Dining Out Gluten Free

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday.  My computer keeps doing this weird pixelating thing, but only when I am at home and not at computer store (of course!).  Well, as I started typing my blog last night it did it, so I shut my computer so I could show the computer guy.  But we are back up and running and blogging away!

Every once in a while a meal out is a nice break!  It can also be challenging when you are eating gluten-free!  A lot of restaurants use ready-made products that contain gluten.  Here is a small guide by cuisine on gluten-free dining out!

Mexican/TexMex- Most Mexican cuisine is made of corn and not flour.  Just be sure to ask about chips and tortillas.  Some more commercial Mexican restaurants use wheat in the sauces, so the more authentic the better (but you probably knew that any way!)

Gluten Free Restaurants- Cantina Laredo, On the Border

American- American food can be tricky.

Gluten Free Restaurants- Goode Restaurants, Boston Market, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, Chili’s, Joe’s Crab Shack, Jason’s Deli

Steak House- Because steak houses are usually al carte, they might be the easiest places to eat.  Just check the seasoning but order a piece of grilled chicken, steak or fish with some steamed or sautéed vegetables.

Gluten Free Restaurants- Outback Steak House, Eddie V’s, Capital Grille, Fleming's

Chinese/Asian- a lot of Chinese food contains gluten mainly because soy sauce contains gluten and is used in so many dishes.  Find a dedicated gluten-free restaurant in your area and stick to it! 

Gluten Free Restaurants- Pei Wei, P F Chang

Italian- Because pizza and pasta are both full of gluten, I never think of Italian food as an option.  But because most Italian restaurants make sauted or grilled protein to top a pasts, just order a protein with a gluten free sauce on top! Think marinara, Bolognese, vodka sauce, etc! With a side of sautéed spinach.  

Gluten Free Restaurants- Carraba’s Italian Grill, Carino’s Italian Grill, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Olive Garden, Romano’s Macaroni Grill

Pizza- yes, pizza is a no-no until now! Many restaurants are offering gluten-free pizza crusts and they are actually pretty good.

Gluten Free Restaurants- Boston’s Pizza, Gatti’s Pizza

For more information:

http://www.glutenfreerestaurants.org/

http://www.glutenfreeregistry.com/

Gluten Free Blackberry Crisp

Happy Tax Day!  

Last weekend, we went to a cookout and I decided to make this delicious fruit crisp!  It was a big hit and disappeared before I could blink my eyes.  I served it with homemade vanilla ice cream which didn't hurt either, but it is delicious with anything you can put on it.  Share and enjoy!  

Gluten Free Blackberry Crisp

Ingredients:

5 pints blueberries

3 tablespoons sugar 

2 tablespoon lemon juice 

1 cup gluten free oatmeal (not instant)

1 1/2 cup gluten free flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1 cup melted butter

2/3 cup walnuts

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 325*.  

Wash and dry blackberries.  Put into a baking dish, sprinkle with sugar, and pout lemon juice over.   

In a food processor, blend the oatmeal until it resembles a coarse flour.  

Add the flour, sugar, walnuts, spices, and melted butter.   

Process until pea size clumps form.   

Evenly distribute the topping over the blackberries.  

Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm with ice cream or frozen yogurt!  

If those pictures don't make you hungry, you have more restraint than I do!

Product Review: Van's Wheat & Gluten Free Waffle

After a couple snack food reviews, I thought why not a breakfast item!  Breakfast is my favorite meal, but I don't always have time to sit down to eat so I am always on the lookout for yummy and quick gluten-free ideas.  Van's waffles are actually the best frozen waffles I have had gluten-free or not.  They get crisp just like a waffle machine waffle and are more substantial than an Eggo.  I like to put almond butter on mine and sometimes drizzle a little agave nectar.  These are a great freezer staple and couldn't be better or easier! Enjoy and happy weekend! 

Gluten Free Vodka Pasta

A lot of the time when I am eating with someone, I get the, "Wait! That has gluten!"  I have to quickly explain that no rice does have gluten in it.  For a quick guide, here are some common foods that do not contain gluten.  Foods that DO NOT contain gluten:

Alcohol (avoid real ale, beer, lager and stout) 

Beans

Butter 

Candies (just check, but most do not... Twizzlers do!)

