PF = my GF BF.

After spending this lovely autumn weekend locked up in the law library, I am FINALLY (mostly) finished a much-dreaded memo for school! To celebrate, I ordered takeout online from PF Chang's. Due to the wonders of technology, when I arrived at the designated time, I was told I still had to wait another 35 minutes for my food. Well, that turned out to be a good thing! In the same shopping center (The Shoppes at Brinton Lake) I discovered The Fresh Market. Not merely the only store open at 7:30 on a Sunday, it's a gloriously swanky, upscale food store. As their website says, "Our stores convey the atmosphere of an old world European market, all under one roof, where you can visit an array of departments... The open air feel of our market presents a feast for the senses as colors and fragrant smells fill the atmosphere and classical music plays wafts through the air." This joint is classy! One of my joys in life is wandering around food stores looking for new GF discoveries - again, not a hobby that fits well with the rigors of law school - so it was wonderful to do some guilt-free exploring.

I've read about the new King Arthur GF baking mixes but hadn't seen them in person - voila! Some other good finds included Sharwood's papadums and San-J tamari-ginger salad dressing. They also carry Caesar's frozen GF pasta entrees, which are fantastic, especially the manicotti. Because of the location and not-cheapness, I won't be shopping here often, but it seems like a lovely place to pick up odds & ends or high-quality organic produce and meat/fish.

In other news, this week I finally tried out Seasons Pizza's gluten-free pizza. It's now being offered at the Concord Pike, Christiana, and Elsmere locations. Real talk: nothing can replace the role of gluten in pizza crust, so no pizza is going to be the same. But this is pretty darn good! The pizza comes only in medium size for $9.99 (toppings extra). The pie is small, and the crust is very thin; almost crispy but not quite there, although the melty gooey cheese is so perfect that you can trick yourself. This is about as good as it gets for gluten-free pizza. (It's also good the next day if you pop it in the toaster oven, which does crisp up the crust a bit.)

Despite the pizza talk, I've decided I must recommit to being dairy-free, or as low-dairy as I can get. The time crunch has made me rely too much on carbs and dairy for quick fix meals lately, and it's having a drastic effect on how I feel and look. It's going to be hard but I think it's for the best. Goodbye cheese, I will always love you.

New items at Trader Joe's!

Hello, my gluten-free friends and allies! For the last month I have been incredibly busy packing and moving into my fantastic new home and getting ready for a crazy new chapter in my life, but I'm finally getting settled. One perk of my new location is that Trader Joe's is now only 10-15 minutes away, whereas I used to drive about half an hour each way to get my TJ's GF goodies. (One of the fun realities of celiac life: it is virtually impossible to find everything you need in one place. I shop at three different food stores, at least, to find the products I want/need.) Trader Joe's has been rolling out a number of new items lately, several of which are relevant to this blog's interests.

Item #1: Peanut flour. I haven't tried this personally. I'm not really sure how one would use peanut flour, but the product card recommends using it for baking cakes and cookies. I think it could also make an interesting coating for baked chicken or fish.

Item #2: Snickerdoodles! These are free of the 7 biggest allergens (wheat, soy, egg, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish - whew, that's a relief. I hate shellfish in my cookies!) so they're vegan as well as celiac friendly. Made with sorghum flour and date paste, the texture is very soft and chewy, a rarity in GF cookiedom. They're more like a cinnamon-y fig newton than the buttery sugar cookie you might recall from pre-celiac life, so I'm not sure snickerdoodle is the most apt name. The cookies are quite small with a serving size of 2 cookies at 130 calories and 4.5g fat; each box contains only 12 cookies.

Delaweekend update.

I'm very pleased to report a semi-new GF-friendly restaurant option in the Wilmington, Delaware area. In the olden days Before Gluten, I meant to try out Big Fish Grill on the Riverfront, which opened sometime last fall, but I'd forgotten all about it. I won't make that mistake again. Not only do they offer a GF menu, there's also vegan, garlic-free, shellfish-free, dairy-free, and egg-free - how incredibly comprehensive is that? I ordered fresh grilled grouper with smashed potatoes and spinach, all of which I enjoyed. (Does grouper always taste like chicken?) I forgot to ask if any of the fish is local or sustainably caught, but I'll get on that next time. For now I'm delighted with their dietary inclusiveness. There's another Big Fish Grill (the original location) in Rehoboth Beach. (Photo from Big Fish Grill's Facebook page)

Another good choice in the Newark area: Cheeseburger in Paradise, a tropical island-themed chain restaurant. (For PA people, there are also locations in Exton and Oxford Valley.) There are several entrées, salads, and many burgers (sans bun) to choose from; beef, turkey, and veggie burgers are all GF. Today I indulged in the West Indies Burger, which is served with goat cheese, spring mix, and some manner of coconut-mango topping with banana jerk chutney dipping sauce and (ooh la la) french fries.

New product alert: Dr. McDougall's Asian Entrée Pad Thai instant noodle cup (not currently listed on the website). There are several other varieties in the Asian Entrée line but as far as I know, Pad Thai is the only one that's gluten-free. I found this in the organic section of my local Giant Food. (Extra bonus: "The cup you are holding is made from paper sourced exclusively from certified sustainably managed forests.") At 200 calories and 2g fat per serving, this is going with me on vacation next week for sure. Let's just hope it tastes good too.

I also discovered a new (to me) instant-favorite snack: Wholly Guacamole snack packs! They're gluten-free, made with actual food, and are 100 calories per pouch, so they are perfect for satisfying a guacamole craving without going overboard. I recommend dipping in with Green Mountain Gringo tortilla strips, which are GF-certified and all natural.