Hello. My name is Jane Trygar, and in 2001  I was diagnosed with Celiac Sprue. This particularly came as a blow to me because my family has owned a bakery since 1979, and bread and pastries had been my life.

When I met and married Dan Trygar, who was working as a chef at a local nursing home, he had always had a gift for cooking and baking. So it seemed natural when my father asked him to bring his talents to our family's bakery, Minooka Pastry Shop. He did and was the head baker there for 17 years.

We had two beautiful children and a great life. However, when I was pregnant with my third child, I suddenly started to experience a host of illnesses. That was the beginning of four years of health problems.  My vision started to deteriorate. I would seeing flashing lights and, at times, couldn’t see out of one eye at all. Trips to the doctor and endless tests produced nothing. Then I started to experience tingling in my arms and legs and was tested for everything from Multiple Sclerosis to Lupus to Lyme Disease. Nothing.

On a trip to New York, I suddenly passed out in Radio City Music Hall. More tests. Still no diagnosis.

During these four years, I always had stomach problems, but in 2003 it got so bad that I lost as much as 20 pounds in just 2 weeks. Everything I ate ran through my system like wild fire. Sometimes, for as much as a month at a time, I couldn’t even leave the house. As the mother of four children and a previously active and social woman, it was devastating. My weight was so low that people who hadn’t seen me in a couple of years drew back in surprise when they saw me. I could see it in their eyes…and in my own.

At this point, I realized that something had to be done. I felt as though I was dying. I went back to the doctor for yet another round of tests, but this time something was different. The doctor walked into the examining room and of course I was thinking that he would tell me he had found nothing, but...... That was it. I had a diagnosis. Celiac Sprue. He told me I had to start on a gluten-free diet. I didn’t have any idea how to begin, but I knew I had to do whatever I could to save my own life.

I researched every food I could to see if it contained gluten. To do this, I often had to contact the manufacturers directly to find out if their products contained “hidden glutens”. It took six months to research a full range of foods, but at the end of that time, I knew what I could and couldn’t safely eat, and I had established a pretty normal and satisfying diet.

But what I really missed was baked goods. That’s where The Grainless Baker comes in!!! My husband used his talents for baking to create great tasting gluten-free breads, rolls and pastries for me. They tasted wonderful. As the line of creations he made grew, it occurred to us that, surely, I wasn’t the only person who suffered from celiac sprue that missed having good quality baked goods.

So, that is how we started what has become the passion of our lives. We want to help other people who suffer from celiac sprue to get the flavor back in their lives!

If you have celiac sprue, know that there is a way to live fully, enjoy breads, pastries and all the other goodies that life has. We invite you to try some of our great products, all 100% gluten free. All prepared in a gluten free environment… and with love from us to you.