Gluten Free Weekly Menu Plan

Today's menu plan only has photos for 3 of the 5 recipes.  The spaghetti squash (Thursday) needs to be made close to when it will be eaten, and the cabbage rolls (Friday) are going to be made with my dad later in the week.  I've got a few recipes coming up this week, and you can click on Monday's meal to get the recipe for yummy chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries.  Happy Gluten Free Eating my friends!






Monday: Chicken Nuggets & Sweet Potato Fries  (Recipe)

Tuesday: GF Pasta in a White Wine Cream Sauce 

Wednesday: Pea Soup & Arugula Salad







Thursday:  Spaghetti Squash Carbonara 



Friday:  Cabbage Rolls (These I'll be making with my dad on Tuesday.  We do a huge batch and freeze them.  I'll post the recipe, and the process along with serving suggesstions once their cooked.)

South St. Burger & Co. Gluten Free Burgers

Finding fast  food restaurants that offer gluten free items is not an easy task.  Most have gluten in everything from the patties, to the buns and fries.  For someone like my son, who cannot consume gluten, stopping somewhere on short notice for a quick bite to eat is often a difficult task.

This is why I was happy to learn that South Street Burger & Co. had taken steps to make their restaurants welcoming and safe for gluten free consumers.

  In addition to using hormone and antibiotic free beef in their patties, they are also gluten free.  So are the grilled chicken breasts, pulled pork topping, mayonnaise, guacamole, and most of their burger toppings.

 The best part?

 All Canadian locations now have O'Dough's certified gluten free buns available.  O'Dough's products are not only gluten free, but they also don't use genetically modified ingredients. 

To reduce the risk of cross-contamination, the South Street Burger & Co. locations in Canada have added separate toasters, knives and cutting boards for gluten free items, and require staff to change gloves when handling gluten free orders.  Click here for the company's statement regarding this matter.

In addition, the fries served are New York Fries, which are also gluten and preservative free.  However, it is still important to ask about how the fries are cooked to avoid cross-contamination. 

At the restaurant  that we went to, the server confirmed that there was in fact a separate fryer for the french fries, and one just for the onion rings.  Upon further questioning, (because I've learned my lesson in the past), he did inform us that if the restaurant was not busy in the evening, staff would shut down one of the fryers.  Therefore, there was the possibility that fries could be cooked in the same oil as the onion rings.  Since there's no way of knowing if the oil has been contaminated, we didn't allow our son to have any fries.  For me, it was too risky.  Just a small amount of gluten can make my son sick.  Having separate fryers is a good thing, and if I was at a location where they could promise that no onion rings had ever been cooked in the same fryer, I would order the fries for my son.

We ordered a family meal, since fries aren't off limits for my husband or myself.  Two regular burgers, two small burgers, two large sides and four drinks for $29.99. 

What I like about their burgers, aside from knowing that the beef is free of hormones and antibiotics, is that there are a variety of fresh toppings to choose from, so your burger is customized the way you want it.  That's why there are cucumber slices in my son's burger.  To each his own, I guess.

My son's kid-size hamburger, on a gluten free bun.

The food was great.  The burger was a good size and one burger was satisfying enough for my husband.  The gluten free bun tasted like a real bun, with a soft texture, not the spongy, cardboard like buns I've had in the past.  My three year old son was so excited to be able to eat a hamburger at a restaurant that he actually ate both of the small burgers.  Yes, TWO hamburgers.  He put the second one down for a few minutes and my husband made the mistake of trying to clear it away.  My little one said, quite loudly, "I'm not finished.  I'm just taking a break!"  He ate every last bite.  It was the first time he wasn't stuck just eating the patty at a burger joint, and he wasn't leaving anything behind!

Polishing off burger number two

We enjoyed our visit, and left happy and full.  I did have my eye on a milkshake, but decided to postpone it for our next visit.  We will definitely be back!


We visited the following location:

South St. Burger & Co.
2215 Steeles Ave. W.
(416) 514-1412

Visit the website for additional locations: www.southstburger.com

South St. Burger & Co. provided me with vouchers to try their gluten free offerings.  No other compensation was received, and they did not influence my review in any way.  The opinions in this review are mine, and are based upon our visit to the restaurant location mentioned above.

Wordless Wednesday

14lbs of happiness, wrapped up in a retro onesie pyjama

NaNoWriMo Update #1

This year I've signed up for my first NaNoWriMo ever. 

What is that ridiculous and unpronounceable word, you ask?  It's an acronym for National Novel Writing Month.

The challenge?  Write a 50 000 word novel in 30 days, over the month of November.  That's 1667 words per day. 

