Why did I start making gluten free food?

My daughters and I have been creating gluten free and dairy free foods for about 8 years.  I had digestive problems all my life.  My middle daughter, Erica, had stomach problems since she was little. The doctors did not know why.

Erica and I started our healthy journey when we both went to school together at Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Two years later, Erica became very sick with Lyme disease. We went to Dr. Jonathan Dashiff, a doctor who specializes in Integrative Medicine, who was so caring and knew how to treat the cause of Lyme with many different approaches. He also said it was very important to follow a very strict gluten free diet, which means cutting out wheat, rye and barley. So long spaghetti and pizza :( 

Dr. Dashiff also said I should get a blood test to test for celiac since Erica had to get it from a gene that a may have. So the blood test came out positive. It turns out that Erica had celiac too, but found out later in life. 

We take family recipes and convert them to gluten and dairy free by adding or substituting ingredients. They are so much healthier and better for you than store bought food! Our first recipes that we made were Blueberry Green Tea Muffins, biscottis and macaroons. Then we started changing our whole diets to gluten free and felt ten times better! I never thought my friends and family would like my recipes so much, but to my surprise, I  created a small business out of it. People always come to me on a daily basis telling me that my advise of substituting dairy or gluten with other ingredients really helped them in their day to day living. 

Even though it was a rough time long ago when Erica was sick, I see it as a blessing in disguise because we would have never went to Dr. Dashiff, would have never found out our allergies, and would not have changed our diets for the better. I also would have not created my business or gone to Integrative Nutrition, and most importantly, would not be able to counsel people on living healthier lives.