Today is national Celiac Awarness Day! Know someone who gets sick a lot, or has poor health, with no explainable cause? Tell them to find out if they are gluten-intolerant. Removing it from their diet can get them better dramatically fast!
Check out Celiac.com for a list of symptoms.
Was surprised during a recent visit to Williams Sonoma to see Bouchon gourmet gluten-free cookie mix. Thomas Keller has partnered with Williams Sonoma exclusively to sell this gluten-free chocolate chunk cookie mix as well as a gluten-free brownie mix under his ad hoc restaurant label.
Unfortunately, both mixes have dairy ingredients, so I’m unable to try them, but I’ve ate at Bouchon, and the food is incredible. If anyone tries these, let me know how they are!
Gluten-free Chinese food isn’t easy to find. Besides P.F. Changs, there aren’t a lot of restaurants where you can find gluten-free versions of your favorite noodle dishes or entrees such as beef with broccoli and moo goo gai pan. Well, if you live in the San Diego area, you are in luck.
Del Mar’s Rendezvous Chinese Fusion Cuisine is a destination for gluten-free eaters! They have an extensive menu of gluten-free dishes, and also have vegan and vegetarian choices.
They offer koonyaku noodles (in addition to rice noodles). These are actually a Japanese root vegetable, from the taro family. These noodle substitutes are high in fiber, low in calories, and they taste amazing. When you’re anywhere near San Diego, give this place a try. *Tip: Wednesday and Sunday are half-price wine nights!
I’ve tried several gluten-free store-bought cookies, and I have to say- Liz Lovely makes the best. Her chocolate fudge cookies are gluten free and vegan. They taste as good as the real thing. I’ve only found these at Jimbo’s in San Diego, but it looks like you can order these on their website.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal says that a lack of B12 can cause people to feel drowsy and sluggish. It cites Celiac disease as a culprit in preventing absorption of this vitamin.
I know this was a symptom both Heather and I had. I currently take a B complex, which includes B12, but am thinking about the shots. Has anyone tried them?
I recently discovered this new, King Arthur Flour brand of GF baking mixes, at Whole Foods. I decided to pick up a box of the muffin mix. The mix is plain, but I added in mini chocolate chips and walnuts. As with most cake or muffin mixes, it only took five minutes to prepare and less than twenty minutes to bake. The muffins were moist and, unlike other GF brands, did not crumble and fall apart as soon as touched. You can even freeze the muffins if you aren’t going to eat them within three days of baking.
Woodstock’s Pizza now has a pizza with gluten-free crust that you can order for just $2 more than a regular large pizza. I stopped by the Davis, CA restaurant on my way down from Tahoe. I ordered a pesto vegetarian pizza and it was probably the best GF pizza I’ve ever had! Check out their website at: www.woodstocksdavis.com.
Fortunately, finding gluten-free Mexican food isn’t too difficult. Using rice and corn as staple ingredients, people with gluten-intolerance generally do okay at Mexican restaurants. However, there is often gluten hidden in ingredients at all types of restaurants.
Rosa Mexicano, a higher-end Mexican restaurant chain (I’ve been to one in NYC and the one in downtown LA.), offers a special gluten-free menu to make it easier to confidently order a gluten-free meal.
For more on gluten-free restaurants, click here.
Who doesn’t love pie? Well…I actually never really cared for it, that is until sometime after I couldn’t have it. I had tried pumpkin and sweet potato pie, but was never interested in other fruit or nut pies- I guess they seemed too healthy.
Heather has experimented with making gluten-free pies, and over the holidays this year, she made me my first pecan pie–gluten-free of course.
She adapted this recipe from the Foodnetwork.com.
She used a pre-made gluten-free crust from Whole Foods, and made the pie dairy-free by substituting the butter with a vegan substitute. She also used agave nectar instead of corn syrup as a sweetener.
The result: Pecan pie is my new favorite. And now, I actually like the fact that I can justify it as being health food because it’s topped with nuts…
Harder to find then Redbridge, New Grist is a great gluten-free beer made by Lakefront Brewery. Made from sorghum and rice, New Grist has a crisp and distinct taste. I’ve found it at some specialty markets, but it can be purchased at BevMo.
Shaun
Heather