There are two different approaches preparing gluten free pies for the holiday season of any other occasion:

We can “go crustless”. There is no law that states that every pie must have a crust. This article is a general introduction to the subject and includes three recipes. Here are You-Tube demonstrations of crustless sweet potato pie and crustless pecan pie.

We can make a traditional pie. (This may be a practical necessity if you do not wish to call attention to the fact that your pie is gluten free.) This You-Tube demonstration of how to prepare the crust is excellent because it is photographed very well and explained very thoroughly. It’s great for relatively inexperienced bakers like myself. Here is another demonstration of preparing a crust using a food processor.

This link will take you to You-Tube demonstration on making a pumpkin pie filling.

These websites provide recipes for apple pie filling, and pumpkin pie filling. Both articles tell you to use all-purpose flour. Keep in mind that — in this situation —the flour is a thickening agent and not a pie crust ingredient. Gluten free all-purpose flour is OK and there are other thickening agents available to you. I will probably try corn starch.

I’ve posted at least seven articles about gluten free desserts. You can find them by scrolling down to the bottom of the article and click on the tag (it’s probably red) that says ‘gluten free recipes’. Your computer will create a special page containing excerpts from each of the articles. Click on the excerpt to read the entire article. Topics cover biscotti, cheesecake, baklava, tiramisu, brandy balls, rum balls, fruitcake, and eggnog.

This frozen pizza is made from tapioca starch, milk, whole eggs, tomato paste, citric acid, and non-GMO canola oil. Thus, it has the only pizza crust that can described as ‘naturally gluten free’. The pizza is also yeast, corn, soy, rice, and sugar free. The facility is dedicated gluten free — employees are not even permitted to bring in wheat, barley, or rye products in their lunches.

With all these limitation, you may be a surprised to learn that the pizza tastes great and the crust has a marvelous texture and taste! My only concern is that the 12″ size is your only option. That’s a bit big if only one person in a group eats gluten free.

This company also produces pizza shells for those who prefer to add their own toppings. I’m a member of that group but that is strictly a matter of personal taste.

I recently tried Kinnikinnick’s attempt to make the Oreo cookie available to the gluten free world. I enjoyed them. They are gluten, dairy, and nut free product made in a dedicated gluten free facility. They are my favorite among the three types of ‘fudge sandwich creme cookies’ that I have tried. I also tried the sandwich cookies from Mi-DEL as well as Glutino’s version of the same product.

Watch this video of a taste-test comparing Kinnikinnick oreo look-alikes with the cookies from Glatino. There were three testers. I was a bit confused by the moderator’s questions. I suspect that the taste-testers were also befuddled. At some times, they were asked to identify the ‘best tasting’ sample and at other times they were to find the one that was most like the original Oreo cookie. Despite what some people think, those two questions do not always have the same answer. My desire is to find the best-tasting product that I am able to digest.

I enjoyed these ‘seed and fruit mixes’. The website categorizes them as ‘trail mixes’. I’m not much of a hiker, but I suspect that the mixes would a great energy-building snack for nature lovers. Actually, these products don’t fit into any category. They are definitely not granola — the nuts and fruit pieces are separate, not in clusters. There are two types of these mixes available — ‘Mountain Mambo’ and ‘Beach Bash’.

I’ll be adding these fruits and nuts to yogurt or other breakfast cereals (hot or cold). These mix-ins taste great and the combination results in an easy-to-prepare breakfast that actually carries me through to lunch time.I’m always please when I have the opportunity to review products from Enjoy Life Foods. Their products taste great — they have mastered the challenge of producing excellent food while avoiding all the major allergens, as well as being gluten free and kosher.

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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 food. These sites respect your privacy and offer useful coupons. Happy hunting.

What’s your Deal (dot com)

Coupon Network (dot com)

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 button in the right sidebar.

Dr. Pepper / all products are gluten free.

Hormel Foods / take their printable list with you when you shop.

Snyders of Hanover / has a long list of ‘safe’ products; unfortunately the list is not printable.

Wolfgang Puck soup / their list is printable / to print, use the link in the right sidebar.

This article is part of this website’s summary of the gluten free diet. Click here for more information.

Published 10/08/11

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 ‘legalese’ and submit everything before the October 2 deadline.

