About Inspiration Bakery and Mixes
A Little History
A grandmother’s love will always be at the heart of Inspiration Bakery and Mixes. Company Founder, Debbie, has a grandson, Sean. Doctors diagnosed Sean with autism at 18 months. And, shortly after, Sean was found to be gluten-intolerant. Determined that no child should have to eat gritty, poor-tasting food, Grandmother Debbie and Great Aunt Cathy committed themselves to providing Sean with good food alternatives. Back in 2006 and 2007, what they came up with in their kitchens was nutritious and gluten-free, and filled with the taste and texture of traditional foods. Sean loved the foods they made for him. He began to prosper. The loving sisters’ formulas and recipes serve as the foundation for everything baked and blended with love at Inspiration Bakery and Mixes today.
In fact, Inspiration Bakery and Mixes began from a simple conversation between Debbie and her sister, Cathy. They were taking a well-deserved vacation from their busy lives in Oregon. Debbie was relating the difficulties of finding adequate food to feed Sean when he came to visit. Cathy, the perpetual optimist, didn’t believe they were having such a hard time finding foods that a 2-year-old would eat. So Cathy said, “Look, if gluten-free food that tastes good is so scarce, then why don’t we make our own?” And that’s just what they did.
About Our Products
Over a few years, the sisters developed about a dozen baking mixes and perhaps a hundred recipes for delicious, gluten-free baked items that could be made from them. Several years of marketing those mixes taught them that customers preferred nine mixes more than the others. Those nine mixes are the ones we offer today: pizza crust, pie crust, sugar cookie, chocolate chip cookie, pancake and waffle, chocolate cake, brownie, batter, and all-purpose baking mix. And, on this website you will find over 50 Recipes for meals and treats based on those nine mixes. Happy baking!
We also offer baked goods from our Inspiration Bakery in Roseburg, Oregon: partially baked pizza crusts and ready-to-eat flatbreads and hamburger buns. And we’ve begun test-marketing other baked goodies in our local market.
Inspiration Bakery and Mixes products can answer your questions about gluten-free, non-GMO nutrition and how to care for others. Perhaps you are asking yourself, “How do I get my gluten-intolerant child to eat good, nutritious food?” Or, “How do I serve my gluten-intolerant friends and family when they stop by for a party or a meal?” Our products answer those questions and others for you. Certified Gluten Free, our mixes are easy to prepare and our bakery products are easy to use. And, most importantly, everything tastes great!
You can also adapt most of the mixes to a vegan diet for yourself or for friends and family who follow that lifestyle. Our pizza crusts and flatbreads are vegan to start with. For most of our other products, you can give up eggs and dairy without giving up on taste if you follow our vegan-adapted instructions.
We our happy to sell direct to consumers in-person, through this website, or through Etsy or Amazon. We also sell to groceries, restaurants, and other wholesale businesses. If you are interested in arranging for a wholesale account, please go to our Home page; at the bottom of the page, you will find an “Inquire” button, which pressed will take you to our Wholesale Account application form.
Inspiration Bakery and Mixes products are always gluten-free! We wish you happy eating!
About The Owners
Founded in 2009, Inspiration Bakery and Mixes is owned by Debbie Caterson and by Cheryl and Jim “Cap” Caplan. Debbie, Baker #1, has a strong background in finance and small business development, having retired as Director of the Small Business Development Center in Roseburg, Oregon in 2020. Baker #1’s long years of dedication and hard work with her sister Cathy have made Inspiration Bakery and Mixes what it is today. Their innovative receipes and methods serve as the foundation for its’ future growth and diversification.
Baker #2 (Cheryl) and Cap-of-All-Trades (Jim) were 30-year career professionals with the U.S. Forest Service before retiring in 2016 and 2007 respectively. Cheryl and Cap have been long-time small-business investors in Oregon and presently own two other small outfits: Cycle Umpqua and Environmental Dispute Resolution Associates. They joined Baker #1 as day-to-day managers of Inspiration Bakery and Mixes in 2018 after providing some expansion capital the year before. The owners have been living gluten-free for many years and some of their experiences with the lifestyle can be found in the Articles section of this website.