New Redbridge: GF beer from Anheuser-Busch!

The makers of Budweiser, Michelob, Natty Ice, etc have concocted a gluten free beer called Redbridge!

They have a Retail Locator for Dining In & Out so you can see where to get it. I was having a hard time getting it to work - perhaps the site is inundated with thirsty celiacs? But am hoping there is some in the Boston Area.

Anyway - I will be looking for this, and will report back to you with an update immediately!

(Rural, just got your comment below via email -- just as I was about to post! Word must be spreading like wildfire!)

Check out there website here

Celtics Game, but no junk food or beer???

I've realized as of late, that one of the biggest bummers about Celiac (besides the freedom to eat whatever I want at whatever restaurant I want) is that sporting events just aren't as fun without a beer and dirty hotdog!

Last weekend I went to the Giants/Cowboys game - great game! - but couldn't eat or drink anything there. In that case, I was pretty hungover so I didn't want a beer anyway, plus it was cold.

BUT - tonight, I'm going to the Celtics game and will be meeting up with people at a bar right near the Garden, to pre-game. Normally I would just go, get some chix fingers & fries, & drink beer - maybe get a hotdog at the game. Of course, that's not an option. So what do I do? Before going to meet everyone, I order in some sushi at work, it's actually excellent sushi, so that makes me happy. Now I'm feeling full & heading over to the bar, and won't mind when everyone's eating burgers & pizza.

Now, we get in there, I'm sitting watching the game, I would really like to enjoy a cold beverage while watching. I DOUBT they sell wine, cider jacks or hard liquor at the venue, which means I'm going to have to drink EXTRA wine at the bar before heading over; sounds like trouble.

I think Celiacs should be allowed to Bring-Their-Own Alcohol wherever they go. We don't want to always volunteer to be designated driver! No one's even driving tonight?! So what's a celiac to do?

I'll let you know, but hopefully they're servin' some Bard's Tale at the Boston Garden tonight.

Wagamama to open in Boston!

I am so pumped! Wagamama, one of my favorite restaurants I loved to visit in London, is conveniently opening right across from where I work in Faneuil Hall!

Of course, when I used to eat there, I didn't know I had celiac, and had no symptoms, so I had free reign on the menu - BUT, as listed on their website, they do have a few gluten free items! Here's a link to their dietary restrictions: Wagamama Link

They also display food suggestions for people with lactose, garlic, msg, nut allergy, and diabetic issues... So thanks for lookin' out Wagamama!

The location in Faneuil Hall isn't opening until Spring 2007, and they will have another location opening in the Summer of 2007 as well... I think this place will do tremendously well here in this city, it's great, affordable asian food in a funky, chic atmosphere. Easy & delish, love it.

Rough Sunday

We almost burned down our house after a failed attempt at a late night mac & cheese session... Good thing the smoke coming from the burning Tinkyada woke us up! I'm almost more pissed that I wasted some of my precious Tinkyada than the fact that our home STINKS. Any suggestions on how to get the smell to go away?? I've been washing everything and all windows are open despite the cold.

And to top it off, I decided to make some Cheddar Corn Chowder. Ran to the store to pick up a few things... began making it - and realized after I was almost done, that I had put in Chicken Stock that wasn't gluten free!!!! I was so pissed. I ate a small bowl anyway, and I feel OK actually. But still, pissed. Why on earth isn't all chicken stock gluten free???

RISOTTERIA!

After reading much of the famed gluten free restaurant Risotteria - I made a trip to NYC to visit friends, and head to the Village to check this place out!

I was very excited, and we got there to find there was an hour wait, which was OK by me - I wasn't eating anywhere else, and we knew they didn't take reservations. We were finally seated at 10:30 (yikes!) and enjoyed some of the GF bread sticks in front of us. I was thinking about getting a bottle of GF beer - but we got a bottle of wine instead. I was with two friends who do not have a gluten intolerance, but agreed to eat GF so that I could try everything (so nice!)...

I have extremely mediocre pictures of the food we ate - I was embarrassed to use the flash to take pictures, so they were dark and I tried to lighten them up a bit - you'll get the idea.

To start: the White Bean & Calamari salad... YUM, this was delish, very light and a great start to the meal.

Then, for our main courses we got the Pesto Pizza with shrimp, arugula and cheese: I love thin crust pizza - so this was excellent - Actually, I think this was my favorite thing we ate there.
Then we got Risotto of course, we got that nights special which had sausage in it & was flavored with saffron- YUM:
Finally, we got a panini with chicken, mozzarella, olive tapende and something else, which I can't recall:

The panini was good, not great. I was more excited about the fact that I was actually eating a sandwich - something I haven't done since I was diagnosed, and I used to eat at least one sandwich a week. My friends thought the panini tasted the most "gluten free" - since the gf focaccia was a little dense, typical of any gf bread. I still enjoyed it - and we ate everything on that table!

