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Who Makes the Best Gluten-Free Chicken Tenders?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff

Taste is relative but below is a list of products that are very well received by many people on the gluten-free diet. This is by no means a comprehensive list. It includes only products I’ve tried and enjoyed personally.

Wellshire Farms makes gluten-free chicken nuggets but they were tested about a year ago and were proven to contain gluten. Much more in fact, than is allowed in gluten-free foods. Or rather more than 20ppm. There was a bit of a scandal involving Whole Foods who carried the item and would not pull the products from their stores until customers pressured them to do so. It was a bit of a public relations nightmare for the national grocery chain based in Texas. Wellshire Farms stated they would switch suppliers for their gluten-free batter to correct the problem.

The gluten-free brands in the bulleted list above are routinely tested for gluten to make sure they are safe for those on the gluten-free diet. Bell & Evans makes many gluten-free breaded chicken items which are very good. S’Better Farms chicken fingers have a very crunchy coating, reminding me of extra crispy chicken from KFC. In addition to making tasty chicken tenders, Applegate Farms also makes very good gluten-free sausage. Allergy Free Foods products are free of gluten and all eight major allergens.

In the Atlanta area, zpizza in Alpharetta and Pepperoni’s both serve gluten-free chicken nuggets. At those locations, the chicken tenders arrive to the restaurants already battered. The famous Roswell, GA Outback Steakhouse also serves gluten-free chicken fingers, but they make theirs in house, making them as good as any gluten version you’ll find. To my knowledge, no other Outback Steakhouse serves gluten-free chicken fingers at this time.

If you want to make your own chicken fingers at home, they are super easy to make. Cut your chicken into nugget size or finger size. Soak chicken pieces in skim milk for a couple of minutes before dredging in a gluten-free flour blend. Make sure to coat all sides of the chicken pieces. We use Domata or Jules brand flour. Add salt and pepper to flour ifdesired. Pan fy the chicken in olive or canola oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil. For a quick honey mustard sauce, blend equal parts of honey, mustard and mayo. Making your own sauce is cheaper than buying ready-made sauce and it tastes much better than anything from a jar.

Have a question about the gluten-free diet which we haven’t covered yet?  You can now submit your questions here! (Note: All medical questions should be directed to your physician)

What Books do you Recommend for People New to the Gluten-Free Diet?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff

That’s an easy question. For the best book about the gluten-free diet, check out Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide by Shelley Case. This is a must-read book for anyone on the diet for health reasons. Shelley has devoted much of her career to helping people learn how to follow a gluten-free diet. She is considered the foremost authority on our diet in North America – enough said.

If you’re like many of us and have a doctor that can’t tell you much about celiac disease, read Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic by Dr. Peter Green and Rory Jones. Dr. Green heads up the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University in NYC. His book covers which cancers untreated celiac can lead to, as well as a host of other invaluable information.

For a book with a sense of humor that explains that there is more to being gluten-free than following a diet, check out Living Gluten-Free for Dummies by Danna Korn. That book helped me understand that staying gluten-free is a lifestyle, which I was in denial about after my celiac diagnosis. Danna teamed up with accomplished gluten-free cookbook author Connie Sarros to create another fabulous Dummies series book – Gluten-free Cooking for Dummies.

If you’re looking for gluten-free cookbooks, there are a ton of those to choose from. Bette Hagman, who passed away a couple of years ago, was the pioneer of gluten-free cookbooks. Her books are sold on Amazon.com and many libraries carry them as well. Other terrific cookbook authors are Carol Fenster, Roben Ryberg, and again, Connie Sarros. Connie just released an updated version of an allergen cookbook that is full of gluten-free and dairy-free recipes. Elizabeth Barbone has a fabulous gluten-free cookbook and ‘gluten-free Baking’ by Rebecca Reilly is a lovely cookbook as well.

To learn how to eat out all around the world, check out Kim Koeller’s book “Let’s Eat Out with Celiac and Food Allergies!‘.

Have a question about the gluten-free diet which we haven’t covered yet?  You can now submit your questions here! (Note: All medical questions should be directed to your physician)

Is Movie Popcorn Gluten-Free?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff

Most major theatre companies including Regal and AMC report that their popcorn and butter (or imitation butter) is gluten-free. Popcorn is just popped corn and it is gluten-free. The gluten in corn is not the kind that needs to be avoided by people who can’t tolerate gluten. Grits are corn but sometimes grits packages will be marked ‘may contain wheat’. That is due to the processing methods used at some plants – not due to corn being unsafe for those with gluten intolerance.

Most theatre chains use the same suppliers for their concession items so it’s unlikely that you’ll find any popcorn that is not gluten-free. However, if you go to a non-brand name theatre, feel free to double-check with them about the popcorn they serve. The seasoning salt, cooking oil, and optional butter topping are the items to question. Theatre popcorn cooking oil generally doesn’t contain gluten as it’s usually coconut or canola oil. Both of those are gluten-free.

The one place you can eat food out in public where you don’t have to ask questions at is a movie theatre. This is assuming you don’t have a 100% gluten-free restaurant in your area. Theatres usually sell Coca-Cola soda products, which are gluten-free in the U.S.  and there is usually a wide range of candy – much of which is gluten-free. So you can have popcorn, a Coke, and some Raisinets and not ask one question about gluten. In fact, if you ask the teenager behind the counter if their popcorn is gluten-free, it would be surprising if they knew what you were talking about. For that reason, if you are unsure of the gluten-free status of the popcorn at your theatre, you should call the corporate office before going to the movies.