In reading your comments. I was most surprised by something that you did NOT say. The FDA seems to be determined to find a single number of parts-per-million of gluten that would determine what products would be allowed to be labeled ‘gluten free’. I disagree. We already have two national organizations that certify gluten free food. The Celiac Sprue Association requires < 5 parts per million and The Gluten Intolerance Group requires <10 ppm. I will recommend that these organizations be encouraged to continue their work and that the FDA set up a procedure for certifying foods containing <20 ppm. Thus, individuals have a choice.

Your comments to me suggested great concern over the problem of cross-contamination. The tests mentioned above can determine whether or not a specific sample is contaminated but can’t guarantee that the product is always safe. I will recommend to the FDA that they establish specific criteria for choosing which samples to test and how many samples must be tested.

Many of you were concerned about information (other than the labels mentioned above) should be included on a food package to make our choices easier and more accurate. This does not seem to be a major concern of the FDA, so I suggest that we approach this problem in a different way.

Many manufacturers are trying to recruit gluten free customers. Please e-mail me telling what you hope to see on packages. What information would make you more likely to purchase a gluten free product? I will organize your ideas into a survey, conduct that survey, and distribute it to manufacturers. Since I want to get this survey out as soon as possible, please send me your ideas before Thursday, October 6.

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I totally enjoyed these crunchy gluten free cookies. They were ‘crunchy’ in the best sense of that word — some allegedly crunchy cookies are hard and dry but these were just right! My personal favorite Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of reviewing this company’s soft baked cookies.

Obviously, this company produces great cookies even when constrained by the need to exclude all the major allergens and prepare food that is certified by the Gluten Free Certification Organization  (GFCO) to contain less than ten parts-per-million gluten

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OUR MONTHLY SURVEY—TRENDS IN GLUTEN FREE LIVING

I enjoy a tasty gluten free hot breakfast that I can prepare quickly and easily, even if my eyes are not fully open. I’ve reviewed three cereals that meet this criteria.
Oatmeal by GlutenFreeda, made with certified gluten free oats and other ingredients to provide variety and flavor.

Eco-Planet Hot Cereals, also combinations of certified oats and other ‘safe’ grains.

These two products have the advantage that they come in single-serving packets. When I am traveling, I usually stay at places that offer the usual “continental breakfast”. I can take these packets with me to the dining area and use motel’s microwave, hot water, and paper bowls.

When I am at home, I often breakfast on the microwave pancakes available from Trader Joe’s. These pancakes are one of the few frozen convenience foods that are equivilent to their home-made equivalents.

I recently enjoyed Puffin’s Multigrain cereal. I enjoyed the rather unique taste and texture. The shredded wheat shaped pellets of cereal soaked up some milk without turning soggy. The cereal is made from “pure oats” — I hope that means the same thing as “certified oats” and I wonder why they did not use the more common term. I noticed that several items that were made from “oat flour” (not designated as being ‘pure’) and that these items were not labeled “gluten free”.

These fudge brownies are individually packed which makes them a great on-the-go snack/dessert. I loved their moist and chewy texture and the rich taste. Recently, I have become a great fan of French Meadow’s gluten free products. I’ve already written about their chocolate chip cookie dough, their pizza crust, and their honey-multi-grain bread. The website features a $1 off discount coupon.

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REMINDER: Our July survey asks how people who live gluten free look for when they look at a food package. We’ve already talked about the government-mandated ingredients list. But what about the “voluntary disclosures” and other clues that manufacturers put on their packages. Click here to take survey It will take you about five minutes.

This article describes a friendly contest between two gluten free bakers to determine the best gluten free brownie mix. The article is well-written and details the differences between the two mixes very well. That’s the good news! The bad news is that their goal was to make a brownie that would “fool a non-celiac”. We are not obligated to “fool” anybody!!! I don’t think that is even what the contestants had in mind — what they wanted to do was simply to create a great brownie.

To be fair, this article dates back to 2005, when the goal was to camouflage our gluten free food rather than to convince skeptics (and ourselves) that gluten free food could taste good. In those days we actually used the term “real food” as if the only real food was wheat-based food. We’ve made a lot of progress since those days.

