Food allergy inspires gluten-free food company
ROSEBURG, Ore. -- Two sisters, one in Eugene and one in Roseburg, have started a company to offer people with gluten allergies a little variety.
When Debbie Caterson's grandson Sean was 18 months old, he was diagnosed with autism and severe gluten allergies.
Sean can't eat anything like normal bread, pasta or cookies without getting sick.
When Caterson first found out, she bought the pre-made mixes for gluten-free foods, but found that they weren't up to her standards.
"We went out and started buying all of the mixes that were out there," said Caterson, "and they were pretty bad, gritty, had an after taste, and we couldn't get him to eat them. So then the next step was to buy cook books. I bought tons of cookbooks, and I tried to make it, and it's like 15, 16 different ingredients, and they still tasted bad."
It took Debbie a long time, and a lot of help from her sister Cathy Kirkpatrick, to invent some gluten-free recipes that actually tasted good.
It was Cathy who came up with the idea to take all of the recipes and turn them into a business, and that is how inspiration mixes was born.
Sean was the inspiration behind Inspiration Mixes, and he loves to eat all of the treats that Debbie and Cathy make up for him, and there's definitely a wide array of treats.
Inspiration mixes has blends for pizza dough, cake, and pie crust. The most popular product is Alanah's cookie mix, named for granddaughter Alanah.
Debbie's favorite part of Inspiration Mixes is knowing that she can provide people with a tasty product.
"People say, are you sure this is gluten free? Wow this tastes really good. I think that probably just warms my heart because it doesn't have that funky aftertaste and they really think it's good," said Debbie.
The mixes are sold in 12 stores throughout Oregon, including Sherm's Thunderbird and at Kruse Farms, as well as being available online.
Both sisters have full time jobs, so they make the mixes on their time off.
With all of the effort to find and perfect recipes, the two admit that Inspiration Mixes, which they run out of their homes, is definitely a labor of love.
Ten percent of all profits from Inspiration Mixes sold from now until the end of September will be donated to Autism Speaks.
If you want to swap recipes or just get a little help from people who've navigated the gluten free field of food, you can visit their Web site.
