Introductions

I have been on an incredible journey the past several months. My gluten free (GF) journey has led me to a healthier and happier life. It didn't happen overnight, and it took a very long time for me to get over a bad case of being a hard head, and accepting that I truly needed to live gluten free if I wanted to be healthy.

Gluten is a complex protein that's found in wheat, barley and rye, and some oats due to cross contamination. With this blog, I will not be diving into the medical and technical facts behind Celiac disease, gluten allergies, or gluten intolerance. It took me a long time to figure out that gluten was causing me a lot of physical trouble. I don't have an official medical diagnosis of gluten intolerance, mainly because it's really hard to test for. The best test was to go gluten free and see if I felt better and see if the physical ailments disappeared. I have never felt better in years, and I love the GF lifestyle. So I simply want to share my experiences in starting and living the GF lifestyle so I can help others who are embarking on this same journey.

I've done a lot of reading, learning, and testing and I know I'll be doing a lot more reading, learning, and testing. I've changed my personal chef service to be a complete GF service. My husband Eddie & I worked very closely with the GIG (Gluten Intolerance Group of North America), the group that inspects manufacturers and gives them the official GF accredidation. My personal chef business is the first personal chef service in the nation that has been GF certified.

I am asked constantly how to switch to a GF lifestyle. This blog is created to help answer that question. There's a lot of GF supermarket finds, pre-made frozen dinners, breads, packaged dinners, cookies, crackers, etc. But I'm not focusing on supermarket GF meals, rather I'll be concentrating on homemade GF meals and baked goods. I will be talking about how I cook GF meals, what replacement ingredients I use, and you'll learn with me as I attempt to become a good GF baker. I'll share my experiences and lessons learned. I'll share recipes. I'll be honest and tell you about the successes as well as the failures. Even a personal chef likes to eat out at a restaurant from time to time, so I'll share with you which local restaurants provides really good GF fare, and places I have to avoid. I'll do all I can to help anyone who wants or needs to convert to a gluten free lifestyle.

So come with me and take The Ali Way to GF Goodness!