Tag Archives: Gluten-free

Good Things Tuesday: Folgers, Sweet Tea and Food Trucks

Posted on August 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

1. Folgers Chocolate Truffle coffee

Any excuse to get more chocolate into every meal, I will take.  Add in some Coffee-mate Naturals, and it’s like melted cake in a cup. Making Coffee-mate Naturals was such a brilliant idea given the mass demand for all things organic and non-synthetic. This stuff only has a few ingredients, and actually has an expiration date, unlike the original Coffee-mate, which will last a year unrefrigerated in the Sahara.

2. Firefly Skinny Tea Sweet Tea Vodka

I wandered into my neighborhood wine/liquor store, Sherry’s Wine & Spirits because I heard that they had a huge selection of beer and I wanted to check out their gluten free choices (just Redbridge as far as I saw). But then, miracle of all miracles, I stumbled upon their sweat tea vodka section – holy varieties! There was one that I had never seen before, their “skinny tea”, which is made with an “all natural sweetener”. Even though I hate things that are named “skinny”, I still got one. It tasted just like the original, except less sugary. Win!

3. DC Food Trucks Gluten Free List

There are always a ton of food trucks parked outside my office near Farragut Square, but I’m never sure which ones to approach.  I found this list yesterday of food trucks that carry gf options, and there seem to be quite a few.  I tweeted at Curbside Cupcakes yesterday, and they said that they did not have gf cupcakes yet, but the rest of the list seems sound. Now I just have to track them down! Sabor’a Street for arepas and Sweetbites are first on my to-eat list.

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Potenza

Posted on August 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

This weekend I went to Potenza for a special dinner downtown. Since I didn’t exactly have the healthiest of meals the rest of the weekend, I figured I would try to keep it light.  I started with an arugula, watermelon, and parmesan salad.

I also had a bite of my friend’s burrata and yellow tomato salad which was awesome. I love burrata like old ladies love root beer barrels. Both were seasonal salads, so they aren’t included on their online menu.

For my entree I split the tiger shrimp with my friend, which was served with green and white beans. Super fresh, but not incredibly substantial. It would have been a great meal to have after a few dinner rolls with butter, but sadly that wasn’t an option 😉

I loved that Potenza has so many seasonal dishes, and a great cocktail menu with my favorite… Pimm’s Cup!

*UPDATE: After some searching, I came across this post about Potenza from about a year ago that said that they carry gluten free pasta!  I called the chef to confirm, and they do have gf fusilli pasta “90% of the time”.  What a fail! It’s not listed anywhere on their menu, and even though I told the waitress I had a gluten allergy, she didn’t mention it at all.  I guess I’ll file this under “coulda/woulda/shoulda”. 

Afterward we really had no choice but to wash down dinner with some Pitango gelato. Speaking of seasonal flavors: blueberry jam, local strawberry, rhubarb, and cantaloupe were on their menu.

I of course needed to get two of the most decadent flavors they have in the same dish: vanilla chocolate chip and chocolate chocolate chip. Yes, that says chocolate three times.

For some reason Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” just popped into my head.  Oh, Monday mornings 🙂

Potenza

15th & H Street NW

Washington DC. 20005

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Gluten Free Hangover Cure

Posted on August 14, 2011 | 3 comments

Yesterday I woke up feeling, let’s just say, not bright eyed and bushy tailed.  I had a blast going out in DC on Friday night, but in the morning I needed to recover, and fast!

So, I did what anyone would do in my state. Fry an egg, put it on top of leftover pizza, and eat it in bed in your underwear pajamas!

The pizza was leftover from Open City – Roasted corn, ricotta, mozzarella & jalapeno cream.  Cooked extra crispy.  And just what I needed.

Here it is sitting pretty the night before. Their gf pizza crust is just so good:

It didn’t exactly “cure” my hangover, but it sure made my belly happy.

So did my lunch from Firefly in Dupont.

I’ve been excited to try their gluten free menu for awhile.  And although I don’t necessarily agree with their claim to be “the quintessential urban neighborhood restaurant in Washington DC,” it still was a really cute place.

A mushroom and cheddar omelette for me! Substitute home fries for normal fries, because the more grease the better!

The mushrooms in the omelette were great, and the fries were my favorite kind: skinny, crispy, and handcut.

And some fruit on the side to put some nutrition in my diet of carbs and cheese.

Add a strong cup of coffee, a couple of ibuprofen, and I managed to make it through 🙂

I’m going to have to go back to Firefly to try their gluten free dinner menu: shrimp and grits, collard greens, truffle fries.

