Gluten Free Sunscreen

Here's a helpful article if you're looking for gluten free sunscreen this summer!

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Lazy Pickle

An Ottawa deli called Lazy Pickle has recently started offering gluten free sandwiches and paninis! They have a grocery area with all gluten free foods. I asked them recently about what precautions they take to ensure that the gluten free deli offerings are free from cross-contamination and I got back one of the best responses ever.

Thank you for your questions. We have a separate counter where we prepare our gluten free sandwiches and paninis. All of our utensils, panini press, cloths, and sink are all separate. Staff wash their hands regularly and wear gloves when making GF food. We have a completely separate fridge as well that only GF ingredients get stored in at all times.

We have researched all of the ingredients that go into our sauces and sandwiches/paninis and have spoken with manufacturers at length regarding how the products are made ensuring that they are made on separate GF lines. We even have some letters from some of the manufacturers certifying that their products are made in a certified GF facility.

This being said, we take every precaution to prevent cross contamination but we can not guarantee 100% that there will be no exposure to gluten as our main menu is not gluten free.

It is *always* a risk to eat out, but it sounds like Lazy Pickle is doing everything they can to make it safe!

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Barbequing

It is barbeque season :) You probably already know that you can't cook gluten free food on a glutened grill. Maybe you can be careful enough by wrapping your gluten free food up in tinfoil to cook it on a shared grill, but it depends what you're comfortable with. You'd want to be careful that the outside of the tinfoil wasn't put onto the plate you are eating other food off of, and make sure that the tinfoil doesn't get punctured...Personally, that all makes me a bit uncomfortable. Something that I hadn't thought of before this month is gluten in charcoal. Are you using a charcoal barbeque? Did you know that some companies use wheat as the binding agent? This can get onto your food!

I contacted Kingsford (the brand we've been using) earlier this month to find out if there is gluten in their charcoal. In their response they indicated that Kingsford Charcoal is gluten free. Phew!

Just one more thing to be aware of!

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Odwalla

Here is the response I received from Odwalla concerning gluten in their products:

Thank you for contacting The Voice of Odwalla. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to our loyal consumers.

The beverages that do not contain gluten are:

Apple Juice
Blueberry B Superfood
Citrus C Monster
Berries Go Mega
Mobeta
Orange Juice
Pomegranate Limeade
Protein Monster Chocolate
Protein Monster Strawberry
Protein Monster Vanilla
Red Rhapsody
Strawberry Banana
Strawberry C Monster
Strawberry Lemonade
Summertime Lime
Super Protein Original
Super Protein Pumpkin
Tangerine
Wellness

Odwalla beverages that contain gluten:

Serious Energy
Superfood Original
Super Protein Vanilla Almondo

Odwalla beverages that do not have a gluten status right now:

Carrot Juice -organic
Carrot Juice-conventional
Grapefruit
Pomegranate
Lemonade Base
Lime Juice
Lemon Juice
Lemonade
Mango Tango
Pink Poetry

All of the Odwalla bars are NOT gluten free.

Be assured that our plants have policies and procedures in place to identify the top 8 allergens and take the steps necessary to eliminate risks associated with the cross contamination of allergen and non-allergen containing products.

If you have any additional comments, please feel free to contact us again.

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Sweet Potato Biscuits

A couple of months ago I made my first batch of Sweet Potato Biscuits - AMAZING! They were so good, I couldn't believe it. I've been waiting for a chance to take some great photos of them for a post but today I realized that there's no way my photos would turn out better than the ones on the site that inspired me. I adapted a recipe from Gluten Free Zen and have borrowed a couple of photos from there. Enjoy these biscuits warm with some butter or make little sandwiches out of them. They don't taste gluten free at all. Just delicious.

Photo credits: http://gluten-free-zen.com/

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Ingredients

¾ cup cooked, mashed sweet potato
1/3 cup milk, plus 2-3 tablespoons more
1 ½ cups gluten-free flour mix (including xanthan gum)
   (I use Silvana's Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons cold butter

Preparation

Line a baking sheet with parchment and pre-heat the oven to 425° (or 400° for convection).

In a small bowl, whisk together the sweet potato and 1/3 cup milk. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sweet potato mixture and fold gently to combine. If necessary add more milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until all the flour is moistened, but not too wet.

