Organic Almond Non Dairy Beverage

I was in Whole Foods and noticed a product that seemed far too cheap to be good.  There were 4 single serving Chocolate Almond beverages...gluten free and 4 for $1.50 (being phased out at Whole Foods).

Thought I'd give it a try.  8 oz and 100 calories per serving (small package).

In short: Like chocolate milk but without the chalky factor. Dairy-free and soy-free.  I'd drink it again...especially for less than 40 cents a box.  Left me refreshed and feeling slightly guilty (like I had eaten a chocolate bar and hidden the wrapper).  12 oz serving would be nicer.

This product is from Pacific Natural Foods. The direct product link would be found here. I got the picture from their website.


You can order it from amazon. It is about $22 for a 24 pack (not a bad price). 

CeliacsUnited.com hits 1000 views. (awesome*awesome=awesomer)

Not really a post...more of a milestone.  Sometime during the middle of last week (let's say Wednesday the 10th) the blog got its thousandth view.  I created the blog as a resource for myself, however it is gratifying that there are others of you out there using the blog as a go to place for information that you need to know but don't want to memorize.. ie. what is celiac disease?  what contains gluten?  what GF alcohol can I drink? 

As most of you do not comment, I have no idea what it is the brings you back... convenience? humor? bad puns? good resource?  a fellow celiac angelino?  anyway...thanks for reading.

GF Soy Sauce - Wok up an appetite

Gluten Free Soy Sauce...?  
Essential if you want to create stir fry dishes.  Lots of things I used to enjoy to eat elsewhere I must now create at home (how I miss you orange chicken 3 item combo...).  I'm planning to cook some GF Mongolian Beef sometime in the not-to distant future.

Anyway, back to the GF soy sauce...

I use the kind seen to the left in the ad...but I buy mine in a larger size for less money at Vons.  That said, wherever you buy it...be prepared to pay more than you think it should cost...(haven't you learned yet? GF versions of gluten items are generally more expensive)...also, my apologies for that long, strange, run-on sentence...I liked the sentence less than I wanted to, but not nearly enough to change it.

Overheard in the grocery aisle. 
Person 1 - "Do you have any gluten free soy sauce?"
Person 2 - "Isn't soy sauce made out of soy?"
Person 1 - "I'll take that as a no."
Yes, you devotee of Sherlock Holmes ...I was Person 1 in the story. 

I've located the San-J brand GF soy sauce at Vons and at Whole Foods.  The price at Vons is much better for keeping your money in your wallet...it is the exact same product.

As always, check the label for yourself to make sure that you are getting a GF product.  I have a list here of things that contain gluten.Wheat free is not always gluten free.

Wok are you waiting for...?  get out there and start stir frying!  and if you come up with a good version of GF Mongolian beef, please leave me the recipe as a comment.

February 2010 CeliacsUnited.com Gluten Free Product of the Month – Performance Fit’s First String High Performance Collegiate Formula NCAA Compliant Chocolate Blast (what a mouthful to say).

In what I am hoping will become a monthly tradition…feel free to post or email me suggestions for future months. I posted this one a little late…no guarantees that a product will show up early in the month (I pretend to have a life that cuts down on my posting time).


February 2010 CeliacsUnited.com Gluten Free Product of the Month –
Performance Fit’s First String High Performance Collegiate Formula NCAA Compliant Chocolate Blast (what a mouthful to say).

Overview: Nutritious and Delicious product available from dotFit.com Retails for $59.95

I had a bit of a hard time finding a workout product that guaranteed to be gluten free that also was nutritious and tasted good. (Cliff’s Builder Bars for example are wheat free, but CONTAIN gluten…they have a lovely paragraph about how they avoid wheat etc. etc. but then sneak in triticale – which is Gluten. My negative experience with Cliff’s made me very leery of exercise and nutrition products.).

Then I was introduced to the “First String...

The product has a nutritional label that says” Contains No Gluten” Lovely sight to behold…here.

I’ve tried both the chocolate and vanilla versions. Chocolate is great mixed with water alone. If you have a blender available (I do not usually), you can add a banana and some ice to make it even better.

The Vanilla flavor is also good, and can be a welcome respite from having chocolate all the time (I know, some of you cannot image chocolate getting old). Vanilla seems to go down with less aftertaste…

Chocolate Blast – Rich, Nutritious, Delicious.  (say it like Mr. T)

Vanilla – Less Filing, Sans aftertaste. (in a blatant adaptation of a Miller Lite Beer Ad)

I tend to only use 3 scoops of powder with 20 oz water…Mixes well in the dotFit shaker bottle. I drink half before and half after the workout.

The details about the product and its nutrition are available online here. There are also good articles about maximizing your muscle gain or weight loss.  Pictures are available online and look better than what I would take...also, you should read the nutritional info for yourself.

I realize that this post is devoid of a lot of the humor in my other postings…not sure how to remedy that problem..gluten free workout products aren’t really fun per say…but essential. I could vent more about products that hide the gluten, but I’d rather focus on the positive…and Performance Fit’s First String High Performance Collegiate Formula NCAA Compliant Chocolate Blast (still a mouthful to say) deserves to be a product of the month. 


