Wham Bam Thank You "Plan"

Last weekend we took our niece into The City to see the tree at Rockerfeller Center.  Since we moved to PA we don't frequent NYC as often as we used to, and aren't up-to-date with local hot spots and eateries. So what do you do if you follow a Gluten Free lifestyle and need to eat out in an unfamiliar area?

Prepare, Locate, And Nourish 

(yes, I just came up with that)

Before we even looked up train schedules, we scoured the internet for gluten free and GF friendly restaurants, around the Mid-Town area.

Our tools:
Yelp, Menu Pages, and a little known gem of an app: "Find Me Gluten Free"

We narrowed the choices down to a few restaurants, but left the final decision making till the day of, since we weren't quite sure what time we would all want to eat and where we would be when the hunger pangs struck.

On the day of trip we wound up at St Patrick's Cathedral when we decided that it was time to stuff our faces. I could have panicked, but thanks to our PLANing we were able to quickly decide upon a Gluten Free restaurant nearby.

Find Me Gluten Free led us to Lili's 57 (conveniently located on W 57th street in Manhattan.) They had a separate gluten free menu and were knowledgeable about Gluten Free practices.
We ordered the GF Pork Dumplings, the GF Chicken/Shrimp Pad Thai and the GF Cranberry Teriyaki Grilled Chicken.

GF Cranberry Teriyaki Grilled Chicken w/ Brown Rice

Mom and Dad ordered the regular Pad Thai dish and after tasting our GF version proclaimed that it was hard to tell the difference. Everyone loved the GF Dumplings, especially our niece. The hardest part of our dining experience was reminding my brother-in-law to use separate utensils when tasting our GF food as to not cross-contaminate.

We highly recommend both the Find Me Gluten Free app and Lili's 57.

FOOD! Yeah... BumBumBum... What are we thankful for?

In the continuation of our holiday series, the next holiday on our list was Thanksgiving or as it just so happened this year "Thanksgivukkah." (Thanksgivukkah is when Thanksgiving aligns with the first day of Hanukah, which doesn't happen to often.) This holiday is major carb overload to begin with and most of the traditional foods attributed to Thanksgiving have hidden gluten in them. Since we celebrated with my (Mary's) family this year, the pressure was on for them to accommodate our new life style. And like most things, the "Tops" rose to the occasion.

I asked Mama and Papa Top to be guest bloggers on the site but they declined for now (don't be surprised if you see a Mama and Papa Top's corner on our page in the near future.) They did, however, provide a few  of their recipes and shared with us how they kept gluten away from our meal in which we give thanks.

At first I thought the only thing safe to eat would be the turkey (I would be highly concerned if you are slathering some wheat filled product on your turkey in the first place.) Just as I suspected my mom gave the turkey a relaxing massage with some olive oil and seasoned it with Adobo and paprika. Score! My parents ended up surpassing all my expectations and found every alternative to make sure we had the same Thanksgiving meal as always.

I'm Stuffed

The biggest obstacle that my family had to face was making my favorite Turkey Day staple GF. Stuffing!!! (or like some people call it, dressing.) It literally is made from bread and before I went gluten free it was something that I ate on a pretty regular basis just because I love it so much. My family is far from fancy so we usually just make Stove Top but they don't offer a gluten free version of it yet so my mom found the next best thing, Gillian's Foods Home Style Stuffing Mix.

GF Stuffing Recipe

1 box/bag Stuffing 

1 1/2 to 2 cups gluten free chicken stock

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped celery

Saute onions & celery together with butter until cooked translucent. Add eggs, chicken stock, and stuffing and mix all together until bread is moist.

My dad originally only used about a cup of chicken broth and in hind site says, he should have added more (I agree with him and we added some extra broth to our leftovers as well as a 1/4 cup of an Italian Cheese blend.) 

My family tried to be conscious of what ingredients went into our other side dishes and made sure they were all gluten free. I usually make gravy with the meat drippings, broth, and corn starch (even before going GF) and was shocked to find out this isn't how other people make gravy. I told my parents to just use corn starch but they opted to use gluten free pancake mix of all things to thicken the gravy and I must say it was quite delicious. 

We waited an hour or two to digest and see if we had any negative reactions after our meal but found that we were not "glutened" at all (despite my brother's careless utensil mixing.) With no side effects of a gluten contamination we moved onto what Hayley is most thankful for.... dessert.

DESSERT!

