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Jason’s Deli Gluten-Free Menu

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 4 Comments

For anyone who is familiar with gluten-free bread, you know that Udi’s is one of the top bread out there. It is a bread that tastes great straight out of the package, no heating or toasting necessary. Once I discovered Udi’s it has been difficult to try other bread because I love how I can just make a sandwich as easily as I did before being gluten-free with equally, if not better, amazing results.

Official Website Menu Information: Jason’s Deli Gluten-Free Menu
Location Finder: Find a Jason’s Deli Location Near You

On July 6th, I decided I would give Jason’s Deli a try. Before I headed out, I checked their allergen list online to prepare myself for what I could and could not eat. Unfortunately, I decided to go at lunchtime so it was extremely busy.  I have not been to a Jason’s Deli for years, so I looked at the menu, and could clearly see where items were listed with a ‘g’ for gluten-free, however on their regular menu it didn’t mention anything about sandwiches being safe, just salads and some of their potatoes.  I know when I looked online it showed that their meats and cheeses were safe, but it was not reflected on the menu.  I asked the server at the counter and he wasn’t sure either and said if it is not listed with a ‘g’ it would not be safe.  I was so confused.  He said they had gluten-free bread, and I could see the Udi’s loaves behind the counter, but if it didn’t list which meats and cheeses were safe, what would I have on my sandwich bread?

I asked to talk to a manager, and he showed me a special gluten-free menu they had behind the counter. He explained how since they just started it the previous day they were still pretty new to it.  I suggested that they keep the gluten-free menu in front so people could see it, and he replied that they only had 4 so they would wait until someone asked to look at them. I went ahead and ordered a roasted turkey and cheddar sandwich with a side of potato salad for myself and a tuna salad sandwich with hummus and chips for my husband, both on gluten-free bread.

As I waited and watched the sandwich makers make sandwiches I had a sudden panic about cross-contamination. I quickly went up and asked the manager if they use new gloves and a separate surface when making gluten-free sandwiches. He told me, no, but they could.  This worried me. I told him that yes absolutely, I would like them to use new gloves and a separate surface and when my sandwich was complete he assured me that he helped make them and made sure they used a clean area.  Again, I can understand they are new to this, but I would have hoped the staff would have been well-trained before the introduction because cross-contamination would be extremely easy here.

I took the sandwiches and set off to enjoy my lunch poolside. The end result was fantastic.  The turkey sandwich was just like the deli sandwiches I enjoyed when living in NYC..massive! The tuna salad was delicious too, and usually, I am not a huge fan of potato salad, but this one has got to be my favorite, it was kind of like a mashed potato salad.  It was so nice to be able to eat a sandwich from a chain like every other person.

In the end, I had a very good experience and will go back again; however, I can see how the opportunity for cross-contamination would be great, and it is necessary to ask them to change gloves and use a separate, cleaned surface from the rest of their sandwiches. Hopefully, once they have been doing this for a while, they will know to do this on their own.  I would also suggest that they make the special gluten-free menu readily available and that they mark the finished sandwich on the outside of the wrapper as being gluten-free, perhaps with a sticker or even a big ‘G’ written on it.  This would avoid any confusion when next to gluten sandwiches, and give some piece of mind to the customer.

A big thank you goes out to Jason’s Deli for providing to the growing gluten-free population! You can check out our Jason’s Deli gluten-free options review here.

Jason’s Deli Gluten-Free Menu

Soups

  • Tomato Basil

Salads

  • Mesa Chicken Salad
  • The Big Chef (request gluten-free dressing)
  • Nutty Mixed-Up Salad (request gluten-free dressing)
  • Chicken Club Salad (request gluten-free dressing)

As always, when dining out gluten-free, do your due diligence and make sure the staff understands your needs. There are very few restaurants that are 100% gluten-free, so cross-contamination is always a risk. If you don’t feel comfortable with what you are hearing from the staff, perhaps it is best to dine elsewhere.

