You Can Have Your Cookie Dough and Eat It Too!

As a child, my favorite part of homemade cookies was getting to eat the raw dough. BUT then we found out that it was not safe to eat raw cookie dough and the end of cookie dough eating began.

Eating Raw Cookie Dough is  back!

Alpendough- Vegan and Gluten-Free

Alpendough has created a Gluten-Free and  Vegan (no eggs) cookie dough that tastes amazing. These cookies were by far my favorite cookies I tried at the Expo. They are soft and gooey. The flavor is fabulous and the raw cookie dough was so much fun to sample.  

I came home from the Expo feeling very good about the future of gluten-free products. There are many new and innovative companies bringing quality products to the market. 

Gluten-Free Klippy's

Every once in awhile, I meet someone that I can tell is special and a person I want to get to know. Laura Klipp, the creator of Gluten Free Klippy's, is one such person. I met Laura the 1st day of the Natural Food Products Expo West. Her booth was surrounded by people clamoring to try her delicious cookies. 

Laura Klipp

I got to talk to Laura for a few minutes.  It was while she was working as a pastry chef, at a French Restaurant, that her health started to fail. She later discovered that it was the exposure to flour (gluten) that was making her so ill. Laura's health issues and love for baking eventually led her to develop the fabulous gluten-free products that she sells. For more details about her journey, go to www.glutenfreeklippys.com

The products are certified gluten-free, made in a dedicated facility, and contain only non-GMO ingredients.  These cookies are delicious and well worth trying. 

Klippy's has 3 basic catergories:

1. Gourmet  Frozen Cookie Dough- Gluten Free

Gluten-Free Klippy's Frozen Cookie Dough

 
2. NEW - Fresh Baked Cookies: Gluten-Free, Egg Free, Vegan, Dairy-Free, and Nut-Free

   3. Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour
   

Gluten-Free Klippy's All Purpose Flour

Let's show Laura that we appreciate her dedication to bringing the gluten-free world fabulous baked goods, by trying her products. 

Toosum

Toosum-GlutenFree Oatmeal Bars

I meet Peter Guyer, founder and chief executive officer of Toosum,at the Natural Products Expo West. As we talked, he asked me if I would blog about his company. I responded, "If I like your product I will." He gave us samples and off we went. Unfortunately, they contain sunflower seeds, which I am allergic to, so I had my sister's family try them out.

Well, the Toosum bars got their seal of approval and then some. Even my teenager niece enjoyed them.

It is nice to have a 100 calorie gluten-free bar available that tastes great and has many health benefit including:

Low in sugar and no refined sugars
Certified gluten-free
Non-GMO
No artificial anything
Gluten-free rolled oats—heart-healthy fiber has been shown to lower cholesterol
Chia seeds—full of omega-3 fatty acids to help reduce risk of heart disease
Cashew butter – monounsaturated fat to help improve cardiovascular health
Chicory root—another protein-packed, fiber-rich ingredient to help your digestive system
Sunflower seeds—packed with vitamin E and antioxidants
Coconut—loaded with fiber to improve digestion and stabilize glucose levels
Banana—high in potassium to help lower blood pressure and tryptophan to help boost your mood
Acai berries—high in powerful antioxidants to help boost the immune system and slow the body’s aging process.
Cranberries—loaded with antioxidants and proanthocyanidins, polyphenols that keep bacteria
Cherries—an excellent source of potassium, which helps to lower blood pressure by getting rid of the excess sodium
Plums – a good source of fiber that helps normalize blood glucose levels by slowing the absorption of sugars
Blueberries—high in powerful antioxidants and vitamin C to help boost the immune system and brain function.
Greek yogurt—loaded with probiotics to support healthy digestion

Finally a Gluten-Free Pretzel Without a Weird Aftertaste!

Snack Time Gluten-Free Pretzels

Snack Time Mini Pretzels Crisps are the best gluten-free pretzels I have eaten. Most gluten-free pretzels taste good for the first couple of bites but quickly the aftertaste sets in. Not these crisps.
These little treats have a great crunch and a buttery flavor. The bag is only 110 calories and 1 gram of sugar, which adds to their appeal.

Gluten-Free Pretzel Crisps

Enjoy these pretzel crisps by themselves or use them with dip. 

Gluten-Free Baking Made Easy by BELLA Gluten-Free

I am ready to share the treasures I discovered at the Natural Products Expo West now that my feet stopped aching and my head has cleared from the dull sound of 65,000 people talking all at one time. I approached the Expo very differently this year. 

Every year I race to find out what new products the big GF companies have and during the exploration, I find some new GF companies. This year I decided to reverse the process and seek out the new, up and coming GF companies. I love the GF world and really want to focus on helping it grow. 

I uncovered some great finds, which I will blog about this week. I went with my sister, who is also GF, and we have some favorites. Since my sister and I are also dairy-free, we couldn't try everything,but many companies were kind enough to send us home with mixes,etc,so we could test them. 


