How was everyone’s thanksgiving!?  Mine was awesome.  Had the future mother in law in town, went to my aunt and uncles house, got lots of nephew time, AWESOME!  And the gluten free foods went without a hitch!  Turns out my aunt and uncle were in the grocery store checking labels and making sure that we could eat everything!  How nice!

People even grabbed my gluten free stuffing instead of the regular stuff, and didn’t know that it was the gluten free one! :)  SUCCESS!!

My twin sister, who also has an “allergy” to gluten, made this awesome brownie desert.  I’m gonna get the recipe from her to put up here :) 

ALLANA!

Okay, so today I used my gluten intollerance as an excuse to eat some very odd things. I at some of my potato kilbasa soup that I had frozen after making a few weeks ago, then brought to work in case I needed it (retail…could end up having an extended shift and suddenly having a lunch I didnt plan for, and finding gluten free foods at a mall, lets just say it, sucks!).  Anyway…  It was moved to re-fridgeration about four days ago, so I took it home today to eat it…

Should have been warning sign number one that I was not making good food decisions.  

Then I went to Target, and the Fritos and Con Queso sale looked a bit too good.  STILL no gluten my friends, not technically a bad choice, but for the stomache, bad bad bad idea.  I mean, I didnt eat TOO many…  During that sitting.

Then to make up for it, a simple grilled chicken on top of radachio with salad spritzer and a tiny dash of salt and pepper…

THEN, The AMA’s started, and I thought, hmm…a snack sounds nice.  They say that a serving of queso dip is 2 tbs.  I’m pretty sure I had 40…

Uggh. May tomorrow be not just a gluten free day, but a healthy choice in food day… 

We love comment! :) 

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Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year.  Its the day to forget that all that fat and calories will give you thunder thighs, and more importantly, the day to spend with friends and family and remember that when all else fails, all you need is love.

When I think of the perfect thanksgiving, I think of a not too dry turkey, and a huge helping of mashed potatoes and stuffing.  Now while mashed potatoes are a perfect little addition to the gluten free diet (oh yes, they are a meal in themselves to me), but the stuffing, that wonderful breaded bliss that is a staple to thanksgiving, I CANNOT willingly give that up.  

Gluten free stuffing is a task.  The breads made for us are very dry and thick, or very mushy and soft.  There is no in between!  So I looked up some recipes, and tried them quit a few times…and!  Here is the result!  Please try it this holiday, and let me know how it goes! :)

Gluten Free Stuffing

Ease Level:  Medium

Ingredients

1 loaf of bread (I prefer a rice/almond blend, something more dense)

4 to 5 large celery stalks 3 to 4 tbs seasoning blend or favorite spices (rosemary?)

1 small red onion 2 cans chicken stock

2 tbs olive oil 1 egg yolk

2 tbs garlic Salt and Pepper (1 tbs each)

2 tbs butter 1 can diced mushrooms

-Heat oven to 450 degrees.  

-Heat skillet with butter in it.  add onion and celery and saute until soft (or clear).  Add 1/2 of your seasonings to this mix. 

-While doing this, start to boil stock.  Also, cut bread loaf into 3/4 inch squares, put on sheet pans and dry in oven for 10-12 minutes.  DO NOT let them get burnt, it will make them too tough to make a good soft stuffing. 

-Once stock is boiling, turn off heat, and whisk into 1 egg yolk, 1/4 cup at a time so not to cook the egg, but to make a base.

-Add the rest of the seasoning to the stock base.  Toss in bread crumbs and mushrooms.  Stir all together until well blended.

-Once this is mixed well, add a little olive oil and mix again.

-Put mixture into a casserole dish, and cover in tin foil.  Cook 20 minutes with foil on, then stir, put back into oven without foil.  Remove after 10 minutes.  

SERVE AND ENJOY! :) 

    ~Allana

Let me know what you think! :) 

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Okay, so the stuffing did not turn out that great. I’m going to try and re-attempt it before I put it up for a recipe.  My goal here was to give good recipes out, not just ones that attempt to make a food gluten free.  There’s plenty of bad stuff out there for us to eat, stuff that tastes like sawdust and crushed nuts mixed together (you know what I’m talking about).  