Sprinkle the work surface with flour. Turn dough out onto surface and knead lightly 2 or 3 times until the mixture comes together. Gently pat the dough out to a 1/2 inch thick round. Cut the dough into the shape you prefer. Gently re-pat the scraps out and cut more biscuits. Place the biscuits on the lined baking sheet and bake 12 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with butter and honey.

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Druide's Citronella Insect Repellent Lotion (spray)

I contacted Druide this week, a company who makes an all-natural, biodegradable insect repellent, to find out if their product is gluten free. Here is my inquiry:

I'm very interested in purchasing Druide's Citronella Insect-Repellent Lotion (spray) and have a question regarding it's composition. I would like to use this product on my son, who has celiac disease. He is extremely sensitive to trace amounts of gluten (wheat, rye, oats and barley) and while this product shouldn't enter his mouth I just want to find out if it would be safe (from a celiac perspective) for him just incase. Are there any gluten-containing ingredients or could any of the ingredients be cross-contaminated with gluten?

Your response to this inquiry would be greatly appreciated. Your product looks wonderful and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to use it!

Their response:

Thanks for your great care in The DRUIDE's Ecological Line.

The Citronella Insect Repellent lotion is a gluten free product.

Succinct response, but provided the information I needed! This product seems to be sold in quite a few locations in Canada (not sure about the US). You can check their store locator to be sure, though all locations are not listed. I found the product on the Mountain Equipment Coop website (I believe they ship outside of Canada) as well as locally in a grocery store and a couple of natural foods stores. The reviews of it on Mountain Equipment Coop are great. Sounds very effective. I'll be picking some up for sure!

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Easter Candy

The Gluten Free Easter Candy Lists from MyGlutenFacts.com are out. You can check them out here:

There are separate lists for Canada and the US, as well as separate lists for Jelly Beans!

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Gluten Free Children's Summer Camp

Wow, I just found out about this Gluten Free Children's Summer Camp in Alberta! I am so excited!!! BoyBee still has quite a few years to go before he's old enough for summer camp, but I am just so happy that things like this are starting to pop up. What a great time to be gluten free! There are so many great products on the market, awareness is increasing very quickly, and gluten free summer camps are being organized. The things that I thought would be huge challenges for my gluten free child are becoming so much easier. I am grateful that he is going to be able to experience all the normal childhood experiences that other kids get to experience :)

If you have a child aged 7 - 17 registration begins this month!

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UHU stic

I'm mostly concerned about gluten in craft materials because BoyBee is still quite young (not yet 3) and random things end up in his mouth. But even when he's older I don't want him to be paranoid about anything we have in our house. This will be his safe place where he can be confident that slip ups aren't going to happen.

I recently inquired about UHU stics - those standard yellow tube glue sticks I always remember having in my house growing up. Although they're made by a German company they were very quick to respond...Here is my inquiry:

Hello, my son has celiac disease and cannot consume anything that contains gluten (wheat, rye, oats or barley) or anything that has come into contact with gluten. Since he is very young we also have to check for the presence of gluten in his craft supplies, including glue. Could you please tell me whether the UHU stic (glue stick) contains any gluten ingredients or could be cross contaminated with gluten? This information would be very helpful to me.

And their response:

thank you for your request. We can confirm, that none of our products contains gluten. We hope that we could help you with this answer. If you have further questions, don't hesitate to contact us again.

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A List of Favorites

I am so happy with the progress that we've made in the past two years in taste and quality of the gluten free specialty foods that are available. I have tasted a lot of terrible products but have found wonderful gluten free substitutions for pretty much everything that we used to eat. I don't feel like I am missing a thing anymore, and wanted to share with you a list of my family's favorite gluten free products. Hopefully this saves you some money on experimenting with bad products, and inspires you to try something new!

