Celiac Disease & Gluten Free Diet Resources
Jan 28 2012

Keeping Warm with Kettle Cuisine

While the weather this winter seems to be much milder than those of the recent past, it is still nice to have a nice, warm bowl of soup on a chilly day.  Kettle Cuisine has 10 varieties of single-serve, frozen soups to help keep you warm.  More about Kettle Cuisine:

Kettle Cuisine is an independent, artisan soup maker that has cooked uncompromised soup since 1986 by treating food the way it’s supposed to be treated at every step of the way – sourcing the best natural ingredients, preparing each ingredient properly and with painstaking attention to detail, and never adding anything unnecessary or artificial.

Our Core Values

  • Feed people the best soup possible – every time.
  • Source the best tasting, highest-quality ingredients we can find.
  • Stay true to our core culinary ideals – no shortcuts.
  • Promote and support the well being of all of the great people on our team.
  • Remain honest and transparent in everything that we do.
  • Minimize our environmental impact as much as we can.
  • Make a lasting positive impact on our local community and the fight against hunger.

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All of the Kettle Cuisine soups are gluten-free; some varieties may also be dairy-free, vegetarian and/or low fat.  The different varieties include:

Angus beef steak chili with beans – GF, DF

Chicken chili with white beans – GF

Chicken soup with rice noodles – GF, DF, LF

New England clam chowder – GF

Organic mushroom and potato – GF, V

Roasted vegetable – GF, V, DF

Southwest chicken and corn chowder – GF

Thai curry chicken soup –GF, DF

Three bean chili – GF, V, DF

Tomato soup with garden vegetables – GF, DF, V

We received samples of the Angus beef steak chili with beans, chicken chili with white beans, New England clam chowder, roasted vegetable, Thai curry chicken soup and tomato soup with garden vegetables.  Jon made sure to let me know that he wanted to have the chili and use it over tortilla chips for nachos.  He loved it!  The chili had a great texture and flavor with a nice kick to it!  The other varieties were equally as tasty with my favorite being the New England clam chowder.  I love clam chowder an I forgot just how much until I had this soup.  A fun meal idea is to try the Thai curry chicken soup over a cup of brown rice.  There is no skimping of ingredients with these soups – each spoonful contains a little bit of everything.

Kettle Cuisine soups can be found in your grocer’s natural food freezer in the US and now Canada too!  Click here to find the location nearest you that carries Kettle Cuisine.  Have you tried Kettle Cuisine soups?  Which is your favorite?

***These soups were provided free of charge for review purposes.  The opinions stated here are mine and have not been influenced by anyone or anything.

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Jan 27 2012

NFCA Conducting Study on Gluten in Medications

Do you find it difficult to determine whether or not your medication is gluten-free?  Does your pharmacist look at you like you are crazy when you ask about gluten?  As much publicity as gluten has been getting in the food industry, it hasn’t been getting nearly the same amount in the drug industry.

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) is conducting a study along with St. John’s University College of Pharmacy & Allied Health Professions.  More about the study:

1/4/2012

Submit your answers to participate in this landmark celiac disease and gluten sensitivity research study.

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) is working with St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions to study the effect on people who follow a gluten-free diet if they take medicine that contains gluten, a protein in wheat, barley and rye. The US Food and Drug Administration is funding this research study.

The study has two parts. First, we will conduct this survey, and then we will test some medicines to see if they contain gluten. The results of this survey will help us learn more about people’s experiences, and will help us decide which medicines we will test for gluten. Together these findings could help the medical and scientific communities see that more research and investigation are needed.
People who are following a gluten-free or a wheat-free diet may take this survey, or may have someone take the survey for them. By taking this survey, you are giving permission for you or the subject of the survey to be involved in this research study.
This survey will take between 4 and 15 minutes to complete, depending on your responses.It closes on February 28, 2012.

Information submitted for this survey will be used for this research purpose only. NFCA will never sell or give your information from this survey to a third party or use it for mailing list purposes.

