Tuesday, October 25, 2011

New England Celiac Conference Fall 2011

This year I was able to attend the New England Celiac Conference. Last year, we were away when it was being held and I was very sad. The New England Celiac Conference is hosted by the Healthy Villi and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's Celiac Center. This year, it was held on October 23rd at the Four Points Sheraton in Norwood, Ma.


Free Samples From the Celiac Conference


I convinced Mike to join me by offering to pay for his ticket and promising him a day of product sampling and buffets. We wound up showing up around 11am after most of the morning speakers because we had spent the previous day ripping carpet out of the upstairs bedrooms in the house and I was in pain. In hindsight, I was a little sad that I didn't suck it up and go earlier. There were so many incredible vendors giving out tons of free samples & coupons. I felt like we had to rush through them all so we wouldn't miss any and in the end, we did. 


We wound up going to the nutrition presentation in the morning and two workshops in the afternoon. The nutrition presentation was fantastic and segued perfectly into our first workshop on supplements presented by Melinda Dennis, MS, RD, LDN & Christine Doherty, ND . I learned so much information and had several "ah ha" moments when the speakers went over the symptoms of certain vitamin's deficiency. Maybe I'd be less crabby if I actually took my vitamin B supplements....


The second workshop "Dueling Kitchens" was a tiny bit of a hot mess, but it was still fun and informative. I kind of felt like we were watching a comedy routine when the presenter's Beth Hillson & Rebecca Reilly engaged in their cooking banter. At the end of the presentation, we were able to sample the pizzas they were making. While, Beth's pizza made from a pre-made crust was good, it wasn't as good as Rebecca's homemade recipe. I've never really had a desire to try mixing my own gluten free flours, but I do now because the pizza crust she made was amazing. 


Both workshops were pretty great, but let's not forget the oodles of free samples being given away. Have you ever wanted to try a product, but didn't want to shell out the $$ if it was going to be gross? I came home with so many samples to try and coupons for buying a full sized version of the products if I liked them. Win. It brought back the same joy I felt when trick-or-treating as a child.


I had originally scoffed at the $45/ person cost of the conference, but was pleasantly surprised at how much we got for the money. Next year, I plan on getting there first thing in the morning so I can really take the time to meet all the vendors and hear all the morning speakers and course indulge in the gluten free breakfast buffet.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Restaurant Fridays - Wagamama (Boston)

Welcome to Restaurant Fridays - My weekly review of gluten free dining options in Boston, Worcester and their surrounding areas


Wagamama


I recently went out for a nicer lunch in celebration of my co-worker's upcoming wedding. We chose Wagamama in Faneuil Hall Marketplace because of its gluten free options. Their menu automatically has the gluten free options listed on it with a little red symbol.


I chose the Yasai Itame, which is tofu, vegetables and rice noodles in a coconut based soup. This is one of my favorite menu options at this place. The coconut is sweet and indulgent yet healthy. I love the hint of lime and the crunchy bean sprouts. You can also get a bunch of freshly made juices which are incredible and Popsicle for desert! (At least during summer)



If you're ever in the Boston area and looking for a fairly quick, mostly healthy, tasty gluten free lunch - give Wagamama a try. They have restaurants  in Prudential, Harvard Square and Faneuil Hall.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Annie's Gluten Free Product Review & Giveaway!

Recently, I received an awesome gift pack from Annie's in the mail. They were kind enough to send me samples of their gluten free deluxe macaroni and cheese, gluten free cocoa & vanilla bunny cookies, organic orchard cherry fruit bites, organic bunny fruit snacks in grapes galore & pink lemonade flavors as well as a bunch of fun Annie's paraphernalia that I get to share with one lucky reader. 


Read ahead for my reviews of the products and your chance to win some great Annie's swag!


Saturday, October 15, 2011

Restaurant Fridays - Nancy Chang's (Worcester)

Welcome to Restaurant Fridays - My (mostly) weekly review of gluten free dining options in Boston, Worcester and their surrounding areas.


Nancy Chang's {Warning Site Has Music!}


You may or may not have heard this, but Mike and I are moving to Worcester from Boston, (sad face). I will still be working in Boston and I've made Mike promise to meet me there after work every other week so I can keep up with the blog and feel like I'm still part of the city. 