So here’s how it was… The bread was tough, and I dried it too thuroughly.  This caused it to be a little chewy, and not that great.  Plus side, I have a ton left in which to try and fix the recipe!  I cut it in half and it was enough for about six people.  If anyone else out there has some ideas on how to make gluten free stuffing better, let me know! :) 

I am SO excited about this new venture!  As someone new to the whole non gluten lifestyle, it was VERY scary to move into this area!  I have been blessed to have a few friends who are “oldies” at this game, but they all said its still hard to know what to eat, and where to go!  The worst thing ever is having friends who want to go out to dinner, and realizing that you have no idea where you can even eat.  My goal is to give great recipes that you will actually like to eat, as well as reviews of restaurants.  

Tonights meal plan?  Gluten free stuffing, in honor of thanksgiving!  This will be my twin sister and my first holiday season without gluten, and its something i’m not willing to give up!   I will post the recipe tonight, as well as how it turned out! :)

Thanks guys! 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2009

Hm…

Does anyone else notice..that when you first realize you can’t have gluten; and your hungry for a snack that maybe used to be a piece of simple wheat toast, or chips without having to read the ingredients; or heaven forbid, bar food; that you end up eating whatever gluten free food you have in your house?  Maybe like two all beef hotdogs with ketchup and mustard on no bun?  Oh geez POSTED BY GLUTENGAL AT 9:56 PM   0 COMMENTS    

SUCCESS!

Okay so tonight I decided to try making an awesome pasta with white sauce.  
When I found out I couldn’t have certain things, like real pasta, I was SUPER bummed.  I then found some great gluten free pasta at a local grocery store; and my hope was restored!  
First off you need to test out different gluten free pastas and find one you want.  The first time I made one, I was shocked at the milky water that began to bubble shortly after putting my pasta into boiling water.  DONT BE SHOCKED!  Its totally normal.  Fine on you really like, and incorporate it into recipes you like.
Recipe #1…  Garlic, black olive, and mushroom white sauce with chicken pasta for two 
Ingredients;1/4 cup olive oil (total)1/2 garlic clove (or 2 tbs and 1 tsp chopped jarred garlic)1/8 cup white wine1 large chicken breast5 extra large pitted olives1 roma tomato1/4 cup milk1 tbs butter1/2 Salt and pepper to taste1 tbs seasoning (mrs dash or other basil based seasoning)2.5 cups of gluten free pasta 
-Cook chicken fully after using non-stick olive oil spray; and seasoning with salt and pepper-Dice tomato to about 1/4 inch chunks-Dice Olives to preferred size -Boil pasta- drain when you get the chance -In warmed olive oil, saute mushrooms -Once they begin to get soft, toss in garlic and saute until just before it gets dark (careful!  If it gets dark or burns, you have to start over!!!)
-Add a dash of white wine, and saute for about 2 minutes more- add salt and pepper and seasoning -Add white wine and cook for about 3-5 minutes more- add salt and pepper and seasoning -Drain pasta, and toss in butter-Add milk to sauce, and saute for about 5 minutes more-pour sauce over noodles, add chopped olives and diced red tomato; toss in chicken last. 
ENJOY! :)
I made this tonight, and will make it again and add a picture.  Serve this to your non-’ intollerant friends; and I guarantee they won’t know that there’s even a difference! POSTED BY GLUTENGAL AT 8:06 PM   0 COMMENTS    

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2009

Uggh

Today I realized that my body is revolting against the amount of fiber and greens and good stuff that’s been fed into it the last few weeks.  Its not used to the nutrition…  It wants some pasta, pretzels from the mall, and cheeseburgers… POSTED BY GLUTENGAL AT 9:19 PM   0 COMMENTS    

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Oh and BTW…

Wedding dress shopping stinks!  I’m sorry, not everyone wants to wear a HUGE poofy dress with beads and all that crud.  I’m getting married in Vegas for goodness sakes.  Why would I want to take out all the old ladies at the nickel slots with my huge dress and train?  Why would I want to spend more for my dress than the whole ceremony package?  Why doesn’t ANYONE have cute dresses that aren’t cheap looking?  Everyone keeps saying, go to David’s Bridal, their cheap aren’t they?  Not really actually.  There are dresses online from various cute companies for 100-300.  Cheap and easy.  Davids dresses that don’t look like a cheap prom dress are over $500, or too poofy for what I want.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some adorable dresses there.  But they are either for traditional weddings, or more expensive than you’d expect at a place like that.  
I’m gonna just get super skinny since I can’t eat anything normal now, and wear a bikini.  Daniel isn’t on the bandwagon just yet…but I have some time to work him on it… :) POSTED BY GLUTENGAL AT 7:19 PM   0 COMMENTS    

