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Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Food and Company Review: 1-2-3 Gluten Free

(I am not paid or given any incentive to write one way or the other. What you are about to read is from me to you; my honest opinion.)

 

Delicious boxed mixes that are easy to make, even for kids, yet they are delicious for every table as well as for many courses in a meal: main course, side dishes, and desserts. Each box is versatile and can be used in a variety of recipes offered on the 1-2-3 Gluten Free site or in ones you make up on your own. When I am able to get 7 or more recipes out of one single box of mix from a gluten-free company, and it tastes good, I’m really pleased.

I know of 14 current mixes, but out of these, there at least 142 versions of recipes thus far that I know of. My testers and I played a game of trying to come up with ten recipes using the site’s recipes as well as our own. Each recipe was delicious, many unique, and all very well-liked. (The site offered 80 additional ones.)

Founder Kim Ullner comes from a celiac family. Her sister was celiac, and as a child, Kim created recipes to help her face the challenges of her gluten-free diet. Later on, her niece and nephew were diagnosed, and soon Kim’s gluten-free pigs-in-a-blanket was a family hit. Kim has named many of her mixes after family members, and now that Kim is a mother of two, we can guarantee two new names will soon be on her newer mixes.

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The mixes are very easy to make and require very few ingredients, all common to your home’s pantry. Each box offers double the size of most other brands. 1-2-3 Gluten Free products are all made in a facility free of wheat, gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, and soy.

Click here to enter the GlutenFreeHelp/1-2-3 Gluten Free give-away of September. 5 individuals will each receive a 3-pack assortment of delicious 1-2-3 mixes for FREE!

Their biscuits were light and fluffy and just how I wanted a biscuit to taste.  I also made mine without any dairy and they were perfect.

With this same box I made cinnamon buns, pigs-in-a-blanket, chicken and dumplings and roasted vegetable pizza.  I could have made more but I accepted the versatility of these products.


1-2-3 Gluten Free’s Aaron’s Favorite Rolls have the texture of a true roll, where one can “rip” out the insides (like kids love to do) instead of the all-too-common crumbled gluten-free alternative.

Let’s not forget the devilishly decadent brownies, silky, rich, and loaded with chocolate chunks. The pound cake, with a hint of lemon. Sugar and Spice Pan Bars, which are delicious with banana, sweet potato, or even zucchini added.


The prices are good. The servings per box are definitely greater than most companies offer and it all just tastes fresh as far as baked goods are concerned.

All their products are made in a gluten-free facility, are gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free and egg and dairy (casein) free.  All but two are corn-free and all but one is soy-free.  Their labels are clear and easy to read.  Their packaging is smart.

1-2-3 Gluten Free is worthy of a well-written book describing their finest mixes and options. And don’t forget to look inside the box to find even more recipe options. They have a website offering many more recipes and welcome ideas.

Great mixes – terrific company.

Tina Turbin

www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

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Posted in 20 minute recipes, Allergies, Children, Dining Gluten Free, Easy Recipes, Food Companies to Know About, Fun Food, Gift Ideas, Gluten-Free Flours, Gluten-Free Products, Kids in the kitchen, Read About Company, Read About Products, Review- GF Companies, Videos | No Comments »


Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

Celiac Disease and Miss Indiana’s Mission

Jenna Drew holds the title Miss Indiana (PA) International 2010 and her platform is Celiac Disease Awareness. She works hard to make “Gluten Free” a common household term. My friend, Jenna gathers many gluten-free bloggers in her efforts to help – read this interview:

http://www.glutenfreebloggers.com/2010/05/07/blogger-spotlight-gluten-free-help/

Tina Turbin www.glutenfreehelp.info

 

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Posted in Allergies, Autoimmune Disorders, Gluten-Free Research, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, References | 2 Comments »


Friday, August 20th, 2010

Can Do Kid- A Terrific Gluten-Free Company

 

Do you like children, delicious food, and supporting a terrific cause? Well, I’ve got quite a food company to share with you!  The name is Can Do Kid.

Can Do Kid founder and owner Deb Luster supplies tasty, gluten-free nutrition bars all in the hopes of satisfying hunger before it strikes in those little tummies, jam-packed with nutrients, and sure to maintain smiling faces!

