Health Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Gluten Free Portland

Dave April 14, 2011

Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Curry Chicken Tenders Make a Great Sandwich

I decided to get straight to the point in my title. It’s been a long while since I’ve reviewed any Trader Joe’s gluten free offerings. We were looking for something new and exciting on a recent trip to Trader Joe’s. That’s one of the cool things about them. When you’re in a Trader Joe’s, you can stop about anywhere, spend a minute or two checking out everything around you, and find something new and interesting to try. I was in the meat department, looking at chicken parts, and this particular item demanded to be tried. They’re Curry Chicken Tenders. And they have the Trader Joe’s “No Gluten Ingredients Used” mark on them.

The only instructions they include with these amounts to: “Grill them.” Here are the ingredients: Water, Curry Powder (Turmeric, White Pepper, Ginger, Mustard Powder), Garlic, Sugar, Salt, Coriander, Dessicated Coconut, Citric Acid, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cayenne Pepper, Onion Powder, Cumin, Cilantro, Sodium Lactate (for PH control). As can usually be expected with Trader Joe’s products, this all looks pretty straight-forward (except for the last ingredient) – until you notice how high on this list the salt appears.

Of course, I didn’t notice this fact until it was too late. I do a lot of complaining about the salt content in Trader Joe’s products, but these are really off the charts. A serving size of 4 oz of chicken has 850mg (!!!!) of sodium. That’s ridiculous. It’s like eating a salt lick. Really.

Which we didn’t realize until I had served up the curry chicken tenders. I served them up with some broccoli, squash, and yogurt on the side. I love curry with yogurt. Another thing that goes great with curries is dried cranberries. You should try it sometime. Unfortunately, this dish just plain did not work. Mostly because of the salt I just mentioned. We also both felt that this dish is a little heavy on the cardamom. I really love cardamom, but in a curry I don’t usually want it to be the main flavor. It wasn’t inedible. But it wasn’t something we would want to eat again. We ended up with a bunch of leftover chicken from this, sitting in the fridge.

I would love to take the credit for this amazing idea, but actually Sienna came up with it. Why not try the curried chicken in a sandwich? So here you have it. Gluten-free bread, mayonnaise, pieces of lettuce, red onion, and slices of the curried chicken tenders. This, my friends, is a good sandwich! Did I mention that the chicken comes out amazingly tender? It does. Must be like, practically brined. But we both totally recommend this for sandwiches.

Dave March 24, 2011

Gluten Free Controversy on Dr. Oz

We were notified that Dr. Oz was doing a segment on gluten free diets on his TV show today. Naturally, we had to tune in. Here’s the executive summary: If you’re sensitive to gluten, then you should probably stop eating it. 99% of the people who are gluten intolerant still don’t know it. However, the gluten-free diet isn’t necessarily healthy, and is not a good way to lose weight.

For the curious, you can watch the episode online here on the Dr. Oz website.

I wasn’t actually aware that anybody was touting the gluten-free diet as being great for weight loss. So that was news to me. On the show they did some product comparisons, and the basic gist of the matter was that gluten free versions of many popular foods are more caloric and contain less fiber. Of course, we ARE talking about a TV show here, so they might have just picked out the most egregious offenders, because that makes for good TV. At the same time, we’ve spent some words on this blog talking about gluten free products and health. Mostly it’s been me complaining about how most all gluten free breads are made of starch and rice flour.

I’ve said it before, and I’m sure that I’ll say it again. If I could eat wheat, I would. First off, there are some items that you can’t get gluten free. Like a good brioche, a divine sourdough, or good bagels. Second, there is a reason wheat has been cultivated and eaten by mankind for all time: It’s good for you. Whole wheat is high in protein, fiber, minerals and vitamins. It’s an aid to digestion, and has countless culinary uses.

The segment on Dr. Oz struck me as having a dual personality. On one hand, Dr. Oz kept talking about how gluten does cause inflammatory problems in people who are sensitive to it. He even went so far as to recommend that people who have inflammatory symptoms try a two week elimination diet to see if they might have a sensitivity. But then he kept bashing the diet as being unhealthy and fattening.

