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Dave May 6, 2013

Gluten-Free Girl Every Day Author Shauna Ahern at Powell’s Books Tomorrow

gluten free girl everyday - shauna james ahern

File this under “ridiculously late notice”, but I only just saw it today, I swear! Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 7th at 7:30PM, author Shauna James Ahern (a.k.a. Gluten Free Girl) will be at Powell’s Books W Burnside signing her book, Gluten-Free Girl Every Day. Here is Powell’s blurb from their events email.

An approachable gluten-free cookbook intended for home cooks making dinner for their families, Shauna Ahern’s Gluten-Free Girl Every Day (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) features food you want to cook every day: fresh, satisfying, and filled with great flavors.

Where: Powell’s City of Books on Burnside
When: 7:30 PM
Address: 1005 W. Burnside, Portland OR
Phone: (800) 878-7323

Filed Under: Books, Classes & Events Tagged With: Books, Classes & Events, Cooking, Information, Portland

Dave February 11, 2013

Finally that Update I promised you: Changes for Gluten-free Portland

Sorry for the delay on getting this up. We wanted to make sure all of our ducks were in a row.

We’ve got some exciting news to share about Gluten-free Portland
that we’ve been hinting at both in the blog and in our facebook group over the last few weeks.

As you may have noticed things have gotten a little slow around here. It’s been our intention to spend more time getting things updated but life, alas, has been pulling us in a number of other directions of late. But the site is important. We are committed to providing up-to-date, accessible, and accurate information about all things gluten-free in Portland. So as of today, we’re passing the torch to Dr. Samantha, a local Portland ND who has a big heart for the gluten-free community.

She’ll be posting soon to update you all about her plans for the site. We’ll still be around so if you want to reach me (or my beautiful wife, Sienna) feel free to send us a note through the site and we’ll be sure to get it.

Thanks for all of your support! I’m looking forward to seeing how things shake out on the new site with Dr. Samantha at the helm.

-Dave

Filed Under: News

Dave January 16, 2013

Changes Coming

Hi All. I’ve been taking an extended break from Gluten Free Portland, but now there are exciting changes coming. Among other things, we’re changing the look of the site, so things may be a little rough over the next few days as we transition to a new site theme. There are other, soon to be announced changes coming as well. Watch this space! – Dave

Filed Under: News

Dave September 26, 2012

Guest Post: Making Broth for Allergies

Editor’s note: The following is a guest post by Stephanie Pearson of Daily Nectar. Please check out her bio after the article. Thanks Stephanie!

Making Broth for Allergies

When my son was toddler and we had not yet uncovered all of his food sensitivities, I began working with bone broth soups and stews as a way to clear his symptoms. I found that after a day or two on a very basic eliminative diet of just non-starchy vegetables, nourishing grass-fed meats, and bone broth, my son’s digestive and behavioral symptoms would completely go away. I was then able to reintroduce foods one by one and observe which foods caused the symptoms to reappear. I used this method in combination with herbs and an adapted version of the Coca Pulse Test, which are described in other articles.

Although a lot of us have learned about bone broth from Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions, many have not experienced using the broths as a tool for determining food sensitivities. Bone broth provides easily absorbed proteins and minerals, has a healing effect on digestive organs, and stimulates immune function. It is also hypoallergenic, allowing so that we can get a clear view of the which foods are triggering inflammation and/or an immune response. Below, I provide instructions for making nourishing broths and using them to support healing for those with food sensitivities. Include the broths as rich additions to your regular diet or consider using broth to cleanse during an allergy-elimination diet.

Bone Broth Directions

Making bone broth is easy. first, ask your butcher for an organic chicken or knuckles and marrow bones bones from grass fed cows. I prefer to simplify (and keep my hands clean!) by having the chicken and beef bones pre-cut. You may also use lean fish like bass or cod to make a fish broth. A fish based broth makes a delicious base for coconut and other Thai and Asian soups, such as Tom Kha Gai. It all types of broth, the bones are essential, but you can increase nutrition if you also include organs and other parts that we don’t usually consume in our modern diet. Depending on your sense of adventure, you can include none or any of the following: chicken feet, chicken necks and heads, whole fish, including the heads, and organ meats. If this really isn’t really your thing, don’t worry, omitting the less familiar bits will still produce a gourmet, very tasty, nutritious, and healing broth.