Cheese (except for blue)

Chicken

Chocolate 

Coffee (unflavored) 

Corn

Corn meal

Cornstarch 

Cream 

Eggs

Fish 

Fruits (all)

Honey

Ice cream

Juices 

Meat 

Milk

Millet 

Nuts

Nut Butters 

Oils 

Pickles

Polenta

Powdered sugar 

Rice (brown and white)

Rice cakes 

Seeds

Soy 

Sugar

Tea

Quinoa

Vegetables (all)

Vinegars

Yogurt

Well the AC is back on and we are up and cooking!  Thank goodness, I was just beginning to get antsy not being able to use the kitchen.  Today, a favorite recipe of mine...vodka pasta.  True, the only part of regular vodka pasta that has gluten is the pasta, but it is a delicious way to use some brown rice pasta if you have some!

Gluten Free Vodka Pasta 

Ingredients:

1 16 oz bag brown rice penne or rigatoni pasta (gluten-free)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil 

2 shallots, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced 

1 cup vodka 

1 32-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock 

1/2 cup cream

parmesan cheese, grated (for garnish)

basil (for garnish) 

salt and pepper 

Instructions:

Heat oil and butter in saucepan over medium heat. 

Mince shallots and garlic.

Add minced shallots and garlic and saute over medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes until shallots are soft and sweet. 

Stir in vodka and reduce by about half. 

Heat salted water for pasta. 

Add crushed tomatoes to reduced vodka mixture. 

Add chicken stock. 

Stir to combine.  Bring to a boil, reduce and let simmer.  Salt and pepper to taste.  

Add pasta to boiling water, stir, and cook according to directions on package. 

Stir cream to tomato sauce mixture.  As soon as sauce comes to a boil, remove from heat. 

Toss sauce in cooked and drained pasta 

Top with parmesan cheese and minced basil. Enjoy!

Note: I tossed roasted aspargus pieces into mine for a little veggie! 

Hidden Gluten

Well, we are going to change things up a bit today.  You see, the air conditioner is out downstairs in our house.  And the thought of standing over a hot stove or oven in a very hot kitchen is just a bit unappealing to me.  I hope you understand and we will be back on track as soon as the AC is up and running.


Back to the 411 on gluten.... So let's say you are shopping at the grocery store and you find a product that doesn't say gluten-free on the label and you think, "Perfect, that sounds delicious AND it doesn't contain gluten!"  Right?  Not so fast, this list below are the foods with hidden gluten.  Foods you would never ever think contain gluten but they do!  Yes, not every variety of these foods has gluten, but most do, so just check labels.

Hidden Gluten

Barley

Binders

Bouillion

Bran

Brewers yeast

Bulgur

Cereal binding

Couscous

Durhum

Edible starch

Emulsifiers

Farina

"Fillers"

Hydrolyzed plant protein

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein

Kamut

Kasha

Malt

Malt flavoring

Malt vinegar

Matzo

Modified food starch

Monosodium glutimate (MSG)

"Natural" flavor

Rye

Seitan

Semolina

Some spice mixtures

Soy sauce

Spelt

Stabilizer

Suet

Teriyaki sauce

Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)

Wheat

Wheat grass

Wheat protein

Hope that helps you some on your journey to live gluten-free! 

Gluten Free Easter Eggs and Ne

For today’s recipe, I decided to turn an old Easter favorite into a modern day gluten-free classic.  My grandmother used to always make these little eggs and nest with my sister and I every Easter.  They were easy and fun and seemed to put me in the Easter spirit.  The original recipe calls for chow mein noodles, but those have gluten.  I was able to find some gluten-free ones online (http://www.allinkosher.com/p-55002-paskesz-chow-mein-noodles-gluten-free-non-gebrokts-78-oz-kosher-parve.aspx) , but the shipping was more than the product so I thought, “Why bother!”  Instead, I substituted gluten-free pretzel sticks!  

Gluten Free Easter Eggs and Nest

Ingredients:

1 bag gluten-free pretzel sticks (I used Glutino)

1 1/2 cup butterscotch chips (Toll House have gluten!)

1 1/2 cups peanut butter chips

1 bag egg shaped candy of your choice (just be careful to ready ingredients)

Instructions:

In a double boiler, heat water.  

Add the butterscotch and peanut butter chips.

Over medium heat, stir the chips until melted. 

Add in pretzels sticks (it's a good idea to break about half of them in half so 

you don't have so many long pieces to work with). Stir until the pretzels are well coated. 

On a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, cluster together the pretzels to resemble a nest. 

Top with 2-3 mini egg candies. Refrigerate until firm. 

Serve and enjoy!  The pastel colors are getting me in the mood for spring!

Gluten Free Quick Pizza

A sweet friend asked me to give a little crash course on gluten-free and what all it entails, so day by day I will start giving you a little gluten-free guide to life.  This topic is huge, but I am going to try my best to make this concise and easy to understand.

