Celiac Disease

Official Website of Celiac-Disease.com

You are here: Home / Blog

Blog

Gluten-Free Vending Machines

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 1 Comment

Even with the best of planning I still find myself without a gluten-free snack on occasion when I need one. While I do my best not to end up in these situations, I am human and am sometimes rushed, which leads me to be forgetful. Finding gluten-free food in a vending machine is a lot like playing a game of seek and find. Sometimes there are several options, sometimes there are none. Rarely are those options ever something “healthy” that will tide me over until my next meal.

What if that were to change? What if said vending machine was stocked with all gluten-free foods? iBGFree is just that!

Two machinesiBGFree was founded by Amy after realizing that there was nothing out there that addressed this need. Amy was diagnosed with Celiac Disease a couple of years ago and after she struggled with snack choices as she traveled for her job, she set out to find a way to solve this problem.

Seeking a gluten-free Solution

Why hadn’t someone addressed this need? Why couldn’t there be a healthy, gluten-free alternative that is easy to access while on the go? That potential ignited a spark inside me, and provided the initial motivation to launch iBGFree.

I set out to provide quality, gluten-free, on-the-go foods that could be conveniently purchased through vending machines. My vision was to place them in airports, schools, malls and anywhere they could benefit those like me: people with a medical need to eliminate gluten from their diet, as well as those choosing to live gluten-free.
However, it’s not just about convenience. It’s also about being part of a social fabric and being able to participate and enjoy the very basic act of breaking bread with others (tough since I can’t eat the bread!). Too often I’ve felt excluded because I am living gluten-free. Through iBGFree, I’d like to do my part to end that reality for everyone who is eliminating gluten from their diet.

My goal is simple – to provide good-tasting, healthful, grab-and-go snacks that everyone can enjoy as an alternative to greasy chips or fattening candy.

Amy hand-picks the gluten-free products that are sold in the iBGFree vending machines. These products must not only meet strict requirements for being gluten-free (and free from cross-contamination), but they have to taste good, too! A list of the products sold in these vending machines can be viewed here.

(source)

Review: Starbucks La Boulange Marshmallow Dream Bar

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Black Friday shopping always starts with breakfast at our favorite coffee shop. This year we had to make an adjustment after discovering our favorite shop was no longer there. Not many places were open at 4:30 AM, so we settled on Starbucks, as I knew I could drink the coffee (and I brought my own almond milk).

While none of the mixed coffee drinks are considered safe for those on a gluten-free diet and none of the bakery items are gluten-free, I knew there were some pre-packaged snacks that would suffice. Kind Bars are usually found at the counter in Starbucks, along with these newer Marshmallow Dream Bars from La Boulange.

IMG 4065Probably not the most nutritious way to start out my day, but a nice treat, nonetheless.

Ingredients:

marshmallow (corn syrup, sugar, modified corn starch, gelatin), crisped rice (rice, brown sugar, salt, distilled monoglycerides), corn syrup, salted butter (cream [from milk], salt), sugar, sea salt, maltodextrin, vanilla extract.

The Marshmallow Dream Bar (certified gluten-free) tasted just as good, if not better than the version I make at home. This version was a little softer and definitely gooey, just as it should be. Starbucks has locations across the US, though they may not have these bars available. Word on the street (net) is there is also a pre-packaged gluten-free chocolate cookie, though I have yet to see one.

Have you tried the Starbucks La Boulange Marshmallow Dream Bar? Have you seen the gluten-free chocolate cookie? 

Review: Barilla Gluten-Free Pasta

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 6 Comments

There are many different brands and varieties of gluten-free pasta on the market these days. Some of the pasta is made from rice, some from corn and some are a combination of gluten-free grains. Having such a variety helps drive down the price, which is great for us consumers. Barilla introduced gluten-free pasta to their line-up recently and it is priced very reasonably at $2.19/package (Meijer).

Barilla Gluten-Free Pasta is made from non-GMO rice and corn, made in a dedicated gluten-free facility, certified gluten-free (GFCO), and tastes like real (not gluten-free) pasta.

IMG 3868I decided to make a simple pasta dish with the Barilla gluten-free Spaghetti variety and Prego Three Cheese sauce.

This pasta really does taste “real” and very much like what I remember pasta tasting like. It isn’t sticky or gummy and even tastes good cold the next day! I love that there are four different shapes of Barilla gluten-free Pasta:

  • Elbows
  • Penne
  • Rotini
  • Spaghetti

Look for Barilla gluten-free Pasta in the pasta aisle of your favorite local grocery store. Have you tried the new gluten-free pasta from Barilla? What did you think? 

Recipe: Gluten-Free No Bake Cheesecake

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Saturday I made Jon a No Bake Cheesecake with the Mi-Del Gluten-Free Graham Style Pie Crust. The recipe came on the backside of the label and was very simple to prepare. I think the hardest part was refrigerating it for four hours before serving it! We kept looking in the fridge, checking on it like it was a turkey with a pop-up thingy to let us know when it was done.

 

It’s finally ready! Fortunately, the four-hour mark fell right after dinner, so we wasted no time digging in.

This pie didn’t disappoint! The filling was flavorful, though not as dense as traditional cheesecake, which I am sure is due to the “no bake” part. The crust held up to the heavy filling and was identical to what I remember regular graham cracker crust being like. Jon polished off the entire thing before he headed back to school on Sunday evening.

No Bake Cheesecake 

IMG 3721Ingredients:

  • 1 Mi-Del gluten-free Graham Style Crust
  • 1 8 oz. packages of cream cheese at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 4 oz. heavy cream
  • 1 Tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth, add sugar, and mix well. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix well.
  2. In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks begin to form. Beat in confectioners’ sugar until peaks form; do not overheat. Fold whipped cream into the prepared mix from a large bowl.
  3. Spoon into gluten-free Graham Style Crust
  4. Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

Recipe: Better-For-You Pumpkin Mashed Potatoes

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

The theme for me lately seems to be comfort foods. I just received a recipe in my inbox for pumpkin mashed potatoes from Allen Dikker, owner and creator of Potatopia, and that certainly seems to fit the theme. Potatopia is an all-potato concept restaurant located in Edison, NJ, Staten Island, and NYC.

The easy fall recipe below was created by Allen Dikker. The recipe, as written, is gluten-free.

NewImageBetter-for-You Pumpkin Mashed Potatoes

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 15 mins
Ingredients:
1   pound medium baking potatoes, peeled and quartered
2   cloves garlic, peeled
1   cup canned pumpkin
2   tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese
1   tablespoon butter or tub-style vegetable oil spread
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup fat-free milk
Directions:
1. In a covered large saucepan, cook potatoes and garlic in enough boiling water to cover for 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender; drain. Mash with a potato masher or beat with an electric mixer on low speed until nearly smooth. Beat in canned pumpkin, cream cheese, butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Gradually add milk, beating until light and fluffy. Return to saucepan; heat through.
2. If desired, spoon mashed potatoes into Miniature Pumpkin Bowls and garnish with sage leaves. Makes 4 servings (3/4 cup each)

I love all things pumpkin and I love mashed potatoes. I was the kid who chose mashed potatoes over French fries any day. Combine two of my favorites together and I am sure I will be in heaven when I sit down to enjoy a large bowl of these potatoes.