Can Do Kid nutrition bars are gluten-free, made from all-natural ingredients, and contain sixteen essential vitamins and minerals. They are free of trans fats and high-fructose corn syrup.

I have personally tasted each and every one of these bars, and to be absolutely sincere, these bars are scrumptious. I then went further and ran a taste test with many children and their parents, and these tasty bars received a 100% satisfaction rate.

I had the opportunity to speak with my new friend, Deb Luster about her company to discover that there is true passion and dedication behind this company, directly from her heart. Deb is passionate about raising positive kids and being around positive people. She has full intention to spread the word about positive thinking and to improve this attitude in households everywhere. She wants to inspire kids to be smart and special and to know—in fact, to walk through life knowing—“I can do anything.”

Deb has quite an active and impressive history as a woman and executive. In 1990, she helped Annie’s Homegrown grow from a concept to what it is today, a thriving company. With Deb living on the west coast and Annie on the east, she dealt with opposites in many aspects, yet the vision evolved into a perfect, positive force—a fun and thriving business.

Working hard as usual and pregnant, one day Deb’s water broke and she knew she had another calling—motherhood. She stayed on as part-owner on the Board of Annie’s, in 2002 stepping aside from Annie’s as she devoted more time to enjoy motherhood. She continued to work on many projects—mostly helping others with their companies. Expanding companies is truly her forte.

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In November 2004, along with her family, she published her first book, I Can Do Anything (read the I Can Do Anything book review) and soon launched products such as t-shirts and stickers. In September 2007, her family’s second book, I’m Happy Just the Way I Am was published. In August 2005, after lots of tasting, packaging, and developing concepts, she and her sister (co-founder and Director of Sales) manufactured the first Can Do Kid nutrition bars. With a strong business sense, she knew that kids love food items with animals, as they are symbols kids remember. So, on every bar, there’s a cheetah. Why a cheetah? Because Deb loves cheetahs.

It wasn’t long until stores all over were stocking up on and displaying the bars and her book!  In February 2009 Deb was at a trade show and was introduced more in-depth to the concept of gluten-free. With only one ingredient change, the Can Do Kid bars were now labeled gluten-free and made available to all those in need of a GF diet, such as celiac and gluten-sensitive consumers. These bars currently come in 3 delicious flavors: CAN-illa Vanilla, Chocolate Crunch, and Cookies and Cream.

These bars are on my Highly Recommended list. Grab a bar and adopt Deb’s motto: “It’s not about age—it’s about attitude!” Grab a bar! You and your kids will be happy you did.

 

Can Do Kid executives have their bars tested regularly through the University of Nebraska FAARP to make sure that they contain no gluten. As of August 20101 they are not in a dedicated gluten-free facility.

As of August 2010 you will find the Can Do Kid bars in over 50 Safeway stores!

Tina Turbin
www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

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Posted in Allergies, Books To Read, Children, Dining Gluten Free, Food Companies to Know About, Fun Food, Gift Ideas, Gluten-Free Products, Health, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, Kids in the kitchen, Read About Company, Read About Products, Real -True Stories, Review- GF Companies, Travel Gluten Free, Videos, Videos to Watch | 9 Comments »


Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Up Close and Personal with Public Speaker, Celiac and Author, Diane Jacobs

 

 

Please tell me how you became interested in the area of celiac disease.

I became interested in celiac disease because I became a statistic. Even my gastroenterologist seemed at a loss…calling my diagnosis of this disease “quite rare.”

Did you know anything about this auto-immune disease before you were diagnosed?

Absolutely nothing. It seemed hardly anyone had heard of it.

How long after being off of gluten did you feel a change?

Almost immediately my more severe gastro reactions stopped, however, I remained quite sensitive for several months to other common allergens such as dairy.

Do you have any other auto-immune diseases currently? Yes.

Do you feel they can be attributed to the years of misdiagnosing or not being diagnosed celiac, when in fact you were? Absolutely.

Is there anything you’d like to share with others about this point?

I know a lot of people who are “self-diagnosing”. They have gone off of all gluten, knowing that they DO feel better, however, not knowing for certain if they have a food allergy or are indeed someone with celiac disease. This really concerns me. This is not something to speculate about for several reasons. If you have celiac disease, others in your family probably have it too, and you need to know the facts.

