Simple Gluten Free Ingredients for Your Kitchen

Lately I've felt very...how to say this...well, "eh" about food. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I've been feeling pretty lukewarm on the whole traditional dinner front. You know, chicken - vegetables - sauces. Maybe just meat in general. I go through phases like this, you see. I will be intense and unrelenting in my need for pasta with a meat sauce and then BAM the next week the very thought of such a dish will launch me down a sickly yellow sea of nausea. Bottom line? I'm pretty much like a pregnant woman nixing that whole womb-invasion thing. Thank God. Still, salvation remains. I have in my posession a solid list of Gluten Free go-to ingredients to punch up, dish out and tuck in to almost any dish - whether you're feeling culinarily lethargic or ready to take on a round of Chopped.

Pamela's Gluten Free Bagels

I'm afraid I'll have to preface this entire bagel nosh extravaganza with an explanation. Maybe even a defensive monologue? At the very least I'll hit the 'publish post' button and scamper for cover, wading through my blanketed bed to nestle between the sheets where the condemnation has no hope of finding me. Because, frankly? I'm fucking busy. And my cash flow situation? Pretty stagnant. So what does this mean - besides lack of quality sleep and and a sorely suffering Spring wardrobe? It means I was in the delightful state of mind to concoct Gluten Free Dairy Free Bagels from Pamela's bread mix. Yeeeehaaaaa.

So Delicious Coconut Milk Gluten Free & Dairy Free Ice Cream Review

Coconut Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Gluten Free Dairy Free Ice Cream

Alex and I play this little game almost every time we approach the frozen food aisle at the grocery store. You know, the one where he asks me a question even though he knows exactly what the answer will be. We amble down the aisle (or super-sonic speed walk around the mid-aisle displays sending cosmic shockwaves through the store and shattering the tortilla chips if he's feeling antsy and wants to "just get this over with") In any case, despite our speed of approach, he invariably turns to me and says, with such a sly and casual tone, "so, you want to get some ice cream?" UM. So this is the part where I pretend to think about it very seriously, weighing the options, considering the Pure Pantry cookie mix already in the cart. As if this decision is going to either make or break the week. But really, don't most of us need a little more Gluten Free Dairy Free ice cream in our life?

Tinkyada Gluten Free Pasta Review

People love to talk about food they just can't live without. You know -  people. The sort who haven't ever doubled over in gut drilling pain after scarfing down a delicious hunk of fill in the blank. The kind of people who don't have to think twice before hopping in the car for a sunny Saturday of far flung exploring. Those same people who say, "oh, so you can have wheat bread - right?" There were a whole host of things I thought I couldn't live without - pizza, onion rings (okay, anything fried) smartfood popcorn, hummus...you get the picture. But when food becomes the enemy and your body starts to attack, you start whittling things down - and quickly. If there's one excellent thing Celiac Disease has taught me, it's that there isn't anything edible on earth that I can't live without. Except maybe Tinkyada Gluten Free Pasta.

Attune Probiotic Chocolate Bars Review

I've only ever met one person who doesn't like chocolate. She also professed to hate books, movies and music though, so she was clearly derranged. And really, what are you suppose to talk about with someone like that? Answer: nothing, you turn around and walk away. I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that most of my readers are A. lovers or at least likers of creamy, smooth, deep chocolate and B. not fans of bloating, stomach pains and general digestive issues. If you fall within the center of this ven diagram of success, you're in luck: Attune Probiotic Bars will soothe your cravings and give some love to your tummy. Oh, and did I mention they're chocolate bars?

Udi's Gluten Free Bread Review

I am canceling my bread mix subscription through Amazon. My beloved Breadman Pro will now deliver scrumptious pumpkin breads and blueberry strewn loafs instead of thick, rustic sandwich slices. This review is either going to be short and sweet or a horrible mess of rambling because, really, how many ways can I say that Udi's Gluten Free Bread is kick-ass, life altering, and so stunningly far outside of my previous realm of Gluten Free possibility that I would really rather be eating it than crafting this review?

Custom Choice Cereal Review

There's nothing quite like the stinging terror one feels as you realize the meal you are constructing for guests has totally disintigrated right before your eyes. Literally, disintigrated. Alex and I had a good non-gf friend over for brunch this weekend, a good friend who happened to bring along his own good non-gf friend whom we had never met before. After a plethora of mimosas and general giddyness it became apparent that our slightly experimental eggless banana waffles were...well, flacid. They did that thing where you open the lid of the waffle maker and each side puts on a game of tug-of-war, both plates getting half of your now-shriveled mass of semi-cooked batter. Awesome.

What Every Celiac Should Know: Probiotics

I'm going to make a controversial statement. Many of you have probably heard this, sat at a lab bench and heard a white coat drone about it. People just don't like to talk about it (unless we're talking yogurt). Here it is: You have bacteria in you! And some of it is really, really good and necessary! But, because of Celiac Disease, you probably don't have enough. Have you been GF for a while but have started to feel terrible again? Bloating? Discomfort? Trouble after you eat? Come on, you can admit it. Don't immediately think you have developed an intolerance to every edible item on earth. Stop a moment. Take a breath. And read this little ditty. I'm going to kick this off with something near and dear to my heart (and stomach): Probiotics.

Pamela's Gluten Free Classic Vanilla Cake Mix Review

Behold, the Cupcake. The Gluten Free Cupcake. The Gluten Free, Dairy Free Cupcake. Dude.  Now, bear with me, I'm going to wax a bit...well, dreamy. The Cupcake, you see, may very well represent all that is good and decent and pure in the world. Stay with me. A handful of delight, a perfect serving of sweetness, that little touch of love at the end of the day. We're not talking about some clunky piece of cake here. Not some layered monstrosity of mousse and cream and hardened icing rosettes. Never a hunk of gooey sludge you must squish down with a cool glass of milk to slick the way. But rather, the very symbol of simple satisfaction, a diminutive delight, a nod to your sugar craving without completely losing your head. An homage to the art of satiation. In a world of excess, waste, instant and overwhelming gratification, inflated serving sizes and general disproportion, we still have the noble little Cupcake to remind us, "slow down, take a breath, savor each bite, moment, smile".

San-J Gluten Free Tamari Soy Sauce Review

There are those who say beer just isn't beer without the barley. There's also a contingent out there who will profess up and down, I'm sure, that authentic soy sauce is only made with soybeans, wheat and salt. And what do we say about Those People? Dude, some poor schmucks just don't have any imagination. San-J Gluten Free Soy Sauce has become one of my absolute-must have-get the bigger bottle because I'll be chugging it down Gluten Free items which have taken up residency in my cabinet. And who can blame me? Noodles have never had a better mate. Gluten Free noodles, that is.

welcome

who are you? 

I'm Jessica, a writer, photographer and generally creative (read: introverted) newly transplanted Los Angelino who also happens to be a Gluten Free-ite. I am a bacon lover, a cook by necessity, a squirrel fiend and an ex-mormon. (I can tell that last one really reeled you in, oh the stories to share. No, I'm aware Dooce has the edge on post religious fervor, there's plenty to go around.) My boyfriend Alex and I are also part of that uprising young Celiac horde who were born at about the right time to fall into post-diagnosis before the collective midlife crisis hit so, lucky for us, there's still more insanity to come.