Gluten Free on the Eastside

February 18, 2013March 3, 2013 kristenannLeave a comment

The other day my friend told me about a vegetarian Thai restaurant she and her husband had found in Bellevue that had a lot of gluten-free options which were clearly marked, and many vegan items too. I looked up the place and it was the same restaurant I used to go to in Seattle when I was still at UW and I was so excited I talked my husband into ordering take-out that very evening and drove through a blinding rain to pick it up. When I was at UW we English teachers would usually celebrate the end of the quarter at Araya’s Place, and meat eaters loved it just as much as the vegetarians in the group even though it is strictly flesh-free. The freshness of the produce plus the enlightened awareness of food intolerances makes the place truly a stand out in a world of Thai places on every other block. I had no idea that they had opened up shop in Bellevue, and apparently they have only been here on the Eastside since May 2012. The best thing is, long ago our favorite noodle soup place closed in Fremont, and we have been in search of one ever since. Araya’s soup, finally, ended our search, and it isn’t as far as Fremont. (Though we love Fremont, we usually stay on our side of the bridge.) Another reason we no longer have to go to Fremont, is Flying Apron opened up shop in Redmond~ though that was a good two years ago I think, or maybe even more, I still feel incredibly lucky whenever I go there. For my son’s recent birthday I ordered a cake from there and it surpassed all expectations. It was chocolate cake with vanilla icing, completely gluten, dairy and egg free, and oh my gosh, I don’t know if it’s because I so rarely eat cake, but I thought it the best dessert I’d ever put into my mouth. The rest of the family seemed very impressed too and there wasn’t much left on the plates afterward so I can assume their smiles and thumbs-ups were due to full, happy mouths. So, I guess we’ll only be heading to Fremont when we need our troll fix, since the Eastside now has our soup and baked goods covered, because no one can replicate the troll. Ever.

children · gluten free · Gluten free eating · gluten free food · gluten free foods · gluten free lifestyle · gluten intolerance · gluten intolerant

School Lunch

February 2, 2013 kristenannLeave a comment

My sons normally bring their lunches to school, unless they are having waffles and then my oldest buys his lunch, therefore I don’t normally read the menu that comes home monthly except to mark the waffle days. (Usually every Wednesday.) For lack of better reading material with my coffee this morning I actually read February’s offerings, and was struck by the little key at the bottom that reads: “**Contains Wheat” and another symbol to show what contains dairy. I went back through the menu and realized every item had a double asterisks by it~ every single thing offered contains wheat. They do have a salad bar each day so I assume a gluten-free child could live off that if they didn’t bring their lunch, but I have a hard time imagining an elementary student getting much from it. It makes me sad for the free/reduced lunch kids who might have food intolerances, and the kids who just want to buy their lunches like their friends do but can’t because they never have good options. But the real thing that I think this says is that we are a wheat nation~ people generally have no idea how much wheat they take in on a daily basis but it is so easy to eat it at every meal. I lived on wheat before realizing I had a problem with it, which I don’t think is a coincidence. A bit more variety in my diet might have saved me some headaches, fatigue, and stomach issues. I love the schools that have gardens on their property and use the food in the schools. Imagine basing lunch menus on what is growing outside the window, what is in season and fresh and healthy, then adding in the other things, such as grains and beans, and dairy. Oh and meat if you like, I always forget that. There is an organization promoting school gardens called The Edible Schoolyard Project and they are very worth checking out. Last year I asked the principal at my sons’ school if we could plant a garden and he said he was thinking about a greenhouse after the school’s construction was finished. That’d work too, but ideally I think both would be best.

Education · kids

Healthy Kids Move

January 21, 2013 kristenann4 Comments

It’s yet another responsibility a parent has~ making sure his/her children get exercise. It isn’t always easy in the winter when even I take one look outside and dive for the nearest blanket. During the summer months it is completely normal for my two sons to play all day, to go from a park to a pool to another park and September always leaves me cringing at the thought of those two active boys suddenly having to sit for 6.5 hours a day with just short little recesses to get outside. Then as slowly as the leaves turn colors the sedentary lifestyle seeps into their growing bones and it becomes the norm, making movement a strange and rare occurrence that results in having to ‘rest’. I hate it. And just for the record I also hate the hours of homework after school when kids should be running around, or pursuing other passions like music, art, karate, etc. Anyway, I found a tool that helps motivate the kids to move and I like it so much I just have to share. There might be other brands out there, but what I found at our local REI was a kid friendly pedometer made by geopalz. The pedometers come in all different kinds of cute designs and can be worn on shoes or hips or even held in hand, though that is not really recommended. (Your arm movements are much more erratic compared to legs/feet.) The kids get to login into their personal statistics on the geopalz website and enter in their daily steps to watch their numbers add up and earn points for the ‘arcade’ and also points to earn real things, such as frisbees or balls. Such a fantastic idea! Both the website and the pedometer seem to be fairly new and have a kink or two that still need working out, but the fact my youngest and most lay-around-the-house son said, “I’m going to wear this all the time and get more steps!” is enough to make the purchase worth it. They have really enjoyed them so far and I have enjoyed being able to say, “Let’s walk to (wherever) and you can rack up some steps” and hearing “Yay!” instead of “No way!” Great idea and seems to be a great company.

