‘Gluten Free Mama’ publishes 2nd cookbook
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
POLSON — “Gluten-free Mama went from helping my little girl to helping people all around the country,” Rachel Carlyle said, smiling but looking slightly surprised.
Carlyle is the original gluten-free mama and founder of a business by the same name. Since her daughter’s diagnosis with Celiac disease, Carlyle has worked to developed recipes and ingredients so her daughter, Lexie, now 6, could enjoy tasty food that’s gluten-free.
Her first cookbook, “Gluten Free Mama’s Best Baking Recipes,” published three years ago.
Since all of her recipes call for her specialized flours, Carlyle realized she needed to sell her flours, too, and began doing so on her website.
She also hand-carried her products to Super One stores in Polson and Kalispell and worked to make them available at the Good Food Store in Missoula and Withey’s Health Food Store in Kalispell.
She went on the road, doing cooking demonstrations and teaching at Yoke’s stores in Washington and the Good Food Store.
Since her first cookbook and two gluten-free flour blends, Carlyle has developed several more mixes: pancake, pizza crust, scone, piecrust and cookie. To produce and package her products, she also increased her workforce. Excluding herself, Carlyle now employs three full-time workers and a few part-timers.
Her second cookbook, “In the Kitchen with Gluten Free Mama,” was recently released. She will sign and sell copies at Mission Mountain Natural Foods in Polson on Saturday, Nov. 6 from noon to 3 p.m. The cookbook features more than 200 new recipes and photos by Linda Sappington. A newly-added feature, her second cookbook includes egg-free and/or dairy-free options for recipes.
The project took Carlyle three years of recipe creating and testing.
“Sometimes recipes just come to me,” she said. Other times they take more work, and she has to test a dish three to five times. Themes work for Carlyle; one week she’ll make all breads or cookies or foods containing pumpkin.
Carlyle takes her test batches to work, or to Western Building Center because they help her out with forklift work, or to the banks, church, “whoever will eat it.”
Carlyle’s products have just been “picked up” by a larger broker in the northwest. Her mixes and flours will be available at Whole Foods stores and many other outlets.
“Big things are happening,” she said, “It’s a very scary yet exciting time.”
Another change is Gluten-free Mama’s new quarters as of July are at 10 7th Ave. E.
With the new distributor, the business will need even more room. Her landlord has said he will expand the building for her. Carlyle explained that she and her employees used to work in her 20-by-24 foot garage.
It’s nice to be working away from home because at 4 or 4:30 p.m., she closes the doors and goes home, whereas before she would work off and on until bedtime.
Carlyle’s business philosophy is simple and may be why Gluten-Free Mama is so successful.
“As long as I’m helping people, I’m going to keep going,” she explained.
