Moved to CeliacSisters.com

I've moved to CeliacSisters.com, where I have been joined by my sister, Angela who also lives gluten-free and has been a celiac for over 4 years. Come check out the new site.

We will also be moving over the old posts and links from this site to the new place, to keep the archives and information, so don't fret!

This is the last post on this website! Thanks to all my loyal readers!

Special Order Market & Bakery, North Aurora, IL

Special Order Market & Bakery located in North Aurora is not only is a health food store with ALL items being gluten free, it also is a bakery serving the celiac, gluten intolerant and food allergy community.

I had the pleasure to finally check out their location after a whole year of enjoying their special order cakes my sister has gotten on special occasions. My favorite thing there was the frozen cookie dough they made. I love to make chocolate chip cookies but sometimes I just don't feel like mixing up one of my GF mixes which are expensive too. Also I haven't perfected my own recipe for cookies so they don't swell or taste too gritty. I'm happy to report that the dough is already in cookie shape and all you have to do is throw them in the oven. Or if you are like me just eat the cookie dough raw - it was delicious! I'm already out of the dough. The frozen dough is sold in zip-lock bags in quantities of a dozen cookies. I can't wait till demand increases and they can sell me a gallon of the dough. Wouldn't that be convenient for when you have guests and want to throw in some quick cookies? Oh and the baked cookies don't swell and taste wonderful. My non-celiac husband loved them and said they tasted just like regular chocolate chip cookies. He ate 3 in under 1 minute - so I knew he was being truthful!

While there at Special Order, I browsed their aisles of the gluten free products they sell. I was surprised to find many new brands (at least new in the fact, my local health food stories do not carry them!). I found a spice cake mix from The Ruby Range that claims "Gluten-free Baking with Great Taste, Great Texture, that's Nutritious too" which the owner at Special Order confirmed was great. It uses mesquite flour which is sweet tasting with low carbohydrate, low fat, and high protein. The owner at Special Order also mentioned that the mix has water in the list of stuff to add to the mix but in the directions it was left out, so to be sure to add that water to the mix!

Another new brand I noticed was The Cravings Place which have mixes that are gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, egg free, and nut free. The offer 5 cookie mixes, one cornbread mix, coffeecake mix, and a pancake/waffle mix. I'll let you know when I try one of these mixes whether I agree with the slogan, "Remember the Cravings...Indulge Again".

Also available was Cherrybrook Kitchen gluten free mixes for Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Sugar Cookie, Chocolate Frosting and Vanilla Frosting. They are all peanut free, egg free, nut free, dairy free, kosher, and vegan! You can find these mixes at most grocery stores, Super Targets, Whole Foods, Wild Oats - so be sure to ask for them if you don't find them!

And the best part of going to Special Order was it was after 2pm and Jenny the owner and baker had a bunch of gluten free lemon blueberry muffins and chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. If you go to the Special Market, they have special times they bake all sorts of goodies. If you want something in particular, give them a call (their information is listed below). The muffins I bought were very moist and flavorful - I'd recommend getting some if you're there.

Cindy & Jenny, partners

When I shop for my gluten free items I usually have to visit a few health food stores, depending on what I want. If I want Amy's rice crust cheese pizzas I usually go to Pass Health Foods in Palos Hills, if I run out of something and need something I know owner Bill has, I go to American Health Foods in Oak Lawn, and I often order my breads online directly from Kinnikinnick to get exactly the types I want and in high quantities to stock up my deep freezer. However Special Order carried all of my favorite and beloved gluten free foods/brands and some that I have not tried or even knew existed. Only thing I didn't see was Chebe's frozen rolls. Add all that to the bakery which smelled wonderful when we walked in, and I was in heaven. Even though the store is a hour away from me, I think I will go again. Granted it is close to my celiac sister, so it can be a experience to enjoy with her each time I visit.

If you live in the far west surburbs, know someone out that way, visit there frequently or will be passing though - I recommend you stop and check out Special Order. You'll be glad you did. Bring a cooler if you live far away so you can purchase items from their freezers. My favorite frozen item (besides the cookie dough) was Cybro's gluten free mock rye bread rolls. THEY WERE AMAZING! I'll definately be getting more of those. They taste and smell like rye bread to me. And they have the texture of rolls you get before dinner at restaurants (in your pre-celiac days!).

Add this great place to your list of places to stock up at!