The 112 Eatery- Minneapolis, MN

As an award winning restaurant, I loved the 112 eatery the first time I went to it.   Well that was then, this is now.  I was nervous when I realized that I’d have to ask the waiter what I could actually eat.  What if he said…nothing…  I told my fiance Daniel that I would just drink a bottle of wine then.  Yay for wine being gluten free!  
Well when we sat down, I asked the waiter right away if they had an allergen menu.  They did not.  But he was great about asking the chef what I might be able to eat.  Turns out, this restaurant not only has great food, they have GREAT gluten free dishes!  Last time we went, Daniel had the risotto w/ calamari & sausage.  (Which oddly looked like dirt and worms, but didn’t taste like that thank goodness!)  Well since he had that, I thought I’d try their other certainly gluten free option.  It was seasonal, so not on their regular menu, but the Halibut was amazing!  It was cooked perfectly, covered in slices of avocado, and made me forget that I was having to watch what I ate!  It was the perfect combination of salty and savory, and the chef def. knows his way around some fish.  For desert, they actually had one that I could eat!  I was so excited I could cry.  The nancy silverton’s butterscotch budino was a thick layer of butterscotch pudding, covered in a layer of caramel, and topped with fresh made whipped cream and red salt.  Creamy, thick, sweet, salty.  Best gluten free meal I’ve had yet!  If your looking for a few options, they have a great atmosphere and food, and though they aren’t up to having an allergen menu just yet, the chef knows his way around the foods we can eat, and can let you know what on that day’s menu you can dine on!  Def. 5 of 5 stars on my index!
On a side note…  Tonight for dinner all I could muster up was rice tortilla sandwiches with lettuce, gluten free salami, and that cheese that comes in a wrapper…  Not near as good as last night…. POSTED BY GLUTENGAL AT 7:05 PM   0 COMMENTS  LABELS: GLUTEN MINNEAPOLIS RESTAURANT 

Whats up

So I recently figured out that gluten gives me the aches and runs, and how hard it is to make good food or go out to eat with this little “intolerance”… I had dinner with my fiance last night and realized that I am so lost in the shuffle of normal stomached individuals, because as much as I’ve looked, there is no good literature in Minneapolis on restaurants friendly to our cause.  So I’ve decided to try creating some great recipes, talk about my struggles with gluten intolerance, and what restaurants are working with the general public on this type of food need.  
First off, I learned that I needed to stay away from gluten about two months ago.  My twin sister got diagnosed, and her doctor let her know that I probably should watch out too; being of the same genes and all.  She let me know it was hard, and that she had read a few books on what to look out for, but that it was hard to eat out at restaurants.  Well at that, I thought, there’s no WAY I’m also sick the same way she is.  She pointed out that I’d had stomach issues for some time, and that it made sense for me to stop eating things with gluten in them.  Being someone with no common sense, I ignored her.  Well then a few weeks later, amiss stomach cramps and multiple toilet trips; I attempted to eat a cheeseburger from a fast food joint.  4 hours on the toiled with explosions, I realized that the gluten bomb had hit.
For those who don’t know, needing to be gluten free can center on two different things.  Celiac’s desease is described as “an inherited, autoimmune disease in which the lining of the small intestine is damaged from eating gluten and other proteins found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats” (google health.com).  This means that you cannot eat pasta, bread, anything that may have a wheat based rue or powder, anything that is bound by flour, ect… This means that eating out is hard, sure you can take away the burger bun, but what about the binding agent used to make the patty?  Sure you can get a baked potato, but what is the cheese sauce made out of?  Such is the life I have started to lead.
I’ve found that even the simplest things may make me suffer the gluten induced sickness.  Tomato soup?  No.  French fries?  Not if their fried in the same grease as the fried chicken!  Hotdogs?  Well…I can have hotdogs (thank God!) but you gotta read the label.  Could have gluton in it, if its not crazy expensive.  No more cheap food!
My good friend recently went on a date where the guy told her she was “high maintenance”.  Which set her off.  We didn’t choose to eat like this, or live like this. Its an illness.  Its not like we woke up one day and thought, I’d like to try that carb free diet!  No sireee  this is not a choice.  If i had a choice, I would not be up at night crapping myself.  If a guy thinks your high maintenance, let him feed you a cheeseburger and watch you have explosive diarhea for four hours sometime.  Sexy!