If you follow my blog, then you know that my husband has celiac and that eating out in restaurants is something of a challenge. Trying to get good gluten-free pizza at a restaurant is an absolute impossibility.
Until now.
We have a new Italian restaurant in Pocatello. It's called Riggio's.
I'm pretty picky about Italian food because I grew up in New Jersey -- where we think Olive Garden is superfluous because there are great mom-and-pop Italian eateries everywhere in the State.
Tonight, at Riggio's, I was more than just pleasantly surprised. Tonight, at Riggio's, I was nothing short of amazed. We went for pizza because we'd heard they had a gluten-free pizza that was supposed to be really good.
It was better than "really good." It was IN-CRED-I-BLE. Flat out amazing. Delicious beyond belief!
We started with an appetizer of baked brie -- best I've had anywhere at any time, and I've had brie in some pretty great restaurants in this country. The cook offered to do it without the puff pastry, in deference to my husband's celiac, and then the cook went the extra mile by baking a gluten free pizza crust with olive oil and cutting it into chips that could be eaten with the brie. Marvelous!
I had a sausage, mushroom and onion pizza that was actually as good as the pizza I remember from NJ. Tim had a sausage and mushroom pizza on the gluten free crust and it was excellent - you just about couldn't tell the difference. #7 had a taco pizza -- that would never have been my choice but he loved it.
#7 also discovered that he likes brie with roasted garlic.
My food bill just went up.
We finished off the evening at the local Farr's Ice Cream -- where a one-scoop cone of excellent ice cream costs a whole $1.00.
Friday nights don't get much better than this.
- Catherine
Showing posts with label gluten-free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gluten-free. Show all posts
Friday, April 16, 2010
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday's Fave Five
Hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell, this is the weekly meme where we reflect on the week that is past and look for five highlights.
So, this week has been and continues to be characterized by some complicated and difficult budget work for my job. In fact, the need to trim $700K from a 5-year budget is, at the moment, blocking out all other needs. I think I've removed any and all extraneous line items, but we are still projecting $700K over the allowed amount.
Sigh.
I've tried to hint to the powers-that-be, but I ain't gettin' anywhere.
ANYhooooo......
Here we are with this week's fave five:
1. The combination of my bread machine and Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Bread Mix. Bless you, Bob, wherever and whoever you are. Using the gluten free cycle on my bread machine, this bread is as close to the "real" thing as you can imagine. And if you are a celiac, you know how important that is!
2. Our new flatscreen TV (32"). Tim has ventured down to the family room on his own more than once since we bought it, without my trying to lure him. Score!
3. Warmer temperatures. After last week's below-zero blast, this week was a positive heat wave when temps climbed to.... wait for it..... 39 degrees.
4. The ability to concentrate -- my middle-aged, menopause-addled brain has been cooking on all four burners this week. Wow!
5. Carpoolqueen's blog post about Mistaken Identity. Very short, but laugh-out-loud funny. (Yes, I know I included it in an earlier blog post this week, but maybe you didn't see that one!)
Have a great weekend!
- Catherine
So, this week has been and continues to be characterized by some complicated and difficult budget work for my job. In fact, the need to trim $700K from a 5-year budget is, at the moment, blocking out all other needs. I think I've removed any and all extraneous line items, but we are still projecting $700K over the allowed amount.
Sigh.
I've tried to hint to the powers-that-be, but I ain't gettin' anywhere.
ANYhooooo......
Here we are with this week's fave five:
1. The combination of my bread machine and Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Bread Mix. Bless you, Bob, wherever and whoever you are. Using the gluten free cycle on my bread machine, this bread is as close to the "real" thing as you can imagine. And if you are a celiac, you know how important that is!
2. Our new flatscreen TV (32"). Tim has ventured down to the family room on his own more than once since we bought it, without my trying to lure him. Score!
3. Warmer temperatures. After last week's below-zero blast, this week was a positive heat wave when temps climbed to.... wait for it..... 39 degrees.
4. The ability to concentrate -- my middle-aged, menopause-addled brain has been cooking on all four burners this week. Wow!
5. Carpoolqueen's blog post about Mistaken Identity. Very short, but laugh-out-loud funny. (Yes, I know I included it in an earlier blog post this week, but maybe you didn't see that one!)
Have a great weekend!
