Eat your way through Summer

So the semester is slowly ending and the weather is warming up (finally). It's that time of year when families start barbecuing and picnicking regularly. Eating gluten and dairy-free can be difficult during the summer but have some deliciously safe solutions for you!

Your-way BBQ Chicken

Head to the grocery store and pick ANY gluten-free marinade you like and your favorite type of chicken. My personal favorite is World Harbors Lemon Pepper & Garlic. Let it marinade for at least 2 hours in the fridge prior to barbecuing. Grill until meat turns white. Enjoy!

www.tabernaclerescue.com

Quinoa Salad

This recipe is courtesy of Gluten-Free Girl Shauna Ahern, my favorite gluten-free chef. Feel free to leave out the pesto as I'm not a huge fan of it myself. Quinoa has a delicious smoky taste and can be combined with any vegetable you like! www.glutenfreegirl.com

Ultimate dairy-free ice cream

Drive to the nearest Whole Foods Market or health food store. Purchase a delicious flavor of Purely Decadent Soy Ice Cream. Peanut Butter Zig Zag is my favorite but they even have a gluten-free Cookie Dough! Perfect to cool off on the hottest days. www.sallybernstein.com

Clearly I'm not the greatest chef myself, but I love to help others who suffer with the same issues as me. Gluten-free cookbooks are everywhere now. I use the Gluten-Free Gourmet books. Have fun, play with recipes and most of all, stay healthy!

Roughing It

I spent all last weekend living the simplistic life in Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware. My sorority travels to Cape once a semester for a weekend full of community service and we stay in youth camps. These camps vary in cleanliness...and let's just say that this time we weren't so fortunate. I've gone twice before but never stayed in this particular place... (pictured below).

Now onto the reason why this post is about being gluten-free. There was an oven, stove and walk-in refrigerator but no freezer, microwave or toaster. Frozen meals are easy, but in cases like these they can take much longer (up to an hour) to cook in the oven.

Here are some things to keep in mind for those who enjoy camping:

1. Bring easily disposable items

I made the mistake of bringing pasta to cook for dinner one night but forgot to bring a separate strainer and pot from everyone else. Cooked gluten-free pasta has TONS of starch in it and is inedible if you do not drain it. I attempted to eat it but it tasted like straight grain....not appetizing. This time, I brought tin cake pans to cook my chicken nuggets in the oven. It worked perfectly!

2. Pack protein

If you're going to be hiking, climbing or working outside like I was, keeping up your energy level is important. I bought delicious Kind bars from the local health food store to snack on when I felt weak. The Peanut Butter & Strawberry is my favorite.

3. Udi's Udi's Udi's

As I've said in previous posts, Udi's is my all time favorite gluten-free brand. I brought cinnamon-raisin bagels and multigrain bread for breakfast and lunch. They have recently released the first gluten-free hamburger and hot dog buns available worldwide! You can now join in the camp BBQ without a worry. I have no doubt that they are delicious.

4. Do your research

I can't stress the importance to research the place you'll be staying ahead of time. It is important to know what amenities they have and do not have so you can pack accordingly. Also, look into the local restaurants in case your family or friends want to go out for a night using online databases.

5. Prepare yourself

Bring medicine in case of cross contamination or accidental ingestion of gluten. Not many medicines help me when I have some wheat by mistake but I can always trust Excedrin to make the pain more tolerable. I hate to be negative but sometimes you have to anticipate the worst...

On a lighter note, the weekend didn't end up being so terrible. The clouds cleared up on Sunday and we had an eventful day painting a playground near Bethany Beach. Helping make a difference is always worth it.

Cheeburger Cheeburger

So a new restaurant opened on Main Street in Newark, Delaware last week. It's called Cheeburger Cheeburger, which is a 50's style diner with a rather large menu. Their specialty is their milkshakes and malts which of course, I can't have. But for people with regular diets, there are TONS of options for mixing and matching flavors. If I could, I would've gotten a Peanut Butter Chocolate and Banana milkshake. Ahh, those were the days. But luckily for people like me, they had tons of Monin flavorings for iced tea, lemonade and soda. I had a blackberry lemonade and it was fantastic. My friend got watermelon lemonade which was even better. Every time I go I will try a new drink! So for a main meal I decided to go for something safe, a salad. I knew there was an allergen menu on the website but for some reason I couldn't view it so I asked the waitress if they had it in the restaurant. She looked at me like I had horns so I took that to be a "no." So I chose a salad for 6.99 and you can pick any toppings you want without extra charge! I got avocado, artichoke, chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumbers and mushrooms with oil and vinegar. It was good but it definitely wasn't filling. Next time I'll get some bacon or something to add more protein. They also let you put burgers (turkey, veggie and beef) on top of a salad. Maybe I'll try that next time!

So Cheeburger gets a thumbs up from me. They were really friendly and the atmosphere was great. It's much much better than the diner that was there before. Try it and let me know what you think!

Gluten-free going mainstream

www.glutenfreephilly.com
So I was at Acme today doing my regular shopping for fruit and the select few gluten-free items they have when I discovered gluten-free/dairy-free TASTYKAKE cookies! I was in shock. I hit my friend who is also gluten-free and pointed. We both grabbed boxes of chocolate chocolate chip and chocolate chip to try. It's gotta be good if it's Tastykake right? RIGHT. They taste so good like they're filled with gluten but Tastykake assures us that they are not! Of course they're 130 calories per cookie but for someone like me, who cares!? I had to do more research. I stumbled upon the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness website and found an article about the cookies. Only to find this amazing bit of information that made me jump for joy:

"Tasty Baking Company is latest mainstream manufacturer to address gluten-free needs. Last December, PostFoods announced that its Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles would soon bear a gluten-free label, while Kellogg’s quietly revealed last month that it’s working on a gluten-free version of Rice Krispies

cereal."

