FDA and Gluten-Free Fail

The FDA defining gluten-free fail. Article from the Washington Post found here.

"The FDA has spent years calling upon experts to have open-forum debates, town hall meetings - we've been having reiteration and reiteration," said Alessio Fasano, medical director of the Center for Celiac Research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "They've been reiterating and listening to Grandma, Grandpa, people on the street corners. . . . I really don't understand why it's lingering up in the air when it really should be a no-brainer."

Trotter's Cafe

We ventured to Trotter's Cafe on Marshall Ave in St. Paul a few weeks ago with some friends. I am really impressed with Trotter's commitment to local farmers and fresh food. You can view a list of all their suppliers here. All the suppliers are from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. I really appreciate their transparency in a world so focus on food privacy.

I like going out for breakfast because it's an easy way to go out and eat gluten-free. Restaurants always have eggs. Trotter's also happens to have GF bread - photo on the right. It tasted like a pop-over, light and airy. Unlike most store bought gluten-free breads. The bread was an unexpected and delightful surprise.

Trotter's has a great local atmosphere. They have been added to a my list of local favorites.

Rice Chex Treats

Thank you Amy for introducing me to Rice Chex treats! If you know how to make Rice Crispy Treats you know how to make these! Replace the Rice Crispys with Rice Chex. It's that simple. Every time I make these they don't last more than two days.

This is a great option for an easy gluten-free dessert that everyone will enjoy.

Butter a 9x13 pan. In a large pot melt 3 Tbsp of butter on med-high heat. Add 2 bags of marshmallows. Keep stirring to avoid the mallows turning brown. Once melted remove pot from heat and add 6 cups of Rice Chex. Stir together. Spread the mix into the pan. Let cool and Enjoy!

These treats are a little rougher then Rice Crispys so I use a bread knife to cut them.

Eden Pizza

Have you been to Eden Pizza? A friend recommended I try it months ago - and I finally did. They have an extensive menu of speciality pizzas including GLUTEN-FREE! Very good. I'm excited that I found this place. It's really good pizza and it cost less then some other places.

It's a small restaurant in Midway/Como neighborhood in St. Paul  off of Snelling just north of 94. It's in a residential area so parking is easy and the traffic is light. You can order for delivery, eat there or pick it up. They're closed on Monday and open 3pm-10pm the rest of the week.

Gluten Sensitivity

Clues to Gluten Sensitivity in Wall Street Journal

Delightful Surprises at Super Target

I find myself grocery shopping at Target more and more these days. Don't get me wrong I love my co-op and Lund's is super nice but Target fits my budget. And to my surprise Target has been albe to fit my diet. I can't get everything at Target but I can get a lot there. They carry many GF products including Glutino, Kinnikinnick, Amy's, Julie's, Annie's, Bob's Red Mill, Cherrybrook, and General Mills. You have to be looking for some of them. For example, the Kinn-Toos are on the top shelf - not exactly easy to spot. For a while I thought that only certain Target stores in certain neighborhoods would cater to food allergiers but I was wrong. I have seen a wide variety of GF products in many Target locations. Honestly I can get more GF food at Target then at Lund's. I'm not kidding. Obviously Target can't be the only store you shop and for many of you with food allergies I'm sure you're already shopping at many different grocery stores but they can be added into your repertoire. The best part - it's less expensive for the same food.

Another sweet treat from Kinnikinnick. These are their animal crackers. These crackers are light and sweet. Remember how animal crackers always stuck to the roof of your mouth, similar to graham crackers. These are easy and don't get stuck anywhere in your mouth. I didn't feel weighed down or that I had eaten too many. I would choose these over the gluten filled crackers. I found these at Super Target and I haven't seen them anywhere else. Yea Target!

Brasa

Ate at Brasa Premium Rotisserie last week - love it! They have a separate gluten-free menu that includes GF beer. The staff is very knowledgable about the food and super helpful. Most of the food is served family style but they also make sandwiches. We chose family style because the sandwiches are not GF. We ordered the pulled pork, the ribs (they were on special), yellow rice and beans, apple coleslaw, and cornbread for the gluten eaters. For dessert I ordered the butterscotch pudding. I would go to Brasa just for the pudding. I loved it that much.  Besides the pudding, the coleslaw really stands out to me, it's tangy. Tangy coleslaw is unexpected. By adding the apples the slaw becomes more of a palet cleanser. Which worked out great so I could focus on dessert. You can tell that the food is made with a lot of care.  Every time I've been there it lives up to my expectations. Usually my memory remembers the food more favorably then it actually is however Brase never disappoints. 

There are two locations, one in NE Minneapolis and one on Grand Ave in St. Paul. Adam Richman, host of "Man vs. Food" included a Brasa meal on his 5 foods not to be missed on the Today Show in December. You can see the video here. You can also see photos from the "Man vs. Food" visit to Brasa and other Minnepolis favorites here. In conclusion, go to Brasa!