A common question is: which foods contain gluten?

There are a TON of foods that contain gluten.  The best thing to do is to read food labels carefully.  Common foods that contain gluten:

Bagels

Beer

Biscuits

Bread

Bread crumbs

Breaded fish

Breaded meats or poultry

Bread pudding

Brownies

Cake

Cereal

Chicken strips and nuggets

Croissants

Cookies

Couscous

Crackers

Croutons

Doughnuts

Dumplings

English Muffins

Flour

Flour tortillas

Fried vegetables

Graham crackers

Hamburger buns

Hotdog buns

Ice cream cones

Macaroni

Melba toast

Muffins

Naan bread

Noodles

Orzo

Pancakes

Pasta

Pastries

Pie crusts

Pita bread

Pizza crust

Pretzels

Rolls

Scones

Spaghetti

Stuffing

Tabbouleh

Waffles

Foods that can contain gluten (be sure to check labels for wheat, gluten, flour, ....):

Bologna

Candy (many candies are gluten-free, but others are not)

Canned baked beans

Cold cuts

Packaged cereals, even corn cereals

Commercially prepared broth

Commercially prepared chocolate milk

Commercially prepared soup

Custard

Fruit fillings

Gravy

Gum

Hot dogs

Ice cream

Non-dairy creamer

Play dough

Potato chips

Pudding

Root beer

Syrups

Salad dressing

Soy sauce

Vegetables with commercially prepared sauces

So my recipe today came after browsing the frozen food aisles in search of something for a late dinner.  I decided upon a pizza and right before check-ing out, thought, "I can make something that will taste better than this!"  Yes, this is no gourmet pizza.  However, it is an easy and quick meal or snack when your blood sugar starts to get low and you need a quick fix! 

Gluten Free Quick Pizza 

Ingredients:

1 package Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crust (contains 2 pizza crusts)

1 can tomato paste

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 8-ounce package mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 package gluten-free pepperonis

Place pizza stone in oven and preheat to 425°.

Mix spices and salt with tomato paste and spoon on each pizzas.  

Spread the tomato paste evenly and top each with half of the cheese. 

 Top with pepperonis and bake about 12-14 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown. 

Yum Yum! Enjoy the endless possibilities of toppings you can add!  One of my all time favorites is a tiny bit of tomato paste, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, chicken Italian sausage (pre-cook), and crumbled ricotta! 

Product Review: Michael Season's Baked Cheddar Cheese Curls

Thank goodness the weekend is here!  I found these at Whole Foods on special and what a find!  I am  always on the lookout for yummy gluten-free snacks and when I saw these I snatched them up.  Of all the gluten-free food, one thing I can never find is a Cheeto/Goldfish subsistute and sometime I just crave a cheesy snack that is decent.  Well ladies and gents... look no further! These Cheddar Cheese Curls are made from corn and baked, not fried so they are not too bad for you either.  They still have the yellow residue left on your finger feeling, but not to the neon yellow extent of regular Cheetos.  Every once in a while you just need to relax and chow down on a little cheesy snack, and this is one you can feel good about and enjoy!  There are 18 servings in each bag (yes the bag is huge!), each serving is a one ounce serving or about 1 cup, and each serving has only 130 calories and 4.5 grams of fat.   

These cheesy little yum-yum's are available at Whole Foods, Kroger, and Safeway! So eat away!

Gluten Free Trail Mix (Protein) Bars

Happy Thursday!  I am ready for the weekend.  It's been a long week for me, and some how I kept thinking of how I could get some more energy and protein bars came to mind.

Not that I am a huge proponant of energy bars, but  a lot of energy and protein bars contain gluten.   Most are also full of food stabilizers that I can’t pronounce and have no idea what they are. So why not try out these super delicious and filling trail mix bars that are great before a run or in the middle of a big game or just an office snack? 

Ingredients:

1 cup almond butter

1 cup honey

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup dried cherries

1 2/3 cup puffed millet

1 2/3 cup puffed rice

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

3/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/3 cup shredded coconut (optional)

1/3 cup quinoa flakes

Instructions:

Lightly coat a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with canola oil.

In a large saucepan, heat almond butter with honey over low

 heat until bubbles form. 

Mix dry ingredients. 

Quickly stir in remaining ingredients 

and mix well. 

When cool enough to handle, press into baking pan. Cool 

completely. 

Cut into 40 bars.

Note: I found puffed rice, puffed millet, and quinoa flakes all on the cereal aisle of my grocery store.