We were STUFFED, but I had to get dessert - so we got the carrot cake, which was excellent - the frosting was the best part! Check it out: It was a HUGE piece.

My sister wanted me to get the dessert called "The Fudgie" which is two cake-like chocolate chip cookies with whipped fudge in the middle, it looked really good, but too rich for our full bellies. I took some of the breadstick dough mix with me to make at home - still haven't done that yet.

All in all - a great place! I will certainly be going again. The only problem is the location - it's way down in Greenwich Village and everyone I know lives in the Upper East side - so a bit of a hike, but still great. Too bad it's not bigger - and it's really too bad they don't ship!!! I inquired about it to the grumpy manager, but he just gave me an irritated look and said that they did not ship and never would and that everyone asks them that. Well Mr. Grumpy-pants - maybe you should, your business may take off!

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween today - not that I'm dressing up or anything, but still a good excuse to eat sweets, speaking of which; my favorite gluten free candy bar:
YUM. I bought a whole bag of the minis thinking there is a slight chance I could get a trick-or-treater or two in my building. Chances are, I won't - which leaves more for me!

What's your favorite gluten free candy???

First Legal Seafoods Experience

I made it to Legals this past weekend for my first gluten free dining experience. YUM!

It was so great to have an entire menu that was gluten free and I could eat anything that I wanted!

I started with the hot crab dip with "seafood crackers" -- I think they were rice crackers, they were hot, and fried and great! Then I got the Seafood Casserole (had shrimp, lobster, white fish, scallops) which had a sherry butter sauce & gluten free breadcrumbs! It was excellent. It was great service too -- the manager brings over the gluten free dish, and the waitress brought over everyone elses... I guess they do that so that you know your food is prepared separately, and is, in fact, gluten free & "special". We had sorbet for dessert too... Can't wait to go back! I highly recommend it if there is one near you!

Apple Pie & Lasagna

OK -- haven't posted in a while, busy!

So, the lasagna was DELICIOUS! It didn't even taste gluten free, have I said how much I love Tinkyada pasta yet? This is certainly not a lasagna for those with lactose issues - it had 4 kinds of cheese & was great!

The apple pie however, was not so good. The crust wasn't really great, needed something else - maybe some honey or something? And on top of that - I was just trying to remember how to make it (no recipe) which was silly, I forgot to put sugar on the apples! Woops... It was kindof gross. I usually also like pie's to have a top layer of crust... I should try that almond flour crust next time that someone recommended. Anyway, experiments are good right?

Stocked Pantry

I paid a visit to the Hadley (near Northampton, MA) Whole Foods this past weekend. Let me tell you, they are STOCKED with gluten-free food. If you ever find yourself in Western Mass, this is the place to go.

They had a huge selection of Tinkyada pasta - probably every brand they carry, I was psyched to see the lasagna noodles, and am currently making my first gluten free lasanga.. YUM.

I also got scones, cookies, baking mixes, etc etc... They had the Chebe Mixes which I hear are great, so I can't wait to make those. The list goes on. Whole Foods is such a great store, I would shop there all the time if I could afford it!

So since I made the lasagna tonight, I will be making the apple pie tomorrow, I'll fill you in.

Going Apple Picking

Can't eat: Store-bought Pie Crust

Can eat: gluten free version... So what's the best one? Should I do it from scratch? I always used to buy the pre-made stuff, since it takes so long to peel & cut the apples anyway! I found a recipe on celiac.com that seems pretty easy: Pie Crust Recipe

So, let me know if you have any suggestions! Also, I plan on picking A LOT of apples, so any other ideas of what to do with them would be great!!

In-between-er

I'm 1 month gluten free today - so why don't I feel AWESOME?!?!

I almost feel like I'm MORE tired than I was before. I'm also feeling more "cloudy" & forgetful than I was before. I left my keys in the door to my apartment the other day!!

Is this gluten related? Why is it worse? I guess it will take a while for the iron levels to get back up. I was just re-tested yesterday to see how they're coming, I'll be very interested to see that!

Uggh.. just wanted to vent a bit.

Pancakes & Sausages

OK - grocery shopping wasn't so bad, I was being overdramatic. I DID spend over $100, but I also bought a cart full of stuff. This Shaw's also had a decent little GF section.

SO for breakfast this morning we made some delightful pancakes and sweet italian sausages. I used the Kinnikinnick pancake & waffle mix - for the first time to actually make pancakes (see below: used for Apple "Crisp" first time). They were great! Tasted just like regular old pancakes. I screwed up the recipe too because I wasn't paying attention - just added more mix - and still they turned out well. Throw a couple of sausages on and YUM. Now why can't get just get diners to make gluten free meals like this?? Maybe in the future.