The rules are pretty simple.  Mainly, your novel must be started on or after November 1st.  How do they know if you started early?  They don't.  It relies on the honour system. 

Crazy, but fun. 

The purpose is to encourage people to get those ideas rattling around inside their brains OUT, and down on paper (real or electronic).  To get a writing practice started, and to end up with a first draft of something substantial. 

What do you get for finishing?  An online Winner badge.  To some that may not sound like much considering the hours it takes to write a novel. But oh, yeah, did I mention, you also walk away with the first draft of a 50 000 word novel.  Even if you don't make the ultimate word goal, you've still got however many more words written at the end of the month than you did at the beginning. 

I've wanted to sign up for this ever since I first heard about it a few years ago, but I always found a reason not to.  In retrospect, it probably could have helped me get my thesis finished more quickly, but whatever.  I'm not sure what happened this year to make me take the plunge, but here I am, 6 days into the challenge and just over 10 000 words into my novel. 

And I'm loving every minute of it. 

What surprised me the most about the whole challenge is the sense of community the organizers have managed to impart upon over 300 000 participants from around the world.  I joined the local chapter online and have the option of joining other local writers at fun events and write-ins across the city.  I've been paired up with online mentors and have writing buddies that I can turn to for support, not to mention the forums where I can post a question and receive suggestions from a pool of thousands. 

I'm building relationships with other writers and learning from them every day. 

Want to join me?  It's not too late!  Sign up at www.nanowrimo.org and add me to your list of writing buddies.  My username is KSperd. 

Now, it's back to writing!

Gluten Free Weekly Menu Plan

Monday:  Roasted Red Pepper Soup (Recipe) & Tuna Sandwiches on Gluten Free Bread from Frankie's Bakery in Uxbridge 

Tuesday: Lemon Beef with Cilantro and Savoury Quinoa Pilaf 









Wednesday:  Ceviche (Recipe) on Rice, or Wrapped up in Corn Tortillas 

Thursday: Broccoli Cheddar Soup 

Friday: Vegetable Soup and Meatloaf Muffins (Recipe) with Leftover Rice or Quinoa Pilaf 

La Messagère Gluten Free Beer

While enjoying a gluten free meal at Frankie's Ristorante in Uxbridge, my husband decided to try a gluten free beer.  I'm not much a beer drinker myself, but I understand how frustrating it must be to go out for a beer with your friends, and not actually be able to have one. 

Although there were several gluten free options on the menu at Frankie's, he ordered La Messagère Red Ale from Quebec Microbrewery Nouvelle France.  The brewery was founded in 1998, and they brew both regular and gluten free beer.  They are a member of the Quebec Celiac Foundation (Fondation québécoise de la maladie coeliaque).  This brewery has three gluten free beers to choose from: a pale ale, a red ale, and a millet beer.  They use Elissa testing to ensure their products are gluten free.

My husband was quite impressed with the quality of the beer.  The colour was a nice deep red, and the flavour was earthy, without a strong aftertaste.  Even I liked it, which is saying something as I'm not much of a beer drinker. 

As it's somewhat of a specialty item, the price is notably higher than regular beer.  At the LCBO, 6 bottles currently sell for $15.65. 

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Halloween! 

Frankie's Ristorante in Uxbridge

This weekend we took a drive out to Uxbridge, Ontario to take our boys for a ride on the train.  While there, we decided to try out a restaurant that we had heard about when we grabbed their card at the Gluten Free Expo in Toronto. 

Frankie's Ristorante is a 100% gluten free restaurant serving traditional mediterranean food.  On top of that, they make all of their food in-house, and are able to customize your order, at no extra cost, to accommodate any allergy.  The restaurant is peanut and nut free.  They are a member of the Canadian Celiac Association.  This, to me, is pretty incredible.  In addition, they use ingredients sourced from local farms, and highlight which farms are featured wach week on a board in the restaurant.  I couldn't wait to visit and see what was on the menu.

The restaurant was easy to find, with parking readily available.  We arrived before noon on a rainy Saturday, and walked into a small but pretty restaurant.  The space has large windows, a beautiful wooden bar, and a cozy fireplace.




If you look closely, you can see the list of featured farms on the blackboard.

  I was beginning to worry about how kid-friendly it would be, but was relieved when our server brought a kids' menu to the table with a handful of crayons for my son. 

I was intrigued at the idea of a completely wheat and gluten free restaurant serving mainly traditionally gluten filled meals, like breads and pastas.  We decided to order an appetizer, a main and a dessert to really get an idea of the quality of their food.  We started with the lunch sampler platter, which came with bread, salsa, hummus, chutney and raw veggies.

The bread was what I was most interested in.  It was toasted and buttered, and was the perfect texture.  It wasn't dry or crumbly.  My son liked it so much that he was asking for more when we ran out.