Secondly, we know that celiac disease is commonly seen in conjunction with other autoimmune diseases. People need to have the facts about their health and know what their scenario truly is so that they can adjust their diet accordingly. If I had been more proactive about my health, I wouldn’t be challenged with the degree of autoimmune disease that I am. I have a friend who was diagnosed with celiac about 4 years ago and also has MS. She was not diligent about abstaining from gluten in her diet, and now she has a rare form of rectal cancer (more autoimmune disease!). Celiac can be primary/secondary to other autoimmune conditions.

You have a lovely site www.celaicdiseaseinfo.org. Can you tell us what this site offers to others, please?

My website provides a service for those who are diagnosed celiacs or those who are seeking diagnosis, informs and educates the public about celiac disease, offers my 160 page gluten free & wheat free cookbook, and a 50 page informational e-book download. My website also offers links to my “Gluten Free Foodie Heaven” recipe blog.

What is the mission you want to accomplish through your site?

Initially, in 2005 when I created my website, I was in earnest about folks finding more information about celiac disease. There wasn’t near the information available and “the buzz” in the media that there is currently and I am so thankful that that has changed! Over time, my passion has evolved into two things:

1) I would like to convey to people about what I mentioned earlier, and that is not to speculate about a diagnosis of celiac disease. It’s like holding a gun to your head. My life has undergone a complete 360 degree change since about six years ago…because I became even more ill following the CD diagnosis…and it truly was debilitating. Finally, within the past year or so, the docs figured out what else was going on.  If it hadn’t taken so long to diagnose my CD in the first place, I believe that I may not have developed the other autoimmune disease.

2) Secondly, I LOVE the creativity involved in adapting recipes to gluten free…and the challenge of arriving at wonderful gluten free recipe options that may be even tastier than their non-gluten free counterparts! So the website has been evolving more into a foodie direction with recipes, photos of food…and even more food!

You have some lovely recipes and incredibly impacting food images on your site. Thank you!

Are they all your own recipes?

The baked donuts recipe on my blog and in my cookbook were adapted gluten free from Family Circle magazine. Most everything else is my own creation; unless specified otherwise. However, my recipes are frequently “inspired” by another gluten-containing recipe that I find elsewhere to begin with.

Do you test these recipes on or with others before publishing them?

My Gluten Free Foodie Heaven blog works GREAT for that purpose! And I have had, from time to time, volunteers from all over the country testing various recipes.

How do you go about developing a new recipe?

The process will begin with an existing recipe that contains gluten that may strike me as having great potential and appeal . Then it gradually evolves into something much more appealing than the original, in most cases. It’s like a work of art…and I don’t stop until I am happy with it. Perhaps I need to be creating a special cake for a dinner, so I find a recipe that contains gluten that I like the basic characteristics of and can use as the springboard to further develop as my own.  I enjoy the magazines “Mary Jane’s Farm” and “Country Living” a great deal and find inspiration from many of their “country-influenced” recipes.

Can you share a little bit of “Diane’s Process” please? See above.

You have created a cookbook which took over 7 years of research and development. What makes this cookbook unique?

My niche seems to be the creativity involved in all of my recipes. Very few are ordinary, and at times, I probably need to “reign in” my gourmet side a bit! The other unique aspect of my cookbook is its “home style” cooking slant. Almost everything is made from scratch and many with a country flavor.

How can someone purchase your cookbook?

My cookbook is available either at my website: www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org or at AMAZON.com: http://amzn.com/B002GQ2ZJU

On your site you offer some incredibly helpful information through a downloadable eBook. Can you share a bit about the eBook please?

My ebook is like a beginning primer on celiac disease…from its history, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, a reference guide to gluten free foods, a section on gluten free flours, alternative gluten free grains, hidden sources of gluten, a starter guide to eating gluten free, and a bonus of a week’s worth of recipes.

You also have a blog www.glutenfreefoodieheaven.blogspot.com. Can you please share what this blog offers and how it may be different than your site?

My blog is just a lot of fun! I love sharing my recipes in this venue with others and hearing what people have to say! I also enjoy shooting the photographs and improving my photographer’s “eye” as I build the blog.

