Sticky Situations #2: I've never heard of gluten!

You and your friends are deciding where to eat and they all unanimously want tonight's meal to be Italian. You freeze. 

All you can think about is the endless amounts of bread, pasta, and pizza going to be served. Gluten lying in every corner, swirling around in your gut. Just the thought alone makes you terrified: one bite will send you careening towards the bathroom faster than it takes for all the food to be served. You know you're going to be in for a rough night if you go with their plans. 

You tell them you can't eat anything there because you have a food allergy, specifically an allergy to gluten. 

One of your friends asks, "What's gluten? I've never heard of it before."

Ah, the all time most frequent question asked to celiacs universally. I, myself, have been asked countless times by friends, by family, and by waitstaff at restaurants. I remember when I used to get really frustrated and upset that people didn't already know about gluten. People would be surprised when I told them that I can't have bread because there's wheat in it and wheat contains gluten. Some of my friends didn't even know that bread was made of wheat!   

But the sad truth is that there are so many people in the world that are unaware of food allergies, let alone gluten. I know I'm guilty. I didn't know about gluten and where it was found until I was diagnosed and had to stop eating it. So I understand where these people are coming from: I used to be one of them. 

Many people understand food allergy symptoms as face/body swellings, the inability to breathe, redness, hives, and anaphylaxis. But these are just some aspects of the damage that can occur to people allergic to certain foods and their components. 

Most don't know about the severity of stomach issues that can occur when celiacs consume gluten. As celiacs know, consumption of gluten can lead to intense/stabbing pain in the abdomen, uncomfortable bloating, diarrhea, weight loss, and dermatitis. There are also psychological problems that can come with consuming gluten such as depression. Continual consumption without knowledge can also lead to intestinal cancer and even death, in some cases. 

My point is that celiac disease is not something to be taken lightly nor should it be shelved up in the multitudes of food allergies. The symptoms are different and equally as dangerous as those who have severe allergies to peanuts or soy and thus it deserves its own category. But, all in all, I believe that education in every food allergy and its respective symptoms is the key to improving diagnostics, engineering new medicine as well as improving societal understanding and awareness of food allergies.      

So, in response to if a friend asks you about gluten because they honestly don't know, here are some tips that can help you out with that:

• Tell them the straight facts: gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and oats. Gluten causes you to become very ill if eaten (you can spare them the details unless they ask further and are truly interested) and so you must go on a strict gluten free diet. 
• You may go into more detail about celiac disease and gluten ONLY IF ASKED. The biggest tip I can give is NEVER assume people want to hear about your medical history and all the strange happenings in your body. For some, that will completely ruin their appetite and you can be sure they won't think fondly of you the next time it happens. 
• If you have good, understanding friends, (which I'm sure you all do), they will want to be educated and to know more about what you can and can't eat. Suggest some restaurants that you know have gfree menus, have gfree food, or  places where you have eaten the food several times and did not have any negative reactions. However, as a rule of thumb, always exercise caution!! When in doubt, don't eat it! 
• This is just a tip when eating out if the restaurant has no food for you to eat: Eat beforehand, bring a snack, and treat yourself out later. Sometimes you don't want to be the center of attention in a huge party or known as the "picky" eater who has to have everyone cater to you. You know what is safe for you; don't assume other people know or will be concerned.   

 

Let me know if there are any tips out there that have worked for you when you encountered this type of situation! 

Until next post,

Kris 

Read More

Eating Out: Jack's Urban Eats

Jack’s Urban Eats never fails; always a solid good meal. No frills, just good eats and of course plenty of gluten free options!

You can pretty much customize any of their sandwiches, salads, fries, and carved meats. I always get the customize salad and fries. As Nicole George says “their fries are bomb.com!” whether urban, garlic, or sweet potato they are all mighty tasty J

Since you can create your own salad you can add all the gf toppings your heart desires! However, I would omit the croutons and their marinated tofu. I am pretty sure Jack’s tofu is marinated in some sort of soy or teriyaki sauce, so beware! If you are extremely gluten sensitive I would not recommend adding tofu to a salad. I personally was unaffected by the tofu, but to those with extreme gluten sensitivity I would be very careful.

