Across The water, Across The Land, Go

(whistling) My new journey begins and ends in the same place, home. Home to me now is wherever I am in the free world with my friends/family. Change is in the air and I have been searching for new places to reside. First, NOLA. However, this place has poor gluten free awareness. After educating your server, you may be able to trust them with your meal, but most places just don't adapt well to the suggestion. Houston has some awareness. The Tex Mex joints are familiar with corn and flour tortillas and can separate them in the kitchen. Austin is a fantastic city for many reasons.

Spread The McLovin

Here is a public service holiday + new years + gluten-free movement message to the entire community who eat food to survive. Ya that is definitely you. You are indeed what you eat and you are capable of controlling your actions, specifically late night snacking (speaking to myself). Eating healthier does not only benefit your entire-ness, but your individual parts like the heart, overall weight and walk forward and it inadvertently affects the people around and the dominoes that surround. Take a tip from the gluten-free movement, learn what's in your foods, each ingredient on that listing and if it's too long you probabyl shouldn't eat it because it's all processed crap. Take a second to realize that when there is so much fillers in the foods you eat, you're not eating anything real, but food that is "made" in a factory. Challenge yourself to enjoy more natural foods, that dont' have the fake man-made box ingredients and taste real food that your ancestors survived on. Then go enjoy the wii and the ipod and the new car.

The Best Kind Of Friends.

Friends look out for you. Friends make you laugh. Friends love you so much, but not all friends know exactly how to cook gluten free. Many of them feel that they do, and I know some of mine definitely do and always look out for me. However, Celiacs, cannot trust everyone. It's key to ask all of the questions you would when you go out to eat. Look over someone's kitchen and find out what they also were cooking and how they keep up with their kitchen. Sometimes baking food in the same oven can cause contamination or not washing the silverware carefully or keep in mind the toaster that your dad used earlier had a regular bagel so it must be scrubbed well. So at the end of the day here is the 2cents... clean utensils, pots and pans and surfaces very well and often and also friends if you want to look out for your gluten free friends take it serious, don't' risk contamination and don't get upset if a Celiac questions your baking etiquette and you'll get a big smile and a huge hug in return. Trust me.

When Just Spotting The GF label Is Not Enough.

Nope. It isn't enough to simply check the ingredients either. It went down when I moved my car as I usually do 2 x week because I live in Park Slope, Brooklyn, notorious for the awful street parking and mom's with luxury strollers. I scored a great spot, but of course that brought me into a new cross section in town sparking a new mood for me as I strolled down 7 Avenue of the Slope. Noticed I was nearby one of my favorite health food groceries, Back To The Land. So I walked in confidently shrugging off that I would spend the usual 2-3 x more than I was planning on considering all I was supposed to do tonight was park my car and go home. After perusing the new gluten free cereals I walked through the middle of the store and saw the refrigerated section and in my peripheral vision I saw the label "gluten free" shouting at me.

 Sometimes I can spot that needle in the haystack. I have a 6th sense radar for the label. I'm talented. Anyway, I was totally stoked for some Sesame Tofu considering I love Sesame seeds and enjoy a nice block of Tofu or two as well and dig the fact it was all mixed up. I read the label thoroughly which was a product from THE V SPOT. The label "GLUTEN FREE" was prominent along with Dairy Free and Vegan stamp approvals. Of course I checked the ingredients because I like to know what's in the food I eat and then noticed the food itself in more detail. Luckily it was a see through clear plastic box and saw all of these lovely quinoa hairs poking and speaking to me. I was soo excited because it's one of my favorite tasting grains that's high in protein. But I realized that the quinoa was not listed on the ingredient list! Wow! This wasn't' good and I thought I should check with the employees to be sure I wasnt' seeing things. Employees confirmed that the label wasn't matching the product and we chatted about this predicament. I was extremely disappointed, upset and actually shocked by the mislabeling here. Celiacs need to trust what the labels! Gluten Free labels are not a joke.

This Is The Beginning...

Just like many other fellow Americans, I have made some conscious efforts to plan 2009 resolutions. Some range from marathon training to growing watermelons in my summer garden.  Yes, man. We all think of them and most probably will attempt some of them, so don't lie that you have/will not.  But why gosh darn can't we stick to them when we all know that these resolutions tend to be character improvements and could be key to our personal future happiness and health? This blog will focus on a man and his gluten free life.... Concentrating on the food, the lifestyle, the mix and sharing the beauty in what is found.

As a diagnosed Celiac since 1997, I have promised to provide honest, open, fair feedback on all gluten-free, natural, non GMO and organic products that cross my path into our universe.

Please subscribe, comment and share. Live well, smart and happy being gluten-free.