ancient wheat · celiac disease · gluten free · Gluten free eating · gluten free foods · gluten free lifestyle · gluten intolerance · gluten intolerance diagnosis · gluten intolerant

Sourdough the Answer for Gluten Intolerance?

January 17, 2013March 18, 2014 kristenannLeave a comment

A couple of days ago I was sitting in a doctor’s office when I spotted a Whole Living magazine which was a welcome diversion. I don’t often see those lying around so I was happily surprised, yet far more surprised by what I actually read. There was an article about a baker making sourdough bread with regular wheat that apparently gluten intolerant people can eat. The story goes on to explain about the starter and yeast and other things, but the gist of it was that at least one Santa Monica baker has a technique that has gluten intolerant people lining up for miles around, and it also talks about ancient wheat varieties versus the modern ones. Here’s the article so you can read it too, and join me in my plan to move to Santa Monica, or at least find out more about this technique. It sounds like at least a lot more people are thinking about this epidemic in gluten intolerance and trying to do something about it. (Yay!) The bummer for me though is the fact I was not tested for Celiac Disease when diagnosed with gluten intolerance. I just asked the doctor (whose office I was in reading the above article) about getting tested now and she said I would have to go on a gluten diet again before being able to get an accurate answer. That bites! I didn’t even ask how long I’d have to eat gluten (and feel rotten) because my immediate thought was about the feeling rotten part. She said as long as I don’t know I just have to stay off gluten entirely and forever~ which makes these ancient wheats and sourdough starter prospects bittersweet. It makes me wish I’d demanded to be tested way back when the first GI doctor I saw told me it didn’t matter because whether I was a celiac or just gluten intolerant all I could do either way was stay away from wheat, and that I didn’t look like a celiac b/c they are normally blonde and pale. (That still cracks me up.) At the time I wanted to know for certain because I thought it important for my kids since it is a hereditary disease, but I let him talk me out of sticking a long scope down my throat into my small intestine. Honestly, it didn’t take long for him to convince me that was unnecessary. Oh well. I guess I can always try these new things and see how I feel which sounds a lot easier than eating a bunch of gluten just in order to take a test. Looks like the Santa Monica farmer’s market is now on my “must go to” list now.

Food allergies · gluten free

Evolution Fresh

January 11, 2013January 11, 2013 kristenannLeave a comment

I have a new favorite restaurant and if its sibling is any indicator, it’ll be coming to a corner near you soon. Starbucks launched a restaurant called Evolution Fresh and it is naturally friendly to any food allergy you might have because they use whole foods, healthy and heavy on veggies. You may have seen their juices lining the Starbucks cold cases, and honestly I’ve tasted one or two of those and wasn’t overly impressed. There have been times in my life when I’ve been an avid juicer so I know exactly how I like my veggie juice and when it is pre-bottled, well, it’s just never the same. The food on the other hand, is awesome, so here’s what the experience at Evolution is like: You go up to the counter, think Qdoba or Chipotle, and you can either order a bowl where the ingredients are predetermined or you can ‘make your own bowl’ where you handpick each ingredient you want. Also, you can get it in a warm broth instead of a salad feel, which I haven’t done but I’ve heard is a wonderful alternative. Here’s an example of making your own bowl~ I asked for Quinoa, Kale, brown and wild rice, red peppers, grape tomatoes, black beans, and garlic balsamic sauce. Here’s the menu at their first store which happened to be in Bellevue Square: Menu. Yum. Notice the little w that is the symbol for without wheat ingredients~ nice touch. It’s inspiring, really, and each time I have gone there I think, “why don’t I just do this in my own fridge?” and the answer is, because it will go bad before it is all used. This is one chain I’ll be rooting for seeing on more corners.