It was interesting to hear the list of health problems associated with gluten sensitivity. Among the items I heard mentioned were fatigue, inflammation, depression, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, and even heart disease and cancer. Also, they mentioned that the inflammation caused by gluten can increase the insulin in your body, which can lead to weight problems, among other things.

Also interesting, there is a one week diet plan on the Dr. Oz website, here. Also, he has a couple of pages on celiac disease and gluten, here.

In the end, I did appreciate the show, although I thought that it sensationalized the subject matter in a way that may not have been very productive. It is a bit of a double-edged sword. I wouldn’t recommend a gluten-free diet to anybody who doesn’t need to be on it. BUT, for those of us who do, it’s truly life-changing. AND, just because something is gluten free, it doesn’t mean that it’s not junk food.

Dave February 10, 2011

News Bites – Some Meetings

February 12 – Portland Metro GIG

Quick reminder that the Portland Metro GIG meeting will be this Saturday.

When: Feb. 12th – 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Speaker: DeeAnna Wales VanReken
Where:
Legacy Emanuel Hospital
2801 N Gantenbein Ave.
Portland, OR. 07227-1623
(503)413-2200
Room E-1075/1077

February 19 – Food-a-Rama

The Gluten Intolerance Group of Southwest Washington announced:

Join us for the next meeting which is on Saturday Feb 19th from 10am-12pm at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital, rooms C-D. That will be our very first “Food-a-rama” Samplefest, where we will be tasting foods for the whole 2 hours from many different companies. So don’t hesitate to bring your appetite, your family/friends and any questions or concerns that you might have. See you there.

Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital
2211 NE 139th
Vancouver, WA 98686

February 19 – GIFTS Meeting

Looks like there’s a new gluten-free support group in town. This one is focused on families with children who are gluten-intolerant. GIFTS stands for Gluten Intolerant Families Teamwork & Support. See their website for more information. Here’s their meeting announcement:

GIFTS meets every other month, on the third Saturday of the month, afternoons from 2-4 pm. We’ll meet beginning in February, 2011, at the home of Wendy Cohan, RN, the group facilitator (See “Contact” page for location and map). We feature a monthly theme for kids, including Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Back-to-School, Halloween, and Christmas.

When: February 19th – 2-4pm
Theme: Valentine’s Day
Speaker: Krista Anderson-Ross, ND
Topic: Addressing Nutritional deficiencies in Gluten-Free Kids
Contact: info@gifts-pdx.org
Via.

Dave November 17, 2010

Restaurant Review: Dick’s Kitchen

When we heard about Dick’s Kitchen we knew that we would need to check it out. They’re another place in town using the excellent Jensen’s Better Buns to serve gluten-free burgers. The Dick in Dick’s Kitchen is the owner of Laughing Planet. Dick’s Kitchen is something of a diner-style burger joint with a twist, the twist being that they serve “paleo” food.

The idea behind paleo food is that you shouldn’t eat food that our ancestors didn’t. So there is an emphasis on avoiding processed foods, dairy, cereal grains, legumes, starchy vegetables, salty foods, soft drinks, and refined sugars. During a conversation we had with him, the owner mentioned that this diet also aligns pretty well with the kind of anti-inflammatory diet that a person with rheumatoid arthritis might want to be on. The restaurant doesn’t completely cut out all the items in the above list, but it does make it easy to avoid them.

The place itself is half New York subway (although it reminds me more of the San Francisco Muni subway) and half diner. It has a kind of stark black and white aesthetic going on. Both times we went, the place was packed. The first time we visited, we were able to sit down immediately. The second time we had a considerable wait. The staff is very friendly and were able to answer our questions about what on the menu was gluten free. On the plus side, they do their best to keep everything very clean and do care about cross-contamination. On the minus side, they use the same toaster and cooking surfaces, so like most restaurants, the very sensitive should probably steer clear of Dick’s Kitchen. As for the fries though, they’re not actually fried, so there isn’t any cross-contamination from the deep fryer.