To participate in this study, click here and follow the directions. The study is open until February 28, 2012.  I just completed the survey myself and it took less than 10 minutes to complete.  Keep in mind that the time to complete the survey may differ depending on your answers to the questions asked.  The final report on this research study will be published when it is complete in 2013.

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Jan 26 2012

What would you like to see?

This post is going to be a little different than our typical posts, instead of writing about a new gluten-free product or restaurant review, we would like to take this opportunity to hear from our readers.

While we are all reading Celiac-Disease.com to learn more about gluten-free living, we may all be coming here for different reasons.  Some of us have children with celiac, some want to learn how to understand their celiac friend or significant other, some want recipes, some want to learn about new products, some want the latest news about celiac research, some have recently been diagnosed themselves and are trying to navigate their new gluten-free lifestyle.  The diversity is endless, and we would like to hear from you, so we can provide more information and write articles that are the most useful for our readers.

I know that even though I was diagnosed with celiac three years ago and have been living a 100% gluten-free lifestyle ever since, I am constantly researching information online, whether it is about a menu at a local restaurant; what I can expect when I travel to a different country; or the debate on whether blue cheese and distilled alcohol is safe.  Sometimes I am in the grocery store aisle, and need quick information on a product, and am so thankful when I can pull out my phone and find a review about it online.

That being said, we would love to hear from you about the following:

Is there an article on here you keep coming back to as a reference?

What gluten-free information do you regularly search for online?

What do you find the most helpful on Celiac-Disease.com?

Is there something you would like to see that you have not seen on this site?

What type of articles would you like to see more?

Please respond and let us know your thoughts.  We look forward to reading your feedback.

 

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Jan 26 2012

Review: Simply Organic Brownies

Brownies.  They can be simple or complex, fudgey or cakey. They can be frosted or unfrosted.  They can have nuts or they can be nut-free.  How do you like your brownies?  I have simple needs.  I just need my brownie here, right in front of me on a plate and ready for the taking.

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Simply Organic has a super-simple brownie mix, only requiring that I add 2 eggs and melted butter.  Vegan?  No worries, just use 1/4 cup soy butter and powdered egg replacer to replace the eggs.  The batter was thick and was tough to spread into a greased 8 x 8 inch pan.  I had to show the batter who was boss!  The box recommends baking at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick or a knife comes out clean.  My oven took a little longer, but it may have not been up to temperature when I put the brownies in.

Ingredients: Organic Fair Trade Certified cane sugar, organic brown rice flour, organic Fair Trade Certified cocoa powder (processed with alkali), organic potato starch, natural flavor (maltodextrin, enzyme-modified cocoa butter), xanthan gum, sea salt, baking soda.

Once the brownies were out of the oven, I let them cool in the pan on a wire rack for several hours.  Then, the fun part!

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These brownies did not disappoint!  I considered frosting them with cream cheese frosting, but decided to  try them “naked” first.  I am glad I did!  These were definitely more on the fudgey side, my favorite!  I ended up spreading a touch of almond butter on top for a sinful dessert treat!

Simply Organic gluten-free baking mixes can be purchased on their website or in stores across the US – click here and enter your zip code on the right to find them near you. How do you like your brownies?

***The mix reviewed in this post was sent to me free of charge for review purposes.  The opinions stated here are mine and have not been influenced by anyone or anything.

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Jan 25 2012

Toscano & Sons Italian Market in Atlanta

On a recent trip to the west side of Atlanta, I walked past a delicious-smelling Italian market, and decided to go in and check it out. Even though I technically do not live far from this side of town, I find that I usually don’t venture too far from the east side of town.  So when I walked by Toscano & Sons Italian Market, I had to check it out. I figured there would not be much available for me, but I always think it is fun to browse through speciality food markets and enjoy what they offer, vicariously, even if I can not indulge in their baked goods or sandwiches.

And I am not going to lie, there are a lot of scrumptious looking baked goods, and freshly made sandwiches, that are just plainly off limits for us, but the market was also full of rows of authentic Italian foods: rice for risotto, canned Marzano tomatoes, olives, wine, candy, cheese and much more. And as I walk to the back of the store, I see something that is what every celiac wants to see..a display of gluten-free Italian goods.  It is the little things like this that make a huge difference.