Special Order Market & Bakery
The East River Shopping Center
200 Butterfield Rd.
North Aurora, IL 60542
Phone: 630-264-7128

Store hours:
Mon-Fri. 10 AM- 6 PM
Sat. 10 AM -3 PM
Sun. closed

Chicagoland Restaurants with Gluten Free Menus

Here are 8 Chicagoland Restaurants with Gluten Free Menus. These restaurants were featured in the article Eateries Respond to Gluten-Free Customers, Chicago Tribune 2/23/06:

ADOBO GRILL
1610 N. Wells St., 312-266-7999; 2005 W. Division St., 773-252-9990
Upscale Mexican Restaurant, Awesome Margaritas, Delicious Desserts, and Superb Service (lots of table-side service!), next door to Second City improv (Wells St location)

CARRABBA'S ITALIAN GRILL
1001 W. 75th St., Woodridge, 630-427-0900
Gluten Free Menu was prepared by Gluten Intolerance Group ("GIG") and Carrabba's management and service staff are not trained on the gluten free diet, celiac disease, or gluten intolerance - so you want to print out their gluten free menu online and bring it with you and follow the special instructions in the margins for some of the menu selections to ensure it is gluten free. Though do mention your special diet to your wait staff to help prevent cross contamination risks.

DA LUCIANO
8343 W. Grand Ave., River Grove, 708-453-1000
"Da Luciano's menu offers a huge array of gluten-free pasta dishes made with noodles imported from Italy, which Luciano Libreri has found to be superior to those made in the U.S. He also offers breads and pizzas made from a combination of corn, rice and potato flours, and his wife makes cakes, cream puffs, cannoli and other gluten-free desserts. His chefs take extra precaution when preparing gluten-free dishes, Libreri says. "We have a separate table where the food is prepared, a separate fryer. Everything is separate.""(Eateries Respond to Gluten-Free Customers, Chicago Tribune 2/23/06)

MITCHELL'S FISH MARKET
2601 Navy Blvd., Glenview, 847-729-3663
"His chefs also have a spreadsheet listing all gluten-free items, Wadsworth says, and they take extra care in the kitchen when a diner requests a gluten-free meal." (Eateries Respond to Gluten-Free Customers, Chicago Tribune 2/23/06)

OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE
10 Chicago area locations
Gluten Free Menu was prepared by Gluten Intolerance Group ("GIG") and Outback Steakhouse's management and service staff are not trained on the gluten free diet, celiac disease, or gluten intolerance - so you want to print out their gluten free menu online and bring it with you and follow the special instructions in the margins for some of the menu selections to ensure it is gluten free. Though do mention your special diet to your wait staff to help prevent cross contamination risks.

P.F. CHANG'S
four Chicago area locations
Chinese cuisine, trendy & elegant bistro atmosphere, ask your server for a gluten free sauce (garlic, ginger, rice wine, chicken stock, sichuan powder, salt, sugar, and wheat free soy sauce) as the soy sauce on the table is not gluten free.

VINCI
1732 N. Halsted St., 312-266-1199
Upscale Italian dining experience without pretentious prices, pasta dishes uses rice ziti with a sauce of your choice, great wines, close to theatres Steppenwolf and Royal George

WILDFIRE
five Chicago area locations
Offers a gluten free bun for burgers (lunch menu), cozy and classy atmosphere, staff aware of seriousness of gluten free diets - they use color coded tickets for food allergies and often the manager will come and talk with you about the menu as well as your server. They explain how each menu selection may have modifications to made it gluten-free. My waitress was very worried of losing her job if I got sick - so they must really enforce the seriousness of the diet to their employees.

Have More Beer

There is another company that makes gluten free beer. So if you are not in the Midwest than consider this:

Ramapo Valley Brewery has Gluten-free Passover Honey Lager, a gluten free beer brewed from honey with molasses and noble hops for flavor. They even have a distribution list which not only has a place in NY (Canadaigua), but Sarasota, FL; Berlin/Barre, VT; Pittsburgh, PA; Peoria, IL; Cypress, CA; Santa Monica, CA; Waltham, MA; De Moines, IA; Columbus, OH; Brookline, MA; Newark, NJ - so you can get it in on both coasts and in the midwest!

Take Away the Fries!?

Well I was upset with McDonalds back when they added their salads with chicken. The telvision ads made them look and sound healthy and I figured since they were cool enough to list gluten free items on their website that these would be new choices for those of us on a gluten free diet. However I discovered the chicken had MSG which contains gluten.

