Gluten Free Mom

Traveling to Washington DC Gluten Free

Just in time to make your summer vacation travel plans, I have a guest post from Marina about traveling to Washington DC gluten free.  Marina has an eleven year old daughter who was diagnosed with celiac disease one year ago.  

 

 

My daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease in February 2010 and we started her on the gluten free diet  March 1, 2010.  It wasn’t easy in the beginning, as it is not easy for most of us gluten free moms.

We decided not to give up travel and I started planning our first gluten free trip to Washington, DC. We live in the Philadelphia area, so it’s about a 3 hours drive for us to reach Washington, DC.  We planned just a three day trip in April for spring break to see if we are able to manage our gluten free diet while traveling.

First I wanted to find a good gluten free restaurant in the Washington area and then plan the trip around it.

I found Lilit Café in Bethesda, MD with the help of the website  Gluten Free Registry.com. 

Bethesda is a very nice area. The subway from Bethesda will take you to Center City Washington in just 20 minutes.  I found several hotels in walking distance from both the subway station and Lilit Cafe. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn.

Dining Gluten Free:

• Lilit Café

 A small Middle Eastern restaurant with an extensive gluten free menu that includes full meals, pizza, and bread.  All of their sorbeto (dairy free) and gelato (milk based) are gluten free.

 Lilit café didn’t disappoint us. Their kabobs and lamb chops were excellent but very spicy. We also ordered the cheese sampler and meat platter with a gluten free baguette. It was a treat.

• Original Pancake House

On the first day we drove to the hotel, parked our car, had a good lunch at Lilit Café and walked to the subway station. On the way to the station we passed The Original Pancake House that had a big sign on the door: Gluten Free Pancakes. So next morning we had breakfast there.

They are located at 7700 Wisconsin Ave. Bethesda, Maryland 20814 phone: 301-986-0285.  If you decide to visit, call first  and make sure they are still making gluten free pancakes.

• Austin Grill

We had a dinner at Austin Grill which is near the Spy Museum. Their gluten free pork chops and mashed potatoes were very good.  Make sure that they don’t bring you their chips with salsa, since they are not gluten free. The waiter was not sure. So if you go there ask for a manager.

 

 

On our last day we checked out of the hotel, had breakfast at the Original Pancake House again, and went to the National Zoo. Then we had lunch at Lilit Café, got our car from the hotel garage (you can keep your car in the garage after you check out), and started driving home.

 

 

Our first gluten free trip was very successful! Now, a year later I am planning another short trip to Washington, DC and searched on Gluten Free Regsitry.com  for Bethesda, MD.

I found a new entry there for Lebanese Taverna.  They have several locations in the area. The menu looks really good to those who like Middle Eastern cuisine. I am planning to go there this spring and will let you know how we liked it.

Marina Novikov

 

Follow this link to read Marina's travel review of London.

Other related links - gluten free travel to:

• Kauai
• Los Cabos Mexico
• New York City
• Seattle
• Ireland
  
  

 

 

Gluten and Dairy Free Nutella

When we first went gluten free, one of the first things that we found that was safe to eat was a chocolate-hazelnut spread made by Nutella.  

It was a new product to us and it made those first few gluten free sandwiches (on bread that was definitely not as good as Udi's) that much better.  

In addition to being gluten free, I have a dairy allergy.  The Nutella that you purchase contains dairy, so it was a treat for my kids to enjoy but not me.

A while back, I was reading David Lebovitz's blog - he is really my favorite blogger.  Partly because the Gluten Free Teen and I are having some kind of love affair with Paris which David writes about regularly.  But even if you do not need to have the experience of visiting Paris through David's blog, David provides off-the-wall recipes that you may not normally try and beautiful photography.

David had a recipe for homemade Nutella.  His, of course, contained dairy.  But once I read the recipe, I knew I had to try and make it dairy free as well. 

Here is my Dairy Free rendition of David's naturally gluten free Nutella:

Gluten and Dairy Free Nutella

 

    Ingredients:

1/3 cup whole almonds

1 1/3 cup  hazelnuts

1 3/4 cup almond milk

 3/4 cup powdered dairy free powder - I used DariFree Non Dairy Milk Alternative.

