Meet the Founder and Owner of CKD Culinary Consulting
and the Creator of
The How to Eat for CKD Method
Linda is the Owner of CKD Culinary Consulting™ and is the creator and owner of The How to Eat for CKD Method™ program.
She is a chef honors graduate of Escoffier School of Culinary Arts®, an ISSA® Certified Nutritionist, a certified kidney health coach, and a caregiver to her husband who has stage 3 kidney disease.
She was a culinary consultant for American Kidney Fund®, and many of her recipes are available on their Kidney Kitchen® website, she was also the chef behind their "Ask the Chef" blog.
Linda has done informational webinars and cooking demonstrations for American Kidney Fund® and National Kidney Foundation®. She has been in Culinary Entrepreneurs® magazine, and has worked with dieticians to further client's kidney diet success.
Linda enjoys exploring unfamiliar cuisines and adapting them, as well as finding historical recipes to CKD-ify and improve.
Before meeting her (second) husband, she was a single mother with three young children. Living on a budget, being creative, and relying on easy to find ingredients is her specialty.
When her husband received his diagnosis, her children were grown, so she was able to put 100% of her time into solving the CKD puzzle. It took her five years, but thankfully she was blessed with the ability to focus solely on it, and to be in the right place, right time, with the right education, opportunities, and the right circumstances to find every vital answer.
Her husband's lab numbers have remained stable all these years, although, his pants size did go up from all the amazingly tasty foods.
How I got here...
When my husband first received his Stage 3 diagnosis, the first two things the doctor said when entering the room were about preparing for needing dialysis, and how long it would be before needing to be put on the donor list for a transplant.
Then we talked with a dietician to learn the importance of managing not just sodium, but also other nutrients that needed to be restricted based on his labs and progression. Not much help there. She gave us three recipes, one of them (some kind of wet, chopped herb mix) we had never heard of and when we asked her what it was, she said to use that instead of salt. um... no.
My husband was instantly scared to eat anything. After dropping a pants size within two weeks, we realized that it was imperative to quickly learn about foods, how to adapt our cooking, where to shop, how to read labels, and even how to eat.
We first tried kidney friendly recipes we found online, but so many were terrible, we lost the joy of preparing food together and having a meal. There was no flavor, and the portions were so small.
We then tried to recreate our favorite meals on our own.
"What can we swap out that is lower in specific nutrients?
How much can we use?
Now what can we safely add in so there are bigger portions?
What can I do to create more flavor without salt?
Will these meals still be within restrictions?
It was a challenging and confusing thing to deal with each and every day. The conflicting information created further difficulties and frustrations, the lack of accurate nutritional information increased our difficulties.
After a month of struggling and spiraling, I decided things had to change. We needed to stop the progression and avoid the approaching necessity of dialysis. We needed clarity and truth so we could enjoy eating once more.
That’s when I made my “No Plan B Commitment” to myself and my husband, and decided to invest all my time and energy into unlocking the truths, busting the myths, and prove that kidney friendly eating can be simple and delicious.
Giving up was not an option.
Ignoring it was not an option.
Relying on others was not an option.
I was all in.
I enrolled in culinary school, then more for nutrition. I became a certified kidney health coach, and was brought on as a culinary consultant for American Kidney Fund®.
My commitment and tenacity paid off. This was the turning point.
I noticed patterns and processes occurring and began to note everything. I discovered precisely where to find accurate nutritional info, how to easily combine our favorite foods yet ensure the restricted nutrients amounts were adhered to, I learned the simple process of creating and adding flavor without using salt, and I even discovered the crazy easy way to increase the bulk in the meals, so our tummies were full.
We believe carefully managed eating has been the key to keeping my husband's kidney function stable all these years.
The way I help my clients to end their spiraling and struggles is to supply them with all the vital information that it took me years to sort through and find, and walk them through the exact process we live and swear by.
Living with an enjoyable, easy, stress-free CKD diet is second nature now, and I am committed to making sure others can do the same.
I have been in your shoes. Whether getting the diagnosis, or struggling to eat for CKD, I have been through it.
The CKD community is my inspiration and is why I have taken on this continuing labor of love.
So, thank YOU!
For the love of kidneys,
Linda
A little bit about her...
She lives with her pet bearded dragons, her chubby cat, and her husband.
When she isn't creating recipes, overseeing her program and groups, filling orders, researching new products, keeping up with the latest CKD news, supporting her clients, or working on her cookbooks...
You will find her gathering with family as often as possible, spending time playing a Pathfinder® card game with her husband and/or friends, frequenting Renaissance Fairs, reading about Native American or Viking history, physics, philosophy, historical cooking, or binge watching El Reencuentro Menudo videos online, or snuggling her dragons while watching historical dramas, Miranda reruns, Ghost Adventures, or Guy's Grocery Games with her husband.
We know... she's a weird one!
Through her program, she offers tiered support groups, and teaches kidney disease patients how to safely and easily make the necessary dietary changes.
This includes dietary preferences such as lower carb, gluten free, dairy free, vegan, vegetarian, other restrictions from additional health issues, and even picky eaters.
In addition, she shares her culinary expertise to improve meals, which can be a challenge when dealing with low nutrients and low sodium. She also supplies helpful, up-to-date information on the latest kidney related information within the realm of CKD.
Disclaimer:
FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
This work is offered with the understanding that CKD Culinary Consulting, LLC is not rendering medical, legal, or other professional advice or services. Seek professional services if needed. No guarantee to health or the slowing or halting of kidney disease is expressed.
CKD Culinary Consulting, LLC makes no representations, warranties, or medical claims or advice, or to the accuracy or completeness of the contents. No guarantees may be created or extended by use of the materials within. Advice, strategies, suggestions, menus, methods, information, recipes, etc., may not be suitable for every situation.
CKD Culinary Consulting offers no guarantee or undertaking and makes no representation of any kind that the program or products will meet Your requirements, achieve any intended results, be compatible or work with any other dietary needs.
This information is for home use only. This is shared information based on experiences.
No liability is assumed by CKD Culinary Consulting, LLC for this information, for any misuse, misdirection,
or situations arising from what you do with this information. Not liable for any mistyping or inaccuracies.