It is economical if you can make a habit of keeping all the bones from the meat that you eat during the week. Vegetable scraps and egg shells make great additions to the broth too (make sure that you clean the egg shells well). Keep these spare parts in a labeled jar or freezer bag in the freezer and add them to your pot in within six months time.

To make the broth, place the bones in a large pot and cover with filtered water and a teaspoon or so of apple cider or other vinegar. Within 15 minutes, the acidity of the vinegar will draw minerals such as calcium and potassium from the bones and into your soup. These minerals support the healing of bones and make teeth stronger. Bring the pot to a boil and skim off what collects on the top. At this point you can add vegetables if you’d like. For American soups, I like to use a French mirepoix, a combination of equal parts celery or celeriac root, onions, and carrots. This works fine with Asian soups as well, but it can be nice to also include ginger and other Asian vegetables. Many Latin American stocks are lovely with a bit of cilantro added in the last ten minutes. Next, decrease the temperature to a simmer and cook for between 4 and 24 hours. The longer you simmer the more minerals you’ll extract. During the last 30 minutes, you can add medicinal herbs to your broth. I like to add a few tablespoons of astragalus root to strengthen wei chi, a Chinese medicine concept that describes the protective barrier of our immune system that forms our natural defenses. I recommend that you do not use astragalus if you have an acute infection, least you “lock the thief in the house” (or close the outer barrier with the sickness still inside you), as they say in Chinese medicine). It is also contraindicated in pregnancy. Dandelion and burdock roots can be beneficial to people with eczema or other skin eruptions or to those in need of detoxification. Garlic and ginger are warming and improve circulation which can be especially helpful to those who often feel cold or who have cold hands and feet. Ginger also improves digestion and can double or triple the absorption of nutrients. Fresh nettles make a fabulous addition to broth when added in the last half hour. Nettles can modulate allergic response, are protein-rich, and are highly nutritive (make sure to use tongs to avoid being stung).

When the broth is ready and has cooled, strain it through a colander or fine mesh strainer and into another pot or a large glass container. The marrow within the beef bones will be red to yellow in color and is extraordinarily healing to gut lining. You can boost the healing power of the broth by scooping the marrow out and returning it to the broth. Share the bones with your dog or bury them in the garden. After straining, you can use the broth to make soup, serve it on its own with sea salt, freeze as it is, or reduce it further by boiling it down, letting it cool, and freezing it in ice cubes trays (which should later be transferred into a freezer bag). Add the cubes to meals to improve flavor, contribute to healing, and increase the nutritional value of what you are eating. I add cubes to water when making grains, sauces, and even biscuits.

Ingredients

This recipe makes approximately 64oz of broth depending on how much water you use and how long you leave it to cook.
4 quarts of filtered water
1.5- 2 lbs of beef marrow bones, chickens with necks, etc., or whole fish cut up
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar (organic, unfiltered)
chopped vegetables, such as 2 carrots, 1 onion, and 3 celery ribs
1 tsp. unrefined sea salt (I use Real Salt brand)
1-2 Tbs. of herbs such as garlic, ginger, astragalus, burdock, or dandelion root (optional)

As I found in the case of my son, bone broth, with its easily assimilated minerals and gut-healing gelatin, is perhaps the ideal food for those suffering from allergies. When intestinal lining becomes overly permeable, as is common with conditions such as food and environmental sensitivities, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, we are left with a condition descriptively called Leaky Gut Syndrome. Leaky Gut Syndrome can develop as a result of high levels of stress, chronic maldigestion, undiagnosed food sensitivities, or with the use of birth control pills, antibiotics, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as aspirin and ibuprofen).

The small intestine is highly specialized to absorb certain molecules and keep others, such as toxins, out. Increased permeability leads to increased toxicity, decreased nutrient absorption, and a greater susceptibility to acquired allergies- or proteins tagged as antigens because they have seeped through the gut with other allergens. Gelatin-rich bone broth has a nourishing and curative action that is reparative to permeable lining and can dampen the allergic response. In addition to its benefit to atopic conditions, bone broth has the overall effect of enhancing the natural functioning of our bodies, boosting the immune system, and preserving and strengthening teeth, bones, and joints. All other the world, broth was traditionally served as a first course or along side meals. Take a lesson from tradition and put it on your table.

