So many things have happened since my last post in May, 2019! Hand surgery, joining my local Druid Grove, multiple vegan expos as a vendor, R & D for 21 new Freely Vegan products, Covid changing the world and dealing with Covid supply chain interruptions, dealing with the new social isolation, and trying to manage being ventilator-dependent during a global pandemic are just a few of the highlights and challenges of the past 18 months!
I had postponed needed surgery on my right hand, wrist, and elbow for a couple of years and couldn’t wait any longer as my hand was numb and in constant pain. So, right after my post on The Ultimate Guide to Making Vegan Honee, I had all three procedures done on the same day. I expected to lose a couple of weeks of work, but I never thought it would take me four months to be able to begin to use my dominant hand again. I’m very glad I had the surgery as it completely reversed the numbness and chronic pain, but it has been a very long recovery. I needed over a year of weekly occupational therapy to regain mobility and strength and I still see my awesome OT every two weeks.
My mom and I joined our local Druid Grove, and we love the community of like-minded folk that we have grown to view as extended family. I’m so glad that we had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with them in person before Covid hit, because the Grove has been holding all of our rites by Zoom since March. We meet online for 8 high days and 13 Druid moons each year, plus weekly social or educational events. This sense of community has really helped us deal with the social isolation of Covid! (Our Grove is part of Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship and you can click on the link if you want to learn more about it.)
Prior to Covid and after my hand began to recover, we were vendors at nine vegan and gluten free expos. I loved being able to talk to thousands of people at these events and to share samples of my cakes, cookies, donuts, onion dip, and chips made with Freely Vegan products! We were scheduled for 18 more events this year that were cancelled due to Covid, and I really miss these in-person connections and hope that someday we will be able to go to them again.
Most of you know that I founded a company called Freely Vegan a few years ago. (The name comes from being both gluten free and vegan.) My specialty is research & development, and it was really challenging to be working with the best gluten free flour, but not be able to share all of my recipes with you because it wasn’t available yet! Since my last blog post, I spent much of my time developing 21 new Freely Vegan products! We now have 13 baking mixes, 5 more seasoning blends, vegan ice cream mixes and hot cocoa mix, in addition to The Plant Based Egg, Freely Vegan GF Flour, and So Cheezy seasoning. I have so many new recipes using these awesome products and I can’t wait to share them with you!
Covid has caused fear and uncertainty for everyone and that was exacerbated for me as someone who has a trach and is ventilator dependent. There are many shortages of needed equipment like ventilator circuits, alcohol wipes, and gloves. My home care company has been incredible and they have done a fantastic job of making sure I have the essential supplies, but it is still a very scary situation. Hospitals are short on ICU beds, don’t have sufficient PPE, and the staff are overworked. Being on a ventilator means that any hospital stay requires an ICU bed, so this is a big deal. Fortunately, I have stayed healthy and not needed to be in the hospital, but it is still stressful to know that I might not be able to get the care I need if I do get sick.
So, it has been an incredible, overwhelming, exciting, scary, and very strange 18 months since my last post! Overall, things are going very well considering the current global pandemic. I am so grateful that all of my family is doing ok, and that I have a strong community of friends to help with staying connected. I hope all of you are holding up too, and that you are finding ways to cope with all that is happening.
I’m so glad to hear you are doing well. I love all your recipes. GFxV can be a real challenges to some of us and we use your cocoa mix, and pumpkin pie recipe year around. My husband loves them so much. Your spice recipes are the best. I’m ordering your mixes with complete confidence they will be exceptional. Your R&D is right on. Thank you so much.
Hi Pat! Thank you so much for your kind words – you have absolutely made my day! I hope you love all of the mixes and be sure to watch for my next post showing how to use the Freely Vegan Muffin Mix to make pumpkin cream cheese swirl muffins. They are vegan and gluten free, of course, and so very good!