3 tablespoons mild-flavored honey

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon coconut oil 

1 pinch of salt

6 ounces  bittersweet chocolate, chopped

5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips - I used Enjoy Life Dairy and Gluten Free Chocolate Chips

 

1. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet, keeping the almonds separate, and toast the nuts in a 325ºF oven, stirring a few times, for 15 minutes or until the hazelnuts are browned.  (David recommended a 350 degree oven, but my nuts were almost burning at this temperature so I turned it down to 325.)

 

 

2. While they are roasting, whisk the powdered milk into the almond milk and warm  in a small saucepan with the honey, sugar, coconut oil and salt just until it starts to boil. Remove from heat.

 

 

 

3. Melt the chocolates together until smooth.  You can do this in a clean, dry bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water or in the microwave.  If using a microwave, heat for 25 seconds and stir, and repeat until smooth.

4. Once the nuts are well-toasted, remove them from oven and remove as much of the loose skin as you can.  David recommends rubbing them in a clean tea towel.  I found it easier to wait until they were cool, and simply rubbing them together in my hands over the kitchen sink.  Remove as much of the loose skin as you can, but they don’t need to be pristine.

5. In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts and almonds until they’re as fine as possible. Mine turned into a paste-like consistency.  

6. Add the melted chocolate and continue to process the mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

7. Once the mixture is smooth, add the warm milk mixture and process until everything is well-combined.

9. Transfer into two jars and refrigerate until ready to use.

 

Spread on some Udi bread or combine with a smear of almond butter on a Glutino cracker.  

Want to purchase premade Nutella - the Nutella website states that it's product is gluten free.  I also called to ask about cross-contamination and costumer service informed me there were no gluten ingredients and no chance for cross-contamination.  

It is hard to put up recipes about Chocolate Sandwiches when so much of the world seems in utter chaos right now.  The rest of us have to keep going, but my heart and prayers are with those struggling through all of the recent world disasters.  

 

Naturally Gluten Free Recipe for Risotto with Shallots and Lemon

I am not going to talk about the weather, but lets just say there is mold growing under my fingernails!

 

People who say it does not rain much in Seattle are lying.

I just heard the forecast for today:  "A chance of rain, turning to showers, with the possibility for sunbreaks later in the day."  

Where else do they differentiate between rain and showers?  And, by the way, sunbreaks are not breaks you take from the sun, they are the few seconds that the sun actually peaks through the thick cloud layer that hangs over the Pacific Northwest. 

But I ask, do you see any sunbreaks in this weather today?

I remember a couple of years ago, we were flying somewhere about this time of the year, and we had been under an incredible soupy thick layer of gray clouds for weeks.  After taking off from SeaTac we broke through the cloud layer and I was in awe of the sun - so close, yet so far away!  It was liking eating the crust of a pie!  

 

Okay, I said I was not going to talk about the weather and there you have it.  So lets just say we are still eating winter comfort food and dreaming of a vacation in Mexico.

Last night it was creamy risotto with a lemon and shallot sauce.

If you are gluten free and you have not tried risotto, you should try it this weekend.  

It is not challenging at all to make, can be spiced up in a variety of ways, is reasonably affordable and a great naturally gluten free staple.  

Risotto with Shallots and Lemon

Ingredients:

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (read below for a casein free substitution) 

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter (or Earth Balance for casein free)

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 shallots - thinly chopped

2 sticks celery - thinly chopped 

2 cups arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)

6 cups  chicken broth  (make sure it is GF)

salt and pepper to taste 

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Directions: 

In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, cream, and parmesan. Set aside.  For a casein free substitute, I mixed a couple tablespoons of lemon juice with 1/3 cup mayonnaise.

Warm the chicken stock in a medium sauce pan on low heat.   

Meanwhile, in a heavy bottomed skillet, heat  butter and olive oil, and sauté  the shallots and celery on medium heat until softened - about 8  minutes.

Add the rice and stir to coat, cook for 2 minutes.

Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. (optional - don't worry if you don't have any)  

Add ½ cup of chicken stock to the rice and 1 t salt and ½ t pepper.

Stir and simmer until the stock is absorbed. 

