Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Soap Making on the Mom-Stuff Blog Tour

Over at Mom-Stuff, you’ll find my post on making your own soap… what a fun, crafty way to spend Spring Break!  I’m thinking if we get cracking now… we should have enough made by Mother’s Day for all the Aunties, Grandma’s and God-Mama’s in our lives.  What a great handmade holiday idea!
Head on over and check it out!

Don't forget to check out my original blog, LooksGoodInPolkaDots for lots of gluten free and sustainable living ideas. 

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Gluten Free Restaurant Experiences

Recently, we’ve had the joy of finding a couple restaurants that offer gluten free foods.  This is very exciting… I love seeing gluten free hitting the mainstream, as that means awareness is increasing!
Some of these may be Portland, OR area only, but you can find places to eat in your area at the Gluten Free Registry.
Pizza
Bellagios- eat in, carry out, or delivery.  10 inch(small) only.  $10-$13, $1.00 each for extra toppings.  Also sells ready to use crust, $3.50/1 or 2 for $6.00.
Garlic Jim’s- Gluten Free Food Service Accreditation from the Gluten Intolerance Group.  Contains no dairy or soy in the crust (sauces and toppings could, depending on your choice).  Carry out/delivery ONLY (although locally, the Nimbus location does offer dine in seating).  Available in a large only, prices are about $3.00 more than the regular menu.  All flour used in the stores is a GF blend, it is used on ALL pizzas.  Employees are trained to prevent cross contamination.
Seafood
Hawthorne/Corbett Fish House- Uses rice flour, so you can enjoy fish and chips again!
Pasta
Old Spaghetti Factory-   Serves DeBole’s Rice Fettuccine, 4 sauce choices, salad (request no croutons).  Can also add chicken or Italian sausage.  Baked chicken is available at dinner time only.
Olive Garden- It’s a limited menu, but they do have a gf penne pasta which you can sub (after questioning menu ingredients) in some pasta dishes.
Burgers
Cruise In Country Diner.  Natural, Organic, Local.  The owners are very friendly and seem to be always there.  Offering gluten free buns, gf fries (must specify), and gf BEER (Redbridge) which is made with sorghum.  The ground beef is all antibiotic and hormone free.
Red Robin- I’m not impressed with their offerings as it’s just a listing of regular menu items minus all the good stuff.  Doesn’t offer any gluten free buns or pasta, you just have to go low carb style.  Their fries are gluten free, but are usually fried in a shared frier, so double check before you order.  You also have to ask for no RR seasoning (and how yummy is that stuff?!?!).