Today I don't feel as angry as I did then just amazed, as I discover the "gluten-free" fries of fast food are no longer listed as gluten free. They recently disclosed that the oil is derived from wheat and dairy products.

I've never had any trouble with their fries and recently I am eliminating junk food from my diet anyways, so I'm not sure if I will continue to eat them or not. If I felt my boycott on them would get a message across then I'd do that...but I know too many Americans will continue to eat there regardless of the news about their fries including the more fat disclosure.

Below is the article from the Chicago Tribune today:

--------------------
McDonald's fries hold a 2nd surprise
--------------------

Ingredients include wheat, dairy material

Associated Press

February 14, 2006

Not long after disclosing that its french fries contain more trans fat than thought, McDonald's Corp. said Monday that wheat and dairy ingredients are used to flavor the popular menu item, an acknowledgment it had not previously made.

The presence of those substances can cause allergic or other medical reactions in food-sensitive consumers.

Until recently, the Oak Brook-based company had said its fries were free of gluten and milk or wheat allergens, and safe to eat for those with dietary issues related to the consumption of dairy items. But this month, it quietly added "Contains wheat and milk ingredients" to the french fries listing on its Web site.

The company said the move came in response to new rules by the Food and Drug Administration for the packaged foods industry, including including one requiring reporting of common allergens, such as milk, eggs, wheat, fish or peanuts. As a restaurant operator, McDonald's does not have to comply but is doing so voluntarily.

McDonald's director of global nutrition, Cathy Kapica, said its potato suppliers remove all wheat and dairy proteins, such as gluten, which can cause allergic reactions. But the flavoring agent in the cooking oil is a derivative of wheat and dairy ingredients, and the company decided to note their presence because of the FDA's stipulation that potential allergens be disclosed.

"We knew there were always wheat and dairy derivatives in there, but they were not the protein component," she said. "Technically, there are no allergens in there. What this is an example of is science evolving," and McDonald's responding as more is learned, she said.

While the company wanted to make consumers aware that fries were derived, in part, from wheat and dairy sources, she said, those who have eaten the product without problem should be able to continue to do so.

Since it was posted on McDonald's Web site, the acknowledgment has stirred anger and some concern among consumers who are on gluten-free diets.

"If they're saying there's wheat and dairy derivatives in the oil, as far as anyone with this disease is concerned, there's actually wheat in it," said New York resident Jillian Williams, one of more than 2 million Americans with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder triggered by gluten.

"They should have disclosed that all along. They should never have been calling them gluten free."

McDonald's has been reluctant to risk changing the taste of its heavy-selling fries. It pledged in September 2002 to switch to a new oil that would halve the level of harmful trans-fatty acid in its fries. But it has delayed those plans, citing product quality and customer satisfaction as priorities, while continuing testing.

"It's a very high priority, and we are very committed to continuing with testing and lowering the level of trans fat without raising the level of saturated fat," said Kapica. "It's a lot harder than we originally thought, but that is not stopping us."

Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Tribune

Have a Beer!

A news article in the Chicago Tribune on Janaury 22nd, 2006 mentioned a new beer on the market. The good news for us, it is marketed and made for celiacs! So raise your glass pint and cheer. That is for those of you who miss beer.

You can thank the Lakefront Brewery in Milawaukee, WI for thinking of us celiacs. So at the next party if you are tired of cocktails and just want a beer, bring a New Grist with you! How do you get a New Grist beer which is brewed from sorgum and rice? Here is what the New Grist website says to do:

If you are looking to purchase New Grist, ask your local liquor store and if they do not currently stock New Grist tell them how important it is for you and others to be able to drink beer again!

New Grist is now available from Clubs of America by calling: 1-800-800-9122 (9a.m. to 5p.m. CDT Monday - Friday). If you would like New Grist stocked at your favorite store, contact us by phone at 414-372-8800 or email at: info@NewGrist.com. If you let us know your location we can also check to see if we have a distributor in your area.

-------------------- Brewer reaches out to sufferers of celiac disease --------------------

By Jim Lundstrom
Special to the Tribune

January 22, 2006

Of all the early endorsements he has heard for his newest beer, Russ
Klisch's favorite is from the suburban Milwaukee man who said, "I can
finally go to a Packer party and not drink chardonnay."

That's music to the ears of the president of Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee.
It means New Grist, Lakefront's new sorghum-based beer, is finding its
niche, one the regional microbrewery sees as its first entryway into the
national marketplace.

New Grist is aimed at the beer drinkers among the estimated 3 million
Americans with gluten intolerance, otherwise known as celiac disease.