 Happy Eats J

- T

Garlic Fries!

Custom salad: Spinach, onions, jicama, tomatoes, creamy vinaigrette dressing

Read More

Eating Out: Walnut Creek Thai Bistro Kacha

What are two tired, hungry, and slightly lost girls suppose to eat in a city that they are completely new to? Our motto when it comes to eating out is: When in Doubt EAT THAI~!

Our first summer adventure took us to the streets of downtown Walnut Creek California. The actual purpose of our trip was for a friend’s graduation in Moraga, but after the graduation the rest of the day was ours. And what do girls love to do? Eat and shop, which is exactly what we did!

We might’ve gotten lost a few times, but thanks to GPS and some good Thai food in our bellies our wallets were a little lighter and our wardrobes a bit fuller J  

Thai Bistro's Kacha is definitely a few degrees above a college student’s budget, BUT because we ate their lunch specials the prices weren’t too bad.

This place definitely ranks in our top five Thai restaurants. And it all comes down to the eggplant. I don’t ever doubt Kris’s judgment of well-cooked and well seasoned eggplant. Kris had Kacha’s Pad Graprao lunch special which had chicken, shrimp, and loads of eggplant in a ginger chili garlic sauce. I tried some and was definitely jealous that I didn’t order a special as well :/.

However, my spring roll was equally delicious. Fresh, light, and minty it came with an awesome sweet and sour peanut sauce that I had to ask for more! 

Thai food is always a safe bet in the gluten free world. Generally their dishes are not made with too much soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, or hidden thickeners. It's fresh, has lots of veggies, and is mighty tasty.
If you are on a tight budget I definitely recommend Kacha’s lunch specials.

- T

Read More

My Date with Julia Child’s Reincarnation: Light as Air Sponge Cake

I am very fortunate to have such loving and awesome friends. This one goes out to Nicole George! A skilled baker, dog lover, and not to mention a sexy Italian (but secretly French); Ms. George showed me how to make a proper sponge cake (gluten free) from scratch.
I learned how to beat egg whites without an electric beater and whip egg yolks to a ribbon stage. We used the tiniest bit of Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour in our gluten free version of Julia Child’s Biscuit Au Beurre or better known as Butter Spongecake.

Adapted from Mastering The Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertoholle, Simone Beck

Ingredients:
Round Cake pan
4 Tb melted butter

2/3 granulate sugar

4 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 egg whites

Pinch of salt

2 Tb granulated sugar

¼ cup Bob’s Red Mill Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
With the separated egg yolks in a medium size mixing bowl, add sugar in installments and whip with a medium whisk. Add vanilla and all 2/3 cups of sugar. Beat the yolks, sugar, and vanilla until they have lighten in color and the thicken mixture forms ribbon like trails. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites to a stiff peak. Add the 2 Tb of sugar and salt slowly.
Folding: add a scoop of the egg whites to the egg yolk and sugar mixture using the folding method. Sift the flour slowly into the mixture as well. Repeat until all egg whites, flour, and melted butter have been delicately folded into a partially blended batter.
Butter and dust the cake pan with GF flour.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, check with a knife to see if the cake is cooked.
Optional Frosting

Super light, not too sweet, and nice texture this cake was the best gluten free vanilla cake I have ever tasted, no joke.

 Unfrosted Cooling Cake                                       Added some cream cheese frosting. YUM

Bake with friends; enjoy each other’s company and EAT MORE CAKE!

Lots of Love and thanks to Nicole George!

- T

Read More

Glutino Pretzel Twists

Who doesn’t like pretzels?!
Crunchy and salty, perfect when you have the munchies!

The brand Glutino makes a ton of gluten free snacks: Pretzel, cookies, wafers, crackers, granola bars, frozen meals, breads, glazed donuts (LOVE), and a variety of baking mixes. 

