introduction

 Introduction- 

Hi my name is Katie Wakefield and I'm the owner of "theblondetree". I established this blog front in efforts to support those going through college while being gluten free. Although some are gluten free by choice, I have a severe gluten intolerance meaning if I ingest gluten I will get sick, experience harsh symptoms, etc. Nearly 10% of college students in the United States have Celiac Disease which is hard to manage, especially in a new and isolated area such as UNC pembroke. I found out I had to stop eating gluten half way through my freshman year of college here at UNCP, I felt like there was nobody I shared common ground with as I watched other students go and get whatever they wanted from Chick Fila, Einsteins, and Papa Johns here on campus. I was constantly looking things up on the internet last minute, pre looking up menus, checking nutrition facts and ingredients, and rushing to figure out what I could eat with limited time frame in between classes. The first few months consisted of me strolling down isles of the grocery stores not even knowing where to start. Out of all the grocery stores with lots of alleged friendly options, Walmart and food lion are pretty low down on the list:/

I hope you enjoy reading about all the gluten free tips, tricks, and hacks I've picked up over the last year. I hope this finds someone who's struggling with something similar and needs a friendly place to fall back on, where they can get all the info they need at the touch of a button.