Favorite Gluten Free Specialty Foods (and more)

Cereal - Nature's Path Mesa Sunrise, Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise, Whole O's, and Corn Flakes, Chex Cinnamon, Corn, and Rice Cereals, Kellogg's Gluten Free Rice Krispies, EnviroKidz Peanut Butter Panda Puffs Cereal

Bagels - Udi's Cinnamon Raisin

Bread - Udi's Whole Grain, Udi's Cinnamon Raisin, Glutino Genius Bread

Bread Mixes - Pamela's Bread Mix, King Arthur Bread Mix, Judy's Magic Mixes Multi-mix

Snack Bars - Cashew Larabar, Chocolate Coconut Larabar

Protein Bar - Chocolate Peanut Butter Luna Bar

Kids Treats - Mi-del Gluten-Free Arrowroot Cookies, Annie's Homegrown Cocoa & Vanilla Bunny Cookies, Kinni-TOOS Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Cookie - GogoQuinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies (individually wrapped)

Cookie Mixes - King Arthur Cookie Mix, Judy's Magic Mixes Ultimate Cookie Mix (add chocolate chips)

Crackers - Crunch Master, Edward and Sons Purple Rice and Black Sesame, Glutino Original Crackers, Glutino Table Crackers

Pizza Crusts - Udi's, Kinnickinnick, O'Doughs

Snacks - Glutino Pretzels, Barkat Pretzels, Schar Cheese Bites

Pancake & Waffle Mix - Kinnikinnick

Frozen convenience items - Ian's Fish Sticks, Ian's Chicken Nuggets, Conte's Potato/Cheese/Onion Pierogis

Pasta - GogoQuinoa Spaghetti, Le Veneziane Pasta, Jovial, Tinkyada Brown Rice Macaroni and Lasagna Noodles

Mac n Cheese - Pastariso Instant Brown Rice

Sauces - Organicville Sesame Teriyaki Sauce, Organicville BBQ Sauce

Salad Dressing - Renée's Gourmet Creamy Asiago

Dip - Fontaine Santé Hummus

Cookbook - Cooking for Isaiah (we're reviewing a lot more cookbooks right now but this has provided us with an incredible base)

Do you have a favorite that's not listed here? I'd love to hear what products you enjoy. Post a comment below!

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Tazo Tea

Here's a little more tea information for you...almost all of the Tazo Teas are gluten free. Here's what their website says:

All our teas are gluten-free, except for the following: Green Ginger, Tazo Honeybush, Lemon Ginger and Tea Lemonade.

As for the rest, enjoy!

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Stash Tea

Yes, we even need to check to make sure the tea we're drinking is gluten free. I checked into Stash Tea and found the following statement on their website:

Do your teas contain gluten?

All of the flavors used in our blends are gluten-free. We do not use barley malt in any of our blends.

What I found very interesting is that quite a number of their teas contain soy. Take a look for yourself if you're interested! Search for the word "allergen" on their FAQ page to find it.

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Asian Pear, Hazelnut & Amaranth Financiers

I made Asian Pear, Hazelnut & Amaranth "Financiers" from Nectar today with BoyBee and they were delicious...I say "financiers" because I don't actually know how to say that word and I don't have the special pan so I just used a muffin pan. I though I'd share the recipe with my readers since it was so tasty. I love the nutritional value provided by the hazelnut meal and the amaranth flour! BoyBee had a great time pressing down the pieces of asian pear and sneaking a few bites :)

Photo credit: Nectar

ASIAN PEAR, HAZELNUT & AMARANTH FINANCIERS

Makes 8

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup natural cane sugar

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped

4 egg whites

1/2 cup hazelnut meal

1/2 cup amaranth flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 small Asian pear, peeled, cored, and diced

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease your individual bundt pans or line muffin pan with baking cups. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, cook the butter over medium high heat until the milk solids start to brown, about 5 minutes. Pour the brown butter (through a fine seive) into a bowl to cool for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla seeds. Rub all the ingredients together between your fingers until you can smell the lemon release its oils. Add the egg whites and whisk until lightly frothy. We are not looking for volume just that they are well mixed.

Add the hazelnut meal, amaranth flour, and salt. Whisk to combine. Add the butter and wisk. Scoop the batter into mold and fill a 3/4 of the way up. Toss the diced pears with the lemon juice. Divide the pears amongst the molds and lightly press them into the batter.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Let them cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert them onto a cooling rack.

Recipe credit: Nectar

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Five Guys Burgers and Fries

I contacted Five Guys Burgers and Fries last week to find out if their burgers and fries are safe for celiacs to eat. Here is their reply:

Thank you for taking the time to write in to Five Guys. We have received your concern.

It is never a problem to answer the questions of our customers, as we realize that health concerns are very important!

