The Gluti Girls...

How to tell if a product is gluten free Part 2

I have been reading lately about gluten found in so called "gluten-free" products.  This is a concern to all of us living gluten free.  The Gluten Free Indy website has a couple articles on this issue.  One is an article from a study done is Europe.  You can find information about that on their website as well as information on cross contamination.  

The concern here in the US is that we have no regulations to determine if a product is gluten free.  A manufacturer can claim a product is gluten free as long as there are not gluten containing ingredients in the product.  What about contamination?  That is where it's helpful to talk or email the manufacturer to see how the product is made and what precautions they take. 

Recently, there was a series of posts on the Delphi forum board where a product was labeled as gluten-free was used by someone and they kept not feeling well.  Independent testing of this product revealed that it in fact did contain gluten.  Which brings me to the next way to tell if a product is gluten free.....testing the product yourself.  

I was visiting the forum at the Gluten Free Indy site several weeks back, and one of the members had purchased the Ez Gluten test strips. Here is a link to a brochure explaining the process and prices.   They are test strips that when placed in a solution of food, will tell you how much gluten is in a product.  This lady tested several foods and was sharing her results with the group. I have not purchase these yet, but would like to.  They are a little pricey, but it sure would have been handy last week when I wasn't sure about the sausage.  Beyond contacting the manufacturer or seeing gluten free on the label, this is a way to know exactly what is in a product.   Just wish they were cheaper.  

How to tell if a product is gluten free Part 1

I have an important lesson to share with you.  You see, I've been living a gluten free life for over two years now.  You think I'd be really good at it and not make stupid mistakes.  Wrong.  I still mess up sometimes.  Not that I mean to!  That's where we can help each other and learn from others mistakes.  I know quite a few people go on a gluten free diet to just be healthier and some are intolerant to gluten.  But, I would assume most of you who read here have celiac disease.  

A person who has celiac disease must stay away from even the smallest amounts of gluten or else you will have damage done to your intestines.  Quite a few people with celiac disease will get unpleasant symptoms if they accidentally ingest gluten.  What about those that don't?  What happened to me this last weekend, made me think of those people.  

How many times do you eat a product that appears to be gluten free, when you are really not sure?  By not sure, I mean you have not checked with either the manufacturer or found it on a reputable list that it's gluten free and it does not say gluten free on the label.  Many times I've good to the grocery, read an ingredient label and thought, I can't see gluten in any of these ingredients.  Do you do that and eat it?  

Occasionally, I have been doing this.  It finally caught up to me.  Gluten is sneaky.  If you have celiac disease, you need to check everything you put in your mouth.  Especially if you don't get any symptoms if you eat it.  

Last weekend, I was having my family over for dinner.  I had a recipe that called for Chrorizo.  I've never had Chrorizo before.  I bought the only brand they had at the local Meijer's, by Purnell's Sausage Company.  The label listed natural flavors and spices.  When you see this on a label, it's your first clue that there might be hidden gluten.  Most whole spices are okay, but gluten can be hidden in flavorings.  I was not sure this product was okay, so I scoured the web trying to find information on it.  Their web site said they only used natural spices.  So I thought maybe the natural flavorings were spices themselves.  I emailed the company but figured I wouldn't get an answer since it was Saturday.  

I had to decide.  Was I going to eat this or not?  Does it look likely to contain gluten or not?  How many times do you pick up a product and say to yourself, it looks okay?  I threw caution to the wind and ate just a very small amount.  I was making black beans with Chrorizo.  I made it Saturday night and my company was coming on Sunday.  

I ate about 2 tablespoons of beans to see if they tasted good.  Within a couple hours I started getting sick.  I was up and down all night and maybe got 3 hours of sleep.  It was horrible.  I felt so awful in the morning that I almost canceled my company.  But it was a late Mother's Day/Birthday celebration for my mom with my whole family.  I didn't want to cancel.  Finally, I got enough Imodium and peppermint tea in me that I felt human again.  I really wasn't that hungry and certainly didn't want any beans.  

