Restaurant Review - California Pizza Kitchen

It took me a little while to visit the new California Pizza Kitchen at Stoneridge Mall to try the new gluten free pizza - apparently too long. I was informed by our waitress that they no longer are serving the gluten free pizza. She did not seem to know why but a call into the Walnut Creek store confirmed that CPK discontinued due to cross contamination issues.

Our server did point out other gluten free items on the menu. I ordered grilled chicken and broccoli for Sammy off the children's menu which was quite plain but he ate it. I had a salad with caramelized peaches, pecans and goat cheese. It was okay. I actually prefer my usual dish which is the grilled vegetable salad. It consists of grilled asparagus, artichoke hearts, corn, sun dried tomatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, egg plant and avocado over romaine lettuce. I top it with olive oil, lemon juice and salt/pepper and it's awesome.

Sammy's grilled chicken broccoli dish from the kid's menu

My caramelized peach salad

It's too bad they discontinued it. I would like to have tried it.

Did anyone get a chance?

Restaurant Review - Frankie, Johnnie and Luigi, Too!

I was truly shocked to hear that Frankie, Johnnie and Luigi, Too in Dublin had not only gluten free pizza but gluten free pasta as well. We decided to head over there last night. My son is always excited about the prospect of ordering gluten free pasta in a restaurant. This place has a nice family feel to it. We went around 5:30pm so we were seated right away. The waitress was really sweet and tried to answer all my ingredient questions the best she could (can you relate to this?) but what proceeded to unfold was pure disaster. Let me add that it did not help that I was starving.


We decided to order both the gluten free pasta and pizza so we could try both. The menu said that "vegan" options were available along with the "gluten free" but the waitress was not aware of any vegan cheese or alternative butter spread. So, I guess they meant no meat or cheese on your pasta or pizza for "vegan style." There were two options for the pasta, either marinara or bolognese. Since I don't eat meat very often and was a little leery to try the bolognese, we just ordered the marinara sauce. I tried to order meatballs for my son but the waitress said they had both bread crumbs and cheese in them.  We ordered a barbecue chicken style pizza with no cheese.


My son waited patiently for the food but when it came, this is when everything started going down hill fast. First, I could tell by the crust of the pizza (which was about one inch high on the plate) that is was not gluten free. Then I saw the waitress wince at the pizza and say, "Is that cheese?" (of course it was). She announced she would take it back and it would be another fifteen minutes. Since Sam and I would have to share the gluten free pasta, I asked for a small side salad. The waitress told me the balsamic Italian dressing was made in-house and was very good. I took a chance and ordered it which I usually do not do. I like to stick with olive oil and lemon juice in a restaurant. This way, I can be sure my stomach doesn't cramp up. I'm not sure what makes my body react this way to restaurant dressings. I think it may be canola oil if they don't use olive oil in their dressing. This is very common since canola oil is so cheap but is also a GMO. The salad was very good although it did not contain the most healthy greens and vegetables.

Side salad with house balsamic Italian dressing

The pasta with marinara sauce was good. I have a hard time believing the pasta was gluten free. It's a blend of rice and corn flour. The sauce does have a kick to it and was too spicy for my son.

Gluten Free Pasta Marinara

Meanwhile fifteen long minutes later, a man brought out another pasta dish. I told him it was supposed to be a gluten free pizza. He said it would be another fifteen minutes. AAAUUGGHHHHH! Fifteen minutes with a hungry five year old feels more like an hour. I told them to just take it off the bill. We decided to order a gluten free, barbecue chicken pizza (no cheese) from New York Pizza and just have it delivered to our house for Sam to eat.

 

Then, the bill came. I double checked it just to see if they had "gluten free" or "allergy alert" on the bill which I did not find but I also noted they charged us for the pizza we never received and the side salad they gave me. I truly thought the salad would be comped for all the hassle and waiting. I guess not. When I pointed out the pizza charge, I had to go over all the night's events with the waitress to help her understand why we should not have to pay for the pizza. Craziness. Meanwhile, my stomach had started cramping. I am swollen and sore this morning. I'm not sure if it was the salad dressing (very possible) or the pasta which I am not convinced was gluten free. There was nothing on our bill that indicated gluten free pasta or pizza (which is why I believe the pizza came out wrong). There was nothing on our dish that indicated gluten free and the wait staff did not announce "gluten free pasta" when it was delivered. At Jules Thin Crust Pizza, the paper or box that your pizza is delivered on/in is stamped "gluten free." This just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that I've received what I ordered. I truly feel sorry for people with Celiac Disease when they order out. I can understand why they would just avoid it.