Thoughts?

Oh [profanity], not that one again... buy it twice...shame on me.

Oops, I did it again...rather catchy late 90s tune, but downright annoying when it comes to gluten free grocery shopping.

We've all done it....purchased something that sounds or looks great but ends up being terrible.  Then, we compound the error by purchasing the same horrible item a few months later when the chalk taste or whatever other issue it has is out of our short term memory.

Glass half full guy: "That is great, there are so many GF products that you can forget some are bad."
Glass half empty guy: "GF doesn't mean I should donate my money for a catchy box or something that tastes bad."
Charles Barkley:  "That is turrible. Turrible, turrible, turrible."  (to my knowledge, Chuck does not read my blog, nor is he a celiac) 
Me: "Oh [profanity deleted].  I am such a moron.  How could I waste my money on that [profanity] again.  Aaargh!"  (at which point I run from the room to spit into the trash can and wipe off my tongue...vowing never to do that again)

I don't know that your taste buds will agree with mine.  But...here is a list of GF products that I just found awful.  I have sorted them by store purchased (though many GF items are available in more than one location).  My goal:  to prevent using profanity around people while eating...unless I am in a bar and watching a sporting event of some kind.


obviously a work in progress...I realize some of the products will be improved upon and I will miss out on a good version 2.0 - that is something my wallet and I are OK with.

The "Oh [profanity]!" list  (will be updated semi-regularly...much like the rest of the site) 
Store - alleged description according to the packaging....(I disagree)
Trader Joe's
1. Crunchy Curls - A Tasty Lentil & Potato Snack
2.

Whole Foods
1. 
2.

Babycakes NYC - The Photos...

I'm not sure why I can't update these into my old post...?  budding bloggers, see photo editor note below

Anyhoo (for my Wisconsin readers)....here are the photos.

Caption 1: The tiling at the floor entry (exterior)...notice the cupcake.

Caption 2: Here I am in front of the store...

focus on the storefront rather than my face, and no...I am not in witness protection.. 

Caption 3: A glass display from inside the store...here are the T-shirts they sell...expensive...but nice niche.
sadly, nothing was appropriate for a heterosexual male...otherwise I would be rocking one right now.  
(I don't even think there was anything for a metrosexual male....but that is something to decide for yourself)

P.S.#1 - Wisconsin Readers:I don't believe that I have Wisconsin readers...I know of 1 occasional reader from Wisconsin, but I am not so brash as to believe that other Wisconsites/Wisconsonians..? read the blog.  If they do, they can take solace in the fact that...plain cheese is gluten free :-)

P.S. #2 - Photo editor's note to self: The last image was uploaded very easily as I modified the image size in photoshop in order to make the file size smaller.  That may have been the problem when I tried to upload earlier.  You may have noticed that some of my other image files were huge (see Blue Smoke pics for examples).  I'll try to avoid that in the future...

Babycakes NYC ( will add photos at later date.....blogger is lagging)

Babycakes - also known as Babycakes NYC.
They just opened a place in LA called Babycakes in LA (rocket science).

New York Address to cut/paste into google.
248 Broome Street,  New York City, NY 10002
(on the lower east side Btwn Orchard & Ludlow)

I'd been looking forward to going here, as everyone always asked me if I'd been...and now I have.

First impression...nice cupcake tile at the entry (I notice random things like that).

In a random alley of an up-and-coming (read hip/edgy/sketchy at night) neighborhood. Small interior...I'd pictured something larger, but it is New York).
There was a small counter with a few display cases.

It was great that everything is dairy free and soy free, but I couldn't understand why they make things with spelt (not everything, some things are GF).

Beware of Spelt: Items are either spelt or gluten free. Spelt=gluten. I am sure they do a decent job avoiding cross contamination, but why bother having spelt? I don't know anyone that thinks..."mmm....I could do with some spelt." So, be very careful when ordering. I would feel better about things if the spelt had not shared display cases with the GF food.

Service: The employees were friendly and helpful (contrary to some negative reviews many other people have written online).

GF Food:I ordered a plethora of GF food and sat down at the small counter and consumed it all.

Everything was good and tasty, but rather small and expensive.  I had the chocolate crumble GF cake, a chocolate glazed donut (winner of the best taste award - though it had a hint of lemon...but I am a sucker for chocolate glazed donuts and hadn't had one for over a year), some brownies,  a carrot cake muffin (also delicious), and a cup of coffee.

Result:  I left on a sugar and caffeine high that was great! I was shaking like someone shooting the halftime half court shot at a Knicks game...eventually the effect wore off and I had a bit of a headache (I blame the caffeine not the GF food).

However, those on a budget couldn't afford to eat here too often (as I would tend to pig out...also, a plane ticket to NYC is a budget buster).  But when in NY next time, I will try to work in 2 visits during the week...

Final thought: I'd love it if they added some savory GF breakfast options that I could get "to go" and eat for breakfast....coconut almond GF scone anyone?  What they have is very good, but I think they can do better...and I look forward to them proving me correct.
 
Other:  The owner wrote a cookbook...read the recipes carefully to stay GF.  Spelt contains Gluten! and a lot of the recipes have spelt.