For information about other gluten-free restaurants menus, check out our gluten-free restaurants page.

Review: Gluten-Free Chips and Salsa

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 2 Comments

It’s pretty easy to find salsa and tortilla chips that are made without gluten-free ingredients. However, if you’re looking for either item with the words gluten-free on the label, you might pay a hefty price for them. Most tortilla chips are made from corn and are gluten-free, but many popular brands are not labeled as such. Some brands are made without gluten ingredients, though due to the manufacturing process, many companies won’t state the item is gluten-free. Many mainstream brands of salsas are gluten-free, but again, they are not all labeled that way.

Enter Drew’s Salsa and Green Mountain Gringo Tortilla Chips. While shopping at my local health food store recently, I found both items and noticed that both were labeled gluten-free. I’ve been using some of the gluten-free dressings from Drew’s for years, but they would not say their salsas were gluten-free when I inquired quite a while back. The Double Fire Roasted Salsa from Drew’s is not only gluten-free and delicious, it’s made with 100% organic ingredients.

Green Mountain Gringo chips are certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization (a GIG program) and the bag bears the GFCO symbol. The chips have a wonderful rectangle shape, making them the perfect chip for salsas and dips. The taste of the chips is pretty much like most any really good corn chip. They have a great texture that offers a perfect crunch. I’m a salt addict and there is plenty of salt on these chips for me. People that don’t like salty chips would probably not enjoy these. Until I looked the website up, I had no idea the company also makes several salsas – and all of them are gluten-free as well.

From the Green Mountain Gringo website:

ALL OF OUR PRODUCTS ARE: All Natural, No Preservatives or artificial colors or flavors. gluten-free, Cholesterol Free, No GMO’s (Genetically modified produce).

The salsa from Drew’s contains organic tomatoes, peppers, onions, spices, cider vinegar, water, garlic, herbs, sea salt and black pepper. It’s all real food and all the flavors meld perfectly to offer the finest tasting salsa I’ve had from a jar. Because I don’t like any chunks of anything in my salsa, I actually use a small food processor to puree the whole jar so it’s just the way I like it when I have a hankering for chips and salsa. Most people would not consider the Drew’s salsa I bought to be “chunky”, but unless it’s pulverized, it’s chunky to me.

It’s not that difficult to make home made salsa and it would be rare to find a recipe for it that calls for gluten ingredients. If you need to make a lot of salsa for a party, it would be more cost effective to make it from scratch than to buy several jars of it. In our case, it’s very cost effective to buy ready made salsa because we don’t go through it that fast. It’s great to be able to find more and more gluten-free labeled items that don’t cost a fortune these days. Here’s to hoping this wonderful trend continues!

Gluten-Free Dining in Greenville, SC

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

Several years ago, I remember people reporting that they drove to Atlanta from Greenville, SC to shop for gluten-free food. The pickings’ were quite slim in Greenville back then, apparently. My only other knowledge about gluten-free options in the area was about California Dreamin’. We used to eat there on the way to Charlotte before I was gluten-free and once I inquired about gluten-free options there, we never went back. So, when relatives moved to the area, right away, I assumed that gluten-free dining options would be quite limited and therefore, I’d need to pack a lot of food for visits up there.

Skip to last week, when we had one of the best gluten-free lunches we’ve had in a long while – in Greenville, SC! As always, I googled the city name with gluten-free to see what popped up. The Greater Greenville Celiacs support group came up and it was full of  helpful gluten-free information in the area. What was most impressive was the fact that so many of the dining options listed were not chains. There is nothing more disheartening to me, when searching for gluten-free dining options in an area, than finding only chains like Outback or Carrabba’s listed. No thanks. I can eat at those places at home.

