Nominate your favorite gluten-free restaurant in Fayetteville

Gluten-free fans,

 

2012's Greatest Around Fayetteville Contest which recognizes people, places and businesses in Fayetteville, has a Best Gluten Free Menu category. 

This is our chance to recognize restaurants in Fayetteville that cater to gluten-free customers. The website is www.greatestaroundfayetteville.com and nominees must get at least 25 nominations in order to make it to the voting phase. Each category needs at least 5 nominees to make it into the voting phase.

Thanks!

Also, check out this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/garbanzo-bean-chocolate-cake-gluten-free/detail.aspx

Make your own gluten-free pizza ... sort of

I will admit to everyone I am not a great cook. I can microwave and open cans very well so I have been able to survive so far.

A friend of my mother's gave me a gluten-free pizza kit made by Gallo Lea. The package touted "make a pizza in 30 minutes." Obviously they didn't mean me.

The directions were simple enough, however my technique with dough was abysmal.

After trying to spread quicksand-consistency dough on oily parchment paper for thirty minutes, I finally made a very lopsided pie on the parchment. The dough stuck more to my fingers than onto the parchment. A spoon will help make the edges thicker.

I baked it for 5 minutes, took it out of the oven and precariously peeled it off the parchment. Spatulas are very good for this type of technique.

My pizza now needed sauce and toppings. I thought I'd make it pretty simple and add some mozzarella cheese. (It comes with a pretty good sauce.)

After more baking (5-8 minutes), it sure didn't look pretty but it was rather tasty. My partner Chris thought the dough tasted a bit like refried beans but agreed it wasn't half bad.

I don't think you can get this in Fayetteville but they have a website: http://www.gallolea.com/

May you have better luck than I.

Until then, Bon Appetit!

taste of home, healthy cooking

Do you ever have the experience where you never noticed something ever in your life. Then a friend mentions it, and it is practically jumping out at you? Before I was told I had celibacy, the word gluten was rarely in my word, now all the sudden I find people all around me me being diagnosed. The good news was all the research I had done was being put to use, the bad news was people were being diagnosed with celiac. I knew the challenges they would face, it could be worse, but, it is complicated. Anyway, I was looking through my last issue of Taste of Home and found two recipes gluten free. One is sugarplums, how awesome is that? The other is for almond cookies. Yum. Neither had a million ingredients or complicated directions. If you are interested, it is the December January issue. I plan on trying these out for my holiday baking. Its so hard trying to do gluten free and also be in other kitchens, our church women are getting together to bake together for fun, and I don't know how this will work. We shall see.

Gluten-free beer at Food Lion? Maybe...

Yes, there is gluten-free beer and it is pretty good!

I asked the manager at Food Lion on Skibo Road if they could carry Redbridge Beer. It's made by Anheuser Busch. Same folks that make Budweiser, Michelob, Becks, etc. I'm hoping it's not too hard to get it at Food Lion because that would be awesome!!!

Harris Teeter does carry it in a six-pack for about $8 to $9.

Other brands to look for (not in Fayetteville, just yet...) are New Grist and Bard's. Wholefoods in Raleigh carries it.

By the way, if you like beer with your pizza, you can get a gluten-free pizza with any gluten-free topping at Mellow Mushroom on McPherson Church Road ... with a cold Redbridge. It does take a bit longer for the pizza to be made so be prepared to wait a bit. Also, the crust is a little better than the average gluten-free frozen pizza. I wish for the day pizza makers could make a deep dish gluten-free crust. I'm not a big fan of cracker crust BUT it's Pizza!!! with Beer!!! In Fayetteville!!!

Let's hope this blog isn't all about my crazy ramblings. Do you have a favorite place to shop in Fayetteville (or even out of the area) for gluten-free goodies? Please share!

Until next time...

I'm baaaaaaaaack!

Debbie,

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and posting! It's so nice to see another gluten-free person from the Cumberland County area.
I must apologize. I have been a very bad blogger and hope to contribute more to this blog in the future. So, here goes...
Food Lion has significantly increased its gluten-free offerings, at least in the stores I've been to at at Skibo Road, Fayetteville and Westwood Shopping Center.
I can now find gluten-free cereal, pizza, soy sauce, frozen dinners, doughnuts, soups, cookies, cake mixes and more for a reasonable price. Still holding out for some gluten-free beer. Harris Teeter carries Redbridge (a nice dark brew) for about $8 a six-pack. Harris Teeter also carries more gluten-free items as well as Wal-mart.
By the way, I almost cried when I found the gluten-free soy and teriyaki sauce!
I am not much of a cook but I have discovered crock pot cooking. Throwing vegetables and meats together with some gluten free spices and sauces is rather easy and so tasty, my glutened partner will eat it too!
A Year of Slow Cooking at http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ has tons of recipes with gluten-free substitutes.
I too would love to join a group in the Cumberland County area just so we can talk about all the different challenges we go through living with Celiac Disease or gluten-intolerance. Thanks for letting me post!

Michelle

Greetings from the newest Fayetteville Blogger

I am really excited to be added to the Gluten Free Fayetteville Blog. I wanted to tell you a bit about myself, aside from what my profile already says.
I have lived in the Fayetteville area for over 20 years. I am a nurse and I do patient education. I am also a huge foodie and love to bake and cook. I was given a confusing diagnosis last November, that i have the gene for Celiac and would benefit from a gluten free diet. It was felt that inflammatory response to gluten may be the source of widespread pain in my joints. So I began to immerse myself into the world of Celiac and gluten free. The people around me, who love and care about me, have been really amazing. My church ordered gluten free wafers for Communion and I have been supported a hundred percent through my work.
I am working towards getting a support group of celiac and gluten free folk here in the area, so if you are interested, drop me a line. It is still very in the ground works, but the number is growing. We just need to get better organized.
I find my gluten free foods at my favorite grocery store, Harris Teeter and also at a grocery store in Hope Mills, Food Lion. That particular Food Lion, while not a large store, has a great variety of items and pretty decent prices.
I bought a ton of recipe books and flours and have been trying my hand at different recipes to see what works and what doesn't work.
If you are embarking on the new world of gluten free, i have a piece of advice for you. Look in your pantry and learn what you eat now that has gluten in it. Replace each item as you use it up with gluten free items, such as Rice Chex for Cheerios, quinoa pasta for regular pasta. Then start looking really closely at hidden sources of gluten and replace it out as you go. Speak up at restaurants and ask for pasta to be kept off your plate and replaced with steamed veggies etc. It can be hard, but with perseverence it can happen!
I would love to hear from other people in the Cumberland county area that are going or are gluten free. Drop me a line!
Take care, Debbie

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