"Our History"
Hello,
My name is Lucy Shriver. I founded The Gluten Free Kitchen in 1996 after
being diagnosed with Celiac Sprue and Dermatitis
Herpetiformis. After being
diagnosed, I was told by my physician, that it was a rare disease, with little
information available. I was given
two pages from a medical journal and told
that I should refrain from eating whole wheat bread. I began investigating
Celiac
Sprue and Dermatitis Herpetiformis. Along the way I was often given misleading
information by various physicians, dieticians, and some
internet web sites.
After a year of research and experimenting in my kitchen, I began to create
Gluten Free recipes that I could eat and that my family liked too, even
though they are not Celiacs. I have created this web site to help other
individuals with this disease cope. I try to update the recipe files once a month,
but if you are looking for a specific recipe e-mail me at
gfkitchen@yahoo.com
and I will do the best I can to accommodate you.
I urge anyone with this disease to become a Food Label Detective. Ingredients
can change from batch to batch. Manufacturers often
change ingredients, and you
should always read the label even if familiar with a particular product. I also see a
lot of
sites that state it is
safe for a celiac to eat out if they follow a few basic
rules.
This is not always true. For example: I read in one publication that when you
are
in a Mexican restaurant always order the beans and rice or while in a Chinese
restaurant order things in a white sauce. This is so untrue
and you could have
a serious allergic reaction, if you follow this advice. Let me just say, that
when
you were first diagnosed with this disease, you were probably unaware how many
foods and additives contain gluten. If you asked the chef in a Chinese
restaurant
if the white sauce on the stir fried vegetables and rice contained gluten, he
would
probably tell you that it did not contain gluten. He did
not realize that
the soy sauce
or the modified food starch contained gluten. This would be a honest mistake,
but
could cause you pain in the
long run.
I am not a physician, I am just a individual trying to cope with this
disease and help
others along the way.
I wish you lots of luck and if you have any questions or comments you can
reach me at gfkitchen@yahoo.com
Lucy Shriver
The Gluten Free KitchenŠ 1996 - 2007