It's my opinion that restaurants who want to participate in the gluten free market should first of all, train the waitstaff properly and then should always mark the GF food appropriately so there are no mishaps. I waited tables for many years in college and am familiar with what a food line looks like. Usually, it is plates piled on top of plates waiting to be picked up. What would prevent a person from mistaking a regular pasta dish for a gluten free (unless it's marked)? I won't be back to Frankie, Johnnies and Luigi's Too any time soon. If you do go, I would be diligent about double checking that everything that you receive is gluten free. If you've had a positive gluten free experience at Frankie, Johnnie and Luigi, Too, I am anxious to hear about it and might consider giving it another try.  More restaurant reviews to come...

Retailer Update - Safeway on Bernal Ave.

New Safeway store on Bernal Avenue in Pleasanton

When I read an article years ago that Safeway was to open a new "pilot store" called Safeway Lifestyle with an emphasis on organic and other specialty items (such as gluten free), I was ecstatic. Besides the fact that this store is seven minutes from my house, I was excited about the prospect of doing all my shopping under one roof. If you're a GFCF eater, you know that shopping at one store would be pure luxury. Having gluten and non-gluten eaters in my house, I have to hit at least five to six stores to get all my shopping done. I read that this Safeway store was intended to be "direct competition" to Whole Foods Market which is why I decided to brave the crowds and go to the grand opening party last night.

Safeway's red carpet entrance for the grand opening

Well, I have to say that Safeway knows how to give a "grand opening." They literally had a red carpet at the entrance and gave away goody bags filled with free product. The store was filled with food samples including wine. A pretty decent band kept every one's spirits high while shopping and singing along. The store was a "mad house." Being that I don't like crowds, I was eager to get out of there but did manage to scope out the GFCF and organic items.

I do have to admit that this store does have the widest array of GFCF and organic products that I have seen in a Safeway store. They actually had a "gluten free" section carrying products such as Ancient Grains, Glutino, Pamela's, Bob's Red Mill, Enjoy Life, Bakery on Main, Gluten Free Cafe, Glutenfreeda, King Arthur GF Flours, Schar products (harder to find), DeBoles, Arrowhead Mills and a few others. Most of the GF dry items were in the area below although some are distributed throughout the stores such as the San-J GF tamari sauce that stood next to the soy sauces in the ethnic food section.

Safeway's gluten free dry food section

The gluten free frozen items such as Udi's, Rudy's, Glutino and Food for Life were in the same section as featured in other Safeway stores (near the frozen vegetables). For some reason, Safeway separates the French Meadows line of GF frozen foods and places those items in a freezer near the bakery. It is the most complete line of French Meadows products that I have seen in one store. I love their frozen cookie dough product. It comes in really handy when my older kids bake cookies from the Pillsbury pre-made dough. We can throw a couple of the French Meadow cookies in the oven for Sam and he's happy.

French Meadows GF Frozen Foods near the Bakery Department

The organic produce section was larger than most other Safeway stores although it cannot hold a candle to Whole Foods Market.

Safeway's Organic Produce Section

The organic produce prices were higher than Whole Foods Market but then again Safeway can run some really good sales. I found organic raspberries and strawberries for $2.50 a carton and they were in pretty good shape for out of season fruit. I also found a nice big bag of organic lemons which can be hard to find at times. The price was high though at $5.49 a bag.

I also noted that they carry many refrigerated non-dairy milk options including a Safeway brand coconut milk.

Safeway Brand Coconut Milk in the refrigerator section

Safeway's selection of refrigerated soy and almond milks

The store is very nice and larger than most. It has a Starbuck's coffee shop where we ordered a non-dairy (soy) kid's hot chocolate (no whipped cream). I forgot to ask if the chocolate they use has dairy in it (which I will do next time). It did not cramp our stomachs so that's a good sign. I love the fact that they serve the kid's hot chocolate at the perfect temperature for a child to drink. It must have been a parent that came up with this idea.

Although a nice store (and close to my house), this store will not take too much of my Whole Foods Market grocery money. Sprout's Farmer's Market in Dublin did a better job with that! It will be nice to have a Safeway a couple minutes closer and have a few more GFCF, organic options. I understand they will have fuel at some point in the near future and I've also heard that Chipotle is considering opening a restaurant in the shopping plaza. I can only hope for a Mariposa Bakery shop. Now that would be nice!

NOTE: Sorry for the lousy photos. I only had my camera phone and it was so crowded, I kept getting pushed around when I was trying to take photos.

Pumpkin Pecan Bars

I love having this recipe for last minute, unexpected potluck dinners and parties in the fall and early winter. Back in my "gluten eating days," I made this for many parties with great success. People love it. I made it tonight for the first time, gluten free and vegan. It was a success. The texture was definitely different but the taste was still the same and, if you'd never had the gluten version, you would have never known the difference.