- NFCA

I can't believe great cereal is finally coming into the gluten-free market! I literally told my friend tonight that cereal is the only thing that hasn't been further developed. I used to LOVE Rice Krispies and now I can have them again! All is wonderful in the gluten-free population.

Another recent gluten-free addition I discovered is Mike's Lite Hard Lemonade now comes gluten-free! The lemon and cranberry "lite" flavors are safe now.

This was such an exciting post that I apologize for all of the "!"

:)

What's the harm in gluten?

This post was inspired by a comment that a classmate made on my blog. I know it was just an assignment but it made me realize that not everyone knows about celiac disease. Prepare to be informed.

What is celiac disease?

Celiac disease is marked by an intolerance to gluten. Gluten includes wheat, rye, barley and triticale. When those with the disease ingest gluten, a toxic reaction damages their small intestine and nutrients cannot be absorbed by the body. Damage to the small intestine can be deadly and there is no known cure. Celiac disease is inherited and life-long. A surprising one out of 133 people in the United States have celiac disease.

The Symptoms

Those who suffer from this unfortunate disease can experience quite a range of symptoms. The most common symptoms are migranes, intestinal pain and discomfort, "leaky gut," nausea and vomiting, weakness, and weight loss. For a full list, visit the Celiac Disease Foundation website. It is also possible to not feel any symptoms and not be aware of the disease until a flare-up.

Diagnosis

If someone is experiencing these symptoms, they may have several tests done to diagnose Celiac Disease. Doctors will test blood for antibodies that indicate celiac disease. In order to take an accurate test, a patient must have been eating gluten-free for the past 4 weeks. The only way to lessen the pain of celiac disease is to eliminate all forms of gluten, for life.

If you or a loved one are suffering from these symptoms, please get tested NOW.

For more information, visit www.celiac.org

"The Foodie Awards"

In spirit of the ending of award season 2011, I will award my favorite gluten-free & dairy-free brands among several categories. Since my diagnosis six years ago, I have become quite the critic among emerging brands in the gluten-free market. The categories include: Best bread, Best pasta, Best Cookie, Best Cracker and Best Bagel.

BEST BREAD: Udi's

Available in White, Multigrain and Cinnamon Raisin

Udi's gluten-free products are new front-runners for taste, quality and bargain for gluten-free bread. Yes, a loaf of bread is around 6 or 7 dollars but it's worth every penny to finally have a delicious sandwich that doesn't taste like cardboard.

BEST PASTA: Schar Tagliatelle

Available in Spaghetti, Fusilli, Penne, Multigrain Penne and Anellini

This pasta is a staple in my diet. I keep atleast two boxes in my kitchen for a quick and delicious meal. Tagliatelle is my favorite noodle shape but all of them are tasty. It takes about 6-9 minutes to cook and tastes great without needing to be masked by sauce.

BEST COOKIE: Kinnikinnick Montana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Runner Up: Kinnikinnick KinniToos Sandwich Creme Cookies

These are my absolute favorite gluten-free cookies. In fact, I love all of Kinnikinnick's cookies. Kinnitoos are my second favorite because they taste almost the same as regular gluten-filled Oreos and come in both vanilla and chocolate. Check out their whole cookie section online because they are hard to find in stores. Worth the shipping cost!

BEST CRACKER: Blue Diamond Pecan Nut Thins

Available in Almond, Hazelnut, BBQ, Sea Salt, Smokehouse, Cheddar Cheese and Country Ranch

Not only are there many varieties of these crackers but all of the ones I've tasted (or am allowed to taste because of my milk allergy) are filled with flavor. They can be eaten plain or with hummus (my favorite), salsa or guacamole, you name it! Most food stores carry these crackers but the Blue Diamond website has a locator to find the closest retailer.

BEST BAGEL: Udi's

Available in Plain, Whole Grain and Cinnamon Raisin

Once again, Udi's wins hands-down. Before these came on the gluten-free market, I hadn't found any edible bagels. They stay soft and don't need to be toasted (shocker)! I use my dairy-free cream cheese or peanut butter on top and it makes an easy breakfast.

You've probably noticed that I didn't award a Best Pizza. This is because I have yet to find a good pre-packaged pizza that is both gluten and dairy free. Most people swear by Amy's frozen pizzas, but they don't sit right with me. I'll make another post once I discover a brand I am partial to.

Happy pain-free eating!

No More Stadium Starvation

A friend of mine sent me this photo, taken at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, home of the 76ers. It's amazing how much has changed in the last few years. When I was first diagnosed, there was no bread I could eat that didn't taste like cardboard and rip up my mouth, let alone public places that were aware of the gluten-free lifestyle. If I knew I was going to a sporting event I prepared for hours without substance and ended up buying overpriced soda to curb my hunger.

The Nationals stadium in D.C. where I'm from has a gluten-free concession stand. It carries Redbridge (gf beer) and $15 salads with nothing on them. It's a let-down. All we want are some boardwalk fries! It really pays to live where Celiac disease is common. The Coors stadium in Colorado has gluten-free sandwiches and hamburgers- unfair. Now I'm not even a sports fan, but there's nothing I enjoy more than eating some delicious allergen-free food. And now with Spring coming and baseball season starting, plan plan ahead.

Some tips for those who aren't lucky enough to live in an accommodating area:
Sneak In Food- Most places will let you pass with snacks if you tell them you have dietary restrictions, as long as you don't have bottled water
If you have to buy, go plain - Ask for a burger or chicken without the bun and make sure you tell them exactly what your restrictions are
Ask questions - This is something I'm not very good at because I'm shy, but if they don't understand what you're saying then forget it. The effects aren't worth it.

More posts to come :)