Oh, and a peanut butter ice cream “sandwich” for dessert: flourless chocolate cake, bananas foster sauce, peanut brittle, sea salt.

I need one right now!

Firefly

1310 New Hampshire Ave NW

Washington DC, 20036

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Eat this, not that.

Posted on August 12, 2011 | 1 comment

I’ve always been kind of obsessed with “Eat this, not that” type comparisons. They have them on the Today Show all the time, comparing high calorie/high fat meals to ones that are healthier. So when I spotted the book “Eat This, Not That! The No Diet Weight Loss Solution” at the library, I decided to pick it up and see if there were any gluten free items in it.

There wasn’t a dedicated gf section, but there were some items that surprised me.

And this is what I learned…

Eat this: Soy Crisps and True North almond crisps

Not that: Nacho rice chips (but they’re so good!)

None of the cereals on the “Eat this” list were gf. But Chocolate Chex were on the “Not that” list! (In my head I think of it as the naughty list, like Santa. I still love chocolate Chex and will eat it regardless).

But, on the “Eat this” list I found Tamari soy sauce.

And finally, a fun fact: Starbuck’s Frappucino drinks have the same amount of sugar/calories as two servings of ice cream! Gimme the ice cream any day.

Are there any other gluten free foods that you think would be on the “Not That” list?   And do you eat them anyway?

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Nut butter monster bars – Cocomama recipe contest

Posted on August 10, 2011 | Leave a comment

Today’s the day!  It’s the Cocomama Recipe Contest! They will be posting all of the recipes on their Facebook page, and the one with the most likes wins.  So, you should probably go there and hit the “Like” button to vote for me.

This is my first ever recipe contest, and I think I have a winner. I’m calling them “Nut Butter Monster Bars”.

And don’t they look good for their big judgment day?

Ingredients:

  • 3 3/4 c. gluten free cereal (I used Nature’s Path Honey’d Corn Flakes, but you could use Chex or rice cereal too)
  • 1/4 c. honey
  • 1/4 c. brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 T. butter
  • 3/4 c. crunchy peanut butter
  • 1/4 c. plus 1 T almond butter
  • 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 c. raisins
  • 1/3 c. white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a saucepan over low/med heat, stir together honey and brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved.

2. Stir in nut butters, butter, and cinnamon and stir until the mixture is smooth

3.  Stir in cereal (depending on the size of the cereal you may want to crunch it up a bit first)

4.  Stir in raisins and chocolate chips (this would also be great with regular chocolate, and any kind of dried fruit)

5.  Press mixture firmly into an 8×8 or 9×6 baking dish (I have a weird Ikea pan)

6. Put in fridge to set, then cut up into squares and freeze the ones you don’t eat right away!

I’m excited for the contest to start!  You should check it out on Facebook and hit the like button for me!

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Good Mexican food in DC?

Posted on August 9, 2011 | 2 comments

I’ve heard that there is no good Mexican food in DC.  The only rave review that I’ve heard is for Casa Oaxaca, which I still need to try.  Since most Mexican food is naturally gluten free, it’s such a shame.  I’ve been craving the Veggie Jenga from Pachenga Patterson like woah lately.

After a few hours of checking out the Dog Days Sidewalk Sale on U Street, I was getting hungry. I did score a deal on a vintage bracelet from Junction though, which made me happy on the walk over to El Rinconcito.  My foodie friend had heard that it was good and authentic.

Prettiness

The place was a total hole in the wall, but nearly every table was full on a Saturday at 3pm, which was a good sign.

I started with the fried yuca, because I love that stuff.

Then, after I struggled over a language barrier to order and tried to recall something of my five years of Spanish classes, I ended up with hard shell tacos with black beans.

Oh how I love a nice fluffy pile of shredded cheese.

Even though it was really simple, it was still just what I wanted.  Next time I will have to try the pupusas, which everyone else in the place was downing by the plateful.  The manager told me that they were just made out of corn flour/masa, but I couldn’t really understand him, so I stuck to hard shell.

After googling, it looks like pupusas really are just corn flour and water, and naturally gluten free.  I’ll just have to go back!  Since I’m sure as heck not going to attempt to make them myself.  Although Nicole at Gluten Free on a Shoestring sure does make it sound like fun.

Also, apparently pupusas are everywhere in DC, according to the DCist.  They can be found at Pupuseria San Miguel, Irene’s Pupusas, El Rinconcito I & II, or El Charrito Caminante).  Must get some immediately.  Cuz how yummy does this look?

