Uncle Maddio's Pizza

I recently discovered Uncle Madio's Pizza when my daughter wanted to go out for pizza her birthday.  Well, I wanted pizza too! Yes, I guess I am that selfish, that I actually want to eat pizza along with my family and not have to sit there drinking my drink, waiting until I can go home and eat.  Crazy, I know!

We have a lovely pizza place in our cozy neighborhood, that is walking distance, has a gorgeous patio and is the place to hang out and see friendly faces and socialize, but unfortunately, the only thing I have when I go there is wine. Well, maybe that is not so unfortaunte, but seriously, I get to sit next to everyone else and smell their pizza, while I sip my wine.

So, when I went to the Twitter community and asked for suggestions for gluten-free pizza places that were kid-friendly, Uncle Maddio's was mentioned.

I was thrilled, it has a Chipotle-style format, so you go through a line, and decide on what topping you want for your personal pizza.  They were very helpful in telling me how they prepare the gluten-free pizzas and that it is on a separate dish than the gluten-filled crusts.  It is quick, it is clean and it is yummy.  And honestly, I think my crust looked tastier than the gluten-filled alternative, but then...what do I know?

Uncle Maddio's put out a PR release today with a quote from me, announcing kid-sized gluten-free pizzas.  Check it out.

I look forward to going back soon.

It may be called gluten-free, but is it really??

Many companies are jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon these days.  Capturing the gluten-free market seems like a no brainer and a marketing gold mine, but some companies are so quick to market it, to have something they can provide that is "gluten-free" they don't really take the time to educate themselves first.

Case in point...  I am going to keep the company's name anonymous for the time being.  A new bakery-type place opened up not far from me in Intown Atlanta.  They are hip, cool and the latest thing, and I have heard nothing but rave reviews (from my gluten-able friends).  Someone mentions to me a couple of weeks ago that they will soon be serving gluten-free items.  Of course hearing that gives me hope.  I decide to call them last weekend to see if by some small miracle they have already introduced them.  I was told no, but that they were working on a recipe and they should have them soon, and that they had lots of people looking forward to it.  I believe I was speaking to the owner as they seemed to know what they were talking about.  I asked them how this item would be prepared....Onsite? In a separate area? At a separate time of the day? Using separate pans?

I was then told, that they would be prepared onsite, in the same area, and for this one particular item...in the same fryer!  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  Obviously this person is not educated on what it means to be gluten-free.  I attempted to nicely explain that this is not gluten-free.  Once an item like a gluten-free chip or fries are fried with something breaded or containing flour, this negates all gluten-freeness.  The owner went on to tell me that her items are not really going to be meant for people who have to be gluten-free out of necessity, and that those people should really not be eating in a bakery in the first place (gasp!).  And that her new gluten-free items would only be for people who were gluten-free to live a more healthy lifestyle.

Deep breathe here.

I get that for someone with celiac to eat at any place with a shared kitchen (which is about 99.9% of eateries out there) we assume some kind of risk, and it is up to us to judge, for ourselves, what is acceptable.  But, when you put something in a shared fryer that is not just accidental cross-contamination, that is deliberate. That is not gluten-free.  You can not advertise something that is in a shared fryer as gluten-free.

There are many bakeries I feel comfortable at, and I know they are knowledgeable and take precautions to assure everything is as safe as possible.  Two places in particular are Swirlz cupcakes in Chicago, and BabyCakes.

I also had to mention that people who choose to eat gluten-free in order to live a more healthy lifestyle are most likely not eating these very fattening items anyway.  Those people are not looking for replacement items, period.  It is those with celiac that want to eat gluten-free versions of tasty treats everyone else gets to enjoy.

Not to mention, this could easily backfire on them.  Because, as we who are gluten-free know, when a company introduces something that is gluten-free, and people come in from all over just to have it, only to discover it really is not gluten-free....well, that is going to spread like wildfire throughout the gluten-free community and be no good for anyone.

In the end, I hope I was able to make a difference, and this place will either A) just not offer them; or B) educate themselves as to what really is gluten-free, and make them properly.  I really hope this unnamed company will get their act together.

How would you feel if a company started introducing something that you were really looking forward to, only to find out it really wasn't gluten-free after all?

Something to think about at the sushi bar

The other week M and I had the luxury of a date night.  It doesn't happen often, and I decided I wanted sushi, so we checked out a new sushi place.  I was feeling like a splurge and decided to go for an appetizer, and thought that the edamame was probably the only safe thing to order.  This is fine with me..because who doesn't like sucking out salty beans from their pods.  And then it struck me to ask...what water do they use to boil/steam their edamame?  And sure enough, they use the same water that they cook their (gluten) noodles.

