My Story

  I am a true foodie.  I love to eat, prepare, and think about food.  Ask me about a trip or an event and I may not remember what I did or saw, but I will most likely remember what I ate.  My passion for food led me to Culinary school where I received degrees in Culinary Arts and Food and Beverage Management.  There I learned to create rich sauces, bake flaky pastries, balance flavors and manage food production.  I adored it.  I put the skills I acquired into various food service occupations, including my own catering business.  I enjoyed working in the world of food until I was blessed with the privilege of being a mother.  At that point I focused my efforts on working inside the home with my family.

   In 1998 I was diagnosed with Crohns disease and had part of my small and large intestines removed.  Over the next 10 years I took pills, had iv therapy, gave myself shots, and spent time in hospitals.  Throughout this journey with disease I began to look at food in a whole new way.  I read through every diet and nutritional book I could get my hands on.  In my search, the Lord led me to a book by biochemist Elaine Gottschall called "Breaking the Vicious Cycle".  The book explains the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) and how following it strictly can heal the digestive track from damage done by disease or bacterial imbalance.  The SCD has helped thousands of people eliminate or control the debilitating symptoms of diseases like Crohns, colitis, celiac, diverticulitis, diabetes and food related allergies.  I was impressed with the enormous amount of testimony of healing I discovered on the Internet.  I went on this strict grain-free, sugar-free, nothing processed diet for 18 months and found healing.  I no longer take any medications and am able to eat a normal diet again.

   Being on a very strict diet brought me back into the kitchen doing a lot of scratch cooking.  The SCD is very restrictive so I was stretched creatively.  I used ingredients I had never worked with before, and found new ways to make favorite recipes.  My family and I were eating so much healthier.  Even though I am no longer strictly following the SCD, I still cook and eat a lot of what I did while on the diet.  My passion for food has blossomed into a passion for healthful eating.  I enjoy working with nutrient-rich foods and creating meals that not only taste good, but assist the body in fighting illness and disease.