I think these pretzels are going to be a staple in my pantry. In California the chain grocery store, Grocery Outlet, was having a huge sale on these pretzels! $1.99 for a family pack! Sign up on Glutino’s website and they send you coupons on any GLUTINO product, now that’s what I call a bargain J

Sometimes for a heartier snack I like to dip them in peanut butter. They taste just like the peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets that you find in the grocery store! Delish J

Sign up @ Glutino’s Website for coupons:
http://www.glutino.com/

What’s your favorite gluten free snack?! Salty? Savory? Sweet?!

Happy snacking!

- T

Read More

The Joy of Udi's

Hello all!

I'm actually feeling quite in a good mood (my grades came back and I didn't totally fail!) so now I would like to take the opportunity to blog about what else puts me in a fantastic mood.

That's right: Udi's Bagels.

Now, before I was diagnosed and all, I really didn't like the taste of bagels. Well, it couuuld have been that small little thing called gluten that was making my tummy churn like crazy, BUT we're talking taste here.

Bagels were not really my thing, and I didn't enjoy eating them.

But now, my distaste for bagels has made a full turnaround!

Udi's Bagels are light, chewy, and not crumbly at all. They are even more delicious when lightly toasted and spread with some cream cheese. Oh boy, I'm getting hungry and I just ate a bagel!

I would highly recommend not only the Udi's bagels but also some of their other products. They have pizza crusts, cookies, bread, and also hamburger buns. Also, if you subscribe to their newsletter via email you can get coupons for your next Udi's purchase! (If you're a student going gfree like me and you don't have much cash to spare, you're gonna want to get the coupons.) Udi's products, like all gfree brands, are marked up from regular food items so if you want to have the Udi's taste experience (and don't want to go broke buying all of it once you've tasted one bite) then I would highly suggest trying to save money in any way possible!

EAT ME! :)

Look for more gfree product reviews in the near future. Until then, happy bagel eating! haha. ^^
 

Read More

Free Speech Movement (FSM) Cafe

So whenever I'm on campus and then I hear my stomach growling at me to feed myself, I find myself heading to Free Speech Movement (FSM) downstairs from Moffit library.

I actually just discovered that they have some delicious gfree salads when a couple of my lab mates decided to eat there for dinner and I happened to tag along. Ever since then it was a weekly salad at FSM before my night lab.

So, FSM has several nice salad selections. I've tried all but one. The selection is:
1) Southwestern Chicken salad
2) Cobb salad (my personal fav!)- ask for without bread
3) Chinese Chicken salad- ask for them to remove crispy noodles
4) Mediterranean Salad
5) Caesar salad- ask for no croutons

Just ask the people at the front to take out the gluten, and you've got yourself a great salad! Portion sizes are also decent and most salads except for the Caesar are flavored with vinaigrette. Prices are a bit more ($7.95) for the salads but that's just because its a campus owned cafe!   

Lovely Cobb salad. Minus the bread of course! :)

FSM is a great place to eat and drink some coffee especially during the spring time since the sun is out and they have an outdoor seating area that has a great view of VLSB as well as other buildings on campus. You'll most likely observe some curious squirrels as well as hordes of Berkeley students going in and out as well!
-Kris

Read More

Kimchi Garden

Hey all!
Today, this post will be about Asian food, in particular, Korean food! :)

If there's one thing that T and I can agree on besides kpop music is how amazing Korean food is!
What I love about Korean food is that it has a really homey kind of feel since everything is warm and filling. Plus, there are so many awesome gfree selections!

Whenever I have a hankering for Korean food, and I don't have much cash to spare (which is most days!), I find myself heading towards Kimchi Garden which happens to be a little down from our famous Berkeley Asian ghetto. Kimchi Garden is run by a family of Koreans whose restaurant, when you step inside, makes you feel as if you went home. The place is spacious and the smells from the kitchen are just incredible. Besides the great prices, the portion sizes are also huge so you could have a meal for dinner and then save the other half for the next day's lunch.

So, the sad thing about Asian restaurants is that they really don't know about gluten or its existence in the food allergy world. In fact, most are unaware of food allergies in general. I'm Chinese and I can definitely say that Asian cultures are rather indifferent about food allergies and don't see it as a major illness. But now with the rise of food allergies, especially with more and more people getting diagnosed with celiac disease, I hope that they will know more about it and start to treat it as a serious issue.