Nancy Chang's is one of Worcester's great gluten free options. If you are jonesing Chinese food and you're in the Worcester area, stop by and check it out. Mike and I were in town painting my future office and the blood red bathroom in the downstairs of the house we'll be living in. After a day of working, Mike's [awesome] parents took us and his sister and her family out for dinner. 


The group I was with, including my ravenous 1 1/2 year old nephew got the buffet and I ordered off of the gluten free menu. I went with the Chicken Lettuce Wraps, which I had planned on sharing and the stir fried rice noodles with chicken, shrimp, egg and vegetables.


Gluten Free Chicken Lettuce Wraps

The lettuce wraps were good, but I think I prefer the ones from PF Chang's because I really like water chestnuts. The sauce was tasty and the veggies were crunchy. I would order these again if we went back. The chicken is chopped small, (as shown), and is in some kind of clear sauce that's pretty mild. I, of course, dumped on some hot pepper to spice it up.

Stir Fried Rice Noodles

When the waitress brought out the rice noodles my first thought was where is the sauce and where are the vegetables?... After having a bite I found the "sauce" or flavoring and it was pretty tasty. As for vegetables, the only vegetable in the dish was carrots, which I mostly refuse to count as a vegetable because they're starchy. This dish needs some legit chinese vegetables thrown in it like bok choy or Chinese broccoli. 


All in all, this is a good place to get decent gluten free food, it just needs to have more veggies in their stir fry mixes.


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Quick and Tasty Gluten Free Pasta Salad

It's October! Why would I be eating pasta salad you say. Why not?! Pasta salad is still quick, easy to make and darn tasty. Also, I'm not throwing in the towel on nice weather yet. Maybe that's because I'm sitting in Florida writing this from my very awesome future in-law's beach house or maybe I just love this fast and filling recipe.




Here's what you'll need:

1 Box of gluten free pasta (I like Ancient Harvest Quinoa Garden Pagodas)
1 Medium Cucumber
1 Medium Tomato
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Brianna's Real French Vinagrette

First off, toss the pasta in some boiling water and cook until al dente. While you're waiting, chop up the chicken into bite sized pieces and stir fry in a small amount of olive oil until it's nicely browned.

Next, chop up the cucumber and tomatoes. Once you've drained the pasta, strain it and run it under cool water. Shake out the excess water and toss together the pasta, chicken and veggies in a bowl with the vinagrette. Use as little or as much vinagrette as you need.

Depending on your taste, you may want to add a little bit of kosher salt, maybe some red pepper flakes or try stir frying your chicken with a few shakes of celery salt for some extra kick!

Keep it in the fridge or pack it in some tupperware for a great lunch during a casual fall hike!

Gluten Free Boston is Moving!

So, where have I been and what's in store for this blog? Over the last few weeks, my fiancee and I have been negotiating our living situation and finally came to the agreement to move. I've also started teaching a night course at a local college and it has monopolized quite a bit of my time, (in a good way). It's with great sadness that I announce that we'll be moving to Worcester at the end of November. What does that mean for this blog?

Only a little bit. I will still be working in Boston and will have a considerable amount of time of the train to and from work to potentially write more reviews and articles. Since I'll be living in Worcester, you're going to start seeing more information posted about Worcester along with the Boston posts! I've been in Boston for over seven years and am not calling it quits yet!

So, without further ado, I think I owe you all some articles!

Coming Soon...

Review of Annie's Gluten Free Products & Giveaway!

Restaurant Fridays Review - The Melting Pot

Restaurant Fridays Review - Wagamama

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Gluten Free Stuffing - Make Your Own Easily

It's already October! Where has the time gone? Thanksgiving is under two months away and I'm already thinking about this year's stuffing and pumpkin pie. I'm a Thanksgiving Baby so I love this time of year. I've been cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for the family since I was in my early twenties and had pretty much perfected my stuffing recipe. Then Celiac disease showed up and threw a monkey wrench into the mix. I've made several good batches of stuffing since going gluten free, but last year's stuffing was an utter disaster and left me grumbling for several days. This year I'm determined to set things straight. I've already made my first test batch of stuffing using the croutons I made last week and it came out pretty tasty. Read on to see how I did it.


Photo By Tom Curtis