Stephanie Pearson is a mother of three, nutrition consultant, herbalist, and community educator. She is also a member of Slow Food Portland and holds an appointed position on the Multnomah Food Policy Council. She is up and coming for her work with Daily Nectar in nutritional education and consultation, specializing in herbal and nutritional support for Autism Spectrum Disorders, sub-acute gluten sensitivity, and digestive imbalances. Stephanie is committed to spreading nutritional awareness and works diligently to offer free education and affordable nutritional support to individuals and parents nation-wide.

Daily Nectar is based in Portland, Oregon. Stephanie offers telephone consultations nationwide. www.dailynectar.net, 971-678-4280

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: Allergies, Cooking, Health, Recipe, Soup

Dave September 25, 2012

Gluten Free Event at Abby’s Table this Saturday

Hi everybody. I got a couple of notices about this coming event. Here is the blurb (edited for space and brevity). We would totally attend, but had a previous engagement. Here is a direct link to the event page.

From Cocktails to Dessert:

The Delicious Underground World of Root Vegetables & their Nutritional Value

Cooking Demonstration and Book Signing – Locally Sourced Ingredients. Naturally Gluten, Dairy and Soy Free.

Join us for a special evening to celebrate ROOTS cookbook. Come for a cooking demonstration of Radish Top Soup with Chef-Author Diane Morgan along with some health insight from Dr. Samantha Brody about eating beneficial root vegetables, and stay for a wonderful meal.

$75 Dinner fee includes a first print edition of ROOTS (get it signed!), as well as a delicious signature cocktail from the cookbook.

DINNER MENU

  • Beverage – Homemade Gingerale + Cherry Infused Bourbon
  • Amuse Bouche – Radish Top Soup
  • First Course – Crab Cakes OR Quinoa Cake with Pickled Ginger
  • Second Course – Carrot Ribbons with Carrot Top Pesto, Crumbled Goat Cheese
  • Main Course – Seared Duck Breast OR Portobello Mushrooms with Port Reduction
  • Served with – Parsnip Puree and Sautéed Beet Greens
  • Dessert – Red Velvet Cupcakes

Contact
Abby’s Table : Food Your Body Loves
abbystablereservations@gmail.com
503-828-7662

When
Saturday September 29, 2012 from 6:30 PM to 9:15 PM PDT

Where
Abby’s Table
609 SE Ankeny St
Portland, OR 97214

Filed Under: Classes & Events Tagged With: Classes & Events, Health, Information, SouthEast

Dave May 24, 2012

Site News: Crazy Busy this Summer

Hi All. Due to a personal project that is going on right now, all the free time (haha) that I would normally be spending writing posts here is going to other things. Posting is going to be on the light side this summer. If you’ve contacted me, for whatever reason, I’m sorry if it takes me a while to get back to you. Thanks for your patience!

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Information

Dave May 24, 2012

GIG Gluten Free Fair Spring 2012

I visited the Portland Gluten Intolerance Group’s Spring fair last weekend, and was really amazed at how many people were there. There simply was no parking in the lot, and so I ended up parking a block or two away. The place was packed. I don’t really know if they had more booths this year than last, but it certainly does seem like that must have been the case. Some exhibitors that stood out to me were: Andina, Coconut Bliss, Corbett Fish House, Gem Bakery, Harvester Brewing, Jensen’s, Lamb’s Markets, New Cascadia, New Seasons, Petunia’s, Rudy’s, Udi’s, White Rabbit Bakery, and more. There were also quite a few speakers scheduled. Laura B Russell at the GIG Fair Laura B. Russell was right inside the entrance of the fair. Regular readers will know her as the author of The Gluten Free Asian Kitchen among other things. Jude's Foods Cookies Although Petunia’s (who make my favorite gluten-free cookies) was at the fair with samples of some of my favorite baked goods, I have to say that I’ll be on the lookout for these cookies made by Jude’s Foods (terrible Flash-based site warning). Their cookies are crispy and amazingly delicious. Brazi Bites Also at the fair was Brazi Bites, who make delicious Brazilian cheese snacks – a.k.a pao bread. Hopefully we’ll have a review of their goods up soon. They just moved into a 100% dedicated gluten-free facility. Andina at the gluten-free fair Andina (our review here) was at the fair with some really delicious treats. I’m pretty sure that they were there to promote not just their restaurant, but also their Tupai event space. The snacks here are little ahi tuna rolls made with avocado and wrapped with potato puree instead of rice. These little buggers were tasty! They also had some delicious little cookies. Lisa Shaver and Dr. Samantha at the GIG Fair Last but not least, here are Samantha Brody ND, LAc and Lisa Shaver. Lisa is the Portland Metro GIG Branch Manager. Samantha is a.k.a. “Dr. Samantha” my ND, who was there at the professionals table for the fair. We wandered around the room for a little bit. Check out Dr. Samantha’s impressions of the fair on her blog, here.