One thing to be really cautious about with Korean food is that they like to use trace amount of soy sauce in their dishes such as japchae and perhaps even the fried rice. Also, certain chili sauces like their red pepper paste most likely contain wheat. Kimchi usually has the red pepper paste incorporated in it (either prepared by the chef or store bought) so it is probably not 100% safe to eat. Koreans also like to put fish cakes into their dishes and from last time I checked most fish cakes from the Korean market also contain wheat.

So, you must be wondering, what can I eat then?

Well, here are some dishes that I know about and have tried that are probably the safest to eat if you ever find yourself at a Korean restaurant:
1) Bibimbap- a rice, meat and vegetable dish that is traditionally served in a stone hot pot. Eat this without the chili sauce they give you. The vegetables are mostly stir fried with salt and sesame oil so these components should be fine.
2) Kimbap- a type of Korean sushi. Everything is gfree except the fish cakes and perhaps BBQ meat (soy sauce contaminant). If you're not highly allergic you can do what I do and pick them out and eat everything else. I've been fine every time I've ordered it.
3) Tofu stew- eaten with rice and contains soft tofu, vegetables or meat. You can order the non spicy version at most Korean places and it won't contain chili or red pepper paste (if the dish even has it!). If it is spicy, it may or may not contain the red pepper paste.
4) Japchae- potato based clear glass noodles that are 100% gfree except if they decide to season with soy sauce and add fish cakes. If you're not highly sensitive, the little bit of soy sauce won't affect you.
5) Omelet rice- A huge omelet stuffed with fried rice. Be wary of soy sauce in the fried rice.

The giant omelet rice dish!! 

There are other meat or vegetable dishes that should be relatively safe to consume if you're not highly sensitive. If you are, it would probably be better to make your own Korean food.

Some key points to take away from this:

• Korean food has many great, tasty selections, but I would not recommended it to people who are highly allergic to gluten. People who can stand a little bit of soy sauce and cross contamination are okay to eat Korean food. 
• Be wary of soy sauce, red pepper paste, and fish cakes! These are gluten red flags! 
• Be also wary of side dishes; when in doubt, ask or simply don't eat it. 

I hope I haven't scared all of you away from trying Korean food, since it really is a shame to miss out on such delicious food but that's often the thing about eating out for celiacs is that you have to be really careful about what you ingest. 

All in all, Kimchi Garden has great prices, great food, and amazing portion sizes. I highly recommended you check this place out if you're super hungry! ^^ 

-Kris

     

Read More

Chillin at the Thai Canteen

I love Thai food. No, that's definitely an understatement.

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE AND COULD EAT EVERY DAY THE AMAZING FLAVORS OF THAI!

*cough* Excuse my enthusiasm.... XD 

The reason for this is because right after I had to start eating gfree, Thai food was one of the only genres of food that had the least contamination and had many food options that I enjoyed eating even before I was diagnosed. It was like a safe haven of food that I could turn to when I wanted to eat out and it thus developed into my current adoration. 

This food blog entry is to share with all of you another Davis inspired restaurant (I promise some Berkeley gfree places are coming soon!) named Thai Canteen. 

The style of this restaurant is more self serve; you order and then they bring you the food. The atmosphere is super casual and the place is always filled with university students with Thai cravings just like me! Price is definitely affordable for a quick, tasty meal and could explain the hordes of students coming in and out. Best part is that most curries, stir fry dishes, and noodles dishes are completely gfree! Soy sauce is big at Chinese and perhaps Korean restaurants but Thai doesn't really use it since their dishes are traditionally more sweet and tangy than salty. 

Papaya Salad

Tom Yum Soup

   

Green curry! My personal favorite :)

More info on Thai Canteen:
http://www.canteendavis.com/
Happy eating!

Read More

Gfree Italian Food Exists?!

Hello all!
T actually should be credited for the discovery of this fantastic Italian restaurant that, get this, serves GFREE ITALIAN FOOD. That means gfree pasta and pizza!! Those two words almost never can be placed next to each other unless it happens to be gfree Italian night at home.

