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Del Pueblo Cafe

7 Oct

After spending some time at the Carpinteria Avocado Festival today, all we wanted for dinner was Mexican Food. We decided on Del Pueblo Cafe in Goleta. I ordered the Rajas Tacos.

These had grilled pasilla peppers and onions on two corn tortillas. They were topped with lettuce, cheese and salsa fresca. I found the colorful decorations in the restaurant really appealing. On a totally unrelated note… at the avocado festival we were able to determine that our backyard avocado tree is of the Bacon Avocado variety. Is that the best name or what?

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SOL Food Festival

29 Sep

Today was the Santa Barbara Sol Food Festival. The Sol Food Festival was a one day community created festival to raise awareness of the sustainable, organic, and local food systems of Santa Barbara County. I was especially excited since their “Garden of Eatin'” promised gluten-free items! The first thing I tried was the Organic Kale Salad from Soho’s stand. It had tomatoes, toasted seasame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and avocado. It was mighty good. Then I sauntered over to the Sol Food Kitchen stand which featured Fairview Gardens. They had a veggie jambalaya with brown rice and gluten-free cornbread crouton.

This dish was nice and hearty. How cool was it that the cornbread was GF?! Next. I walked by the Pizza Guru stand and couldn’t resist a slice of gluten-free pizza.

The featured pizza was “Ebby’s Homegrown”. It had roasted organic heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and bell peppers. They topped it with some fresh goat cheese and basil. This was good but it had been pre-made so it wasn’t as fresh as the first two items. I thought I was done eating, but then I walked by this appealing item.

Made-to-order Potato Chips in their own, dedicated fryer? Yes please! I also stopped by the Simply Pies stand where they had run out of their gluten-free miniature 3″ pielets. That was totally understandable as their pies are that fantastic! Don’t forget, you can sample their gluten-free offerings at our meeting on Wednesday (shameless plug)!

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Cottage Hospital Cafeteria

26 Sep

One of the nice things about eating at a hospital is that there is an awareness of different dietary needs. At Cottage Hospital, they ensure that at least one of their soups and one of their main dishes each day is gluten-free. Additionally, everything is labeled clearly as shown above so that there is no question as to what you can and can’t eat. I ended up having their salmon with pineapple relish. I got this with a side of rice and vegetables.

I was surprised at how good a hospital’s cafeteria could be! I loved the pineapple relish that came on top of the salmon. For dessert, I had some GF chocolate cake.

My favorite part of the cake was definitely the frosting. While there, I met with with the cofounder of Gluten-Free Santa Barbara to plan our first meeting. As a reminder, it is being held one week from today! It will be held in the cafeteria area at 5:30 PM. Additionally, every Wednesday, Cottage Hospital holds a farmer’s market from noon to 5:00PM. So, just show up a little early to get some shopping done!

To get the latest updates on our future meetings, events and more, just like us on Facebook! AND… if you plan on attending our inaugural meeting, please RSVP on the event site.

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First meal after being Glutened

24 Sep

I got gluten-ed pretty badly a couple of nights ago. Because of my reaction, I was a bit hesitant to eat anything from anywhere outside of my kitchen, even if I had never had problems at that establishment before. So, I decided to make blueberry muffins for breakfast this morning. This was quite a task as I never bake, and most certainly have never made muffins before. I got the Namaste Food muffin mix and got to work. The only thing I did to add to the recipe was mix in some blueberries. The final product was ok. I realized that there was no sugar added to the mix, and thus they were a bit bland. If I were to get the baking itch again, I might mix in something that would sweeten them a bit.

As a reminder, we will be holding our inaugural Gluten-Free Santa Barbara meeting next week. It will be held at Cottage Hospital on Wednesday, October 3rd at 5:30 PM. You can find us on facebook for updates on this and future meet-ups. Please RSVP on the event site so that we can make sure there are enough GF goodies to go around!

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Product Review: Linwoods

18 Sep

This past week, I have been trying out Linwoods’ line of Super Foods after being sent a sample. These Super Foods naturally provide vitamins, minerals and fatty acids, all aimed at improving your overall health. For a girl that eats nachos like it is her job, I figured some extra vitamins and minerals could be good for me. It was easiest for me to sprinkle them on my breakfast each day, whether I was having GF granola, yogurt or a smoothie. I found that there wasn’t much taste to the basic flaxseed. The one that I enjoyed the taste of the most was the Flaxseed and Goji Berries. It was good mixed in with fruit smoothies and provided me with a ton of antioxidants to start my day right!