Dick’s Kitchen has a relationship with a cattle rancher in Eastern Oregon where they get grass-fed, grass-finished beef for their burgers. They also don’t salt things. Instead of serving fries, they serve “not fries.” These are fingerling potatoes that have been air baked instead of having been fried in oil. Besides burgers, they serve various kinds of sausage and hot dogs, a few different salads, some burgers made with other kinds of meat and fish, some alternate sandwiches, some extremely expensive shakes, and some vegetarian and vegan options. All of their sides are vegan. There are two flavors of vegan sausage, and also vegan buns. And vegan milkshakes!

Dick’s Kitchen also makes their own condiments. They have: ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, tomato chutney special sauce, horseradish sauce, Cambodian garlic sauce BBQ, wasabi aioli, and chipotle aioli persillade. Along with not adding salt to their food, they don’t automatically add any of the condiments, so you have to ask for them. They are all pretty good. A friend of ours (hi Dr. B!) told us that she opts to bring her own ketchup because they just don’t give you enough.

Did we mention that they have vegan milkshakes? We tried the vegan chocolate shake. It’s made with Coconut Bliss ice cream and oat milk and is awesome. Obviously, people who should stay away from oats should probably get the regular shake. I always just risk oats because they don’t seem to ever make me sick. We also tried the papaya drink, which is advertised as a “healthful aid to digestion.” I wasn’t particularly hot about it, but Sienna liked it.

gluten-free dinner at Dick's Kitchen

We both got the burgers. This is a burger, coleslaw, gluten-free bun, the trimmings, and a side of yam “not-fries.” The burgers are great. The coleslaw is good. The gluten-free buns are, as mentioned, made by Jensen’s and so they are awesome. We also really liked the “not-fries.” I got a chance to sample the regular “not-fries” and definitely enjoyed the yam variety better. Sienna preferred the regular ones, which I have to admit are a little bit more crispy.

Vegan Gluten-Free Dessert

The second time we visited, the owner stopped by, and after talking to us about food and gluten, encouraged us to try one of the desserts. He called it a cobbler, but I seem to recall that it was called something else on the dessert menu. It’s basically nuts over cooked fruit, and it’s really delicious.

Gluten-Free Safety Rating: Gluten-free Friendly but Ask Questions!
Times we have visited: 3 (So we feel pretty good about this rating.)
Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Price compared to “regular”: Same.

Dick’s Kitchen
www.dkportland.com
3312 SE Belmont St / 503.235.0146

We want to know: Do you have an opinion about Paleo food? Have you been to Dick’s Kitchen? Let us know in the comments!

Dave October 14, 2010

50 Plates, Gluten Free Classes, and Halloween

50 Plates Reader Review

Jenn from Grain Damaged sent us this great email about a place in town called 50 Plates:

Just thought I’d direct your attention to 50 Plates. I had a great dining experience there last night. While their GF menu is a regular menu with handmade notations on it (as to what’s safe), they were most accommodating. I was very nervous eating out somewhere new. I’m both very sensitive to gluten as well as having a list of other food allergies including dairy and eggs, I don’t think I’m very easy to cook for. We got there early in the evening and the chef came out to take the time to talk to me about what I might have off their menu. He was even willing to “frankenstein” something together for me if I didn’t see any one menu item I could have. He was knowledgeable and could recommend a few things that I could safely eat. I went for the “fish and chips” which had to be the most sophisticated version of this meal I’ve ever had. The light white fish was wrapped in a single strand of never ending potato “shoelace” and browned to perfection, it was laid over a bed of bok choy and accompanied by steamed asparagus. The whole delightful meal was drizzled with an amazing sauce that he’d come up with just for me. (Normally this dish is served with a sauce that uses malt vinegar as the base), instead he replaced it with a sauce of lemon, sweet wine and magic. It was delicious and above all I felt full and happy and quite gluten free when I left the table.

Wow! Doesn’t that sound awesome??? Speaking of Grain Damaged, they are a really great Portland-based gluten-free information site, so you should check them out.

50 Plates is located at 333 NW 13th Ave. in Portland. Phone: 503-228-5050

Gluten Free Classes at Sprout Health

Next Up, this is late and I’m sorry about that, but there are still dates available. Here is the email from Skylor at Sprout Health.

