About Us ... our gluten free journey

Like you, just having a decent sandwich was nearly impossible when we first found out we were gluten/wheat intolerant. My husband Breck, was the first in our family to find out he was celiac and as a result, could not eat foods containing gluten. Then it was me too!

Our gluten intolerance changed our whole household as we began the gluten free journey almost two decades ago.

As the cook in the house, and because I have a love for cooking and baking, it fell on me to make sure we had good meals between working and raising two boys.

I grew up experiencing some of the best Southern cooking around. My grandmother routinely made melt-in-your-mouth Southern biscuits every morning for the eight children back on the farm before heading out to teach school. As a youngster she taught me the nuances of creating those biscuits, which all true

Southerners know, come with table manners. “You don’t want to be seen cutting a biscuit with a knife, they need to be made so they will hold together yet break apart in the middle.” Not to mention taste great! Grandmother taught me the secrets of making an All-American apple pie, and cherish that old staple, gravy on bread. She taught me to make delicious okra and corn as well as beans sautéed in bacon and onions, with corn bread, sweet potato pie, and even Texas chocolate pie! All while emphasizing the roots of Irish and Scottish ancestral foods.

I was also exposed through the other side of the family and their hotelier experiences to great European Cuisine, the French, German and Italian cooking schools that take their cues from Old World Master Chefs. Needless to say, I grew up with a discerning pallet, and what for some would be food to rave about in a restaurant, was to me just, “home cooking.” I was determined my family would be raised with an appreciation and enjoyment of good foods, not a life of gluten free deprivation!

So it was there that I started my culinary conversion to a gluten free kitchen, determined to overcome its obstacles. I am still on the journey, still inventing, still sharing, still bringing my love to the table every day.

This gluten free journey has led to writing several cookbooks on the subject from a step-by-step guide for starting a gluten free diet and “Three Stages of Healing” to a gluten free mini-encyclopedia with over 250 foods you can eat each with an explanation of gluten free ingredients and a little information about nutritional components. See, Astoria Mills ‘Health and Nutrition’  This book alone took over a year of research and writing.

Over the years our family has had kaiser buns, hamburger buns, bread for sandwiches, fantastic pizzas, birthday cakes, pies, and many other wonderful desserts. During ‘kid’s reward days’ at school, we've supplied the whole class with our gluten free pizzas, and the children never noticed the difference!

Now our gluten free journey has led our family to the creation of Astoria Mills to share our products with the world using a dedicated gluten free facility for providing nutritious and delicious mixes for everyone to enjoy. Finally people can use my books and mixes to create the recipes they never thought they would be able to have again. No more failed recipes because you don’t have the right gluten free flour mix.

Astoria Mills has also addressed the need for healthy eating, which is important for celiacs and all those who are gluten intolerant or follow a gluten free diet. Astoria Mills has a proprietary enrichment formula created especially for gluten free dietary needs, giving individuals a more nutritionally balanced meal. This enrichment is child safe and allergen free; please see our spec sheet for a complete list of nutrients. Now, even eating a piece of pie will not be empty calories. After all, it’s my opinion that, if it doesn’t taste good, they won’t eat it, and there’s no reason to eat foods that are full of empty calories. If I wouldn’t feed it to my own children and family, it’s not going to be in any of our mixes! You won’t find Methylcellulose in any of them, that’s for sure!

Astoria Mills answers the need to have safe ingredients for recipes at your finger tips. First of all, you have a source of ingredients that you know to be safe, not cross contaminated.

People are busy, they don’t have time to research, mix, or make failures, they just want to keep things simple, buy from a reliable source, cook and enjoy. With Astoria Mills Cooking and Baking System you can make anything and everything, no need for separate meals for the gluten intolerant. Finally, everyone can have great tasting food, which is both nutritious and reasonably priced.

Even commercial bakers and chefs need a source that will allow them to feed the gluten intolerant people at their establishments and it’s important to have gluten free foods that are quick and easy so that everyone can enjoy their meal together, while remaining completely uncontaminated. Our mixes provide the flexibility to do just that. Astoria Mills can now fill all these requirements.

I hope you will browse through the rest of this website and find the answers you need, please feel free to write to me and I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Try Astoria Mills Cooking and Baking System, eat well, be happy, enjoy life!
- Trina