April 6, 2023 • 42 mins
Do you or someone you love have a food allergy or intolerance? Or maybe you're a chef who cooks for people and wants to get better at accommodating customers with dietary restrictions. In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, Chris speaks with Kayla Cappiello, the author of the new book "Easy Allergy-Free Cooking," about food allergies and how to cook delicious meals that are safe for those with dietary restrictions.
Kayla has celiac disease, is lactose intolerant, and is allergic to tree nuts, so she knows firsthand the challenges of cooking with multiple dietary restrictions. She started documenting her experiences online, sharing new recipes she was making and recommending places to eat that catered to those with allergies. Her Instagram quickly gained followers, and she now has 47,000 fans who love her allergy-free cooking tips and recipes.
Kayla's book, "Easy Allergy-Free Cooking," is a choose-your-own-adventure cookbook that accommodates multiple allergies and dietary restrictions. Every recipe includes tips on how to make adjustments for gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free diets, as well as suggestions for making the dish vegetarian or low-fat. It's the perfect guide for anyone who wants to cook delicious, allergy-free meals for themselves or their loved ones.
In this episode, Kayla and Chris discuss the challenges of cooking with multiple allergies, how to make substitutions in your favorite recipes, and the importance of community for those with food allergies. Kayla also shares some of her favorite recipes from the book,
KAYLA CAPPIELLO
Kayla's Instagram
Buy the Book: Easy Allergy-Free Cooking
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chris Spear (00:00):
Do you or someone you love have a food allergy or
intolerance? Or maybe you'relike me, a chef who cooks for
people and wants to get betterat accommodating customers with
dietary restrictions. Today Ihave Kayla Cappiello, author of
the new book easy allergy freecooking, which is out now. Kayla
has celiac disease is lactoseintolerant and is allergic to
(00:21):
tree nuts. On today's show,we'll be talking food allergies.
This is Chris spear. And you'relistening to Chefs Without
Restaurants The show where Ispeak with culinary
entrepreneurs and people workingin the food and beverage
industry outside of atraditional restaurant setting.
Well, there are many cookbooksthat address specific food
allergies, there aren't as manythat address multiple allergies
(00:42):
at once. Sure, you can find abook on gluten free cooking or
dairy free cooking. But Kayleighfelt that it was challenging to
find a book that couldaccommodate all of her dietary
restrictions. Something I oftenhear from people with food
allergies is that it can beisolating. Your friends and
family want to go out to eat butyou don't want to be the person
who dictates where to go or havea lot of questions when you go
(01:03):
out. Kayla started documentingher experiences online.
Sometimes it would be newrecipes she was making. And
sometimes it would be a list ofplaces that have a really great
selection of food that peoplewith allergies can eat. Shortly
afterwards, she took herInstagram off private mode and
opened it up to the world. Andpeople really seem to love it.
Today. She has 47,000 followerson her Instagram and has built a
(01:25):
community of people who aresupportive of one another and
are looking to learn more aboutallergy free cooking. Kayla had
no professional experienceworking in kitchens or
restaurants. She had neverwritten recipes professionally.
She was just looking to find away to recreate some of her
favorite dishes in a way thatshe could eat them like buffalo
chicken pizza. One of the thingsI like about the cookbook is
(01:45):
it's kind of choose your ownadventure. Not every recipe is
gluten free, dairy free and nutfree. But for every recipe, she
gives tips on how to make thoseadjustments, and additionally
guides you on how to make themmaybe vegetarian or low fat if
that's something you'reinterested in. So if you or
someone you know has foodallergies or intolerances. Or if
you're looking to expand yourcooking skills to better
(02:06):
accommodate those with dietaryrestrictions, you won't want to
miss this episode. Be sure tocheck out the links in the show
notes to connect with Kayla andlearn more about her cookbook.
And if you enjoy the show,please share it with others and
consider leaving a rating orreview on your favorite podcast
platform. Thanks for tuning into Chefs Without Restaurants and
have a great day.
Hey, Kayla, welcome to the show.
Thanks so much for coming on.
(02:28):
It's great to have you heretoday.
Kayla Cappiello (02:29):
Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm so
excited to chat.
Chris Spear (02:33):
I'm looking forward to talking to you about your new
cookbook, which is going to becoming out in a couple of weeks
here. By the time this airs.
It'll probably be out already.
Kayla Cappiello (02:40):
Yes, I have my final copies. I'm so excited for
other people to finally getthere.
Chris Spear (02:44):
I got a copy in the mail the other day.
Kayla Cappiello (02:47):
Oh fantastic. I think my mom is my mom is upset.
She hasn't received her yet. ButI'm like, Oh, I have mine.
Chris Spear (02:54):
Don't tell your mom that I have a copy already.
Well, I would love to talk aboutthis. Your book is called Easy
allergy free cooking. And Iguess let's start with kind of
the story as to how you got intothis. assuming there's a food
allergy that kind of led you tostart working on some of these
recipes. So why don't we startthere? Can we talk about kind of
(03:14):
you know, how you found out thatyou were allergic to food and
when and how that all kind ofunfolded?
Kayla Cappiello (03:19):
Sure. So it kind of started? Well, I guess
it started in college, I startednoticing. I talked about it a
lot in the intro to my book.
Like you're in college, you wantto eat pizza, you want to drink
beer, you want to do whateveryone else is doing. And I
kind of noticed that afternights like that, I just was not
recovering well. And I hadnothing to do with like how much
or how little I was drinking butlike if I had that slice of
(03:42):
pizza at the end of the night,it was like
Chris Spear (03:45):
awful. But we all felt that way. Right? Like yeah,
Kayla Cappiello (03:49):
everybody else was hungover. And I was like,
oh, maybe I'm just hungover, butI have symptoms that no one else
has. So I guess that should havebeen a red flag and like
hindsight is always 2020. But inthe moment I just wrote it off
as like, you know, this istypical college behavior. And
then when I started working morein the corporate world, right
after college, my favoritemoment of the day was lunch. I
(04:13):
used to love to go to New YorkCity deli, get a deli sandwich.
I love bread, I just lovedsandwiches, and I'd go back to
my desk and I'd eat it and anhour later I would be like
completely ill. I almostcouldn't make it through the
workday. I was so tired. I waslethargic. I couldn't think
straight. It was like I wasliving in a fog. And I couldn't
(04:35):
figure out how to fix that.
Around the same time. My dadalso was feeling ill and ended
up going to the hospital for astomach ache and they did all
these tests and he finally cameback as celiac positive that he
had the celiac gene. And the wayhe was feeling was very similar
to the way I was feeling andsometimes that gene is
(04:55):
hereditary, so I ended upgetting 10 Sit for that. And I
guess as many people know, likeif you're allergic to something,
it takes like multiple doctorsor multiple doctor visits to get
some answers. But at the end ofthe day, I did find a doctor
that, you know, took the stepsto like, test me for everything
in the book. And as she wastesting me for the celiac gene,
(05:17):
she also tested me like, let'sthrow another test in there
while we're doing it. And Iended up being lactose
intolerant as well. So it was nopizza. Oh, I know, it was like
the pizza was really workingagainst me. I got the info at
the same time, it must have beenlike a year or two after
college. And like I said,looking back, it was very clear,
(05:37):
but in the moment, it was not. Iam also allergic to tree nuts,
specifically almonds, pistachiosand hazelnuts.
Chris Spear (05:48):
That's a lot. Did you find that out around the
same time as well. I
Kayla Cappiello (05:51):
knew before college, I knew I was allergic
to pistachios, like prettybadly, I'd eaten them a couple
of times, and my lips got reallybig. And they always tell you
like if you have an oralreaction that it's like pretty
severe. So I always stayed away.
And then it wasn't until that Istarted going gluten free, a lot
of things are substitute.
Instead of wheat. They usealmond flour. And I was like,
(06:14):
let me just go to the allergist.
And just like check about thealmonds. So I knew I was
allergic. But I wanted to knowhow severe the allergy was. She
was really great with me though,she was very patient and had me
come into her office withalmonds. And they observed me
for an hour eating one almond ata time. So I knew that I can
consume like X amount before thereaction. So if I'm ever in a
(06:37):
situation where I take a biteinto something, and it's made
with almond flour, and I didn'tknow at least I know like one
almond like isn't going to hurtme but like six of them well.
Chris Spear (06:49):
And does this like lay dormant like the gluten like
no problems from childhood upthrough
Kayla Cappiello (06:55):
there? I guess there definitely were problems.
But in my family, it was alwaysjust like, Oh, she has a weak
stomach. Like my dad has like aweak stomach. I guess looking
back, we would eat the wheat andeat gluten and I just I had a
perpetual stomachache like myentire childhood. But when you
don't know any different, it'shard to pinpoint it as a
symptom. And then as you getolder and you start associating,
(07:18):
like, Yes, I ate lunch, and thenthe hour later, I didn't feel
good. And now it's happeningdays in a row. You can connect
the dots. But it was very hard,like in middle school in high
school to even figure out likewhat was happening, especially
because I had felt like that mywhole life. But once I got into
(07:38):
the corporate world, and it wasmore of a daily routine, it was
easier to pinpoint like thisstomachache is happening every
day at three o'clock. So then,looking back, it was like, Oh,
yes, it was oh, he's a problem.
But it wasn't until I was anadult that I could figure it
out.
Chris Spear (07:55):
Well, it's hard because it could be stress. You
know, like for me, coffeebothers me. It's not even the
caffeine. It's like the acidityof coffee. So I know a lot of
people do food journaling,really trying to figure out what
bothers them. And then maybe anelimination diet, which sounds
crazy, because you take likeeverything out of your diet.
Putting it back in. I've neverhad to do that. I just know from
hearing people talk about it.
Kayla Cappiello (08:16):
I did. They call it a low FODMAP. So you
really eat like specific thingsand then start to reintroduce.
And that was it was very eiopa.
And that's
Chris Spear (08:25):
a hard one because it doesn't seem like there's set
rules to the layperson. Like Iwork as a personal chef, it's
easy when someone says I'mgluten free, I understand what
gluten is, I'm dairy free, Iunderstand that the low FODMAP
is like all over the place. Soit's like beans, it's garlic.
And you know, like all thesethings
Kayla Cappiello (08:40):
are like an like huge red flags.
Chris Spear (08:44):
But they don't have anything in common to the
layperson who doesn't know, likeif someone just says I'm on the
low FODMAP diet, it's like youneed to break out this whole
chart. And it's like from allthese different categories. And
it's really tough I empathizefor with people who have to deal
with any diet like this, becauseit's so challenging. So you
started a food blog, kind of tocreate recipes. So what was the
(09:08):
timeframe of that? You know,you're, you've been diagnosed,
you are working? When did youdecide that you're going to take
it upon you to start writingrecipes and why you know,
because, well how long ago wasthis?
Kayla Cappiello (09:20):
Um, I guess at this point, like, it happened
right before I started my blogright before COVID, maybe a year
before COVID. So there were some
Chris Spear (09:28):
resources out there. There had already been
some books and blogs, but youwanted to do your own.