Continue to add the chicken stock, ½ cup at a time, stirring every few minutes.  When the stock is just about evaporated, add more.

Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente.  Start checking it after 20 minutes but it usually takes around 30 minutes total.

Remove from the heat, and stir in the reserved bowl of cream and lemon juice, and the rosemary. 

Add more salt as desired.

 

 

Have you tried risotto?  How have you spiced it up?

 

In the meantime, tonight is leftover night for us (my favorite night of the week) so I will be sitting in front of my sunlight, and waiting on those "sunbreaks."

Alexia Foods new Gluten Free Warning and a Recipe for Roasted Potatoes

I have been double-checking the gluten free status of some of the processed food we eat.  

 

This is something I really should do more often - of course, I ALWAYS read the label every time I purchase a processed food item, but labels really can be deceiving.  

 

So I have been emailing the food manufacturers.

 

Alexia Foods makes oven-baked potato products. 

 

When I emailed them, I found out that their products are now going to be manufactured in a facility where products containing wheat are also produced.  Here is the letter:

 

Thank you for your interest in Alexia Foods.

We are pleased to tell you that our potato products are gluten free. However, due to an expansion in our production, we now employ a facility where products containing wheat are also produced. While our products are produced on dedicated lines, our packaging will carry the following advisory:

Produced in a facility that may manufacture other items containing wheat or tree nuts (pine nuts)

Understanding the concerns that many gluten sensitive consumers have with cross-contamination, great precautions are taken to effectively clean the equipment in between production runs in accordance with organic and kosher guidelines. We can not, however, guarantee that there will not be trace cross-contamination.

As products are produced in the new facility the Gluten Free statement on the package will be removed. If you find any packages that have the Gluten Free statement, they were produced at the time the facility was indeed gluten free.

I hope that this information is helpful to you in determining whether or not our products are appropriate for your needs.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any other questions or comments.

Don't want to worry about whether your potatoes have been cross-contaminated with gluten or not, try these roasted potatoes.  

They are part of our normal rotation of dinners.  

Ready in the time it takes to wash and slice some potatoes.  

I got this recipe from my dear friend Christina about 8 years ago.  It has been a family favorite ever since.

Roasted Potatoes

 

• 2-3 pounds potatoes - we love Yukon Golds
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 minced garlic clove
• a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary chopped or 1 teaspoon or so of dried rosemary
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

 At any point during the day, you can wash and chop your potatoes.  I think they taste a little more flavorful after marinating for a while, but  you will not lose much flavor if you skip the marinating time.

 

After you wash and chop the potatoes, add all of the ingredients to a galloon zip lock bag and shake.  

 

When you are ready to cook them, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

 

Pour onto a large baking sheet or shallow baking pan coated with olive oil.  For crisper potatoes use a metal baking sheet, for softer potatoes use a glass baking dish.  

 

Roast for 20 minutes, stir, roast for 20 more minutes or until they reach your desired crunchiness!  

 

Serve with some Marinated Flank Steak for a really special dinner or just grill some Lemon Chicken for a quick and lighter dinner.

Frito Lay Gluten Free Products - What is Gluten Free?

Certainly I am not the only one who has noticed the double-defination of "gluten free" that seems to be emerging.  

With the lack of any guidance from the government, and the explosion in people eating gluten free, food manufacturers and restaurants are coming up with their own definitions of gluten free.

This is new terriotory for a lot of us, but it seems that gluten free is being defined in two different ways - one standard is the gluten cannot exceed 20 ppm that is considered by most to be safe for celiacs, and the other more elusive standard is something more than 20 ppm that some seem to consider safe for those who are gluten free but not celiac.

Just recently, Italianissimo in Woodinville (which was one of my favorite restaurants) added a notice on their gluten free menu that the food may not be safe for celiacs.  The notice on their gluten free menu states:

 

*PLEASE NOTE:
Items on this menu are not all 100% Gluten-Free. Everything listed here is suitable for a gluten-intolerant individual. Many dishes are entirely Gluten-Free, but please inquire first. As our entire kitchen is “scratch,” note that we can cater to those with Celiac Disease, but please notify your server first. Not all items listed here are available for individuals with Celiac Disease.