The next morning, I received an email back from Purnell's.  The Chrorizo did contain gluten.  Of course, I knew that then.  That's when I thought, what do people do that don't get symptoms?  You could eat something and not know!  Think of the unknown damage it would do.  I guess that makes me thankful for feeling sick when I'm near something I shouldn't be.  

You can bet I will never, ever be eating anything I haven't gotten a clear answer ahead of time.  It really makes me wonder.  I do get symptoms every now and then that I can't explain.  I have been plagued with other food allergies and that explains some of that because they give me the same symptoms.  But, it really makes you wonder, how many times do I ingest gluten and don't know that I did.

The lesson I want to pass on, especially for newbies, is the only way to tell if a product is gluten free (if it's not clearly marked), is to get an answer from the manufacturer.    Most companies have websites and can easily be accessed with a web search.  Another way would be to call the company and talk with someone directly.  It's the only way to know if a product is supposed to be gluten free.  There are also food lists you can buy from Companies that verify the lists for you.  Clan Thompson is one of them.  They even make an application for the iPhone that's very handy.  It's really not worth either risking your health or getting sick over.  Lesson learned.  Again.  

Blackbird Bakery

Today I got something in the mail I've been looking forward to getting.  It was a package of samples from Blackbird Bakery, a gluten free bakery in Austin, Texas. These desserts are suppose to not taste gluten free.   The bakery is run by Karen Morgan.  Karen was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2002.  You can read about her story and see her website here.  Be sure to check out the gallery of pictures.  There are oh so many beautiful desserts!  You will be sure to be drooling.  You can order on the website and from what I understand there are some changes in the works, so check back often.

The first thing I noticed was the packaging.  I am a stamper and I noticed some hand stamping on the box.  Inside the box was a nice note with more hand stamping.  The products were nestled in black tissue paper with some crimped confetti.  I like the fact that everything looked hand crafted.  But how would they taste?  

I squealed when I got to the bottom of the box and saw a personal sized pie!  Oh man, Kati was at work and I couldn't start tasting all of these things without her.  I had to wait.  I was counting the minutes until she got home.  Finally, she arrived with a gluten eating friend.  Perfect I thought!  Sometimes I think it's hard for me to make a good evaluation of food and compare it to the gluten counterparts because I don't really remember what the gluten counterparts taste like! 

I put some coffee on and divided up everything but the biscotti.  Gosh, we can only eat so much at once!  I think I will save the biscotti for when mom comes.  She has really been missing biscotti.  

Check out the pie close up......

To quote from my husband, just makes your tongue want to reach up there and slap your brains out!  (That's his favorite saying.) Can you tell I've missed good pie?  This was very good pie.  I swear, it was my grandmothers.  It had that fresh, homemade flavor.  My other favorite were the Almond Kiss cookies (not pictured).  Oh my.  She puts maraschino cherries inside them.  Really good.  Kati and her gluten eating friend both really enjoyed the chocolate chip cookie, although we all heated them slightly in the microwave to soften them.  They had a very good flavor.   And oh yeah, the banana bread, yum!  

Our gluten eater determine that none of it tasted gluten free.  She would not have know anything was different if we hadn't told her.  We had a really fun afternoon!

Blackbird Bakery ships across the United States.  If you know of a gluten free friend that you need to buy a gift for, they do make gift baskets.  I'll tell you it was so much fun receiving a box full of fresh baked gluten free treats that I didn't have to bake myself!  A great way to pamper a friend!  Check out their website.  You can't go wrong with the pie!  

Chicken Artichoke Corn Chowder

It was a wet, rainy, yucky day here in Indianapolis.  Cold too.  I am sick of cold.  I would like to wear shorts and sandals!  Maybe sweat a little!  Well, maybe not that, but I am sick of wearing sweat shirts and long pants.  

