I LOVE the San-J orange sauce. I really love the San-J orange sauce when I add a hint of sriracha chili sauce to it. My daughter does not like chicken but she devours this dish. It is the perfect combination of sweet, spicy and salty. And, of course, it is super easy to make.
The FDA is finally moving on regulating the claim “gluten-free” on packages, which is fantastic news! Lots of people have put in countless hours to make this happen. We’ve got 1 month left to comment—until October 3rd—and YOUR comment is vital to getting the law YOU want.
During the Aug 2nd teleconference, we heard that the comment period was re-opened and we might have a law by late 2012. Several prominent researchers, including Dr. Alesso Fasano and Dr.Stefano Guandalini, spoke in favor of the new proposed legislation. “This is a standard that has been in use in Europe for almost two decades, & the science supports the U.S. adopting it as well,” commented Dr. Fasano. I posted highlights of the teleconference, but upon reading the 90+ page safety assessment, I had a lot of questions! http://1.usa.gov/r4NDLA
The safety assessment suggests that for the most sensitive Celiac,
I have had the opportunity to connect with Dr. Stephen Wangen, the founder of the IBS Treatment Center in Seattle, WA. Awhile back, at a CSA (Celiac Sprue Association) meeting I had the pleasure of helping Dr. Wangen with his book signing. He had flown in to Denver to speak on his books, Healthier Without Wheat and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Solution. There was a full audience of folks, just like you and I, who were able to ask personal questions and learn more about living with Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance, as well as exploring other areas such as food allergies.
Since that time, Dr. Wangen and I have had the chance to talk about what the IBS Treatment Center does to help people really understand their bodies and how food can be affecting them. He explores the possibilities of Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance and food allergies and helps people to develop a healthier lifestyle tailored to their specific needs. At the same time, Dr. Wangen has observed the emotional affects these conditions can have on people and understands that not feeling well emotionally has an affect on how people take care of their physical well being. What makes his practice so fantastic is the positive nature. Dr. Wangen helps people view the changes by looking at the benfits and the gains and focusing on what people can have, rather than on what they can’t. Here is what Dr. Wangen had to say when I asked him about his own experiences.
Earlier this summer California Pizza Kitchen debuted gluten-free pizza on their menu. I was giddy. I loved CPK pre-gluten-free and couldn’t wait to go back and try their new pizza. Well,we did,and it was great,but our spirits were quickly dampened by the news that there could be major cross contamination issues going on in the kitchen.
I decided to go back and investigate to see what was going on and whether what I had heard about their procedures was indeed true. I was saddened by what I found out. While it had appeared that CPK went to great lengths to add the gluten-free pizza to their menu,they didn’t consider some of the most important issues. Cross contamination is real and can be very serious. Sure,some of those with Celiac Disease don’t react right away (or even at all),but some do and it isn’t pretty. This doesn’t even take into consideration those
Many snacks are labeled “cheese,” but only Parmesan Cheese Crisps can rightfully claim this title. They are, after all, made from 100% parmesan cheese.
That’s right. While other companies use a bit of cheese to flavor their products, Kitchen Table Bakers delivers the tastiest cheese as the whole part for you to savor.
We tested all nine product flavors: Aged Parmesan, Rosemary, Jalapeno, Basil Pesto, Sesame, Flaxseed, Italian Herb, Everything, and Garlic. We also tried the Aged Parmesan mini crisps.
Our take – Kitchen Table Bakers’ Parmesan Crisps are a unique gourmet indulgence and totally satisfying.
About the Cheese Crisps:
We first met Barry Novick, the president of Kitchen Table Bakers, at a Celiac Disease event being held at Columbia University in 2005. He had recently started his business. As attendees raved about the taste of his cheese crisps, he proudly described how his products were made from the best all natural parmesan cheese and were 100% gluten-free. Like many in the gluten-free industry, Barry became involved to improve his own health. This makes him just as passionate about the safety of his products as he is about the flavor.