Kayla Cappiello (09:33):
Yeah, so what happened was, I guess it was so
I graduated college in 2011. Soit must have been like 2013 or
14, where I like started findingthis all out. And I guess my
main goal was taking meals thatI ate on a daily or weekly basis
and converting them intosomething that was healthier and
(09:54):
safer for me to eat and that Iknew I wouldn't get a
stomachache and I knew Iwouldn't get the brain fog after
eating Um, as I did that, I kindof kept notes along the way,
like, oh, I tried this glutenfree pasta, it was really good
like next I'm going to try itand make it this way instead, or
I'm going to add these toppingsinstead. And the same thing with
the pizza. It was like, I reallyliked ordering, let's say like
(10:15):
buffalo chicken pizza, but Icouldn't order it anymore. So
now I'm trying these crusts andtrying these different cheeses
to be able to consume it at homeby myself. And when I found
something that was like asuccess, I wanted to celebrate
it like myself. So I had aprivate Instagram account at
that point. And I would justpost a picture of my food and my
(10:35):
recipe. It was like for myfriends and family to see I
counted it as a win. Like thisis definitely something I would
make again, and kind of usedInstagram in a way that like I
hadn't before, it was kind oflike my own personal diary where
I knew I could go back and lookat these meals and recreate them
again if I had to. And then as Iguess, I inched forward in the
(10:57):
timeline, I was like, oh, let'smake my account like public in
case there's someone out therewho's also gluten free and dairy
free or gluten free and notfree. Because I was like
convinced that like, I must bethe only person feeling this
way. And that's very isolating.
So when I opened up my Instagramand kind of started finding
other food bloggers out there,who did have like the gluten
free option, or someone who didhave a dairy free allergy, and
(11:20):
then it was like, I could relateto those people on specific
levels. But then I startedfinding people or people found
me who had multiple allergies.
And that's kind of where I foundmy community and my sense of
like purpose, like, Oh, I'mposting these recipes, not only
for myself, but other people arereally interested too. And I
(11:41):
think it just kind of snowballedfrom there.
Chris Spear (11:44):
You have like 45,000 followers now on
Instagram. Is that crazy foryou?
Kayla Cappiello (11:48):
Yeah. And it's weird when you think about it,
like, put that like in astadium. And then it's like, oh,
like that's the only place thatcan hold all these people. Like
I can't invite all these peopleover to my house. But it was
like when COVID happened, allthose people were cooking at
home anyway. So I think on topof the hour G A comedy
accommodations for my recipes,they were also easy, and you
(12:11):
could make them at home and theywere like, kind of user
friendly. They they use simpleingredients. Nothing's crazy.
And I think that definitely wasinteresting to people as well.
Were you keeping
Chris Spear (12:21):
dedicated lists of the brands you like because it's
really hit and miss with a lotof that stuff. I cook a lot of
this way both for myself andcustomers and like sometimes you
nail it with like the cheat likecheeses are really hard. It's
like some amazing, absolutelylove them. Like I love cheese. I
think that would be the hardestfor me. I feel like the gluten
(12:41):
free things are getting there.
The dairy stuff is a little hitor miss I find
Kayla Cappiello (12:46):
for sure. So in the beginning I did keep like a
diary of I tried this brandthere type of chatter. Did I
like it? Did I not? And how didI use it. And then along the
way, I continued that and then Iwould highlight the ones that
were really successful arehighlight the ones I liked. And
in my cookbook, I actually havean example of that chart there
(13:06):
so people can take their ownnotes in the same fashion.
Because until you like you saiduntil you start trying other
brands you don't know that thebrand you're currently eating is
either not so good, or it'sactually really good compared to
what else is out there. And thatwas definitely the most
challenging part of the wholething.
Chris Spear (13:24):
I love the Meo Coast cheeses their dairy if you
have you used them.
Kayla Cappiello (13:28):
They're good I liked them and Trader Joe's
actually has a ton of reallygood options. If you're not
vegan because I know people eatdairy free cheese for like the
vegan aspect. But they do havelactose free like a it is it has
soy cheese and it but it's alsojust like lactose free and not
completely vegan
Chris Spear (13:48):
that nothing's hard or can you do cashews because so
much of it's like cashew,
Kayla Cappiello (13:52):
so I can do cashews, I can do p cans. And
that's it I think because I
Chris Spear (13:59):
think like most of those M Yoko's cheeses are like
cashew chicken mashed bass.
Yeah, that's tough to have themultiple, which is what I love
about the book, because not allof your recipes, it sounds
overwhelming to think that oh,all of them are gluten free,
dairy free and not free, butthey're not. And then you have
like, this is how to make it butthen it's got dairy in it. But
if you want dairy free, this ishow you do it or not free and I
(14:20):
liked that because it's kind ofthe Choose Your Own Adventure of
diet, diet restrictions. So Ithink that's really great. And
I'm sure the recipes arefantastic as written but like if
you need to adapt it forwhatever your diet is, and you
also have like low fat optionsin there as well. So I think
that's really helpful.
Kayla Cappiello (14:39):
Yeah, thanks. I think that was something that I
used after I found like you saidit was a gluten free recipe but
it wasn't dairy free, but now Ihad to adjust it to make it
dairy free and I wished allthese recipes that I was reading
that accommodated one of myallergies, I could figure out a
way to accommodate my otherones. So then I was like that's
(14:59):
the easiest way, like, here'syour base recipe and here's how
to alter it if your X, Y or Z.
Chris Spear (15:04):
So I'm assuming no formal culinary training, no
background and recipedevelopment just winging it. So
where did you start? Were youjust using the internet and
cookbooks to kind of find baserecipes and adjusting from
there?
Kayla Cappiello (15:17):
Yeah, I think I was actually using meals that I
really liked at restaurants thatI would order on like a daily
basis like you know, you gethome from work, you just want
some pizza. Okay. Like I said,my go to was buffalo chicken,
pizza. And then I was trying tocome as close to like something
that resembled that as possible.
So then I would Google likebuffalo chicken pizza. Okay, how
do you make it dairy free? Howdo you make a gluten free? Okay,
(15:40):
like, what do I want to pullfrom here? What do I want to
pull from here? And then it'sjust like trial and error. It
definitely got easier as I wentalong. And it was less research
and more. Okay, like, let metrust my own trial and error.
But yeah, like, internet,YouTube, Pinterest, like other
food bloggers, like anyone Icould watch. And just find out
(16:02):
like more information. It waslike, even if I just watched
someone cook a recipe, but Ididn't make it everything I
gained from watching it, then atleast I could have, like apply
at home.
Chris Spear (16:13):
And the market for available products has exploded.
I mean, a decade ago, there wasno cup for copper King. Right,
whatever. So I'd have to buylike 15 different things. I
think my recipe is like whiterice flour, brown rice, flour,
rice, flour, you know, ag ourcorn starch, you know, and, and
all this stuff. And I'd have allthese containers. And now it's
(16:34):
like, you can just go buy onebag of AP gluten free flour. And
it's nice. Were there anyrecipes that you still haven't
been able to adapt? Like, orwhat were some of the hard ones,
like the ones you really werecraving and just couldn't nail
it anything?
Kayla Cappiello (16:49):
Yeah, for sure.
So I love Indian food. Like evenif we order it like from a
takeout restaurant here. I can'tfigure out how to make good
gluten free non I can figure outhow to make an acceptable
substitute. But it doesn't tastelike the one from the restaurant
and I it's not on the market.
I've Googled gluten free nineyou can't buy it. It's just
(17:10):
impossible.
Chris Spear (17:11):
That sounds like a challenge for someone out. I
mean, I can't even imaginemaking not you know, bread
making in itself is challenging.
Well, maybe I'll try making sohave you tried making gluten
free? Non? Yeah.
Kayla Cappiello (17:25):
So I followed like a bunch of recipes. And a
lot of them are you use glutenfree flour, and then you use
yogurt and you make it in a castiron skillet. But I just maybe
it's one of those things like Ialways feel like salads are
different when you order itversus like when you make it
yourself. So maybe it's like Iknow that this not unlike isn't
me at a restaurant. So I likesecond guessing it. But it's
(17:46):
just not the right texture. Idon't know I can't nail it
Chris Spear (17:50):
well, and do not use yogurt because that's also
like if you're not using realyogurt that also was probably
challenging.
Kayla Cappiello (17:57):
Exactly. So if I'm using vegan yogurt, like the
texture is definitely off. Andif I'm using regular yogurt, I
still hear like here's an ad forlactate, then I obviously like
have to take the lactate, butI'm willing to do the lactate if
I can get the texture correct
Chris Spear (18:13):
is lactate a big deal? Because I always think
like, oh, you know, like lactoseintolerant? Just take a pill
like I would rather do that thangive up dairy. But like, does it
get rid of all the symptoms?
Kayla Cappiello (18:23):
Um, it depends.
For me, it's soft cheeses thatare a way bigger deal than hard
cheeses. Because hard cheeseshave like less lactose in them.
I want to say it's like a rollercoaster. Like sometimes there
are moments where like, if Idon't take the Lactaid I kind of
don't feel good, but I can justbrush it off and like continue
with my day. And then there aremoments where like, if I don't
(18:46):
take a lactate, I have to likego home and lay down and get a
heating pad and I don't feelwell at all. It usually comes on
like spurts so like this week ifI eat cheese like I can get
myself to feel okay, but I knowif I'm having a stomachache
before I eat the cheese thatit's just like, you have to take
the Lactaid Yeah,
Chris Spear (19:05):
don't don't roll the dice of Yeah,
Kayla Cappiello (19:06):
I was gonna say people are very, they like
chance. If you're very risky.
When you're lactose intolerant.
It's like you're willing to takethe chance even though you know
you're not going to feel good.
Versus like with the gluten. I'mnot going to take the chance.
Chris Spear (19:20):
Have you ever tried any of the flowers that they say
are like, you know, ancientGreek because there's a lot of
talk about, you know, it's thewheat and how we grow it now on
a lot of chefs and farmers aretalking about, well, if you're
using this strain of wheat, likewouldn't have any problems. Have
you read about that? Have youtried any of that?
Kayla Cappiello (19:39):
I've definitely heard about it. A good example.
My parents went to Italy acouple summers ago it was
actually way before COVID And mydad who also has celiac was like
it's so different, like eatingwheat here eating pizza here
like eating bread here. It'sjust like their reactions
completely different. I haven'tgone so I haven't actually
(19:59):
perience tip but I did recentlywalk into a pizza place. I
actually moved from Hoboken, NewJersey to Morristown, New
Jersey, which like really isn'tthat far. But like, you have to
change your restaurant. So I waslooking for another restaurant
like now locally that had glutenfree pizza. And I walked in and
asked, and he tried to say thatto me, he was like, well, like
the flour we use even though ithas we like, you could probably
(20:22):
still have it. But I was sonervous that like, I didn't even
take the chance. I wonder if hewas right. I just I was so
scared. Well, I
Chris Spear (20:29):
know people have talked about like einkorn flour
being like the original flour. Iknow, Chef Dan Barber up in New
York like talks about theirgrowing the strain of wheat, I
think he calls it Barbar wheat,and they even make it in their
restaurant at Stone barns. Andhe said like, I would never make
anyone try anything they don'twant. But if you know they
wanted to try it, everyone who'scome and said they have celiac
or problems have not had anyreactions. I just find that
(20:52):
interesting. Yeah. Maybe we'llget there. We've just screwed up
our food system. Like why are weall having these things? I mean,
I'm sure for generations peoplehave had food allergies and
things. But there's also got tobe some other things
contributing to the fact thatmore and more people are getting
sick from the food that theyeat. We think that
Kayla Cappiello (21:08):
that's totally like, it really messes up my
mind if I think about it toohard. When we moved to
Morristown, I was like, I wantto yard so I can grow garden. So
I know exactly what I'm eatingand exactly where it's coming
from. And I don't have to likeoverthink anything
Chris Spear (21:23):
is going out to eat challenging for you. And have
you had any accidents anywhere?
