Hi! I’m Lauren Wuscher! I started this site because I noticed that a lot of my friends started to acquire food allergies, and especially food sensitivities, as we got older. Including myself.
To begin, I’m not your normal ##-year old (you didn’t think I’d REALLY give you my age did you) 
I say that because I’m wild and fun and spontaneous and my absolute true goal is life is to make sure that every single day of my life is filled with new adventures or with planning and dreaming up new adventures.
Seriously. No joke.
I spend a lot of time thinking up new things to get myself into and probably wouldn’t flinch if someone asked me to learn to fly a hot air balloon or do motorcycle tricks or who knows what.
I’m always up for a challenge which is probably why this year alone I’ve gotten my motorcycle license, learned to kite board, taken cake decorating classes, photography classes, and am in the process of learning Spanish more fluently. Whew!
I’d like to see everywhere in the world (and when I say everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE), but I’m starting with all 50 states because I believe if you don’t know where you’re from, how can you fully experience the rest of the world?
Of course, I’m a HUGE foodie, scotch and wine lover, and I absolutely love to have friends over for good food, drinks, and fun! I’m a kid at heart and never want to grow up (which explains all my bright colors and fun pictures). I used to work in the fashion industry designing clothing and Barbie and Disney toys, but that’s all boring stuff compared to how I feel when I’m getting together with friends to host a party.
Since I was young, I always loved cooking and hosting parties (I learned from the best — yep that’s me with my mom, though the
picture’s a little old). The only problem with having a love of food and cooking and parties was that I happened to acquire a bunch of ridiculous food sensitivities the older I got!
Which leads me to the reason why I’m so crazy passionate about allergy free stuff.
After college, I started having more friends over for dinner parties, events, you get the drift. The only problem with that, is, several of my friends have severe allergies (at this point in time, I didn’t have any)! I am the type of person that when I make food and host a party I want to make sure everyone is happy and is able to actually eat!! It kills me when someone’s allergic to my food!
So several years ago, I started experimenting with new recipes and allergen free food started to fascinate me. I slowly taught myself about different allergens and how to substitute for them. It became a fun obsession because I was constantly trying to make my allergen-free food taste the same as the regular stuff.
But there was a problem…
I was getting really, really sick on a daily basis and I had no idea why. My hair was falling out, I was tired and achy, I had stomach pains, and many more symptoms that I just like to forget.
My “sickness” lasted for over 2 years and I could never figure out what was wrong with me. I felt as though I was in a constant battle with my stomach and body. I was as though everything was out of whack and had no idea why. But as you know (if you have any allergies), sometimes allergies or food sensitivities is the last thing doctors look to.
Then a few years ago I went on a crazy crash diet before vacation with my now fiance Adam (yes, that’s him in the picture below and don’t yell at me, this diet saved my life)! During the 14 day diet full of “delicious shrimp,” “tuna platters,” and days of only veggies, I found out I was severely intolerant to gluten.
Me — lover of pizza, bread, and good beer — I was gluten intolerant.
Luckily, I had spent a lot of time learning about allergens from my friends and though I wasn’t quite ready to make the transition, I did. It was actually kind of ironic that the food I worked so hard to learn about and recreate to taste “real” was the food I should have been eating all along!
So now Adam is my taste tester and I’m just another gluten-free foodie out there with the other 15 or so million people in the US who suffer from any kind of food sensitivity or allergy.
As time goes on, I slowly find there are other foods I need to be careful about eating. They say that once you have one you acquire others and now I can’t tolerate soy. There goes my chocolate (that one’s a killer) and my tofu.
And still, the biggest problem with having certain foods your body just can’t handle eating, in my eyes, is being able to go to parties and EAT and have a normal life! Not just eat, but eat good food!!!
Which is why I started this blog.
And in no way ever do I want this blog to become just another foodie blog. I didn’t start this blog to post my recipes and tell you to cook them and that’s it (though yes, please follow my recipes and give me real life comments if you like them or not)!
I want to change the world of allergen free events.
I want it to be easy to eat cake at a wedding, drink beer with friends on the back deck of a brew pub, and enjoy the simple things in life that I miss (and I’m sure you do to).
So yes, I’m starting with a blog, but I promise you there are products and services and greater things coming in the mix.
So stay tuned.
P.S. I live in Philly with my boyfriend, Adam, and adorable kitty Mika (for now — we plan on moving out west in the near future). So if you’re in the area, I’d love to get to know you and grab some allergen free grub!!