"The Farmer and Mi-Del"

My mother's theory on pies during thanksgiving is that there should be a 1 to 1 ratio, meaning one pie per one person. Without disappointment that is exactly how many pies we had  (9 in total, 4 gluten free, 5 laden with it.) Hayley did her part to contribute to the pie to person ratio by bringing a Sweet Potato Pie (her specialty) and a Pumpkin Pie using Grandma Kennedy's secret recipe (just read the side of a can of Libby's Pumpkin.) Both Hayley and my mom used Mi-Del's pre-made pie crusts for some of their pies. I really like the Chocolate Style crust but Hayley is on the if-y side. No holiday would be without my mom's Chocolate Mousse pie so she texted me a thousand times worked really hard to make sure she used the right ingredients. 

Chocolate Mousse Pie

Mama Top's Chocolate Mousse Pie

Mi-Del Gluten Free Chocolate Style pie shell 

6 oz Nestle semisweet chocolate bits (Hershey's could also be used, both are gluten free) 

2 Tablespoons Margarine -room temperature  

2 raw eggs 

1 small container lite Cool-Whip

Pinch of salt

Pour chocolate chips into a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 45 seconds, stir, and then continue for 15 seconds until all the chocolate is melted and smooth. 

Add a pinch of salt

Stir in margarine until melted and smooth and then add the raw eggs. Make sure to keep stirring so the eggs don't scramble. 

Fold container of Cool-Whip into the chocolate mixture. Once all is mixed, pour into pie shell and refrigerate. Serve with whip topping.

All in all, our first Gluten Free Thanksgivakkah went off with out a hitch and without being "Glutened." I would mark that as a success. Two holidays down, two more to go.

How my mom differentiates

Potato, Potahtoe, Lets just call the whole thing Latkes

When we decided to take the plunge and go Gluten Free there were many things we didn't consider (and food we wished we pigged out on before cutting it out of our life.) One main thing we never thought about was how we would we be able to enjoy the holidays without the foods we love. Luckily, there are some tasty alternatives on the market now that will help ease the pain of missing out on all that comfort food. We still have Christmas to tackle but Thanksgiving and Hanukah have been conquered.

Let's start off in the order in which we started the holiday season:

Hanukah! 

Gluten Free Latkes

We didn't have a big meal planned out to ring in the "Festival of Lights" but the most important thing we had to have was Latkes (Potato Pancakes to some.... I call them Yiddish Hash-browns... same thing.) Fried food is traditionally eaten on Hanukkah in commemoration of the oil that miraculously burned for eight days when the Maccabees purified and rededicated the holy Temple in Jerusalem. 

Our recipe:

4 large starchy baking potatoes grated

1 small sweet onion, grated

1/3 to 1/2 cup Gluten Free Matzo ground finely or 
all-purpose gluten-free flour blend, as needed

1 large organic free-range eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

Dash of black pepper

Canola, or high heat oil, for frying

Peel and grate the potatoes and onion by hand (You need to put your blood, sweat, and tears into this, sometimes literally.)

Let the grated potato and onion mixture rest then press them into colander  to extract the moisture.

In a large bowl, combine the grated potatoes, onions and Gluten Free Matzo. Add the beaten egg, sea salt and pepper. Stir well. Add more flour as you go, if you need to.

Heat a good half inch of oil in a cast iron skillet over high heat.
Carefully drop the batter with a large spoon, or fork, into the hot oil, and press down with a spatula.
Cook the latkes until they are golden on each side - crispy on the outside, and tender in the middle. This takes maybe five minutes, depending upon the size of the latke.
Remove the latkes with a slotted spatula and place on paper towels, to drain.
Keep the drained latkes warm in a hot oven (200 degrees) until all the latkes are ready to serve. Try to work fast, as latkes are definitely best hot from the pan.
Serve the latkes immediately with applesauce or sour cream or Ketchup if you have a shiksa for a wife.

Hold Tight and "Steadfast"

Steadfast Beer Company

Steadfast Beer Co. is a Gluten-Free craft beer company founded in Albany, NY in 2011 (Lots of amazing things come from Albany, NY, like our favorite band "Sirsy". After making their debut in 2012 with the hoppiest Gluten-Free beer on the market, Steadfast Sorghum Pale Ale, company owners Mark Crisafulli and Jeremy Hosier have set enthusiastically on a path to create a collection of Gluten-Free beers for the true craft beer enthusiast. 

