Pronounced EE-na.

My daughter was diagnosed with a peanut, dairy and egg allergy when she was 6 months old. At the time, it felt like my world fell apart. I thought to myself, “She’s not going to be able to eat anything.”

One day at a time, one recipe at a time, I realized that there were quite a few dishes from my heritage Korean cuisine that were naturally safe for her, not requiring any modifications.

In some of the Facebook allergy groups I’m a part of, I’d noticed that many families who manage similar allergies didn’t feel confident to cook Korean and other Asian dishes at home. I also met many people who avoided all Asian food because of a single allergy, with the assumption that all Asian food has either sesame, or egg, treenuts, etc.

As a born helper (Enneagram 2, Myers Briggs ISFJ!), I really wanted to share my recipes with my fellow allergy families and show them how allergy-friendly, easy and accessible they can be, particularly the Korean and Japanese dishes I’m familiar with.

Managing allergies can feel like such a heavy load. I want to honor you all by sharing the food I make for my own family, and hopefully we can lighten the burden, even a little bit.

Born in Maryland, I’m currently living in beautiful Colorado with my food-allergic daughter, my autistic son and my lovely husband. I love Hamilton, The Office, Trader Joe’s. My favorite restaurants of all time are Somebody People in Denver, Chai Yen Thai Cookery in Watertown, MA, Shiki in Brookline, MA, Rasika in Washington, DC. I love Dr. Becky Kennedy’s approach to parenting. I have an M. Ed. in TESOL. My special talents are piano, being on time and catching bugs.

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