Living Gluten Free in the Wheat State

It's Girl Scout cookie time....

2015-03-06T13:57:00.002-06:00

Its that time of year again...when the gluten intolerant cannot enjoy the delicious Girl Scout cookies that are are every Dillons and Walmart entryway...Until this year that is....

Girl Scouts have rolled out two new gluten free cookie lines this year, Trios and Toffee-Tastic. The Trios cookie is a peanut butter oatmeal cookie and Toffee-Tastic is a butter cookie with small toffee bits. I have to say that I was not a fan of the Trios (sorry Girl Scouts), they seemed almost stale to me and are very small, bite size. Toffee-Tastic were my favorite, the rich butter cookie almost melts in your mouth. I have to admit that the Toffee-Tastic I had to order from a seller on Amazon. I was told by a local troop that they each only received two cases of the GF options, not knowing how they would sell, so I could not find Toffee-Tastic locally. You can order them online through the Girl Scouts, but you have to order a whole case (which is a strong possibility since I enjoyed them so much).

Thank you Girl Scouts for including us Celiac friends in your cookie lineup! It's much appreciated

Nabisco Gluten Free Crackers

2014-05-21T10:15:00.000-05:00

It's a good sign when companies like Nabisco start making gluten free items. Found these at Target and they are WONDERFUL! Several flavors to choose from. I think by far the best even though I haven't found many white cheddar crackers out there that are GF. Flavor not too overwhelming and crackers are not grainy. Give them a try! Believe I paid about $2.00 for this box, which is also a lot cheaper than several others I have seen.

Aldi's is catching on....

2013-07-05T09:31:00.000-05:00

In the past few months, Aldi's here in Wichita has been having some special buys that include gluten free items such as baking mix and frozen gluten free pancakes. The baking mix was about half the price as the Bisquick brand that I usually purchase, so obviously I stoked up quite well on this product before they took it away. It was really good, couldn't tell the difference between the Aldi and the Bisquick brands, same texture, consistency, and look. The GF pancakes were good as well, they come three in a pack and there are four packs to a box for about 2.00. They were good, but the actual pancakes were quite small. One person could easily eat two packages for breakfast. So check your local Aldi once in a while and they products come and go as they get them in as special buys. It will save you a lot of money.

Tyson gluten free chicken nuggets

2013-05-31T20:02:00.001-05:00

Update June 2

Found them at Target!! I'll let you know what I think!

Tyson now makes gluten free frozen chicken nuggets and chicken strips!! If anyone out there knows where to buy them locally let me know! I can't wait!

A Gluten Free Traveler

2013-05-09T21:27:00.000-05:00

So I have to say...this girl was a little nervous about traveling in a while since being diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I am going to be out of my comfort zone of knowing where I can eat, where I can't , blah blah blah. My routine is thrown officially off of the norm to continue my lively gluten free adventures. The day came when I traveled for my job since being diagnosed. Thoughts racing through my head...betting everything I have that I will accidentally eat something that is contaminated and become ill and endure the airplane ride with a gluten filled stomach.

I ate at a WONDERFUL, must I say again WONDERFUL restaurant called Fogo de Chao in Indianapolis http://www.fogodechao.com/ Brazilian Steakhouse. After sitting down, I interviewed the waiter with great determination expecting a blank stare back at me. To my surprise, the waiter stated that everything on the menu was gluten free with the exception of just about three things. I jaw dropped open...and then the moment came..."Miss, the rolls that I just served to the table are actually gluten free, made from fava flour." Thud.....I think my jaw hit the floor hard at this point. I have never eaten so much in my entire life, as steak after steak was brought out in small helpings. Protein overload is what my body experienced.

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about and for those of you that do can relate, it has been almost ten years since I have gone out to eat and have bread with my dinner. I actually felt like a norm.

Fogo de Chao is a chain with several locations across the country, even one here locally in Kansas City. I say it is a must for anyone with Celiac Disease.

On the trip back, we had a quick layover in Denver and as I was sprinting through the Denver airport out of the corner of my eye amongst all the other over priced airport cafes and restaurants I see "Udi's Grill and Cafe". After coming to a dead stop, probably causing the people who were walking right behind me to curse at me, I took a quick left and was like a mosquito to light. I had a few GF chocolate chip cookies to tie my hunger over until my plane landed in Wichita. Again for those of you that don't know, Udi's makes in my opinion the best GF products in the market today. I forgot Udi's was based out of Denver.