Steadfast uses only naturally gluten-free ingredients like rice, sorghum, honey, sugar cane, and tapioca in its beers. The company works closely with the owners of the breweries it contracts (Steadfast doesn't own its own facility) to ensure equipment is totally cleaned of gluten. Their Pale Ale and Golden Blonde Ale is available year round and the company is planning to add more brews to its portfolio. They just released the world's first gluten-free Pumpkin Spice Ale and is also testing out recipes for the world's first gluten-free oatmeal stout.  

I picked up the Blonde Ale yesterday when I went to Joe Canal's in the Princeton, NJ area. Their "certified beer guy" (who also happened to have quite possibly the most amazing beard I have ever seen) stated they had just got Steadfast in and had not had the opportunity to test it out. I figured I give it a shot.

Golden Blond Ale

Their Golden Blond Ale contains 5.5 % alcohol by volume. The body has a hazy, golden-pale almost yellow into a pint glass. Highly effervescent when poured, but eventually calms down to virtual tepidness. The smell is a light aroma of flowers, sorghum, and a hint of spice. Judging by the description and ingredients list, it seems this beer is intended to be the equivalent of a gluten-free witbier. Honey, coriander and orange peel create for a relatively familiar, summer seasonal-type palette. It’s not a beer I would describe as "spicy" though. The spices are enough to notice and taste, but mild enough that they don’t overwhelm. Same thing with the sorghum base. There’s a "twangy" flavor on the finish, but it’s mild and easily tolerable and you barely notice it after a while. The flavor is quite refreshing, and the thin, tepid body makes it highly drinkable, especially considering how smooth the finish is. 

Overall, this was definitely one of the more consumable Sorghum based beers I have had. However, I’m not going to say that it is the best so far. I am still in search for the “Holy Grail” of sorghum beers.

Mac and Cheese, Please

We are well aware of the perils of heavily processed foods, but as busy Americans (who are sometimes lazy), we occasionally eat said products.
Lately we've experimented with different packaged mac and cheese, below are our observations.

Ancient Harvest QUINOA Organic Gluten Free Supergrain Mac & Cheese: Really Good, it had a very nice al dente texture, but wasn't dry, the cheese was tasty too.
*Organic, No Trans Fat, Corn/Quinoa Blend

Annie's Gluten Free Rice Pasta and Cheddar: Okay, much like Kraft's (non GF) Mac & Cheese, but the pasta was a bit "softer".
*No Artificial Flavors, Synthetic Colors of Preservatives; Cheese from Cows not Treated with the Growth Hormone rBST

Sam Mills Yellow Cheddar Mac & Cheese:  Okay, Mary enjoyed the flavor and texture of this, while it wasn't my favorite.
*GMO Free Pasta

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Rice Pasta & Cheddar: Review coming soon! It's in our cupboard, but we haven't eaten it yet.
*Vegetarian

Asian Asian Bunny

When we first started eating Gluten-Free a friend asked us about pastas and I listed a few that we had tried, but couldn't remember the exact name of one of them. I remembered that it was an "Asian-sounding" name and that there were bunnies on the package. Our friend jokingly said "Asian Asian Bunny" and that name has stuck in our household.

Tinkyada is one of our favorite Gluten-Free pastas. We have tried both the white and brown rice pastas in an variety of shapes, and loved them all.

The packaging says it all: "Good Consistent Texture, Not Mushy"
Some of the first Gluten-Free pastas we tried didn't quite have that smooth "pasta texture", nor did they hold up throughout our meal -they sometimes clump and break apart.  Tinkyada is just the opposite. It holds up throughout the meal, even when reheating (which is a big plus in our household, hello leftovers!)
I love to use this pasta for my favorite dish, Shrimp Scampi.  The secret to a successful Shrimp Scampi dish is to let the pasta marinate with the meal in the pan so it absorbs a lot of the liquid.

Another dish I like to use this pasta with is Mac and Cheese.  It doesn't dry out like other pastas and Tinkyada is perfect because it (practically) can't be over cooked.

Hayley's Mac and Cheese

The color of the pasta may not match those of traditional pasta, but even if your eyes aren't convinced, your mouth will be happy!