Kayla Cappiello (21:27):
Oh, yeah. So I actually was just out, I'm not
going to name the restaurant.
But I was out two nights ago, Iwent to a restaurant, and I
called ahead to make sure thatthey had gluten free items. And
they said that they did. Butwhen I ordered it, I just it was
like I just knew that it wasn't.
And I was like all they told meover the phone that this this
(21:49):
dish was like, I'm just gonnatry it. And when I got home, I
was like, Oh, I definitely don'tfeel right at all. It's scary
going out. I think in thebeginning, it was really
isolating because you want to goout with your friends to the
same places and order the samefood that you've been doing your
whole life. And now not only doyou have to change it, but you
have to be that person to speakup when it's your friends or
(22:10):
your family or a party and saylike, Hey, I can't keep doing
what I've been doing. And Idon't like to upset like the
status quo like that. So it wasreally hard for me, I started
making lists, I actually postedon my Instagram pretty often.
But I started making lists ofall the places that I could go
that I knew were safe thateither had like a dedicated
(22:31):
grill or a dedicated fryer, orthey had like a separate
preparation area. And then overtime, I felt more comfortable
like trying more food there andlike kind of moving outside of
my comfort zone with what Iordered. So when I was in
Hoboken, I had this huge list ofplaces that had gluten free
options that I had never had abad experience at. Because if I
(22:51):
have one bad experience, I neverwant to go back. But when I
moved, it was like you have tostart from scratch again. So
here I am, like calling allthese places being like, do you
have gluten free bread? Do youhave gluten free bagels? Like
where am I going to eat? So I dofeel like the list is slowly
growing. But I do like toprepare for going out. I look at
(23:12):
the menu. I include this like onmy Instagram to just like how to
get through a night out like andstill be gluten free or how to
get through like a holiday.
That's not You're not hosting.
And still like keep to a glutenfree diet. And it's like you
just have to ask a lot ofquestions ahead of time. So I
Google it. I call I ask thequestions. And then when I go to
the actual restaurant, I askedthe questions. So it sounds
Chris Spear (23:34):
like you like food, which can be challenging. Yeah,
like food. Yeah. Because I mean,some people don't care. It's
like these people I see who aremeal preppers. And like everyday
they to chicken breast andbroccoli and rice is no that's
like that's like I couldn't dothat. So you know, as someone
who's social and likes goingout, I can't imagine the anxiety
around that. Like it's, youknow, your friends all want to
(23:55):
go out for pizza or burgers orwhatever you want to hang out
with them. But I used to be avegetarian, I'm not anymore. But
my wife and I were and it wasthe same thing. You'd go to
places and like, you couldn'talways trust it like it's
broccoli soup, but it's probablychicken broth, which has stayed.
You know, and we didn't haveallergies, but it was just
annoying. And then you wentplaces. And I mean, this was a
while ago. So you had to hearlike vegetable plate or your
(24:18):
portabella mushroom burgernonsense and like all the gluten
free stuff. It's nice to seethat that's coming around. And
there's some really interestingoptions these days.
Kayla Cappiello (24:26):
Yeah, and I think like over time, my friends
and like my family I'm like nowmy fiancee, like everybody's so
involved now that it's like ifwe go to a restaurant, he'll be
like, do you have gluten freepizza and it's like I don't even
have to ask and it's likeknowing that your community
around you like my friends myfamily are now all like on board
and like helping and I'm notalone because like that's it's
(24:48):
sucky to feel that way. Likeyou're by yourself. You have to
embarrass yourself like askingall these like ridiculous
questions. When you just want tobe like socializing.
Chris Spear (24:57):
Do you get the server Soos humanoid like, just
like going out, I've seen thatlike, some people are really
cool. But sometimes it'sprobably like, Oh, here's
another one of those people.
Yeah. And also, like, thesidebar of that is so many
people these days say they haveallergies when they don't. And
I'm sure that screws up for youguys, right? Because it's
annoying. I cannot
Kayla Cappiello (25:18):
stand when a restaurant is like, is it a
preference or an allergy,because I'm like, either way, I
don't want the crosscontamination. And I also don't
want you labeling like mygenetic mutation as a
preference, because it's notlike I would not prefer to live
my life like this. And I alwaysthink it's so offensive. Like,
(25:40):
anyone who's saying they'regluten free, you should just be
giving them the same, likesituation like you shouldn't be
treating my meal more seriouslythan someone's who says it's a
preference.
Chris Spear (25:52):
But then I see things as a personal chef that,
like people will have allergiesand not tell me because they
didn't think they orderedsomething that will have it
like, I don't want that. Like Ihad a woman who has an avocado
allergy, but I use avocado oil,because as a high smoke point.
So I get to her house, and I'mlike cooking. And she like makes
this blase comment about like,Well, my only allergy is
avocados. And it's like, youmight put that on the
(26:14):
questionnaire. She's like, well,I didn't order anything with
avocados. No, he got me upgetting these people to
understand I did a dinner like aweek ago, and they had a guest
who was gluten free and theydidn't tell me. I can
accommodate you. But it's likeyou have meat balls. I used
regular bread crumbs, I wouldhave used gluten free you know
there's a gravy and it's gonnathicken with a roux, I would
have used like a gluten freeflour or like, why not tell me
(26:36):
but once I get there, then I'mlike backpedaling and trying to
find ya know, ways. But thenlike someone one time soy
allergies are insane becausesoybean oil is in so much stuff.
So I bought like soybean freemayo and all this stuff. And
they're like, Oh, we just don'tlike like soy beans and tofu and
stuff. I'm like, That is not asoy allergy. Like I had to
restock my Whole Pantry just foryour party. So getting that
(26:59):
through to people to get them totell me like really? What is an
allergy? What is a dislike?
Kayla Cappiello (27:03):
Yeah, for sure.
Please
Chris Spear (27:05):
tell me everything that you can't have. Because I
take this so seriously.
Kayla Cappiello (27:09):
I guess that'll also like came in time with me.
Like you try to be open andhonest ahead of time. Because I
would rather say, Hey, I'mgluten free. If you can't make
anything gluten free, liketotally fine. I'll eat
beforehand, like I really don'tcare. But if you get there, and
then there's nothing gluten freeand you didn't open your mouth,
it's like then you kind of didit to yourself.
Chris Spear (27:29):
What prompted you to write the cookbook because
that seems like a huge task. Imean, it's one thing to blog,
put your recipes on socialmedia, but to write an actual
book to make a physical book andget it in the world. That seems
like a totally differentundertaking. So when did you
decide that that was somethingyou were going to do?
Kayla Cappiello (27:46):
So I guess it was always in the back of my
mind. And I probably didn't eventhink about it. I actually
minored in creative writing incollege. So writing was like
always, like interesting to me.
And then when I was writing downmy recipes for my Instagram
captions, then it wasinteresting to like, make it a
bigger deal, like on my blog andwrite more about like, you can
always fit more texts and likewrite more in a blog post. So as
(28:08):
I was enjoying that, I justthought, you know, if I could
write a book I could fit moreabout my life and who I am and
include more like the way wetalked about, like how I had the
worksheets about how to figureout like, what brands I liked or
what flavors of things I like.
So it was like, I felt like Ijust kept having more to share.
(28:31):
And there's only like so muchyou can share on a blog because
people are only going to clickmy one blog post and they're
gonna read that recipe likemaybe they make it maybe they
comment on it, but then likethey're kind of clicking away.
Chris Spear (28:43):
And they're gonna complain that they don't want
your story right? Isn't that theisn't that the big thing? Yeah,
food blogs like just jump to therecipe
Kayla Cappiello (28:49):
right? No one wants the intro no one wants to
hear my story but it's like whenyou put all that in a book and
now people are getting like Ithink it's like 200 pages of
recipes and my backstory and theway I stock my pantry and my
theory on the way I grocery shopto like stay healthy and find
the products I like and it'slike you're getting all of it at
once and like a nice packagedeal and I thought it was like a
(29:12):
nicer way to present what wasoriginally like a really hard
moment in my life that I triedto turn around into like
something that actually likeworked out for the best
Chris Spear (29:21):
and I'm sure you were grabbing recipes that were
already on your website andstuff and just kind of brushing
them up you weren't startingfrom scratch.
Kayla Cappiello (29:29):
No so I took I went through my Instagram over
like I mean I started thecookbook process back in like
2020 So I went through myInstagram and kind of looked at
which recipes like had the mostengagement and people were like
the most into and then I eithertried to like recreate them
either in a more elevated way orlet's say I made it with like
(29:52):
chicken breasts last time likenow I'm making it with like
breaded chicken or I'm making itwith treaded chicken just so it
was like a different take onlike the say same recipe because
if you've been around from thebeginning, you know, some of
them, it's really hard to like,make something and be really
proud of it, and then hold offon posting it on the blog to
like, include it in the book. SoI want to say half the recipes
(30:12):
were either elevated or changedfrom Instagram. And then half
the recipes were like brand newthat I was making, like, in the
moment, or like over the year ofwriting it that I was not
sharing on Instagram, and it waskilling me.
Chris Spear (30:25):
That's gotta be tough. I've had those things
where it's like you have anannouncement to make, and you
can't do it. Or, you know, oryou shouldn't, and you're
holding off. Yeah, I'm
Kayla Cappiello (30:32):
the worst secret keepers. So I just wanted
to like, share everything. I'mlike, share all like the
pictures and the videos and likethe process, but I was like,
shoot, like, what if it doesn'tgo anywhere. That was also the
thing. It was like, I wrote agood chunk of the book. When I
started out on this process, Ihad a literary agent. And he
helped me write like the introand some sample chapters. And
(30:54):
then he helped me shop at aroundtwo publishers. But at that
point, it was like I was in theprocess of writing it, but I
didn't know if it was gonna getpicked up. So it was kind of
waiting for a publisher to like,give the green light before I
kept writing the second half. Soit was like, if no one picked it
up, like yeah, you can go backand then I can share these
recipes on my blog and onInstagram, and people will still
(31:15):
get to like consume the recipe.
But I was really nervous. Butobviously it ended up well.
Chris Spear (31:21):
Did you ever consider self publishing?
