Featured Chef-Gabriella Schneider

Featured Chef Recipes: See Gabriella's Recipes   Enter for your chance to win the Featured Chef Prize Pack

Meet Gabriella Schneider, she is the creator of the website beyondthebite4life.com and author of the e-book Organ Meat Makeover: Taking the Awful out of Offal.

Gabriella, is a college age writer, cook, and science lover using diet, lifestyle, and personal primal knowledge to overcome the odds of healing from chronic Lyme Disease.  She has dealt with the damaging effects of untreated neurological Lyme from a young age, and found help and healing through following the Paleo Autoimmune protocol, low FODMAP, ketogenic, and low-histamine dietary guidelines.  Gabriella believes that no illness, trial, or circumstance in life defines who one is, rather it shapes them into all that they are meant to be.

We hope you enjoy her recipes!!!!

Q: Tell us a little about yourself?  

Hi everyone! My name is Gabriella Schneider.  I am the blogger behind Beyond the Bite. Ultimately, the way I began blogging was due to chronic Lyme Disease, a disease both autoimmune and neurological in nature, that turned my life upside down at a young age.  Through the battle to regain health, I found my deep passion for food, the science behind it, and culinary arts.  

Q: How did you get involved in cooking?  

I grew up surrounding by food, as my mother was always cooking our meals from scratch.  However, it wasn’t until chronic Lyme Disease left me bedridden, unable to think straight and do school, that I truly immersed myself in food and the kitchen. I began spending as much time as I could in the kitchen as pain therapy, watched various cooking shows, reading blogs, magazines, and anything else I could get my hands on.  

Q: Describe your cooking style?

I eat according to both the the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol and Ketogenic principles, as these have both been key to healing my body.  While this has made what I can eat somewhat limited, it has caused me to become very creative in the kitchen, always having fun experimenting with any new ingredients I can get my hands on.  Overall, I would have to consider my cooking “style” to be adventurous. 

Q: How did you learn about grass-fed meats?

I learned about grass-fed meats as my family sought to eat as locally as possible. There were many farms in CT growing up that we sourced most of our meat from. To this day I still strive to stock my freezer from farms dedicated to raising healthy happy animals.

Q: You’re stranded on a desert island; luckily you’re stranded with your top 5 ingredients and must-have kitchen tool.  What are they?

My must have kitchen tool would definitely be a food processor! It is quite versatile and can be used as a mixer, blender, shredder, and many other things.  My top five ingredients would have to be lamb, salmon, ghee, greens, and ginger.  Definitely an odd list to some, but those are the five ingredients that come to my mind right now.  

Q: What is the best cooking secret, tip, or piece of advice you’ve learned?

I’ve learned quite a bit of cooking tips now that I am in culinary school.  However, one that I try and remember is to always think outside of the box.  Take a given recipe as a template or guideline, then use your imagination to make the dish your own.  

Q: What is your favorite quote or song for culinary inspiration?

I can’t say I have a specific quote or song in mind that inspires me in the realm of culinary.  However, I would say certain cooking shows have proved to be very inspiring to me, including Chef’s Table, Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, Mind of a Chef, 

Q: Is there anything else you want to share?

I would just like to thank Tressa and the rest of US Wellness Meats team for this great opportunity to share my love for food and culinary arts!  Even if you don’t consider yourself a chef, never be afraid to get in the kitchen, experiment, use your hands, and get messy.  

To learn more about Gabriella visit her website or follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.