Pumpkin Pecan Dessert Bars - Gluten Free and Vegan (can be made without nuts)

One box gluten free yellow cake mix (I prefer Pamela's brand but did use Betty Crocker this time)

One large jar (approx. 14 oz.), pumpkin butter (I buy Muirhead Pumpkin Pecan Butter from Williams-Sonoma but you could use any pumpkin butter, especially if you want to omit the nuts)

Ener-G egg replacer (enough to substitute 3 eggs)
    I used almond milk to replace the water for the egg substitute recipe and I beat the egg replacer mixture until it was frothy with my Aerolatte milk frother. You could also use a hand blender. The eggs will be used separately throughout the recipes so prepare them accordingly.

Aerolatte milk frother

Beat the egg mixtures until very frothy and then beat a little bit more.

1 TBL of GF flour (I used Bob's Red Mill gluten free all-purpose blend)

1/4 cup of sugar (I used organic coconut palm sugar which is low on the glycemic index)

3/4 cup Earth Balance

3 TBL of non-dairy milk (I used organic almond milk)

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Reserve one cup of the cake mix and set aside.

Mix remaining cake mix with 1/2 cup of melted Earth Balance and 1 egg substitute mixture.

Press mixture lightly into the bottom of a 8x8 pan.

Mix pumpkin butter with 2 egg substitute mixtures and the non-dairy milk.

Pour over the cake mixture in the pan. Spread evenly.

Mix to a crumble, the reserved cake mix with GF flour, sugar, 1/4 cup soft Earth Balance (not melted) and cinnamon.

Crumble over the pumpkin butter mixture.

Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden. Cut and serve after it has cooled.

GFCF Pumpkin Pecan Bars

Yummy!

Restaurant Review - Red Robins

As soon as I heard Red Robin restaurants are carrying Udi's gluten free hamburger buns, I was anxious to go and try it out. My son, Sammy, was as well since he never eats a hamburger on a bun in a restaurant. Upon entering Red Robin, I was a little disappointed not to see any signage announcing the new gluten free hamburger buns. It was also not listed on the menu. How is one supposed to know they have them? I ordered Sammy the children's meal with the gluten free bun. It was 99 cents extra for the special bun. This is not a problem for me; I was just happy to have the option. I also ordered sweet potato fries. I asked whether the fries contain gluten. The server said he didn't know but would check. He did later confirm that there was no wheat on the fries but failed to mention any cross contamination issues. I've read that they do not use a separate fryer for the fries so they could become contaminated with wheat. This is important for those who are very sensitive to gluten. This was a little disappointing. I think if Red Robin is going to carry gluten free food, the wait staff should be educated on these issues. I did notice that the food ticket had "allergy alert" printed on it.

Children's hamburger with the

Udi gluten free hamburger bun

The bun was good. Sammy ate half of it which I thought was pretty amazing. He's used to eating hamburger without the bun so I assumed he would immediately toss it away. This bun seemed a little more moist than the bun that I had at Ruby's Diner in Southern California. Maybe it was just fresher. The sweet potato fries were really tasty and were not over cooked which was a pleasant surprise. I like to eat sweet potato fries instead of regular fries when I'm out (if I'm going to eat fries at all, that is). Sweet potatoes are loaded with nutrition but be careful, deep fried sweet potatoes are also loaded with saturated fat.

Sweet Potato Fries

Sam enjoying his gluten free hamburger!

Overall we were happy with the meal, especially the new gluten free bun option but we did have to wait over 30 minutes for our food (at lunch time). I would love to see Red Robin promote the new buns. Otherwise, I'm afraid they won't sell and then we'll not have the option of gluten free buns at a local restaurant any more. Maybe they'll read my blog. :) Happy gluten free hamburger eating.

Product Review - Quinoa/Rice Stuffing

I've noticed several new gluten free products at Williams-Sonoma (WS) lately. Having worked in the Housewares industry for over 8 years, I've always loved this store. It's really too bad that most of the gluten free products they carry, have dairy in them. This includes the French Laundry Chef's new flour mix, C4C, that WS stores are now carrying.

This past weekend, I was able to try out one of their non-dairy, gluten free products for an early Thanksgiving meal with extended family. Along with my cranberry brussel sprouts and butternut squash kale, I brought Williams-Sonoma Herbed Quinoa and Red Rice Stuffing.

The ingredient are free of gluten but it is not a certified gluten free food since it is processed on equipment that prepares and packages gluten/wheat along with many other common allergens including nuts, milk, egg and soy. Nonetheless, I decided to try it out. It was fairly easy to make. The directions called for a diced onion and chopped celery. I used a bag of pre-chopped onion from Sprout's Farmer's Market (in the freezer section) just to save a little time. The directions also called for butter so I used Earth Balance instead.

The box came with a seasoning packet which includes sage, thyme, garlic and marjoram. Needless to say, the dish had a wonderful aroma. Everyone at the table gave it a "thumbs up" but I'm not sure if they were just being nice. I liked it but I eat quinoa all the time. It's high in protein. What I like most about this dish, is that there is nothing on the ingredient list I can't pronounce or identify.

