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Gluten-Free Labeled Meal from Smart Ones

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

Every now and then I go gluten-free sleuthing at the grocery store. That means I randomly pick up products and start reading the ingredients to see if they might be gluten-free. I’ve found several things that were gluten-free, but not labeled as such when doing this. I’ve also found items that were labeled gluten-free, which is extra exciting for me. It’s likely that I might be flagged as one strange shopper at Publix. Most people don’t pick up thirty items, read the labels and walk out of the grocery store with only two things, after all.

Last week, I went grocery shopping with my husband and that’s not the best time to go gluten-free sleuthing. He’s a “get whatever is on the list and get out” kind of shopper. I’m whatever the opposite of that is. As I wandered rather aimlessly down the frozen food case aisle, the bright red Smart Ones boxes caught my eye. When I pulled the Santa Fe Style Rice & Beans out of the freezer, I noticed that the words “Weight Watchers” were listed above the product name. The ingredients were on one end of the box and the font was extremely tiny, but I thought I saw the words “GLUTEN-FREE” on the lower right side below the ingredient list. I assumed my eyes were playing tricks on me as I didn’t have my cheater glasses on so I pulled them out and sure enough, the product donned those magical two words – gluten-free.

Into the cart, my new gluten-free find went, even though the ingredient list was longer than any product I’ve seen in a while. The meal is 6 Weight Watchers points and has 310 calories. There is 16% of the RDA of fiber in it, but it contains 660mg of sodium. Yikes! Overall, I would not put this meal in the category of healthy products. However, in a pinch, it’s always good to know what convenience foods are readily available on the shelves of mainstream grocery stores. And as one who knows that gluten-free replacement foods often contain too much fat, sugar, and calories, having a low-cal meal with that much fiber (that cooks in the microwave) might come in handy every once in a while.

So, how was the actual taste of the Santa Fe Style Rice & Beans meal? I’m happy to report that it was surprisingly good. In fact, if it were not for the number of hard-to-pronounce ingredients in it, I’d probably keep it on hand in the freezer. It was a very flavorful meal and was quite filling, though it could have been spicier. We went through Santa Fe once and enjoyed some of the best Mexican food of our lives. This meal pales in comparison to the food in the city from which it gets its name, but it was tasty nonetheless.

When I contacted Heinz, who owns the Smart One’s line, they sent me a list of all of their gluten-free products. To my surprise, there were six other gluten-free meals in Smart One’s lineup listed. In addition to the meal I bought, the following meals are also gluten-free:

  • Smart Ones Broccoli & Cheddar Potatoes
  • Smart Ones Lemon Herb Chicken Piccata
  • Smart Ones Fiesta Chicken
  • Smart Ones Chicken Santa Fe
  • Smart Ones Cranberry Turkey Medallions
  • Smart Ones Honey Dijon Chicken

BJ’s Brewhouse Gluten-Free Menu

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There has been some chatter across the web in the past few weeks that BJ’s Brewhouse has added gluten-free pizza to its menu. I emailed the company to ask for the gluten-free menu, as I couldn’t find it on their website. The initial email I received back had a gluten-free menu attached, along with a listing of all allergens in their menu items, but no mention of pizza on the gluten-free menu. I sent an email back asking specifically about the pizza. Turns out the gluten-free pizza is on the regular pizza menu! Who knew?

The menu is pretty extensive as far as gluten-free menus go. There are many salads on the menu, including several dinner salads. It is not common to see restaurants offering gluten-free soups, but there are 2 on BJ’s menu, a Tuscan Tomato Bisque, and Broccoli Cheddar. If you like potatoes, BJ’s has giant stuffed potatoes on the menu, just make sure to leave off the alfredo sauce, as it is not gluten-free. On the upside, it will make your potato a little healthier. Entree choices include 2 chicken dishes, steak or salmon. Then, the beloved pizza. Gluten-free pizza has just been added to the menu in May. All of the ingredients on the pizza menu page, with the exception of meatballs, are gluten-free. I may have to go every week or several times a week in order to sample all the varieties that I want to try! As far as viewing the gluten-free menu online, the only part I found online was the pizza on the regular menu pizza page. The entire gluten-free menu can be seen at the restaurant. I was able to get a copy via email.

BJ’S Brewhouse has locations in 14 states. BJ’s was started in 1978 by 2 guys who opened the first BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria in Santa Ana, California. In 1996, the first BJ’s brewery began production in Brea, California. The guests loved the handcrafted beer and the restaurant was renamed “BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery”. From BJ’s website:

Our passionate desire to provide extraordinary value for our guests in a high-energy, fun, child-friendly environment, along with a sincere commitment to support the communities in which we do business goes to the heart of what differentiates BJ’s from other restaurants. It is because of you, our guests, that we have been able to realize a dream and create the company and culture that thrives today. Thank you for being the biggest, and most important, part of what keeps our dreams alive!

