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Review: Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Corn Pasta

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 5 Comments

Much to my delight, Trader Joe’s has been selling gluten-free brown rice pasta for the past few years. On a recent trip to Trader Joe’s, I found that they have now added corn pasta to their repertoire.  The new gluten-free corn pasta comes in spirals and spaghetti shapes (or at least that is what I found in my local store).

The pasta comes in a 1 pound package with 8 servings.  This package only served 4 of us, but maybe our servings were larger than the package intended them to be.  The first thing I noticed when cooking this pasta was that it didn’t seem to stick together while cooking like the brown rice pasta does.  The package said to cook for 8 minutes or until the pasta reaches desired consistency.  It was perfect at 8 minutes.

While my pasta was cooking, I sauteed some veggies in some olive oil & red wine to mix in with my marinara sauce.

Once my veggies were done, I drained the pasta.  I plated the pasta and then topped with marinara, garbanzo beans & then the veggies.IMG_0290

Everyone in my house likes different sauces on their pasta.  I always have a base marinara & Alfredo and then we can doctor them up as we like.  My favorite is 1/2 cup marinara heated with 1TBSP almond butter and tossed with 1/4 cup garbanzo beans.

This pasta held up well to each different version of sauce (plain marinara to heavy like, shown above).  Aaron even reheated the pasta in a frying pan with his sauce and veggies.  The pasta didn’t become mushy or gummy at all, which can be common with brown rice pasta.  The flavor was subtle and took on the flavor of the sauce that it was topped or tossed with.

I would absolutely buy this pasta again, especially if I was planning on making enough for leftovers.  It reheats well and stands up to heavier sauces.

Have you tried Trader Joe’s corn pastas?  What did you think?

Jamba Juice Gluten-Free Menu

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

The other day as I was reading my email, I read about a woman whose daughter had been glutened by Jamba (formerly Jamba Juice), or more specifically, the brown sugar topping that was put on top of her smoothie. It is important to note that when I write these posts, I do so to inform the community so that we can all learn & be reminded to check the food and drinks we consume each and every time we order and consume them. If one person has made a mistake, it is likely that others have or might be on their next outing.

While the majority of items (smoothies) that Jamba Juice serves are gluten-free, there are a few items to be aware of. Obviously, the baked goods, sandwiches, wraps & oatmeal are not gluten-free, but neither is the brown sugar topping. The Jamba Juice website clearly details which items are free of gluten and then shows which items contain gluten in the ingredient description of each item.

Official Website Menu Information: Jamba Juice Gluten-Free Menu
Location Finder: Find a Jamba Juice Location Near You

Jamba Juice Gluten-Free Menu

The list of smoothies that are free of gluten are:

  • 3G Charger™ Boost
  • Acai Super-Antioxidant™
  • Aloha Pineapple®
  • Antioxidant Power™ Boost
  • Apples & Greens
  • Banana Berry
  • Berry Up BEET
  • Blackberry Bliss
  • Caribbean Passion
  • Carrot Juice
  • Chocolate Moo’d
  • Classic Hot Chocolate
  • Coffee Craze
  • Five Fruit Frenzy
  • Flax & Fiber Boost
  • Immunity Boost
  • Mango Mantra
  • Manga-a-go-go
  • Matcha Energy Shot Orange Juice
  • Matcha Energy Green Tea Blast
  • Mega Mango
  • Mocha Mojo
  • Orange Carrot Karma
  • Orange Dream Machine
  • Orange Juice
  • Organic African Nectar
  • Organic Breakfast
  • Organic Detox Infusion
  • Organic Earl Grey
  • Organic Green Dragon
  • Organic House Blend
  • Organic House Blend Decaf
  • Organic Spring Jasmine
  • Original Spiced Chai
  • Peach Perfection
  • Peach Pleasure
  • Peanut Butter Moo’d
  • Pomegranate Paradise
  • Pomegranate Pick-me-up
  • Protein Berry Workout
  • Pumpkin Smash
  • Razzmatazz
  • Soy Protein Boost
  • Strawberries Wild
  • Strawberry Nirvana
  • Strawberry Surf Rider
  • Strawberry Whirl
  • The Coldbuster
  • Whey Protein Boost

This is a lot of different options that can be found at Jamba across their many locations!  As with any other dining experience, ensure that the person making your smoothie is aware of your need to eat gluten-free. Ask them to use a clean blender so as to not risk any cross-contamination. Jamba also offers non-dairy and vegan options in addition to gluten-free options.

