Please take a moment to fill out a quick survey regarding the development of a new mobile application that will allow us to find gluten-free restaurants! Please send to any friends you know that might benefit from this. Other diet restrictions will be included…

Restricted Diet Survey

Thanks,

Bill

Anyone practicing a gluten-free diet knows that often you need to BYOGF. Sometimes it’s a continental breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express. Other times it’s scanning the vending machine, often succumbing to the avalanche of gluten and resorting to a pack of stale Juicy Fruit. Maybe it’s a road trip, or just your daily hour-long commute.

Enter Amazon’s Subscribe and Save service. The model is simple; “subscribe” to a gluten-free staple you know you’ll use over and over again, and Amazon automatically ships out your order in the quantity and schedule of your choosing. As a reward for the steady business, Amazon gives you a discount somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-15%.

I use it for my Think Thin bars that I strategically place around my daily life.  I know during my late night study sessions, the vending machines at the library are useless. My bag always has a couple bars in it. Those of you with cooking chops can keep a steady stock of GF ingredients delivered to your door.

Take a look around. Cheaper AND delivered to my door? Sign me up.

Amazon.com Subscribe and Save

And then there were four three.

Ever since I was diagnosed in the fall of 2007, I’ve been whittling down my list of safe restaurants. Luckily, Chicago affords a Celiac more options than many cities. That said, plenty of them are fancy shmancy and over my budget. In the past year, I finally brought my number of truly trusted restaurants to four. I’d talked to the managers at one point or another, and was comfortable with their cooking practices and their level of commitment to avoiding allergens. Oh and the food tasted…good.

Of those four, Marcello’s Pizza on the North Side of Chicago offered a delicious gluten-free rice crust that many of my non-celiac friends enjoyed eating as well. Tasted great, got to my house quickly, complete with a little gluten-free sticker slapped over the edge like a safety seal. It satisfied that itch. The itch that makes you wish you could eat pizza again, or more to the point, the itch of that pre-celiac feeling of a delivered pizza: Call up the restaurant, they make you a pizza, they drive it over, I take 3-4 greasy pieces, laugh at the movie with my friends, throw the box in the fridge: more for the next evening. It felt normal, and I typically don’t feel normal when presented with a place setting at dinner.

But a couple hours after my last pizza from Marcello’s, I realized something had gone awry, despite the “hermetically” sealed GF sticker. My toppings were all free and clear, unless they surgically injected gluten into the peppers and onion. That leaves the sauce and crust, and my money is on the crust. I’m sure it was prepared on the same board with gluten-soaked crusts, and maybe some flour was actually kneaded into my rice crust.

Regardless, the damage was done. So now, a question of loyalty, forgiveness, and anger. Do I just give them a piece of my mind, let them know what happend (and potentially help a fellow celiac if its a systemic problem), then ask to me transfered to the hostess so I can place another order for delivery? Do I write them off as unsafe, never to go back again? Somewhere between?

I’d love to hear how people who’ve dealt with CD for much longer than me if they have any horror stories, and more importantly how they handled the aftermath…

I’ve taken the leap into the world of micro-blogging and am now the proud father of a Celiac Snack account on Twitter. Even if you don’t want to let people know every little thing that happens in your day-to-day life, it’s a great way to search the web for real-time information regarding Celiac and the gluten-free lifestyle.

Twitter Search for Gluten-Free Info

Twitter Search for Celiac Disease Info

I’ll be using it to supplement CeliacSnack.com in hopes of sharing (and learning) information to keep gluten-free living healthy and hopefully a little easier.

CeliacSnack on Twitter

We’re closing in on a month until the University of Chicago’s Celiac Disease Center hosts its Annual Benefit. This year it will be hosted Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at the Chicago Hilton & Towers.

The event will offer delicious gluten-free goodies from 20 chefs picked from the upper echelons of the GF cooking community. Take a look at last year’s event for a taste of what’s to come.

The price for entry is a steep $150, but how many times can you go out on the town knowing everything in front of you is safe to eat? I’ll be there to report on (and enjoy) all the gluten-free offerings.

Even if you aren’t attending, it’s worth your time to peruse their site to learn more from one of the top celiac disease institutions in the country.

