headlines, giveaways, and sales this week

What We’re (Not) Eating: A Potential Danger Of Gluten-Free, Forbes

Pasta Prima Introduces First Gluten Free Refrigerated Ravioli on the Market, Press Release


Gluten Free Tennis, Boston Herald

Pizzeria Offers Gluten-Free Option, Messenger Post

Cheeseburger in Paradise Adds Gluten-Free Bun to Menu and Continues to Raise Awareness for Gluten Intolerant Efforts, Press Release

Gluten-Free Labeling and the FDA: We Are Watching (and so is Monty), Celiac.com

Will A Gluten-Free Diet Prevent Childhood Diabetes?, The Stir

From Want Not: Search for gluten-free restaurants near you and use the 80% off code FLAG at Restaurant.com to make them affordable. Read the fine print and restaurant descriptions carefully to make sure they have food that suits you!

The Be Free For Me blog is giving away Rudi's products this week. "Just in time for Memorial Day weekend, I am so thrilled that Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery will be sponsoring the next two week’s Win-it-Wednesday’s on BeFreeForMe.com! A total of FOUR (Yes… 4!) BeFreeForMe members will be selected to win a gift pack of Rudi’s Gluten-Free Breads and Rolls. Two winners will be randomly selected from the entries received before Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 at 11:59 PM EST, and two more winners will be randomly selected to win from the entries received between Wednesday, June 1st and Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:59PM. SO – make sure you enter to win two times!" Check out the blog post here for all the entry details.

Delightfully Gluten-Free is giving away a copy of Living Gluten-Free for Dummies. You have until June 1 to enter.

Bob's Red Mill has several gluten-free products up on the Monthly Specials page, including all-purpose baking flour, pizza crust mix, quick-cooking oats, bread mix, and brownie mix. Please note that not all products on the Monthly Specials page are gluten-free, so read the product descriptions carefully.

It's not too late to take advantage of some yummy Celiac Awareness Month sales at Amazon.com Groceries.

headlines, giveaways, and sales this week

Alice Best Wants to Teach You All About Celiac Disease, Philadelphia Daily News

Gluten-Free Food Fair May 21 at Bellingham Public Market, Bellingham Herald

Kellogg's Rice Krispies Joins the Gluten-Free Brigade as FDA Drags Feet on Definition, BrandChannel.com

Gluten Sensitivity Talk in Edwards Wednesday, Vail Daily

Mouthwatering Gluten-Free Recipes from French Meadow Bakery, Marketwire.com

Gluten-Free Diet Said To Be Behind Djokovic's Success, Times of India

The Diet That Shook Up Tennis? Starch Madness: Novak Djokovic's Domination of the Sport Has Coincided With His Gluten-Free Turn, Wall Street Journal

Gluten-Free Guide Published for Caterers, Eat Out

Gluten Allergy? Park City Pizza to the Rescue, Park Record

THE FAMILY TABLE: Gluten-Free Isn't the End of the World, San Angelo Standard Times

Eating Out Gets Easier for Celiac Patients, New York Times

Delightfully Gluten-Free is giving away a copy of Living Gluten-Free for Dummies. You have until June 1 to enter.

Courtesy of Gluten Freeville, "Sprouts Farmers Market Grocery Stores is offering 25% off more than 2,000 specially signed gluten-free products around the store including Gluten Free grocery and frozen grocery items, plus select items in other departments, between now and May 25." Sprouts stores are located in California, Colorado, Arizona, and Texas. The sale, unfortunately, does not include Henry's and Sun Harvest at this time. Visit the Sprouts website to find a store near you.

Also from Gluten Freeville, a special from Jules Gluten Free, makers of the world's largest gluten-free cake. You'll find the recipe and a sale on the flour used to make the cake. There's also a special on shipping.

Readers of Cool Mom Picks can get free candy from  JJ's Sweets at Foodzie. "The first 100 CMP readers who sign up for the Foodize Tasting Box subscription (which is so awesome if you're a foodie type) will get a free bonus of 4 assorted cocomels from JJ Sweets in your May order. Just sign up through this link." Note that not all Foodzie products are gluten-free, although the JJ's Sweets candies are. Read product descriptions carefully before ordering.

Bob's Red Mill has several gluten-free products up on the Monthly Specials page, including all-purpose baking flour, pizza crust mix, quick-cooking oats, bread mix, and brownie mix. Please note that not all products on the Monthly Specials page are gluten-free, so read the product descriptions carefully.