On a plus side, they did have gluten-free soy sauce on hand.

That was a close one!  Always remember to ask when you order something steamed or boiled that it is not being steamed or boiled in the same water as something gluten-filled.

My public service announcement for the day.

Alton Brown's basics on celiac and living gluten-free

This link was posted on Facebook by the lovely Jules Shepard (who I have been lucky to meet in person) of Jules Gluten Free Flour, and I just wanted to pass it on and share it with others.

I thought this was a good clip to share with family members and friends who may be totally confused when you talk to them about gluten and celiac and think it is all nonsense. This puts it in fun, simple terms and may shed some light on why we really do have to ask 20 questions when we go out to eat.

Check the video out. It is not long...so you have no excuse!

Dear Dairy...

Wow, I have been a major, big time slacker! It has been two months since my last post, and what is my excuse? Well, I suppose I could come up with a bunch...like my daughter's busy social calendar, my volunteer hours that I put into her school and the neighborhood, and taking every opportunity I can to do some paying work (with husband being recently laid off). Oh, and let's not forget the major redistriciting going on in Atlanta right now...but I won't even get into that, because it is not pretty, and I don't want it to take any more of my time than is already has.

I did think about writing though, all the time, and if I wrote for every time I actually thought about writing..well, you would have a lot to read. I have some great recipes coming soon...like hoppin' john pasta, chocolate chip pancakes and baked donuts....yum!

So, last time we left off with being 2/3 the way done of my dairy-free month. Final thought: I hated it. I am not going to lie or beat around the bush, it sucked. I found it extremely more difficult, mentally, than going gluten-free. I found that I could easily do without cheese on a sandwich or in my eggs, but I missed yogurt and I missed sprinkling goat cheese on my pasta.

Pounds lost as a result of a dairy-free month: a big fat freaking ZERO

I heard many people say how great I would feel with taking it out of my diet. But for me that was just not the case. Actually, I felt worse. And I will tell you why....be prepared...this is a little bit TMI...

So, before being gluten-free, I was...how shall I saw...not "regular" in terms to going #2. I just thought it was normal to only go every other, or every 3 days, I didn't know any different. Once, I went gluten-free, I was magically (almost) normal. I was longer no constipated, and it felt so much better. I discovered after going dairy-free last month, I was eating much more fiber than usual and my body did not take kindly to this. I was also using coconut like it was going out of style...coconut oil, coconut flour, coconut milk and macaroons. Coconut overload perhaps? My body protested my lack of dairy but shutting down and going back into irregular mode. Not comfortable! I know some people have the opposite problem with too much fiber, unfortunately, I am not one of those, I never have been.

I do not want to taste coconut for a while!

Of course then I was scared what my body would do when I added dairy back in, and was worried that I made a horrible mistake with this crazy experiment of mine.

Because I was literally in so much pain from fiber-overload, I ended my dairy-free challenge a day early. I just couldn't handle it any longer. I actually had one night I was about ready to jump in the car and take myself to the ER for an emergency enema. It was that bad!

My first venture back into eating dairy-full was a chai latte from Starbucks. Yum! It tasted so good, because let me tell you...I asked for it with water during my month of dairy-free chastity, and it was just nasty!

I am going to let you in on one of my tricks for when I really need to "go". My own form of a laxative, without the buying-a-laxative part. This is true, so don't laugh.....I drop my daughter off at school, I drive to Target, I order a grande chai latte from the Starbucks within the Target, I lazily shop around and without fail...every time I reach the garden/holiday section at the opposite end of of the store..it hits me - I have to go! And this time was no exception, it worked like a charm! It may be mental, it may be the the excitement when I see Target holiday items on sale, whatever it is, I am not questioning it, and just going with it...it works!

My first dairy-filled meal was baked eggplant and pasta full of mozzarella cheese. And the best part was that my body did not reject it.

My month without dairy did help me see that I don't need to have dairy with everything. That burrito bowl is just as good without cheese, and on my pasta I don't really need a handful of cheese. I have definitely learned to be more conservative with my cheese use, but I am also very grateful to eat my yogurt again. My body definitely doesn't like any drastic changes to my diet.

For anyone else who has gone dairy-free for just a little while, or permanently, how did you feel?