The only thing that would have made my Mexican food experience more complete would have been a margarita, like the one I had the night before at Hill Country.

Only $5 after 10!

Ole!

El Rinconcito

1129 11th St NW
(between N L St & N M St)

Do you know of a great Mexican place in DC? Or how to say “gluten free” en Español? 😉

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Muffins at Tryst

Posted on August 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

Tryst in Adam’s Morgan is like Central Perk from Friends.  Big couches, hip music, eclectic art, and giant coffee cups.  The only thing that it has that Central Perk didn’t is a full bar.  Oh, and gluten free muffins.

Tryst in Admo

Can you see the resemblance?

Central Perk on Friends set

I was hoping to have some of their flourless chocolate cake, but they were out.  So I settled for a gluten-free cherry almond muffin.

Oh, and a giant cup of coffee with soy.  It came with animal crackers, which got passed off to my friend.

The muffin was great, really moist and I loved the toasted almonds around the edges.  I’ll be back for sure!

Tryst

2459 18th Street Northwest
Washington D.C., DC 20009

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Crumbs to carry a gluten free cupcake!

Posted on August 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

In a covert op on Friday night, a friend and I stopped into Crumbs Bakeshop downtown on 11th Street, since I wanted to check if they had a gluten free variety.

The guy working there told us a bit coyly that they didn’t have one, but then said that they should have one by October!

He said that there was already a button for it on the register, so it sounds like it’s legitimate, ven though on their website, they still say that they don’t carry them.

I also took this undercover picture, since I guess you’re not allowed to take pictures in Crumbs?

Hurry up already, Crumbs!

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Amsterdam Falafel

Posted on August 6, 2011 | 6 comments

Last night I got some really great falafel at Amseterdam Falafelshop in Adam’s Morgan.  It’s a really cool concept – you get a pita (if you can eat one), filled with 3 or 5 falafel balls, and then they let you go to town on the toppings in a topping bar.  With 21 toppings, to be exact.

They also have fries, but they’re not handcut, so I steered away from them.  They do fry them in a dedicated fryer.  There was actually a woman there who was gluten intolerant who was buying them, and swore to me that she didn’t have a reaction when she ate them, but I followed my new pitfall avoidance plan and just ate my falafel, which turned out to be more than enough food.

Yep, that’s slaw, beets, hummus, and falafel balls buried somewhere in there.

Oh, there you are!

One of the best $5 dinners I’ve ever had.  Although next time I will bring my own fork, since they have some weird fork phobia or protest going on where they refuse to offer them.

Amsterdam Falafelshop

2425 18th St NW
(between N Belmont Rd & N Columbia Rd)

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DC gets cool – Lincoln and Dirty Dancing

Posted on August 6, 2011 | 1 comment

I think I may have finally found a bit of New York City in DC.  Lincoln is a new restaurant right by my work that was actually COOL.  As in well-made cocktails, quirky waitstaff, awesome decor, and delicious simple food – cool.  It reminded me of the many places in NYC that I had come to love and take for granted – where everything on the menu is great, made with fresh ingredients, and not stuck in 1992.  No offense or anything, DC.

When I arrived I was greeted by two of my fabulous friends and a giant bowl of Emancipation Punch!  In a vintage-looking punch bowl.  So cool.

My adorable glass.

The happy hour menu didn’t have anything gluten free on it (their french fries were hand-cut, but weren’t fried in a dedicated fryer).

So I ordered a kale salad and trout off of the dinner menu, which our drunk as a skunk eccentric waiter assured me were gluten free.

Organic kale salad with hazelnuts, dried cranberries, Parmesan, lemon vinaigrette

I have to figure out how to make this at home.

Trout with asparagus lentil salad and whipped avocado

The trout was perfectly cooked, and it was a great light and fresh dish. So I didn’t feel bad at all getting ice cream at the Capitol Yard outdoor movie later from The Orange Cow!


They had a bunch of cool flavors, like white chocolate blueberry.  But I got my classic mint chocolate chip.

And then settled in to watch Dirty Dancing on the big blow-up screen.

Gosh I love this movie.

I will definitely be back to Lincoln at some point soon for more punch and yummy food.  I also learned from Prince of Petworth that Lincoln will soon be doing Sunday Brunch!  With a punch bowl filled with mimosas. woot.

Such a fun night in DC!  I had the time of my life. (hee hee).

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