Olive Garden Update

        So I guess there is an automatic email that goes out once you contact Olive Garden because I got one. All it really said was like thanks for contacting us and that I will receive a reply in the mail.  I got a letter yesterday from the guest relations representative.  

        It started out with a lovely apology and basically a mission statement hahaha.  Something about them striving to provide every guest with a high quality meal.  Then they finally got to the point and said that they agree that other pasta in gluten-free food falls very short of their goal. She said, "Our food preparation and serving procedures will be reviewed with our staff to prevent a recurrence." I am really hoping that they will really do that and she wasn't simply claiming that to make me happy.  They also sent me a giftcard to Olive Garden, so that is exciting! Whoop for free food! 

        The letter was short and sweet.  I will actually be eating at Olive Garden tomorrow for lunch and so I guess we will see if they changed anything.  I doubt corporate has gotten involved yet [I will keep complaining until they do!], but the manager knows what happened so I hope she did something about it.  Ok well this is all I have to say :) I really hope no one else has had the same experience as I did at Olive Garden.

Choco Chip Cookies

        Best.chocolate.chip.cookies.EVER. I can't believe they are gluten-free! Neither could my friends! So every one needs to try out this recipe. I will put the exact brand of things I used in parentheses. Btw if y'all are having trouble finding any ingredients just leave a comment and I'll try my best to help ya out.
        I googled "gluten-free chocolate chunk cookies" and found a recipe, but I changed it up a little. It is delish! I wanted to eat all of them! But I was nice and shared them with my gluten and dairy free friend :). Sorry if this is hard to read! I tried my best.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups Gluten-free Flour (Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Flour)
1 tsp baking powder (I think all baking powder and baking soda are gluten-free? but check first!)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 cup butter, softened (I used Best Life buttery sticks)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs 
2 tsp vanilla (again make sure it is gluten-free, I actually used almond extract because we were out of vanilla :P it was yummy!)
2 cups chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate)

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a bowl, set aside.  Cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar in a large bowl.  Add eggs and vanilla, beat until well mixed.  On low, gradually add flour mix until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet [parchment paper is always a winner], make sure they are 2 inches apart [not to the dot, but cookies spread out a lot].

Bake at 375 for 9-12 minutes or until light golden brown (careful not to over bake!!) Let stand a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack. ENJOY :)

Olive Garden

        Last year my family started having a "word for the year" and a bible study around it.  My dad figures out the word and what we will focus on [last year was abide (abiding in Christ) and this year is purify].  We have a 'kick-off' quick bible study then go out to eat to celebrate the new year.  Obviously we were a little late this year seeing as it is February :P.  

        Eating out is difficult and sometimes not fun because of celiac.  We decided to go to Olive Garden because they have a gluten-free menu (nifty!).  Of course you cannot have the breadsticks :(.  Our server brought our salad with croutons on a seperate plate because I told him I was gluten-free.  I actually didn't eat any salad because I wasn't sure on the dressing -I should have asked but they were busy that night so I just skipped-.  On the website they have their gluten-free menu http://www.olivegarden.com/Menu/Gluten-Allergen/ and one of the items listed is salad with italian dressing so I assume it is gluten-free, but always ask.  

         Alright so I ordered Penne Rigate Pomodoro with shrimp (make sure you always specify gluten-free).  

        It was delicious, I loved it until I got to the end.  I started finding other kinds of noodles in my pasta... Olive Garden only has gluten-free penne.  I don't know if I ate any of the noodles, but they did touch my food.  We asked our waiter about it and he went and talked to the cooks and his manager.  The manager came to our table and explained that they cook the pastas in the morning in like 500 degree water and then bag them and place in the fridge for the day.  She said that gluten-free pasta goes into a seperate cooker or whatever it is than regular pasta so she really has no idea how they were mixed.  

        I have eaten at Olive Garden twice since I was diagnosed and this has happened both times =/.  There isn't really anything they could do about it because I had already ate it.  She did apologize and take it off of our bill though.  I think they should better inform their staff on gluten intolerance, especially if they want to advertise a gluten-free menu.

        Right now I don't feel bad, but I am bloated a little=/.  My celiac isn't as bad as others, I just get sick for 3ish months, but it could be deadly for some people.  I think I will email the company and tell them what happened and that this could really hurt some people.  

        All in all I like Olive Garden and hope this is just a small issue that they can fix :).  Oh and we had the best waiter ever!  Olive Garden really is a great place so please don't think I am trying to diss it or anything.  I just want my fellow celiac/gluten-free friends to be cautious.  I will update this and blog again on Olive Garden if I get a reply from them about the problem.

I got a letter back! Read "Olive Garden Update"

Crust!