Sprout Health has just opened on 44th and Hawthorne. We are a health coaching and donation based yoga studio. We guide people through cleanses and have cooking classes. We have a gluten free, dairy free cooking class series starting on October 3rd–4 classes, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Here is our site.

Gluten-free Candy List

Thanks to Heather for sending us this list of gluten-free Halloween candies.

Dave July 16, 2010

Product Review: Udi’s White Sandwich Bread

Our search for the perfect gluten-free bread continues with heavyweight contender Udi’s. Udi’s Bread is in Denver, and we heard about them way before this. As a matter of fact, they contacted us at some point, and then we got back to them, but we never really got it together to try some of their bread for a review until now. Now that you can buy their bread at Whole Foods in Portland, we figured it was high time for us to give them a shot.

Long time readers will know that we find store-bought gluten-free breads disappointing on the whole, and have resorted to making our own with a bread machine. Recently I’ve been doing a series of posts detailing our experiments with bread recipes from around the Internet, and how they work out with our tester Zojirushi bread machine in the Gluten Free Portland labs.

Udi’s markets their white sandwich bread as their original style, light and fluffy white bread. So we’re probably looking at something that will approximate American white bread. Here are the ingredients:

Filtered water, tapioca starch, brown rice flour, potato starch, canola oil or sunflower oil, egg whites, tapioca maltodextrin, evaporated cane juice, tapioca syrup, yeast, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder (sodium bicarbonate, cornstarch, calcium sulfate, monocalcium phosphate), mold inhibitor (cultured corn syrup, ascorbic acid), ascorbic acid (contains cellulose and cornstarch), enzymes. Contains eggs.

We’re becoming a lot harder to please when it comes to bread ingredients, and the first thing that jumps out at me when I look at this list is that two of the three gluten-free flours in use here are starches. The first being tapioca starch. It seems like there’s something about making gluten-free bread where you need starch to do it, so I’m used to seeing tapioca starch in bread recipes, but it’s not something you want to be eating lots of, and to me, having it as the first ingredient is not a good sign. A quarter cup of tapioca starch is 100 calories, has 26 grams of carbohydrates, no fiber, no protein, and basically no vitamins and minerals except a little iron. Potato starch is even worse. Compare this to a quarter cup of sorghum flour, which has 120 calories, and has 26 grams of carbohydrates, but has 3 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, and also has iron, and B-Vitamins. See the attached chart on this helpful page for more information about the nutritional value of alternative grains.

So OK. OK. Sometimes you just want some bread to make a hamburger or a PB&J and you don’t mind that it’s not really the best thing for you. Let’s talk about taste. Sienna and I both liked it. Being a white bread, it’s on the flavorless side. We didn’t find any strange aftertastes. As far as something you can buy at a store to make a sandwich out of, I would say that this bread has got the Trader Joe’s gluten free rice bread beat hands down. I would put it as equivalent or maybe a little better than Whole Foods own gluten free bread. Whole Foods has got a weird texture problem. Udi’s bread toasts OK and is good with some butter on it. As a replacement for white bread it does do the job, so we can see what the big deal is about.

When compared to bread that you can make at home, though, it’s still not really there for me. I would also say that you should check out Jensen’s Breads, which are available around town, are locally made, and are better.

We want to know: Do you have a favorite store-bought gluten-free bread? How about a preferred flour mix or bread recipe on the Internet? Send us a link. Let us know in the comments!

Dave July 8, 2010

News Bites on a Friday: Gluten Free Buns, Cookies, Cream Puffs, Pies

Seems like all you need to do to get MY attention these days is say the word “cookie.” My doctor has me on a no sugar, low carbohydrate diet so that I can lose some weight, and it’s been hard walking around in the grocery store when I know that there are some gluten-free goodies calling my name. On the plus side, it’s working. I’ve lost about ten pounds since I started. All this ignoring cookies and pies is starting to get on my nerves, though. On to the news!

