Life, food, and a body that argues back.

We’re Daniel and Caitlyn — figuring out life, love, and what to cook for dinner when starch is off the table. Literally. Nelson to the Gold Coast, a diagnosis the system wouldn’t give us, and a kitchen that changed everything.

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Daniel and Caitlyn Gallagher — Gold Coast · 2025

Food became medicine. Then it became joy.

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What we’ve been cooking

Every recipe here was cooked in our kitchen first.

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Added Jul 2026Thai-Style Chicken & Vermicelli SaladA light, fresh rice vermicelli salad with poached chicken, crisp vegetables, and a punchy lime and fish sauce dressing — NSD-safe, gluten-free, and ready in 25 minutes.Prep 15 minCook 10 min

Daniel and Caitlyn Gallagher on a beach at sunset — Tahunanui Beach, Nelson · 2025

Daniel & Caitlyn Gallagher

Engaged, not yet married · Kia ora

We started writing because the internet needed more honest stories about managing chronic illness, cooking without starch, and what it actually looks like to build a life together — including the messy bits.

Daniel is HLA-B27 positive, living with suspected ankylosing spondylitis after the NZ health system denied him a diagnosis. The No Starch Diet changed everything. Caitlyn keeps it all real.

Two people, two palates, one kitchen. And it works.

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How we got here

Age elevenThe pain startsMorning stiffness and a dull ache. Everyone had a theory — posture, gaming, growing pains.
The referralDeclinedThe referral to a rheumatologist was turned down. That was the end of the formal medical path.
The geneHLA-B27 positiveNo formal diagnosis, but the pieces fit. Enough to act on.
Eighteen monthsThe No Starch DietLess pain, better mornings, and a baseline that finally felt manageable.
June 2026Nelson → Gold CoastWarmth matters for AS, and Queensland has the rheumatology network Nelson didn’t.

Life, food, and a body that argues back.

What we’ve been cooking

Daniel & Caitlyn Gallagher

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