Gluten-Free Wine Dinner

Someone left a comment about an exciting gluten-free event that is coming up on the Twin Cities. Monday, May 18th Wildfire in Eden Prairie will host a Gluten-Free dinner. The menu includes a 4-course meal, wine with each course, tax and gratuity. The Pear Tartlet for dessert sounds wonderful. They will also have a guest speaker discussing gluten-free dining and researching gluten-free products. For more information check out the Wildfire website.

Coborn's Delivers

Coborns Delivers (formerly Simon Delivers) is making gluten-free shopping easier. If you live in the greater Twin Cities area you can purchase all of your groceries online and have them delivered to your door. Coborns Delivers has added a section for gluten-free specialty products. Ingredient lists are easy to read for those with additional allergies. You can find some of your favorite brands of gluten-free pasta, crackers, soups and baked goods. Don't see a specific product you're looking for? Send them an email and request they add it.

Pizza Luce Downtown Minneapolis

I really only had 2 complaints about Pizza Luce offering a gluten-free menu.
1. It is only available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
2. It is only available at their St. Paul location.

I understand their logic, they wanted to control it as much as possible to eliminate any chance of cross contact. They started with offering gluten-free on Tuesdays and added Wednesdays not long after. We thought this is great, they are really seeing there is a demand and hoped they would continue to expand.

Starting next Tuesday and Wednesday you can order pizza made from Cooqi's gluten-free crust at Pizza Luce's Downtown Minneapolis location!

Pizza Luce Downtown Minneapolis
119 North 4th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55401

Gluten-Free in Rochester MN

We went to visit Nate's parents for Easter. We left early Saturday morning, Nate didn't think 6:20 a.m. was early enough though. On the way through Rochester we stopped at Canadian Honker. They only have 1 gluten-free option for breakfast but for only $3.99 it is a great deal. The breakfast includes 2 eggs, hash browns, fresh fruit and your choice of bacon or sausage. Plenty of food and a good price. I took a picture but I have to get it off of Nate's phone. Their gluten-free menu isn't very extensive but it provides some safe options and their staff seems very knowledgeable.

After breakfast we stopped at The Bread Baker Company. Nate immediately spotted the cinnamon swirl bread and then we saw a cheesy garlic bread and thought we better try that too. We also couldn't pass up two sugar cookies. Nate and Becca really enjoyed those. The bread was $7 for a loaf and the cookies were $3 for 2 large cookies. We'll definitely stop in there again next time we're in the area.

Saturday night my mother-in-law made stew so the toasted cheesy garlic bread went really well with it. Easter morning we had brunch and they enjoyed the cinnamon swirl bread. It was nice to be able to try something new that we can't get at home.

Gluten-Free Pizza in the Twin Cities

The Twin Cities has a few more gluten-free pizza options. Eden Pizza in St. Paul and Galactic Pizza in Uptown both serve Cooqi's gluten-free pizza crust.
Red's Savoy Pizza in Hugo and Coon Rapids also offer gluten-free pizza.

So far Nate has been showing some willpower (he's in saving mode now) but I'm sure we'll check them out soon.

7 things you may not know about me

You may have seen on other blogs "7 things you may not know about me." Glutenfree4goofs tagged me so here's my list of 7 things.

1. I am allergic to timothy grass, oaks, elms, maples, dust and mold.
2. I have a degree in Women's Studies in addition to Business.
3. It literally makes me sick to my stomach when people buy a dog from a breeder or pet store. I'll just leave it at that.
4. I like to go fishing.
5. I am a Mary Kay Consultant.
6. I am left-handed although, when I play softball I bat right-handed.
7. Surprisingly, I like driving my turbocharged "Saabaru."

The rules are simple. You're supposed to link to the person who tagged you and write 7 things about yourself. Then tag 7 people and let them know so they can write 7 things.
Cheaper by the Dozen and Get One Free
Simply...gluten-free
Katie Living Gluten-free in DC
GFCFSF and Rice Free
The Good Eatah
Fell 4 Fashion
My Fashion Chronicle

April Fools' Day

I considered writing an April Fools' post but there really isn't anything funny about allergies. Today on CNN I saw this article. It reminded me of some of the things that bother me so much about allergies and intolerance, such as kids not being able to enjoy the same things their friends enjoy and feeling left. Then there are the parents that worry about their children being safe and adults that aren't ready for change and don't want to give up favorite foods and traditions. I could go on and on.