Glutino Pad Thai

It looks gross right? It is. I don't like doing this but I have to be honest to my gluten-free friends. Besides if you know me you know it's impossible for me to lie. So don't ask if you don't want to know. If you like good Pad Thai, you know I do, don't buy this.

This is Glutino, Chicken Pad Thai. It's a frozen meal which doesn't usually bod well but there are some companies that make pretty decent frozen meals. Not many but they are out there.

I followed the directions very closely and I got tough noodles and chicken. Part of the meal was burned into the plastic edges not in a good way like lasagna edges. I was so bummed the picture on the box looked so good. Like most food advertising. I couldn't even finish it. Sad face.

Sawatdee Pad Thai

Good news! The Pad Thai at Sawatdee in St. Paul and in Minneapolis are gluten-free. Granted I have not been to every Thai restaurant in the cities but I love this Pad Thai. It took care of 3 meals! Gotta love the value.

What's cool about the restaurant in Minnepolis (the one on Washington Ave.) is that in the menu all the dishes that are gluten-free are clearly labeled with a GF at the end. In St. Paul the servers and staff are very accommodating and will answer questions about what's GF. Now you know the Pad Thai is.

Urban Spoon

The Urban Spoon has a great list of gluten-free friendly restaurants in the Twin Cities. They also have an app for your iPhone, iPad and Android. I myself have never used it but my husband has it and really likes it. Plus it looks like a slot machine and you get to shake your phone when you want a new suggestion. You set the location, the type of food you want and the cost, then you shake the phone and it gives you a suggestion of a restaurant. Fun right? I guess it's time for me to take the plunge and try the app.

Update 12:55pm: So I just go the app and the shaking feature just changes all the settings, the location, kind of food, and cost. If you go into browsing you can select "features" and select "gluten-free friendly" and it will give you a list of restaurants in the area that are GF friendly.

Add me as a friend.

Cherrybrook Cake Mix

My cousin gave me a bunch of gluten free mixes that she thought she would never get to making. Cherrybrook Kitchen chocolate cake mix was one of them. They make peanut free and dairy free products. They have a great variety of free kinds of food. I have no idea where she bought them but I think I saw this product at a Super Target the other day.

I made these for our New Year's Eve party. This is another great option for an easy gluten-free cake. My cupcakes turned out more on the fudgy side then I might have liked but that could have been because I was impatient and took them out of the oven too soon. They were a little crumbly, which is to be expected - it's gluten-free and sticky at the same time. An interesting mix. The frosting was fantastic if I do say so myself. I used mint extract instead of vanilla - not planned had no vanilla. I've been eating these all week for breakfast, my husband thinks that chocolate cake is weird for breakfast. I say, it's no different then a muffin or cinnamon roll.

I think these are worth checking out. It's nice to have options instead of making the Betty Crocker mix all the time. I remember the days of debating between Duncan Hines vs. Betty Crocker. Yea for more gluten-free options!

Pizza Crust Mix

We experimented the other night with a new pizza crust. I found it at Target! It was still $5.00 but it was at a large grocery store chain. This is Namaste Foods GF pizza crust mix it makes 2 crusts. I could tell right away when I was mixing it that this was going to be good. The dough smelled amazing with the spices and herbs they included. The ingredient list just had Italian Seasoning, nice and vague. They probably want to keep it a secret like KFC and their 11 herbs and spices. This was easy to make and just as easy to eat the entire thing.

I added some water and oil, mixed for about 5 minutes in the mixer, buttered the pan, and used a spatula to 'roll' it out onto the pan. I like not having the roll the dough out and not have to wait an hour for it to rise.

Here's the finished product. I used my non-dairy cheese and it melted! Yea! You know I love easy and that's why I love this crust. It's good. I do like the kind I make froms scratch better but I don't always have the energy or the time it takes to make. There is a sense of relief that comes when I find GF food that is easy to make. So much of the GF food is high maintenance. There are times when I long for my frozen pizza. Namaste's crust is much better than any frozen pizza. 

Chicken Noodle Soup To Go

I know I have been neglectful of my blog. The holidays, a great excuse for not getting a thing done at the end of the year. In my laziness I decided to try some pre-packaged frozen gluten-free meals. I tried the Kettle Cuisine chicken noodle soup. I was expecting something bland, with hard noodles, and soggy vegetables. Here's what it looked like after cooked...

So, it doesn't look amazing in the photo. I think it's the gluten-free crackers I put in. I liked it, Mikey likes it. I had to microwave it a few times to get the desired temperature but it's damn good soup. All the elements that go into making it, the rice noodles, the veggies, the chicken all done right. I'm not sure I could make better soup. Then again, I didn't make the last GF soup, my husband did. This chicken noodle soup was slick. I love that I didn't have spend all the time to make it. 

It's in the freezer section at the store, it's another co-op find. I haven't seen it in any of our 'big box' grocery stores. I do know that you can request foods and there is a large population of GF people these days. Maybe we should form a collective or union or lobby and start demanding better GF foods at the larger grocery stores. Hopefully the price on GF food will go down.