Kayla Cappiello (31:23):
I did. I didn't know a lot about it. So I did do
a lot of research, especially. Imean, it takes a long time for
publishers. So like read yourproposal, come back with
questions, come back withoptions and then either like,
approve or deny it. So like inthat process, I was like, okay,
like, let me actually, like putsome research into self
publication. It was definitelyif I didn't get like a publisher
(31:46):
to get on board with me. It wasdefinitely like the next option,
because at that point, I was sodeep into writing it that I
wasn't just gonna, like, give itup at that point,
Chris Spear (31:56):
though. Did you have people test your recipes? I
know a lot of cookbook authorssend out recipes and have people
try them and see if they work,especially people who are used
to cooking.
Kayla Cappiello (32:04):
Yeah, I was gonna say like, friends and
family. It was like, here's therecipe. Can you try this? Like,
I'm posting it on Instagram, ifsomeone else made it, like, if a
girl like a lot of girls likecomment, and they say, Hey, I
made this this weekend, like itwas great. But then I'd message
them and be like, hey, like, Didit come out? Okay, do you have
pictures? Like, is thereanything like you had questions
on like, could I have writtenthe directions better? And I
(32:26):
think that really helped. Butthere were definitely things
that like, I went back on andsaid, like, I need to make this
again to make sure like in myown head. It made sense. And it
came out well. I mean, the bookis published and it's done. And
I've made some of these recipes100 times, and this week, I made
one of the recipes from thecookbook, and I was like I'm
gonna make it exactly in thecookbook, just like as a peace
(32:48):
of mind to know even though I'vemade it 100 times like it's
still exactly what I wanted. Itwas definitely the baking
recipes that made me like themost nervous because I feel like
cooking is like if you add moregarlic or if you add more cheese
like the recipe is going to comeout like fairly similar anyway.
But the baking it's not. So ifyou add too much sugar if you
add too much peanut butter, likeit's not going to be the same
(33:10):
consistency and those made methe most nervous. So I remade
all of those beforehand to makesure like I wrote it. I did it
exactly as the recipe said I'mremaking it. Okay, yes, it did
come out the same.
Chris Spear (33:23):
Well, I'm excited to learn that you can turn tater
tots into meat replacementbecause tater tots are the best
potato in my opinion. So to seea recipe or it's like, just
crumble some tater tots andsaute them up in oil. And there
you go. It's a meat replacerthat's gonna be my new meat.
replacer every time forget tofu,I'm done with tofu. It's just
tender.
Kayla Cappiello (33:42):
I was gonna say it is not low carb, but it is
definitely really good.
Chris Spear (33:45):
Ya know, there's some really fun recipes in
there. The baking ones lookinteresting, too. I want to dig
into some of those before toolong. I enjoy baking. It's
something that I didn't do earlyon in my culinary career. But
now like as a personal chef, Ihave to I do all the courses for
people, right? Like I used towork in kitchens where we did
savory stuff. And now it's likeI do all the courses. And you
(34:08):
know, one of the things aboutbeing a personal chef is people
hire me so much because I canaccommodate them. You know, like
Yeah, like, Yeah, I'm feelingthat you can't go out to a
restaurant. That's a hugeopportunity for me because I'm
only cooking for you and yourdinner party tonight. So it can
be whatever you need it to bedairy free, gluten free. I'm
sure this cookbook is going tobe a huge resource for me. So
(34:28):
I'm looking forward to using itand breaking out these recipes.
I'm gonna start cooking forcustomers using these recipes.
Love it. What are some of yourfavorite recipes in there?
Kayla Cappiello (34:37):
So I'm a big breakfast fan. There's
definitely a lot of Frenchtoasts in there because that was
really hard for me in thebeginning like it's made with
bread. It's made with milk likethat was definitely a challenge.
So once I started creating likeall these French toasts there's
a churro french toast. There'slike a peanut butter french
toast that was breakfast is oneof my favorite meals, and then
(34:59):
all the pizza As I could eatpizza every day of my life, the
pizzas there's like it's a beetpizza in there so it has much
rel it has goat cheese or likeif you're making the vegan
option sometimes I use vegancream cheese instead. It has
carmelized onions and beets ontop. And I've been making that
(35:19):
pizza probably for 10 years. Wemake it like every year for my
mom's birthday. It's one of myfavorites. How did
Chris Spear (35:26):
the beats go on? Do you cook the beats at a time or
using canned cooked beats?
Kayla Cappiello (35:29):
Yeah, so I buy the beats. They're already
roasted. They're usually like inthe produce section. They're
like shrink wrap together. Yeah,
Chris Spear (35:36):
I love those. I think Costco like yes, I
Kayla Cappiello (35:39):
sliced them really thin and then when they
go on the pizza, they cook inthe oven. I just think they're
like so good.
Chris Spear (35:43):
I've never seen a beat pizza. I've seen the rise
of like the potato pizza. Likethat's the thing now with like
Yukon Golds, but I've never seenbeets on a pizza.
Kayla Cappiello (35:50):
Yeah, it's so good. It's I can sometimes I put
zucchini on it. I'm a big a bigmix and match are for the
pizzas. Do you
Chris Spear (35:57):
have a favorite cuisine? Like if we're gonna say
like ethnic cuisine? Is therefood that you really like to eat
or cook?
Kayla Cappiello (36:03):
Um, that's a good question. We do make a lot
of like at home Chinese food orlike Korean food or Japanese
food. We always keep like glutenfree soy sauce in stock in my
pantry. He's
Chris Spear (36:16):
tamari.
Kayla Cappiello (36:18):
I'm like coconut aminos I love the
coconut aminos Yeah, we likethat are like liquid aminos we
use those too. But I feel likethat's something I definitely
cannot order out. So if it's anight like a Friday night at
home, we're not doing anything.
Me and my fiance will definitelymake something of that cuisine
because I feel like it's such atreat to be able to you know sit
(36:38):
down and like make somethinglike that. That there's no way I
could ever order Chinese foodout.
Chris Spear (36:45):
Have you found certain cuisines are more
allergy friendly?
Kayla Cappiello (36:49):
I feel like Thai is pretty allergy friendly.
They have like, like ricenoodles all the time. All the
all the options are made withany kind of rice you can brown
rice, white rice. I meanItalians really hard Chinese
food is like really hard. We doget a lot of sushi. There are
places like if I know ahead oftime that the place is like
(37:11):
gluten free soy sauce we can goout but we order a lot of sushi
and and then like I just keep myown soy sauce here. Bring your
own
Chris Spear (37:17):
bring your own little bottle of liquid Amina.
Exactly.
Kayla Cappiello (37:20):
And as long as there's like no tempura and like
you don't get like spicy mayo onanything. It's like it's fine.
Chris Spear (37:26):
Yeah. So what's I mean, I hate to say what's next
the book isn't even out. But Imean, are you continuously
writing new recipes? Are youalready in new recipe mode?
Kayla Cappiello (37:37):
Yeah, I am. In the back of my head. I'm making
like lists for a potentialsecond, I'd love to write a
second cookbook and focus on youknow, this cookbook has
breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ithas desserts as pizzas as
appetizers. But I'd love to takeone of those chapters so pizzas
and just have the whole cookbookabout pizzas. Every time I make
(37:57):
something I'm like, do I shareit? Do I hold on to it but I
think right now I'm just kind ofin the sharing mode until this
cookbook is like out and peopleare enjoying it. And then once I
can like dial it back into onlysharing like some things but
keeping some things ready then Ithink I'd consider a second
cookbook but it seems
Chris Spear (38:14):
like community is so important to you, you know
you've got a large group offollowers obviously, they're
supportive and it was you knowwhy you kind of wanted to put
this out so it's great thatyou're really connecting with
them and wanting to share Do youhave a go to recipe when you
want to impress someone like ifyou were having like a nice
dinner party? Do you havesomething that's a little on the
(38:35):
fancier end or something thatyou just really enjoy making?
That's more of like a I don'tknow maybe special occasion dish
Kayla Cappiello (38:41):
recently we've been making like this pork dish
it's like a Chinese pork dishI'm not gonna pronounce this
ingredient right but is itcalled gocce Jiang Yeah,
Chris Spear (38:52):
yeah, that's on fire to it.
Kayla Cappiello (38:53):
I love does that's been like our go to
lately. Me and my fiance havebeen making that like once a
week for the past like threeweeks I think we just impressed
ourselves with like followingthis really fancy recipe and we
actually really enjoyed it. Ihave not made it for someone
else yet. Do you eat
Chris Spear (39:07):
peanuts or peanuts?
No for you
Kayla Cappiello (39:09):
that peanuts are yes for me.
Chris Spear (39:10):
I've I've a recipe where you put go to Jiang and a
blender with pineapple juice,raw garlic, shallots and peanuts
and you'd like blended up into apaste I have. And then you like
marinate your meat and then youcan just like throw it on the
grill. If it's a tougher cutthat takes some time, then you
put it in an oven and like beefstock and let it cook down. And
that's nice. It's like fiery,it's salty. It's got a little
(39:33):
sweet there. It's a really good
Kayla Cappiello (39:34):
recipe definitely sent me that that
sounds right up my alley. Yeah,
Chris Spear (39:37):
that's good stuff.
And like you should be as longas you can do peanuts. You can
do all that. Yeah,
Kayla Cappiello (39:41):
there's a lot of peanuts in our household. It
works really good with beefshort ribs.
Chris Spear (39:44):
So I'll like put it on short ribs and throw them on
the grill and then throw them ina pan with some more than
marinade and beef stock and justlet them go for a couple hours.
Kayla Cappiello (39:50):
Okay, that will be our meal next weekend. I'm
sold. That sounds fantastic.
Chris Spear (39:55):
Do you have any advice for people who are newly
diagnosed with some kind of foodallergy? Like, what would you
tell them?
Kayla Cappiello (40:02):
So I actually dedicated my book to the younger
version of myself who likealways had a stomachache and
thought this would like, neverever get any better. And it did
get better. So that's my adviceis like, just keep doing what
you're doing. Like, go to thedoctor's, find the doctors that
(40:22):
are going to advocate with you,like, find the people who are
going to help you narrow it downand find out what's bothering
you what's giving you astomachache, what's causing your
allergy, because you're notcrazy. Like, I always felt
really crazy in the beginning.
This wasn't going to get better,like how was I going to fix
this, but it's like you knowyourself. So you have to like
trust yourself. And if you findsomeone who can give you the
(40:42):
answers you've been looking for,or answer the questions you've
needed, answered, it's it'sgonna get better. You're not
going to feel alone and confusedand hopeless this whole time.
It's that's only a feeling inthe beginning, it definitely
gets better.
Chris Spear (40:59):
That's something I hear from so many people. And
I've had that with doctors notrelated to food allergies, but
just, you know, it's hard.
They're seeing so many people inthe course of a day, they're not
specialists in all these areas,specially diet and so forth. And
it's just easy to say like, oh,no, it's probably a something
else it'll pass. But yeah, trustyour gut, I think is a good one.
Kayla Cappiello (41:18):
Yeah, definitely your gut.
Chris Spear (41:21):
Do you have any final words you want to share
with our listeners, before weget out of here today?
Kayla Cappiello (41:24):
Keep making your favorite meals. And if you
need to make them gluten free,dairy free, vegan or low fat.
I'm your girl.