"Green's" Eyed Monster

Green's Amber Ale

Green's Amber Ale from Belgium

Green's Discovery Amber Ale was developed in collaboration with the respected DeProef Brewery, in Lochristi, Belgium after their founder was diagnosed with celiac disease. This beer is made from millet, sorghum, rice, and buckwheat, as well as classic hop varieties. They are fermented with a traditional Belgian yeast strain and bottle-conditioned. The body has a deep brownish or prune like color with dark reddish highlights coming through a very murky haze. Lighter carbonation. Medium body. Good fruity and raisin taste with some subtle caramel and fig. It has a moderate bitter taste. This has a decent satisfying body that isn’t as thin and acidic as gluten-free beers often are. I purchased this at a Whole Foods in NYC on our way home (back to where you have to buy beer by the case.) It is a bit on the pricey side but it does the trick when I want a beer to taste like beer.  

Hayley's thoughts on Green's Amber Ale, "Ew, this taste like beer."

Guilty by "Omission"

Omission Pale Ale

Omission Gluten-Free Pale Ale

Omission Beer is the gluten-removed brand from Widmer Brothers Brewing. The Oregon brewery has been a staple in the craft industry for a long time. The Omission brand currently has three offerings: a lager, a pale ale, and an IPA. Unlike other beer companies that brew with non-gluten grains like sorghum, Omission brews the traditional gluten-containing ingredients and then an enzyme called Brewers Clarex is added to the beer to break the bonds of the gluten protein chains. Each contains fewer than 20 parts per million of gluten, which is the FDA standard for labeling a product to be safe for persons with gluten allergies. Each batch is sent to independent laboratory testing to verify gluten content. 

Their Pale Ale contains 5.8 percent alcohol by volume. The body has a rustic orange, translucent quality, with a medium sense of effervesce. The smell is quite simple. Light sweet caramel malt with a light zesty hop aroma. Little floral, but mainly some pine, and an earthy quality. It has a pretty light caramel flavor, just lightly sweet and rather light on the hops. The hops up front have a little floral and grassy quality, and finishes with a bitter grassy touch slash zingy spice. 

Overall I found this to be a drinkable pale, drinks like a lighter beer than it is and doesn't taste like other Gluten Free beers I have experienced, I would certainly buy this again.  I would recommend Omission Pale Ale to any easy going beer drinker; gluten intolerant or not. It's a worthy beer for anyones glass and a tip of the hat to the brewers who figured out a way of removing the gluten. 

Hayley's thoughts on Omission Pale Ale, "Bleh! This really taste like beer, you must love it." (And I do love it!)

My Life As a Gluten-Free Wife

We decided to make the switch to a gluten-free lifestyle almost 6 months ago, after a doctor suggested that eliminating gluten might alleviate Mary's fibromyalgia and joint pain. Within two weeks of removing gluten from her diet the joint pain stopped (and only flares up with the weather). I got on board a few days later to see if I noticed any health benefits, but mostly to support my wife.

I've read that going gluten-free can help with depression and mood swings.

In the past few months I can honestly say I've been a lot happier, but I left my old job right before altering my diet, so I can't be too sure what caused this change. In addition, I've lost some weight, but mostly because I can't pig out on cakes, cookies and other desserts as easily as I did in the past (we have found some amazing gluten-free recipes, which we will be sharing), and it definitely helps that I'm no longer surrounded by junk food at work.

Going gluten-free forces you to take a closer look at everything you consume.

You MUST read every label, as we've found out the hard way, and ask others what ingredients are used in the food they offer you. Since a vast majority of food has wheat or soy as an ingredient it limits what you can eat when you go out, which means you always have to be prepared.

Unlike most diets, where if you "cheat" you'll feel guilty and be disappointed when you step on the scale, if you "cheat" and eat products with gluten in it your body may punish you, literally. This may not happen to everyone, but Mary and I have both found that since a week or so after eliminating gluten from our diet, that whenever we reintroduced it, our bodies did not like it. Side effects ranged from mild headaches, fogginess, and mild stomach aches, to really bad stomach cramps and other not so fun stuff.

Even with all the restrictions, it is a lot easier to maintain a gluten-free lifestyle today than a few years ago.

There are so many gluten-free options available in grocery stores and many chain restaurants.  Yet, I still find that its best to prepare our own food.  In the last few months I've started cooking and baking more, which is something I usually avoided in the past. 

I cook most of our meals, which means we eat healthier and save more money.  I also bake desserts whenever we go to a party, so I know there is at least one thing I can eat when I am there.

Do I still want to eat food with gluten? Sometimes.  But I have made a commitment to this lifestyle and my wife, and I almost enjoy being a guinea pig to see what the long-term health benefits are. 

We'll keep you posted.

~Hayley

I Won't Tolerate Gluten

 "I have exorcised the Demons!" and by demons I mean Gluten.

