Hi, I’m Jeana
I’m the wife of my amazing husband, Jeremy, who I work with professionally as we own and manage our auto repair shop in Rochester, MN. And I am the mom of three great young men, Jake, Jayden & Jace, and one lovely daughter, Briella.
Over the years, my love for cooking, baking and creating has increased as I’ve learned and grown and fed all of these mouths with a desire to thrill all of their taste buds. In the beginning, I used gluten, lots and lots of gluten. I never even knew there was such a thing as a gluten-free diet … until. Until it became my new way of life in 2008.
It has been my mission to alter my favorite recipes and develop new ones so wonderfully that nobody would even know they were gluten-free. But that’s not all. I have learned of so many over the years that have struggled with this whole gluten-free thing. It sounds awful to so many—some people even think that “gluten-free” means “taste-free”. Friends, this couldn’t be further from the truth!
That’s why I’m here. I am passionate about helping people discover that there is life after gluten. Not only that, but it’s a R-E-A-L good life. I’m here to share all I have learned about gluten-free living, how you can live it well with some tips, tricks, and recipes, and how you can be brilliant in the kitchen as you show off your new skills with those you love.
My Story...
In 2008 I began noticing numbness and tingling in my extremities. At first, I ignored the symptoms, hoping they would go away. When they started getting worse, and I became fatigued more easily, I started researching what it could all mean.
Thanks to all-knowing Google, I had self-diagnosed my condition as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Thinking that I needed to get started on some sort of medication, I decided that I'd better be seen by a neurologist to verify my diagnosis and begin necessary treatments.
Diagnosis
My neurologist was puzzled by my symptoms (they did not fit MS) and test results (the only thing abnormal was my iron at a 4—normal is 35.5 – 44.9). On a hunch, he decided to run one more test for possible gluten sensitivity. I returned to his office the day before Thanksgiving for the results. The normal range for the test is <36. My result was 360 (ten times the norm)—pointing to Celiac Disease or gluten sensitivity at the very least.
I was referred to a Celiac Disease specialist at Mayo Clinic who performed an endoscopy to verify the diagnosis. Positive. My little villi no longer had the little projections sticking out to absorb nutrients. That is why my iron was so low. And it also explained the numbness and tingling (peripheral neuropathy), which was likely caused by malabsorption of the nutrients needed to keep my nerves healthy.
Though I was thrilled Google had been wrong, I was still pretty devastated with the diagnosis—a sure death sentence for my tastebuds. I lived on gluten. Wheat Chex, bagels, bread, pizza, pasta, pies, cakes—if it had gluten in it, it had a place in my heart.
So, I did what any normal person would do on Thanksgiving the following day—I gorged on all the gluten I could possibly stuff into my mouth as a grand finale send-off to my beloved gluten-filled diet.
And then, for the next six months, I grieved the loss of gluten. Not only that, I grieved with flare. Not good flare, mind you, but the spoiled-brat kind of flare.
Case in point: One day, my mother-in-law made her to-die-for cinnamon rolls that I could smell from the bedroom. When I came out to see everyone eating and heard how amazing they were, I acted like a two-year-old and promptly returned to the bedroom to have a little temper tantrum. Humbly, I confess, this is 100% true.
I know I had other moments of gluten-loss insanity, but the cinnamon rolls are the one I remember most vividly—sending me right over the edge into depression due to my loss.
I'm sure I drove my family bonkers with my incessant complaining and "poor me" selfish, grumbling attitude. But I just could not seem to get out of that funk—a funk that was completely un-Jeana-like since I am typically one to overcome and persevere in times of difficulties.
Enough was Enough
Finally, one day, around the six-month mark, I decided enough-was-enough. I had a truthful pep-talk with myself, and I was ready to not only accept the challenge ahead but to crush it!
The truth was, I had learned how to cook many wonderful meals and desserts over the years. So, was I going to let a stupid disease stop me from learning to do the same without gluten? Not a chance!
I hunkered down and got to work.
Learning, Living and Loving Gluten-Free
At the beginning, I had to make flours from scratch using rice flours, potato starch, tapioca flour, xantham gum, and many other strange ingredients I had never even heard of.
But now, so many years later, as more and more people have come aboard the gluten-free train, there are not only wonderful flour mixes but amazing products that allow our gluten-free taste buds to sing once again!
I cook and bake many things from scratch, but truth be told, I am not sad at all that I don't have to make my flour from scratch anymore. The flours available today have evolved, and there are many good ones to choose from. I've tried many, just like I've tried many kinds of pasta, processed foods, bread, and other gluten-free items. I'll be sharing my favorites with you. I know I have not used all that is available (please feel free to share your favorites as well!). I am simply using my experience to coach you from what I have learned, lived, and come to love.
On a side note, I am an extremely sensitive Celiac. Whereas I had no GI symptoms before my diagnosis, I now become sick with just a crumb of gluten. Therefore, I maintain a very strict diet—ultimately, this is what every Celiac should do since we never know what even a tiny bit of gluten might be doing to our insides even if we don’t have symptoms. This is the point of view I will be speaking from across my recipes and blog posts.
I am excited that you have joined me here and look forward to our journey together.