Super Grain Pasta Dinner with GoGoQuinoa and Giveaway

Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are my own.

One of my go-to dinners is a hearty meat sauce with a gluten-free pasta that doesn't go limp in the pot. As we all know, GF pasta can be temperamental and quickly wind up being a gluey mess. When I was recently approached by GoGo Quinoa to give their Super Grains Fusilli Pasta a try. I jumped at the chance to cook up one of my favorite meals and test out this new pasta.

The brand new package of GoGo Quinoa Super Grain Fusilli Pasta

Super Grain Fusilli Pasta
Nutrition Facts

The brand new GoGo Quinoa Super Grain Fusilli Pasta is made from sorghum flours, organic white quinoa flour, organic amaranth flour, and organic chia flour. These pastas are certified organic, gluten-free, vegan, rice free and corn free. They are also part of the NON-GMO project. GoGoQuinoa is based in Canada and most of their ingredients are imported from Bolivia.

We should all be familiar with quinoa by now, but sorghum and amaranth are just starting to gain popularity in gluten-free products. Sorghum is rich in antioxidants, very nutritious, packed with carbohydrates, fiber, iron, protein, calcium, and phosphorus. Amaranth is another naturally gluten-free grain, high in protein, and lysine (an essential amino acid). Partner these with quinoa and you pack a healthy punch!

As you can see from the nutrition panel, this pasta is higher in protein than your average gluten-free pasta. It also contains iron, potassium, and calcium. While you might be watching your carb intake, you can feel good about the other ingredients that are essential to a healthy, balanced diet.

TIME TO EAT! 

I boiled up a big pot of water, added a little extra virgin olive oil, and added the Super Grain Fusilli pasta. I checked on the pasta about 5 minutes into cooking to avoid overcooking but it definitely needed more time. GoGo Quinoa suggests about 9 minutes to get the perfect al dente texture. I cooked for about 10 minutes to get the texture I prefer.

I really enjoyed this new GoGo Quinoa pasta. It was firm and didn't turn to mush. The pasta held up to the meat sauce which is really important. No one likes when their pasta absorbs all of the sauce and gets mushy. This Super Grain pasta has a nice taste, texture, and given the excellent nutritional benefits, I would definitely buy this pasta again.

Good news! This GoGo Quinoa Super Grain pasta is launching in Costco in Northern California in mid-September. This includes San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, Santa Cruz (where I live) and beyond. Be sure to visit the GoGo Quinoa website for a complete list of locations and to see a full list of their other products.


GoGo Quinoa Super Grain Fusilli Pasta with Erin's Turkey Meat Sauce

Pasta Cooking Instructions: 
Bring 3-4 liters of water to a boil. Add salt if desired. When the water is boiling well, add the pasta and cook for 9 minutes for an Al Dente texture while stirring occasionally. Drain and rinse promptly with cold water. Serve immediately with your favorite sauce and condiments.

Naked but cooked GoGoQuinoa Super Grain Fusilli Pasta

My meat sauce has no set instructions. I usually just brown turkey meat or ground beef, throw in a bunch of garlic, basil, spinach, and other spices, and then pour in a jar of my favorite tomato sauce. I let the pot simmer for about 30 minutes (if I can wait that long) and then add to my pasta. If I have it on hand, I will top with shredded cheese and then dig in. I think I could seriously eat pasta every day and not get bored. I am sure my waistline would disagree with that life choice. ha!

Pasta with meat sauce... DINNER!

In addition to pasta, GoGo Quinoa has a full line of quinoa-based products including cookies, pancake mix, cake mix, and quinoa flour. They also have some really interesting products that I am excited to try like lentil flakes and quinoa flakes. I see some veggie patty experimentation in my future. To learn more, please visit www.gogoquinoa.com. You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Do you want to win your very own GoGo Quinoa Super Grain Pasta? Enter to win below! All entries must be submitted by September 1st. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WEGO Health Lifetime Achievement Award Nomination

I am thrilled to announce that I have been nominated for a 2017 WEGO Health Lifetime Achievement Award. This is the sixth year in a row that I have been nominated and I am beyond proud to be a two-time winner! These awards are nominated by peers and readers within distinct health communities and I am quite honored to be a 2017 nominee. 

WEGO Health is a very helpful community that links health advocates with other patient leaders across the country. A Patient Leader "uses their own health journey to raise awareness, share knowledge and help others. They leverage social media to amplify their voice, connect with peers, and build community. They are the thought leaders and transformers industry leaders turn to for insights and expertise they need to build a more patient-centered, consumer-driven health care ecosystem." I've learned a lot from other patient leaders including how to be the best advocate I can be for the celiac disease community. 