I read you also give seminars! What are your seminars about and where can one sign up for one?

At this time, my seminars have been local to the North Arizona area. I attempt to convey to people the difference between a gluten allergy and celiac disease, but also want to assist people in how to affordably cook gluten free and wheat free for themselves or for their family. I have done gluten free cooking demos on a statewide TV program as well as some radio interviews.

Do you have any plans to offer online seminars or online cooking classes?

Not at this time, but I am currently scheduled to teach gluten free cooking classes at a local community college.

You carry the name “Gluten-Free Country Girl”. That is quite a title. Can you share with us how you acquired this name?

Honestly, it just FITS! I live in the country and love the country lifestyle, after residing in large cities most of my life. My husband and I built our passive solar home on 3 acres almost ten years ago. We have carved out a very enjoyable lifestyle in a lovely mile high community in the mountains of N. AZ. We are developing a small vineyard, orchard and a large garden, raising chickens, rabbits, and two lambs. We make a conscious effort to maintain control over what we eat and put into our bodies. Initially, this came out of necessity, in that I was ill and seemed to do better with more fresh, nutritious food. But now, when I develop a gluten free recipe, I am also passing on what I hope is the essence of the lifestyle that I love!

What makes Diane “shine” in her work in the gluten-free celiac world?

Hopefully, what I mentioned above! I sincerely hope that people enjoy my recipes and my heart for getting more helpful information out there.

If you could share one thing today, what is it you’d like to say?

Be diligent as your own health care advocate. No one can really do it for you. Listen to your intuition when you are searching for answers to your health questions. And be assertive when working with your health care practitioners!

Thank you Diane!

About Diane: Diane Jacobs was diagnosed in 2003 with celiac disease and has dedicated herself to sharing information about celiac disease and also about the benefits of eating and cooking wheat and gluten free. In 2005, Diane created her own website: http://www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org; in 2006 she self-published her first edition of her Ebook: What on Earth is a Celiac?; in 2008, her cookbook: Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free & Wheat Free Cooking, a Homestyle Recipe Collection for Celiacs and Wheat Sensitive Folks” was self-published both at the website and at Amazon.com: http://amzn.com/B002GQ2ZJU.

Then in 2010, she created her food blog: “Gluten Free Foodie Heaven”: http://www.glutenfreefoodieheaven.blogspot.com.

Diane speaks to community groups and organizations about celiac disease and about how to comfortably (and fabulously!) and survive as a person who either is required to or desires to eat gluten and wheat free.  She also makes appearances on TV programs cooking gluten free and has been featured in local newspaper articles as well.

Prescott, Arizona Courier article: March14th, 2010:
http://www.prescottaz.com/main.asp?SectionID=74&SubSectionID=111&TM=69298

Tina Turbin

www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

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Posted in 20 minute recipes, Allergies, Autism and Gluten, Autoimmune Disorders, Book Reviews, Books To Read, Cook Books- GF, Cookbook, Easy Recipes, Gift Ideas, Gluten-Free Research, Health, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, Multiple Sclerosis, Real -True Stories, Recipes, References | 4 Comments »


Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping Guide and MORE-2 other books too!

How would you like to be able to shop in any grocery or health food store and know what you could buy if you needed gluten-free, or gluten and casein free or even gluten, casein and soy-free?  Well, two authors have been gathering information for consumers in need, to be able to shop worry free.

This is the 4th year in a row that Celiac.com and the GlutenFreeMall.com have voted the Gluten-Free Shopping Guide the “Best Seller”.  It’s the #1 selling shopping guide nationwide.

Each book is compact, will fit in your purse, is easy to read and the 2 symbols used are stating which foods are certified gluten-free and which are manufactured in a dedicated gluten-free facility.

Further, each book has common and name-brand foods in most grocery stores as well as over 2000 over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, minerals, etc.

These little handy books are a must and any changes throughout the year are listed on their site, www.CeceliasMarketplace.com and the following year all updates and new additions are in the newly released book.

According to Dr. Mara Matison, the gluten-free books are commonly referred to as the “Gluten-Free Bible”.  It is definitely a book to keep by your side.