Ingredients:
Quinoa
Red Rice
Dried Cranberries (cranberries, sugar and sunflower)
Garlic
Kosher Salt
Dalmatian Sage
French Thyme
Black Pepper
Mediterranean Marjoram

I think I will make this again for my immediate family's upcoming meal. This time, I think I'll add toasted pecans. I do believe that you could easily add leftover shredded turkey and some veggies (maybe leftover brussel sprouts) and you would have a wonderful quinoa salad for lunch made from leftovers!

Stuffing Cost: $14.95 a box with a small discount for purchasing two at one time.

Proceed with caution unless you're a quinoa lover. I"m sorry I did not think to photograph the final dish since I was in a hurry that day. I'll have to admit, it was not the most attractive dish at the buffet but it is packed with nutrition!

Have a wonderful gluten and dairy free Thanksgiving!

GF Apple Cider Donuts

I grew up in Michigan where apple orchards are abundant. Going to apple cider mills every fall and enjoying fresh steaming hot apple cider donuts right out of the fryer and pressed apple cider is a way of life for "Michiganders." I always loved the fall season. In Michigan, the leaf color change is amazing.

The beautiful colors coupled with the seasonal fall flavors, apple and cinnamon, is intoxicating. It's one of the things I really miss about Michigan (besides my family, of course). A couple years ago I discovered Applehill in Placerville which is a lovely fall getaway but darn those apple cider donuts, they have gluten in them. I did indulge this fall and had a couple of donuts. They were delicious but boy did I pay the price. My whole right side seized up. I had cramping, stomach issues and depression for days afterwards. I'm not saying I wouldn't do it again. :) Those donuts are worth it but it did inspire me to find a possible alternative. This recipe below I found in Special Diets for Special Kids Two by Lisa Lewis, Ph.D. I modified it slightly and tried to make it vegan by substituting the egg with Ener-G egg replacer, applesauce and ground chia seed (because I can't do flax). The donuts came out flat with each egg substitute. Finally I settled for duck egg which we seem to be able to tolerate (I use them only in baking). The donuts turned out perfect. Even though I baked them, they still had a bit of a crunch to them right out of the oven so it seemed as though they had been fried (but without all the grease). I'm going to keep working on this recipe. If you have any suggestions for replacing egg in a donut, please feel free to post them. I am determined to make these vegan.

The GF flour I used is Authentic Foods, Bette's Gourmet Featherlight Rice Flour Blend. I bought it on Amazon.com.

The duck egg (purchased at Ranch 99)

It looks like a normal chicken egg.

I used coconut palm sugar instead of regular sugar. It has a low glycemic index.

Sammy stirring the dry ingredients.

Oiling the donut mold pan.

I piped the donut batter with a pastry bag which made it extremely easy.

The mini donuts.

The big donuts

The taste test. Yummy and gluten free!

Gluten Free Apple Cider Donuts by Lisa Lewis

(modified slightly by me)

3 tablespoons sugar (I used coconut palm sugar)

2 cups Bette featherlite flour (or other GF flour combo)

1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder (I used aluminum free)

1-1/2 teas. baking soda

1/2 teas. salt

1 teas. cinnamon

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1/3 cup organic brown sugar

1/3 cup organic apple butter

1/3 cups pure maple syrup (grade B)

1/3 cup organic apple cider

1/3 cup milk substitute, soured with 1/2 teas cider vinegar

3 tablespoon safflower oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Coat depressions of donut pan with oil (I used safflower).

Mix the dry ingredients together throughly and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together egg, brown sugar, apple butter, maple syrup, cider, sour milk alternative and oil. Add dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Put the batter into the piping bag and snip the end being careful to not let the batter ooze out. Squeeze batter into mold and then bake 10-12 minutes until the donuts spring back when lightly touched. You can brush with melted Earth Balance and then dip into cinnamon sugar, if you'd like. We eat ours plain to avoid the extra sugar.

GFCF Living Halloween Party

Our first GFCF Living Halloween Party was a success! Everyone had a great time and ate yummy GFCF food. I actually met several of our members that I had not known before and we gained a few new members. We all feasted on GF, vegan cupcakes from Miglet's Bakery, homemade chocolate rice crispy bars, delicious apple crisp, amazing pumpkin chocolate chip bread, heavenly chocolate truffles, goodies donated by Whole Foods Market - San Ramon, chocolate bunny cookies donated by Kinnikinnick, amazing homemade chocolate donuts and apple cider donuts, among other treats. I felt so happy to see the joy in the children's faces as they got to eat almost anything they wanted from the buffet. I am hoping to do this again next year. Meanwhile, I am look forward to the GFCF Cookie exchange in December and let's not forget dinner at Piatti's in November.