It's not too late to take advantage of some yummy Celiac Awareness Month sales at Amazon.com Groceries.

labonel fine baking

The people of Hyderabad like their sweets. There is no shortage of chocolate cakes at bakeries, coffee shops, grocery store bakery counters, and restaurants. It's been difficult, being a gluten-free chocoholic and having to face cakes every time I leave the house. Some places offer a chocolate mousse, and I've been eating my way through the mousses of the city, but those are a topic for another post.

A couple weeks ago Mike came home and announced he'd found a gluten-free bakery. They are not specifically gluten-free, but the head baker is familiar with the gluten-free diet and has perfected a few treats with the local flours. For Mother's Day, Mike brought home a chocolate cake from Labonel Fine Baking.

Labonel uses millet flour as the base for their gluten-free cakes. The texture was great, but the flavor was a little off. I loved the chocolate icing, but the millet lends sort of a grassy flavor to the cake. It grew on me, though, and we've been picking away at the cake all week long.

Whether gluten-free, eggless, or "regular," Labonel's treats are only available as custom orders. They are a little tricky to find, being that the office is on the side of a house behind a gate with no sign. It's like a secret society. A secret, chocolate-cake-loving society. You can find their products and directions to the house on their website.

on sale for celiac awareness month

I'm a little late in telling you that May is Celiac Awareness Month, but it's not too late to take advantage of some yummy sales at Amazon.com Groceries. I stocked up on a few things earlier in the month and I'll be going back for round two before the month is over.

Some of my favorites:

It's gross, but Fruity Pebbles one of my favorite cereals from childhood. I'm not quite ready to fill Muffin with so much sugar and artificial color yet, so these will be a special treat for me after she's asleep for the night. Save 15% when you enter code POSTGFO5 at checkout. Plus, save an additional 15% when you combine the instant rebate with your Subscribe and Save order--bringing your total savings to 30%.








KIND bars are my go-to, stuck in the car, didn't get breakfast because the baby didn't nap, snacks. Save 15% when you enter code KINDMAY5 at checkout. Plus, save an additional 15% when you combine the instant rebate with your Subscribe and Save order--bringing your total savings to 30%.










It's too hot to light the oven, but I still want some cookies to snack on every once in a while. I love the Pamela's shortbread. Save 10% when you enter code PAMGFMAY at checkout. Plus, save an additional 15% when you combine the instant rebate with your Subscribe and Save order--bringing your total savings to 25%.









I am an Amazon affiliate. If you purchase from these links or from my store, I will receive a small kickback.

adventures in veggie shopping

Much like going to the farmers' market in San Francisco or Dupont Circle to check out the fresh produce before heading out to the grocery store, here I have to go to a fruit stand and a vegetable stand to find the best produce before I take my chances on the grocery store produce aisle.

Finding the best "Western" produce is a competitive sport. I only just discovered the secret of the produce stand a few weeks ago. I usually send my driver out for groceries or make one stop at the grocery store and settle for what's there. But now that it's a little easier to shop with Muffin in tow, I love our weekly trek to Star Fruit and Tarkari Vegetables. The veggie ladies give Muffin carrots to play with. Star Fruit is a tiny, jam-packed shop and Muffin pokes and grabs at any fruit or customers within range. (And because people love babies so much here, they don't mind a little grabbing hand from the whitest baby they've ever seen.)

The best thing about Tarkari -- they almost always have green leaf lettuce. At most stores you can only get iceberg lettuce, which I detest. But Tarkari has green leaf lettuce and -- get this -- with a little washing it's perfectly safe to eat! We can have salad again! The first day I discovered the lettuce, there was an Australian woman in the shop who told me to take what I wanted because she was going to buy all of it. Competitive lettuce shopping indeed. When I found fresh basil after weeks of not seeing it, I was the one who bought the whole stock (and then I had my housekeeper make about a gallon of pesto). And I'm sorry other expats, but I also cleaned out the thyme and rosemary at qmart a couple weeks ago.

The prices at the grocery store aren't prohibitive for most expats, like they might be for local shoppers. It's certainly more convenient for one-stop shopping. But what I like about the smaller stands is that the fruits and veggies are local. They are fresh. They are ripe. They may have traveled from another state in India, but few things came on a plane from another country.

You do need to wash everything, but that's one of the benefits of having a housekeeper. She washes and cuts everything up, which makes it much more likely that we'll actually eat all the fruits and vegetables that I buy.

Muffin's been enjoying the local watermelon lately.

Cross-posted at Where in the World Am I.