Now that I had several gluten-free dining options for Greenville, I went to my next step – checking the ratings of any places that might be listed on Trip Advisor. Sure enough, several of the places were on Trip Advisor, but one in particular really intrigued me. Larkins on the River not only was ranked 19th out of over 400 ranked Greenville restaurants, there is an amazing gluten-free menu on their website! As it turns out, someone in the Larkins family has to eat gluten-free. Therefore, they make many of their signature dishes gluten-free, including their She Crab Soup! That was all I needed to know. I promptly made lunch reservations at Larkins on the River (via Open Table) and excitedly anticipated the trip.

The restaurant is on the river, of course. However, it is also located in the bustling (but not too large) downtown area of Greenville. Who knew that Greenville was such a  happening place? Probably people that live in the charming city! The area really has a lot to offer the locals and tourists alike. Anyway, the restaurant has both gluten-free sandwich bread and hamburger buns. They bread is baked off -site and I already knew from other reviews that it was indeed gluten-free. I ordered the half sandwich and soup special, which was only $8 plus a $1 upcharge for gluten-free bread. Our delightful server arrived back at the table with a basket of gluten bread and a plate of gluten-free bread for me. I also got my own plate of flavored olive oil for dipping. Since I was only having a half sandwich, I determined that I could eat at least some of the table bread. It was wonderful and it wasn’t toasted or anything! The slices were pretty thick and I immediately thought about how great it would be to use for French toast.

When my meal arrived, the smell of the She Crab Soup alone was enough to send me into a giddy state of mind. I have not had this particular type of soup out in a restaurant in well over four years. The Monte Cristo sandwich was beautifully golden from the parmesan cheese coating on the outside. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a Monte Cristo sandwich of any kind before, but now I’m hooked on them! The smoked ham and Fontina cheese, plus the crispy cheese on the wonderful bread was almost too much gluten-free goodness to take in at once. Add the factor of the best She Crab Soup (yes, better than the gluten version at Uncle’s Ernies in St. Andrews Bay, FL) I’ve ever enjoyed in my life and you have one amazing gluten-free experience!

The gluten-free bread at Larkins was just like bread. It was unlike most other gluten-free breads I’ve had, including those I love. There was no odd taste or texture to it and no aftertaste. The server told us that one of the flours used to make the bread is – you’ll never guess – cactus flour! Yes – that’s one of the flours they use to make the great tasting bread! It also contains garbonzo flour and there is no rice flour in it. Strangely enough, I did not detect the bean flour at all. Now I can’t wait to go back for brunch to enjoy gluten-free French toast!

Review: Gluten-Free Taco Rice Skillet Meal

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 3 Comments

The amount of gluten-free products offered by Mixes from the Heartland is simply mind boggling. The company factory in Texas produces mixes that cover pretty much every category you can think of. From soup and dessert sauce mixes to pasta meal mixes, desserts and breads – Mixes from the Heartland has you covered. Previously, I’d only made desserts from the line. I reviewed the Impossible Coconut Pie here.

Finally, I made a dinner using on of the mixes and now I’m sorry I waited so long before getting around to it. The gluten-free Taco Rice Skillet Meal is super easy to make. You just brown ground beef (or turkey) and pour the mix and some water into the pan and mix it all up. That is my kind of cooking. Open a few things and put them in the pan and stir occasionally – perfect.

After tasting the delicious meal, I realized that in addition to using ground beef or turkey, chicken chunks might also work in the meal. The overall taste is quite delicious, thought it’s just this side of being too spicy for me. I’m a bit of a light weight when it comes to spicy foods. To balance that out, I served mine over a bed of romaine lettuce and cooled it down a bit with a dollop of sour cream. It was simply perfect that way! My husband loved the meal too, but he didn’t have his as a salad since he likes spicy food.

There is rice in the meal, but it’s precooked so the entire cooking process takes about 25 minutes from start to finish (after the meat is browned). Quick, easy and delicious are the things I look for when it comes to making a basic week night dinner and this mix totally fits that bill. In fact, the Taco Rice Skillet Meal was so good that it felt a little like a special occasion meal. When something tastes so good that people think it took you much longer than it actually did to make, that’s a very good thing indeed!

