About Shay

My 9 to 5… I am a meteorologist for the ABC station in Tampa.  When I am at home, I spend a lot of time cooking and baking, because that’s what I love to do!   If my husband and kids are in the kitchen with me… even better.  When I can have a glass of wine while cooking, well… that’s the best:-)

I’ve always believed strongly in Karma.  So when I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2012, I wasn’t entirely surprised. Afterall, my biggest pet peeves as a self proclaimed “foodie” were: first, excluding foods from your diet as a trend.  “Moderation in everything,” I would say.  My second pet peeve was when people would “special order” in restaurants.  “Chefs make it that way for a reason, so don’t change it!” I thought.  So now here I am “special ordering” and keeping gluten out of my diet. Thank you, Karma! Lesson learned!

Once I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I began experimenting with new ingredients while trying to make my favorite recipes. I will be completely honest here.  There were quite a few flops.  Eventually, I hit my stride and started making awesome food worth sharing again. Just as I was starting to feel confident about my cooking, my husband and kids developed their own food issues. Hey Karma!  I heard you the first time!!! Got it!

I got back on the horse, so-to-speak, and kept experimenting with more ingredients. I began perfecting recipes without eggs, dairy, nuts, meat, nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplant) and at one point… chocolate! My mind was about to explode at that point, but I kept cooking.  

Fortunately, it became a delicious journey.  Now I have this website as my playground, where I can share great recipes and be a part of the gluten free & food allergy community. There always seems to be more to learn and more delicious recipes to develop. The fun never ends!  Please feel free to holler at me in a private message if you have any questions about a recipe or would like to collaborate. Goodness knows, living with food allergies takes a village!