You might have guessed that I pretty much flipped out when I heard about this. So, naturally, I had to go try it out with T since she raved about it the last time she went. Her and I as well as some other friends headed down to Davis, CA since this restaurant is only offered in select locations (unfortunately not in Berkeley, but if you're in Davis, you MUST try this place!)

The restaurant is called, Paesanos and it's this dainty, little Italian themed place complete with vintage chandeliers and paintings, outdoor seating with hanging lights as well as old Italian movies projecting on the building wall lined with Italian cypresses. It seriously makes you feel as if you're in Italy (minus all the bikes parked around the area- it's Davis after all!)

Paesanos, I am proud to say, has a designated gfree menu where they have kindly laid out all the gfree food that the chef specially prepares. Not many restaurants that I've been to have a entirely separate gfree menu, so I am extremely impressed by this restaurant.

Now, onto the food!!
                                                               

Kris & T's custom pizza! YUM!

Gemelli Spinachi

Pollo de Modena

Prices are reasonable with pasta ranging around $8-10 and pizza around $11-15 for a gourmet gfree meal. Customer service is fantastic and the atmosphere is great. If you're craving some Italy and want to treat yourself, Paesanos is the way to go! 

Needless to say, T and I had very satisfied stomachs at the end of the meal and you can bet we'll be back! :)

More info on Paesanos

http://paesanos.biz/index.html

Read More

All the way to Jupiter

Hey everyone!
It's been a while since I've last posted, but now that the stress of finals is FINALLY over I can spend the summer updating my gfree food adventures that I have collected! :)

This is my first food blog entry!! Exciting, right? I hope you find it useful to your own gfree dining experience and perhaps even take a visit if it suits your fancy.

The place I would like to share with you all is a cute little brick restaurant called, Jupiter. Jupiter is mostly known for its beer and pizza, but as all gfreers know, those two things are to be avoided like the plague unless they happen to don a bright neon sign that screams GLUTEN FREE on it.

So the story behind this visit: I actually was invited to a friend's birthday lunch and she had already made plans and reservations at this restaurant. I was worried that they wouldn't have any food for me to eat and then I would have to starve through lunch sipping iced water and make my friend feel bad. Luckily, when I opened up the menu, a miracle happened!!

THERE WAS A SALAD SECTION! I was seriously saved. Now, I know, I know, gfreers have a limit to how much "salad without croutons" they want to eat at these types of restaurants, but holy moly, the salad I ordered was soooooo amazing that my hate for eating salads vanished into thin air.

The salad I ordered was the Salmon Salad which on their website menu describes this dish beautifully: "wood roasted atlantic salmon served chilled on a salad of spinach, roasted red bell peppers, feta cheese, pine nuts with honey-chipotle vinaigrette." Oh this is making my hungry again, and I just ate...

Anyway, some tips:
-If you're ordering a salad, ask them to take out the croutons if the dish specifies that it has it.
-Most vinaigrettes are usually gfree, but if its a creamier based sauce then you might want to check with the chef first to ask if there is any gluten/wheat in it.

Now I want to make a disclaimer for this blog entry as well as future eating out food entries:

If you are extremely sensitive to gluten byproducts and cross contamination, please eat out with the utmost caution!

If you're not sure if something is 100% gfree, please don't eat it. Do a favor for your poor gut and not send it to a living hell (you guys know what I mean). Most likely, restaurants always have a small amount of cross contamination even if the dish is essentially gfree. They can't help that because they must serve a large customer base that cannot cater to only gfree consumers (although it would be nice if they did!) For me I'm not that sensitive, so small amounts of trace gluten don't aggravate me. But if you have a more severe case of celiac disease, please, please exercise caution. I don't want you to get sick!

Anyway, long story short, I enjoyed the dish very much and my friend had a wonderful birthday. I encourage you to visit if you have a hankering for an absolutely delish gfree salad!

More info on Jupiter
Website: http://www.jupiterbeer.com/jupiter/index.htm

-Kris

Read More