Contributors

Kim Maes

Kim’s family’s journey to gluten-free and allergy-free cooking began when her oldest son was 15 months old. He had not gained weight in months, was constantly pale, had a very distended belly and always seemed tired. After much research and many doctor visits, they finally discovered that he had Celiac Disease – a serious digestive disorder triggered by gluten. Once they removed gluten from his diet – the protein found in wheat, barley, malt, rye, and countless other products – his health just took off. He gained a lot of much-needed weight, grew many inches in height, his color came back, and he finally had the energy level of a normal toddler.

However, as her son grew better, her husband started noticing (or rather, stopped ignoring) strange intestinal symptoms of his own. Because Celiac is a disease that most often runs in families, he decided to get tested himself and, sure enough, he too tested positive for Celiac Disease.

Thus came Kim’s challenge of keeping them both fed. Because she had always enjoyed cooking, Kim decided to conduct some of her own experiments in the kitchen to see if she could make meals that were gluten-free but tasted more like the food they had previously been accustomed to. As she embarked on this cooking journey, she became passionate about learning how to feed my entire family as healthily as possible.

This passion drove Kim to begin work on a Master’s Degree in Nutrition so that she could become as educated as possible to ensure she was doing everything right. Kim started having so much fun on her new educational path that she wanted to help others find a way to enjoy feeding their families while dealing with food allergies as well. Learning how to eliminate allergies and substitute other ingredients in everyday cooking can be slightly overwhelming, especially when you are first starting out. Teaching others how to learn to enjoy allergy-free cooking and focus on healthy living has become Kim’s mission. And her hope is that her website, iPhone and iPad Application will be the tools to do just that.

Follow Kim on Twitter and Facebook.

Alta Mantsch

For as long as Alta can recall, she’s had a fascination for food and cooking. As a child, she was in the kitchen with her mother, asking to help, and tasting carrots, onions, or tomatoes as she chopped them for a salad, asking about the necessity of various ingredients in chocolate chip cookie dough, and learning the meaning of “stiff, but not dry” when referring to egg whites whipped for an angel food cake.

When her father made his appearance in the kitchen, Alta learned the powerful impact that spices had on rounding out, or dramatically changing, the flavor of a dish. She didn’t grow up with extravagant meals by any stretch, but as a child, she learned that with a little creativity, a delicious meal can be had, even on a budget. That philosophy stays with Alta in the kitchen even today.

As a young adult, her meals mostly consisted of ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese, or Special K for dinner. Once she tired of all of that, she attempted various dishes, and started to cook recipes from books. There were times when she called good ol’ Mom up to ask her questions (“Mom, what exactly is in your meatloaf? What about that goulash stuff you used to make for us?”) Alta gives credit to those family members who were subjected to the results of her first attempts. Although they were mostly successful, there were definitely a few nights of “less-than-pleasurable” eating. But it wasn’t until fairly recently that she decided to venture outside of her comfort zone in the kitchen, and attempt to learn and build on her knowledge, and document those successful recipes along the way.

Since June 2009, Alta’s blog Tasty Eats At Home has been gluten-free, and will continue to be gluten-free. She made a decision to eliminate gluten from her diet in an effort to eliminate a lot of the symptoms she had been experiencing for years. (Read more about this here).  She then eliminated dairy in July 2010. Now, if she eats the smallest amount of gluten, those symptoms return in a flash.  She is elated to have found the “enemy”.   Although Alta is not a professional, she can figure out how to make a cake, bread, cookies, and other delicious treats gluten-free!  Her goal is to share with you delicious, gluten-free food that can bring your heart joy and nourish your body, one recipe at a time.

Follow Alta on Twitter and Facebook.

Tess Masters

Tess Masters is an Australian actor, presenter and voice over artist living in Los Angeles, CA.
Her alter-ego “The Blender Girl”  writes a quirky blog called Healthy Blender Recipes, sharing super quick and easy vegetarian, vegan, and raw recipes using a blender, mixer or food processor.

Tess uses blending as a metaphor for life: combining different ideas and concepts; notes and flavours; and philosophies and cultures in order to find a healthy balance for happiness. So “blend and live” was born, and she started blogging two years ago.

All of her healthy recipes are gluten free, and utilise whole foods and natural flavourings and sweeteners. Many of the recipes are also dairy free, egg free, nut free, and soy free. You can search for recipes for specific diets or food allergies by using the handy clickable icons on her website.

In 2011, Tess joined Chow.Com by filming a series of blender-inspired videos for their “Chow Tips” series. She also writes the new eco food blog for Go Green America TV, and is a regular recipe contributor to Super Raw Life Magazine and Super Living. She and her recipes have been featured on many sites around the world, including Chow, Epicurious, Glamour and many others. Most recently Zeste magazine in Canada featured Healthy Blender Recipes as one of their favourite allergy free blogs.

Tess has a very busy work schedule in film, t.v, radio, commercials, animation, video games, and narration, but also enjoys writing and recipe development. Most recently, she created a series of recipes using the Square One Organics products, and a series of anti-cancer smoothies for the Thrive Alive Foundation. She is passionate about green issues; connecting with people in the wellness community; and is delighted to be joining the fabulous team at Balanced Platter.

Follow Tess on Twitter and Facebook.

Adrienne Urban

Adrienne, of Whole New Mom, is a wife and homeschooling mother of two boys, one of whom has Asperger’s Syndrome and life-threatening food allergies. In her past life she worked in the financial services industry and also taught in Japan.

Adrienne has a passion to help others navigate the sea of information on the road to healthier lives, while trusting God for the results of their efforts. Additionally, she is a blossoming food freedom advocate. Because she loves to (and can’t afford not to ), she specializes in frugal living and simplifying special diets.

Follow Adrienne on Twitter and Facebook.