ZPizza Restaurant Review

After reading Katie's blog I told Nate there was another place with gluten-free pizza. Since ZPizza has a location close to us he decided we just had to try it. All I have to say is their pizza is Amazing!

We ordered the American and Mexican to share. Both pizzas tasted like the perfect balance of everything. ZPizza definitely uses fresh quality ingredients. Thanks again Katie for posting about this.

American

Mexican

ZPizza has locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

Call ahead to make sure your location offers the gluten-free pizza or request they carry it.

Laura's Wholesome Junk Food Product Review

A little while ago Nate and I tried Charlotte's Chocolate Chip cookies by Laura's Wholesome Junk Food. They are a nice snack when I'm craving something sweet but I don't feel guilty afterwards. I told myself that I should eat them because Nate probably doesn't care for them since they contain coconut. So I was surprised that he actually like them.

Don't expect them to taste like a "normal" chocolate chip cookie. You'll get a wholesome cookie sweetened with natural juices. We are addicted to them now.

Laura's Wholesome Junk Food has some other gluten-free cookies including:
Sally's Raisin
Better Brownie
Cole's Cashew Chocolate Chip

Check out Dr. Laura's interesting story on how the company got started.

Gluten-Free Fest at Fresh & Natural Foods

Do you want to try new gluten-free products but worry you won't like them and it will be a waste of money? Fresh and Natural Foods has some Gluten-Free Fests coming up in the next couple of weeks. If you live in the area it is a nice chance to try some new gluten-free products.

Saturday, January 31st 11:00am-3:00pm
Four Seasons Mall
4234 Lancaster Lane
Plymouth, MN 55441
or
Plaza 94 Shopping Center
1701 Ward Avenue, Suite 200
Hudson, WI 54016

Saturday, February 7th 11:00am-3:00pm
Shoreview Village Mall
1075 West Highway 96
Shoreview, MN 55126

Pizza Fusion has Gluten-Free Pizza

Pizza Fusion is the pizza place for everyone and prides itself on being environmentally friendly. Pizza Fusion offers gluten-free pizza crust, beer and brownies. They also have options for those who are vegan, vegetarian or lactose intolerant.

Pizza Fusion is very conscious of being earth friendly. These are just some of their environmentally friendly action items:

• Disposable silverware decomposes in 50 days
• Customers receive a discount for returning pizza boxes to be recycled
• Pizza is delivered in company hybrid cars
• My favorite, the counter tops are made from recycled detergent bottles

Unfortunately we don't have a Pizza Fusion near us. They have many locations across the country including Atlanta, San Diego and Seattle with more coming soon.

Marissa - They are opening one in LA!

Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas

I have been looking for a gluten-free wrap to mix up our lunches a bit. We bought some of the Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas. I brought one for lunch the first day and it was very brittle which made it difficult to eat. If I remember correctly the package says they recommend to heat them up. The second day I brought them I tried heating them up. They were still falling apart. We finally gave up on making them work and are on the search for a different sandwhich wrap.

I had higher expectations.

Strongbow Cider

Saturday night Katie and I dropped Christi off to work at the Swarm game. (The Swarm is Minnesota's professional lacrosse team.) Katie and I had some time before the game so we stopped at The Liffey to waste some time. I ordered a Finnegans to do my part and support the community. (Finnegans is not gluten-free but they donate profits to support local charities.) After we ordered Katie noticed that The Liffey has Strongbow Cider on tap. I like Strongbow because it is a dry cider and not as sweet as some of the other ciders out there.

The Nook in St. Paul carries Strongbow in the can.

Starbucks wants your help

Starbucks has a website called My Starbucks Idea where you can give suggestions and help shape current projects they are working on. Currently they are working on adding more gluten-free options to their menu and they want your help. Let them know what gluten-free items you would like to see offered at Starbucks. Here are some questions they have for you.

