Ian's Allergy Friendly Products

I loved chicken nuggets as a kid so when I was approached by a rep from Ian's about trying some of their gluten free chicken nuggets I was more than happy to say yes.  I had never had a gluten free chicken nugget and was really excited to try them. They sent me three varieties: Smokin' Sweet BBQ Chicken Nuggets, Southwest Chicken Tenders, and regular Chicken Nuggets.  I was pleasantly surprised by all three and would definitely recommend them to kids and adults alike.

Ian's specializes in natural, allergy-friendly and gluten free frozen foods.  In addition to chicken nuggets they have things such as gluten free fish sticks, onion rings, french toast sticks, pizza, and more.  There is a very helpful search filter on their site to help you find food by different allergies (peanut, tree nut, soy, egg, casein, etc.) as well as by attribute (organic, GMO free, Kosher, vegan, vegetarian, etc).  The chicken they use is free range and vegetarian fed and their fish is wild-caught Alaskan Pollock.  I think Ian's is doing some really good work and I'm very happy to recommend them to you.

Friendsgiving

Getting ready for Friendsgiving

Every year I travel back up to Vermont to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it's all about family, good food, and it opens up the holiday season.  I like Thanksgiving so much that for the past two years I've traveled to Toronto to join my college roommates for Canadian Thanksgiving in October as well. Might as well double up on the joys of Thanksgiving if you can, right?

This year I'm happy to be adding a third Thanksgiving to my list in the form of Friendsgiving.  This afternoon I'm heading to a friend's house with several others to hang out, eat, chat, and watch football.

I spent yesterday and today cooking up a storm.  I'm bringing roasted Brussels sprouts, creamed spinach, stuffing, and pumpkin spice muffins with a cream cheese filling.  I'm even bringing gluten free gravy as to not miss out on any holiday staples.  Other people are bringing turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, a dessert someone is accommodating to be gluten free just for me, and lots of other things.  Not everything will be gluten free, but a whole lot of it will be.

I'm really excited about the stuffing I made for today.  My friend Mallory posted a recipe for kale and sausage stuffing that I had to try.  I haven't had very good luck with gluten free stuffing thus far in life, but this homemade stuffing is really good.  I used Canyon Bakehouse's Rosemary and Thyme Focaccia for the bread and added some mushrooms to the veggies.  Thanks for the recipe Mallory!

And those pumpkin muffins cooling up above?  One of them is already gone.

Some of my other go to Thanksgiving recipes include:

Sweet Potato Puree

Mashed Cauliflower

Pumpkin Pie

What are your favorite Thanksgiving staples?

Siggy's

A few weeks ago I wandered upon Siggy's with some of my family members.  They boast an all organic menu with lots of gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan options.  We decided to give it a go and everyone ended up happy.

Everything gluten free is clearly labeled on the menu.  I got a turkey burger on a gluten free bun with a side salad.  The bun looked too good when it arrived so I made the waiter confirm for me that it was gluten free (yes, I'm that crazy girl).  It wasn't the best gluten free bun I'd ever had, but I was pretty happy with the burger as a whole.  They also have a lot of really good looking salads, gluten free pastas, and entrees. Now that the weather is turning cool I'd like to try the beef stew over spinach and quinoa.  My gluten eating brothers were happy with their mac and cheese.

Siggy's has locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn Heights.  If you like to eat organic or need to find a restaurant for your mash of gluten free and vegetarian friends, Siggy's is a good choice.

Gluten Free Philly

Besties

I just got back from a weekend in Philly with my best friend.  She's in a five year doctorate program and is half way through.  We try to get together once a month either in Philly or New York.  That means I've been to Philly a whole lot in the last few years and I should obviously tell you about two of my favorite gluten free spots there.

For breakfast, lunch, or coffee/tea time we often go to Pure Fare on 21st Street between Sansom and Walnut.  The entire place is gluten free and they have great frittatas.  They also have sandwiches on gluten free bread, salads, smoothies, and some baked goods.

Choosing a dinner spot is always much more of a debacle for us.  We've been to El Rey a few times though and went again this weekend.  It's a pretty good Mexican restaurant with a large gluten free menu.  I recommend the nachos and pitchers of margaritas.  It's a fun place to go with friends but they don't take reservations so go early or plan to wait.

Anywhere else in Philly I should be trying?  I have at least 2.5 more years of hanging out there.

