Gluten-Free Added to Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest

For the first time in 47 years, Pillsbury has expanded their annual Bake Off Contest to include gluten-free products. With the recent addition of gluten-free Pillsbury® baking products, it made sense for this contest to include gluten-free entries as well. According to Pillsbury, "Judges will award the Pillsbury® Gluten Free Award to the Finalist with the best recipe which uses a Pillsbury® Gluten Free product and does not contain wheat or any products that include wheat as an ingredient."

I have only tried the Pillsbury Gluten Free Refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough but I wanted to check with the company to see what their gluten-free procedures are. Here's what they had to say:

"All General Mills products that carry the gluten free claim on the package, including Pillsbury Gluten Free dough, have undergone extensive ingredient, manufacturing and product analysis to ensure they are gluten free. Specifically, General Mills has measures in place to prevent gluten cross-contact in manufacturing and we routinely test products to ensure they continue to meet gluten free requirements."

The Pillsbury® Gluten Free products include: Refrigerated Pizza Crust 13.0 oz Tub (1 tub), Refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough 14.3 oz Tub (1 tub), and Gluten Free Pie and Pastry Dough (at least one crust) 15.8 oz Tub. There are many more products that are gluten-free and eligible for this contest. Check this site for the complete list.

Want to try your hand at winning? Enter now for your chance in winning the grand prize of 1 million dollars. Here are the rules!

Gluten-Free Fun Friday Funny: Lighter Side of Celiac

From the GIG of Portland Facebook page

Celiac Disease Awareness Day with the NY Mets

PIRATES at METS 

Monday, 5/26/14 

1:10PM 

1 in 100 Americans have Celiac, but 95% don't know they have the disease. Join the Mets on May 26 as we raise awareness while benefitting the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. R.O.C.K. Long Island, who offer free support to parents, families and friends of kids on the gluten-free diet for any reason, will be on hand to provide important information on this often undetected illness.

• Come early and enjoy a private pre-game event in the Bullpen Plaza for Celiac Disease supporters. SNYs Kevin Burkhardt will be in attendance along with Mr. Met and current Mets players!

• Enjoy expanded gluten-free options in concessions adjacent to your seats.

• Sit together with family, friends, and fellow supporters of R.O.C.K. Long Island in reserved seating (with this offer in advance of the game) which includes access to the exclusive Caesars Club.

• The New York Mets will donate a portion of each ticket sold, through this advance offer to the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University.

• The first 250 purchasers will receive a Limited Edition Celiac Disease Awareness Bracelet.

Buy your tickets here: 
http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/ticketing/group_offers.jsp?group=celiac


Caesars Box Ticket: $44
Caesars Box Ticket with $18 of food/beverage/merchandise credits: $59
Caesars Box Ticket with $30 of food/beverage/merchandise credits: $69

Gluten-Free Fun Friday Funny: Happy Passover

Passover is a goldmine of gluten-free goodies at the supermarket. It is the time to load up on gluten-free macaroons, marble cakes, and even matzoh. The gluten-free offerings for Passover have grown over the years and now is the perfect time to load up for the weeks to come. Check out the gluten-free Passover food round-ups written by my friends Gluten-Free Philly and Gluten-Free Mike. Here is a link to my Passover photo round-up.

Gluten-Free Passover Grocery Jackpot

A few weekends ago, I made a trip to the local Shoprite near my mom's house in Plainview, NY. With Passover approaching, I knew I would find some gluten-free treats at the supermarket. Never did I expect to see so many new gluten-free products on the shelves. In years past, I would normally find one or two gluten-free marble cakes or maybe some gluten-free cupcakes. Now, I think just about every Passover item has a gluten-free counterpart.

Much of Long Island, New York and the surrounding tri-state area has a large Jewish population which makes some of this gluten-free Passover food so easy to find. If you don't have a good selection in your area, much of this food is now available for purchase online. Do a search on Google and see what you come up with! Now that we are in the middle of Passover, you might even be able to get some of these gluten-free items on sale.

The top gluten-free Kosher for Passover brands on the shelves that I found at Shoprite include: Yehuda, Manischewitz, Jeff Nathan Creations, Gefen, Streit's, Lieber, Oberlander, and Hagadda. Kedem either owns or is an exclusive agent for many of these brands. Visit the Kedem website for a VERY long list of gluten-free products.

So far, my favorite items have been the Jeff Nathan Gluten-Free Panko and the Yehuda Gluten-Free Matzoh. I have literally been eating the matzoh every day. Mind you, I don't even celebrate Passover. I was just excited to find new treats during this holiday season! Have you found any gluten-free Passover items that you are excited about this year?

Happy Passover to all of you who celebrate! 

Gluten-Free Fun Friday Funny: Gluten-Free Wine, Yes Please!

Fine by me! 

Originally saw this on the GIG of Portland Facebook page

My Birthday Wish for the Celiac Community

Today is my 36th birthday. It feels weird to say this number out loud because I most certainly don't feel 36 nor do I think I look 36 (most days). I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 1981 and for the past thirty-three birthdays, I celebrated in a gluten-free way. I was a very sick toddler and my parents didn't give up on trying to find out why their child was so ill. It was a young resident (younger than my parents at the time) who finally diagnosed me with Celiac Disease. I do not remember life with gluten. Celiac has been almost my entire life. Today, I am healthier than I have been in years. 