Cecelia’s Marketplace, established by husband and wife team Dr. Mara Matison and Mr. Dainis Matison in 2006 has been an invaluable resource in books for the community.

Mara was diagnosed with celiac disease and as a result the shopping trips were more than frustrating.  Instead of spending time calling manufacturers, they decided to compile their own gluten-free grocery shopping guide.

Since then Mara has been diagnosed with casein and soy intolerance and this brought the need for the gluten/casein-free and gluten/casein/soy-free shopping guides.

Her care for others has resulted not only in these books but in hundreds of successes sent in and numerous misdiagnoses coming to light. With a personal story from her sister, she is convinced that there are a LOT of disorders related or even linked with gluten ingestion that are yet to be discovered.

Please check out:          

Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping Guide 2010 Edition
Gluten/Casein-Free Grocery Shopping Guide 2010 Edition
Gluten/Casein/Soy-Free Grocery Shopping Guide 2010 Edition

And check out their helpful site, www.CeceliasMarketplace.com.

Tina Turbin

www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

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Saturday, August 7th, 2010

Food and Company Review: Enjoy Life Foods

 

Enjoy Life Foods® is not a company unknown to most gluten-free consumers, but there were things about the company that I didn’t know.

Enjoy Life Foods® (ELF) was founded in early 2001 with a purpose to support a product line free of gluten as well as the 8 most common allergens: wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish, and shellfish.

With a purpose as star high as that, it took a bit of work to be able to deliver products palatable and delicious. I for one know what it’s like to try and bake without even half of the most common allergens—difficult!

I personally taste-tested their soft-baked cookies, granolas, snack bars, chocolate chips, trail mixes, chocolate bars, and bagels.

I’ve been using the chocolate chips for years and these are the most common chips I choose to use in my recipes and those listed on my website (http://glutenfreehelp.info). I never have physical troubles nor do my “allergic” friends with these chips.

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The granolas were fantastic and bursting with flavor. We also tested them as the base for our homemade trail mix and in granola cookies.  The soft-baked cookies were moist, and we all agreed they were light in flavor, offered in a number of flavors.

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Most people do not know about the man behind all this, Scott Mandell. As part of a class assignment at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, he came up with the notion that those with dietary restrictions sacrifice flavor and nutrition in foods. Scott and his team came up with a business plan with good nutrition and great taste for people on a restricted diet. In 2001, he raised money to build a dedicated GF facility to start his company and develop products. Enjoy Life Foods® has been named to Inc. Magazine’s 500/5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies for three years in a row from 2007 through 2009.

Enjoy Life Foods® teamed up with Fair Winds Publishing to launch a GF allergy-friendly cookbook entitled, Cookies for Everyone! You can be assured of allergy-free cookies, brownies and bars that are safe and delicious. Each of the 150 recipes are gluten-free and allergy-friendly (NO: wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg or soy). All readers will also learn how to use naturally allergy-free ingredients and substitutes to add extra richness, texture and nutritional content to any cookies and bars without losing the taste. This is a company that cares and is doing something about the growing needs of celiac and allergic individuals. They already have another book planned to be released in January, Cupcakes and Sweet Treats.

Tina Turbin
www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

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Posted in Allergies, Books To Read, Children, Cookies, Dining Gluten Free, Food Companies to Know About, Fun Food, Gift Ideas, Gluten-Free Products, Gluten-Free Research, Health, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, Kids in the kitchen, Read About Company, Read About Products, Real -True Stories, Review- GF Companies, Tina Turbin, Travel Gluten Free, Videos, Videos to Watch | 10 Comments »


Friday, August 6th, 2010

Chef to Plate International Awareness Campaign

 

In my work as a children’s author, researcher, and humanitarian, I am always looking for ways to help people with celiac disease or who are gluten-sensitive by raising awareness and making the gluten-free diet easier to maintain. Therefore, I’m incredibly excited to announce the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America’s 2010 campaign, which you can find out more information about at the following link: http://gluten.net/events.php. This campaign will help to spread awareness about celiac disease and gluten intolerance by partnering up with restaurants that offer gluten-free foods.