We were fascinated with BELLA  Gluten-Free Cup-To-Table in Minutes. 
Mary Capone. the owner and creator of the company has ingeniously come up with a way to package spectacular testing GF baked goods so that we can bake with ease. 

Cup-To-Table In Minutes

With a few simple steps you can have wonderful tasting baked goods!
Skip the measuring of multiple flours and dry goods and just add butter of choice, milk of choice and an egg and you are on your way to eating great treats. 

Bella Gluten-Free

The company was started in 2010 by Mary Capone . Her story below is from their webpage

Diagnosed with celiac disease, our founder, Mary Capone combines her gluten-free mastery with her love of the kitchen to create scrumptious gluten-free, allergen-free cuisine. Mary is a cookbook author, and nationally known instructor of gourmet gluten and allergen-free foods. As a celiac chef with celiac kids, Mary has designed mixes that not only have great taste and texture but include plenty of healthy ingredients as well.

Bella Gluten-Free™ is created in a dedicated gluten-free facility.
                                                         products are 100% natural
                                                         non-GMO
                                                         allergen-friendly baking mixes 

Look What I Found Inside My TV.

I consider myself a clean person. I have even been known to spend hours detail cleaning things that no one else would consider dirty. BUT never did I imagine I would spend 3 hours cleaning the inside of my TV.

Samsung TV

Our Samsung TV has been acting weird for awhile. Sometimes when it is turned on, it has pixel-ed lines running vertical through it. I can see the picture behind these lines but it is blurry. Then it goes black for a few seconds and a normal screen appears. 

The fun part is when it decides to add a high pitched squeal to these lovely lines. The sound would wake the dead and there is no way to stop it. We just have to go wait it out. My favorite time for this to happen is when my husband can't sleep and decides to turn the TV on. FUN

We started by having AT&T send us a new U-verse box, hoping it was that. It work for a few days and then back to the lines again. We called Samsung and they did a few tech. things via the phone to no avail. So we went to the internet and got some advice.

The suggestion was to take it apart and clean out the back. We figured there was nothing to lose, so we did just that and here is what we found. DISGUSTING

Inside Our TV- REALLY

Though it didn't fix the problem - it was a lesson learned.

Who Would Have Guessed My Celery Allergy Is Known in the U.K.?

In addition to not being able to eat gluten and dairy, I am deathly allergic to CELERY and all it's by products. Most people in the United States, including doctors, chefs, and educators have never heard of a celery allergy. Truthfully, this uncommon food allergy has made it very uncomfortable and awkward when I am eating anywhere but home. I often get the same reaction from people, "I've never heard of that before" as if they don't believe me.  It usually leads to a conversation at the table, which is the last thing someone who is trying not to obsess about their food allergies needs. This fear is escalated when I am traveling and have to eat out often. 

I am planning a trip this summer to Ireland and Scotland and decided to research how difficult it would be to eat there. The U.K. is known for its Celiac (Coeliac) Awareness and from everything I read eating gluten-free, in both countries, will not be a problem. 

According to the Food Standard Agency in the U.K.
The European Commission compositional and labelling standards (Commission Regulation (EC) No. 41/2009) establish levels of gluten for foods that makes a claim to be either 'gluten-free' or 'very low gluten'. These levels are:
'gluten-free' – 20 parts or less of gluten per million.
'very low gluten' – 100 parts or less of gluten per million. However, only foods with cereal ingredients that have been specially processed to remove the gluten may make a 'very low gluten' claim.

 Food Standard Agency  has an interactive page, called In The Restaurant,  where you can go in and take a test on what is in certain restaurant foods. (Indian, Chinese, Mediterranean and Deli) It was fun! 

What surprised me was the information I found about celery allergies. 

Celery Allergies

The first website I found was  www.anaphylaxis.org.uk. The UK considers celery one of the top 14 allergens and they even have a fact sheet for Celery Allergies.

Here's some of what they had to say: 

Celery is one of the 14 major allergens that under European Directives 2003/89/EC and 2006/142/EC must be declared whenever they are used, at any level, in pre-packed foods."
The inclusion of celery on this list, approved under EU law, is based on the view that celery allergy is a serious problem in certain European countries such as France, Germany and Switzerland. Based on our experience, celery allergy would appear to be rare in the UK. However, reactions to celery, when they do occur, can be severe for some people.

So everything I eat, whether packaged or at a restaurant, is required to have any celery ingredient on the label or after the item on the menu. 

The U.K. has Strict Allergen Labeling Rules

I will let you know how it goes after we visit Scotland and Ireland. If you been there recently, please share your experiences and favorite food places. Thank you.

Thank you U.K. for looking out for me!

References:
https://www.allergyuk.org/common-food-intolerances/common-food-intolerances
http://allergytraining.food.gov.uk/english/in-the-restaurant/
http://allergytraining.food.gov.uk/english/default.aspx
http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/knowledgebase/celery-allergy-the-facts/
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/food-allergy/pages/causes.aspx