University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center Benefit

Proof that celiac-literate (celiaciterate?) people can be found in towns of any size. In a former life I lived in Colorado, and two times a week would enjoy the art that is a Merle’s Brown Bag sandwich. When I went to visit some friends in Telluride last week, I didn’t want to walk anywhere near this favorite pre-celiac lunch spot of mine.

However, as often happens in a small town, I ran into the owner, Shawn, while walking around town. I sadly asked her if she offered salads. Knowing my regular order, she gave me a curious look and said, “Yeah sure, but…”

I finished her thought with a shrug, “I’m gluten-free now.”

Before my shrug could drop, she replied, “Ah, celiac or gluten intolerance?” I took a second to compose a smile. She proceeded to offer in-stock gluten-free breads, tips on shopping and eating gluten-free, and even denied me the mustard I ordered because she couldn’t guarantee its gluten-free status. All this without prompting. As a result I went back three more times in the four days I was there.

I am repeatedly surprised by the pockets of gluten-free knowledge in my travels, and walked away with a renewed confidence in my ability to live gluten-free no matter where I find myself. Moral of the story; no harm in asking for help. You might be surprised at people’s knowledge and willingness to accommodate.

My daily search across the web for celiac-related content yielded an interesting article on Celiac.com today. In it, Dr. Vikki Petersen addresses gluten intolerance and depression, citing a study that indicated a causal relationship between the two. She writes:

In a study examining blood flow to the brain, 15 patients with untreated celiac disease were compared to 15 patients treated with a gluten-free diet for a year.  The findings were amazing. In the untreated group, 73% had abnormalities in brain circulation by testing while only 7% in the treated group showed any abnormalities. The patients with the brain circulation problems were frequently suffering from anxiety and depression as well.

While the sampling was small, the potential ramifications of the empirical data are interesting nonetheless. I have always been a proponent of the mind/body mindset, as it were, and this only strengthens that opinion. I will be on the lookout for more information about this possible link.

The article is a must-read for Celiacs, and further proof that a gluten-free diet has far-reaching benefits above and beyond a healthy GI system.

Gluten Sensitivity and Depression - Celiac.com

I have to admit, Trader Joe’s was a complete mystery to me before I went gluten-free. Having never stepped foot in one, the best I could surmise from the outside was that Joe evidently traded something, but I had no idea it was groceries.

Then came Celiac, and my new brethren informed me Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods would be my new best friends. Each has their pros and cons, but I will say two grocery bags cost a lot less when they have a TJ’s logo on the side.

So, during my recent shopping spree, I was happy to hear from a helpful Joe (?) that Trader Joe’s recently updated their gluten-free list. I haven’t done a line-by-line comparison between this new list and the one on my fridge door, and to be honest this may or may not imply new products. It’s possible they just fine-tuned their previous list, but it does clearly state that the list was updated in December, 2008. Either way, it’s worth printing out a new copy for your next trade trip.

Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free List [PDF]

My friend and editor of Centerstage Chicago, Ben Rubenstein, let me know that they recently covered some GF eateries in their city guide. In the article, writer Stacy Warden covers some of the usual suspects like Adobo Grill and Deerfields Bakery, but there are a couple hidden gems in there that I hadn’t heard of.

Take a look, and be sure to let them know if you like what you see!

Gluten-Free Goodies on CenterstageChicago.com

While a January 30th entry doesn’t quite qualify as a New Year’s post, it’s been too long since last I wrote so I’d like to (re)introduce myself and welcome our new readers.

In an ironic twist, as my adjustment to the gluten-free diet became commonplace, my desire to write about it was replaced by my desire to just live by it. My memorized list of safe foods expanded as I discovered new restaurants and products.

In hindsight, this would have been the best time to dive deeper and share the day-to-day challenges and triumphs of eating gluten-free. I’m willing to bet other Celiacs are at a similar stage, and I plan to provide some info to help the newly initiated, as well as host a forum to exchange GF info and tips.

Michael and I will continue to bring you Celiac news, gluten-free products, restaurant reviews, and personal observations that I hope will become conversations with, and between, our readers.

So keep an eye on Celiac Snack, your source for gluten-free knowledge to snack on in 2009.