According to GIG, the 2009 campaign was an extraordinary success, which helped people all over learn about gluten intolerance and the gluten-free diet. By partnering with GIG this year, your organization will be included under the media campaign listings as well as on their website—free of cost! When you become a sponsor, contributing toward the cost, you will get your logo featured on the literature in restaurants.

Last year, they sent out over 5,000 pieces of literature to 196 restaurants, including a number of
chain restaurants, in the U.S. and Canada, and they estimate that the campaign reached 1.6 million people alone during Celiac Awareness Month—a very impressive number!

Tina Turbin
www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

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Posted in Allergies, Dining Gluten Free, Dining Out- Gluten Free, Events, Fast Food- Gluten Free, GF Services, Health, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, References, Tina Turbin, Travel Gluten Free | 9 Comments »


Sunday, August 1st, 2010

Jo-Sef – A Gluten-Free Company Worth Reading About!

Cookies are good and can satisfy a little sweet desire now and then, but Jo-Sef gluten-free cookies really hit the spot! This is a company built on love and determination to keep a couple’s son eating normal foods after being diagnosed with celiac disease. After a year of fruitless doctor visits and restless nights, a celiac diagnosis was enough to turn a family kitchen into a “test” kitchen for gluten-free recipes.

The cookies that Jo-Sef now successfully sells are a few of the results from those days nine years ago. Jo-Sef simply delicious “Sandwich O’s” are much like an Oreo ® yet come in vanilla, chocolate, and absolutely over-the-top cinnamon, three choices for our heart’s desire, all with a creamy, velvety filling.The Cookie Squares, too, come in three flavors and are already known not only for their flavor but for optional uses such as “pie crust” solutions. For the child in all of us, and for our kids, we have Jo-Sef Chocolate or Vanilla Cookies. When it comes to animal cookies, theirs are truly flavorful, with a delicate and wholesome flavor. Kids will love them. Many already do love these whimsical little bites.

Jo-Sef recognizes gluten is not the only issue facing many individuals, and without compromising flavor, their products are free of dairy/casein, nuts, lactose, eggs, trans-fats, and preservatives. They are also kosher, processed in a dedicated gluten-free facility, undergo ELISA testing, and are certified by the CSA (Celiac Sprue Association) to be free of gluten.

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This is a one of a kind flavor, one of a kind company and the products are out of this world delicious.

Little Side Note:  I crumbled up the vanilla cookies and used them in a pie crust for my apple pie. Wow! People were raving about the flavor: www.josefsglutenfree.com.

I give this company a BIG thumbs up!

Tina Turbin
www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

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Posted in Allergies, Autoimmune Disorders, Casein, Casein Free, Children, Cookies, Dining Gluten Free, Food Companies to Know About, Fun Food, Gift Ideas, Gluten-Free Products, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, Kids in the kitchen, Read About Company, Read About Products, Review- GF Companies, Tina Turbin, Travel Gluten Free, Videos, Videos to Watch | 26 Comments »


Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Food Allergies & Eating Out – A Father’s Story to Help

By Paul Antico:

I read an interesting blog entry posted some months ago by Verona Raymond for Ezine Articles, entitled “Restaurants and Food Allergies – A Problem?” Verona, who is allergic to dairy products, relates the difficulties she has in determining which restaurant dishes contain milk products. With little or no information on the menu, she almost always has to ask her servers, who then usually have to consult the kitchen.

“They usually come back to the table and explain that the chef doesn’t know what is in some of the sauces or ingredients because they are sent to them pre-packaged or bottled,” Verona writes. “So I sometimes take a chance and order an entree thinking that it is okay.”

Verona’s solution is for restaurant menus to be treated like consumer products.

“I really appreciate the fact that it is now mandatory that the allergen ingredients are listed on most all types of products in the grocery stores! Especially when the label plainly states that the product contains milk, instead of having to read through the long list of ingredients that often list milk as ‘whey’ or ‘casein.’”

A lot of thoughts came to my mind when I read that article. Here are a few. I’d like to hear yours as well (just click on the Comment link at the end of this entry).