It was the perfect day to make soup.  I knew I had some boned, cooked chicken in the freezer and a rutabaga in the veggie bin.  That was the start of my soup.  Sometimes I don't have a clue how I'm going to make it until I start!  

Yesterday, it was beautiful here.  I have a raised bed garden and it needed refilled this year.  Steve ordered some dirt and yesterday got it filled for me.  

I got all the garden planted last night.  I knew I had a new herb I found at the garden center the other day, and I couldn't wait to try it.  Lemon thyme.  Oh, it smells so incredibly good!  The plant was so tiny, I was afraid to pick very much off of it.  So I only had a tablespoon for the recipe.  The recipe probably could have used more.  I can't wait to use this on fish.  

After picking some of my fresh herbs and scouring the veggie bin and cupboard, this is what I came up with.  Enjoy!

Chicken Artichoke Corn Chowder (Print recipe)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 rutabaga, diced

3 carrots, diced

4 stalks celery, diced

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can 14 oz. whole artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 whole chicken, boned, chopped

1 quart plus 2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cup corn

1 tablespoons fresh lemon thyme or regular thyme, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

4 cups 2% milk

1/4 cup sweet rice flour

1. In a large soup pot, saute the rutabaga and carrots in the olive oil for about 10 minutes.  

2. Add the celery, onion, garlic and cook until all of the vegetables are almost tender.  

3.  Add the artichokes, chicken, chicken broth, corn, thyme, rosemary, parsley, salt, and pepper.  Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.  

4.  After 20 minutes, make sure the rutabaga is tender.  Then with a large measuring cup, put the rice flour in the bottom of it.  Slowly add just enough milk to make a thick paste.  Keep adding milk in small amounts, continuing to stir in the flour to keep the mixture smooth until you have reached the 4 cup mark.  Add this mixture to the soup.  Stir until the soup thickens and it's heated through.  

5.  Serve with some fresh parsley sprinkled on top.  

Cooks notes:  If you prefer, potatoes can be used instead of rutabagas.  You could certainly make this recipe dairy free by using almond, soy or hemp milk.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This recipe is the ultimate in easy cooking.  So easy, my son could make it!  He's really learning to be a pretty good cook!  For my birthday, he made pesto chicken, rice, and veggies.  He didn't want to make that again for Mother's Day.  He needed something fairly simple so he came up with Chicken Enchilada Casserole.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole (print recipe)

5 or 6 boneless chicken breast, cooked and chopped (we like to grill ours)

2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 large jar of gf salsa

1 package of gf corn tortillas

1.  Spread a couple spoonfuls of salsa in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.

2.  Add a layer of corn tortillas

3.  Add the chicken, onion, and green pepper and spread out evenly over the tortillas.

4.  Spread the jar of salsa over the chicken mixture.

5.  Top with another layer of tortillas.

6.  Sprinkle the cheddar cheese of the top of the casserole and bake at 350 degrees until the cheese melts.  About 15 to 20 minutes.  

Cooks notes:  This is a recipe made to taste.  If you want to stuff the tortillas and roll them with the meat mixture, then top with salsa and cheese, that is fine to do.  I did not give a jar size for the salsa because it is according to taste as well.  If you like more, add more!  Buy a big jar!  This is a recipe you can play with.  We also like to put sliced jalapeno peppers on top of our casserole.  You can also add sour cream and fresh guacamole after baking.  If you are vegetarian, you can make this same recipe with beans.  The tortillas I like are "Food for Life" yellow sprouted corn tortillas.   

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!  Hopefully this post made sense.  I was trying to wrangle a puppy while typing it!  My best friend raises Cairn Terriers and her female, Bailey,  had it's last litter of puppies.  Kati has always wanted one of Bailey's puppies.  Somehow, she brought one home with her and caught us at a weak moment.  Her name is Charli.  Here are some puppy pictures for your enjoyment.....

First bath.

Hanging out with her new buds.

Playing in the grass.

Sleeping with her brother.