 

When I asked them about it, they stated right out that more people eat gluten free than are celiacs and apparently those who eat gluten free because of allergies and other intolerances are not worried about cross-contamination and the stringent 20 ppm standard.   This is what they posted on their Facebook page:

We've updated our Gluten Free menu online to contain a disclaimer about Celiac Disease. Some of our Gluten Free items are perfect for Gluten Intolerant individuals (1 in 7 Americans), but people with Celiac Disease (1 in 200 Americans) should !ALWAYS! let us know of their dietary needs.

This is not to say you can't eat their, but if you are a Celiac you can't eat everything on their gluten free menu and you need to let them know that you are a celaic.

Then, yesterday, I decided to take a look at the Frito Lay page.  Over five years ago when we first went gluten free, I was happy to see that Frito Lay provided a rather extensive list of products they said were gluten free.  That page is now down, but I believe it included a disclaimer for cross-contamination but we honestly went ahead and ate Cheetos figuring the risk was minimal.  (no - we don't eat Cheetos everyday - this was a once or twice a year treat mostly when other non-gluten kids were around.)

Yesterday, I noticed that Frito Lay has divided up their list of gluten free products and list the following products as meeting the standard of 20 ppm.  

 

 Frito-Lay has validated through analytical testing that the following products contain less than 20 ppm of gluten.

Please note: The information provided pertains only to products made and distributed in the U.S. Products sold in other countries under similar brands may be made using slightly different recipes and ingredients to accommodate local needs and preferences.

Last updated February 21, 2011

BAKED! LAY'S® Original Potato Crisps
BAKED! RUFFLES® Original Potato Crisps
BAKED! TOSTITOS® SCOOPS!® Tortilla Chips
FRITOS® Lightly Salted Corn Chips
FRITOS® Original Corn Chips
FRITOS® SCOOPS!® Corn Chips
LAY'S® Classic Potato Chips
LAY'S® Deli Style Potato Chips
LAY'S® Lightly Salted Potato Chips
LAY'S® Natural Sea Salt Flavored Thick Cut Potato Chips
LAY'S® STAX® Cheddar Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY'S® STAX® Mesquite Barbecue Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY'S® STAX® Original Potato Crisps
LAY'S® STAX® Salt & Vinegar Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY'S® STAX® Sour Cream & Onion Flavored Potato Crisps
LAY'S® Wavy Original Potato Chips
RUFFLES® Natural Reduced Fat Sea Salted Potato Chips
RUFFLES® Original Potato Chips
RUFFLES® Reduced Fat Original Potato Chips
TOSTITOS® SCOOPS!® Tortilla Chips

 

Frito Lay then provides a longer list of products which do not contain gluten ingredients but may not meet the less than 20 ppm standard:

The Frito-Lay products listed below do not contain wheat, rye, barley or oat ingredients (we include oats in this list as a precaution as oats are often commingled with gluten-containing grains). 

Please note however, some of the products listed below may be manufactured on the same lines as products that contain gluten. 

Although our lines are washed between batches, Frito-Lay has not tested these products for gluten content and the ingredients in these products may have come into contact with gluten-containing products prior to manufacturing.  This list includes a lot of the items we have eaten over the past few years, including Cheetos.  

Click on this link  to the Frito Lay page to see the full list. 

Are you confused yet?

Believe me I am so happy and thankful that Frito Lay has taken the initiative to test their products and provide this information.  At the same time, I am kicking myself for letting my gluten free kid eat Cheetos for the last five years! 

The bottom line - all this new awareness about gluten free can be a double-edged sword! I don't even know where the idea that gluten intolerant people can eat food that contains more than 20 ppm of gluten came from (other than restaurants and food manufactures who are going after a market and can't meet the more stringent standard).  

This reiterates that if you are eating something that is a processed food, you cannot just read the label and think the food is safe just because it does not have any gluten ingredients.   You have to call the manufacturer, send them an email or check out their website.  Unfortunately, even if they say it is "gluten free" you need to ask them how they define gluten free, do they test for levels of gluten, or if there is a  chance of cross-contamination?  

Similarly, if you are eating at a restaurant and I guess even if you are ordering off the gluten free menu, you need to let them know that you are Celiac and that you can tolerate absolutely no cross-contamination. 

 

 

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