"I think people will be very, very happy to hear about the beer," said
Sueson Voss, a celiac who leads a 250-member celiac support group in
Wheaton. She also teaches gluten-free cooking classes, maintains a Web site
with gluten-free information (specialeats.com) and is author of "Special
Eats: Simple, Delicious Solutions for Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Cooking."

"At the support group last month, somebody brought a six-pack of gluten-free
beer he had picked up in Canada. It isn't available in this country," she
said. "He was so excited that he brought little Dixie cups so people could
taste it because it's something that we all miss. I gotta tell you,
everybody stayed after the meeting so they could get their little Dixie cup
of gluten-free beer."

Celiacs can't drink beers brewed with barley and wheat because they contain
the gluten protein, which destroys the nutrient-absorbing villi in their
small intestines, leading to a host of problems. Along with commercially
produced sorghum syrup, New Grist contains rice, a small amount of hops and
gluten-free yeast grown on molasses.

"We had celiacs come by for our first test batches. They liked it," Klisch
said. "These guys hadn't had a beer in 20 years, and they were excited about
it."

New Grist is available in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio.

Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Tribune

Remember to be responsible when drinking! Especially if its been awhile, don't go crazy. Enjoy!

Happy New Year - Start 2006 Anew

Happy New Year! May 2006 be a good year for celiacs. Every once in awhile I get new hope for myself and fellow celiacs. I tend to get e-mails from various individuals that stubble on my humble celiac blog here about great new products, books, web sites, restaurants, etc. that cater to or help us.

Tonight I got inspired by something not intended specifically for celiacs but the general public. I was skimming though my husband's new cookbook, How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman, which he got for Christmas. As I was reading the author's notes and advise I was struck with how his words were ones that I needed to hear. It reminded me that yes I can cook for myself and eat the foods I crave. His words were honest and simple. Then I started flipping though the recipes wondering if I could substitute my gluten free flour for some of the recipes calling for flour to make delicious simple fried appetizers I often crave. Then it got better once I got to the soups. He has recipes for stocks. My husband has made me wonderful soups usually using Better Than Bouillon stock flavorings. However, he also has tried making me other soups using his own homemade stock, sometimes failing other times succeeding. This section gave me hope on enjoying potato soup and lobster bisque (one menu option I always sigh at when at restaurants). I could even make dressing I normally can't buy at the store due to MSG in their ingredients.

Take all my enthusiasm in check with that I don't cook and really don't have any knowledge or experience cooking. I have avoided cooking for many reasons I guess. Laziness, past experiences with cooking, others could and did and do cook for me, and lastly because I was a celiac and my new diet limitations took away the desire. Before being diagnosed I dreamed of owning a baker; creating beautiful cakes, cookies, and more. Part of me still has that dream, however, it has changed. Now I want to open a cafe that serves pizza, soups, sandwiches, and baked goods that are all gluten free. Perhaps one day that dream will become a reality, but now I’m following other dreams of mine. Anyway, this cookbook though not written for celiacs does give us power. Mark Bittman has everything made from scratch and highly recommends not using anything with MSG. This is something we celiacs have to do most the time anyway.

Don't get me wrong I too buy the gluten free mixes and look for the shortest possible way to serve up food for myself. But I also feel I'm missing on something great. One thing for sure would be the feeling of accomplishment to make something myself. Also if I could save some money making things myself instead of buying expensive mixes it would be nice. My neighbor constantly tells me when seeing a sticker price on my gluten free foods, "They shouldn't take advantage of your disease". Though I understand the pricing (dedicated facilities, importing, smaller companies with higher manufacturing costs, etc.), I don't like it. I defend it because I don't like to have "Pity Parties" for myself. Though when she says it, I too get her underlying message - THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!

What recipes do you search for? What do you wish to make gluten free? How many gluten free cookbooks have you tried? (Myself - several!) How much time do you dedicate searching for gluten free options? Do you cook or bake?

Everyday is a chance to start anew. This day I'm thinking of starting anew with my attitude on food and cooking. If I did more cooking, I'd be in control. And then having a restricted diet might not feel as constricting if I could experiment and make gluten free meals I used to only dream about and settling for the same old staples I've accepted as my fate. So perhaps today I make a new goal. I will make a dish gluten free that normally I wouldn't think I could eat, once a week. Hopefully I will follow though on my inspiration tonight and even follow-up with my readers on my progress. May you too feel inspired and share your experiences and thoughts.

God bless,

Amy