Surviving a snowstorm no problem for the gluten-free set

Atlanta has not had an snow/ice storm that lasted this long in probably twenty years. Actually, we've been very lucky in terms of power outages and this time around we didn't have spend the night in a  hotel to get warm. We didn't need to host friends and family for overnight stays because our power was on and theirs was not.

As usual, days before the supposed snow was to arrive, the local TV news folks warned us to stock up on food and supplies like prescriptions medicines. And as usual, we didn't really get too worried because well over half the time such warning are given, nothing particularly dramatic happens. Somehow the snow never comes or the ice - or whatever. Even so, I decided to go to Publix with my husband to stock up on groceries during the weekend. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of food (and that nothing on the shopping list was overlooked by mistake) so we'd have plenty to eat for the two days we were supposed to be snowed in. We were shopping for the week actually, so we'd be good to go for longer than that.

It started snowing at our house on Sunday night around 9:30 and didn't stop until about 11:30. It was beautiful and the flakes were huge. I'm not sure I've seen such lovely snow before. The back deck, yard and even the street were quickly blanketed in powdery white snow. The next morning the snow was still there and the entire city was basically shut down due to dangerous road conditions. My husband's employer even closed for the day. We stayed warm and took photos of the snow covered house and yard. We were able to work from home, but I wondered when we'd be able to drive out of our neighborhood. The snow turned to ice by the end of the day and the huge hill on our street is not easy to navigate in such conditions.

When Tuesday arrived the roads were worse, the sun never came out and we could not get out of our neighborhood unless we walked. The frigid temps kept me inside where it was warm and dry. By today, I was feeling cooped up and wanted to get out of the house. The ice on our road started to melt in places so we called Publix to make sure they were open. I was told the store would be open at least until 4 pm. We bundled up in the warmest clothes we own and carefully made the trek to Publix.

We actually needed milk because somehow we didn't buy any during our snowstorm shopping trip. Otherwise, we just picked up things we wanted. There is so much food in my freezers that we could eat for quite a while without worrying about going hungry. Of course, some of it is gluten-free bread type items - or cupcakes - or muffins. All things I've resolved to eat less of this year.   

It occurred to me that at least in my case, I always have plenty of food in my home. I might run out of fresh fruits and veggies, but I'm not going to run out of shelf stable or frozen foods for quite a while when stranded due to bad weather. Before I went gluten-free, we didn't keep a lot of food in our pantry. My husband did almost all the shopping then and he's a bit of a minimalist. Once I started the gluten-free diet, I decided I needed to have more food in the house so for the past five years, I've had it. This is probably the first time since then that it made sense to have so much food here, but in any case, we haven't gone hungry and have not had to overload on carbs either.

We'll hopefully get back to normal on Saturday when warm temps melt the lovely snow and ugly slush away. This Florida gal can do without below freezing temps, no doubt! For those of you who can get out and about where there is a Fresh 2 Order location, they have a coupon (sent to their website subscribers) for 50% off a meal there through Sunday, the 16th. Their pork and sweet mashed potatoes are both on their gluten-free menu and quite delicious!


         

   

Review: glutenfree.com shopping experience

Recently, I was given the opportunity to use the online shopping service at glutenfree.com. I received a $25 gift certificate from the site in exchange for a review of the service. There are many online gluten-free shopping sites - some are easy to navigate and some are not. glutenfree.com is very easy to order from. You can shop by categories such as pasta, crackers, bread, etc. Within minutes of browsing the site, I selected what I wanted to order and checked out. Easy breezy for sure!

I rarely order food online and when I do, I like to avoid paying shipping charges if I can. There is no free shipping at glutenfree.com - or on most gluten-free food websites for that matter. That is the only negative about the site  that would keep me from shopping there regularly. If you have a lot of space to store extra food, using the service from glutenfree.com might be beneficial. As with any such service, the more you order, the lower the shipping charge per item. So, the more you order, the more money you save.

Right after my order was placed, I got a confirmation e-mail regarding my order, another when the order shipped and the order arrived just a couple of days later. I'm not certain where the distribution center is, but that was one of the fastest turn-arounds I've had for online shopping. Exceptions would be when companies overnight frozen food for me to review. 

The items I ordered arrived in perfect condition and I'll be reviewing them on Celiac-Disease.com in the next few weeks. I chose the pricey BiAglut Lasagne (gluten-free egg noodles) because I've not had gluten-free egg noodles before. The other item I ordered was the Graham Style Crumbs from Kinnikinnick. With shipping added in, that was all I could afford to get with my gift certificate. Like I mentioned before, the more you order, the less you'll pay for shipping per item. 

A really nice option at glutenfree.com is the gift certificate feature. Shoppers can send this to a gluten-free person in their life for a birthday, Mother's Day or even holiday gift. Know someone that struggles to buy you something you actually want? Think about sending them this link. Hey - sometimes it helps to be direct. What would you rather get - a sweater you'll have to return or exchange or a gift certificate for gluten-free food? I'll always choose free or discounted gluten-free food over a trip to the mall...lol!

If you want to check out this online shopping service, you can use the code below to save 15% at checkout. This offer is good through 9-30-10. Enjoy! 

glutenfree.com discount code - GFCTJ9

*Special thanks to glutenfree.com for my gift certificate.   

 

  

 

       

Gluten-free find of the week!

Onion & Chive seeded corn crackers under Trader Joe's label. I found the crackers in the Buckhead store for only $1.29 a box. I'm fairly certain that the same item retails for over $3 under another brand name. Score! In addition to the "no gluten ingredients" symbol, the low sodium logo is also on the box. Spread some Peachtree Pimento on the crackers and you are living the good life - no doubt!  

Udi's Double Chocolate Muffins take the gluten-free cake!

By now, anyone who follows the gluten-free diet and lives in the U.S. has heard of Udi's Gluten-Free in Colorado. I guess people who are not online might have missed the news that Udi's Gluten-Free has turned the gluten-free baked goods world upside down. Think all gluten-free bread has to be heated in order to eat it - or even just to make it palatable? Wrong. Enter Udi's fantastic breads, muffins, pizza crust, granola and bagels!

I recently had the chance to try the Double Chocolate muffins and plain bagels from Udi's. Well, the muffin isn't really much like a muffin to me. It's like a fabulously decadent chocolate chip cupcake! All you need is some frosting and you've got a perfect tasting gluten-free treat for a kid's birthday party. I think all the muffins (and most of Udi's gluten-free items) are now available at Natural Foods Warehouse (both locations) and Return to Eden.      

The Udi's bagels are wonderful, quite like their white bread shaped into a bagel form. I put garlic powder and onion powder on half of an over-sized bagel before toasting to a golden brown. Then I add cream cheese and I've got a wonderful gluten-free breakfast. But the most perfect way to enjoy an Udi's bagel for me is to use it for open faced cold sandwiches. I won't be leaving  home without them ever again. My next experiment will involve making a gluten-free version of Panera's cinnamon crunch bagel...if all goes well, I'll post the instructions here later.