Food allergies · gluten free · gluten intolerant

Making the Best of Things…

December 20, 2012December 20, 2012 kristenann3 Comments

Twice now I’ve tried to make my dear friends some yummy bakery items for Christmas, and both times I’ve ended up with crumbly messes. They are fine tasting crumbles, but not exactly what I had in mind for a Christmas gift. My friends are a family of four who are gluten, dairy, and egg free, so the recipes are not exactly run-of-the-mill, open box and add water types, but still I am using Flying Apron recipes which I use all the time so I do not know what the trouble is. The first time I tried to make chocolate cupcakes which rose beautifully and then collapsed in on themselves in such a miserable fashion I threw them away before they had even cooled. The second time I was making gingerbread cookies which broke apart as I took them off the cookie sheets. During this fiasco I happened to be talking to another friend who was hearing my distress through the phone and said, “Just stick them in a jar, get a spoon and deliver it as ice cream topping.” Brilliant! It wasn’t what I had intended but they do eat soy ice cream and the gingerbread did taste really good, so why not?! That saved me from trying a third recipe with ever decreasing confidence and I was sincerely happy not to waste all that food again. During this stressful time of year it is especially wise to keep an open mind and be flexible~ something I tend to forget in the Holiday craziness. Thank goodness for friends.

Uncategorized

Gluten Free Trials: To Xanthan Gum or Not to Xanthan Gum

December 9, 2012June 10, 2017 kristenann2 Comments

It’s holiday time which means baking time and I’ve tried two new recipes in as many days. Neither are a raging success, but the good and the bad are both share-worthy, right? First, I made this recipe from the Whole Foods website, substituting the all-purpose flour with Bob’s gluten-free baking flour, and then instead of whole wheat I used Bob’s gluten-free oat flour. The other change I made was to leave out the walnuts because I only had whole ones and I did not feel like spending the time to make them “chopped”. This was where I contemplated xanthan gum, and decided against it, because no matter now safe it it supposed to be, I can’t get over the fact I don’t know exactly what it is, other than it is made in a lab. Alas, the bread came out delicious, but crumbly. So crumbly I can’t even cut it and retain the slice. Maybe a teaspoon of xanthan gum would have done the trick~ I don’t know for sure, but if you are planning on trying this bread gluten-free style, I’d recommend adding a bit in there, unless you like eating your loaf of bread with a fork.

My second experiment was to make chocolate chip almond oatmeal cookies. I got the recipe on the back of Bob’s quick oats where the recipe was actually for coconut almond oatmeal cookies. I have no affiliation with Bob’s Red Mill by the way, they just happen to make gluten-free products that are definitely gluten-free~ no cross-contamination possible. Anyway, I don’t know why but when I had followed the directions on the bag I ended up with overly dry mix. There is no way I could have smashed that stuff together into a cookie shape, so I added an egg and a couple of tablespoons of canned pumpkin, which turned out to be too much in the way of liquid. Sigh. They turned out edible, but not anything truly special, though they did make the house smell awfully good. Incidentally, that recipe does call for xanthan gum so I stuck it in there, though a bit on the lesser side of the teaspoon it suggests.

