Friendly Little Kitchen began back in 2012 on an endeavour to help other gut-challenged folk like me. I’d battled through ridiculous stomach issues for over a year to finally identify the cause – food intolerance. Intolerant to dairy, gluten, fructose (but only excess fructose), yes, I was hella confused.
I was recommended the low FODMAP diet, which back then comprised of three sheets of paper stapled together by my dietitian who sent me on my merry way. There were no websites, no blogs, no cookbooks and definitely no apps. The diet was new and developing, but this didn’t matter to me because it was life-changing. I went from constant fatigue, stomach cramps, and non-stop bathroom stops, to feeling 110%. The diet was damn hard work, but to me it was worth it.
Being the cook and food lover I am, I sought to recreate everything I could no longer eat. I wanted a way to share this with the world and FLK was born.
Fast forward almost seven years and gosh how things have changed. Five of those years, to the dismay of family and friends dining with me, I followed a very strict low FODMAP diet. The other two years have seen me healing my damaged gut (read my “how” here), to the point that I can now eat almost everything, issue-free. Cue the party poppers!
With the transformation of my gut, too has come the transformation of FLK. No longer is it solely a recipe blog for the gut-challenged, but it’s a place for those wanting to eat healthier, nourishing, real food.
Seven years building a food blog and community has also taught me a thing or two about recipe development, food photography and styling, and cooking. All of which are now what I’m focusing on more than ever.
You will still find the friendly recipes you love here, but hopefully you’ll enjoy a different side of FLK too…
Xx Steph
I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to email me at steph.papillo@gmail.com or follow me on social Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest
I was recently diagnosed with fructose intolerance, I tried to follow the fodmap diet! I’m really having trouble figuring out what agrees with me and doesn’t. I appreciate any help you would be willing to give me. I’ve also taken gluten and most dairy out of my diet as well.
Thanks
Jamie
Thanks for stopping by Jamie. It’s not an easy one that’s for sure and it does take a lot of time to figure out – so you’re not alone. Often a strict FODMAP diet is recommended for 6 weeks, followed by slow reintroductions of certain foods. The best people I would say to help you with that (and healing your gut, depending on what’s causing your intolerance) are nutritionists, dietitians or naturopaths. There are also some great support groups on facebook that I find are really helpful for information and asking questions :) here is one to start https://www.facebook.com/groups/FMSGVIC/
Happy to help more if you have any questions!
Steph