Kitchen Table Bakers’ Gourmet Parmesan Crisps are:
There are lots of ways to pack a healthy gluten-free school lunch. Start by including your gluten-free child in the weekly menu planning process- this will increase the odds that he or she will actually eat what you pack for them!
Good quality proteins, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats are key to improving your child’s diet. These tips and resources will help you plan and pack healthier gluten-free school lunches for your gluten-free child.
Suggested Reading:
Gluten-Free School Lunch Recipes and Tips
School Lunchbox Safety
In Part 1 of this article about nutrient deficiencies in the gluten-free population, I posed four critiques and questions that I promised to answer in today’s part 2. Without further ado, here we go…
Critique #1 questioned the small sample size of the research. I can’t do anything about that, and there’s not much to be said about it, so let’s move on.
Next, I think it’s easiest to address critique #3: How did nutrient deficiencies in the gluten-free population compare to Americans as a whole? To answer that question, I pulled data regarding nationwide averages from the USDA’s Community Nutrition Mapping Project. If I amend yesterday’s table that showed the percent of the gluten-free population who are deficient in given nutrients, and add to it a column for the national averages, this is what you find:
| Nutrient | GF Deficiency | Nationwide Deficiency |
| fiber | 74% | 92% |
| calcium | 82% | 69% |
| thiamin | 59% | 19% |
| riboflavin | 25% | 11% |
| B6 | 35% | 26% |
| folate | 85% | 40% |
| B12 | 29% | 20% |
| iron | 41% | 11% |
These numbers change the perspective a bit, I think. It’s not simply that the gluten-free population is nutrient deficient. When you compare us to the national averages, it gets slightly more complex. In some cases, such as folate, riboflavin, thiamin, and iron, we’re two or more times as deficient (as a group) than the nation. However, in other cases, such as B12, B6, and calcium, we still have greater rates
I was recently reading a press release from Nature’s Path Organic about two of their new cereals. The press release made a familiar argument: the cereals “provide gluten avoiders with whole grains… unlike many gluten-free cereals which forfeit nutritional benefits…” The implication is that many gluten-free cereals (and other gluten-free processed foods, by extension) are more highly processed in order to improve taste and texture. But they do so by sacrificing nutritional quality.
There is some truth to this logic. Foods made from whole grains are inherently healthier than heavily processed foods, and I’ll use our good old enemy – wheat – to demonstrate. I compared whole grain wheat flour (less processed) with white, unenriched wheat flour (more processed) across a range of nutrient measures. Not surprisingly, the wheat underwent a profound loss in
This week’s Friday’s Find makes this Smoothie Queen very happy. Not only is it made by a company that I already love, but it opens up flavor options without added sugar. I love So Delicious Coconut Milk, but I usually purchase the unsweetened version to avoid sugar. I have to admit that I do look longingly at the Vanilla, because it is truly sooooo delicious. In coffee, over cereal, in smoothies, it’s just wonderful. But since I’ve cut out sugar, the vanilla sweetness has been but a lovely memory.
Until now.
This week I happened to see a carton of So Delicious Sugar-Free Vanilla Coconut Milk at Whole Foods. While I was thrilled to see that it didn’t have cane sugar, I took a good hard look at the ingredients hoping that I wouldn’t find artificial sweeteners instead. I was glad to see that it is sweetened with stevia and monk fruit. Sweet! Tempted to fill my cart, I decided to take just one box and see how I liked it first.
I should have filled the cart.
This vanilla coconut milk helped
It has finally happened…the gluten-free answer to the vanilla wafer has been discovered and it is the vanilla cookies made by Gefen. Now for the bad news…they are only available during Passover and they are made in Israel.
While strolling the aisles at a local Super Target we discovered Gefen’s vanilla cookies on clearance for $3.90 per box. What really caught my attention was the Celiac Disease Foundation logo on the box. The cookies are made from: potato starch, sugar, whole eggs, palm oil and vanilla. Somehow we just knew they were going to taste amazing and they do.
These cookies remind me of a vanilla wafer crossed with