Many of us are watching movies at home these days and when we do – we like to have popcorn as well. Most, but not all, microwavable popcorn is also gluten-free. Read the label or check the website of your favorite brand. All Newman’s Own popcorn is gluten-free. Most U.S. manufacturers of microwavable popcorn seemed to have removed the weird chemical that causes the off condition called “popcorn lung”.

Enjoy the movies and your popcorn too! Thanks for the great questions – by sending them in, you’re helping others as well!

References:

Best Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

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

Gluten-Free Naturals makes an exceptional line of gluten-free mixes. Their new bread mix makes phenomenal focaccia among other things. But the stars in their line up for us are the Pancake & Waffle Mix and the Cookie Blend Mix. The cookie blend flour can be used in any gluten cookie recipe. The package explains how to sub out the gluten-free flour correctly and it’s very simple to do.

To date, I’ve tried a couple of ready made gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies but none of them were good enough to purchase a second time. As far as I can tell, the only way to enjoy amazing old fashioned soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies is to make them yourself. This is assuming you don’t live near a gluten-free bakery that sells them. If you need more information about gluten-free oats, read my recent post about them.

Bags2To find a cookie recipe, I searched Recipe Zaar until I found a highly rated oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. Then I used the gluten-free Naturals Cookie Blend flour and certified gluten-free oats from Gluten-Free Oats to make the cookies. As I was making the cookies, everything reminded me of the traditional gluten ones I always loved. But smells and textures can be deceiving when it comes to gluten-free baked goods – most of us have learned that the hard way! These cookies spread out a little more in the oven than the gluten version does but it did not affect the taste one bit.

The result of using the gluten-free Naturals mix to make these cookies was simply exquisite! They could win a bake off contest against gluten containing cookies – seriously! No other brand of oats I’ve tried for these cookies produces the same amazing results as the ones from gluten-free Oats. This is likely because the other brands are all thicker oats. In fact, one brand requires soaking before they can be used in cookies. I guess some people have time to soak oats but I certainly do not.

Last Christmas, I got absolute proof that these cookies are as good (or better!) than any gluten cookie around. Someone on my husband’s side of the family asked for the recipe. They asked another family member – not me. When directed to me – the person asking actually thought I’d made gluten cookies since they were so good. Sure – I made cookies that I could not eat – not likely! When someone who might go out of their way to avoid eating anything that’s gluten-free asks for your cookie recipe – you know you’ve got a winner!

This year I’m making a double batch of these cookies. I’m also keeping mine in a separate tin so I get my fair share  – or more – of these incredible old fashioned treats!

Cracker Barrel’s Gluten-Free Menu

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 11 Comments

When it comes to tracking down gluten-free restaurant information, some companies are excellent to work with while many others are difficult to get any official information from. Cracker Barrel is the latter, making it difficult to find any verified gluten-free menu information, either via phone call or their official website.

So, does Cracker Barrel offer anything that is safe to eat for those of us on a gluten-free diet?   Surely the answer is yes, although they may be hesitant to put anything official in writing. So far the only thing I’ve been able to find that has any value is the following information provided by a Cracker Barrel restaurant manager:

Meats:

  • Steak 10oz. Ribeye and Sirloin (You’ll need to request that these steaks and any other meats are not cooked on the “pancake/Bun/Sourdough Bread area of the grill”.  Sometimes the cooks just don’t know what the meat-only grill is for. )
  • Hamburger and Kids Burgers (no bun)
  • Sugar Cured Ham
  • Country Ham
  • Bacon
  • Grilled Chicken Tenders (un-marinated)
  • Grilled Catfish (no seasoning)
  • Grilled Trout (no seasoning)
  • Pork Chops (grilled only)
  • Turkey (request it be grilled as the dinner cut is baked in gravy when prepared for dinners, but it can be cut fresh from the breast and grilled)

Veggies:

  • Corn
  • Carrots
  • Green Beans
  • Turnip Greens
  • Mashed Potatoes
  • Boiled Cabbage (Sunday offering)
  • Boiled Red-skinned Potatoes (Tuesday offering)
  • Sweet Potato Casserole (Thursday offering)
  • Baby Lima Beans (Saturday offering)
  • Applesauce
  • Baked Potato (risky as prepped in the same area as croutons)
  • Fried Apples (though you may want to avoid these as they sit on the steam table right in front of the hashbrown casserole that contains gluten in the soup base. Cooks have been known to drop bits of the hashbrown into the apples in the process of serving up plates.)
  • Seasoned Rice (Saturday offering minus the baked chicken that it is served with, just tell them you want the rice as a veggie.)

Breakfast:

  • Grits
  • Eggs

Salads:

Cracker Barrel uses T. Mazetti dressings for most salad dressings.  Their fat-free dressings (FF Italian, FF Ranch, FF Honey Mustard, FF Thousand Island) are also from T. Mazetti, and come served to your table in a packet, so you can just read the ingredients on the labels.

  • Sirloin Salad (no croutons)
  • Un-Marinated Grilled Chicken Salad (no croutons)
  • Turkey Salad (no croutons)
  • Chef Salad (no croutons)
  • House Salad (no croutons)
  • Tossed Salad (no croutons)

Desserts:

  • Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

** The beef consume used in making brown rice (Friday offering) has wheat listed on the can. Brown rice is NOT safe.

The manager also recommends avoiding all foods that are fried at Cracker Barrel locations.   The complete post and additional information can be read here.

I’ve also read some reviews from gluten-free diners at Cracker Barrel locations and the reviews have been mixed, so hopefully, the information provided above helps!   Please remember to make sure to educate your server about your dietary needs.