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Mary’s story:

Learning I had Celiac Disease

I started my career as a psychotherapist helping others to manifest their truest selves. It took a cherished chiropractor for me to realize mine. When I was 43, my chiropractor figured out that I had celiac disease; an autoimmune disorder that had left me debilitated most of my life, caused by an inability to digest gluten, found in wheat, barley, rye and most oats. Her wisdom and experience changed my life.

Transforming My Life

I cut out all gluten immediately, easily. I was so happy to finally understand the root of my distress. Suddenly I had energy to live my life, fully and with relish. My body was working with me instead of seemingly against me. Without even noticing the changes at first, I soon realized that I was happier and more energetic than I had ever felt. As part of my self-care (and self-discovery), I turned my lifelong passion for baking into creating all kinds of gluten free goodies—from crackers and cookies to pancakes and pretzels—I transformed my gluten recipes into delicious alternatives.
My favorite concoction was a whole grain cracker made with brown rice, quinoa, and flax and sesame seeds.

I took them everywhere. Before having the crackers, I’d watch my friends eat bread before our meals at restaurants, wishing I had something to snack on. Once I had the crackers, I’d bring them along in a little bag, munching contentedly while my friends ate the restaurant goodies. I brought them to parties and coupled them with soft cheeses, fresh guacamole, tangy salsas and other toppings provided at these events, no longer feeling deprived.

The products:

Cookies – Made with real food ingredients and low glycemic sweeteners, you can eat our love cookies anytime. Mary’s Gone Crackers’ love Cookies use coconut palm sugar, a pure, whole-food sugar that is made from the deliciously sweet nectar of the coconut palm tree. They also contain chia seeds, an ancient superfood high in healthful omega-3 fatty acids.  Come in 4 varieties: Chocolate chip, double chocolate, gingersnap and “N’Oatmeal” raisin.

Crackers – Our cracker is how it all started. The story that is now legend in our company is how Mary began to bake our signature organic, gluten-free, vegan and kosher cracker in her home after being diagnosed with celiac disease.  There are 5 different varieties: Original seed, onion, caraway, black pepper and herb.

Pretzel – Sticks – Our Pretzels, an organic, gluten free, vegan, crunchy snack, rekindles the enjoyment of snacking by combining wholesome nutrition with explosive flavor. Perfect alone or dunked in dips, our Pretzels are chock full of organic gluten-free ancient whole grains including brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, and millet, as well as tasty and nutritious seeds including flax, sesame and chia seeds.  There are 3 different varieties: Sea salt, chipotle tomato and curry.

Crumbs – At different stages during production we sift the crumbs from our crackers so they don’t get packaged. We’ve started collecting and packaging these crumbs for a tasty substitute to breadcrumbs. The crumbs are very flavorful and can be used in both savory and sweet dishes, wherever you would use bread or cracker crumbs.  There are 3 different varieties: Original, caraway and savory.

We have been able to sample the cookies, crackers & Sticks & Twigs.  I am in love with the cookies!  They are the perfect end to a meal and have just enough sweetness to satisfy my sweet tooth and I feel good about eating them!  I love the crackers & pretzels, but have to be careful because I can’t eat a lot of food with sesame seeds.  They are great in hummus, guacamole and salsa – yum!  We haven’t had a chance to try the crumbs yet, but I bet they are great in meatballs, meatloaf or used as breading for chicken.  For meal inspiration, make sure to check out the recipe section on Mary’s website.

Mary’s Gone Crackers sells their products in many stores across the US and online.  Do you have a favorite Mary’s Gone Crackers product?

**The products reviewed in this post were sent to me free of charge for review purposes.  The opinions in this post are mine and have not been influenced by anyone or anything.

Don’t forget to head over to The FOGGY Awards and vote for Gluten-Free is Life aka. me!  You can vote once per day until April 30, 2012.  Thank you!!