CeliacChicks

Gluten-Free Amsterdam: Part One

 

Please welcome Kathy Kelly (gluten-free since 2002) from Staten Island as today's guest blogger. Thanks for sharing, Kathy!

I love Amsterdam! My trip began on a Continental non-stop flight from Newark to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Continental provides gluten-free meals upon request at the time of booking.  It was suprisingly good.The meal consisted of a small green salad, sliced chicken over rice with steamed vegetables, fresh grapes, strawberries, and a Jennie's GF Coconut Macaroon. Before landing, I was given cut up fruit and another Jenni's coconut macaroon.

In Amsterdam, the best location to stay is near the Leidseplain. There are many hotels, restaurants, clubs, canal tours, and museums within walking distance. 

Upon my arrival at the Amsterdam Marriott, I asked the concierge about gluten-free food and dining.  He directed me to the Bio Mart, which is similar to a health food store in the US.  There I was able to stock up on gluten-free goods like power bars, gluten-free cereal, Schar brand crackers, cookies and bread; rice cakes, cheese, nuts and tomatoes. The prices are a little high, but worth having food to get me by.

While strolling around I came across Marqt at Overtoom 21-25 and found some great fresh items.  The market is open from the middle of May through the fall. Buying locally grown and produced strawberries, apples, pears, mushrooms, cheese and yogurt is a great way to eat healthy and delicious foods at low cost.

Gluten-Free India

Please welcome today's guest blogger who has chosen to be identified as the mysterious Gluten-Free Family Of Four In Boston. ~Kelly

We are just back from a trip to India, specifically the Golden Triangle comprising the cities of Delhi, Agra (location of the Taj Mahal), and Jaipur (the capital of Rajasthan.) We are a family of four, with two gluten free girls, ages 8 and 11. Complicating matters is that one of the girls is mostly vegetarian and the other is a ravenous carnivore.

Overall the food in India is fresh, unprocessed, gluten-free and delicious. The majority of food (with the exception of the obvious breads naan, chapati, and puri) is gluten-free. It is much simpler in India because you are not dealing with processed food so there are few hidden ingredients. A lot of the food is lentil and chickpea based and is almost always served with rice. 



Many meals, particularly in restaurants, start with papadam, which is made from lentils. This is great because so often my girls don’t get anything to eat until the main course and have to sit watching others eat bread sticks, etc. In India they ruined their appetites with papadam and I happily let them. Another great appetizer is pakoras. Pakoras are similar to vegetable tempura but with chickpea flour (aka gram flour.)

Gluten-Free Shopping in Scarborough, Maine

Here is the latest in our ongoing CeliacChicks Around The World feature. This was sent in by Kat Brooks. Thank you, Kat!

On 9-22-08 I discovered a fantastic store on Route 1 in Scarborough, Maine.  It's called Lois' Natural Marketplace and I felt like a kid in a candy store!  They had loads of gluten free foods - a great variety of manufacturers in all categories.  Quite a lot of it was produced locally by folks with celiac relatives and Lois, the owner, managed to get this huge assortment of foods in one place. 

There is also a sandwich and soup bar, and the chefs there make nearly everything gluten-free.  I got some Greek Chicken Soup and it was so nice to be able to eat something without worrying if the person just told me it was gluten free to brush me off.  Everyone I spoke to was very knowledgeable about celiac disease and they offered to special order anything I couldn't find.  It really was a pleasure to shop there!

The baked goods there are to-die-for! I can't even remember the last time I ate anything with pumpkin in it, which is my absolute favorite, and I was nearing ecstasy with their moist and decadent Pumpkin Chocolate Cake.  Yes, I ate the whole thing!  And this morning I ate the Blueberry-Peach Coffee Cake and that was delicious beyond words as well.  I am looking forward to polishing off my Carrot Cake tomorrow.

Gluten-Free Costa Rica Trip

Uvita National Park, Costa Rica. Photo courtesy of Magda Wojtyra.*

Anyone up for a week of hiking, kayaking, rain forest walks, beaches, swimming, zip-lining, and gluten-free meals enjoyed with a gluten-free nutrition and health expert?

[waving hand frantically] Oh, uh, I don't have any more vacation time left. [pout]

Photos From The Gluten-Free White Mountain Adventure In New Hampshire

It was really this beautiful!

Hi!

I’m Melinda Dennis, a registered dietitian specializing in celiac disease. I recently joined up with Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) to teach this weekend’s participants about celiac disease and the gluten free diet. Here are some photos that should help  recap the fun we had on the first Gluten Free Adventure Travel with Eastern Mountain Sports & Delete the Wheat in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

June 27 - 29, 2008

FRIDAY NIGHT
You know when you just know you’re going to like a group of people?!? That was our group. The first thing we did together was spot a bear cub cross the lawn by our inn – kind of a bonding experience. That kind of set the stage for our get-away weekend.  By the way, there’s an outdoor pool and hot tub here – the Cranmore Mountain Lodge in North Conway, NH.

Lemonade and delicious, gluten-free gougeres (cheesy balls)

The group drifted in on Friday night, coming from Massachusetts and Connecticut and was met by chewy, gluten-free cheese balls for an evening appetizer, made especially by the innkeeper. They got a big bag of gluten-free snacks, energy bars, and rehydration drinks - all donated by our kind sponsors. We ended up having our first class (Nutrition for Outdoor Adventure) in the living room after coming back from Katrina’s Organic Market – a fantastic, organic, gluten free dinner of grilled chicken, quinoa salad and super salad (yummy kale dish) with a pie that we fought over it was so delicious! Becky, the director of EMS Trek, ate dinner w/ us and shared stories about adventure trekking all over the world. No matter what we learned about in class tonight about whole gluten-free grains, balanced nutrient intake for endurance exercise (our upcoming hike),  fluids, protein and carb needs, nothing can stop us from looking forward to tomorrow’s breakfast – fluffy GF pancakes and French toast homemade by our innkeeper.