Milk Allergy Alert: Herbalife International of America - FAAN

Milk Allergy Alert: Herbalife International of America - FAAN

Mexican kitchen with Gluten Free and Vegan fare to take over The Eat Spot

Mexican kitchen to take over The Eat Spot

A Fluffier Fluffernutter

If you've never had a fluffernutter sandwich you are seriously missing out on one of the best things in life. Creamy peanut butter and gooey marshmallow fluff on squishy white sandwich bread....oh wait, there is no such thing as squishy white sandwich bread for us gluten free-ers.  Or is there?

Ever since I found out I had to go gluten free I have been on a quest to find the perfect soft, squishy and fluffy sandwich bread. But not just any kind of sandwich bread, the kind to make my homey childhood classics on. French toast, grilled cheese and my all time favorite, the fluffernutter. After all my trials and tribulations, Rudi's Gluten Free breads came out on top.  I regularly buy their bread, buns, and tortillas but they still didn't quite make the perfect PB & J...until now. Rudi's kindly sent me a couple loaves of their all-new recipe gluten free bread and I must say I am impressed. For me they have always surpassed other brands in taste, texture and size so they've only one upped themselves in my opinion. And I'm glad they did! Their new soft and fluffy recipe has made my beloved fluffernutter soar to new heights!

Wanna try it yourself? Enter to win a $1,000 Reward! You know how many loaves you could buy with that?! Text "Found" to 304-52-RUDIS. Then comment on this post and be entered to win my Rudi's Gluten Free Blogger Giveaway of a Cozy Blanket, a Soft Decorative Pillow, Eco-Friendly Kitchen Towels, Kitchen Candle and Compost Pail!! Want a few extra entries? Like Eat, Drink and Be Gluten Free on Facebook and comment that you've found Soft & Fluffy for one additional entry. Tweet me @eatdrinkbegfree for another!  GOOD LUCK!!

Until Next Time,

Eat Fluffernutters, Drink and Be Gluten Free

Gluten Free Skinny Pancakes

I made this super easy, super quick recipe today based on a Pinterest pin recipe with a link to a completely different recipe on http://www.DelightedMomma.com. Hmmmmn. Either way, they were delish!

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup of gluten free oats
1/2 of a banana
1/2 tsp of vanilla
2 egg whites

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until well combined (about 45 seconds). Coat the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil and put on medium high. Once the pan is hot, pour your batter to make whatever size pancakes you want (I like mine silver dollar size) and cook for about 30-45 seconds on each side until golden brown. Depending on your burner and if you made larger pancakes, this time may vary. Use your own judgement. If you mess up you can always make more. And voila! Gluten free skinny pancakes!

I topped my mini pancakes with a little dairy free butter, a thin slice of banana and a drizzle of raspberry agave syrup. They were two thumbs up, husband approved and I quote, "You could put these on a restaurant menu." (Not that I have a restaurant.....yet ;)

Until Next Time,

Eat GF Skinny Pancakes, Drink and Be Gluten Free

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Happy National Candy Corn Day!

Enjoy National Candy Corn Day with this gluten free candy corn recipe from the Food Network's Chef Alton Brown! Remember to check your labels when buying your ingredients to make sure they are gluten free and safe. Finally, I can eat candy corn again!

Food Network

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Come on Betty! You're such a tease!

I'll never forget the day my husband and I came across the Gluten Free Asian Fried Rice Chicken Helper by Hamburger Helper. We were making homemade sushi and egg drop soup and my husband decided he wanted pork fried rice as well. I sighed knowing I had no desire, not to mention no day old rice, to make the homemade version and that meant he would probably stop at the Chinese place on the way home to pick some up. But instead a lightbulb lit up over his head, he grabbed my hand and led me to the Hamburger Helper aisle in the grocery store. He grabbed the Gluten Free Chicken Helper and said, "We'll make this!" Still bummed that I wouldn't be eating fried rice, he made me look a bit closer at the box. "It's gluten-free!" I squealed (yes, squealed). He was soooooo excited. Finally a quick and easy, and quite nostalgic, meal he could make AND share with me. For a couple that eats little processed food and cooks every meal, this was AWESOME.