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Arlington Tavern

17 Sep

This weekend, we decided to give Arlington Tavern a try since I had been hearing some good things about it from some coworkers. While ordering, our waitress didn’t know much about what gluten-free meant, so I explained to her the questions she needed to ask the chef. I started with the caesar salad without the croutons. I loved how much cheese there was. I also had the crispy pork belly. Typically this is made on a flat top where other things are made. However, to avoid cross contamination, the chef made it in a pan for me.

I loved this dish as it was basically tastier, thicker bacon. For my main dish, I had the halibut.

This came with brussel sprout leaves, fava beans and bacon. It was good, but not quite as good as that crispy pork belly.

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The Blue Owl

16 Sep

After seeing their menu online that said “Gluten-Free Bread is Available on Request”, I decided to try The Blue Owl one day. They use Our Daily Bread’s gluten-free bread. I ordered the Turkey Thyme sandwich which had roasted turkey, thyme mayo and cheese. The result was really tasty. They warmed the sandwich in a toaster oven using foil to protect the surface of the bread. They then brought me a GF brownie which they don’t have regularly, but happened to have on this day.

The brownie was very rich and decadent. The woman I spoke with behind the counter didn’t seem entirely confident in being able to keep my sandwich GF so I might avoid this place if you have Celiac like myself. I didn’t feel ill afterwards, but it felt like I was living on the edge a bit when I placed my order.

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Four Seasons Chicago

10 Sep

One of my favorite things about Four Seasons is their gluten-free friendly breakfast. The Four Seasons in Chicago was no exception. With items like GF Nutella Hotcakes and GF cereal on the menu, I knew I would be fine. I ended up getting the GF blueberry muffin which had plump and juicy blueberries. Along with my scrambled eggs, I also had gluten-free toast.

Our waitress assured me that they had a dedicated gluten-free toaster to prevent cross contamination!

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Frontera Grill

9 Sep

The restaurant that was top on my list to try during our trip to Chitown was Frontera Grill. We love our Rick Bayless cookbook and the only salsa that we ever buy is the Frontera Chipotle Salsa. Our waiter was very good about running back to the kitchen to check if things were GF for me or not. I started with the Grill Roasted Corn with serrano mayo, cilantro and homemade fresh cheese. Holy ridiculousness. This was unbelievable. I then had the Brothy Corn Esquites.

This had sweet corn, pozole corn, rich corn broth, cilantro mayo, anejo cheese and guajillo powder. After giving this a good mix, the flavors blended nicely. We order some guacamole for the table. The chips were not GF, so I just had some with fresh corn tortillas. For my main dish, I had smoked chicken queso fundido tacos which were served with fresh corn tortillas.

The smokiness flavor from the chicken was fantastic. This would have been plenty but we also ordered some side dishes. We got the Grilled Green Beans which had to be prepared without the garlic due to cross contamination.

Without the garlic, there wasn’t as much flavor. I think it would have been better to try ordering something that didn’t need alterations. We also a side of black beans with fresh cheese.

One last note… if you are of age, and it is still on the menu, order the Summer Margarita. You are welcome.

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Hannah’s Bretzel

8 Sep

Some Celiacs may see a sign like that and run the other way. I did the opposite. I asked a bunch of questions. I found that Hannah’s Bretzel in Chicago did a great job of preventing cross contamination when making my GF sandwich. A chosen staff member went to put on a different color of gloves, and then went to a separate area where the GF baguettes were individually wrapped. He then used a special knife kept in that area that had been wrapped up when not in use. The end product was Hannah’s Club on a gluten-free baguette.

This “Über Sandwich” had organic smoked turkey, bacon, gruyère, avocado, vine tomatoes, red onions and romaine hearts. It was quite good. I know that every time I eat out I am making the decision to put myself at risk of being gluten-ed. My experience at this particular spot was great though and I appreciated their sign to show that they were educated on what gluten-free truly means.

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