El Monterey Taquitos

El Monterey Chicken or Cheese Taquitos are, according to the El Monterey Customer Service line, gluten free. My family enjoys these taquitos for parties, quick lunches/dinners, or when we are on the go. They are quite tasty and a welcome addition to the growing variety of foods we can eat.

Gifts of Nature, Inc. Rolled Oats

Gifts of Nature, Inc. sells certified gluten-free rolled oats! I had been wanting oatmeal cookies, apple crisp, and just a bowl of oatmeal sometimes...that this find was fantastic! I have found this product on The Gluten Free Mall, Wild Oates, and a local bakery in the Colorado Springs area--Outside The Breadbox.

Wilderness Fruit Pie Fillings

I recently had a craving for some apple crisp and was unable to find many fruit pie fillings without modified food starch marked on the label. I contacted Birdseye, maker of the Wilderness brand fruit pie fillings, and according to their consumer phone line all of the fruit pie fillings in this line are gluten free. The modified food starch identified on the label is from corn. So enjoy.

Hormel Natural Choice Deli Meats

It had been a long time since I had enjoyed a good deli sandwich, until I discovered a few safe deli products. One such product is the Hormel line of Natural Choice Deli Meats. I have so far tried the turkey, chicken and roast beef...all are very good. Again, Hormel is one of the best companies in its labeling practices as the products are clearly marked "Gluten Free."

Hormel Original Pepperoni

Hormel Original Pepperoni, according to its label, is gluten free. I enjoy this product in a variety of ways including: topping my Rice Crust Amy's Cheese Pizza, on sandwiches, as a snack with cheese and crackers.

I have thus far identified a few Hormel products that are gluten free, and I have to say that Hormel is by far one of the best companies in identifying its gluten free products. Just look on the packaging of their products and it will say "Gluten Free" if it contains no gluten products. It is easy, smart, and a great labeling practice.

Albertaco

Albertaco is a Mexican restaurant that is located in Colorado and, as far as I know, California. My wife enjoys the Breakfast Burritos without the tortilla. Yes, the workers there look at you funny the first time you order without a tortilla but they have gotten used to the order. She can also enjoy the red and green hot sauce and has not had an outbreak. The Breakfast Burritos are great and are enjoy often as they have become our default breakfast when we go out to eat.

Wendy's

Wendy's restaurants offer a handy brochure providing the ingredients, nutritional and allergen information for their menu items. It is through this brochure that I identified some of my favorite gluten free fast foods.

A couple of things to know about Wendy's restaurants that I have found to be consistent across many states: the hamburger and chicken is cooked on a dedicated section of the grill and the French fries are cooked in dedicated oil. So the hamburger and chicken meat, as well as the French fries are gluten free. Wendy's is also one of the best places for honoring your request to substitute items (e.g. When ordering a cup of chili, request a package of almonds instead of the crackers. I know this may seem a little odd, but you can't eat the crackers anyway and the almonds make a great snack later.).

Some of the things I like at Wendy's so far are:

• Chicken Cesar Salad (substitute almonds for croûtons)
• Southwest Salad (everything that comes with this salad, including chips, dressing, sour cream, chili is gluten free)
• Baked Potato
• French Fries
• Grilled Chicken Sandwich (without the bread)

Disclaimer: Ingredients, preparation techniques, menus items, etc. may change at restaurants without notice, therefore you must ask questions, request a gluten free menu, and/or read labels to confirm that the food you order is gluten free every time you visit the restaurant.

Gluten Free Friendly Restaurants Intro

One of the frustrations and difficulties that I faced when I was diagnosed with Celiac Sprue was eating out at restaurants. You think that you might be safe eating certain things on the regular menu, but you have to confirm with the wait staff (who then has to confer with the cook/chef) how things are prepared, seasoned, marinated, cooked (e.g. Is that cooked in the same oil as the onion rings or other gluten containing foods or on the same surface/pan as other gluten containing foods?), plated, etc. The list goes on and on...or so it seems.

Eventually you get things down and learn to look at menus a different way and what questions to ask, but wouldn't it be GREAT if you could just order off of a menu again and know that it was safe for you to eat? In the Gluten Free Friendly Restaurants section of the Sans Gluten blog, I will feature restaurants that provide gluten free menus, as well as restaurants where a gluten free menu may not be available, but I have asked the questions and experienced good gluten free food.

Disclaimer: Ingredients, preparation techniques, menus items, etc. may change at restaurants without notice, therefore you must ask questions, request a gluten free menu, and/or read labels to confirm that the food you order is gluten free every time you visit the restaurant.

Banana Bread

Makes 1 - 9"x5"x3" loaf or double recipe to make 3 - 8"loaves

8 Tbsp. (1 stick) butter @ room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c. Gluten Free (GF) Flour Mix (see post from July 3, 2007)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp. GF vanilla
1/2 c. pecans, coarsely chopped

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2) Grease bread pan
3) Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4) Sift GF flour mix, baking soda, and salt together, then added to creamed mixture. Mix well.
5) Fold in bananas, GF vanilla and nuts
6) Pour mixture into pan(s), bake 50-60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then on rack.

Gluten Free Flour Mix

The following mix can be substituted for up to 2 cups of all-purpose flour in standard recipes. When substituting for greater than 2 cups of all-purpose flour, divide recipe to accommodate the 2 cup maximum.

2 c. brown rice flour
2/3 c. potato starch flour
1/3 c. tapioca flour

Mix and substitute cup for cup of all-purpose flour in standard recipes.

Welcome to Sans Gluten

Sans Gluten is a Blog where I will post information about living with Celiac Sprue, Dermatitis Herpetaformis and managing these conditions by eating gluten-free. The Blog will contain personal information on my experiences and the experiences of my family, gluten-free recipes, gluten-free friendly restaurants and gluten-free products, among other points of interest. I hope that this information will be helpful to others who may be looking for information on living gluten-free.