Who Loves Cake?

Who loves cake? Well I can tell you She Loves Cake! Cheri from Glutenada and She Loves Cake joined us on the show this past week to talk about some amazing items, and what makes them so special! Imagine if you will, waking up one day and discovering that you could no longer eat any items with gluten in them. That means no wheat in their food at all. Leaving you stranded with out your favorite foods. No bread, no cookies and no cake! Well there’s a new superhero in town, Glutenada is here to the rescue!

Glutenada specializes in gluten free mixes for all your favorite baked goods. When Cheri discovered that she suffered from Celiac Disease she also discovered how difficult it is to cut gluten out of your diet. With so many of her favorite foods now off limits, she was trying to enjoy a new diet. As Cheri attempted to enjoy some of the gluten free alternatives that were out there, she discovered that the flavors left much to be desired. So off to the kitchen for Cheri!

After testing many different mixes, Cheri discovered some great blends of gluten free flours that allowed her to make up some of her favorite items. With slight alterations to the recipe to go after the texture that she missed, instead of the hard cardboard that she had been picking finding, allowing her to not only enjoy the flavor but the texture too: Glutenada was born!

Wanting to name the company in a manner that allowed people to know what she sold, she brainstormed for a name. Originally she thought about calling is Cheri’s Baked Goods, but she thought that the name of that company needed to speak to the fact that there was no gluten in the items that she sold. So after some brainstorming sessions Glutenada was the name. Including gluten in the name and nada meaning none, allowing anyone to recognize what her products are all about!

Not wanting to just sell mixes and wanting to share the love of baked goods, Cheri started She Loves Cake, her gluten free bakeshop, allowing those who do not bake access to her wonderful baked goods. Yummy cookies, cupcakes, and soon to come other baked goods, you will never be disappointed in the taste, texture and quality of Cheri’s items. In fact most people who are not gluten free would have no idea that these items were made any differently. Place them on a platter and serve alongside any of your other foods, and you would be hard pressed to find someone that could tell the difference.

Cheri was also great enough to talk about what Celiac Disease is, and how it affects the body. Celiac is a disease that affects the digestive tract, ingesting gluten for a Celiac causes the little hairs in the intestines to lay flat. This causes a mal-absorption of nutrition in the small intestine which is the primary location that nutrients are taken into the body. This causes what is in effect a slow starvation of the body; not allowing the body to get the nutrition it needs out of any of the food ingested. This can cause two distinct reactions in the body. The first is the appearance of starvation of anorexia even though they are eating a normal diet. The second is uncontrollable weight increase, as the gluten reacts almost like an allergic reaction in the body, causing the body to plump up. The second is the most amazing, because even though someone appears to be eating too much and putting on weight uncontrollably, they are in essence starving themselves. They do not gain any of the nutrients that are needed out of their food.

We are so thankful that Amy from Louisiana Celica brought Cheri and her companies to our attention. With so many great items for anyone living the gluten free life or who just want a great treat, Glutenada and She Loves Cake are great to fulfill that need in their lives. If you want to keep up with Cheri you can follow her on Twitter, or check out what’s new in the kitchen on her blogs Glutenada and Beyond the Wheat. Don’t forget to tune in next week for Chocolate Covered Bacon-The Best in Independent Food Finds, Thursday’s at 6 PM EST on Blockhead Radio. Next week we will have some great popcorn to enjoy that summer movie with.

--James~The ClosetCreature, your host