Why I'm baking from scratch

I thought I'd let my readers (all two of you) know why I'm baking pizza crust from scratch.

In two words: food allergies.

We found out early on that Nyssa is sensitive to dairy, so I cut all dairy out of my diet. It was very challenging at first, but I learned how to surround myself with yes foods (Oreo cookies are dairy-free!) and eventually find proper substitutes for my dairy cravings.

And then Brad had allergy testing done. Besides being allergic to 16 types of trees, all molds, grasses, and weeds (hello, lawn service), he is also allergic to shellfish, peanuts, eggs, corn, and soy. Take a look at the ingredients of just a few of the processed foods in your pantry, and chances are ALL of them will have some form of corn and/or soy. Pretty much any chocolate will have soy lecithin (an emulsifier) in it. I did find an organic chocolate bar at Target that does NOT contain the soy lecithin, so I've been buying those for him. Oh, and Breyer's ice cream is the purest stuff out there - all of the other brands at the local Kroger had corn syrup in them.

He's being a great trooper - he's finished two weeks of a four-week elimination diet (eating a LOT of grilled chicken and rice and salad with olive oil and vinegar) and has lost 6 pounds just doing that. After the four weeks are up, we will start testing the allergens one at a time in the purest form possible to see if he reacts. Based on the type of reaction, it'll be up to him to decide what foods to allow back in his diet and what to avoid completely.

So anyway, the reason I was making pizza dough from scratch is because all of the pre-packaged stuff contains either corn, soy, or dairy!