Welcome and thank you for visiting Silver Linings Kitchen.
Here you’ll find simple, delicious, nourishing gluten-free recipes to excite and inspire, with a hearty emphasis on plant power and wholefoods.
My name is Libby, a food-nerd living in Auckland, New Zealand, where I share a busy green kitchen and jungle garden with my beloved, our two kids, two cats and three hens. Food excites me. I lie awake at night thinking about interesting things to do with cashews. Or yams. Or cashews and yams. My bedside table is a heaving pile of food porn. My pantry is literally littered with recipes and ideas, scribbled scraps of paper, in various states of progress…
So why Silver Linings?
The answer is threefold:
My daughter was three years old when she was diagnosed with coeliac disease. I was standing outside the school library when the GP rang with the news. I had one of those topsy turvy whammy moments – the sun shone super-bright, the playground looked surreal, parents chatted amongst themselves and I had the crashing realisation that the world was never going to be the same again.
As well as the total shock, there was also a strange relief, as it answered many health questions – more about this below. Although I already loved to cook, the idea of being strictly gluten-free was Seriously Daunting.
At first I simply replaced my flour with all-purpose gluten-free blends. It (mostly) worked fine. But then I started thinking – why was I feeding the family with flour made of things like white rice when we used to avoid white rice in our regular healthy diets? So I got more confident and inspired to experiment. And the more I experimented, the more my culinary world opened up. Slowly I was discovering and falling in love with organic brown rice flour, buckwheat, ground almonds…nutritional powerhouses compared to the high-glycemic blends of white rice and cornstarch. Wholefoods, superfoods, REAL food…and it tasted so dang good!
So this is where the silver linings come in. Had my little girl not been diagnosed coeliac, I may never have revolutionised my cooking, broadened my palate, and bumped up my family’s nutritional profile. And, of course, delighted my tastebuds. Every cloud has a silver lining.
I’ve also chosen this blog name for my mum. In the year before she died, she spoke a lot about looking for silver linings and finding joy in simplicity. She was inspiring and strong and I so cherish the time we had.
And finally, silver linings represents the awesome strands of silver hair that I’m now growing. Yes, awesome grey hair. I want to celebrate my life and the passing of time by keeping it real. This food is real, my hair is real – natural is where it’s at.
The gluten-free path can be uphill at times…
I won’t lie, it can be tough. You have to be prepared and you have to educate yourself. Gluten pops up in many seemingly random places – and eating out with a coeliac can put an end to those spontaneous woohoo-let’s-try-it kinds of adventures. If you’re new to being coeliac or strictly gluten-free, this blog might not answer all your dietary and nutritional questions, but I hope it inspires you to dodge the packet-meals and start creating your own satisfying, clean, green meals. Yes, your pantry will require a few more ingredients but many of my recipes call for ingredients you might already have.
I’ve tested negative for coeliac, yet intolerant to wheat. I suspect my mother was an undiagnosed coeliac, so although my other daughter is negative, I may be the genetic link. I choose to eat 99% gluten-free – not just out of solidarity for my little honey, but because I genuinely enjoy it.
A little more about my little honey…
Trixie was a mini dynamo from the moment she was born. No wait, she was even a livewire in utero, spending hours dancing when I tried to rest. Even during labour, the midwife marvelled at how lively she was. We were kept on our toes right through her infancy and toddlerhood, with legendary (and I mean epic) melt-downs several times a day. Her digestion was sluggish, her tummy bloated, she didn’t seem ‘right’. We were all exhausted.
After going gluten-free, it was only a matter of days until we saw a change. The volcanic tantrums were easing off. Her digestive system sprang into action. She was happier. Which meant we were all happier, especially our eardrums. She still had the odd flip-out, but it was normal three year old stuff. And hey, we’d probably have melt-downs too if our guts were a constant uncomfortable warzone. Nowadays – six years later – Trixie views gluten-free as being her ‘special’ food. She learnt to read the words quickly and always asks before eating something new. I send her to parties with her own pack of treats (wow, something from a packet, mum!? Sugar! Dairy!) and she’s hardly ever felt like she’s missing out. I hear of people who don’t get diagnosed until much later in life, and I’m grateful that we got Trixie – and our family – on the road to recovery when we did. Grateful. That’s also where it’s at.
And now, a quick word about the privacy policy on this website:
The following explains how Silver Linings Kitchen uses and protects any information that you give while using this website. Should we ask you to proide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement. While Silver Linings Kitchen has no plans to change this policy, it still has the right to adjust details by updating this page. You may check this page periodically to ensure that you are satisfied with any changes. This policy is effective from 24 May 2018.
WHAT WE COLLECT
We may collect the following information:
- contact information including email address
- demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
- other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers
WHAT WE DO WITH THE INFORMATION WE GATHER
We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:
We may use the information to improve our products and services
We love emailing our followers about new recipes on the website, using the email address which you have provided. There is always an unsubscribe option.
SECURITY
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical and electronic procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
Sometimes we add links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave the Silver Linings Kitchen site, please note that we do not have any control over the policies of other websites. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. Please exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
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We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so.
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Thank you.