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!