The road to my diagnoses is a familiar one to those in the Celiac community. I spent years of my life with “mystery” stomach problems. Doctors thought I had IBS and others thought I was suffering from anxiety. (The only anxieties I had were of the where is the nearest bathroom persuasion.) My family thought I was simply creating pain to avoid school. It wasn’t until my mother was listening late one night to a holistic medical broadcast on stomach conditions that my family thought I may have a real problem. The doctor spoke of Celiac Disease and the closely associated Dermatitis Herpetiformis. I immediately googled these conditions. My new doctor, Dr. Google, showed image after image of patients with skin rashes just like mine and a laundry list of intestinal symptoms that might as well have been written about me directly. Armed with new knowledge, I ran straight to the doctor, who proceeded to tell me why I couldn’t have the disease but agreed to a blood test anyway. Sure enough the blood work came back positive, but my doctor still seemed unphased by the news and offered no advice. So I went back to Dr. Google and began to do all my own research and even found a better doctor, one willing to do a biopsy. It has been years of trial and plenty of error to get where I am today.
I had a hard time at first becoming aware of what was ok to eat and suffered from some serious food withdrawal. So after years of dealing with so-so quality Gluten free products, I took it upon myself to develop recipes that not only tasted great, but let me enjoy cooking and eating again.
My recipes are based on foods I truly missed during my first years since becoming Celiac aware. People can underestimate the enjoyment you receive from biting into a great sandwich- that does not need to be toasted, decorating cookies with your kids that can be enjoyed afterwards, and making food for the family that no one will need to worry about the ingredients. These are just a few things that I want you all to be able to experience again and not feel deprived because this is a life long road we all must follow.
-Tom Miller Owner/Baker