        After one of my sister's basketball games, we were going out to eat and looking up places nearby.  My mom found this pizza company, but we just figured that there wasn't anything for me to eat.  At first the team was planning on going there, so my mom called and asked if they had any gluten-free options.  Turns out they have gluten-free crust!  They even use a different pan and server.
        When you order just tell them that you are gluten-free and ask them which toppings are gluten-free.  I can't remember all the toppings that are.  I know pepperoni and all the vegetables are, but they named off more meats whenever we called.  I ordered "the veggie" pizza.  Gluten-free crust only comes in a 10-inch, which works out well since I am the only gluten freek in my house.
        This is my pizza :D

        It was delicious I ate more than half of it.(:  The crust is very thin and they don't have any thicker crust options even on their regular pizza crusts.  I liked it thin, but I will eat pretty much anything.  Here is the link for the Crust Pizza Company http://www.crustpizzaco.com/zgrid/themes/10365/intro/index.jsp

Cookies From Heaven (MMMMMMMMMMM!)

        Alright so I realized I have been posting that I am making things dairy-free, but I still use things with minimal amounts of dairy like chocolate chips and such; just a disclaimer for anyone that is completely avoding dairy :).

        Just the name of these cookies makes you fall in love, it has cake, chocolate chips, and reeses peanut butter cups!  I don't know how it could be any better.  Plus they are super easy to make and pretty fast!

Chocolate Cake Reeses Peanut Butter Chunk Cookies

1 gluten-free chocolate cake mix (I used Bob's Red Mill brand)

10 tablespoons buttery stick, melted (yes one stick plus two more tablespoons! I used Earth Balance brand)

1 large egg

1 cup chocolate chips

25 mini Reeses Peanut Butter cups (**careful if you are very sensitive these have the possibility of cross-contamination**)

Place reeses into a plastic baggie and crush them.  Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl (I didn't use an electric mixer, but whatever works for you).  It looks kind of crumbly, messy, and delicious. 

 Scoop onto parchment lined baking sheets about one inch apart and bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes.  It is kind of difficult to tell when they are done, I did mine for 14 minutes.  I was scared to over bake them, gluten-free stuff tends to dry out faster so just keep checking them. :) 

        Be sure and put them away right when they are done cooling so they don't dry out, it makes around 3 dozen so maybe freeze some.  ENJOY!

Raspberry Rice Krispie Treats!

        I made these for my cubbies :) they are very very verrrrry sweet (both cubbies and rice krispies:P).  All the leaders enjoyed eating the chocolate on the top and not the actual rice krispie haha.  Since they are raspberry it is suggested to cut them into heart shapes and add a little red food coloring for valentine's day, but I just made them in a big pan.

Raspberry Rice Krispies

1/4 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks (or you could just use butter)

10.5 ounces mini marshmallows

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

6 cups gluten-free Rice Krispies (be careful because regular rice krispies are NOT gluten-free but they made new ones that are)

2 cups chocolate chips, melted (I used dark chocolate mm!)

So I made these twice, the first time I used the stove and the second time I used the microwave, both ways worked out fine. 

~Stovetop: Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat.  Add marshmallows and salt; cook and stir until melted and smooth.  Stir in raspberry jam (mine didn't like separate completely, I tried my best then got frustrated and said it was good enough).  If you want it redder/pinker add food coloring, then cereal! Spread into buttered 13X9-inch pan, put into fridge and let cool completely.  Once completely cool, spread melted chocolate over top (or cut into hearts first). 

~Microwave: Pretty much the same except put butter, marshmallows, and salt into a large microwaveable bowl and heat for 3 minutes, stir, reheat til melted and smooth.  Then just follow the above directions starting with stirring in raspberry jam. :) ENJOY!

Jason's Deli

        My church had a marriage conference which lasted two days.  My friends and I babysat/did a VBS with the kids!  It was lots of fun but very stressful and very long.  On the second day we were there all day and so lunch was provided; this usually means Meg bring your own food.  Except that I have the BEST CHURCH EVER and they got Jason's Deli for the adults (including the babysitters).

        Jason's Deli has a full gluten-free menu, http://www.jasonsdeli.com/menu/gluten-free-menu.pdf.  I didn't know about this, but the awesome leaders at my church figured it out and ordered me a "lunch box" -I think that's what it's called-.  It consisted of a sandwich on gluten-free bread (no cheese for me either), chips, and a cookie (I am not sure if it was gluten free =/ I didn't eat it).  It was such a good sandwich!  The bread wasn't too thick or dry, it was delicious and filling :).

       I do not usually eat at Jason's Deli, but I went with my friend's family a few weeks ago and ordered a salad.  I think it was the Chef's salad, not sure.  They handed me a gluten-free menu and when i ordered I said "Hey I need gluten-free *whatever salad I got*", just to specify.  I don't know if they have a regular chef's salad that contains croutons or something like that, plus sometimes food places have different procedures for gluten-free items.  The salad was really good; it had a lot of toppings and it was huge!  I think I ate more than half..but I was really hungry haha.

        Jason's Deli isn't a fast food place, but it doesn't take too long to get your food.  It is a nice place to have lunch with someone! :)  They also have take out and catering, so if you have an event coming up and need gluten-free options this is a great restaurant to pick.