It was exciting to see a bunch of Italian products and brands I have not seen before including pastas (including children’s pasta), cookies and crackers. And of course since I have never tried any of these, I had to buy a bunch to take home.  Many of the products I tried were by Galbusera, an Italian company that has a line of gluten-free (senza gluntine) crackers and cookies.  My Italian was a little rusty, but when I looked at the packaging and ingredient list I knew these were safe.

The cookies and crackers were all packaged in snack-size packs, so within the larger package were smaller packages, to make it easy to take on the go as a snack or to put it in your child’s lunch.  My daughter loved the chocolate wafer cookies.  My favorite was the butter cookies with bits of chocolate.  They tasted exactly like what I used to have in my lunch when I was an exchange student in Paris.  Buttery and flaky, and perfect.  We also bought some savory crackers that are like a saltine with a hint of rosemary.  These were also a hit with my family, including my daughter.  And the best part was the price, they were between $3 and $4.50 and cheaper than most other gluten-free alternatives found in regular grocery stores.

This place is definitely a hidden gem, with their imported gluten-free products, as well as all of their other naturally gluten-free imported goods. I will definitely be making the trip to the west side of town more often.

Toscano & Sons is located just outside of downtown Atlanta in the trendy and up and coming west side.  They are at 1000 Marietta Street, Suite 106, Atlanta, GA 30318.   They are open Monday from 10am – 6pm, Tuesday – Friday 10am – 7pm, and Saturday 10am – 4pm.

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Jan 25 2012

Review: Toosie’s Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour

Who doesn’t love a good chicken tender?  Jon has been begging for me to make chicken fingers lately and for some reason I have been delaying.  I think it was because I had visions of a huge mess, though it really wasn’t as bad as I thought.  I was baking with Toosie’s gluten-free all purpose flour and saw a recipe for chicken tenders on the back of the box, so I decided to take the plunge.

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The ingredients can be counted on one hand, which makes me a happy girl!  I love simple products. 

Whole grain brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch and xanthan gum.

What I like about this flour mix is that it contains the xanthan gum, but not the leavening agents, making it very easy to use in your own recipes that call for non-gluten-free flour. 

IMG_0436

The recipe on the back is very simple, however I need to find a better way to dip the tenders other than using my hands, as they looked like they were ready to be tossed into the pan & cooked along with the chicken.  Perhaps tongs would have been a better option.  Hindsight. 

Chicken Tenders

*Recipe courtesy of Toosie’s Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour box

Ingredients

1 lb. of chicken cut into strips/tenders

3/4 cup Toosie’s All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour

1 tbsp. garlic powder

1/2 tbsp. black pepper

1 tbsp. salt (I cut this to about 1/2 tbsp.)

1 tbsp. basil

1 tbsp. oregano

1/4 cup shredded parmesan (I used grated because it was all that I had on hand.)

2 eggs mixed with 2 tbsp. water

Directions

1.  Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Mix eggs & water in a separate bowl. 

2.  Place rinsed chicken tenders on a plate.  Dredge chicken through flour, then egg, then flour again. 

3.  Set floured chicken in a single layer on a plate.

4.  Heat 3-4 tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, place chicken tenders in the skillet & cook 5-7 minutes per side or until cooked all the way through & they are nicely browned. 

5.  Remove chicken from pan & let sit on a plate that has been lined with a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

**If you choose to bake these, rather than fry them, simply bake at 350 degrees on a baking sheet that is oiled with 1 tbsp. oil for 10 min, then flip, then bake another  10-15 minutes. 

The kids loved these, as did I!  I was a little worried about Hannah liking them because of the amount of pepper & other seasonings, but she raved about them.  I will definitely be making these again for the kids. 

***The flour reviewed in this post was sent to me free of charge for review purposes . The opinions stated here are mine and have not been influenced by anyone or anything. 

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