Unfortunately, I had to run to look at a house pretty soon after I arrived. But I was still glad that I showed up. Events like this one make it plain that the gluten-free community is healthy and growing in Portland.

Filed Under: Classes & Events Tagged With: Classes & Events, Health, Portland GIG

Dave April 30, 2012

GIG Gluten Free Food Fair News

Here is the flyer for the Spring 2012 Gluten Free Food Fair (download PDF here). This event is organized by the Portland Metro Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG). It looks like this is going to be the biggest one ever.

When: Saturday May 19, 2012 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Where: Mittleman Jewish Community Center
6651 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland OR 97239
How Much: $5 per person, $10 per family, Kids under 12 free!
More Info: graindamaged.blogspot.com

Lisa Shaver sent us a schedule of speakers for the fair (last updated at 8:00 AM 5/1/12). We’ll try to update it as she sends us more information.

Time Topic Presenter
11:30 Healing with a Traditional Diet for Your Modern Life Joy Ceilidh
11:30 Wheat Belly: finding gluten problems even though the celiac test is normal Clar Glenn, MD
12:00 The Paleo Diet Cain Credicott
12:00 Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance in The Media – The Good and The Bad Nadine Grzeskowiak, RN
12:30 Empowering Kids on Special Diets Joy Ceilidh
1:00 What’s Hot in Gluten Free Foods: an insight to new products introduced at the 2012 Natural Foods Expo Colleen Lawson
1:00 Gluten and Hormones Misty White, ND
1:00 Celiac Disease & Gluten-Related Disorders: The Basics Wendy Cohan, ND
1:30 Do I have SIBO? GF and not feeling 100% Allison Siebecker, ND
1:30 Making GF Choices Tammy Credicott
2:00 Gluten-Free Meal Planning Kimi Reid
2:30 Gluten and Cosmetics and Body Care Products Stephanie Tanner

Note that the Gluten Free Food Fair is organized by the Portland Metro GIG. Although we support the Portland Metro GIG, we are not affiliated with them.

Filed Under: Classes & Events Tagged With: Classes & Events, Portland, Portland GIG

Dave April 30, 2012

Gluten Free Event at Jade Tea House

We heard from Laura B. Russell about an upcoming super-gluten-free event at the Jade Tea House down in Sellwood.

I’m pairing up with my friends at Jade for a super fun event on Wednesday, May 9th.
Jade will be hosting a private dinner in their new upstairs dining room in honor of The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen. The meal will feature five courses from the book, including dessert from Crave Bake Shop (Kyra did the desserts in my book) and beer pairings from Harvester Brewing. I think it will be a really fun, and likely a quite festive event! I’d love if any of you and/or your gluten-free friends and customers would like to join in the fun. Books will be for sale as well, or I’m happy to sign any books that people have already purchased.

When: Wednesday, May 9th 6:30 PM
Where: Jade Bistro, Teahouse & Patisserie
7912 SE 13th Avenue Portland OR 97202
Price: $45/person (I think you need to give a credit card when you call)
R.S.V.P by calling 503-477-8985 or email info@jadeportland.com
www.jadeportland.com

Her book: The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen

Did we mention that we love her book? We keep making more recipes out of it, and they’re always really amazing. We also love the Jade Tea House.

Filed Under: Classes & Events Tagged With: Asian, Beer and Wine, Classes & Events, Desserts, Sellwood

Dave April 3, 2012

Omission Beer Event

Omission Lager from Event

It is admittedly infrequent that the paths of a beer maker and gluten-free blogger cross. I do get invited to events here and there, and the first of 2012 happens to be the press event for Omission beer. Omission beer is made by Widmer Brothers, a division of Craft Brew Alliance, both of which are Portland-based. The event was hosted by Saraveza, which, judging from the menu, is definitely not a gluten-free friendly place, but which has a great little spot around the corner for events like this.