Our Vision
To be the very definition of “WOW” for the casual dining experience.

Our Promise
Be the Best – Never Compromise!

The BJ’s Gold Standard of Operational Excellence
Our genuine commitment is to take pride in passionately connecting with every guest, on every visit, through flawless and relentless execution of every detail during every shift – to create and keep fanatical fans of BJ’s concept and brand.

I don’t know about you, but I am thrilled with another gluten-free pizza option out there. Uno’s Chicago Grill, Z Pizza, Boston’s Gourmet Pizza, Mama Mimi’s Take & Bake*, Mellow Mushroom*, and now BJ’s are just some of the locations where gluten-free pizza is available. It is awesome to be able to go out with friends and family and be able to eat pizza when they eat pizza. For children and teens, this experience can be priceless. The opportunity for your child not to stand out because of their diet restrictions means more than I could ever tell you. Sure, there will still be special ordering involved, but not many other kids will notice that. The experience of eating the pizza & giggling over it with friends will remain in their memories forever.

*Mama Mimi’s only offers gluten-free pizza on Thursdays
*Mellow Mushroom is only offering gluten-free pizza in select restaurants right now. They hope to go nationwide if the response is good. So, all of you with a Mellow Mushroom that serves gluten-free pizza – get busy eating pizza!

Qdoba’s Gluten-Free Menu

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

When you have celiac disease you really learn to appreciate the times you can easily eat at restaurants with your gluten-able friends. To be able to walk into a restaurant and order and know you can eat something is such a great feeling to someone who is restricted in what they can eat. It is an even better thing when restaurants clearly list allergens on their websites and what foods are safe to eat. Qdoba is one of those places. I am not much of a fast food fan, but burrito places are my indulgence, and I have always loved the roasted vegetables at Qdoba. It is nice to be able to get fast food that feels healthy and fresh compared to many of the alternatives. Earlier this year I wrote an article about the gluten-free options at Chipotle, which is another favorite of mine and I am equally happy to go to either.

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

Most of their items are naturally gluten-free, and their allergen page lists exactly what has wheat and what could possibly be cross-contaminated with wheat. Unfortunately, their chips are out, as they are fried with flour tortillas, but they do offer soft white corn tortillas that are listed as safe. According to their allergen list everything is wheat-free except for the tortilla chips, strips, taco shells, flour tortillas, brownies, ancho chile BBQ, fat-free ranch dressing, and the fat-free picante ranch dressing.

I have always enjoyed the flavor of their grilled vegetables which are not offered at Chipotle, so today I ordered a naked burrito (with no tortilla, served in a bowl) with the grilled vegetables (zucchini, yellow squash, and red pepper) and fajita vegetables (bell peppers and onions) and a side of their spicy queso dip. Today, I took my order to go and enjoyed the cheese dip at home with my own chips, but on other occasions, I would bring my own chips. The location I went to today seemed very knowledgeable about how to handle food allergies.

As always, you need to be aware of the risk of cross-contamination whenever eating somewhere where gluten foods are prepared. My usual practice when going somewhere where I watch them put together my food is to let them know I am gluten-free, or sometimes I will just say I have a wheat allergy because not everyone is aware of what gluten is. I then ask if they can replace their gloves and about 95% of them are already happily starting to do this before I finish my sentence. Since it seems people tend to grab the cheese with their hands, I will sometimes ask if they can grab cheese out of a new container.  Qdoba and Chipotle keep new cheese containers right under the work area, so they can easily grab some for you and not hold up the line.

Qdoba and Chipotle are both my top places to go for a quick meal. I am pretty sensitive and have always had a positive experience at both of these places. At Chipotle it is nice to be able to have the chips to add some crunch to my burrito bowl, but Qdoba has grilled vegetables that I love, and for a non-meat eater that is a great thing.

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: Healthy Choice Frozen Dinners

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

Quite a while back, I tried a Cafe Steamers meal from Healthy Choice. It is not labeled gluten-free, but a call to the company confirmed the product is made with gluten-free ingredients. The meal was very good, though a bit on the pricey side. Recently, I checked the label of some other Healthy Choice frozen dinners which sell here for $1.99. To my surprise and delight, I actually found one that didn’t contain gluten ingredients. There was no disclaimer about the product being processed on lines that process wheat either so I decided to give it a try.

