If you're like many people in the gluten free community, you may be trying to avoid other grains besides just wheat. Or maybe you're trying to adapt recipes to make them more nutrient-dense by using alternative flours like almond flour. And I'm sure most of us would like to reduce the refined sugars in our diet. These are all great dietary goals, but where do you start? How do you make some of your favorite gluten free meals and baked goods without the gluten free flours you've come to rely on in recipes? Consulting a cookbook like Comfort Cooking Without Grains and Refined Sugars is a great place to start. Written by Eleanor Fahey of the Cooking Without Grains website, it contains over 200 recipes (both sweet and savory). I love how the recipes use ingredients like honey instead of sugar. And I especially like Eleanor's use of almond flour, which I've always found lends a wonderful flavor and moistness to recipes (in addition to adding protein, fiber, and healthy fats -- you can't beat that!). Recipes range from appetizers and dips...to breads and muffins...to meat and seafood...to condiments and salad dressings...and even vegetarian meals. I'd like to give you... Read more →
May 2014
Named "Best Gluten-Free Restaurant Chain" in the 2012 About.com Gluten-Free Readers' Choice Awards, Ted's Montana Grill is a restaurant you'll want to check out, if you haven't already. My own family has dined there several times and is never disappointed. The menu and atmosphere have a unique twist...making you feel like you are, indeed, dining in "Big Sky Country." Now, in honor of Celiac Awareness Month, Ted's Montana Grill is offering a $30 Gift Card to the lucky winner of this week's random drawing (more details on how to enter can be found below...). Ted's Montana Grill is named after businessman, philanthropist, environmentalist, and avid outdoorsman Ted Turner. In 2002, he joined forces with famed restauranteur George McKerrow to open their first Ted's location in Columbus, Ohio, and the chain has since grown to over 40 locations in 16 states. Their focus is on the hearty food of "Big Sky Country" -- and they offer the biggest bison menu in the world (both steaks and burgers). But they know how to do seafood well, too, and in fact I've ordered fish the last couple times we've visited one of their restaurants. On their Gluten Free Menu, they offer both Cedar... Read more →
To Everyone in the Gluten Free Community, If you have Celiac Disease or gluten sensitivity (or suspect that gluten adversely affects your health in some way), this letter is to you. It's Celiac Awareness Month, and I wanted to interrupt the series of blog posts and GF-friendly restaurant gift card giveaways we've been running this month to address something that has generated a visceral response within our community. Discussions in the gluten free community seem to really be heating up over the issue of gluten sensitivity versus Celiac -- and the host of issues raised by these two similar, yet distinct, conditions. Even innocuous posts on social media pages can elicit a firestorm of responses from both Celiac and gluten sensitive individuals, who seem to be "taking sides," for lack of a better phrase over issues such as whether someone who suspects gluten is affecting their health should first be tested for Celiac, whether "gluten sensitivity" even exists, and whether some individuals choosing to go gluten free are doing more harm than good (for their health, and for the GF community in general). My own family is affected by Celiac (my younger son was diagnosed over 9 years ago, right... Read more →
Today, we highlight the gluten free offerings at Legal Seafood and give you a chance to win a $25 Gift Card to use at any of their 33 restaurants. This is part of our ongoing series highlighting gluten-free friendly restaurant chains during Celiac Awareness Month -- and giving you the chance to win gift cards to some of our favorite spots. I remember 9 years ago when our 22 month old son Ryan was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Back then, most people hadn't heard of Celiac Disease. We certainly hadn't. And Ryan was the first patient our pediatrician had diagnosed with the disease (and he has a huge practice with thousands of patients). After the diagnosis, the initial panic about what we would feed our son quickly dissipated as I buried myself in research both online and offline. But as well all know, it's relatively easy maintain a high degree of control in one's own kitchen. It can be an entirely different story when dining out (at least it certainly was in 2005!). If it took me a couple weeks to get up to speed on the intricacies of what Ryan could and couldn't eat, the hidden sources of gluten,... Read more →
In honor of Celiac Awareness Month, this is our third of many giveaways. We're having a drawing for a $25 gift card to Burtons Grill, and in the coming weeks, we'll have similar gift card giveaways for more GF-freindly restaurants. Be sure to check back -- or better yet, enter your email in the box on the right to "Subscribe" to our blog feed and get emails when we publish a new post. Now, let me share Burtons exciting gluten free menu additions for the month of May and how you can enter our Giveaway... Burtons Grill is one of the places our family makes a point of visiting when we visit family in the Boston area. With ten locations on the East Coast (5 in Massachusetts, 1 in Connecticut, 1 in New Hampshire, 2 in Virginia, and 1 in South Carolina), chances are, there's one near you or in a place you travel. This "casual upscale" restaurant chain offers one of the more extensive Gluten Free Menus (both for lunch and dinner). This month, in honor of Celiac Awareness Month, Food and Beverage Manager Dan Greenough has modified some options that aren't typically available for gluten sensitive guests, without... Read more →
In honor of Celiac Awareness Month, this is our second of many giveaways. We're having a drawing for a $25 gift card to California Pizza Kitchen, and in the coming weeks, we'll have similar gift card giveaways for more GF-freindly restaurants. Be sure to check back -- or better yet, enter your email in the box on the right to "Subscribe" to our blog feed and get emails when we publish a new post. Now, for the low-down on CPK's gluten free pizzas and details of how you can enter our Giveaway... Back in October, I had the pleasure of visiting California Pizza Kitchen's test kitchen in Redondo Beach, California, just as they were getting ready to roll out their new gluten free pizzas nationwide. The four gluten free pizzas -- Margherita, Pepperoni, The Original BBQ Chicken Pizza (CPK was the original creator of this one!), and Mushroom/Pepperoni/Sausage -- were all equally delicious. I'm not even typically a fan of BBQ Chicken Pizza (don't know why...I just prefer BBQ in other forms), but I loved their version of the pizza. Aside from being gluten free, here are some of the ingredients that make their pizzas so special: THE ORIGINAL BBQ... Read more →
Are you fortunate enough to live in or travel to Colorado, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Mississippi, or the Rochester area of New York? If so, you're in for a treat, because Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano has added a handful of new gluten free items to their already extensive Gluten Free Menu. I have to admit that Biaggi's is one of our family's favorite gluten-free friendly chains. But unfortunately, there are none located in the mid-Atlantic area, so we've only had the priviledge of dining at Biaggi's when traveling (once to the Maple Grove location outside Minneapolis, MN and the other time to the former Salt Lake City, UT location, which is now closed). Their range of pasta preparations that are available gluten free -- along with homemade gluten free pizza, a huge range of meat and seafood entrees, and plenty of appetizing starters and salads -- makes gluten free folks feel included in the best their restaurants have to offer. You will NEVER feel like you're missing out or that you're "settling" for a meal that is less than outstanding. Favorites from our visits include the many varieties of GF pizzas, Pasta Di Mare, Grilled Chicken Parmesan, and... Read more →