Horseradish is the root of a plant and therefore is gluten free but subject to cross-contamination during the processing that transforms it into an edible condiment, sauce, or dressing. We need to be concerned about the other ingredients involved. Very few commercially prepared horseradish sauces are labeled ‘gluten free', but that could beca...

I like this gluten free blogger's sense of humor. He states his point-of-view in bold print at the top of the first page: "You have celiac disease. Me too. That bites. So get over it. One bite at a time". The writer was diagnosed six year and certainly realizes that people don't ‘get over' celiac

This is a wonderfully useful cookbook. Connie Sarros writes clearly and simply without ‘talking down' to expert cooks or overwhelming people with less experience. Her recipes include a "complete nutritional breakdown" so that it is appropriate for cooks who must prepare gluten free meals but who intend to serve meals that are healthy in all...

Gluten free pretzels are a taste treat. Try them flavored with sesame seeds or poppy seeds, covered with yogurt or chocolate, in any of the traditional sizes and shapes. Use this recipe to create your own gluten free pretzel treat or this one created by Carol Fenster and provided by Bob's Red Mill. I recently loved

I've begun a list of my favorite gluten free blogs in the right sidebar of this page. The people who write these blogs are people who see living gluten free as an opportunity for creativity and service to America's gluten free community. I am proud to be a member of that group. What is the difference

This bargain roundup focuses on cutting shipping costs when you order on-line. The Gluten Free Pantry provides free shipping on orders exceeding $100. That requirement is easy to meet if you work with a gluten free friend. After, all the merchant is interested in is that the entire order be paid with the

E-cookbooks are collections of recipes posted on-line giving you the opportunity to download groups of recipes rather than searching for and downloading individual pieces. Some e-Book publishers charge a relatively small fee, but the ones listed below are complimentary: Thanksgiving Your Way. Includes a count-down checklist, dinner and dessert r...

Yes in both cases. Actually, Xanthan gum is processed from Guar gum. They are both thickening agents whose function is as a binder to replace the glutens that we must avoid. Despite the uncommon names, these are definitely not exotic over-processed ingredients. There is some concern about the extremely high fiber content in guar gum,

Ancient Greeks suffered from Celiac disease, but researchers did not connect the problem to wheat gluten until the early the last years of World War 2. Before that, a number of different strategies were tried. Here is a video report by one of the "banana babies", the celiacs who diagnosed in the early 1930's. (FYI:

As soon as I decided to post a series of blog reviews, I decided to begin with The Savvy Celiac. This site's purpose is to "…help people become savvy celiacs" and it has certainly helped me. The writer is the mother of a celiac child and has a brother who is a recently-diagnosed celiac. One of

If I was a restaurant manager, I would refuse to make a legally-binding written-commitment that it was absolutely impossible to contract salmonella poison in my establishment. Mistakes happen. My goal is to convince my customers by what they see, smell, and taste that my restaurant is a safe place. The same is true in the gluten

Restaurant (dot com) offers restaurant gift cards at discounted prices and is ‘treating' us by offering extra savings during this week. The only trick involved is that few of the featured restaurants have gluten free options. Since different customers get different lists depending on their ZIP codes, I can only make recommendations for my own...

These sites both print coupons honors by many different stores. I recommend these sites because they do not demand that you put your name on a mailing list before you receive any useful information. Keep in mind that the vast majority of the coupons provided at these sites have nothing to do with gluten free

This example will clarify the difference between the gluten free diet and the healthy diet. MSG is gluten free. That is probably the only positive thing that can be said about it. No one (celiac or otherwise) should consume MSG. When I was diagnosed twelve years ago, we did not have the luxury of thinking

Our "Gluten Free Restaurant Meals" power page now lists 60 restaurant chains that have committed — in writing on their website — to serve America's gluten free community. Yesterday I finished the task of proofreading that list and making sure that you will be able to access to information about the restaurants' locations and their...

I recently looked at several listings of "best gluten free blogs". I thought some of you might appreciate this information despite the fact my site is not featured on any of those lists. Since the titles of these lists are almost identical, I'll simply suggest that you click here, here, here, here, or (if you

Many people are starting second careers utilizing the skills they learned living gluten free. Opening a gluten free bakery seems to be a very popular choice. I didn't actually count this, but I'm sure that at least three fourths of the articles I looked at this afternoon involve people who — for one reason or

Here's a list of gluten free restaurants, supermarkets, and food manufacturers that offer coupons or other money saving strategies. I will be publishing a list like this one every Monday, checking the information quarterly, and posting up-dates as appropriate. Whole Foods publishes a bi-monthly magazine called "The Whole Deal" which includes ma...

Many breakfast cereals would be "gluten free" if they did not contain the ingredient ‘barley malt'. I recently searched the net and learned that barley malt is an alternative to refined sugar. ‘Alternatives to refined sugar' are in great demand these days except, of course, in America's gluten free community. Our best course-of-action ...