Happy Saturday!

Time to re-stock the pantry...

This used to be a fun activitiy for me, now it's a little scary, only because I now know that I will not spend less than $100 and it will take much longer than normal so that I can read labels.

All you celiacs out there know what I'm talkin' about.

I'm also living with the boy now - and it's incredible how much food the two of us go through - amazing! He consumes more soda/juice/fruit than any person I've ever encountered.

Back to the gluten-free. SO, tonight, my challenge is going to be to NOT buy gluten-free foods that "aren't supposed to be" - you know, the good stuff like Tinkyada Rice Pasta and ALL (wonderful) Kinnikinnick products, things that tend to have gluten in our world that I still want to eat, so therefore spend more money to get the gf substitute...

It will be interesting, I'll probably end up with ten pounds of potatoes, and two giant sacks of brown & white rice.

Wish me luck.

My favorite restaurant: gluten-free-style

I paid a visit to my favorite restaurant, Neptune, last night for the first time since being on the diet.

Luckily, I know the Chef, so I told him about my new "diet" and after the look of shock, he told me that pretty much the entire menu was gluten free except the things that blatantly stated bread or pasta. He doesn't use any weird ingredients, not that I thought he did.

SO - I had a delicious Alaskan White Salmon with an avocado creme, sausage & other delicious things on the plate, totally gluten-free. YUM.

I kept reaching across for the oyster crackers that sit on the bar, and mentally slapped my hand away from them each time.

There is an excellent wine list there... Thank God I can drink anything my little heart desires on the extensive list.

Now I just need to get to know every chef of every restaurant in Boston so I can make sure my meals are A-OK.

Can't eat: Apple Pie

BUT I CAN EAT: Gluten Free Apple "Crisp"

Since it is getting cool out, Fall is in the air, and I had a craving for apple pie or apple crisp. I decided to experiment.

I cut up & peeled about 6 apples (Macintosh), in pan on the stove I heated brown sugar & butter with some cinnamon, nutmeg & allspice... poured this over the apples & then made a little mixture of Kinnikinnick Pancake/Waffle Mix with more brown sugar & spices & mixed it up with the apples. In the oven for about 40 minues - and voila! A cake-like delight of apples that tasted very much like apple "crisp".

I put the crisp in quotes because it really wasn't crispy, it was more mush/cake-like, which I prefer. My mother made the same thing but just used gluten-free flour (as opposed to the pancake mix) and her's was TOO crispy.

I will have to try again to see if I get a new outcome, I missed the Oats in this, and I guess I'm still not sure if I can eat the oats, but if anyone has an alternative GF idea, that would be appreciated...

1 outta 122, not bad...

Last night we went to Sunset Bar & Grill in Allston for a drink - we chose this location because this particular bar boasts 122 types of beer, and we thought, they MUST have a gluten free choice. While scrolling through the extensive list we came upon some parenthesis that said (Gluten Free) - hooray! It was a brand called Bard's Tale, check it out:

Not the best pic, it was taken using my camera phone. Anyway, it was really good! Even Matt had a bottle with me & he said he would drink it normally. I will definitely be back to have one, and found out they sell it at various distributors in the Boston area, so I'll be picking some up. If you want to see if they serve this brand of gf beer near you, check out their site: Bard's Beer

Foods that I LOVE right now.

Since I'm still getting used to this diet, I'm in adjustment mode still. Sometimes I still think I can eat pizza, but alas, i cannot... Unless it's Amy's GF frozed.

SO - food that I'm SO happy I've found are the following:

1. ALL Kinnikinnick Prodcuts (especially the bagels & baking mixes), check them out: Kinnikinnick's Site

2. Tinkyåda Pasta. Tastes like real pasta! This is a big deal to me because pre-diagnosis, I ate at least a pound a week, here they are: Tinkyada's Site

3. And finally, LARABARS... YUM. Just ordered a case of these, perfect as snacks to bring place where people just don't get it, their site is pretty cool too: LaraBar's Site

We'll leave it at those three for now. All those out there who are experienced gluten-free shoppers are probably well aware of these, but for the newbies like me - get these!

But I can eat this....

OK, so I have celiac.

People just don't know what that means...It's always a minimum of 10 minutes to explain it, and at the end of the conversation you get sad-face from your audience, but really, it's not that bad - it could be much, much worse.

My sister has had it for four years, and she's been pretty successful with it - she's forged the way through crap food to find the best, and now I get to just take that information and be on my happy gluten-free way.

Not sure the intentions I have with this blog quite yet. But I thought it would be a nice way to document my celiac journey & hopefully post helpful information for those who have questions.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!