• What specific gluten-free products would you like to see in our stores?
• Would you prefer to see it individually packaged or unpackaged?
• How would you like to learn we have gluten-free products? For example, would you like to see it on a sign or would you prefer the barista tell you?
• Where would you like to see gluten-free products in the store; in the pastry case or placed elsewhere?
• The ingredient costs of gluten-free products tend to be higher, so would you understand if we charged more for the gluten-free version?

Click here to leave a comment for Starbucks.

Gluten-Free Pizza, Lasagna, Ravioli & Wraps

Nate has a lot in common with his Uncle Dan and Uncle Tim. For example, all three of them are obsessed with Jeeps, boats and gluten-free pizzas. Both Dan and Tim have called Nate in the same night looking for gluten-free pizza in different areas of the Twin Cities. While the first two obsessions tend to be spendy it is the pizza that can be hardest to find. The locations never seem to be in the right place at the right time. We have some good pizza recipes to make at home but it is not the same as going out for pizza or picking one up before a football game.

Donatelli's in White Bear Lake offers gluten-free pizza, lasagna and ravioli. Now this will be a difficult choice since these items are all hard to find gluten-free in a restaurant.

Zebra Pizza in Ramsey now offers gluten-free pizza crust and wraps. They even have a choice between thick crust and thin crust! According to their website the thin crust pizza is corn free.
They do not have dine in but they can make it for you or you can get a "take n bake." Lori's Zebra Pizza also recommends to call ahead at least an hour before you need the pizza. They try to keep things on hand but cannot gurantee they will have everything in stock.

Enjoy Life on CNN Morning Express

CNN Morning Express covered a story on Enjoy Life this morning. Click here to watch the video.

Enjoy Life Foods products are free of the top allergens. Nate loves the Snickerdoodles and Caramel Apple snack bars. We usually bring them with on trips for a quick snack or breakfast. On our last roadtrip I discovered I like the Snickerdoodles too. Now he has to share with me!

Fogo de Chao - Almost Entirely Gluten-Free

Nate and I have been interested in going to Fogo de Chao for awhile, especially since we heard almost everything is gluten-free. The only two items that are not gluten-free are the wheat bread and tabbouleh which are both located at the salad bar.

We started with the salad bar that included large asparagus spears, roasted peppers, salmon, etc. Nate patiently waited for me me to finish my salad but I told him to go ahead and start with the meat. Each person has a disk which will control when they are offered meat. Within 10 seconds of flipping his disk from red to green a Gaucho Chef appeared at our table offering some meat. As soon as he left three more Gaucho Chefs appeared one after another and Nate quickly turned his disk back to red so he could enjoy his meal. Shortly after I switched my disk to green and received the same prompt service.

They offer 15 different kinds of meat. Items you can choose from include a top sirloin, pork ribs, leg of lamb. Your server will also bring some traditional side dishes of mashed potatoes, fried bananas and crispy polenta which they refill as necessary. Nate loves mashed potatoes but this time he barely touched them since there were so many other items to enjoy.

One would think that Nate's favorite part of the meal would have been the assortment of meats. His favorite by far was actually the cheese bread. Their famous Pao de Quiejo cheesebread is served warm and replenished throughout the meal. The cheese bread is gluten-free and made of tapioca flour. It is a lot like the Chebe bread. Usually I gorge myself on bread while Nate waits patiently for the meal. For a change it was nice to have the bread automatically gluten-free and not have to ask for a separate basket. Our waiter commented that Nate was enjoying the bread so I explained to him that this was a treat because he usually can't eat the bread. Then he offered to bring us 2 baskets of bread. Nate declined his offer.

We decided to go for lunch on one of our days off since lunch is about half the price of dinner. For lunch you can expect to pay around $20-$30. Those with a lighter appetite can choose just the salad bar. If you are going for dinner it ranges around $40-$50 not including drinks and dessert. Prices vary by city. While it is on the spendier side, the combination of great food and wonerful service make it worth it for a nice treat.

As with any restaurant menu items may change or vary by location so feel free to ask if you have concerns regarding ingredients.