Teddy reminded me of a little girl I used to take care of. She was allergic to eggs and nuts as well as on a GFCF diet for autism. I quickly learned what was safe for her to eat. She would make me read the ingredients on everything I gave her. Although I found it annoying at times I was proud of her for being so diligent with her diet.

Uno Gluten-Free Pizza Coupon

When my sisters and I were younger we loved going shopping at Southdale. Sometimes my mom would takes us to lunch at Uno Chicago Grill. We thought this was such a big treat. I had great memories of going there and was disappointed when I found out they closed the restaurant. We no longer have an Uno location in Minnesota. My sisters and I weren't the only ones disappointed that the Edina location closed. Nate was disappointed to find out they have a gluten-free menu that includes pizza yet we don't have a location near us. The former location was right by his work. He won't agree but it is probably better this way.

In case you have an Uno location near you I wanted to share this offer I received. Click here for a coupon to save a dollar on your gluten-free pizza. The coupon doesn't expire until 5/31/09! I have heard good reviews of the pizza so far.

Sign up for their email club to receive offers and updates.

Beef Stew

I made this last week for St. Patrick's Day and meant to post it earlier. I decided I should post it for What's for dinner Wednesday.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. beef roast
6 potatoes
1 onion
2 cups carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 cup chopped cabbage
1 can tomato sauce (14.5 oz)
5 cups water
1 tbsp minced garlic
pepper
parsley

Directions:
Dice up beef, potatoes and vegetables. Place everything (except cabbage) in the crockpot and set on low for about 8 hours. I like to add the cabbage about an hour before we eat.
If you want to prepare it the night before you can put everything together except water and tomato sauce. Then add the water and tomato sauce in the morning and set the crockpot on low.

This is super easy and can be motified depending what you have on hand or how much you want to make. You can easily omit or add veggies depending on if you have picky eaters. My sister Katie doesn't really eat cooked cabbage so I was surprised when she ate it in the stew. We had crackers with it and had plenty for leftovers.

For more gluten-free recipes check out The Gluten-Free Homemaker's What's for Dinner Wednesday.

Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Just because you're eating gluten-free doesn't mean you have to give up on traditions or celebrating holidays. With St. Patrick's day coming up I've been looking for some Irish recipes. I received this recipe for Irish Soda Bread in my email from Living Without magazine. I like how they give you suggestions on how to adjust the recipe for those with additional food allergies.

Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups high-protein, gluten-free flour blend (recipe below)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup gluten-free oats
1 egg or flax gel*
1 cup buttermilk or milk of choice (rice, hemp, soy, almond)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly dust a cookie sheet with gluten-free flour.
Mix flour blend, baking soda, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt and oats in a bowl.
Add egg (or flax gel) and buttermilk and mix to form a soft, sticky dough.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead three times.
Shape dough into a 6-inch flat round. Place it on prepared cookie sheet.
Sprinkle it with gluten-free flour and score a large X on the top.
Bake in preheated oven until top is golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes.
*TIP To make flax gel, combine 1 tablespoon flax meal with 3 tablespoons hot water. Let sit until thickened, about ten minutes.

Gluten-Free High-Protein Flour Blend
1¼ cups bean flour, chickpea flour or soy flour
1 cup arrowroot starch, cornstarch or potato starch
1 cup tapioca starch/flour
1 cup white or brown rice flour

Blend ingredients together. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator until used.

From Living Without, recipe by Rebecca Reilly.

Gluten-Free Travel Site

A couple of weeks ago my mother-in-law posted about GlutenFreeTravelSite.com. This website aims to be a one-stop-shop for your gluten-free traveling needs. You can search for reviews by state or select another country if you are planning on traveling internationally. Reviews are written by GlutenFreeTravelSite users so be sure to recommend your favorite restaurants so others can enjoy them as well. I know I'll be adding some reviews soon.