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: Jason’s Deli Gluten-Free Options

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

Yesterday I had the pleasure of dining at Jason’s Deli, something I have been meaning to do for a long time. Jason’s Deli first announced that they were adding gluten-free bread to their repertoire over a year ago.  Hannah and I spent the day together and set out to find something new for us for lunch. We wanted something fast, but not your typical fast food restaurant.  That is when we decided on Jason’s Deli.

Jason’s Deli is all about healthy – no trans fat, no high fructose corn syrup, and no MSG in any of their food, and much of it is organic to boot.  They have a wide range of choices from salads to sandwiches to soups & stuffed potatoes.  There are even several different choices for kids!  The gluten-free menu is one of the largest I have seen at a place like this.

I was honestly overwhelmed by the menu, which is not something that has happened to me in a long time.  Often times there are only a few choices, so it is easy for me to decide what I want.  I had a very hard time deciding yesterday but settled on half a sandwich & salad bar.  The sandwich was made on Udi’s gluten-free whole grain bread (they use the restaurant size, so the slices are larger – half a sandwich was the size of a regular slice of Udi’s bread) and stuffed with deli oven-roasted turkey, field greens & spicy mustard.  The employee who made my meal changed his gloves & was the only one to touch my food.  The salad bar was very clean & the foods that were gluten-free seemed to be a good distance from those that weren’t.  I am not sure if this was intentional or not, but it worked for me.  There were several salad dressings to choose from, in addition to various kinds of vinegar & olive oil.

For dessert, there was chocolate mousse on the salad bar or soft serve ice cream.  The mousse was positioned in a precarious spot, surrounded by things not gluten-free, so I would probably stay clear of that unless you could have them get some from the back.  I didn’t try the ice cream this time around, because we had plans for frozen yogurt later on.

The lunch we had was excellent!  The food was fresh & flavorful and Hannah is begging to go back (not something she does regularly).  I love that Jason’s offers an amazing variety of gluten-free food.  In addition to fast dining in the restaurant, they also have carry-out, drive-through & catering.  Being gluten-free, I am not sure how comfortable I feel with those options, but it is nice to know that they are there.  I am looking forward to going back to try a stuffed potato or some soup on a cold day!

Have you dined at Jason’s Deli? What was your experience like?

Gluten-Free on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

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

Hilton Head Island, SC has been a favorite of mine since I was little, and now we go as a family at least once a year. It is a nice, easy getaway from Atlanta. Typically we cook our meals at the house, in addition to keeping costs down, I don’t have to worry or stress about cross-contamination at restaurants.

But on this recent visit, we decided to explore a little bit, and since going gluten-free this was my first time actually eating out there.  I tried to do some research before our holiday and ask for suggestions, but the only responses I received were for chain restaurants.  And while I appreciate that chain restaurants are expanding their gluten-free offerings, those are restaurants I can go to anywhere, whether I am in Hilton Head or on the west coast.  I really wanted to find something unique and local.

We happened to have some friends staying on Hilton Head at the same time and they suggested meeting at The Sea Shack for dinner. One look at the website and it looked like a gluten haven, but after calling and being reassured I could order fish grilled, I felt a little better.  When we arrived, it really did look like a shack in a very-unlikely area.  Nothing fancy, yet  had a line out the door at 7pm.  Seeing all the fried items, I was a little apprehensive…ok, a lot apprehensive.  It is the type of place you go to the counter and order, so I asked several questions, while holding up the line and placed my order.  I ordered plain, grilled salmon, with grits and cucumber salad.  I also asked them if they could grill my fish on a clean surface and not to add any seasoning. They seemed pretty knowledgeable and  pretty sure their seasonings were safe, but I didn’t want to risk it, especially on vacation.  This reminded me why going to a restaurant for the first time when it is packed is not the best idea.

