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.

Udi’s gluten free products are the best celiac-safe news I’ve received in my eleven years on the gluten free diet. I’ve written  about their bread twice (click here to read the second post) and now I would like to rave about their wonderful lemon streusel muffins. What a wonderful way to start the day!

Hopefully, I have shared my enthusiasm for these muffins and I wish I could provide more objective information. These muffins are in a class by themselves. I’m speechless. My sister was diagnosed with celiac disease six weeks ago. She “likes them” but can’t possibly feel the enthusiasm experienced by those of us who have waited patiently for decade(s) for Udi’s to ‘happen’.

In looking up information for this post, I realized that I had made a small error. I assumed that all Udi’s products were sold frozen simply because that is the only way I had ever seen them. Actually, the Udi’s website states that “…we do not always sell our products in the freezer. Our products can stay in ambient temperatures for seven days and in the refrigerator for 21 days.”

Enjoy Life’s soft baked gluten free cookies add pleasant variety to my gluten free snacking. Most gluten free cookies have a crisp and crunchy taste and texture and that’s OK, of course, but there are times when a soft and chewy taste is a welcome change. The taste is also great — I tried the double chocolate brownie cookies, the snickerdoodles, and (my personal favorite) the lively lemon cookies.

Enjoy Life’s products are produced in a gluten free facility and contain none of the eight major allergies. They are gluten and casein free. They are certified by the Gluten Free Certification Organization and tested to make sure that they contain less than 10 parts per million of gluten. (The FDA’s standard allows 20 parts parts per million).

The website has a great deal of reliable information that is easy-to-read but carefully written. The site also provides the opportunity to print out a 55 cents off coupon that is an incentive to try these products.

I had my first taste of Udi’s gluten free bread ten days ago and it has radically changed my gluten free lifestyle. Even my non-celiac wife loves it, or at least the smell of it toasting (I seldom share it). Since then, I have tried the whole grain bread, two types of bagels (the first bagels I have enjoyed during this century) and the heavenly lemon strusel muffins.

I also began to wonder about Udi himself. I found out that he was born in Israel and opened his first shop “Udi the Sandwich Man” in Denver in 1994. Since then, his family businesses have grown to include a catering company, an artisan bakery, and five restaurants in the Denver area. He ventured into the gluten free world in 2009 after a gentleman named Chad White shared his secret recipe. Mr. White is now holds the title ‘Director of Product Development’.  He’s certainly earned it!

I wish I knew more about him. I couldn’t even ascertain whether or not he lives gluten free. In my research, I saw his last name listed as Bar-On and Baron. Take your pick. Here are three links to information about him. Since the titles are so similar, I’ll just refer to them as this one, that one, and the other one.

Like many Americans, I have fallen in love with Udi’s gluten free bread. Why did I wait so long to try it? For the first time in twelve years, I enjoyed a sandwich that was gluten free, had slices that were approximately the same size as the sandwich meat, did not crumble, and did not have to be toasted to be palatable, Simple pleasures!!! Udi’s provides cinnamon-raisin bread as well as the sandwich bread I have been talking about. They also make muffins, granola, and whole grain bagels.

Even their website is fantastic. They will e-mail a $1 off coupon to encourage you to try their products. (In self-defense, they have set things up so that you can’t print more than two copies.) In a rare display of good customer relations, they have a button on the site that allows you to opt-out of any mailings other than your coupons. They have an extensive “store locater” list and you can order on-line. There is an excellent “party planning” section that includes menu and recipes.

Take-and-Bake pizza is available for people living gluten free in many parts of the nation:

→ All Godfather’s  Pizza restaurants that serve gluten free pizza also provide a gluten free version of that wonderful product.

→ Sally’s Bakery, a dedicated facility in Atlanta, Georgia, provies six varieties of “safe” gluten free take-and-bake pizza.

→ Mama Mia’s sells gluen free take-and-bake pizza at their seven locations in the Columbus, Ohio, area. Their site enables you to print out a coupon that entitles you to a $1 discount.

→ The Pizza Kitchen in Knoxville, Tennessee has a take-and-bake pizza that has a gluten free crust. They stop short of promising  that the entire pizza is gluten free.

→ The Bittersweet Bakery in Eagan, Minnesota, also provides “safe” take-an-bake pizza.

I have added all the information in this article to my “Gluten Free Pizza Restaurants“ power page.

I’ve been starting my day with gluten free instant oatmeal. I like the taste, the texture, the fact that it is a good source of fiber, and the equally important fact that I can prepare it in three minutes even before I am fully awake. One packet makes a great breakfast — with most instant cereals, I need two packets to keep me going through until lunch time.

I was rather reluctant to try this product. After all, when I was diagnosed oats were an absolute taboo. Recently, scientists have learned that most celiacs tolerate oats well. unless those oats are cross-contaminated by being raised or processed in close proximity to wheat, rye, or barley. Click here for more information about this issue.

I had no unpleasant reactions to this oatmeal. I’m glad that I was dealing with a reputable company like GlutenFreeda and very pleased that the phrase “made with certified gluten free oats” appeared in bold letters on the front of the package. I recommend this product and am looking forward to using all four versions of the product as well as the “variety pack” that is available. If you can’t find these cereal packets locally, click here to order them from The Gluten Free Pantry.

Home baked gluten free bread!!!!! What a wonderful holiday gift for people who live gluten free. Since baking gluten free is significantly different from baking wheat based bread, it is important to have the right kind of of machine — one optimized for gluten free bread but capable of doing “regular” baking.

The Gluten Free Pantry recommends the Zojirushi Model 959067. Click here for more information and/or to order the machine from them.

Books on gluten free baking are a welcome “accent” for this gift. Click on the icons below to see some of what Amazon.com has to offer. The first two books give specifics about the use of bread machines for gluten free baking and the third is a more general book by Betty Hagman, one of the principle “inventors” of gluten free cooking.

{{This is one of dozens (maybe hundreds) of articles designed to assist you with your Christmas plans. For a complete summary, visit my power page“Gluten Free Christmas}}