So bring on Indianapolis and Denver any day, I am ready for a new gluten free adventure...

Bj's Brewhouse-Wichita location

2012-07-24T20:43:00.000-05:00

So excited that Bj's came to Wichita! Good news for my fellow GF friends. I ate at one of these in Norman, OK when traveling to Dallas. Such a great GF menu. http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/sites/default/files/GlutenAllrgnMenu0811_Brnch_R3.pdf
Pizza, soup, and dessert are even on the menu for us :) The Pazooki is to die for, a large warm GF cookie topped with ice cream....um yeah...not too many places that we can go and find that one on the menu.

Picasso's Pizzeria-Any takers?

2012-06-16T06:53:00.001-05:00

I am still waiting on a chance to go try Picasso's down in Delano. I have gone down there one time to give it a try and of course, with my luck, all the ovens were broken so they had the whole place shut down for the afternoon. Yes, this IS my kind of luck....I think I was born with it..ho hum.
Anyways, if anyone has been here. let me know what you thought and if you had the gf option or not? I heard there sandwiches are pretty good as well.

Wichita Eagle Thank You

2012-06-15T07:49:00.000-05:00

Thanks to one of my friend for bringing me a copy of the FRONT PAGE of the Wichita Eagle the other day. And thank you to the Wichita Eagle for putting a story on gluten free living on he front page :) So exciting to see this! I have yet to try the deli at Food for Thought, but it is on my list on places to visit.

Sad to see.....

2012-06-08T20:52:00.001-05:00

Last week I was wandering down the local Dillons cereal aisle and noticed the "new" gluten free Rice Krispies cereal is on clearance and they are not to be carrying it anymore...:( Dislike! I hope this isn't the same in all Dillons and Walmart stores. Bought a few boxes to stock up one since I had coupons...yes, this girl has a hard time buying anything without a coupon :)

Dominos Pizza-Gluten Free Crust Delivered to your door!

2012-05-07T10:52:00.002-05:00

Exciting news today for those who are gluten free, Dominoes Pizza has announced that they will be adding a gluten free pizza crust to their menu! How awesome is that! http://glutenfreeville.com/research/dominos. It will be offered in a 10 inch only. Prices will vary depending on location. :) I wondered how long it would take to get a gf pizza delivered to your front door. The only thing I don't agree with is that Dominoes is stating although they are offering a gf pizza crust, it is not recommended for people with Celiac Disease! Um...hello! They cannot guarantee that there is no cross contamination at this point in thier kitchen on work surfaces. Why go through all this promotion with gf crust when you are still not catering to the majority of the gf population that have Celiacs?

Wichita All About Her Expo

2012-05-05T09:08:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I attended the "All About Her Expo" at Century II in downtown Wichita. As you all probably know by now, if you have Celiac, you are just out of luck when it comes to sampling some of the vendors fine foods that are offered at these types of events. I would like to thank the wonderful lady who owns the company Brands Fine Foods. She has wonderful pepper jelly and she sells it at several local stores such as Food for Thought, Green Acres, Kay Wiggins, and Wild at Heart along with others. She kindly asked if I would like to sample her jelly and I obviously knew I couldn't sample being she was giving samples on non gf crackers. I told her I am sorry and that I had Celiacs and guess what happened next? She reached down and grabbed a box of some gf crackers and gave me a sample. I want to thank her SO much! I wish more vendors would take this into consideration when at these events. She just made a new customer out of me :)

I am craving some Local Burger....

2012-03-26T21:08:00.000-05:00

I need to make a trip to Lawrence soon so I can stop my cravings for Local Burger, a food joint that specializes in everything local, from elk and buffalo burgers to Kansas grown potatoes. Take a look at their menu http://www.localburger.com/pdf/local-burger-menu-2011.pdf. Everything I have had there is great, I miss it so much, I don't think I have been in a couple of years. Just a wonderful lunch suggestion for those in the Lawrence, KS area.

Southern Grove Cinnamon Almonds-NOT GF!

2012-03-23T20:16:00.000-05:00

Picked these up at the store the other last week thinking I they would be a yummy gf snack for work, but beware...I found out the hard way, they are not gf. When I picked them up at the store, I assumed that they would be gf, since I have never came across an almond with flour on it...even the flavored and dusted ones. I glanced at the allergen info on the back of the bag, and the only thing it said it warned against was tree nuts. So I ate a couple, thinking, wow, these things are awesome! After getting sick for 2 days, I casually glanced at the package again when my husband was snacking on them and I noticed that one of the ingredients was flour. What the heck! Nice job Southern Grove of identifying all your allergen info...