The ingredients in the mix are very “clean” and include  instant rice, tomato powder, chili powder, black pepper, dehydrated onions, carrots, parsley, celery, tomato, red and green bell peppers, celery powder, garlic powder. There are no fake ingredients in the product line.  All of the Mixes from the Heartland products are free of eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, oats, barley, rye and wheat and none of those allergens are used in the factory. Some products are also dairy-free, but Mixes from the Heartland is extremely careful regarding how they handle any and all allergens.

There is no bean flour used in any of the products so the quick breads and brownies taste like they’re supposed to. Meaning they don’t taste like beans. The product line carries the Celiac Sprue Association seal and test at 5 ppm (or less) for gluten. The standard is presently 20 ppm so Mixes from the Heartland is ahead of the game when it comes to gluten-free safety.

Now that I’ve sampled one of the dinner mixes from the Mixes from the Heartland line, I can’t wait to try one of the many other meal mixes available. Mixes from the Heartland mixes has a great deal on shipping – offering a flat $10 free on orders under $100 and FREE shipping on orders over $100. They also have a wonderful gluten-free Buying Club – sort of like a Costco for gluten-free food. Let us know if you’ve tried any products from the company and if so, how you enjoyed them.

Marshall’s Gluten-Free Finds

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

Most people probably don’t go shopping for food at Marshall’s discount store, but time and again I’ve found some interesting gluten-free labeled foods at that store. On my last visit there, I found some great tea that I’d found there in the past. It’s the Tea of Life brand and both types of teas I’ve purchased at Marshall’s are labeled gluten-free. The tins are really nice and reusable. Both the Earl Grey and English Breakfast teas from Tea of Life are wonderful.

There are always some imported pasta sauces at Marshall’s that are labeled gluten-free, but none of them have ever been what I consider a great value. Therefore, I have not purchased any and I don’t recall the brand names. Gluten-free pasta sauces are a dime a dozen anyway so I don’t feel the need to pay for imported brands of that type of item.

A new gluten-free find during my last visit to Marshall’s were Baked Lentil Chips from The Mediterranean Snack Food Company. Right on the front of the bag it says the chips are gluten-free and on the back on the package, it states “vegan and celiac friendly”. The chips are all natural and fairly healthy for a snack food. There is 12% of the RDA of fiber in them and 4 grams of protein in each serving.

I decided to buy the sea salt and cracked pepper lentil chips, even though I need another gluten-free snack like I need a hole in the head. The 4.5 oz. bag was $2.99 which isn’t a great value in my opinion. However, I like the fact that the chips are labeled gluten-free so I decided to try them. The chips were pretty good with a very nice texture, but there was some subtle flavor in them that I didn’t care for. The chips work really well for dips because they are so thick. I’m going to try the Cucumber Dill version if I find it. Please note that not all products in this line are gluten-free.

Here is some interesting information about the company from the Mediterranean Snack Foods website:

  • We are committed to providing the best natural snack products for our customers who we consider part of our family.
  • Our products are grown naturally, free from any additives, chemicals and genetic modification.
  • We are long term partners with our customers and retailers, and value our relationship with them.
  • We are committed to supporting the local communities we serve and the longevity of all our partners, employees and suppliers that work with us.

It’s common for people to start limiting themselves in many ways after they’re told to follow the gluten-free diet for health reasons. It pays off to think outside the gluten-free box whenever you get the chance. Instead of thinking about things you can’t do or foods you can’t eat, it’s much more fun to focus on the great foods you can have and modify your activities to fit your new life. When it comes to shopping for foods, consider all the possibilities around you. There is no need to limit yourself to shopping at expensive health food stores only or even to just grocery stores. I’ve found terrific soups, gluten-free licorice and much more at stores that most people don’t think of for food shopping. It really can be fun to be gluten-free!