GF Things I Like – Gluten Free Finds

Everyone Soap, Coconut Lemon, 2 x 32 oz, Certified GF

Everyone 3-in-1 soap. Coconut plus Lemon. 32 oz, 2 Count. Cruelty free, paraben free, polysorbate free, disodium EDTA free, gluten free, non-GMO verified, sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate free.

The “Everyone” line of 3 in 1 soaps (shampoo, body wash, bubble bath) and lotions have been our go-to for a while now. My bottles of both soaps and lotions I’ve used have always read certified gluten free, although certification and gluten free status may vary from product to product. I put these in Humangear GoToobs for traveling. Since I have Celiac Disease, I can’t trust trust products included with hotel rooms to be gluten free or safe for me.

Related: Search Everyone Soap or Lotion at Amazon (verify gluten free status for each product)

Everyone 3-in-1 soap, Coconut plus Lemon, 32 oz, 2 Count

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Always check ingredients to confirm gluten free status. If in doubt, contact the manufacturer with questions.

If you miss Saison Beers, Check Out… Citizen Cider [Gluten Free] Wit’s Up Cider

On our most recent trip to Chicago [See: Gluten Free in Chicago! – A Celiac’s Visitor Guide] we stopped by a Binny’s [local liquor store chain] to see if they carried any new GF beers. They did not. They did have Glutenberg and I picked up a couple four packs of that.

While we were there, we stumbled across a Citizen Cider tasting. They had some really delicious naturally gluten free hard apple ciders. Our two favorites were their Cascade Dry Hopped and their Wit’s Up Cider.

The Wit’s Up was particularly interesting because they use a wild Saison yeast. The net result is something very similar to the Saison beer style, which, to my knowledge, is not available from any gluten free brewery.

Citizen Cider is out of Vermont and the furthest east they get is Chicago. If in an area where they’re available and you miss Saisons from your gluten filled days, Wit’s Up is totally worth a try.

Citizen Cider | Wit’s Up

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Dear Mellow Mushroom…. Thank You! – now with Nima Test

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As a newer gluten intolerant Celiac [About Me] I have been able to find many foods that I do like. Some of the things that we made at home were already gluten free and some just needed a little bit of tweaking. That being said I have struggled to find a gluten free pizza that I really enjoyed. Yes, they all looked like pizzas, but no, none of them were really actually good.

We had to make a Costco run last night and decided to give Mellow Mushroom a try.

I spoke with the server about gluten free options and she assured me that their location took cross contamination seriously. Reading the GF menu closely it read… “Our cooks have been trained on the importance of preventing cross contamination. The kitchen will wash hands, put on fresh gloves and a fresh apron, and only use gluten-free dedicated cooking utensils and ingredients. Everything is made to order, and prepared in a separate area. A screen pan is used during the baking process so the gluten-free crust never makes direct contact with the pizza stone”.

Ummm…. Yes!

Options include House Special, Gourmet White, Mighty Meat, Veg Out, Kosmic Karma and Cheese. A variety of sauce options and toppings are available if you want to put your own pizza together.

We had the house special and it was delicious! Crust and toppings were just outstanding. I also had no gluten reaction.

According to the menu Mellow Mushroom uses Smart Flour Foods crust. See: Smart Flour on Amazon

Here is an online copy of their menu. That looks much the same, maybe identical to the menu I was given. Of course, you’ll always want to verify gluten free options and procedures with your server and restaurant management.

Well done Mellow Mushroom! Thank you for doing gluten free safely and deliciously! You’ve earned yourself a new, regular customer!

Update: This post was originally written in May of 2016. I have since eaten at my local Mellow Mushroom many times and continue to have great experiences. I have since gotten a Nima Sensor Gluten Detector.

Nima Gluten Test 1/27/17 – Gluten Free House Special. The smiley face indicates that this sample tested gluten free.

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Smart Flour Foods Frozen Gluten Free Pizza and Crusts!

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I really struggled to find a good gluten free frozen pizza. The biggest problem that I had was the use of a lot of rice flour in the crust. Most of them were just too dense and didn’t really remind me of a real pizza crust.

After actually liking Mellow Mushroom’s GF Pizza (and liking the way they handle it) See: Dear Mellow Mushroom… Thank You I noticed that they used Smart Flour Foods Crusts. I looked to see if Smart Flour sold mixes and didn’t find any. I did however notice that they sell frozen pizzas and frozen pizza crusts.

One of the reasons that I like Smart Flours crust is that it doesn’t have the consistency of most GF pizza crusts I’ve tried that are usually rice based. Smart Flours crust ingredients include…

Smart Flour (Tapioca Flour, Sorghum Flour, Teff Flour, Amaranth Flour), Potato Starch, Modified Tapioca Starch, Sorghum Flour, Water, Olive Oil, Sugar, Agave, Flax Seed, Yeast, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Cornstarch, Monocalcium Phosphate), Guar Gum, Baking Soda, Canola Oil.

Current variations available include – uncured pepperoni, cheese, margherita, chicken sausage, Tuscan inspired two meat and Italian sausage. Those are available in two sizes both regular and family size.

I had a hard time actually tracking these down in my area, although I was finally able to lay my hands on some (with a little bit of a drive). I’m happy to say that Smart Flour Foods makes a delicious frozen pizza.

Smart Flour Foods has a store locator. Check it out and see if their pizzas are available in your area.

If they are not Amazon (as of this posting) has several varieties available. Search Smart Flour Pizza at Amazon – make sure and compare the total price, per pizza including shipping. Shipping frozen items can be expensive, factor that in when comparing.

Smart Flour Foods Frozen Pizza has been added to… Gluten Free Things That I Actually Like

Always check ingredients to confirm gluten free status. If in doubt, contact the manufacturer with questions.

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