• Thankfully, I find fewer and fewer restaurants have servers or chefs who are not knowledgeable about food allergies, even if this means they know that they don’t know!
• Verona writes that when the chefs don’t know what is in some of the sauces or ingredients, “I sometimes take a chance.” Wow. I doubt this needs saying, but I would strongly advocate NEVER taking this chance.
• Similarly, Verona writes that if allergen ingredients were listed next to each item, “How extremely nice it would be to not have to bother the food server.” Again, I would caution that a food allergic diner would still need to inform their server in order to avoid cross-contamination, whether in the kitchen (shared utensils, oils, etc.) or on the tray.

But let’s get to the heart of the article. Verona believes that restaurants should have to list the major allergens included in their menu items just as consumer products now do. As I’ve added specific restaurant information to AllergyEats, I’ve been able to include this information for the few restaurants that list it publicly, but certainly just a small minority. In my opinion (biased due to my own children’s food allergies), I agree with Verona. How difficult would it be? However, I’m sure some restaurateurs would disagree, possibly referencing the fact that their menu items frequently change, they can’t always audit changes their suppliers make, they sometimes have to make subtle substitutions of items on the fly, and they’re afraid that listing these items will make them more liable if a patron does suffer an allergic reaction. I’m not justifying these answers or even sure if they’re the correct ones; I’m trying to guess what the restaurateurs would say based on what I’ve heard in the past.

Any restaurateurs out there reading this? Any servers? I’d love to hear your opinion. It would be very informative and valuable to the food allergy community to understand the issues that you would face. Of course, I’d also like to hear the opinions of those of you with food allergies or intolerances as well. Please click on “Comments” at the end of this post to share your thoughts.

Finally, I hope you all will consider using the main AllergyEats site (www.allergyeats.com) to not only find those restaurants that list allergen ingredients, gluten-free menus, etc., but also to rate restaurants based on your own experiences. If you’ve found yourself in situations such as Verona’s, it would be very valuable for the rest of us to know that. Just as helpful would be hearing about your positive experiences.

The more people that use AllergyEats and rate restaurants, the better this tool will be for our entire food allergy and intolerance community!

Paul Antico

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Posted in Allergies, Dining Gluten Free, Dining Out- Gluten Free, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, Real -True Stories | 3 Comments »


Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Eat Well, Feel Well- by Kendall Conrad

Kendall Conrad has done a lovely job of recreating her gourmet recipes and customizing them to suit the principles which healed her child’s body- More Than 150 Delicious Specific Carbohydrate Diet(TM)-Compliant Recipes.

Author Kendall Conrad was faced with the fact that her youngest child’s gut and immune system had been severely compromised after her first ten months of life after being on many antibiotics to address severe ear infections. Her daughter finally needed surgery to drain her ears at only ten months old, which did resolve the ear troubles, but she was left with digestive troubles, wasn’t thriving, and wasn’t absorbing nutrients. Conrad spent a year visiting many doctors to no avail.

Conrad was introduced to a nutritionist who introduced her to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which eliminated virtually all starch and complex sugars. The result was that her daughter began to grow and feel much better. She is now a thriving healthy child.

This cookbook and its detailed introduction shares many aspects of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet’s effects on many people with Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, ulcerative colitis,  IBS, diverticulitis, and other digestive conditions—to incredible results.

The recipes in Kendall’s book are gourmet in every sense of the word, and your family and guests will have no clue that each one of them is a strict adherent to the SCD.

This cookbook is given a thumbs up and is HIGHLY recommended by me.
Tina Turbin
www.glutenfreehelp.info

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Posted in 20 minute recipes, Allergies, Autoimmune Disorders, Baking, Best Home Made GF Flour Mixes, Book Reviews, Books To Read, Casein, Casein Free, Child Friendly Recipes, Children, Cook Books- GF, Cookbook, Cookies, Desserts, Easy Recipes, Eggs, Fiber, Flour Mixes- GF, Flour Substitutes, Fun Food, Gift Ideas, Gluten-Free Flours, Gluten-Free Products, Gluten-Free Research, Gluten-Free and Allergy Tests, Health, Healthy Snacks, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, Kids Illnesses, Main Dishes, Medical Research, One Dish Meals, Read About Products, Recipes, References, Substitute Mixes- GF | 2 Comments »

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Tina Turbin

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Tina Turbin became extremely interested and involved in the subjects of gluten free, gluten sensitive and celiac disease a number of years ago as a result of...

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