Product Review: SOYJOY Bars

I have been curious about SOYJOY bars for awhile but haven't noticed them at the grocery store. When we went to help my parents move my mom packed us little snack bags for the drive back. She gave us a couple of the berry flavor SOYJOY bars. I was excited because they say they do not contain gluten right on the wrapper.

The label says that there are "No Artificial Colors, Flavors, Hydrogenated Oils or Gluten."

The bars don't look very appealing to begin with since they look burnt but I thought the berry flavor couldn't be all that bad. I really wanted to like them because they are a healthy and convenient gluten-free snack. They were very dry and bland. If you are still interested in trying them I would recommend buying just 1 or 2 and making sure you like them first. I did like the wrappers they came in but that doesn't say much for the taste. Lame, I know but I've been looking at a lot of giveaway samples at work and the wrapper stands out.

Has anyone had a better experience with any of the other flavors?

Beef and Rice Medley

As I've said before when I cook I rarely use recipes. I cook like my mom and my grandma using whatever I have on hand and usually don't measure ingredients. I didn't really know what to make for dinner last night, just that it needed to be something warm. When we start to get bored or I want to find something new then I turn to recipes. I went to allrecipes.com and clicked on Healthy Cooking. I noticed they had a section for Gluten-Free Recipes as well as other dietary needs. Normally I just try to adapt recipes but this will be a convenient way to search for new gluten-free recipes.

This Beef and Rice Medley recipe stood out because we had the ingredients and it looked simple. I was worried that Matt wouldn't like the diced tomatoes. After dinner he said it would have been better without onions, he's getting used to tomatoes.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 1 cube beef bouillon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1 (8 ounce) package mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Place ground beef and onion in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. Stir in water and rice. Season with beef bouillon and black pepper. Simmer 25 to 30 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Stir in diced tomatoes and green peppers. Simmer another 10 minutes, until green pepper is tender. Sprinkle top with cheese.

Since I have a difficult time making a recipe just as it is I did add some garlic and parsley to it as well.

Look for other gluten-free recipes on The Gluten-Free Homemaker, What's For Dinner Wednesday.

LA Gluten-Free Food Examiner

I always try to keep my eyes open for new gluten-free resources. Allison Hecht is the LA Gluten-Free Food Examiner. She writes about topics to help make life "tasty and affordable" for people with food allergies. Obviously her focus is more in the Southern California area although many of the topics apply to others as well. Even if you don't live in the LA area you'll still enjoy her recipes and product reviews. Check out the Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe she recently listed.

Michello's Restaurant Review

Nate and I have been trying to be good about not going out to eat too often. After reading on The Savvy Celiac that Michello's in Blaine, MN has a gluten-free menu we thought we had to check it out. Michello's is about 2 miles from our house and has gluten-free pizza and pasta. Would we actually have a convenient location for gluten-free pizza?

We were really impressed with the number of choices on the gluten-free menu. Since gluten-free lasagna is so rare to find in restaurants we had to try it. Michello's gluten-free lasagna is the same recipe as their regular lasagna except for the rice noodles. All of their sauces are made from scratch.

The lasagna and other pastas are served with garlic bread. The garlic bread was good but not great, something you could easily make at home with store bought bread. They are working on their own recipe for garlic bread.

Nate is never one to pass up gluten-free pizza so we decided to share a pepperoni and sausage pizza. At Michello's they make their own pizza crust. The ingredients are listed on the menu which is nice for those with other allergens. I'm pretty impressed that they take the time to make their own crust. They also add toppings in a dedicated area to help eliminate cross contact.

They brought out a piece of chocolate cake and asked if they could get our opinion on it. This might be the first time that Nate and I shared a piece of cake at a restaurant. Usually if they offer a gluten-free cake it is a flourless chocolate cake which are too rich for his taste. We both really enjoyed the cake. Nate said it reminded him of one his Grandma would make which is a pretty nice compliment seeing as she's been baking gluten-free for almost 30 years now. They are working on their carrot cake recipe as well.

I am definitely worried about the damage to my wallet and waistline with this being so convenient for us.