The event was made up of PR people, local bloggers, local media, and some folks from Widmer. I brought along the Gluten Free Portland official beer correspondant, Heather Marsh. Pictured above are Mieke from Tula Baking (who provided some of the treats for the event), Widmer brewmaster Joe Casey, and the CEO of Craft Brew Alliance, Terry Michaelson. Casey’s wife is celiac, as is Michaelson. We spent some time talking with both of them, swapping stories about trying to find places to eat while travelling, and comparing notes on favorite restaurants and bakeries in town.

Omission in the Case

It’s nice to walk into an event where the first thing that happens after introductions is that someone puts a beer in your hand. I was really curious to see what the beer tasted like, and had one of those “oh yeah, that’s what that tastes like, I had forgotten” kind of moments when I had a drink of the Omission Pale Ale. It had literally been years since I’d had a real pale ale, but I could have told you what I was drinking without having to check the label.

About the Brewing Process

The company notes that Omission was six years in the making. It’s unique in that the beer is brewed with normal beer-making ingredients like malted barley and hops, and the gluten is removed during the process. Then the beer is batch-tested by an independent lab to make sure that it falls below the international standard of 20 ppm of gluten (the company claims that they go further and test to 6 ppm). Neither Casey nor Michaelson were willing to go into the nitty gritty details of how they remove the gluten, but would say that “it’s complicated”.

Omission Brewing Process

One of the posters at the event went into further details, saying “Throughout the brewhouse process, proteins in Omission beers are degraded and/or removed entirely via precipitation, denaturation, and sedimentation.” And later, “After fermentation, yeasts, solids, and proteins are removed using a centrifuge and DE filter…” (I’m thinking that it’s pretty safe to take the words “proteins” in these two sentences and substitute “gluten and other proteins.”) Before they bottle it, the beer is “rapid tested” for gluten in the bright beer tanks. The beer is then bottled and sample bottles are sent out for independent gluten testing using an R5 Competitive ELISA test.

Omission Testing Results

One very interesting thing that they’ve done is that you can go online and check the test results of the batch you’re drinking. To do so, you go to omissiontests.com and enter the date stamp information from the bottle. Here are the test results from the bottle I had last night.

Moving Forward

Omission is not yet available outside of Oregon. Widmer plans to begin distributing the beer nationwide as soon as the necessary details are worked out with the TTB (the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the U.S. Dept of the Treasury). As many of our readers know, the FDA is still getting its act together about all things gluten-free, so there’s not much going on there. With any luck, people outside of Oregon will be drinking gluten-free lager sooner rather than later.

Also mentioned at the event, Widmer is working to expand their gluten-free offerings to include more varieties of beer. They don’t seem to have any plans to supply the beer in draft form, which makes sense because of the risk of cross-contamination from the lines.

How Does it Taste?

With Omission, I think that Widmer is going to have a hit on their hands. Both Heather and I thought that the Omission Lager was good, but both of us preferred the Pale Ale. I asked a bunch of the beer bloggers in the room what they thought, and everyone agreed that the beer was good. One person noted that the pale ale was just a little sweet. Nobody I talked to thought that there was anything funny or strange about the taste.

In this case, saying that “it didn’t taste funny” is akin to attending a Cirque du Soleil show and declaring that the performers “somehow managed to totter across the stage with their crutches.” But considering that we’re talking about gluten-free beer, it needed to be said. As I mentioned above, I had one of those moments where I tasted the Omission Pale Ale, and remembered drinking other pale ales years ago. I’m not an expert, but to me Omission tasted crisp, flavorful, and well-balanced. We were given lots of samples on our way out the door, so hopefully soon we’ll have a more thorough report from Heather and her cohorts.

Look for Omission at your local retailer. You can also go to the source, the Widmer Gasthaus on North Russell. They have recently expanded their menu to include plenty of gluten-free items. We plan to visit soon and will certainly post the results here. Thanks to Widmer for the free beer!

Filed Under: Classes & Events Tagged With: Beer and Wine, Classes & Events, Gluten-Free Beer, Information, Portland

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Dr. Samantha Brody is a licensed Naturopathic Physician and acupuncturist and the owner and founder of Evergreen Natural Health Center in Portland, Oregon. She is both a health educator and coach who can help introduce patients to new ways of caring for themselves. Read More…

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