Home of the Whole Grain Difference
Welcome to Spice
of Life
Gluten-Free Bakery
Taste the Whole Grain Difference: What sets us apart
Like all people following a specific diet, we become
experts at reading labels on food products. As you might have noticed by now, gluten isn't the only thing missing on
a lot of GF food products - nutrition is, too! Sugar, starch, and empty calories fill the grocery store shelves.
At Spice of Life Gluten Free Bakery, we bake our breads with as much whole grain goodness as possible, and
use only honey to give it a touch of sweetness. We mix our own flour blend every week made from whole grain flours such
as Brown Rice, Millet, Amaranth, and Coconut (yep, it's a flour!) We mix in a little
tapioca and arrowroot starch to give the blend the right consistency for proper rising,
and always mix in a heap of golden flaxmeal for even more nutrition.
One of the few "benefits" of beginning a gluten-free diet is that
is opens a whole new world of nutritious and delicious grains - quinoa, amaranth, teff. How many people would have given
them a second look on the shelf before going Gluten Free? But these little grains are mighty nutritional powerhouses!
"So, what made you start baking?"
One of the great perks about my job is meeting
my customers. People are always curious about how I got started in the GFree bakery business. Am I a celiac?
No. But I understand and value the importance of good nutrition. It all started back in the summer of 2008 when
I was working at a local holistic doctor's office (Sheehan Chiropractic) and teaching Ayurvedic cooking classes on the side.
I saw client after client come in with unexplained health concerns that just didn't seem to get better. It was typically
recommended at the office that the person cut out all wheat and sugar for a few weeks and see how they feel. Well, the
results were amazing! Migraines got better, digestion improved and people simply had more energy. The one complaint,
however, the I would hear over and over again was that there wasn't a "good bread" out there. Especially not
one with any nutrition.
Well, this sparked an idea for a business. I wanted to create baked goods for all those GF folks out there that provided some
real nutrition and was something that you could feel good about giving your kids. It took
a lot of research into all those wonderful GF grains and a lot of experimentation with flour blends, baking times, and all
sorts of other little "tricks" that you must learn when baking without gluten - and I gotta say that I'm still learning! I do bake a few sweet indulgences (chocolate cream cheese cupcakes being my personal favorite), but
I try to keep even the treats as healthy as possible by eliminating refined sugar and only using Sucanat, molasses and honey
as sweeteners.