Chris Spear (41:34):
Right on? Well, everyone knows if they listen to
the show. Everything's in theshow notes. There'll be links to
the books, your social media,your website, so people can
follow along. And hopefullywe'll get some new fans and can
continue this conversation withthem.
Kayla Cappiello (41:46):
Perfect. Thank you so much.
Chris Spear (41:47):
Thanks so much for coming on the show. It was great
having you. And to all of ourlisteners. This has been Chris
with the Chefs WithoutRestaurants podcast. Thanks so
much for listening and have agreat week. Go to chefs without
restaurants.org To find ourFacebook group, mailing list and
Chef database. The community isfree to join. You'll get gig
opportunities, advice onbuilding and growing your
business and you'll never missan episode of our podcast. Have
(42:10):
a great week.
Do you or someone you love have a food allergy or
intolerance? Or maybe you'relike me, a chef who cooks for
people and wants to get betterat accommodating customers with
dietary restrictions. Today Ihave Kayla Cappiello, author of
the new book easy allergy freecooking, which is out now. Kayla
has celiac disease is lactoseintolerant and is allergic to
(00:21):
tree nuts. On today's show,we'll be talking food allergies.
This is Chris spear. And you'relistening to Chefs Without
Restaurants The show where Ispeak with culinary
entrepreneurs and people workingin the food and beverage
industry outside of atraditional restaurant setting.
Well, there are many cookbooksthat address specific food
allergies, there aren't as manythat address multiple allergies
(00:42):
at once. Sure, you can find abook on gluten free cooking or
dairy free cooking. But Kayleighfelt that it was challenging to
find a book that couldaccommodate all of her dietary
restrictions. Something I oftenhear from people with food
allergies is that it can beisolating. Your friends and
family want to go out to eat butyou don't want to be the person
who dictates where to go or havea lot of questions when you go
(01:03):
out. Kayla started documentingher experiences online.
Sometimes it would be newrecipes she was making. And
sometimes it would be a list ofplaces that have a really great
selection of food that peoplewith allergies can eat. Shortly
afterwards, she took herInstagram off private mode and
opened it up to the world. Andpeople really seem to love it.
Today. She has 47,000 followerson her Instagram and has built a
(01:25):
community of people who aresupportive of one another and
are looking to learn more aboutallergy free cooking. Kayla had
no professional experienceworking in kitchens or
restaurants. She had neverwritten recipes professionally.
She was just looking to find away to recreate some of her
favorite dishes in a way thatshe could eat them like buffalo
chicken pizza. One of the thingsI like about the cookbook is
(01:45):
it's kind of choose your ownadventure. Not every recipe is
gluten free, dairy free and nutfree. But for every recipe, she
gives tips on how to make thoseadjustments, and additionally
guides you on how to make themmaybe vegetarian or low fat if
that's something you'reinterested in. So if you or
someone you know has foodallergies or intolerances. Or if
you're looking to expand yourcooking skills to better
(02:06):
accommodate those with dietaryrestrictions, you won't want to
miss this episode. Be sure tocheck out the links in the show
notes to connect with Kayla andlearn more about her cookbook.
And if you enjoy the show,please share it with others and
consider leaving a rating orreview on your favorite podcast
platform. Thanks for tuning into Chefs Without Restaurants and
have a great day.
Hey, Kayla, welcome to the show.
Thanks so much for coming on.
(02:28):
It's great to have you heretoday.
Kayla Cappiello (02:29):
Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm so
excited to chat.
Chris Spear (02:33):
I'm looking forward to talking to you about your new
cookbook, which is going to becoming out in a couple of weeks
here. By the time this airs.
It'll probably be out already.
Kayla Cappiello (02:40):
Yes, I have my final copies. I'm so excited for
other people to finally getthere.
Chris Spear (02:44):
I got a copy in the mail the other day.
Kayla Cappiello (02:47):
Oh fantastic. I think my mom is my mom is upset.
She hasn't received her yet. ButI'm like, Oh, I have mine.
Chris Spear (02:54):
Don't tell your mom that I have a copy already.
Well, I would love to talk aboutthis. Your book is called Easy
allergy free cooking. And Iguess let's start with kind of
the story as to how you got intothis. assuming there's a food
allergy that kind of led you tostart working on some of these
recipes. So why don't we startthere? Can we talk about kind of
(03:14):
you know, how you found out thatyou were allergic to food and
when and how that all kind ofunfolded?
Kayla Cappiello (03:19):
Sure. So it kind of started? Well, I guess
it started in college, I startednoticing. I talked about it a
lot in the intro to my book.
Like you're in college, you wantto eat pizza, you want to drink
beer, you want to do whateveryone else is doing. And I
kind of noticed that afternights like that, I just was not
recovering well. And I hadnothing to do with like how much
or how little I was drinking butlike if I had that slice of
(03:42):
pizza at the end of the night,it was like
Chris Spear (03:45):
awful. But we all felt that way. Right? Like yeah,
Kayla Cappiello (03:49):
everybody else was hungover. And I was like,
oh, maybe I'm just hungover, butI have symptoms that no one else
has. So I guess that should havebeen a red flag and like
hindsight is always 2020. But inthe moment I just wrote it off
as like, you know, this istypical college behavior. And
then when I started working morein the corporate world, right
after college, my favoritemoment of the day was lunch. I
(04:13):
used to love to go to New YorkCity deli, get a deli sandwich.
I love bread, I just lovedsandwiches, and I'd go back to
my desk and I'd eat it and anhour later I would be like
completely ill. I almostcouldn't make it through the
workday. I was so tired. I waslethargic. I couldn't think
straight. It was like I wasliving in a fog. And I couldn't
(04:35):
figure out how to fix that.
Around the same time. My dadalso was feeling ill and ended
up going to the hospital for astomach ache and they did all
these tests and he finally cameback as celiac positive that he
had the celiac gene. And the wayhe was feeling was very similar
to the way I was feeling andsometimes that gene is
(04:55):
hereditary, so I ended upgetting 10 Sit for that. And I
guess as many people know, likeif you're allergic to something,
it takes like multiple doctorsor multiple doctor visits to get
some answers. But at the end ofthe day, I did find a doctor
that, you know, took the stepsto like, test me for everything
in the book. And as she wastesting me for the celiac gene,
(05:17):
she also tested me like, let'sthrow another test in there
while we're doing it. And Iended up being lactose
intolerant as well. So it was nopizza. Oh, I know, it was like
the pizza was really workingagainst me. I got the info at
the same time, it must have beenlike a year or two after
college. And like I said,looking back, it was very clear,
(05:37):
but in the moment, it was not. Iam also allergic to tree nuts,
specifically almonds, pistachiosand hazelnuts.
Chris Spear (05:48):
That's a lot. Did you find that out around the
same time as well. I
Kayla Cappiello (05:51):
knew before college, I knew I was allergic
to pistachios, like prettybadly, I'd eaten them a couple
of times, and my lips got reallybig. And they always tell you
like if you have an oralreaction that it's like pretty
severe. So I always stayed away.
And then it wasn't until that Istarted going gluten free, a lot
of things are substitute.
Instead of wheat. They usealmond flour. And I was like,
(06:14):
let me just go to the allergist.
And just like check about thealmonds. So I knew I was
allergic. But I wanted to knowhow severe the allergy was. She
was really great with me though,she was very patient and had me
come into her office withalmonds. And they observed me
for an hour eating one almond ata time. So I knew that I can
consume like X amount before thereaction. So if I'm ever in a
(06:37):
situation where I take a biteinto something, and it's made
with almond flour, and I didn'tknow at least I know like one
almond like isn't going to hurtme but like six of them well.
Chris Spear (06:49):
And does this like lay dormant like the gluten like
no problems from childhood upthrough
Kayla Cappiello (06:55):
there? I guess there definitely were problems.
But in my family, it was alwaysjust like, Oh, she has a weak
stomach. Like my dad has like aweak stomach. I guess looking
back, we would eat the wheat andeat gluten and I just I had a
perpetual stomachache like myentire childhood. But when you
don't know any different, it'shard to pinpoint it as a
symptom. And then as you getolder and you start associating,
(07:18):
like, Yes, I ate lunch, and thenthe hour later, I didn't feel
good. And now it's happeningdays in a row. You can connect
the dots. But it was very hard,like in middle school in high
school to even figure out likewhat was happening, especially
because I had felt like that mywhole life. But once I got into
(07:38):
the corporate world, and it wasmore of a daily routine, it was
easier to pinpoint like thisstomachache is happening every
day at three o'clock. So then,looking back, it was like, Oh,
yes, it was oh, he's a problem.
But it wasn't until I was anadult that I could figure it
out.
Chris Spear (07:55):
Well, it's hard because it could be stress. You
know, like for me, coffeebothers me. It's not even the
caffeine. It's like the acidityof coffee. So I know a lot of
people do food journaling,really trying to figure out what
bothers them. And then maybe anelimination diet, which sounds
crazy, because you take likeeverything out of your diet.
Putting it back in. I've neverhad to do that. I just know from
hearing people talk about it.
Kayla Cappiello (08:16):
I did. They call it a low FODMAP. So you
really eat like specific thingsand then start to reintroduce.
And that was it was very eiopa.
And that's
Chris Spear (08:25):
a hard one because it doesn't seem like there's set
rules to the layperson. Like Iwork as a personal chef, it's
easy when someone says I'mgluten free, I understand what
gluten is, I'm dairy free, Iunderstand that the low FODMAP
is like all over the place. Soit's like beans, it's garlic.
And you know, like all thesethings
Kayla Cappiello (08:40):
are like an like huge red flags.
Chris Spear (08:44):
But they don't have anything in common to the
layperson who doesn't know, likeif someone just says I'm on the
low FODMAP diet, it's like youneed to break out this whole
chart. And it's like from allthese different categories. And
it's really tough I empathizefor with people who have to deal
with any diet like this, becauseit's so challenging. So you
started a food blog, kind of tocreate recipes. So what was the
(09:08):
timeframe of that? You know,you're, you've been diagnosed,
you are working? When did youdecide that you're going to take
it upon you to start writingrecipes and why you know,
because, well how long ago wasthis?
Kayla Cappiello (09:20):
Um, I guess at this point, like, it happened
right before I started my blogright before COVID, maybe a year
before COVID. So there were some
Chris Spear (09:28):
resources out there. There had already been
some books and blogs, but youwanted to do your own.
Kayla Cappiello (09:33):
Yeah, so what happened was, I guess it was so
I graduated college in 2011. Soit must have been like 2013 or
14, where I like started findingthis all out. And I guess my
main goal was taking meals thatI ate on a daily or weekly basis
and converting them intosomething that was healthier and
(09:54):
safer for me to eat and that Iknew I wouldn't get a
stomachache and I knew Iwouldn't get the brain fog after
eating Um, as I did that, I kindof kept notes along the way,
like, oh, I tried this glutenfree pasta, it was really good
like next I'm going to try itand make it this way instead, or
I'm going to add these toppingsinstead. And the same thing with
the pizza. It was like, I reallyliked ordering, let's say like
(10:15):
buffalo chicken pizza, but Icouldn't order it anymore. So
now I'm trying these crusts andtrying these different cheeses
to be able to consume it at homeby myself. And when I found
something that was like asuccess, I wanted to celebrate
it like myself. So I had aprivate Instagram account at
that point. And I would justpost a picture of my food and my
(10:35):
recipe. It was like for myfriends and family to see I
counted it as a win. Like thisis definitely something I would
make again, and kind of usedInstagram in a way that like I
hadn't before, it was kind oflike my own personal diary where
I knew I could go back and lookat these meals and recreate them
again if I had to. And then as Iguess, I inched forward in the
(10:57):
timeline, I was like, oh, let'smake my account like public in
case there's someone out therewho's also gluten free and dairy
free or gluten free and notfree. Because I was like
convinced that like, I must bethe only person feeling this
way. And that's very isolating.