PF Chang's

I love Chinese food.  When I first moved to the city I survived almost solely on steamed vegetable dumplings.  I've been mourning the lack of Chinese food in my life for the last three years.  When PF Chang's reached out to me recently to let me know about their new summer menu and ask if I'd like a gift card to try their gluten free options I promptly replied back with a Heck Yes.  I knew there weren't any PF Chang's in the city, but a quick Google search told me there was one not too far away in New Jersey.  Enter my good friend Mallory from over at Total Noms.  Not only does Mallory love food as much as me, but she happens to live in Jersey City and own a car.  Perfect date for some PF Chang's taste testing.

I made the venture to Jersey last week and let me tell you, it was worth it.  I scoured the gluten free menu before hand and there were so many dishes I wanted to try I had a hard time pinning down exactly what we should order. In the end we decided to order from the PF Chang's for Two Menu which is a $40 four course meal of deliciousness. We got: egg drop soup, Chang's Lettuce Wraps, Chang's Spicy Chicken, Mongolian Beef, and a Flourless Chocolate Dome for dessert.  In addition, we tried the Summer Vegetable Quinoa Fried Rice.  Everything was gluten free and each thing was better than the next.

The Summer Vegetable Quinoa Fried Rice is part of their special Summer menu and is only around for a limited time.  It was a really good accompaniment to our other main dishes.  We used this as our base instead of the plain rice they brought with the entrees.  The chicken lettuce wraps were really good and so was the spicy chicken.  The Mongolian beef though...I'm still craving it a week later.  The sauce on that is amazing.  We definitely didn't need any dessert but we had to try the flourless chocolate dome in the name of research, right?  It's a good thing we did, because it was a little dome of chocolate heaven.  Served with fresh berries, it was the perfect end to our meal.

Thank you, PF Chang's for a great meal.  I would definitely visit again at this location or any of the other locations located across the country.

Luigi's Restaurant

Last night I had the best gluten free pasta I have ever had.  It was so good that after a few bites I was convinced it was not gluten free and made the waitress confirm it for me.  She assured me it was and informed me that they make it themselves in house.  I was impressed.

I'm in DuBois, PA, where, according to the internet, there is basically nothing gluten free to eat.  I stumbled upon Luigi's by accident.  I had planned to go to a Mexican restaurant next door because Mexican is usually pretty GF friendly, but it was closed.  It was getting late so I walked into Luigi's (an Italian restaurant) expecting to just order a salad when I saw a sign at the hostess stand that said "Ask about our gluten free menu."

The gluten free menu has gluten free pasta, pizza, sandwiches, salads, and meat options.  I got gluten free penne with Tia's Tomato Alfredo sauce.  Have I mentioned how good it was?  Honestly, the best GF pasta I have ever had.  I wish I could go back and try the pizza.

Luigi's has two locations, one in DuBois, PA and one in Clymer, PA.  From looking at the website, I don't think the Clymer location has a GF menu.  DuBois is located along Interstate 80 which runs across the entire state of PA connecting New York and New Jersey with Ohio.  It's a long highway with few food options along the way.  This is such a great find that I plan to post about them on every gluten free travel site I can find.

A big thank you to Luigi's for letting me eat such a good meal in DuBois, PA.

Daisy's Grits in Bryant Park

I stumbled upon the Holiday Shops in Bryant Park recently and was pleasantly surprised by the ice skating rink, shops, and food booths.  I make it a point to go to the Union Square Holiday Market every year and somehow missed that there was also one in Bryant Park.  This was such a nice discovery and to make it even better, I found a booth with gluten free food: Daisy's Grits!

I always look for gluten free signs wherever I am (this is normal, right?).  I was so happy to find a gluten free sign on the booth of Daisy's Grits.  They have many choices including sweet, savory, and even some vegan options. Almost every one of their menu options is gluten free except for the ones with soy sauce.  I tried the Colombian Chorizo with cheddar cheese.  The grits are topped with Pecorino Romano cheese, pepper, chives, bacon (if you want), and a special seasoning.  Basically, they are warm and delicious.  This is a perfect meal to enjoy while you sit and watch people skate or to take home.  They are also very reasonably priced for a meal in midtown.

The Holiday Shops in Bryant Park are open until January 6th.  If you happen to be in Bryant Park in the next few weeks be sure to stop by.  It's worth it!