As it stands, we never guarantee no cross contamination because that is a risky promise to make! We ask all customers to use caution while dining at our store. However, be assured that we do take all possible precautions to prevent this i.e. our buns are toasted on a separate bread grill, and we place products on top of foil as opposed to directly on our prep surface. Many customers also find comfort in the fact that the kitchens of our restaurants are always kept open so they may watch their food be prepared! Our fryers for French fries ONLY cook French fries in that oil; NOTHING ELSE! Our burgers are made from pure 100% fresh ground chuck with no additives, fillers, or spices and our French fries are fresh cut potatoes, soaked in water and fried in refined peanut oil. There is no type of breading or coating put on them at all.

I am also pleased to inform you that we would be glad to prepare your burgers or dogs without a bun!

I do hope this adequately answers your questions and do feel free to let me know if I can answer any others!

Thanks again for reaching out to us and we hope that you and your family will enjoy us in the near future. We can’t wait to serve you!

Victoria Cerminaro
Customer Service Representative

Thanks Five Guys! That's a very thorough answer :)

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How to Save Money Eating a Gluten Free Diet

Grocery Alerts, a Canadian website focusing on Canadian grocery store deals (sales, coupons etc.) asked me to write a guest post for their site. The topic I chose was "How to Save Money Eating a Gluten Free Diet". Head on over to Grocery Alerts if you're interested!

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Spiced Banana Almond Meal Pancakes

Photo courtesy of Roost.

First off, I need to tell you I have followed a lot of really beautiful and sexy food blogs. (Am I allowed to say sexy on here?) There are some wonderful sites out there and they are so great for inspiration. The photos are amazing and the recipes usually follow suit. Nothing I have seen compares with Roost. Roost is such a beautiful website that it left me speechless for a while. Even now I don't have the words to describe the beauty of it. You will have to see for yourself. The photography is absolutely breathtaking.

I first came across Roost when a friend sent me a link to their recipe for Spiced Banana Almond Meal Pancakes. The pancakes in the photos looked fantastic, and the recipe was very healthful. I knew they would be easy for BoyBee to eat...and he seems to like anything that resembles a pancake. (If you've noticed that I have a slight obsession with pancakes, that is the reason why.) I've tried a few recipes based on almond flour, and while I am quite fond of almonds I was not fond of almond flour as a base flour in baking. I think it was the following statement on Roost that hooked me:

I scoured the internet searching for alternatives and found several recipes for almond flour pancakes. So with much trial and error I have found a combination to satisfy our cravings.

It sounded like Roost had already done the experimenting for me; I figured the recipe was worth trying. The pancakes are super healthy and I knew I would be ecstatic if BoyBee would eat such a healthful pancake. These pancakes easily exceeded my expectations. BoyBee gobbled them up without me even asking him to try them, and I loved them as well. We'll certainly be making them regularly.

Today I feel grateful that we were forced to explore a gluten free life. We have learned about so many new foods, and have found such healthier options for many traditional foods that we never would have thought to try. We still have much more to discover. With so many incredibly inspiring food blogs out there I am absolutely swimming in ideas and loving it!

Spiced Banana Almond Meal Pancakes

2 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

3 overripe bananas

2 eggs

ghee for greasing the pan (or coconut oil or butter)

honey and berries for topping

In a bowl mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients (including bananas).Pour wet and dry ingredients into a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. Heat a non-stick griddle pan or skillet and grease with ghee, coconut oil, or butter. Pour batter (if a little thick use a spoon to help flatten out the batter in the pan) into 4-inch rounds. Cook and flip until each side is done.

Remove from pan and spread with ghee, butter or coconut oil. Drizzle with honey. Top with berries and enjoy your Saturday!

Makes about 12 4-inch pancakes

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The Gluten Free Awards

I recently came across GFREEK.COM - this website conducts a survey each year to identify which gluten-free products are the best. The Gluten Free Awards publishes a winner in various categories...Pancake and Waffle Mix...Snack Bar...Gluten-Free Publication etc. They've completed this years survey and are starting to release the results of each category. It is a great resource and likely to save you some money as well if you can avoid a good portion of the trial and error of gluten free products.

You can check out G-Freek's Second Annual Gluten Free Awards here. I'm looking forward to seeing full results!

Thanks G-Freek for putting this together!

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