Food allergies · gluten free · gluten free lifestyle · gluten intolerant

Gluten Free in Disneyland

November 27, 2012November 27, 2012 kristenannLeave a comment

Traveling is always going to be one step harder for those of us with food allergies, but at least us gluten intolerant people are becoming more and more recognized in the restaurant world. I am completely aware we annoy a lot of chefs, sorry, but I’m pretty sure I am speaking for more than myself when I say, we didn’t ask to be gluten intolerant and if we could eat anything we wanted without feeling ill, we most certainly would! But annoyed or not, more and more menus are prepared with us in mind, whether the menu is a separate one or one where the gluten-free meals are marked, and traveling with at least this particular food allergy is easier than ever. I am happy to report that Disneyland was remarkably easy to navigate with gluten intolerance. As long as you can make it through the throngs of people, you can find gluten-free food. A little research and planning definitely helps though, so here are some tips~ First of all, make your dinner reservations ahead of time. You can email them (dine@disneyland.com) and in the email (with location, time, date, name) let them know the food issues your party has. Second of all, contact the special diets dining services (DLR.Special.Diets@disney.com) and let them know all of your dinner reservations and they can advise both you and the chefs. They can only help you with the actual park restaurants though, not the downtown Disney district ones. This was extremely helpful the one night we ate in the hotel at Goofy’s cafe which is a buffet style dinner with characters walking around. When I checked in the chef was alerted to come talk to me, which I almost declined because I hate to be a bother but I’m so glad I did not. He offered to make me either rice, veggies, and a meat of my choice or a gluten-free pizza. I was confused because it was a buffet, and he said that he’d be happy to talk me through the items of the buffet but since it leaves his control he cannot guarantee the items are in fact not cross contaminated. That made sense but I wanted to see what was available anyway, and he pointed out all the gluten-free items, and also all the things I might expect to be gluten-free but were not, such as the steamed veggies had been dipped in pasta water, and all the salad dressings had hidden croutons that had fallen in. He was very helpful and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal there. At Tortilla Jo’s the gluten-free meals are clearly marked with an asterisks by them, and there was a large selection. At Naples Ristorante the waiter just told me what I could and could not get, which mostly turned out to be gluten-free pasta with any sauce they had available. To be honest this was my most boring meal and the rudest staff, but everyone else loved their meals so I can’t not recommend it. The last night we ate at Rainforest cafe and the manager came over to talk to me about what I could and could not safely ingest. He actually did not inspire much confidence as he looked so frightened I felt like offering him a sip of my wine, so maybe he was new…? I don’t know, but all I wanted was a soup and salad and both were in fact gluten-free (with a certain dressing that is) so it worked out. For breakfasts and lunches we ate snacky stuff (I brought Udi’s bagels and travel peanut butter) and bought smaller meals. You can actually get a gluten-free guide to the park at Disneyland’s courthouse on Maine Street but each time I looked in there was a long line so I did not bother even though I was very interested in what it said. (Were all those people gluten-free? What else does one do at the Disneyland Courthouse? Apply for a marriage licence with Mickey and Minnie as witnesses? Change your name to Tinkerbell? Ask for a judgement in a ride dispute?) Anyway, 3 days of Disneyland and I don’t feel one bit gluten-fied. That is indeed…magical Continue reading “Gluten Free in Disneyland” →

Education

Reading

November 19, 2012 kristenannLeave a comment

Most things I’ve done as a parent I look back on and think I could have done better. That’s a depressing statement, but I believe if most parents are honest, they would say the same thing, and I think this because people refer to their first born as the trial and error kid, and they “do better” with the next ones. You can’t help but to learn as you go, so that certainly makes sense and really anyone who doesn’t think they could do better isn’t striving to be better, and I don’t have much patience for those types. There’s a buddhist saying that I’ll massacre here: A wise person sees wisdom everywhere, an ignorant person sees ignorance. The actual quote is far more eloquent, but my brain only seems to memorize iambic meter. Anyway, the one thing I can honestly and unabashedly say I did right from the get-go as a mother is to make my kids readers. Most young children love books, but my oldest did not. As an infant he only liked tearing catalogs and magazines and refused to sit through the simplest of books. The pictures were far less interesting than real life to him and it truly bothered me that he was not interested in books. Soon after his first birthday I managed to get his interest with books about vehicles, but not the same books over and over again as most young ones do, so I started looking through our King County library system and putting on hold every child’s book with trucks, cars, construction, or fire trucks in the keyword search. Once I had gone through all of those (and I do mean ALL of them) I expanded the search words to tools, workers, planes, etc. That little toddler started to get hooked. Pretty soon I was searching books about dogs, space, robots, and more, and he was interested in it all. A reader was in the making. That was not the end of our struggles though as he was not the type to immediately except the alphabet nor did the typical teaching in preschool or kindergarten suit him, so I took him to an extra pre-reading class that had a lot of music and movement attached to the letters and that is where he finally learned the alphabet. Reading did not spontaneously happen though, and we had many arguments over reading through the end of first grade. While he still insisted on reading simple books I started getting chapter books on CD for driving in the car. It worked. They both love hearing stories in the car, it keeps them focused on something besides each other, and I appreciate having a book read aloud to them that I don’t have to do because my throat does not allow me to read out loud very long. I sometimes have to pause books and explain things, which is a wonderful way to increase their vocabulary and comprehension skills. By the end of first grade my oldest was quite a good reader and his first chapter books were to reread the books we had listened to in the car, which happened to be the Magic Treehouse series. Now he is in third grade and absolutely loves to read. It’s his favorite subject in school, tied with PE, and he often reads one to two hours a night, purely out of the sheer joy of it. My younger son is on the same path though his way was less bumpy so seemed less dramatic. He did have a little trouble with the way reading is taught in schools too though and I had to teach him myself, which luckily I had done before in schools so I really do count myself very fortunate. It seems like the schools are missing a step between learning letters and actual reading but I guess it clicks for most at some point.

ecology

Trash Talk

November 13, 2012September 26, 2013 kristenann4 Comments

News from an eco-conscious country: Sweden has apparently gotten so good at recycling and reusing that they are forced to import trash from other countries to fuel their trash-burning energy plants. Here is a link to the story. Come on America, let’s be inspired to recycle and compost as well as the Swedes! (Well done, Sweden.)