In case you missed it, here are a few more of my contributions to our celiac disease community:

• Living with celiac disease since 1981!!!
• Blogger at Gluten-Free Fun since 2007
• Blogger at Gluten-Free Globetrotter since
• Leader of the Santa Cruz Celiac group since 2016
• Leader of the NYC Celiac Meetup group for more than ten years (2005-2015)
• Volunteer for the Celiac Community Foundation of Northern California since 2016
• Tireless advocate for the celiac community across all social media platforms

I will continue to be the voice of the celiac community for as long as I can. I am living with this disease and if my blog, social media, and volunteerism can help just one person with celiac, I feel like it is all worth it.

I would love your help with an endorsement of this award. Simply click on the link above or visit this page to submit your endorsement today. Thank you for your continued support! 

Gluten-Free Magazines

Exactly 5 years ago today, I posted about all of the gluten-free magazines available for purchase. I thought it was time to revive that list. Some publications have stopped production, while others changed names. Is your favorite magazine on this list?


Celebrate Gluten-Free (Published by the Gluten Intolerance Group)
Digital format
Bi-monthly publication
FREE

Generation GF Magazine (Published by the Gluten Intolerance Group)
Print format
Quarterly publication
FREE (with Generation GF membership)

Gluten-Free Food Solutions Magazine
Digital format
Bi-Monthly publication
FREE

Delight Gluten-Free
Available in print and digital formats
6 issues per year
$24.00

Simply Gluten-Free
Available in print and digital formats
6 issues per year
$29.95 (USA, print/digital); $44.95 (Canada, print/digital) $26.99 (USA/Canada, digital only)

Gluten-Free Living
Available in print and digital
6 issues per year
$34.00* (USA); $40.00* (Canada); $45.00* (International)
* $5.00 additional for digital and print subscriptions

Gluten Free & More (affiliate link)
Available in print and digital formats
6 issues per year
$23.00 (print/digital); $19.00 (digital only); $33.00 (Canada, print/digital); $43.00 (International)

gff Magazine
Available in print and PDF
4 issues per year
$35.00 (print); $20 (PDF)

Allergic Living
Available in print
4 issues per year
$19.99 (US)

Gluten-Free Fun in August: Proceed with Caution

When I started this blog all the way back in 2007, the celiac and gluten-free blogging community was quite a different place. There were only a handful of us in the world! There was no Instagram or Twitter and Facebook was still mostly a college-only social platform. There was most definitely no such thing as paid posts. I simply wanted to share my story of living with celiac disease since 1981 and how I was navigating the gluten-filled world.

My, how times have changed.

Today, the gluten-free blogging community has ballooned tremendously and almost has become an information overload. There are celiac bloggers, non-celiac gluten sensitive bloggers, Fodmappers, plant-based bloggers, and so many more niche blogs that I cannot even keep track. There are blogs giving great scientifically-backed information while others are using scare tactics. It really has become an over-saturated and crazy place that has become really difficult to navigate.

My friend Annalise wrote a fabulous post a few years ago called The Wild West of Celiac which is a great summary of the gluten-free blogger world today. It sometimes feels like a free for all out there in the world wide web and Annalise summarizes this perfectly in her article. In just the past week, I have seen too many products or services mentioned that are unsafe for people with celiac. These posts include:

• products documented to make people with celiac sick yet being promoted to celiacs
• products that have no FDA approval for treating gluten exposure
• products that claim to test for allergens from the comfort of your own home without needing to see a doctor (WTF?) 
• products that will "cure" your celiac through a cleanse (It won't!)
• products that are unnecessarily being marketed and labeled as gluten-free (water, eggs, clothing, accessories, oh my?!?)

I am not only disappointed in these posts but I am also really worried for those who are newly diagnosed and hungry for any information they can find. This information could be VERY dangerous and make someone with celiac very sick. I want you to all proceed with caution. If you find an article that is too good to be true, it probably is. If a product is being pushed, look to see if the blogger is being compensated in some way. It is an FTC regulation that all compensation must be disclosed to readers!

ALWAYS see a doctor. PERIOD!

Over the next few weeks, I am going to do my best to debunk some of the stories floating around that are putting celiacs at risk or that are just plain false. I am keeping true to my roots of this blog by wanting to help those people living with celiac. I want to share with you links that are backed by science and not by dollars. Basically, I just aim to help those with celiac disease to protect themselves from being duped or glutened. If the post says you can eat a gluten-filled product in a different country or that a little bit won't hurt, IT IS WRONG. Please be careful and double check your sources.

What stories do you want more information on? What posts are floating around that make you go "HMMMM??" Tell me below and I will start digging deep.