Get to know you ~ Valerie

Good morning guys!  I really enjoyed the “get to know you” last week, so here it is again!  With a lovely reader that I didn’t even know was reading my blog!! 

I hope you enjoy her entry and her photos!!  Make sure to check out her blog too!  

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What is your name? Valerie

Give us a quick bio of who you are? I live in Washington, DC and am 31 years old. I have been married for almost four years, which seems fairly unbelievable considering it feels like we just got married yesterday.  I started blogging in April 2007.  On my blog, I do not discuss my professional life as a lawyer, but instead focus on all the things I enjoy in my personal time - like exploring museums and neighborhoods, yoga, cooking, eating, green beauty products, reading and sustainable eating and living.  
  
Blog addy if you have one? I blog at City|Life|Eats - the address is http://www.citylifeeats.com/

How long have you been a reader of Dairy Free Betty and what keeps you coming back?  I discovered Dairy-Free Betty right after you left a comment on the food wishlist blog post I wrote in early March, so I have been a reader for coming up on two months.   I remember being confused why I had not found your blog earlier, because we read several of the same blogs, including some of my very favorites for healthy eats inspiration like Meghan Telpner's blog, The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen, Girl on Raw, Loves Veggies and Yoga and the Voracious Vegan.   I keep reading Dairy-Free Betty because it's a fun blog about healthy eats and life.  I love that all your recipes are dairy-free as I am very intolerant to dairy myself.
What inspired you to start blogging?   I was thinking about that when I recently celebrated my third blog-birthday.  I started blogging as a creative outlet - I am a lawyer, and like many lawyers, love to write.   I thought blogging might help the frustrated writer inside me.  I initially wrote a beauty blog (with a focus on green beauty products)  the first few months I blogged, but soon enough, I found myself wanting to include other things about my life, and over time my blog has evolved into a reflection of all the things I love, namely city living, my life and food.  I started blogging when I lived in New York City, but kept the focus on city living when I moved to Washington, DC. In the last year, the food part of my blog has evolved to focus on allergy-friendly eats as I worked to figure out food intolerances that have affected my health.  My blog has allowed me to connect with several other people who have food intolerances, which has been really valuable on several levels.  Ultimately, blogging has been so much more than a creative outlet for me and I am very grateful for all the people it has allowed me to meet, whether it is because of shared interests or food intolerances or both.

What are 3 foods that you always have in your house?  Quinoa, spinach and unsweetened almond milk.
Favourite recipe?  Picking just one is so hard! Instead I will tell you about my favourite meal lately, which is vegan homemade pesto atop warm steamy quinoa with a side of kale salad.  The last time I made this was with a pesto made of ramps, but it works with any pesto.



What is your food eating style? (Whatever I see; clean; veggie; vegan; etc) The short answer is gluten-free, dairy-free and heavily plant-based.  In practice, this means I eat gluten-free vegan meals most days, with the occasional addition of wild-caught fish or some grass-fed chicken breast. I focus heavily on whole foods, avoid corn and eggs, and also avoid all refined sugars and most natural sugars too. I do  have a bit of a weakness for Daiya vegan cheese though.   

If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life… what would it be? Probably hummus. It is one of my absolute favorite foods, ever. 

If you were a crayon, what color would you be and why? A bright pink crayon. I love pink, but never wear enough of it in my life (I wear mostly black clothing with occasional bit of color).

If you could have one super hero quality – what would it be, and why?  The ability to heal quickly.  I have had enough health issues that, while I appreciate the benefits of working towards healing, I still would love the ability to heal quickly. And also to bestow that ability to others. 

If you were having a “themed” dinner part – what would be the theme, and what would you cook?  I love tapas and mezze, so it would be a spread of small plates.  I often do those for myself - I call them snack plates, and they a great way to make a meal fun (see picture).  A dinner party of mezze would be an excuse to make lots more dips and small plates and eat a variety of things.


What are 3 of your favorite blogs (with links)!!!!I have so very many favorite blogs, so I am going to tell you about three blogs  I am really loving as I figure out how to eat gluten-free and with multiple food allergies and restrictions:   Diet Dessert and Dogs, Affairs of Living and Gluten-Free Goddess but I also wanted to mention Gussying up the Tuttle, Blisschick, Hang on Little Tomato, Pencils Skirts and Pearls, Bleeding Espresso, My Bella Vita, Kaileen Elise .... ok, clearly, I read many blogs.  I am in the process of updating my blogroll to reflect the many blogs I read. 

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Thanks so much Valerie!!   I look forward to checking out all your links!!

Hope you guys have an amazing Saturday!!

Are you doing anything exciting this weekend?

I am going wedding dress shopping with my friend (not for me, mine is postponed for Tuesday), and then a mellow movie day most likely tomorrow!!

Ciao for now!

Jess