Fast forward to today. I come home from my women's business group and discover that my husband is making the GF Asian Helper for dinner (he stocked up at the last buy-one-get-one-free sale at Harris Teeter). We're sitting on the sofa watching Monday Night Football and enjoying our delicious Helper when I mention that Hamburger Helper makes three gluten free flavors, though I don't know what they are. "Google them," he says. So I do. And what do I find?! Three blog posts about how those very same three flavors (Beef Fried Rice, Chicken Fried Rice and Cheesy Hashbrowns) will NO LONGER BE GLUTEN FREE!! What?!! This can't be true. This product was only introduced to the market a year ago, how could they be pulling it already? I delved into the blog posts, comments and reviews. The gluten free community seemed to like the product while the wheat-eaters did not. They complained about hard/mushy rice and the smell.  Let me tell you wheat-eaters something just to get it off my chest. Rice does NOT contain gluten. You simply cooked it incorrectly. My husband (a wheat-eater)  makes both regular and gluten free Hamburger Helper products for himself and it comes out perfectly every time. As for the smell, it did not disagree with us. But alas, this is not why they are pulling the GF versions off the shelves. In fact, they are not changing the ingredients or recipes at all. General Mills is changing the manufacturing plants where Helper is made and can no longer guarantee that there won't be any cross contamination. This does not make sense to me. Granted, I am not a multi-million dollar corporation owner, but why would a company who's made such a huge impact in the gluten-free community switch manufacturers when it requires them to pull back some of their amazing and popular products? I mean, their reason for creating gluten-free products goes all the way to the top! What's next, the Gluten Free Bisquick? Betty Crocker's delicious, tastes like the real thing brownies? I can only help that Betty will find a way to bring back the GF Helpers soon.

I've been gluten free for over 8 years now and things have progressed so much. I can eat bread and cupcakes and pasta at restaurants. I can buy chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and soft pretzels. I can eat Chex and Rice Krispies and oatmeal. And once upon a time I could buy Gluten-free Hamburger Helper.....


Until Better News,

Eat (not Hamburger Helper), Drink and Be Gluten Free

P.S. At the time of this post there were still Gluten Free Helpers on the shelves of my local grocery stores. The boxes may be mixed as they make the transition so make sure to READ LABELS if you try to stock up before it's gone.

More blog posts about the Helper change:

Gluten Free Frenzy

Gluten Free Homemaker

Gluten Free Works

Even the Good Get Glutened

Last night I had a little celebration to go to for my trainer and friend Maleia Tumulo of Urban Fitness who is off to compete in the Xterra Nationals in Utah!! I knew it would be a fairly large group of people at dinner, so I called the restaurant (k38 Baja Grill) ahead of time to discuss my needs. When I got to the restaurant, I comfortably ordered the grilled veggie fajitas with corn tortillas and began to nibble on some chips and salsa. Actually, quite a few chips and salsa. It had taken the restaurant 45 minutes to seat us even though the girl organizing the dinner had called ahead to give them a head count! After I'd eaten two fajitas I started to dig in to the vegetables sans accoutrements when I suddenly had an alarming bite of food. I tasted....SOY SAUCE. I said it out loud and several of the girls at my table dug into their veggies and exclaimed, "Soy sauce? At a Mexican restaurant?". My lovely dinner and mood were instantly killed and replaced with the dread of wondering how badly this mistake was going to make me feel this week. Stomach ache? Sinus Pain? Breakouts? Brain fog? Huge puffy eyes? When I asked my waitress if there was soy sauce in the vegetables she said yes and that she was sorry. "I guess you don't want a box for those then?" she asked. Uh, no. I sat there shocked and stressed for a moment when my friend asked why I was being so nice about it and insisted I ask for the manager, especially since I had called ahead. (So much for calling ahead in order to NOT make a scene and be a pain in the butt.)

Although the manager did his best to rectify the situation, (he seemed to be the only one seriously knowledgeable about the menu) the damage was already done. He offered to take care of my meal and send me home with another order of veggie fajitas sans gluten and disappeared into the kitchen....BUT NOT BEFORE TELLING ME THAT THE CHIPS WERE NOT GLUTEN FREE EITHER!! (Seriously? I practically ate half a basket! Did that employee I'd talked to before dinner not know anything?!) Apparently they are made with both corn and WHEAT flour. I think my husband put it best when he said, " Who makes wheat corn chips?"

The manager returned with my takeout, continued to reiterate how sorry he was, and told me next time (I can't even eat the chips and salsa, why would there be a next time?) to ask for him immediately in order to avoid confusion. He seemed genuine, but everyone at the table was upset that he seemed to be making it out to be my fault.

Lesson learned? I broke a cardinal rule in allergy friendly dining in order to not stand out at my table of friends (who were not only understanding but supportive AND insisted I say something). Even though I had called ahead I should've checked again. Always check, double check and check again with the waitress, chef, manager, (whoever) and make sure they understand and know what they are talking about. If you are still uncomfortable, leave (or if you're with your friends for a special occasion, order a cocktail and eat later....just don't drink too much on an empty stomach ;)

Until next time my gluten free friends.....

Eat, Drink and Be Gluten Free