About

Welcome!

Hi, my name is Jennifer Balon and I’m the face behind Lemon In Thyme! I’m a health and wellness enthusiast, and content creator!

I grew up in a suburb of Chicago IL and then moved to Champaign IL for my first two years of college. My college journey started with my life long dream to be a pediatric nurse. Being in nursing school in the middle of a global pandemic was not ideal. I decided to take a semester off school and take classes at my local community college where I found a passion for digital media and advertising!

In the fall of 2022, I decided to transfer to Loyola in Chicago to pursue a degree in Psychology! I focused my studies on human behaviorism and what motivates individuals to behave certain ways.

My Baking Story

My passion for baking started at an early age. During the holidays, my mom, grandma, and I would always make so many different types of cookies. When my Mema passed away, I lost my passion for baking as it just was not the same without her. While I was in my Junior year of college, I came back to it as a way to to help destress from homework and tests.

I started making quick breads, then gradually progressed to developing base cookie recipes and now yeast breads!

Before the 2022 holiday season, my grandmother had a stroke where she was then diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the hospital. Her memory loss substantially got worse after her stroke. Seeing another one of my relatives struggle with this disease was heartbreaking.

I wanted to give back in some way for holiday season. This then lead me to take my passion for baking and use it to help raise donations and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association. I named the company ‘Dotty’s Bakery’ after my late Mema who gave me this passion for baking. I made advertisements to post across various media platforms to start getting sales. It was amazing to see how many people reached out wanting to order cookies and bread!

The week before Christmas, I was working 6am to midnight making over 15 breads and 20 dozen of my speciality cookies. Each order I hand wrapped and delivered to each of my customers. Everyone had a different unique story of a loved one who had struggled with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Being able to build this type of community where we can come together for a cause and share our stories with new people touched my heart.

Life After the Baking Fundraiser

After my holiday baking fundraiser, it was time to get back to my studies at Loyola. While I would love to do a fundraiser again, I would definitely need some helping hands!

After I finished my Junior year at Loyola, I decided to live in downtown Chicago full time instead of going back to my parents house for the break. This is when I decided to take my love for advertising and digital media to start collaborating with new and upcoming brands. While I was doing this, I was still making my own content sharing various new cookie creations on Instagram and TikTok.

After I graduated, I was able to take more time in doing the things I love most: cooking and baking! This is when I decided to start a blog called Lemon in Thyme!

Lemon In Thyme

The purpose of creating Lemon In Thyme was to create a space for people to find recipes that are allergy friendly!

As I started grew up, my food allergies have progressively become worse. I had to stop baking because my skin would start breaking out into hives and burn anytime I would touch a dairy product. It was hard having to give up something I loved so much, but I was not going to let my allergies be a barrier in my everyday life.

I took time to completely redo my recipes eliminating any foods that would cause me to have a reaction: dairy, gluten, and seed oils. Through much trial and error, I found the correct weight proportions with allergy friendly ingredients that would still make the product look and taste the same! What was even better was that now I could enjoy the foods I bake!

I wanted to share these creations with other people so they also don’t feel like their allergies create a barrier from the foods we all enjoy

Where You Can Find Me

You can also find my recipes on Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest.

I absolutely LOVE seeing the food you are making, please tag me in your photos!

What You Can Find On My Page

On my page you can find a wide variety of different types of recipes! I am the only one in my house that is dairy, gluten, and sugar free so most of my recipes will include substitutions for dietary restrictions.