Altoids not gluten free?!

How did I not see this before?? I pulled out this little tin of altoid minis i found and Wheat maltodextrin is the third ingredient, ugh.

San Fran - Bristol Farms

Thanks again to Susan who gave some great suggestions while in San fran!

I was walking around the Union Sq area and the Westfield mall and came upon Bristol Farms, and found this:



Woo hoo! Always wanted to try French Meadow Bakery gf bread and here it was! Perfect for breakfast in the room!

WORK TRAVEL

Hey All.... I'm heading off on Sunday for a week of work-travel...Luckily, I'll be in San Francisco the whole week, not too shabby!

Not luckily, though, it will be LOOOONG days at various locations around the city.

They will be feeding us the whole time (Kraft service style - will probably be a variety, but i'm guessing i'll be eating a lot of salads & chips), but I'm planning on bringing a loaf of Udi's and a handful of Lara Bars -- any other suggestions?

I don't think it will be a huge issue because I'll be staying right downtown (already googled & found GF pizza within a few blocks of my hotel) - but I'm just slightly worried about the days.

What is some good food-on-the-go that will keep me full?

Puffin's Multigrain Cereal - Gluten Free!

As some may have noticed, I'm not a huge cereal fan for breakfast (i need my eggs!) but my sister just told me about this somewhat new kind of Puffins that are gluten free that I just had to try. I also like to have cereal sometimes for an afternoon snack at work.

Pre-celiac I used to love original Puffins, and after diagnosis I tried the honey-rice (the only gluten free version they had at the time), and didn't love it. But this one really reminds me of the original - I love the texture! And it's really yummy.

This cereal is also pretty good for you - whole grain, fat free, and it is made with a natural prebiotic fiber. 1 serving (3/4 cup) is 110 calories, 3 g fiber, and 2 g protein. Actually, check out the info here.

Also, I read a product review here on celiac-disease.com that has some information from the manufacturer about their use of "pure" oats in the cereal.

Have we talked about grits?

I am not sure when my first 'grit' experience was, but I have always loved them. Which is funny - I am a New England girl, born & raised, and they are not really that common here. There is one diner I love in Boston's South End called Mikes Diner -- and they serve grits OR hashbrowns and I almost always get the grits, so good. And the ONLY place I have ever been to in and around Boston that I can find grits.

So, since I can't get them out I end up making them (more often in the winter) with a little cheese and a fried egg on top. So savory and yummy. Sometimes I make them with a can on condensed milk, have you ever tried it? Amazing.

Oh - and grits are naturally gluten free.

Here is a shot of yesterday's breakfast:

Blueberry Muffins

Despite the recent heat, I decided to bake last week and made the yummy muffins.

Recipe from Mark Bittman's "How to cook everything", which you all know I love, and which I can always adapt to be gluten free.

GF Blueberry Muffins with lemon zest

3 tbsp melted butter
2 cups gf all purpose flour mix (I used better batter mix)
1 tbsp ground flax
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup blueberries
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400.
Grease muffin pan.

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl. Beat together egg, milk and butter. Make a well in center of dry ingredients and mix in wet using a spatula (don't over mix).

Stir in 1 cup fresh blueberries (or frozen) and add in fresh lemon zest.

Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Segment about the Gluten Free Diet on TODAY

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What are your thoughts on this segment?
Natalie's part about it being a "fad diet" I didn't love - it makes people think I too, am just on a diet and it's not a big deal --- so I was thankful for Dr. Raj's commentary which was excellent.