Area woman turns family’s special needs into a business

ALBANY – This week, I visited Dawn Tiesman in her Albany home, where I was served a cup of coffee and a most delicious slice of apple-cinnamon muffins, which tasted like fresh wheat. It was not wheat bread, and it had not a speck of wheat in the ingredients.

It was a gluten-free bread, made from a mixture of special wheat-free flours. Specialty flours include garbanzo and fava beans, tapioca, potato starch, corn starch, and brown rice flour.

Tiesman, 36, began developing her line of gluten-free breads and flours for her family 6 years ago, when, at age 2, her daughter, Addison, now 8, was diagnosed with celiac disease. She cannot tolerate gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, and rye flours.

“I have always enjoyed cooking, but this has opened up so many doors for me,” Tiesman said. “I’d say I am nine times the cook I was then.”

Nearly a year ago, with the support and assistance of her husband, Brian, 37, Tiesman began marketing her specialty breads, flours, and mixes on her website justbeeglutenfree.com and in several local businesses. The line includes gluten-free flours, so you can make your own breads; bakery products; and a wide array of baked goods.

“We thought, if I was going to do all this baking, we might as well turn it into a business,” she said.

Tiesman introduced her baked goods at the Tastefully Simple Expo in Sterling, and they took off.

Now, 8 months after launching her business, Tiesman is featured in several area stores, including Hy-Vee in Clinton and Burlington, Krumpets in Clinton; Seeds in the Quad Cities, Fusion Fitness in Morrison; Nutrition Plus in Clinton, where dry mixes are sold; and Julie’s Cafe in Albany, where her bread is used.

Her company offers four different mixes, including bread, pumpkin bread, chocolate chip cookie, and pancake. Bakery items include baked goods, yeast and sweetbreads, cookies, pancakes and waffles, cakes and cupcakes, and muffins. Special orders are available.

“My goal is to be coast to coast,” Tiesman said.

Her quest to create gluten-free products began with a desire to provide a better selection for her daughter.

“There wasn’t much out there she could eat,” Tiesman said. “I remember standing before the open refrigerator door, crying, wondering what I was going to feed my daughter.”

Celiac disease damages the lining of the small intestine and stops it from absorbing parts of food. Damage is caused by a reaction to eating gluten.

There was a line of gluten-free products available locally, but the selections were limited, so the young mom learned all she could about the problem, and what she could do to provide Addison healthy meals.

Thanks to the cooperation of her teachers and classmates, Addison’s condition causes no problems in school. If someone is having a birthday celebration, Tiesman pulls a gluten-free cupcake from the freezer, along with a bag of frosting. If they are having a party at school, the teacher makes a quick call to Tiesman, and Addison has her treat there, just like her classmates.

Tiesman is a certified and state-licensed food handler, and she has a commercial kitchen used exclusively for gluten-free cooking right down the street from her home, in a special room at the home of her parents, Kathy and Duane Bracke.

There is no chance for cross-contamination. “I can only use ingredients from that kitchen,” she said.

Tiesman, her husband, Addison, and younger daughter, Lauren, 2, eat mostly gluten-free foods.

“I feel better than I ever have in my life,” she said. “We eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, and meats,” she said.

“We don’t need no stinkin’ wheat,” she said with a laugh.

Here are a few of her gluten-free recipes:

Strawberry/rhubarb crisp

2 cups rhubarb, diced

1 cup strawberries, chopped

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Dash of kosher salt

Combine above ingredients and put into the bottom of a 9-by-9-inch baking dash.

1/2 cup gluten-free flour blend

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 stick of cold butter, cut into squares

Dash of kosher salt

Combine dry ingredients. Cut cold butter into flour mixture until crumbly.

Sprinkle evenly over rhubarb. Bake at 375 degrees until bubbly and browned, about 35 minutes.

Southeast egg casserole

12 eggs

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon kosher salt (to taste)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 tomato, diced small

1/2 cup chopped baby portobello mushrooms

1/2 cup onion, diced small

3/4 cup total red and green bell pepper, diced small

1 cup your choice of meat – chorizo, ham, bacon, sausage (cooked and chopped small)

4 cups frozen hash browns

1 (8-ounce) package shredded cheddar jack (or quesadilla) cheese

1/2 to 1 tablespoon cilantro

Beat eggs, milk and spices. Spread hash browns over bottom of greased 9-by-13-inch baking dish; sprinkle veggies and meat and half the cheese in layers over hash browns.

Pour egg mixture over the top and sprinkle with another layer of shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees 45 to 60 minutes, until eggs are set.

Chocolate zucchini cake

2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 teaspoons egg substitute

1/2 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

Whisk together dry ingredients until blended thoroughly

1/2 cup butter, very soft but not melted

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup sour milk (1/2 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice in cup, then add milk and let sit for a few minutes.)

Mix together wet ingredients, fold in dry. Blend completely, but do not overmix. (Gluten-free flours can become tough if overmixed.)

Pour into greased 9-by-13-inch pan.

Top with:

1 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup brown sugar

Bake about 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake.

This is a great way to use up the gigantic zucchinis you find hiding in your garden.

Try some sausage!

Sausage hot sub

2 tablespoons oil

1/4 tablespoon Italian dressing

1 clove garlic, minced

6 Polish sausage or 1 pound kielbasa (cooked)

3 sweet peppers (green, yellow, red), halved, then sliced

1 large onion, halved, then sliced

6 French rolls

Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add sausages and brown about 4 minutes, stirring and turning. Add garlic, peppers and onions. Pour Italian dressing over vegetables and sausages. Continue cooking and stirring about 5 minutes, until sausages are brown, vegetables are crisp-tender and turning a little brown and the liquid is nearly gone.
Place sausages on buns, cover with vegetables. Serve with hot mustard or ketchup if desired.

Sausage kabobs

1 pound of individual sausages of your choice (fully cooked, Polish sausage, turkey sausages, kielbasa, etc.) cut into 1- or 2-inch pieces

1 cup thick maple syrup

1/2 cup brown sugar

Sweet peppers, green and/or colored, cut into chunks

Onion, cut into chunks

Mushrooms, whole

Corn on the cob, sliced into 1-1/2 inch pieces

Apples, with peels, cut into chunks

Canned pineapple chunks

Mix Italian dressing and maple syrup together and brush on sausages. Let set in refrigerator for at least an hour. Place in bowl with dressing mixture on table, with bowls of the other ingredients listed. Lay out some skewers and let everyone make his or her own kabobs using their choice of ingredients. Cook on a grill, turning until everything is hot and beginning to turn brown.