I was never into food, cooking or baking as a kid or adult, until I went Vegan; six years ago.  From day one I had my apron on, hair tied back and a cookbook in hand, cooking up a storm.  I discovered vegan potlucks a few years after going vegan and my favourite thing to bring was cookies, easy to make and they travel easy.

When I first discovered I had an allergy to gluten it was wonderful and horrible all at once.  I was eating a whole lot healthier (more salads and less bread) and I had no idea how to bake a darn thing.  I discovered white rice flour, xanthan gum and guar gum and thought it was the best thing ever to bake with.

Flash forward a few years later, including a trip to Seattle's Flying Apron and a diploma later in Holistic Nutrition.  I no longer use white flour, white sugar, egg-replacer or vegan margarine in any of my baking and it still turns out amazing!  I use whole foods gluten-free flours, coconut oil, sugar alternatives and my Flying Apron baking book in hand. 

The other day I realized I have never made GF vegan shortbread cookies in my life, and sure enough they turned out amazing and I find them quite addicting! I didn't have a rolling pin, nor did I have circular cookie cutters, so I used what I had; a wine bottle filled with water to roll dough and glasses to shape the cookies; some people may call this white trash, but I got to say it's frugal.

Some people argue that if you multiple food allergies (like yours truly) your diet is really limited.  It's true in some ways, but not in others. I have rice flour, chickpea flour, buckwheat flour,quinoa flour, teff flour in my freezer and those that think we don't eat a varied diet probably just have wheat flour in their cupboards.