As I celebrate my birthday today, I have a big wish for the Celiac Community. I wish we all could get along. As someone who has been gluten-free blogging for more than seven years and leading a Celiac support group for more than eight years, I have seen a dramatic change in this Celiac Community over the past two years or so. We used to be such a supportive and caring community, helping each other and encouraging others who were newly diagnosed. Key words: used to be. 

Unfortunately, the past year has been rough in this community. REALLY ROUGH. So rough that I have actually considered taking a break to avoid all of the drama that has increased over the past 6-12 months. I've been sent hate mail, plagiarized three times, harassed via Twitter by an (in)famous "advocate", had others take credit for my work and research, bashed on my own Facebook page by a local business owner, and even falsely accused of my motives in my volunteering as the leader of the NYC Celiac Meetup group. 

There is so much competition, feelings of (gluten-free) entitlement, plagiarism, bashing, blaming, complaining, whining, harassing, cattiness, trolling, and negativity within the Celiac Community and I don't understand it anymore. There is no longer a feeling of community and "safe space" that we once had with our fellow Celiacs but feelings of extreme defensiveness and offensive responses. It makes me very sad. 

I write this blog and Gluten-Free Globetrotter because I genuinely care about the community. I have three decades of experience of living with Celiac Disease so I believe I have a lot of knowledge and personal experience to share with others. I have a sister and cousin both living with Celiac so this goes beyond me and is truly a family affair. I run the NYC Celiac Meetup group because I lacked this type of gluten-free community when I was growing up. Most people do not realize that I have a full-time job completely unrelated to the gluten-free community because I make ZERO money on my blogging and support group leadership. This blog, my social media presence, and my Meetup group are all done out of my personal passion to advocate for those of us living with Celiac Disease. If I can help just one person navigate the new gluten-free landscape, my mission is complete.

I admit that I am not perfect and the negativity and cattiness get the best of me at times. I am going to work hard to stop my own negativity and counter it with positivity and support of the Celiac Community. I want to get back the kind, helpful, supportive celiac world that I was part of from the beginning. I cannot do this alone and hope you join me on my birthday wish to help fix this Celiac community. If we cannot support one another, how can we expect others to support us? 

Thank you.

Gluten-Free Bakeries in New York City (Spring 2014 Edition)

Just this week, I learned about yet another gluten-free bakery in Manhattan. The brand new Tatz Gourmet Sweetz is located at 844 Amseterdam Ave. between 101st Street and 102nd Street and is 100% gluten-free. According to their Facebook page, they are also "Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Soy Free, Refined Sugar Free, Low Fat, Dairy Free, and Mostly Organic." This now brings the grand total of 100% gluten-free bakeries in New York City to EIGHT!

Welcome to New York City, Tatz Gourmet Sweetz. Best of luck with your gluten-free bakery!


Babycakes NYC
100% gluten-free
248 Broome St., New York, NY 10002
(212) 677-5047
http://babycakesnyc.com

By The Way Bakery
100% gluten-free and dairy-free, Kosher
2442 Broadway
http://www.btwbakery.com/

Crumbs Gluten-Free
100% gluten-free
37 E 8th St New York, NY 10003
Updated: July 7, 2014. All Crumbs locations have been closed. 

Jennifer's Way Bakery
100% gluten-free
263 East 10th St., New York, NY 10009
(646) 682-9501
http://jennifersway.org/bakery

Pip's Place - The Gluten Free Cakery
100% gluten-free
Location 1: 1729-31 1st Ave., New York, NY 10128
(212) 360-6400

Location 2: 127 East 39th St., New York, NY 10016
(646) 823-9393
http://pipsplacenyc.com

Tu-Lu's Gluten-Free Bakery
100% gluten-free
338 East 11th Street New York, NY 10003
(212) 777-2227
http://tu-lusbakery.com

Tatz Gourmet Sweetz
100% gluten-free
844 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10025
http://tatznyc.com

View Gluten-Free Bakeries in NYC in a larger map


Please note: I have confirmed with every bakery listed above that they are 100% gluten-free.  If you have any specific questions about the bakeries or their ingredients, please contact them directly. Additionally, the posting of these bakeries is not an endorsement in any way. 

Gluten-Free Friday Funny: Gluten-Free Royals

Today, I thought I would post for my Friday Funny. In case you missed it, here is the Gluten-Free version of Lorde's "Royals". I love this video. Enjoy! 

April Fools Day: Celiac Disease is Not a Joke

Celiac Disease is not a joke. Eating gluten-free is my medicine, not my choice. Varying levels of gluten sensitivity is a real thing. Yet why does the media feel that they can poke fun of those of us living a gluten-free lifestyle? Just yesterday a luggage company sent out a national press release announcing their luggage was now gluten-free. I called them out on this via Twitter and told them it was in poor taste. I also pointed out that yesterday was March 31st and NOT April Fools Day. The still didn't get it.

The more the media keeps using gluten-free people as the butt of their jokes, the harder it is for us living with Celiac to be taken seriously. While our first instinct might be to "fight back" against these jokesters, I think we have a bigger responsibility to educate others about exactly WHY we eat gluten-free. It is up to us living with Celiac to educate about Celiac. Instead of poking fun at us, maybe these insensitive people will start to understand that living with Celiac Disease is a real thing and we are not a joke.

If you see a gluten-free joke today (or any day), I encourage you to respond with knowledge not fighting words. Send this person links to the Gluten Intolerance Group, Celiac Disease Foundation, and National Celiac Disease Society. Give the person a checklist of the almost 300 symptoms of Celiac Disease. Take them to a gluten-free bakery so they can taste some good gluten-free food.

And if you can't get through to these jokesters with knowledge and education, play their own game and send them this: