipes. I provide the nutrition information for recipes in my third book, Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry. You don’t have to buy the book to take a peek at the macros for every single recipe because I provide it for free right here! I will also have it for my first two books very soon!
Health Puzzles
Finally, I often receive comments inquiring how to solve health puzzles and while I love all your comments, these are my favorite! I’ve recently answered questions about Reducing EMF Exposure, Treating Epilepsy Naturally, and the Ketogenic Diet, to name a few!
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Your Questions
Now I’d love to hear more from you! What health questions do you have? Is there something you’d like to learn more about? I’m so happy I get to connect with you every day, and also love breaking down complicated concepts into easily digestible information. How can I help you? Leave a comment and let me know!
Sarah says
Hi Elana! I am new to the keto lifestyle, but have suffered from an auto-immune disease almost my entire life or until I as diagnosed I suppose. I have tried every single diet and nothing has made me feel better than keto! I am still adjusting and trying to figure out new recipes that are healthy as well as making sure I’m having enough veggies, one of my vices is ketchup! I love it on almost everything but it is not really keto and I haven’t been able to find anything close to it, do you have a recipe that I could use?
Elana says
Sarah, I’m so happy to hear that you are enjoying keto and feeling good on it! I’m working on a new book and will likely have a keto ketchup recipe in that :-)
Lori says
Elana, I thought I read somewhere on your blog that you love to garden and work in the yard but that you don’t use toxic chemicals. I now use non-toxic cleaning supplies indoors but I don’t know how to keep the yard looking good without chemicals! HELP please! Oh and I live in Utah where the climate is similar to Colorado. Thanks!
Elana says
Lori, thanks for your comment! Here’s are 2 wonderful non-toxic sprays that we use in the garden to get rid of aphids, etc.:
https://amzn.to/2HH1y0w
https://amzn.to/2HHSloU
Enjoy!
Elana
Nina says
Dear Elana!
I didn’t read all the comments, so apologise if this was asked before.
What baking trays do you use? Muffin, cake tins etc. What material are they made of?
Kind regards,
Nina
Elana says
Nina, if you click in the instructions portion of any of my cookie recipes you will see a highlighted link for the baking sheets I use :-)
April says
Hi Elana,
I’ve been reading your blog for years and have all of your books. I appreciate you and all of your hard work!
I’ve got celiac disease and a thyroid issue (diagnosis is still in progress) and recently dealt with candida. My naturopath has transitioned me to a paleo diet and I’d like to take it a step further and go keto. She is behind this 100%. I’ve researched the keto diet quite a bit and a lot of people (most) log their food, count macros and measure ketones. Do you do this? Is it possible to be on a keto diet without counting and measuring?
Elana says
April, from personal experience I found that the first few months on the Keto Diet I needed to count and measure to get my body into a ketotic state. After that I was better able to wing it :-)
Donna in Inwood says
I have a question about coconut milk. But first, thanks for creating a forum like this for questions!
Like many others here, I have changed my diet due to health issues. So for the most part I eat Paleo, and avoid dairy. Coconut milk and other plant based milks are good subs.
Re: Coconut milk, I won’t buy it in cartons because it always contains additives in that form. So I was buying it in cans for awhile — and still do occasionally — but some folks say the cans are lined with bad chemicals that leach into the milk.
So lately I’ve tried buying it 2 ways — as a dehydrated “brick,” which is usually called “creamed coconut,” and has to be reconstituted with water before you can use it, and as coconut milk powder.
The dried “brick” form is kind of interesting, but it results in milk with a slightly gritty texture, no matter how much or how little water I use to reconstitute it. I mix it with warm water and then blend it with an immersion blender, and it does get nice and thick but, as I said, it’s gritty.
The other option — powdered form — is just weird, and I can’t get it to thicken up no matter what I do. It This also has to be mixed with water, and I have varied the ratio with only a little water, and a lot of water, and everything in between. And I have tried the immersion blender and my high-speed blender, and a whisk — nothing ever works. The powder and water never come together — it just stays runny.
So my question is — do you work with either form of coconut milk? How on earth do people make the powdered form work? If you don’t do either of these, do you use the canned variety? Maybe the chemical lining issue is not a big deal to you?
many thanks.
Elana says
Donna, thanks so much for your question! I buy BPA-free canned coconut milk and link to the brand I use in this recipe:
https://elanaspantry.com/strawberry-shake/
Enjoy!
Elana
ann says
Dear Elena,
How would I follow a keto diet without loosing weight, rather gaining?
Thank you
Elana says
Ann, that is totally possible. You would need to increase your total caloric intake above your daily maintenance requirement by increasing your fat :-)
H Read says
Hello Elana,
I have an enquiry. I have problems with my gut, I don’t seem to digest food well. It doesnt seem to matter what I eat without my stomach ballooning, and it stays like that for hours, actually it really never goes back to normal, properly. I am eating protein, egs eggs, they seem okay to not give me a yuk feeling tummy. Dairy is out as I have found anything with dairy makes me feel quite ill. I am wanting to loose weight as well and would love to eat to help me loose weight and keep my tummy feeling happy. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I also am battling the symtoms of menapause.
Elana says
H, when I’ve had digestive issues like you describe I stick to protein in the form of chicken and beef, along with some steamed greens. I’ve had to do this for months at a time on various occasions but it really works and takes the pounds off too :-)
Rachael says
Hi Elena,
Thanks for sharing your awesome recipes. I noticed that most of your recipes are using a food processor and some using blender.
As i do not have a food processor, would it matter that i use a hand blender or it wont turn out? I just started out keto baking and would love to hear your views.
Elana says
Rachael, thanks for your comment! I wish I had a crystal ball to look into when it came to substitutions of ingredients and method in my recipes, it would save me a ton of time. Unfortunately, the only way I would know would be to test this for each recipe, but I haven’t tried that so not sure. Sorry I can’t be of more help :-)
Dee says
Your site is very informative. Have you written on leaky gut syndrome yet? I’m fairly new, and not up on what already was written.
Elana says
Dee, here you go!
https://elanaspantry.com/how-i-healed-my-gut/
Enjoy!
Elana
Amy Rea says
Hi Elana,
I understand you don’t have time to answer a lot of substitution questions for various ingredients, but now that you are on the keto diet, would you ever consider making a note on your paleo recipes for how to convert the sugars (honey , agave) in those recipes to whatever sweetener(s) you are now using for your new keto diet?
Thanks,
Amy
Elana says
Amy, I have all time in the world to answer each and every question, and I love doing so! The tricky part with your request is that I would need to go back and test every single recipe in order to figure out what would work, and in which amounts. I am working on a new Keto Diet Book, so stay tuned for that :-)
Amy Rea says
Elana, I’m very excited to hear you are working on a new Keto Diet Book! I will keep an eye out for it. My question had been based on the presumption that you were still using your paleo recipes, but were one by one adapting them for Keto as you went about your day to day cooking. I’m sorry if I offended you. I really do appreciate you for sharing all your recipes. It’s just that I have been hesitant to try some of your paleo recipes because of the honey or agave that is used. I am pre-diabetic and I need to watch my sugar intake.
Thanks again for all you do for the specialized diet community, Amy
Elana says
Amy, you didn’t offend me at all! I love your questions. Thanks for being such a great fan :-)