So when I opened up my Instagramand kind of started finding
other food bloggers out there,who did have like the gluten
free option, or someone who didhave a dairy free allergy, and
(11:20):
then it was like, I could relateto those people on specific
levels. But then I startedfinding people or people found
me who had multiple allergies.
And that's kind of where I foundmy community and my sense of
like purpose, like, Oh, I'mposting these recipes, not only
for myself, but other people arereally interested too. And I
(11:41):
think it just kind of snowballedfrom there.
Chris Spear (11:44):
You have like 45,000 followers now on
Instagram. Is that crazy foryou?
Kayla Cappiello (11:48):
Yeah. And it's weird when you think about it,
like, put that like in astadium. And then it's like, oh,
like that's the only place thatcan hold all these people. Like
I can't invite all these peopleover to my house. But it was
like when COVID happened, allthose people were cooking at
home anyway. So I think on topof the hour G A comedy
accommodations for my recipes,they were also easy, and you
(12:11):
could make them at home and theywere like, kind of user
friendly. They they use simpleingredients. Nothing's crazy.
And I think that definitely wasinteresting to people as well.
Were you keeping
Chris Spear (12:21):
dedicated lists of the brands you like because it's
really hit and miss with a lotof that stuff. I cook a lot of
this way both for myself andcustomers and like sometimes you
nail it with like the cheat likecheeses are really hard. It's
like some amazing, absolutelylove them. Like I love cheese. I
think that would be the hardestfor me. I feel like the gluten
(12:41):
free things are getting there.
The dairy stuff is a little hitor miss I find
Kayla Cappiello (12:46):
for sure. So in the beginning I did keep like a
diary of I tried this brandthere type of chatter. Did I
like it? Did I not? And how didI use it. And then along the
way, I continued that and then Iwould highlight the ones that
were really successful arehighlight the ones I liked. And
in my cookbook, I actually havean example of that chart there
(13:06):
so people can take their ownnotes in the same fashion.
Because until you like you saiduntil you start trying other
brands you don't know that thebrand you're currently eating is
either not so good, or it'sactually really good compared to
what else is out there. And thatwas definitely the most
challenging part of the wholething.
Chris Spear (13:24):
I love the Meo Coast cheeses their dairy if you
have you used them.
Kayla Cappiello (13:28):
They're good I liked them and Trader Joe's
actually has a ton of reallygood options. If you're not
vegan because I know people eatdairy free cheese for like the
vegan aspect. But they do havelactose free like a it is it has
soy cheese and it but it's alsojust like lactose free and not
completely vegan
Chris Spear (13:48):
that nothing's hard or can you do cashews because so
much of it's like cashew,
Kayla Cappiello (13:52):
so I can do cashews, I can do p cans. And
that's it I think because I
Chris Spear (13:59):
think like most of those M Yoko's cheeses are like
cashew chicken mashed bass.
Yeah, that's tough to have themultiple, which is what I love
about the book, because not allof your recipes, it sounds
overwhelming to think that oh,all of them are gluten free,
dairy free and not free, butthey're not. And then you have
like, this is how to make it butthen it's got dairy in it. But
if you want dairy free, this ishow you do it or not free and I
(14:20):
liked that because it's kind ofthe Choose Your Own Adventure of
diet, diet restrictions. So Ithink that's really great. And
I'm sure the recipes arefantastic as written but like if
you need to adapt it forwhatever your diet is, and you
also have like low fat optionsin there as well. So I think
that's really helpful.
Kayla Cappiello (14:39):
Yeah, thanks. I think that was something that I
used after I found like you saidit was a gluten free recipe but
it wasn't dairy free, but now Ihad to adjust it to make it
dairy free and I wished allthese recipes that I was reading
that accommodated one of myallergies, I could figure out a
way to accommodate my otherones. So then I was like that's
(14:59):
the easiest way, like, here'syour base recipe and here's how
to alter it if your X, Y or Z.
Chris Spear (15:04):
So I'm assuming no formal culinary training, no
background and recipedevelopment just winging it. So
where did you start? Were youjust using the internet and
cookbooks to kind of find baserecipes and adjusting from
there?
Kayla Cappiello (15:17):
Yeah, I think I was actually using meals that I
really liked at restaurants thatI would order on like a daily
basis like you know, you gethome from work, you just want
some pizza. Okay. Like I said,my go to was buffalo chicken,
pizza. And then I was trying tocome as close to like something
that resembled that as possible.
So then I would Google likebuffalo chicken pizza. Okay, how
do you make it dairy free? Howdo you make a gluten free? Okay,
(15:40):
like, what do I want to pullfrom here? What do I want to
pull from here? And then it'sjust like trial and error. It
definitely got easier as I wentalong. And it was less research
and more. Okay, like, let metrust my own trial and error.
But yeah, like, internet,YouTube, Pinterest, like other
food bloggers, like anyone Icould watch. And just find out
(16:02):
like more information. It waslike, even if I just watched
someone cook a recipe, but Ididn't make it everything I
gained from watching it, then atleast I could have, like apply
at home.
Chris Spear (16:13):
And the market for available products has exploded.
I mean, a decade ago, there wasno cup for copper King. Right,
whatever. So I'd have to buylike 15 different things. I
think my recipe is like whiterice flour, brown rice, flour,
rice, flour, you know, ag ourcorn starch, you know, and, and
all this stuff. And I'd have allthese containers. And now it's
(16:34):
like, you can just go buy onebag of AP gluten free flour. And
it's nice. Were there anyrecipes that you still haven't
been able to adapt? Like, orwhat were some of the hard ones,
like the ones you really werecraving and just couldn't nail
it anything?
Kayla Cappiello (16:49):
Yeah, for sure.
So I love Indian food. Like evenif we order it like from a
takeout restaurant here. I can'tfigure out how to make good
gluten free non I can figure outhow to make an acceptable
substitute. But it doesn't tastelike the one from the restaurant
and I it's not on the market.
I've Googled gluten free nineyou can't buy it. It's just
(17:10):
impossible.
Chris Spear (17:11):
That sounds like a challenge for someone out. I
mean, I can't even imaginemaking not you know, bread
making in itself is challenging.
Well, maybe I'll try making sohave you tried making gluten
free? Non? Yeah.
Kayla Cappiello (17:25):
So I followed like a bunch of recipes. And a
lot of them are you use glutenfree flour, and then you use
yogurt and you make it in a castiron skillet. But I just maybe
it's one of those things like Ialways feel like salads are
different when you order itversus like when you make it
yourself. So maybe it's like Iknow that this not unlike isn't
me at a restaurant. So I likesecond guessing it. But it's
(17:46):
just not the right texture. Idon't know I can't nail it
Chris Spear (17:50):
well, and do not use yogurt because that's also
like if you're not using realyogurt that also was probably
challenging.
Kayla Cappiello (17:57):
Exactly. So if I'm using vegan yogurt, like the
texture is definitely off. Andif I'm using regular yogurt, I
still hear like here's an ad forlactate, then I obviously like
have to take the lactate, butI'm willing to do the lactate if
I can get the texture correct
Chris Spear (18:13):
is lactate a big deal? Because I always think
like, oh, you know, like lactoseintolerant? Just take a pill
like I would rather do that thangive up dairy. But like, does it
get rid of all the symptoms?
Kayla Cappiello (18:23):
Um, it depends.
For me, it's soft cheeses thatare a way bigger deal than hard
cheeses. Because hard cheeseshave like less lactose in them.
I want to say it's like a rollercoaster. Like sometimes there
are moments where like, if Idon't take the Lactaid I kind of
don't feel good, but I can justbrush it off and like continue
with my day. And then there aremoments where like, if I don't
(18:46):
take a lactate, I have to likego home and lay down and get a
heating pad and I don't feelwell at all. It usually comes on
like spurts so like this week ifI eat cheese like I can get
myself to feel okay, but I knowif I'm having a stomachache
before I eat the cheese thatit's just like, you have to take
the Lactaid Yeah,
Chris Spear (19:05):
don't don't roll the dice of Yeah,
Kayla Cappiello (19:06):
I was gonna say people are very, they like
chance. If you're very risky.
When you're lactose intolerant.
It's like you're willing to takethe chance even though you know
you're not going to feel good.
Versus like with the gluten. I'mnot going to take the chance.
Chris Spear (19:20):
Have you ever tried any of the flowers that they say
are like, you know, ancientGreek because there's a lot of
talk about, you know, it's thewheat and how we grow it now on
a lot of chefs and farmers aretalking about, well, if you're
using this strain of wheat, likewouldn't have any problems. Have
you read about that? Have youtried any of that?
Kayla Cappiello (19:39):
I've definitely heard about it. A good example.
My parents went to Italy acouple summers ago it was
actually way before COVID And mydad who also has celiac was like
it's so different, like eatingwheat here eating pizza here
like eating bread here. It'sjust like their reactions
completely different. I haven'tgone so I haven't actually
(19:59):
perience tip but I did recentlywalk into a pizza place. I
actually moved from Hoboken, NewJersey to Morristown, New
Jersey, which like really isn'tthat far. But like, you have to
change your restaurant. So I waslooking for another restaurant
like now locally that had glutenfree pizza. And I walked in and
asked, and he tried to say thatto me, he was like, well, like
the flour we use even though ithas we like, you could probably
(20:22):
still have it. But I was sonervous that like, I didn't even
take the chance. I wonder if hewas right. I just I was so
scared. Well, I
Chris Spear (20:29):
know people have talked about like einkorn flour
being like the original flour. Iknow, Chef Dan Barber up in New
York like talks about theirgrowing the strain of wheat, I
think he calls it Barbar wheat,and they even make it in their
restaurant at Stone barns. Andhe said like, I would never make
anyone try anything they don'twant. But if you know they
wanted to try it, everyone who'scome and said they have celiac
or problems have not had anyreactions. I just find that
(20:52):
interesting. Yeah. Maybe we'llget there. We've just screwed up
our food system. Like why are weall having these things? I mean,
I'm sure for generations peoplehave had food allergies and
things. But there's also got tobe some other things
contributing to the fact thatmore and more people are getting
sick from the food that theyeat. We think that
Kayla Cappiello (21:08):
that's totally like, it really messes up my
mind if I think about it toohard. When we moved to
Morristown, I was like, I wantto yard so I can grow garden. So
I know exactly what I'm eatingand exactly where it's coming
from. And I don't have to likeoverthink anything
Chris Spear (21:23):
is going out to eat challenging for you. And have
you had any accidents anywhere?