Jensen’s Buns Now Available

A couple of months back we got a sneak preview of Jensen’s gluten-free buns and mentioned how awesome they were. At the time, they weren’t available, but we heard from them recently that they finally are. Jensen’s have announced that their buns are available at Lingonberries in Vancouver and Lambs in Lake Oswego (and some of the other Lamb’s markets – check with your local one). They are also providing buns to the Corbett and Hawthorne Fish Houses. Anybody out there tried their buns? Let us know!

Crave Bake Shop is Making Cream Puffs and Other Things

We heard from Crave Bake Shop that they are now offering gluten-free cream puffs and are working on recipes for cookies, pies, tarts and cobblers. If you haven’t checked them out yet, we think you should (see our review, here).

Sweetpea Cookies and Brownies Available at Whole Foods

Continuing with our sweet streak, I noticed recently (before I started this diet) that Sweetpea Bakery has gluten-free cookies and brownies available at Whole Foods.

The chocolate chip cookie is really amazing and is like how I remember chocolate chip cookies to be when I was a kid. They’re really delicious. (Note that these items have the “made in a facility shared with wheat” disclaimer). This makes the sweets area of Whole Foods really dangerous for me!

Petunia’s Pies and Pastries

Writes owner Lisa Clark:

Gluten free pie? You’ve found it! I have a new gluten free/vegan pastry business in N Portland called Petunia’s Pies & Pastries! I am currently selling at the Portland Farmers Markets: PSU 8:30-2 Saturdays, Sundays @ the King Market (NE 7th & Wygant)10-2, and Mondays starting June 21 @ Pioneer Square 10-2. I also take orders through my website.

Send Help!

Seeing as how I can’t eat any of these items any time real soon, I’m depending on our readers to check some of these items out and report back!!!

Dave June 29, 2010

News Bites

Writes reader Maggie M:

I’m a new GF eater & finding your website super helpful. I chatted with the girl who runs this place: Crepes a la Carte about possibly offering a GF crepe at her stand. She asked me a lot of questions about why I’m GF and what kind of contamination is safe and etc. She was interested in doing GF and getting it right. Within 2 weeks she had a GF crepe available. As far as the contamination goes, she uses two teflon burners, and washes one off with water & a washcloth when making the GF crepe. Appears all other ‘equipment & utensils’ are kept separate for the GF crepe. Toppings involve jams & fruits, so are GF. I personally will not have a reaction to a speck of wheat, and I know some folks do so of course, buyer beware. Certainly though-she goes to lengths to keep things safe.

Hope you find this info useful & that others can enjoy her tasty crepes!! I loved my first one so much-I ordered a second. She is at Orenco Station Farmer’s market on Sunday AMs and Tanasbourne Market on Wednesday nights.

PS…also at the Orenco market & trying to pass off his tapenade as ‘gluten free’ when the ingredient list states ‘bread crumbs’ about 1/2 way down would be The Hummus Stop. He puts a label on stating “Gluten Free”. I questioned the owner who said ‘well-it’s just a little bit’ and then when I pressed him, he basically told me to go away. You win some, you lose some I guess!

Thanks to Maggie for the info! This place sounds a lot “safer” to eat than the other crepe places we’ve reviewed – Perierra and Chez Machin. We’ve also just heard that Hot Lips Pizza has gluten-free pizza dough available (thanks Noah).

Sorry for the lack of postings lately. Besides Summer arriving (finally!), I’ve been working on losing weight recently and it’s been taking up a lot of my time and energy.

Dave May 15, 2010

News Bites: NW Gluten-Free Summit and Betty Crocker Mixes

NW Gluten-Free Summit

Mark your calendars: GlutenFreeRN.com has announced a NW Gluten-Free Summit. Here is the blurb from their website:

Join us in Corvallis, Oregon as we meet for the Northwest Gluten Free Summit being held November 5-6, 2010.

Currently it is estimated that 1 out of 100 Americans has celiac disease. Of these, only 3% have been diagnosed. With over 300 associated signs and symptoms and without a clear, accurate diagnosis, celiac disease and gluten intolerance often go undiagnosed. Raising awareness of celiac disease is imperative in order to ensure optimum health for the approximately 3 million people estimated to be suffering from the disorder.

