Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Field Trip and Review!


Excuse my lack of blogging..been a WEE bit busy lately!!

Our CSA Chapter took a field trip as we say, to Whole Foods in New Orleans and more importantly, to NAKED PIZZA in NOLA. We were super excited when we found out they had a gluten free pizza...we discovered because they very smartly put up a giant sign about their twitter!

So we planned our trip, left the kids with my mother in law (God bless her!) and headed off to NOLA. We may be a small group but we're strong! Well, we got there, ordered our pizza and headed off to Audubon Park to enjoy it with some awesome sodas with actual sugar! (NO chemicals and crap in this pizza joint!)

To sit down, pick up a piece of pizza, take a big bite and not vomit or choke it down was, well, damn heavenly. When you are used to planning your pizza eating around what crust you have frozen, or how much flour you have, to walk in, order a GF pizza and ENJOY IT was AMAZING.

No, it didn't taste like Pizza Hut pizza...and that was good! You could taste the REAL ingredients, no HFCS, no junk, no crap! Just real ingredients, a yummy gluten free rice flour and deliciousness in a pizza pie!

The staff were amazingly nice, (although I kept missing my twitter buddy!) and were very sweet and helpful! I cannot wait for an excuse to go across the lake and I'm pretty sure every Whole Foods field trip will now involve a stop at Naked Pizza! I even snagged a Take-N-Bake pie for on the way home!! Pick it up, put it in the oven and VIOLA. yummy GF pizza at home too! And the BEST part---REASONABLY PRICED!!! You'd expect a pizza with high quality ingredients to be off the wall expensive but it wasn't!

The girls loved it, we can't wait to go back and our Gluten Free Hats off to Naked Pizza!

Eat on Folks!












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Now on a less happy note....I tried the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mix, the yellow one. Um, Yeah. Betty..you better step it up. Long gone are the days where we gluten free eaters just lap up any dry, crumbly combination that we can find. No more. After great products from Pamela's, Bob's Red Mill and more, if you're going to launch a GF Cake Mix...it better be awesome.

Now...in Betty's defense, I have somehow lost my mixer beaters..so I had to mix the cake mix by hand. I know in some GF recipes an electric mixer is a must have because the eggs act in a way that fluffs up the mix. So I may cut it some slack and see if I can't find my beaters before I attempt the chocolate cake mix. But let's just say...if I had to choose between Betty Crocker mix and Pamela's...I'm going home with my trusty Pamela's, even if it does mean paying an extra 2-3 bucks. If I want cake..I want it yummy!!

So we'll see how the cookie and brownie mixes go for ol' Betty!

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Side note for members:
The GF box from Angel Food Ministries was not put on the truck this month, so we don't have one to sort out and share! :( Hopefully next month!

Our next meeting will be Monday, July 13th at PJ's Coffee House, 2040 Gause Blvd. THERE IS A TIME CHANGE! I am always rushing, so we discussed having the meeting at 7 pm now! Let me know if this is a problem! Thanks and happy Gluten Free Living!!

~~Amy

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Loss of Great Gluten Free Chef

It is with a heavy heart that I report that my dear friend Cherie, aka, Glutenada/She Loves Cake, is no longer able to stay in business. Yes, she is alive and kicking and cooking, but thanks to the recession she cannot remain in business any longer. This upsets me as both a gluten free foodie and an American citizen that we have failed yet ANOTHER small business. Our economy is in such shambles that even a business as fantastic as Glutenada cannot stay open? I am scared at this prospect.

Cherie is a FABULOUS cook, baker and friend. She stood up for TASTE in gluten free foods and I am extremely sad that she can no longer share her fantastic food with the world. I discovered Cherie on Etsy.com and have been a fan ever since.

This is a tremendous blow for GF life, food and business in America. I have to keep my mouth shut on what I think about that since this is a blog for a non-profit organization, but if you want to know, just drop me a line or follow me on www.twitter.com/fleurdeink

Cherie, your yummy concotions will be EXTREMELY missed and I eagerly await a time when you can re-open because I am sure you can one day!

You can still stay in touch with Cherie at Beyond the Wheat

Thanks America....stole my 1 lb cupcake.

~~Amy

Friday, June 5, 2009

Meeting, Monday June 8th 6:30pm

Hello all! We'll have our monthly meeting at PJ's Coffee House, 2040 Gause Blvd at 6:30 pm..I may be a few minutes late, and we may adjust these meetings to 7 pm! I hope everyone is having a lovely gluten free week and I'll see you Monday.

Be there or be square, I have some gluten free yummies for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~Amy