Udi’s has done it again! Their gluten free chocolate cookies taste like the ones I find at my gluten free bakery for twice the price. I just did some web searching and found a picture of his wife and found out that their two sons are involved in the business, which includes five restaurants in the Denver area, and a catering business. I also know from personal experience that this firm makes awesome white and whole grain breads, bagels, muffins, hot dog and hamburger rolls, and pizza crusts. They also produce granola and the wonderful chocolate chip cookies that I have been talking about. I understand that these products are sometimes sold frozen but may be found on the regular shelves. It all depends on how fast the products turn over in a particular store.

Yes, gluten free junk food exists. It interferes with our weight control efforts, our budgets, and our attempts to be energetic and healthy. Obviously, this article needs to be clearly labeled Paul’s Point-of-View.

What is the definition of junk food? The junk food blog says that “…junk food is any kind of food that is not intended to be part of a balanced diet. It doesn’t have to be ‘bad’ for you, it just has to be something that was created for satisfaction…(rather than for) nutrition.”

Here are a few examples taken from my own life.
♦ I lived and worked in Europe for 22 years. I loved the wonderful barley-based German beer that was originally made by monks as a religious rite. Now, I occasionally drink American sorghum-based beer just to prove to myself that my lifestyle is not too limiting. That beer is junk food in my opinion. (People who grew up drinking American beer might disagree.)

♦ The gluten free pizza that I ate in the first few years after my diagnosis tasted like cardboard but at least it contained some nutrients and kept my hunger under control. That pizza can’t be defined as junk food.
♦  I wish I could buy a single gluten free doughnut to eat with my morning coffee. That’s impossible, gluten free doughnuts come in packages of six. The last five doughnuts are junk food as far as I am concerned, but as you can imagine, I will empty the package before the day is over.

Why is the idea of ‘gluten free junk food’ important? Avoiding junk food is important to anyone who is attempting to lose weight, live a healthy life, or save money. Celiacs have a lot on things to think whenever they are deciding what to be or eat, but we should not ignore the fact that this idea of junk food is a  factor in many of our food decisions.

It’s possible to test the gluten free status of food at home. The single-use test strips, available from Elisa Technologies and other sources, cost about $10 each depending on how many you purchase. Why would anyone want to perform these tests?

PAUL’S POINT-OF-VIEW. These tests can be used by persons who suspect that a food has been incorrectly labeled ‘gluten free’ either as an error or as a method of increasing sales. People who believe this must deal with the reality that they are only testing a small sample. The test results are not necessarily more accurate than those obtained by the manufacturer. If we don’t trust the manufacturer, how can we trust the maker of the test or the person doing the testing?

Others use the home tests for the opposite reason. They feel that a food may be gluten free even though the manufacturer has elected not to use the gluten free label. And it is certainly true in some cases. For example, Trader Joe’s uses the term “no gluten ingredients”. This term does not mean the same thing as “gluten free”. Cross-contamination is always a possibility. If we do a home test, if we do a home test, the best we can hope for is to demonstrate that one small batch of a particular product is OK. The home test has not demonstrated that use of the product is totally safe.

As you can tell, I do not recommend the use of home testing kits.

This morning’s breakfast featured gluten free Rice Rice Krispies. The “snap, crackle, and pop” sound brought back memories of childhood. I don’t recall what the original version tasted like, but I know that I enjoyed this cereal although I definitely will use sweetener next time (which will probably be tomorrow morning).

I liked the packaging. The words ‘gluten free’ are very prominent — apparently Kellogg’s is actively seeking the support of America’s gluten free / celiac community. I also liked the fact that the gluten free rice krispies are no more expensive than their wheat-based cousins. I am curious about why this new gluten free cereal is not highlighted on the Kellogg’s website.

Gluten free frozen waffles are available from Van’s Natural Foods and Nature’s Path. Be aware that these companies also sell wheat-based waffles. Everything is carefully labeled so there should be no problem if a shopper is really paying attention. Kinnikinnik Foods offers gluten free toaster waffles.

Ian’s Natural Foods takes this idea one-step-further by offering the “WaffleWich”, two gluten free waffles with a tasty filling in between.

This video shows a ‘different’ way to prepare gluten free waffles. This is a great trick to learn in the event that you are stuck in a situation where you fear that the only available toaster may be cross-contaminated.

No, couscous is a wheat product and is therefore not gluten free.Lundberg Farms sells a couscous-like product made from roasted brown rice and I saw that item mentioned many times on the search engines. My internet research gave me little hope of finding ‘safe’ couscous dishes in restaurants.