Since Healthy Choice products are not tested for the presence of gluten, Con-Agra (manufacturer of Healthy Choice) will not state anything they make is gluten-free. They will only state whether or not gluten ingredients are used in them. Even though I think Con-Agra is woefully behind the other large food companies in the U.S. in terms of the gluten-free market, I also think they take allergens seriously. Like any large company, their legal departments work overtime worrying about the many ways the company can be sued. Due to that issue, companies tend to be overly careful when it comes to labeling foods that contain ingredients that are top allergens. Seriously, is the disclaimer “may contain nuts” really necessary on a jar of peanuts?

The Spicy Caribbean Chicken is the only meal I could find that didn’t contain any gluten ingredients on the label. The meal has 310 calories, 30 grams of whole grains and 15 grams of protein. For a relatively small meal, it packs a pretty impressive nutritional punch. The meal took longer than stated on the package to get completely hot – about 25% longer, in fact. Immediately, I noticed that there is not a lot of rice in the container. The picture on the box indicates that there is more rice than is actually in the package. The taste of everything was very good, though the tanginess factor was a little overwhelming. More rice mixed in would have calmed that down a bit, but adding my own rice would take away the value of buying a fairly healthy meal for only $1.99. I’d rather have them  at least double the amount of rice and charge $2.49 instead.

The black beans, corn, pineapple and sauce really worked well together and I enjoyed the overall flavor much more than I expected to. Spicy Caribbean Chicken is a ‘select entree’ within the Healthy Choice line. Since Weight Watchers exchanges are listed on the website, and don’t indicate a milk exchange and the only allergen statement is about soy, the meal appears to be dairy-free. Below is the rest of the nutritional information for the meal I tried.

Amount/Serving %DV*
Total Fat (2 g) 3%
Saturated Fat (.5 g) 3%
Trans Fat (0 g)
Cholesterol (20 mg) 7%
Sodium (290 mg) 12%
Vitamin A (10%)
Calcium (6%)

*Please note – there are some mistakes on the Con-Agra website regarding allergens on individual products. I noticed that a Cafe Steamer lists only shellfish as an allergen, even though the item is made with pasta. Either the company switched to gluten-free pasta for this item or they goofed on the website. As always, read the entire ingredient list on products before deciding to purchase them.

Review: Progresso Manhattan Clam Chowder

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Ready-made soups often contain gluten, which is suprising to most of us when we find out we must avoid consuming it. In fact, most Campbell’s soups contain gluten – including their famous cream of “everything” soups. Luckily, Progresso has reformulated many of their soups to be both gluten and MSG free. The list of safe soups keeps growing on the Live gluten-freely website. In fact, both the white clam chowders in the line are now gluten-free as well. I don’t like that type of soup so I haven’t tried either the regular or 99% fat free version from Progresso.

When I ate gluten, one of my all time favorite soups was the Manhattan Clam Chowder made by Campbell’s. Since it contains wheat, I haven’t had it in over four years. However, the Progresso version of that soup is gluten-free and even labeled as such these days. The first time I tried the soup, I could not believe how delicious it was. It was better than I ever remember the Campbell’s version being. What an absolute delightful discovery that was!

It’s not really soup weather in Hotlanta, but Progresso soups were on sale for 2 for 1 recently, so I stocked up on the Manhattan Clam Chowder. Someone else stocked up on my other faves from the line because Publix was out of all of them. The flavors in the clam chowder are really excellent. The potatoes, celery and carrots are perfectly tender and the clams themselves are really wonderful. It’s an added bonus that the soup has 7% of your RDA of fiber per serving. There is some confusion about the statement “no MSG added” on products today. In the case of this soup, the MSG in the soup is naturally occurring in the yeast extract in it. There is also some confusion about whether or not MSG contains gluten. It actually does not and never has. MSG stands for monosodium glutamate and somewhere along the way, someone translated that info into the additive containing gluten.

I try to avoid products that contain added MSG – like many mainstream snack foods and a host of other products – because it doesn’t agree with me. However, when it’s the naturally occurring version as in yeast extract, it doesn’t bother me at all. In addition to being gluten-free, the Progresso version of Manhattan Clam Chowder is low in fat, has no artificial flavors or added MSG and contains only 100 calories per serving. Presently, the gluten-free soups are not available in the Progresso soup cups. Hopefully, that will also change in the future. I’m sure people who take their lunch to work would be thrilled to find gluten-free Progresso soup cups to take to the office or even to visit friends or family out of town.

General Mills is very interested in hearing from consumers in our market so if you want to see some Progresso soup cups, give the company a call and let them know. Their toll free number is 1-800-248-8330. You can also e-mail the company through the General Mills website.