Back to School Lunch Inspiration [Gluten Free]

I pack a lot of lunches.

Even when I'm not at school, I bring a brown bag lunch with me to work rather than eating out. It saves money, is healthier, and is easier to be gluten free. I have to get creative when I only work six and a half hours at one place, and only get one 10 minute break to inhale food!

How to Enjoy Veggies: Butternut Squash (Gluten Free and Dairy Free Option)

This recipe for squash is approved by picky eaters, both kids and adults who don’t like squash. (That is, they didn’t like squash until they tried this recipe.)

My mom has made it for years and the whole family enjoys it. Our extended family enjoyed this dish for Christmas and gave it thumbs up. This dish solves both flavor and texture issues with squash. It gets

Back to School Lunch Inspiration

I’m back to school, and I try to pack myself a lunch the night before to save time in the morning. I sometimes get bored of sandwiches. I like using bento boxes to pack my lunch in.

Gluten-Free Chicken Salad Three Ways

Chicken salad is so refreshing in summer. It’s also quick and easy to make, and very versatile. You can serve chicken salad as lettuce wraps, spread it on sandwiches, or dip it with chips and crackers.

We don’t measure our basic chicken salad recipe. We throw in a dollop of this and a handful of that.

Speedy Gluten Free Stuffing

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought I'd share my gluten-free stuffing recipe. It does not take long to throw together as long as you have gluten-free bread.

This was a life-saver if I needed a last-minute meal.

Early on in my gluten-free journey, I had some awkward moments where I realized I could not eat the main meal due to a hidden source of gluten.

More Gluten Free Pasta and Product Reviews

Part four in an ongoing series—catch part one: bread, part two, and part three here.

We’re always trying new pasta around here, and today I’m going to tell you about spaghetti squash.

Problems Only Gluten Free People Understand Continued

In case you missed it here's Part 1.

You are annoyed at hidden sources of gluten.

Why does soy sauce have wheat in it? Why do Campbell’s soups have wheat in them, and why do people put canned soup concentrate in casseroles?

Problems Only Gluten Free People Understand

You can’t eat normal bread and baked goods.
You don't need to be reminded of the odd flavors and textures.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries Restaurant Review

I’ve eaten at Five Guys multiple times, and in multiple different locations and I can confidently say the food is great, and so is the service. (Sadly, I have not had their milkshakes since they are only available at select locations.)

Basically, everything but the bun is gluten free.

Gluten free knock-off brands

Gluten free versions of popular wheat-containing foods.

Today, my mom brought home a cereal box and stuck it in front of me.

More Gluten Free Products I've Tried

A while back, I shared Some of My Favorite Gluten Free Breads, and now I'd like to share some more gluten-free products I've tried.

I had way too much fun making this on PicMonkey!

We (my mom, my gf brother, and myself) had a really hard time finding decent gluten free tortillas. Some were brittle and cracked instead of rolling up nicely. Others were tough and chewy. For a bit, we even used our gf crepe recipe, minus the vanilla, as a tortilla recipe. Those tortillas had the opposite problem: they were too soft and fell apart. Finally, we discovered

Find Me Gluten Free

Today what I'd like to share with you isn't a recipe but it still has to do with food.

Have you ever wanted to have a fast and easy way of finding gluten free restaurants in your area without playing a guessing game and Googling "Is [restaurant] gluten free?" Or "[Food place] gluten-free menu"? Some places have gluten free menus, but they don't make them easy to find on their website. Or they have a gf menu that is overpriced and not that great *cough* Garden Olive *backwards*. Enter Find Me Gluten Free (http://www.findmeglutenfree.com/)

(I snagged their logo from their home page)

The Outback Steakhouse: Restaurant Review

First of all, The Outback Steakhouse did not pay me to review their restaurant. Several days ago I went there of my own free will and curiosity.

I knew from looking it up online that The Outback has a gluten-free menu. If you want you can take a look at it here. At the restaurant, I requested and received the gluten-free menu without any hiccups. The menu has most of the items that are on the regular menu, with details about what is and is not gluten-free. Next to the salads, it advises, "ask for no croutons." The Outback does not offer gluten-free bread or buns, so if you want a burger, ask for no bun. The main dish I ordered was also on the regular menu, and by default came with Aussie fries. The gluten-free menu alerted me that Aussie fries are not gluten free. I am not sure if the fries themselves have gluten, or if the fries are fried in the same oil as battered-and-fried foods. Either way, I opted for a different side. When I ordered, the waitress asked, "Are you the gluten-free one?" I said yes, and she made some note on her paper. I suspect that cook took some precautions with my food. See if you can guess what I ordered from the picture:

Crunchy-edged Crepes {Gluten Free}

My mom made these for my birthday. Today is my birthday. It does not seem real. It takes me about ten months to get used to my age and then two months later I have to start all over again.

But about the crepes. 

They are crunchy around the edges but soft and spongy on the inside.

Ingredients:

2 cups milk**

2 eggs

 ½ teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons melted butter

1 ½ cups Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix

Multi-name, Multi-fame Pancakes {Gluten Free}

As the title implies, this recipe has many names. It's fame has been passed around in my family. Many times I have heard the story of my late Great-grandmother,"Grandma Willow," making silver-dollar size pancakes for her grandsons Mark and Tim. Those boys are now my Uncles and proud grandparents in their own right. I have a fifty-fifty chance of remembering correctly which one would win those pancake eating contests. I do know for sure the recipe I am going to share is an adaptation of Uncle Tim's pancake recipe.
So why not call it Tim's pancake recipe? My dad acquired this dish, and tweaked it, adding more eggs, among other things. The most recent adjustment made it gluten free. Another name for this recipe could also be buttermilk blueberry pancakes. These are not flat, flavorless pancakes. They are hearty, stick-to your-ribs oat pancakes.
Call these pancakes whatever you want, except late for breakfast!
Directions: Mix together

1 ½ cups rolled oats

2 cups buttermilk

Beat in ½ cup Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix *be sure there are no lumps*

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs, beaten

2 bananas, mashed

 Fry up on the griddle. 
Yield: Approximately 25. It depends on how large you make the pancakes. My dad's pancakes are more typical in size, not like the silver dollar ones my Great-grandma cooked up so long ago.

Another funny tradition we had, which

D.C. Gluten Free

The primary focuses of this blog are eating gluten free, and writing, so I am going to combine the two and write about how I ate gluten free in Washington, D.C. I am also going to cover sights we saw, and things I wish I knew beforehand, and generally compile helpful tidbits from books, guides, maps, and websites I used.

We traveled to D.C. on Sunday, and got in to our hotel late in the evening. We stayed in Alexandria, Virginia (not to be confused with Arlington, VA, which is just to the north of Alexandria.)

On Monday, we took advantage of the free shuttle to the Van Dorn Street Metro. Several nearby hotels offer this service to their patrons.

To Blog, or Not to Blog, that is the Question

Obviously I decided to take the plunge, or more accurately, to dip my toe in and test the waters. I feel like just another fish in the sea. Why should anyone read my blog in the sea of countless others? Let me tell you. I plan on posting on a variety of topics, including eating gluten free, being a writer, and surprising subjects you will just have to keep watching for. I hope to make a splash, but I am also realistically concentrating on creating ripples before I make waves. Because I am just starting out, I will not be posting every single day. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please paddle back again soon.