About the founder (Sima Chehrenegar)

Growing up, I always wanted to pursue a career in academia and also have my own business. I knew that I loved books and helping people; so I chose to study Library and Information Science and obtained my master degree in this field from University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. However, it took me some time to realize what I wanted to pursue with my own business. This did not occur to me until two years ago when I noticed my stomach would hurt every time I ate bread, pasta, and baked goods. This was the time that my newfound interest and career began to unfold.

I began researching the Internet and seeking dietary advice and guidance from friends who are physicians in various Medical Sciences. Through this process I slowly discovered I might be allergic to gluten, which is a special type of protein commonly found in wheat, barley, and rye, and Lactose as well. As a result, I made some changes to my diet and tried to avoid any type of wheat and dairy products. To insure that I was consuming the healthiest and highest quality ingredients I decided to take more control of my diet and started baking everything myself.

Baking with wheat-free and gluten-free flour was really challenging at first. These types of flour lack gluten, which tends to bind the ingredients together. For several months, my attempts at baking failed miserably.  Some of my baked goods would fall apart before I even got the chance to cut into them. Others were getting hard to chew soon after they came out of the oven. And to top it off they did not taste good or were even edible.

Instead of giving up, these failed attempts pushed me to take a different approach while adhering to a rigid goal of cooking healthier with less fat and sugar.

Over time and after extensive research, I learned about different types of gluten free/wheat free flours, non-dairy products and their health benefits. It took me about a year of constant trial and error until I achieved my goal of baking a healthy, delicious and nutritious muffin that met my expectations in terms of taste and quality and delivered on the health benefits I was going after.

As I continued to adhere to my new dietary restrictions, I noticed that my health was improving.  I shared my baked good with friends in my community. Many of the people who tasted the baked good also expressed their own allergies to wheat gluten and dairy. Before I knew it friends were asking me to make them muffins and other baked goods.  It then dawned on me that with my new recipes, knowledge and experiences I can now share heaven and health with everyone.