Thankfully, the dinner was delicious.  I looked longingly at my daughter’s hushpuppies, but I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and left there feeling great.  I will definitely be back on our next visit.

Another night during our visit, I really wanted to take a break from cooking and do something easy. This time I went against my philosophy of “no chains” and decided to order out from Mellow Mushroom, which I have yet to try since going gluten-free.  I miss the days when I could eat the gluten-filled Mellow Mushroom crust and it smells so good, but I was happy I could still go there and order a pizza.  The gluten-free crust only came in a 12″, so I ordered a Mega Veggie on gluten-free crust, and a Greek salad (the dressing is gluten-free).  My husband and I were very pleased with the pizza, and sharing that and a salad was more than enough.  We even had enough salad for lunch the next day.

On our last night, we decided to go out one more time, and this time we tried Land’s End Tavern at South Beach Marina in Sea Pines. We choose this place based on the pirate theme…there was no planning or calling ahead for this one.  I figured I could order grilled fish if nothing else.

Luckily, before being seated, I asked the hostess about gluten-free options and she told me she also had celiac and went through the menu and marked everything that was safe.  And let me know anytime a dish has fried fish, it could also be done grilled.  She also told me they had a separate fryer just for fries, so I was exited about this.  But, then she went on to say how while she has celiac, she will sometimes cheat – my confidence just dropped.  When we sat down I asked the server to confirm about the fryer and he said no, they are all fried in the same oil. That nixed my chances for tasting my daughter’s fries.  I ended up ordering grilled fish (swordfish) tacos with crispy corn tortillas with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies.  The fish tacos were very tasty and I felt great after the meal.  My husband ordered the same as me, but fried, and after tasting mine, he said he preferred mine.  Plus, the grilled is much healthier.

All in all, my three experiences eating out while we were in Hilton Head were a success, and I would be happy to revisit all three of these places. My conclusion when visiting a beach side restaurant, stick with simple…grilled fish, grilled or steamed veggies and potatoes.  But always ask questions about exact ingredients and preparations.

Gluten-Free Dining Options in Washington D.C.

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

During a recent trip to Washington, DC for the Fancy Food show, I got to experience a little of what the area has to offer gluten-free diners.  Can you imagine having gluten-free pizza and pasta delivered to your front door?  Frankly, I before I experienced it myself, I could not.  One night when we were beat from walking the show floor all day, where we ate food samples most of the day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Delight gluten-free team decided to order dinner in.  We ordered gluten-free pizza, gluten-free pasta and a Greek salad from Mamma Lucia’s, a place that happens to deliver to our Executive Editor’s area of town.

I could hardly believe that we could just call the restaurant, place our order and then wait for the order of gluten-free food to appear in about 30 minutes.  But in fact, that is exactly what happened!  I was in the mood for pasta and salad but managed to snag a small piece of pizza from one of the two gluten-free pizza boxes as well.  The pasta was very good and the pizza, made with a Still Riding Pizza crust, was surprisingly tasty!

For lunch one day, we enjoyed standard lunch fare from Lilit Café.  Not only do they offer gluten-free French fries and onion rings, they offer gluten-free sub rolls and sandwich bread!  It was a little overwhelming to decide what to order with so many options, but I settled on a Chicken & Cheese Philly sandwich on a roll.  It did not disappoint!  I’m pretty sure you could get away with serving the sandwich I had to a gluten eater and they’d never question the roll.  It just tasted like a sub roll – no odd texture or taste – just great bread!

One evening we went to Austin Grill for a Tex-Mex dinner.  The place has a great gluten-free menu and there were many terrific looking items to choose from.   For the first time in over five years, I was able to order chicken enchiladas (made with corn tortillas, of course) with a red sauce.  My meal came with rice and beans, but all I really cared about was the delicious enchiladas! The food is made with very fresh ingredients, yet the prices are very reasonable.  There are several locations of Austin Grill in and around our nation’s capital.

It seems that the gluten-free set in DC and the surrounding areas have it made in the shade!