When Debbie Caterson's grandson, Sean, was diagnosed with an intolerance to foods containing gluten and casein, she looked around for alternatives that would appeal to the young boy.

Gluten is a protein that gives bread dough its elasticity and also traps air bubbles that cause the dough to rise. Casein is another protein, a binding agent found in milk and other dairy products. Both are widely found in processed foods.

Caterson discovered many foods that lacked the two substances that caused Sean problems. But while they may have met the nutritional requirements necessary for the young boy's health, the foods were devoid of taste, she said.

Other products left an aftertaste that lingered way too long.

Caterson went home and began tweaking some of her own family recipes, substituting gluten-free rice flour, coconut flour, tapioca flour, sorghum flour, potato starch and other ingredients for the wheat flour and dairy products that caused problems for Sean, 5, who was diagnosed with autism when he was 18 months old.

The results were so positive that it led the Roseburg woman and her sister, Cathy Kirkpatrick of Eugene, to create their own company, Inspiration Mixes.

“Our grandmother was a baker and we've tried to make things taste like what she made,” Kirkpatrick said.

The company offers five products — mixes for a regular bread, millet oat bread, pie crust, pizza crust and a cookie mix. They retail for between $3.58 for the cookie mix and $4.98 for the millet oat bread mix.

The mixes are available from Sherm's Thunderbird market in Roseburg and at Kruse Farm Market on Melrose Road west of town. They can also be purchased online at www.inspirationmixes.com.

Caterson and Kirkpatrick are working to add additional stores to their network.

During a recent day at Sherm's, the women handed out samples of each of their products, including the breads, chocolate chip cookies and an apple pie made with the pie crust mix.

Many people who stopped by the table set up at the end of an aisle at the store's health food section were surprised when told the products did not contain wheat flour.

“They're incredible. They taste great,” said Roseburg resident Kathy Mitchell.

Mitchell works at Logger's Pizza in Roseburg, which offers a gluten-free crust among its dough choices. She said there is a growing demand for such products.

“That's a good pie,” Melrose resident Fred Warner said. “I didn't know there wasn't any (wheat) flour in it.”

Several people who stopped at the table seemed skeptical that food products made with alternative ingredients could taste good.

“I think you're well needed,” said Warner's wife, Venita, who said she has a friend of a friend who must constantly scour food product boxes and cans to ensure they don't contain any gluten. “This is going to be wonderful for people who have this problem.”

One woman who stopped for a sample asked whether Caterson and Kirkpatrick were distributors for the company.

“We're the manufacturers. We're a local Roseburg company,” Caterson said, smiling.

Sherm's likes to feature local products whenever possible and adding Inspiration Mixes to the store's inventory was a good opportunity to do that, said Tim Willard, the Roseburg store's natural foods and specialty foods manager.

“They're a pretty energetic group. They want to make this work,” store director Steve Ralston said.

Caterson and Kirkpatrick are working to develop new products, including a chocolate cookie, a cake mix and a frosting.

Each recipe is tested and refined by both sisters and then sent out to more than a dozen friends and acquaintances with family members who need to eat gluten-free and casein-free products. The process can take several months before a new product is ready to hit the market.

The two sisters have been buoyed by the response.

“We've had a good reaction. No one has been negative about them,” Kirkpatrick said.

• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 541-957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.