The North West Gluten Free Summit will offer an educational environment where health care professionals, patients, manufacturers, private business owners, chefs, food suppliers and families can collaborate to learn more about Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance directly from the experts.

They already have an impressive list of speakers. Registration is for this event is now open at their website: www.nwglutenfreesummit.com. Click here to view the event flier.

Betty Crocker Mixes

Reader Allyson wrote in with a tip:

I was at Winco in Tigard this afternoon (Located right off 99W. I believe the cross streets are Dartmouth and 72nd.) and was surprised to see GF Betty Crocker mixes (all 4 varieties) on sale for $2.48! I asked the cashier if they were on sale because they were not going to be carrying them anymore but she said they have it at a promotional price because its a new product (to the store) and that she’s hoping people will buy them so the store continues to stock the mixes. I’ve seen them on the shelves at Winco for the past few months but they’ve always been about $4…about the same as Fred Meyer.

Hope everyone can take advantage of the great low price!

Thanks to Allyson for the heads-up.

Dave May 5, 2010

Gluten-Free Bread: Dark Teff Sandwich Bread

I’ve decided to start a new series of posts dedicated to trying out different gluten-free bread recipes from around the Internet. Basically all the gluten-free bread you can buy at a store is unsatisfying, so we make our own using a bread machine. Here’s our guide to gluten-free bread machines. We also use the bread machine program recommended by Analise Roberts in her book about cooking bread with bread machines.

We already have a favorite gluten-free bread, but I think that it’s good to experiment and try new things. You never know when you’re going to find something better. This week I tried out an interesting recipe from the Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. It’s their Dark Teff Sandwich Bread. I made some small changes to the recipe.

1 ½ cups warm water
1 package dry active yeast
1 teaspoon organic cane sugar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
2 cups teff flour
½ cup arrowroot powder
½ cup tapioca flour
1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum
¼ teaspoons sea salt

I’ve bumped down the salt quite a bit and removed some of the sweetener choices. The star of the show in this bread is teff. Teff is known for being very nutritious. Among other things, it is high in phosphorus, has a very high calcium content, and contains plenty of iron, copper, aluminum, barium, and thiamin. Teff is also high in protein. Arrowroot powder and tapioca flour are both more starchy flours, and aren’t amazingly good for you. Here is nutrition information for teff, tapioca, and arrowroot.

The recipe on the Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen’s site is for making the bread by hand, but my plan is to make all these recipes with our bread machine. Mostly because that’s the way it’s going to work for us in “real life.” As such, I’m going to rewrite the directions here. Basically, it amounts to mixing the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients. Then adding them to your breadmaker per the manufacturer’s instructions.

In addition to measuring, one thing we’re especially careful about is making sure that everything is the proper temperature. So the water needs to be between 100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. I’m pretty sure that everything else can be added at room temperature.

Here’s the finished loaf. Yes. Yes. We were underwhelmed by the amount it rose. I want to keep in mind that a short loaf like this could very well be my fault. With bread, it’s hard to see something as a pattern until you’ve made the same recipe a number of times. It could also be the program I’m using on the bread machine. As could be expected from the amount it rose, the bread is pretty dense. Teff has a sort of sour nutty flavor, and the finished bread tastes almost like a mild dark rye bread.

The name of the bread includes “sandwich,” which to me means that it’s probably going to be a lighter bread that doesn’t have so much flavor that you can’t taste anything else in your sandwich. We found that to be the case with this bread. The bread doesn’t really toast much, but on the good side that means it isn’t easy to burn in the toaster. While it doesn’t exactly shine with some butter and honey or jam on it, the bread is very good for sandwiches.

My favorite application for this bread so far has been with eggs. There’s something about the flavor of the bread that makes it go really well with egg yolks. I bet it would make for a great egg sandwich. Sienna and I both liked this bread and we agreed that we should do some more experimenting with it. Here’s how it does with our new-fangled scoring system.

Easy to Make: 3 out of 5
Sandwich Bread: 3 out of 5
Toast Bread: 2 out of 5
Overall Score: 3 out of 5

We’re almost out of bread and are looking for another recipe to make. Do you have a favorite gluten-free bread recipe? Send us an email or leave a comment here!

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