Many cooks substitute millet or quinoa for couscous. Here is one example from a blogger who uses millet. This blogger prefers to use quinoa instead.

As you may know, many of my titles have the format “Is this food gluten free?” This format is ideal for getting the attention of the computers that place articles on google and the other search engines. You may also have noticed that in every case my answer boils down to “Yes if you take certain precautions.” I have added a tag to all articles of this type so that you can find them quickly. To use these tags, scroll down to the end of this article, past the ads. You will will see the words “is this food gluten free?”. Click on the tag and your computer will create a special page containing the first few sentences of each of my articles that have the same tag. Click on the excerpt to read the complete article.

Eco-Planet Hot Cereals are a great convenience food when you need a hot breakfast that you can prepare quickly and easily even when you are not fully awake. These packets are a must-have when you’re trying to cope with the “complimentary breakfasts” available at some motels. If you have access to hot water and a bowl, you are OK.

These cereal packets are available in three varieties: apple and cinnamon, apple and brown sugar, and original flavor. I normally need two packets for a filling breakfast. I only require one of these packets, so these cereals are a real bargain.

These cereal packets are made with certified oats and six other whole grains. Can you name seven grains that are OK for celiacs.? I couldn’t until I did the research for this article. They are certified oats, amaranth, flax seed, quinoa, sorghum, buckwheat, and millet.

Hallelujah. Kellogg’s Rice Krispies will be gluten free before the end of the summer! I’m always pleased when a major company make a widely-sold and extremely popular product available to the gluten free community. And I’m glad that I got this information from Kellogg’s official website. So often, rumors which may or may not be true flood America’s gluten free community before we get official and therefore totally reliable information.

I am concerned about one thing. The website does not make it clear whether all Rice Krispies will be gluten free or if both a wheat based and a gluten free version will be available. Rice Krispie Treats are one of the most popular snacks in America. I hope we don’t find ourselves in a position where some of those snacks are delicious and nutritious but others are ‘gluten bombs’.

I thoroughly enjoyed these gluten free cookies created by Deborah Kaye. They tasted great, but what I enjoyed most was that they felt so “home made”. The cookies are 4-5 inches in diameter and are not perfectly round. These cookies look “home made” — the traditional perfectly round shape screams out that the item was made in a factory. I did not realize that this is was important until until I tried these treats. I enjoyed the soft chewy texture and the fact that I could pull them apart just like I did in the “old days”. The cookies are individually wrapped which helps with freshness and makes them great for people to carry lunch to school or a job. I plan to use them as “airplane food” next week when I go on vacation.

The cookies are available on-line or at retail stores in Arizona, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. The kitchen is 100% gluten free but does use peanuts, tree nuts, and dairy ingredients. The oats are “certified gluten free”. There are no artificial ingredients or preservatives.

I had an very positive experience with these cookies. I was attending a one-day conference and, since I assumed that would not get a gluten free meal, I put an apple and one these cookies in my brief-case. When I pulled these out during the lunch break, the people at the table were fascinated. I usually feel a bit self-conscious pulling out my “diet lunch” but this time everyone looked at me enviously. The difference was the colorful and attractive wrapper on the cookie. Details like that make a difference!

This is definitely a suggestion rather than a criticism, but I hope that when this company expands (and it will grow), I hope that they will produce some cookies that are not made with oatmeal. I could get hooked on these cookies but I would need a bit more variety.

I received several comments last week about my series of posts on methods for losing weight living gluten free. One of you expanded on my idea of “gluten entitlement” by stating that she feels “gluten obligation”. This writer is the only celiac in the house and therefore feels obligated to “eat the rest of it”. We all hate to waste food, but….

Several of you sent me restaurant and recommendations. Just to remind you of my policy — I place comments after the appropriate article based solely on your recommendations. I then verify the information by checking the website and/or e-mailing the establishment. I place the “verification date” or the date I sent the e-mail after your comment. I am a disappointed by the fact that very few establishments answer my e-mails. How should I respond to that? Is a restaurant or bakery that does not respond to my e-mails seriously or mention gluten free options on their site seriously interested in serving the gluten free community? My personal opinion is NO! These establishments are off my personal list of places to patronize.

By the way, when you are sending a recommendation, be sure to include the city and state in which the establishment is located. That makes it simpler for all of us.