Kayla Cappiello (21:27):
Oh, yeah. So I actually was just out, I'm not
going to name the restaurant.
But I was out two nights ago, Iwent to a restaurant, and I
called ahead to make sure thatthey had gluten free items. And
they said that they did. Butwhen I ordered it, I just it was
like I just knew that it wasn't.
And I was like all they told meover the phone that this this
(21:49):
dish was like, I'm just gonnatry it. And when I got home, I
was like, Oh, I definitely don'tfeel right at all. It's scary
going out. I think in thebeginning, it was really
isolating because you want to goout with your friends to the
same places and order the samefood that you've been doing your
whole life. And now not only doyou have to change it, but you
have to be that person to speakup when it's your friends or
(22:10):
your family or a party and saylike, Hey, I can't keep doing
what I've been doing. And Idon't like to upset like the
status quo like that. So it wasreally hard for me, I started
making lists, I actually postedon my Instagram pretty often.
But I started making lists ofall the places that I could go
that I knew were safe thateither had like a dedicated
(22:31):
grill or a dedicated fryer, orthey had like a separate
preparation area. And then overtime, I felt more comfortable
like trying more food there andlike kind of moving outside of
my comfort zone with what Iordered. So when I was in
Hoboken, I had this huge list ofplaces that had gluten free
options that I had never had abad experience at. Because if I
(22:51):
have one bad experience, I neverwant to go back. But when I
moved, it was like you have tostart from scratch again. So
here I am, like calling allthese places being like, do you
have gluten free bread? Do youhave gluten free bagels? Like
where am I going to eat? So I dofeel like the list is slowly
growing. But I do like toprepare for going out. I look at
(23:12):
the menu. I include this like onmy Instagram to just like how to
get through a night out like andstill be gluten free or how to
get through like a holiday.
That's not You're not hosting.
And still like keep to a glutenfree diet. And it's like you
just have to ask a lot ofquestions ahead of time. So I
Google it. I call I ask thequestions. And then when I go to
the actual restaurant, I askedthe questions. So it sounds
Chris Spear (23:34):
like you like food, which can be challenging. Yeah,
like food. Yeah. Because I mean,some people don't care. It's
like these people I see who aremeal preppers. And like everyday
they to chicken breast andbroccoli and rice is no that's
like that's like I couldn't dothat. So you know, as someone
who's social and likes goingout, I can't imagine the anxiety
around that. Like it's, youknow, your friends all want to
(23:55):
go out for pizza or burgers orwhatever you want to hang out
with them. But I used to be avegetarian, I'm not anymore. But
my wife and I were and it wasthe same thing. You'd go to
places and like, you couldn'talways trust it like it's
broccoli soup, but it's probablychicken broth, which has stayed.
You know, and we didn't haveallergies, but it was just
annoying. And then you wentplaces. And I mean, this was a
while ago. So you had to hearlike vegetable plate or your
(24:18):
portabella mushroom burgernonsense and like all the gluten
free stuff. It's nice to seethat that's coming around. And
there's some really interestingoptions these days.
Kayla Cappiello (24:26):
Yeah, and I think like over time, my friends
and like my family I'm like nowmy fiancee, like everybody's so
involved now that it's like ifwe go to a restaurant, he'll be
like, do you have gluten freepizza and it's like I don't even
have to ask and it's likeknowing that your community
around you like my friends myfamily are now all like on board
and like helping and I'm notalone because like that's it's
(24:48):
sucky to feel that way. Likeyou're by yourself. You have to
embarrass yourself like askingall these like ridiculous
questions. When you just want tobe like socializing.
Chris Spear (24:57):
Do you get the server Soos humanoid like, just
like going out, I've seen thatlike, some people are really
cool. But sometimes it'sprobably like, Oh, here's
another one of those people.
Yeah. And also, like, thesidebar of that is so many
people these days say they haveallergies when they don't. And
I'm sure that screws up for youguys, right? Because it's
annoying. I cannot
Kayla Cappiello (25:18):
stand when a restaurant is like, is it a
preference or an allergy,because I'm like, either way, I
don't want the crosscontamination. And I also don't
want you labeling like mygenetic mutation as a
preference, because it's notlike I would not prefer to live
my life like this. And I alwaysthink it's so offensive. Like,
(25:40):
anyone who's saying they'regluten free, you should just be
giving them the same, likesituation like you shouldn't be
treating my meal more seriouslythan someone's who says it's a
preference.
Chris Spear (25:52):
But then I see things as a personal chef that,
like people will have allergiesand not tell me because they
didn't think they orderedsomething that will have it
like, I don't want that. Like Ihad a woman who has an avocado
allergy, but I use avocado oil,because as a high smoke point.
So I get to her house, and I'mlike cooking. And she like makes
this blase comment about like,Well, my only allergy is
avocados. And it's like, youmight put that on the
(26:14):
questionnaire. She's like, well,I didn't order anything with
avocados. No, he got me upgetting these people to
understand I did a dinner like aweek ago, and they had a guest
who was gluten free and theydidn't tell me. I can
accommodate you. But it's likeyou have meat balls. I used
regular bread crumbs, I wouldhave used gluten free you know
there's a gravy and it's gonnathicken with a roux, I would
have used like a gluten freeflour or like, why not tell me
(26:36):
but once I get there, then I'mlike backpedaling and trying to
find ya know, ways. But thenlike someone one time soy
allergies are insane becausesoybean oil is in so much stuff.
So I bought like soybean freemayo and all this stuff. And
they're like, Oh, we just don'tlike like soy beans and tofu and
stuff. I'm like, That is not asoy allergy. Like I had to
restock my Whole Pantry just foryour party. So getting that
(26:59):
through to people to get them totell me like really? What is an
allergy? What is a dislike?
Kayla Cappiello (27:03):
Yeah, for sure.
Please
Chris Spear (27:05):
tell me everything that you can't have. Because I
take this so seriously.
Kayla Cappiello (27:09):
I guess that'll also like came in time with me.
Like you try to be open andhonest ahead of time. Because I
would rather say, Hey, I'mgluten free. If you can't make
anything gluten free, liketotally fine. I'll eat
beforehand, like I really don'tcare. But if you get there, and
then there's nothing gluten freeand you didn't open your mouth,
it's like then you kind of didit to yourself.
Chris Spear (27:29):
What prompted you to write the cookbook because
that seems like a huge task. Imean, it's one thing to blog,
put your recipes on socialmedia, but to write an actual
book to make a physical book andget it in the world. That seems
like a totally differentundertaking. So when did you
decide that that was somethingyou were going to do?
Kayla Cappiello (27:46):
So I guess it was always in the back of my
mind. And I probably didn't eventhink about it. I actually
minored in creative writing incollege. So writing was like
always, like interesting to me.
And then when I was writing downmy recipes for my Instagram
captions, then it wasinteresting to like, make it a
bigger deal, like on my blog andwrite more about like, you can
always fit more texts and likewrite more in a blog post. So as
(28:08):
I was enjoying that, I justthought, you know, if I could
write a book I could fit moreabout my life and who I am and
include more like the way wetalked about, like how I had the
worksheets about how to figureout like, what brands I liked or
what flavors of things I like.
So it was like, I felt like Ijust kept having more to share.
(28:31):
And there's only like so muchyou can share on a blog because
people are only going to clickmy one blog post and they're
gonna read that recipe likemaybe they make it maybe they
comment on it, but then likethey're kind of clicking away.
Chris Spear (28:43):
And they're gonna complain that they don't want
your story right? Isn't that theisn't that the big thing? Yeah,
food blogs like just jump to therecipe
Kayla Cappiello (28:49):
right? No one wants the intro no one wants to
hear my story but it's like whenyou put all that in a book and
now people are getting like Ithink it's like 200 pages of
recipes and my backstory and theway I stock my pantry and my
theory on the way I grocery shopto like stay healthy and find
the products I like and it'slike you're getting all of it at
once and like a nice packagedeal and I thought it was like a
(29:12):
nicer way to present what wasoriginally like a really hard
moment in my life that I triedto turn around into like
something that actually likeworked out for the best
Chris Spear (29:21):
and I'm sure you were grabbing recipes that were
already on your website andstuff and just kind of brushing
them up you weren't startingfrom scratch.
Kayla Cappiello (29:29):
No so I took I went through my Instagram over
like I mean I started thecookbook process back in like
2020 So I went through myInstagram and kind of looked at
which recipes like had the mostengagement and people were like
the most into and then I eithertried to like recreate them
either in a more elevated way orlet's say I made it with like
(29:52):
chicken breasts last time likenow I'm making it with like
breaded chicken or I'm making itwith treaded chicken just so it
was like a different take onlike the say same recipe because
if you've been around from thebeginning, you know, some of
them, it's really hard to like,make something and be really
proud of it, and then hold offon posting it on the blog to
like, include it in the book. SoI want to say half the recipes
(30:12):
were either elevated or changedfrom Instagram. And then half
the recipes were like brand newthat I was making, like, in the
moment, or like over the year ofwriting it that I was not
sharing on Instagram, and it waskilling me.
Chris Spear (30:25):
That's gotta be tough. I've had those things
where it's like you have anannouncement to make, and you
can't do it. Or, you know, oryou shouldn't, and you're
holding off. Yeah, I'm
Kayla Cappiello (30:32):
the worst secret keepers. So I just wanted
to like, share everything. I'mlike, share all like the
pictures and the videos and likethe process, but I was like,
shoot, like, what if it doesn'tgo anywhere. That was also the
thing. It was like, I wrote agood chunk of the book. When I
started out on this process, Ihad a literary agent. And he
helped me write like the introand some sample chapters. And
(30:54):
then he helped me shop at aroundtwo publishers. But at that
point, it was like I was in theprocess of writing it, but I
didn't know if it was gonna getpicked up. So it was kind of
waiting for a publisher to like,give the green light before I
kept writing the second half. Soit was like, if no one picked it
up, like yeah, you can go backand then I can share these
recipes on my blog and onInstagram, and people will still
(31:15):
get to like consume the recipe.
But I was really nervous. Butobviously it ended up well.
Chris Spear (31:21):
Did you ever consider self publishing?
Kayla Cappiello (31:23):
I did. I didn't know a lot about it. So I did do
a lot of research, especially. Imean, it takes a long time for
publishers. So like read yourproposal, come back with
questions, come back withoptions and then either like,
approve or deny it. So like inthat process, I was like, okay,
like, let me actually, like putsome research into self
publication. It was definitelyif I didn't get like a publisher
(31:46):
to get on board with me. It wasdefinitely like the next option,
because at that point, I was sodeep into writing it that I
wasn't just gonna, like, give itup at that point,
Chris Spear (31:56):
though. Did you have people test your recipes? I
know a lot of cookbook authorssend out recipes and have people
try them and see if they work,especially people who are used
to cooking.