- Catherine
Monday, November 23, 2009
It's Monday morning in the country
The title is a phrase used over and over again by one of our local radio morning DJs (just substitute the correct day of the week, of course). Funny, that it's all I could think of this morning, and I haven't listened to the radio yet today.
My weekend was a mixed bag of things. The to-do list was an Epic Fail. Not a single thing on the list got done.
On the other hand, I experimented with gluten-free Sausage and Apple stuffing and it was a big hit with the family! So, with my experiment a success, I shall be supplying the gluten-free stuffing at the Thanksgiving dinner my parents-in-law are hosting. I'll also make a gluten-free chocolate cake (using Bob's Red Mill cake mix). I hate to see my hubby and his sister go without the good stuff on Thanksgiving. And, actually, that stuffing is a big success even in its gluten-free form!
My husband was diagnosed with Celiac in December of 2007, so we have been nearly two years on the gluten-free diet in our house. He was so sick before his diagnosis that he thought he was dying. And, actually, he was -- of malnutrition. Celiac is an auto-immune disease that affects the intestinal tract to the point of rendering it impossible for the body to derive any nutrition from food. Tim ate, but his body didn't benefit because of the advanced stage of his auto-immune response. His 5'9" frame was down to 130 pounds and he was cinching his belt in to keep his size 32 jeans on. Within one week of going gluten-free, he felt good again. Within three weeks of going gluten-free, he began regaining weight and his skin color went from pasty gray to normal. He'll never be able to go back to eating wheat, barley or rye (or any products that include those grains or their derivatives), but he eats well at home, and, increasingly, out at some restaurants, too.
Hmmm... Celiac isn't what I'd intended for today's blog post. But there it is. By the way, if you suspect you or anyone you know may have this problem, there is a simple blood test that will show the indicators. The doctor will want a biopsy if the indicators are positive, but the initial test is an easy blood draw. Celiac isn't something you catch, either -- it comes down through DNA, especially through German and Irish extraction.
And please don't be afraid to prepare food for someone who has celiac. There are plenty of free resources available on the Internet that are helpful in explaining the situation and suggesting meals. Plain meat, potatoes and vegetables are always okay (it's what you dress them with that you have to watch). If you ask questions of someone in the know, you won't go wrong.
- Catherine
My weekend was a mixed bag of things. The to-do list was an Epic Fail. Not a single thing on the list got done.
On the other hand, I experimented with gluten-free Sausage and Apple stuffing and it was a big hit with the family! So, with my experiment a success, I shall be supplying the gluten-free stuffing at the Thanksgiving dinner my parents-in-law are hosting. I'll also make a gluten-free chocolate cake (using Bob's Red Mill cake mix). I hate to see my hubby and his sister go without the good stuff on Thanksgiving. And, actually, that stuffing is a big success even in its gluten-free form!
My husband was diagnosed with Celiac in December of 2007, so we have been nearly two years on the gluten-free diet in our house. He was so sick before his diagnosis that he thought he was dying. And, actually, he was -- of malnutrition. Celiac is an auto-immune disease that affects the intestinal tract to the point of rendering it impossible for the body to derive any nutrition from food. Tim ate, but his body didn't benefit because of the advanced stage of his auto-immune response. His 5'9" frame was down to 130 pounds and he was cinching his belt in to keep his size 32 jeans on. Within one week of going gluten-free, he felt good again. Within three weeks of going gluten-free, he began regaining weight and his skin color went from pasty gray to normal. He'll never be able to go back to eating wheat, barley or rye (or any products that include those grains or their derivatives), but he eats well at home, and, increasingly, out at some restaurants, too.
Hmmm... Celiac isn't what I'd intended for today's blog post. But there it is. By the way, if you suspect you or anyone you know may have this problem, there is a simple blood test that will show the indicators. The doctor will want a biopsy if the indicators are positive, but the initial test is an easy blood draw. Celiac isn't something you catch, either -- it comes down through DNA, especially through German and Irish extraction.
And please don't be afraid to prepare food for someone who has celiac. There are plenty of free resources available on the Internet that are helpful in explaining the situation and suggesting meals. Plain meat, potatoes and vegetables are always okay (it's what you dress them with that you have to watch). If you ask questions of someone in the know, you won't go wrong.
- Catherine
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)