Tic Tac Controversy

I was happily chomping on a box of orange tic tacs at work today when one of my colleagues stops by and says “hey, those have gluten in them ya know!” I looked up shocked. ” They can’t can they?” I asked. He just nodded and walked away. Ah pooey, Mr. Grimgluten reaper!  But now I can’t get the idea out of my head, so I’m looking it up and it seems they have CORN gluten not WHEAT gluten.

Image from pennypinchinmom.com

I guess it’s to be a day of learning because I didn’t realize gluten wasn’t specific to Wheat products exclusively… but now I wonder when my Doc said “no gluten” if she knew this an meant no on corn or wheat. After reading a bit,  it seems that Corn Gluten is a misused term so she probably didn’t mean avoid it.. So weird.

Here is how I found out about the claim they are gluten free: http://www.tictacusa.com/sections/faq/index.swf

Corn Gluten is assumed okay for Celiac’s and other GF Folks http://www.celiac.com/articles/186/1/Corn-Gluten—Is-it-Safe-for-a-People-with-Celiac-Disease-Who-are-on-a-Gluten-Free-Diet/Page1.html

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Not Shrimpy on Flavor

I adore my time with my girlfriends more than I can say. This weekend we had our bi-yearly get away but because we are in the NW we got snowed in, unable to make it over the penninsula. SO, we made the best of it and stayed at one of our lovely homes…on a houseboat! Every time we do one of these weekends, all 5 of us each make a different meal/course and we all share food, drink wine, play games, laugh, chatter, discuss and did I mention laugh?

Image & Recipe courtesty of Ocean Garden Products

Well lucky me, I have fantastic friends that also work with me on my dietary issues and always make things I can eat as well which is no easy feat. This weekend had three lovely treats involved, but I only have one recipe at this point. I’ll share the others because they were all fabu. We had Banana Bread, Mojito Sorbet and Shrimp Scampi! Yeah, seriously… my friends are AWESOME.

So, if you are up for cooking an incredible yet fairly easy dish, this shrimp is the bomb (and was gobbled up right away!)

Shrimp Scampi
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs of raw peeled, deveined shrimp
1/4 C Olive Oil
2 small garlic cloves minced
2 small red peppers cut into strips
1 C onion thinly sliced
2 small green peppers cut into strips
1/2 C tomato sauce
1/4 C choped parsley
1/8 C capers
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pan then add the garlic, cook until fregrant (about 30 Seconds) Add the shrimp tossing it occaisionally. When the srhip are done (when they turn pink), remove them and put to the side. (Do not overcook!)

Add peppers and onion to skillet, saute them together until the onion is trasclucent and the peppers are tender. Add tomato sauce and parsley and stir them in well.

Return the shrimp to the pan, cover and simmer for two to three minutes, Sprinkle with salt, pepper and capers.

Great served over rice! Makes about 6 servings (although we 5 girls at it all!)

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Italian Food Challenge

Last night my beaux and I were trying to decide what we wanted for dinner, I was too tired to cook so Brandon offered…which means we went out.  We live in a smallish area and wanted to stick close to home for our dinner.  Brandon was craving Italian, which I generally avoid like the plague since it seems more wheat and dairy full than any other cuisine (except that I loved it prior to belly issues…so sad).  But being brave, I thought, I would give it a try…and I am glad we went!

Image thanks to *ATSGlutenfree.com

We tried this restaurant named Angelinas, which overall had great service, mediocre environment pretty good food and a $5 Happy Hour all evening. First I dug through the menu and thought I would get a salad removing the cheese and getting oil and vinegar just to be safe (Who knew they put cream in a lot of the vinagrettes? I’ll tell you my tummy figured that one out fast, and was pretty rude about how it told me!)

BUT SURPRISE, I was just about to order and shazam, there it was… at the top of the menu right near the word PASTA for the spaghetti section was a little line that said “Ask about our gluten free options.” I almost jumped out of my chair! YAY! They had a good gluten free spaghetti that I could get and replace any “stringy”  dish (no not lasagne or cannelloni) with. I ordered up some spaghetti and meatballs for $5 and was happy as a clam.  No wait, I think I was happier than a clam since I don’t know that clams are that happy.  I was as happy as my dog Elle with a new squeey toy. Yeah that happy… YAY! Spaghetti!

Cafe Piccolo: New Best Seattle Gluten Free Restaurant. (guidetoglutenfree.com)

Gluten-Free Dining at Olive Garden (gracefullyglutenfree.net)

GF: The Italian Way (oceanfulloflemons.wordpress.com)

Snow Day Dinner: Gluten-Free Linguini (alidoesit.wordpress.com)

Being gluten free is actually quite easy (debbie-carr.com)

Goin’ Green, for Beer!

I used to love beer, it tasted so good. But the bloated belly and pain after drinking it turned any nice evening out with friends into a very short jaunt! Once I learned I was gluten & dairy free I moved to wine but missed my beers. Then a friend of mine went out and got me a beer sampler of all gluten free beers. I didn’t love them all but found some good ones.  My favorite Greens Amber Ale!

Now once I found this through my friend, one would think the problem is solved. But I drink out more often than in, and finding it in a restaurant was hard. To my surprise more and more places are carrying gluten free beers, and the gluten eaters are doing tastes to make sure they find a good one! Not all have my favorite Greens and  New Grist is alright, but hey it’s a start right?  Plus they are both good to cook with if your recipe calls for beer.

So thank you restaurant owners! I love having a beer if I’m in the mood… and when I’m really lucky I get a gluten free bunned burger with a nice GF beer…THAT is heaven (and rare for me…both the burger and the experience!)

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Back on the Plan

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Ah what a crazy few weeks it was! I had one great experience in eating out at a place I had been curious about for ages. A good friend and I checked out lunch at RN74 in downtown Seattle. It was cozy, fun and tasty. I worry about trying to find Gluten and Dairy free foods, especially at French places..but I got an excellent Asian Ginger Salad and added chicken. SO TASTY! I defiantly want to check out dinner here!

RN74 *http://michaelmina.net/restaurants/locations/rnwa.php*

Unfortunately after this win,  I gave up on my foods and began to eat whatever I wanted within reason. The Glutendairy Monster kept me good company as did my lovely sugar cravings! Yes, this included a large amount of the on-sale Oreos I brought into my house along with all kinds of Christmas treats.  Lucky for me I didn’t go too overboard with the Gluten and Dairy, but I did eat enough to feel a bit off many of the days I was off work
But today I decided, I’m back on track. Back to being gluten and dairy free as well as trying to get my weight back on the downward trend. SO… I was nervous but dragged myself into Weight Watchers this morning for a weigh in and to my surprise I had lost 1.4 pounds! YAY! Since early November, I have lost a total of 9LBS!

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