For our son, we ordered the kids' combo.  For $10, he got a drink, a main course and a dessert.  My son has decided that he only wants to eat pasta "with green sauce," so we ordered him the pesto pasta.  My husband ordered the chipotle cream pasta and I ordered the pasta served in a mushroom cream sauce. 

Gluten Free Pesto Pasta

Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce and Goat Cheese

Again, we were pleasantly surprised.  The pasta was cooked perfectly, and the sauces were creamy and had good flavour.  My husband also ordered a gluten free beer from their drinks menu, which I'll cover in a separate post.  He chose La Messagère, a beer from a Quebec brewery.

For dessert, my son had gluten and dairy free gelato.  My husband and I ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding.  It was completely decadent and delicious. 

Sticky Toffee Pudding



 

I really, really liked this restaurant.  The service was friendly and the food was great.  It's a place that I would recommend to anyone who wants a good meal at a nice place.  That it caters to those with multiple food restrictions or allergies and still manages to offer great food options should serve as an example to other restaurants looking to expand their menu items. 

 

I was most surprised by the price.  The kids' meal was $10.  Pastas were $12.50.  The sampler platter was $8.95.  These are reasonable prices.  In fact, they're lower than what one would pay for lower quality food at some chain restaurants.  Lunch for three people, including appetizer, mains, dessert, a beer and a coffee ran us less than $80, taxes included.  We left the restaurant stuffed, but happy. 

 

The best part was watching my son eat ANYTHING he wanted, and not have to worry that he was going to be cross-contaiminated and get sick.  For those who don't deal with this everyday, it may not mean much, but to those of us who do, this is such a rare experience.  Unlike most kids who just grab food without thinking, our 3 year old now asks if what he wants to eat will hurt his tummy before touching it.  At this restaurant, we could happily tell him that he could eat whatever he wanted.  That was a great feeling!

Frankie's Ristorante
1 Main Street
Uxbridge, ON L9P 1P7
www.glutenfreefrankies.com

Cooking with Lentils and Two Recipes for Soup

Last weekend at the Blissdom Canada 2012 conference, Canadian Lentils was one of the sponsors.  In addition to handing out some cookies and treats made with lentils,  Chef Michael Smith was there posing for pictures with attendees and putting on a demonstration. 

 

As a way to promote cooking with lentils,  small gift bags were distributed that included a recipe book and a jar of red lentils. 

I like lentils.  Being part Italian, my family cooked with lentils when I was a kid, putting them in soups, salads and pastas.  We mostly used green lentils, which are bigger and meatier than red lentils, but I sometimes use red lentils in cooking, especially when making certain Indian dishes. 

Lentils are a great food to incorporate into any diet for a variety of reasons.  They're naturally gluten free, making them a great choice for people who can't eat gluten.  They're low in fat, and high in protein, fibre, potassium and iron.  Just 100g of uncooked green lentils provide 25g of protein, an entire day's worth of fibre, 26% of daily requirement of potassium, and 50% of an adult's intake of iron.  The numbers for red lentils are similar (source).

So I decided to try out a recipe from the lentil recipe book included in the gift bag.  I thought about making a dessert, but most called for regular flour, and I wanted to make something that didn't have to be modified to be gluten free.  Instead I chose a Lemon Lentil Soup.  The recipe can be found on the Canadian Lentils website.  It took me about 5 minutes to get the ingredients prepped and in the pot, and then it took about 30 minutes of simmering for the lentils to break down and the soup to thicken up.  I was really happy with the results.  The cumin adds a nice depth of flavour, and the lemon brightens everything up just enough.

I regularly make different versions of lentil soup, sometimes using tomatoes, other times using greens or sausage to add depth to the flavour of the lentils.  It's traditional on New Year's Eve to eat lentil soup, as their shape is reminiscent of Roman coins and so they represent wealth in all areas of life.  I've posted my recipe before, and will include it again below.  This soup is delicious year round, so if you're interested in a great vegetarian green lentil soup, this recipe is for you!  New Year's Eve Green Lentil Soup

Gluten Free Weekly Menu Plan

This week's menu plan is inspired by some of the products I got as samples from the Blissdom Conference.  I used the jar of lentils signed by Chef Michael Smith and a recipe from the book I received, and I used the Campell's Stock (Gluten Free!) sample for the pasta.

Monday: Quick Lemon Lentil Soup 

Tuesday:  Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Wilted Greens  

Wednesday: Pasta with a Tomato & Mushroom Cream Sauce using Campbell's Stock

Thursday: Beef and Potato Stew  

 

Friday: Pulled Pork Tacos