Kayla Cappiello (32:04):
Yeah, I was gonna say like, friends and
family. It was like, here's therecipe. Can you try this? Like,
I'm posting it on Instagram, ifsomeone else made it, like, if a
girl like a lot of girls likecomment, and they say, Hey, I
made this this weekend, like itwas great. But then I'd message
them and be like, hey, like, Didit come out? Okay, do you have
pictures? Like, is thereanything like you had questions
on like, could I have writtenthe directions better? And I
(32:26):
think that really helped. Butthere were definitely things
that like, I went back on andsaid, like, I need to make this
again to make sure like in myown head. It made sense. And it
came out well. I mean, the bookis published and it's done. And
I've made some of these recipes100 times, and this week, I made
one of the recipes from thecookbook, and I was like I'm
gonna make it exactly in thecookbook, just like as a peace
(32:48):
of mind to know even though I'vemade it 100 times like it's
still exactly what I wanted. Itwas definitely the baking
recipes that made me like themost nervous because I feel like
cooking is like if you add moregarlic or if you add more cheese
like the recipe is going to comeout like fairly similar anyway.
But the baking it's not. So ifyou add too much sugar if you
add too much peanut butter, likeit's not going to be the same
(33:10):
consistency and those made methe most nervous. So I remade
all of those beforehand to makesure like I wrote it. I did it
exactly as the recipe said I'mremaking it. Okay, yes, it did
come out the same.
Chris Spear (33:23):
Well, I'm excited to learn that you can turn tater
tots into meat replacementbecause tater tots are the best
potato in my opinion. So to seea recipe or it's like, just
crumble some tater tots andsaute them up in oil. And there
you go. It's a meat replacerthat's gonna be my new meat.
replacer every time forget tofu,I'm done with tofu. It's just
tender.
Kayla Cappiello (33:42):
I was gonna say it is not low carb, but it is
definitely really good.
Chris Spear (33:45):
Ya know, there's some really fun recipes in
there. The baking ones lookinteresting, too. I want to dig
into some of those before toolong. I enjoy baking. It's
something that I didn't do earlyon in my culinary career. But
now like as a personal chef, Ihave to I do all the courses for
people, right? Like I used towork in kitchens where we did
savory stuff. And now it's likeI do all the courses. And you
(34:08):
know, one of the things aboutbeing a personal chef is people
hire me so much because I canaccommodate them. You know, like
Yeah, like, Yeah, I'm feelingthat you can't go out to a
restaurant. That's a hugeopportunity for me because I'm
only cooking for you and yourdinner party tonight. So it can
be whatever you need it to bedairy free, gluten free. I'm
sure this cookbook is going tobe a huge resource for me. So
(34:28):
I'm looking forward to using itand breaking out these recipes.
I'm gonna start cooking forcustomers using these recipes.
Love it. What are some of yourfavorite recipes in there?
Kayla Cappiello (34:37):
So I'm a big breakfast fan. There's
definitely a lot of Frenchtoasts in there because that was
really hard for me in thebeginning like it's made with
bread. It's made with milk likethat was definitely a challenge.
So once I started creating likeall these French toasts there's
a churro french toast. There'slike a peanut butter french
toast that was breakfast is oneof my favorite meals, and then
(34:59):
all the pizza As I could eatpizza every day of my life, the
pizzas there's like it's a beetpizza in there so it has much
rel it has goat cheese or likeif you're making the vegan
option sometimes I use vegancream cheese instead. It has
carmelized onions and beets ontop. And I've been making that
(35:19):
pizza probably for 10 years. Wemake it like every year for my
mom's birthday. It's one of myfavorites. How did
Chris Spear (35:26):
the beats go on? Do you cook the beats at a time or
using canned cooked beats?
Kayla Cappiello (35:29):
Yeah, so I buy the beats. They're already
roasted. They're usually like inthe produce section. They're
like shrink wrap together. Yeah,
Chris Spear (35:36):
I love those. I think Costco like yes, I
Kayla Cappiello (35:39):
sliced them really thin and then when they
go on the pizza, they cook inthe oven. I just think they're
like so good.
Chris Spear (35:43):
I've never seen a beat pizza. I've seen the rise
of like the potato pizza. Likethat's the thing now with like
Yukon Golds, but I've never seenbeets on a pizza.
Kayla Cappiello (35:50):
Yeah, it's so good. It's I can sometimes I put
zucchini on it. I'm a big a bigmix and match are for the
pizzas. Do you
Chris Spear (35:57):
have a favorite cuisine? Like if we're gonna say
like ethnic cuisine? Is therefood that you really like to eat
or cook?
Kayla Cappiello (36:03):
Um, that's a good question. We do make a lot
of like at home Chinese food orlike Korean food or Japanese
food. We always keep like glutenfree soy sauce in stock in my
pantry. He's
Chris Spear (36:16):
tamari.
Kayla Cappiello (36:18):
I'm like coconut aminos I love the
coconut aminos Yeah, we likethat are like liquid aminos we
use those too. But I feel likethat's something I definitely
cannot order out. So if it's anight like a Friday night at
home, we're not doing anything.
Me and my fiance will definitelymake something of that cuisine
because I feel like it's such atreat to be able to you know sit
(36:38):
down and like make somethinglike that. That there's no way I
could ever order Chinese foodout.
Chris Spear (36:45):
Have you found certain cuisines are more
allergy friendly?
Kayla Cappiello (36:49):
I feel like Thai is pretty allergy friendly.
They have like, like ricenoodles all the time. All the
all the options are made withany kind of rice you can brown
rice, white rice. I meanItalians really hard Chinese
food is like really hard. We doget a lot of sushi. There are
places like if I know ahead oftime that the place is like
(37:11):
gluten free soy sauce we can goout but we order a lot of sushi
and and then like I just keep myown soy sauce here. Bring your
own
Chris Spear (37:17):
bring your own little bottle of liquid Amina.
Exactly.
Kayla Cappiello (37:20):
And as long as there's like no tempura and like
you don't get like spicy mayo onanything. It's like it's fine.
Chris Spear (37:26):
Yeah. So what's I mean, I hate to say what's next
the book isn't even out. But Imean, are you continuously
writing new recipes? Are youalready in new recipe mode?
Kayla Cappiello (37:37):
Yeah, I am. In the back of my head. I'm making
like lists for a potentialsecond, I'd love to write a
second cookbook and focus on youknow, this cookbook has
breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ithas desserts as pizzas as
appetizers. But I'd love to takeone of those chapters so pizzas
and just have the whole cookbookabout pizzas. Every time I make
(37:57):
something I'm like, do I shareit? Do I hold on to it but I
think right now I'm just kind ofin the sharing mode until this
cookbook is like out and peopleare enjoying it. And then once I
can like dial it back into onlysharing like some things but
keeping some things ready then Ithink I'd consider a second
cookbook but it seems
Chris Spear (38:14):
like community is so important to you, you know
you've got a large group offollowers obviously, they're
supportive and it was you knowwhy you kind of wanted to put
this out so it's great thatyou're really connecting with
them and wanting to share Do youhave a go to recipe when you
want to impress someone like ifyou were having like a nice
dinner party? Do you havesomething that's a little on the
(38:35):
fancier end or something thatyou just really enjoy making?
That's more of like a I don'tknow maybe special occasion dish
Kayla Cappiello (38:41):
recently we've been making like this pork dish
it's like a Chinese pork dishI'm not gonna pronounce this
ingredient right but is itcalled gocce Jiang Yeah,
Chris Spear (38:52):
yeah, that's on fire to it.
Kayla Cappiello (38:53):
I love does that's been like our go to
lately. Me and my fiance havebeen making that like once a
week for the past like threeweeks I think we just impressed
ourselves with like followingthis really fancy recipe and we
actually really enjoyed it. Ihave not made it for someone
else yet. Do you eat
Chris Spear (39:07):
peanuts or peanuts?
No for you
Kayla Cappiello (39:09):
that peanuts are yes for me.
Chris Spear (39:10):
I've I've a recipe where you put go to Jiang and a
blender with pineapple juice,raw garlic, shallots and peanuts
and you'd like blended up into apaste I have. And then you like
marinate your meat and then youcan just like throw it on the
grill. If it's a tougher cutthat takes some time, then you
put it in an oven and like beefstock and let it cook down. And
that's nice. It's like fiery,it's salty. It's got a little
(39:33):
sweet there. It's a really good
Kayla Cappiello (39:34):
recipe definitely sent me that that
sounds right up my alley. Yeah,
Chris Spear (39:37):
that's good stuff.
And like you should be as longas you can do peanuts. You can
do all that. Yeah,
Kayla Cappiello (39:41):
there's a lot of peanuts in our household. It
works really good with beefshort ribs.
Chris Spear (39:44):
So I'll like put it on short ribs and throw them on
the grill and then throw them ina pan with some more than
marinade and beef stock and justlet them go for a couple hours.
Kayla Cappiello (39:50):
Okay, that will be our meal next weekend. I'm
sold. That sounds fantastic.
Chris Spear (39:55):
Do you have any advice for people who are newly
diagnosed with some kind of foodallergy? Like, what would you
tell them?
Kayla Cappiello (40:02):
So I actually dedicated my book to the younger
version of myself who likealways had a stomachache and
thought this would like, neverever get any better. And it did
get better. So that's my adviceis like, just keep doing what
you're doing. Like, go to thedoctor's, find the doctors that
(40:22):
are going to advocate with you,like, find the people who are
going to help you narrow it downand find out what's bothering
you what's giving you astomachache, what's causing your
allergy, because you're notcrazy. Like, I always felt
really crazy in the beginning.
This wasn't going to get better,like how was I going to fix
this, but it's like you knowyourself. So you have to like
trust yourself. And if you findsomeone who can give you the
(40:42):
answers you've been looking for,or answer the questions you've
needed, answered, it's it'sgonna get better. You're not
going to feel alone and confusedand hopeless this whole time.
It's that's only a feeling inthe beginning, it definitely
gets better.
Chris Spear (40:59):
That's something I hear from so many people. And
I've had that with doctors notrelated to food allergies, but
just, you know, it's hard.
They're seeing so many people inthe course of a day, they're not
specialists in all these areas,specially diet and so forth. And
it's just easy to say like, oh,no, it's probably a something
else it'll pass. But yeah, trustyour gut, I think is a good one.
Kayla Cappiello (41:18):
Yeah, definitely your gut.
Chris Spear (41:21):
Do you have any final words you want to share
with our listeners, before weget out of here today?
Kayla Cappiello (41:24):
Keep making your favorite meals. And if you
need to make them gluten free,dairy free, vegan or low fat.
I'm your girl.
Chris Spear (41:34):
Right on? Well, everyone knows if they listen to
the show. Everything's in theshow notes. There'll be links to
the books, your social media,your website, so people can
follow along. And hopefullywe'll get some new fans and can
continue this conversation withthem.
Kayla Cappiello (41:46):
Perfect. Thank you so much.
Chris Spear (41:47):
Thanks so much for coming on the show. It was great
having you. And to all of ourlisteners. This has been Chris
with the Chefs WithoutRestaurants podcast. Thanks so
much for listening and have agreat week. Go to chefs without
restaurants.org To find ourFacebook group, mailing list and
Chef database. The community isfree to join. You'll get gig
opportunities, advice onbuilding and growing your
business and you'll never missan episode of our podcast. Have
(42:10):
a great week.
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