Hello, and thanks for subscribing to my Gluten Free Email Course. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to answer all of your questions about eating gluten free, and show you how to not only stick to it, but to actually enjoy it!
My name is Mary Frances and I am the editor and cook at Gluten Free Cooking School. I wanted to write today to introduce myself and to tell you a bit about Gluten Free Cooking School (or GFCS, as my readers often call it). I also want to tell you more about the email course you’re going to be receiving and what to expect from it.
*** About Us ***
My husband, John, was diagnosed with celiac disease back in 1999. We were both in college at the time, and neither of us really knew anything about gluten or how to eat a gluten free diet. So John, trying to follow his doctor’s advice, avoided wheat as much as possible. This was enough to improve his symptoms to some extent, but not enough to entirely clear up the issue.
We got married in 2003, and I set myself the two-fold challenge of not only providing healthy gluten free food for John, but also (re)learning how to cook food that was delicious as well. I had learned to cook from my grandmother as a child and teenager, and I wasn’t going to let a little thing like gluten stand in the way of being able to enjoy the food that I was eating.
In 2006, after a few years of cooking gluten free for John, I began to have some stomach issues myself that were initially diagnosed as IBS. However, after seeing my doctor several times and eventually getting referred to an allergist, I was diagnosed with a wheat allergy. (Even though we were totally gluten free at home, I still ate wheat at work and other places outside of the house.)
Once I got the wheat allergy diagnosis, I was able to pinpoint exactly why I was feeling so crummy, and I was able to take the steps I needed to restore my health. After a few weeks, I felt great again, and it was terrific to know that I was able to heal my body without having to take medication.
*** Gluten Free Cooking School ***
I started GFCS in 2007 to share some of the recipes and ideas that I had come up with over the past few years in my quest to make great-tasting gluten free food. None of my friends or co-workers were gluten free, so they didn’t understand why I was so happy when I finally got a decent loaf of bread out of the oven or when I managed to make my first batch of delicious cinnamon rolls.
So I started my blog out of a desire to find other people who were eating (and cooking) gluten free, to share my recipes, and to learn from other people who were facing the same challenges that I was. To my surprise, my blog picked up readers very quickly, and I discovered that there are a lot of people out there who are looking for help with a gluten free diet.
*** The Gluten Free Email Course ***
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be sending you several emails with lots of information on how to go gluten free and actually enjoy it. We’ll start with the basics, like what is gluten and how to avoid it, and then move on to more advanced topics, such as cooking and baking gluten free.
Going gluten free is never easy, but it doesn’t have to be gut-wrenchingly hard either. There are some old habits you’ll have to break and some new ones that you’ll need to establish, but once you get over the hump you’ll find that staying gluten free is much easier than you thought it would be. The best part is that you’ll feel great – both physically and emotionally.
I know that everyone is busy and sometimes we don’t take the time we need to make sure our body is healthy. (I’m as guilty of that as anyone!) I don’t want you to be excited about going gluten free for a week and then lose interest because other things seem more pressing.
I want this to be a mutual commitment. I will commit to showing you how to eat gluten free, how to heal your body, and how to do it all without going crazy or getting stressed out. I want you to commit to reading my emails and then taking action on the ideas and advice that I give you. It doesn’t do either of us any good if you read the emails but then don’t make any changes in your life.
As an added incentive, if you complete the whole course, I’ll send you a free copy of the Top 10 Recipes from my blog. I’ve formatted the recipes to look pretty, and I put them into a handy PDF file that is ready to be printed out. You can even get them bound at Kinko’s and use them in your kitchen!
*** Stay Tuned… ***
Now that you know a bit about me and what to expect from this email course, sit back and relax for a bit. You’ll get the first email in the course tomorrow, and it’ll probably answer some of the questions that you have right now. Oh, and before I forget, here is the free meal plan that I promised you for subscribing. There are some really delicious meals in there, and I hope your family will enjoy them as much as we have.
Thanks, and I look forward to talking to you soon.