For years I struggled with debilitating Fibromyalgia along with a plethora of other health issues that made life rather difficult. When discussing my symptoms with my therapist and how it left me incapable of doing some of the most mundane tasks like getting out of bed, she posed a really great question, "Did you ever think that maybe what your eating is restricting you?" I honestly never thought about it. I always ate healthy and then after my weight loss (80lbs in total) I eat extremely healthy. My therapist presented me with a variety of diet options that may aid to feeling more like myself and a little less like I wanted to jump out of my skin. Some of her suggestions went on the extreme like GAPS and Paleo diets, but she mentioned starting small and eliminating gluten from my food intake. 

Going Gluten Free is NOT a fad, and there is no need to jump blindly on the bandwagon.  Inform yourself and make the decision that is best for you. Like most decisions I make in life I researched all the diets and the Gluten Free diet seemed to strike a chord. I noticed that a lot of the symptoms that are associated with being intolerant to gluten matched the symptoms I grappled with each day, such as;

• Neurological issues, including dizziness, difficulty balancing, and peripheral neuropathy affecting nerves outside the central nervous system and resulting in pain, weakness, tingling or numbness in the extremities
• Headaches or migraines
• Fatigue, foggy thinking or feeling tired especially after a meal heavy in gluten
• Mood imbalances or sudden changes, irritability, anxiety, depression, ADD, PMS
• Inflammation, swelling or pain in your joints such as fingers, knees or hips
• Diagnosis of chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia

Really?!?!?! There is no way that my love for beer and really delicious rye bread was harming my body. But hey, at that point there was only so much Ibuprofen a person can ingest daily; it was worth a shot. Like I said before, I educated myself on the ins and outs of freeing my life of gluten. 

First things first, I needed to figure out what exactly constitutes gluten. Gluten refers to the proteins found in wheat endosperm (a type of tissue produced in seeds that's ground to make flour). Gluten both nourishes plant embryos during germination and later affects the elasticity of dough, which in turn affects the chewy goodness of baked wheat products. What does this even mean??? The answer is simple NO WHEAT (What?), NO BARLEY (Why?), NO RYE (You've got to be kidding me!!!) You must avoid eating any foods and ingredients that contain gluten, including bread, beer (nooooo not my beer), pasta, salad dressing, soy sauce, and even some soups (learned that the hard way, how is wheat the third ingredient in tomato soup?) unless otherwise marked as "gluten-free". What is worse and extremely important to note is that gluten is like a spy, it disguises itself and hides where you least expect it (refer back to my comment about the tomato soup.)

Free Gluten to a good home!

Now that I identified the enemy, I needed to exterminate our apartment. I am sure there are many families who find ways to work around someone in the house that can't eat gluten but I knew that would be nearly impossible when there is only two people living together. Plus, there would be too much temptation around the kitchen, not to mention I have a terrible habit of sleep eating (it's a real thing.) My wife jumped on board the gluten free train and we set out to rid our cabinets and lives of wheat. This meant we had to replace many of our everyday essentials that were not gluten free.  One of the most important things to do is to read your labels, sometimes there is a handy, dandy GF stamp on the product. But if you are unsure, take the time to look up the item on the internet or even call the company and ask. Trust me it is better to be safe than sorry (re: tomato soup.) The world of gluten free products can be a confusing one.  Instead, focus on fresh, whole foods like vegetables, fruits, meats, nuts, seeds, whole grains like brown rice and quinoa.  

Ok, so I pinpointed the antagonist, I purged it from my body, and modified my eating habits. Did it work? Was giving up gluten worth all the time, money, and energy? The answer is yes. (I'm not sure I would blog about it if the outcome was different.) Within two weeks of cutting out wheat, I noticed I wasn't hitting my massive bottle of pain relievers. I didn't feel like I was walking in a foggy haze. After a month I had virtually no symptoms of fibromyalgia. In fact, only when it is extremely humid/rainy out do I experience any joint pain (which has more to due with the fact that my body is just getting old.) Has my wife felt any different since the switch? No, not really, but you will have to read her blog posts about her experiences. 

As I pointed out earlier, you should not just hop on the GF bandwagon for poops and giggles or because it is the latest craze. Like any lifestyle change, it is extremely important to learn about it, educate yourself, before jumping in the deep end of the pool. I will be posting blogs every so often about my trials and tribulations as I journey through my life free of gluten. Please feel free to use my thoughts and experiences as a guide to whether or not this diet is for you.

~Maryalice