A 100% gf cafe opening in WIchita? Whoooohooooo!

2012-03-21T19:04:00.000-05:00

I am so excited! In one of my favorite stores Food for Thought, on E. Central, they are opening an all GF cafe called Delish. How wonderful to walk in somewhere knowing whatever I order will be gluten free! Delish is opening this next Monday :)

Homemade Taco Seaoning

2012-03-20T19:15:00.001-05:00

I found a great recipe for homemade taco seasoning tonight from www.allrecipies.com. And of course, GF! Sometimes it's hard to find a gf taco seasoning out there. When I make it next I may want to decrease the amount of sea salt by just a tad. :) I used it on chicken tonight. And what's neat about this recipe is it is all spices you probably around the house already, no extra trips to the grocery store.

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

2012 Easter Candy Gf list

2012-03-19T07:45:00.001-05:00

Heres what I found online for gf Easter candy. Helpful for those parents who have little onescwith celiacs or just for those moms like me who just love chocolate and holidays

http://gfreelife.com/2012/03/2012-gluten-free-easter-candy-list/

2012 Gluten Free Ham Guide

2012-03-18T22:20:00.001-05:00

Found this online...helpful for those who are serving ham on Easter
http://glutenfreeville.com/featured/ham

Chick-fil-a wonderful gf menu!

2012-03-15T17:30:00.000-05:00

So with all the news of chick-fil-a opening in Wichita today, I thought it would be best to take another look at thier website and their gluten free menu. Wonderful choices, including there waffle fries, and their grilled chicken nuggets. I posted the link for you all to take a look at if interested.

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Food/Gluten

Picasso's Pizzeria-new to Wichita

2012-03-12T20:36:00.000-05:00

So excited that there is a new pizza place in town that has a gf menu! Picasso's Pizzeria has just opened in Delano and sounds fabulous. It has pizza by the slice, sandwiches, etc. I am excited to see what is included on the gluten free menu....If anyone has been there and knows, please let me know :) Here is a link to some more info on the new pizzeria...

http://blogs.kansas.com/dining/2012/03/06/now-open-picassos-pizzeria/#disqus_thread

Pei Wei

2012-03-12T20:26:00.001-05:00

So last week my lovely amigas Jennifer and Shareen took me to lunch at Pei Wei, which i had never been before. How delicious my lunch was....had he spicy chicken salad. Wonderful! I am not a fan of spicy foods, but this was just the right temperature. Great gluten free menu

El Monterrey Grill- Wichita

2012-03-10T20:51:00.001-06:00

Don't waste your time going and eating gf. I kindly asked the waitress on what was gf and she went and asked the manager.....came back with a response if "The only thing that is gf is the chips and salsa". Enough said....I really think that they had no idea what i was talking about, but definately wasnt going to take the chance. I would think that more restaurants would be more knowledable of food allergies this day in age.

Granite City East Wichita

2012-03-03T20:04:00.001-06:00

Had a wonderful gf pizza today at Granite City....but a word of advice...call before you go to make sure they have some gf pizza crusts on hand. on their menu, you can switch out any of their flatbread pizza menu items with a gf option. It was only 7.00 on the lunch menu also. fabulous pizza for a wonderful price.

Cravings for Mulligans pizza

2012-02-03T10:51:00.000-06:00

I hadn't been to Mulligans in awhile, and my cravings gave in last night. I ventured into town to consume my favorite GF pizza. Always made to perfection! My cravings will be good now for about a week, then they will set in again :) Good thing I didn't live here when I was pregnant, otherwise I would have been eating here everynight....

Still waiting on the Subway

2012-01-29T07:32:00.001-06:00

So I just found out that the test market for gluten free bread in Subway restaurants has moved from Dallas to the Duluth, MN area.
To:the test market big wigs, please drop some gf goods off here in Kansas next time you travel up north....From: a gf girl patiently waiting for another easy lunch option :)

Burger King New French Fry Recipe Gluten Free!

2012-01-06T07:16:00.001-06:00

Latest news regarding the new Burger King french fries http://glutenfreeville.com/research/frie
So happy to see more and more restaurants and fast food joints are joining the gluten free bandwagon! More options for this girl! Just make sure that you ask that at whatever location you go to that they make these fries in a dedicated french fry fryer. :)