People who live gluten free are cautioned to "read every ingredient label on every package that you purchase". I wish I had a gluten free doughnut for every time I have dispensed this information. Of course, this caution is meaningless when the ingredient list is written in jargon that is meaningless to anyone with the

Gluten free living is both a diet and a lifestyle. Most of our actions are somehow related to our need to live gluten free. With this in mind, my time this week has been spent preparing a new power page "The Gluten Free Diet". Please check it out by using the tab at the top

Here is information from eight manufacturers of gluten free foods. This information may be useful to you as you shop for gluten free food. Arrowhead Mills / study their display of gluten free products. Campbell's Soup / take their printable list with you when you shop / to print, use the

Lower shipping costs is an important way to save money while shopping gluten free. Amazon is a major source of gluten free cookbooks and gluten free foods. They offer two shipping plans. I'll link you pages describing the two plans so that you can make up your own mind. ? Amazon Prime. This provides two-day delivery

I have just added seven more restaurant chains to our "Gluten Free Restaurant Meals" power page. Fifty one restaurant groups are now listed. I would guess that we now have access to at least 5oo individual restaurants. Restaurant chains have legal departments who are tasked with making sure that member restaurants do not make

What's the differences among Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, Gluten Sensitivity, and Wheat Allergy? I began reading on this subject because — as a gluten free writer — I felt obligated to use the terms correctly. I think I know, but my attempts to write definitions of these terms failed miserably so I decided to link

A tremendous variety of gluten free crackers are available. My latest ‘find' was "Exotic Rice Toast" manufactured by Edward and Sons in gluten free environment. First of all, they are certainly crackers rather than what we normally think of as toast. The good news is that they are relatively inexpensive and that each box contains...

The Food and Drug Administration has requested input before define what foods can be labelled gluten free in the United States. Some of you have shared your thoughts with me to assist me in preparing a letter to the F.D.A. Here is a summary of what I believe you are saying. I'll translate this into

Summaries to help begin the gluten free diet appear in both Living Without magazine and Gluten Free Living magazines. Both magazines posts the quick-start guides on-line. FYI, these magazines should be in the library of every family that includes a person who lives gluten free. The celiac support group of New Haven, Connecticut, also posts

As I mentioned in Thursday's newsletter, the F.D.A. has requested our input on the best definition of ‘gluten free'. I have drafted a letter, asking for your thoughts on what I had written, posted the survey on-line, and linked you to it. That's the good news. The bad news is that I neglected to post the

The Food and Drug Administration has asked for input before determining America's official definition of ‘gluten free'. I have drafted a letter that I intend to send before the October 2 deadline and many of you have shared your thoughts about how I could improve it. This is your last chance. On September 25 I

I've written about three groups of people who follow the gluten free diet. I ‘thought up' those three groups to get myself organized and help me in my work as a writer on gluten free topics. Thanks to your comments, I need to add three more groups. The first article discussed (1) medically diagnosed celiacs, (2)

I first heard the terms ‘gluten free' and ‘celiac disease' on August 2nd 1999, a date that I will never forget for many reasons. I didn't know what on earth the doctor was talking about and really got scared when I realized that he was talking about me and was telling me things that would

There are three different groups of people who follow the gluten free diet. The people in each group follow different versions of the gluten free diet. I created these groups in my mind to my task as a writer-on-gluten-free-topics easier. I am a member of the first group and am therefore biased toward it, but

As you may know, the Food and Drug Administration has requested input to guide its efforts to define "gluten free". I have drafted the comments I plan to submit and am asking your for suggestions. Judging from the responses I've read, "cross contamination" is our major concern. Therefore, I have revised the first item in...

I enjoy the the gluten free brown rice bread available at Trader Joe's. The fact that it is at least $1.50 less than many popular brands makes it even more attractive. I'll be using it regularly except when I am making sandwiches or something where I must have bread that absolutely not crumble. This is the

Some licorice is gluten free and some isn't. As usual, defensive shopping is a necessity. If you are shopping locally, try these brand name. Keep in mind that I am NOT promising you that ALL the licorice bearing a certain brand name is gluten free. I suspect that this is not the case. Anyway, brand names

If all goes well, America will soon (whatever that means) have a definition of ‘gluten free'. For the umpteenth and hopefully final time, the Food and Drug Administration is asking for our input on the subject. I plan to submit a statement, based on twelve years of living gluten free and eight years writing on

Ashland, Oregon, features great theater and restaurants that served wonderful gluten free meals. We enjoyed two dinners at The Greenleaf Restaurant, dining outside beside a flowing stream. My chicken marsala was beautifully presented, tasted wonderful, and was served by a waitress who was totally gluten-savvy and generally a pleasure to work wit...

The Food and Drug Administration is finalizing its definition of ‘gluten free' and has asked for input from interested parties. (Click here for information about how to submit your comments.) I plan to send comments related to my experiences as a writer on gluten free topics. I would like your input before I finalize and

This month's survey gave people an opportunity for people to their current gluten free lifestyle with what they were experiencing and feeling three years ago. People were asked to insert the words ‘more' or ‘less' to express their feelings. There was also a ‘no difference' box for those who have not experienced a change. For...

Today I launched a new power-page "Gluten Free Halloween". It is our next major holiday — at least diet-wise — and is a major concern of gluten free children and their parents as they return to school. There will almost certainly be a Halloween party at school and the child's class will certainly be composed

The FDA's effort to finalize the definition of "gluten free" is capturing the attention of America's gluten free community. The FDA is soliciting comments from all interested parties (that certainly includes us!) during the month of August. I stated my opinions on the subject in an editorial two weeks ago today and provided a link...

This week I upgraded several of our "Power Pages", the lists that consolidate the information we need in one place. I added two restaurant chains to power page "Gluten Free Restaurant Meals". Gluten free options at ‘Red Lobster' and ‘Season 52′ our now more accessible to you. I upgraded our...