Sasha Goes Gluten Free At Raisin Canes

NOTE: I spoke with the manager at my local Raising Cane's on 10-07-15, and they are NO LONGER GLUTEN FREE. At all. 

The post below was originally posted in April 2014, when I had spoken with the manager and was told they had a dedicated fryer for their fries and naked fingers to keep them gluten free. A friend recently told me that was no longer the case, so I talked with the manager yesterday who verified they indeed fry everything together now.

I immediately removed the post, but then I realized how many hits it had gotten since being published, and decided to re-publish it to make sure that people with Celiac Disease know NOT TO EAT AT CANE'S.

 Please spread the word. I am sure there is a possibility that other Cane's may still have dedicated fryers, but YMMV, and if they tell you they do, the only responsible thing to do is ask each and every time you dine there to make sure they continue the practice.

Raising Cane's Naked Chicken Fingers

A friend mentioned to me that our local Raising Cane's has unbreaded chicken fingers and also has a dedicated fryer used only for those "naked" chicken fingers and their fries. This week we decided to try it out, and after verifying that was indeed the case with the manager, I indulged.

And YUM! I actually think I liked the naked chicken fingers BETTER than the breaded! There was a nice crispy coating, but it wasn't at all heavy and I felt like I was eating amazingly fresh chicken and not just breading. (I'm talking to you, Arby's!)

The Cane's Sauce is also GF and so good I actually dream about it. So glad to have another GF-friendly restaurant to eat with my family!

This post is not sponsored, I am just a new fan of Raising Cane's!



Papa Murphy's Behind the Counter Tour

 

Last Thursday was the most fun day! I was invited to the Edmond Papa Murphy's for their "Behind the Counter Tour". Although we used to eat there quite a bit (the Thai Chicken Delite is a favorite), we honestly hasn't been there since my Celiac diagnosis last fall. I inquired if they possibly had a gluten-free menu  planned for the future, and was excited to find out that a GF addition to the menu will be rolled out later this year! I decided I definitely needed to accept the invitation to find out more info!



 



 

The owner, Eric Walter, was amazing! He and his wife were so nice, patient (read: willing to answer any question we had, no matter how silly!) and full of information. They own the two Edmond locations (one on Danforth and one on Broadway) as well as the Midwest City location.

 

The first thing I of course asked about was the upcoming GF pizza.... and he said he understood it would be rolled out sometime before the end of 2014. They will be using a pre-prepared crust made by Udi's, which I thought was great news. "Pre-prepared", along with the Udi's name, means safe and GF! He also said he was sure their prep areas would change in some way to accommodate keeping separate ingredients for the GF pizzas.

 

After that, we were on to the discussion and demos for their current, regular pizzas. I was already familiar with Papa Murphy's "take and bake" pizza concept, which is pretty cool. Each pizza is assembled fresh right in front of you, and you take it home to bake in your own oven.

 

It was neat to see the dough made- and we even got to make a batch and roll out the dough balls. The accountant in me loved hearing about their supply projection formulas! Dough can be used either the day made or the day after, so they use a labeling system and a FIFO approach and are able to adjust their dough making each day based on prior day's sales. I love to see things in action like that.

 

They also chop all their vegetables fresh, as well as grate their own cheese. They have a huge walk in cooler where everything is stored and we got to take a trip in there (since I am so hot-blooded, it felt FABULOUS!).

 

We even got to make our own pizzas to take home! I decided to make mine for the kiddos. I chose their Delite crust, which is a thinner and healthier crust, and topped it with their white creamy garlic sauce. For Will's half I just topped it with cheese, but Reese got pepperonis and bacon on her half. After we were done assembling the pizza. they showed us how to wrap it securely in cling wrap to safely take home and store in the refrigerator until reading to bake.

That evening, I took the pizza out and baked it according to the directions and served it to two hungry kids. The crust got wonderfully crispy, just the way they like it.

 

 

Both kids absolutely loved their pizza! The Walters even sent me home with several slices of their Smores Pizza for the kids to enjoy for dessert. They were quite impressed and I am sure will be asking for some more soon.

 

Much thanks to the Walters for sharing their information (and yummy pizza) with me! If you are local and see me, ask about a coupon for a free pizza, I've got some in my purse ready to hand out!

Summer of Cider

Sadly, along with my diagnosis of Celiac Disease came the death of The Summer of Beer. Sniff.

 

Luckily, I have found that I LOVE hard ciders and am making my way through the shelves at the liquor store, since that's the only place to buy them in our bass-ackwards state.

 

 Welcome beautiful nights on the back patio!

 

Angry Orchard Elderflower is AMAZING. So nice and fruity and so smooth. Love!

 



But Woodchuck Summer has claimed my top spot in The Summer of Cider. This has a hint of blueberry and is so tasty. Even my neighbor who is not a big fan of fruity drinks liked this one.

 



 

But DO NOT try Woodchuck Spring...... I am not a fan. I though the "touch of maple and brown sugar" sounded fabulous, but not so much. In fact, just thinking of it gives me a bad taste in my mouth. Plus? It is not at all appropriate for Spring..... much more so Fall! Maybe I will like it then! 

 

Any suggestions for me?

Gluten Free at Pei Wei

 

Pei Wei's Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Chicken

with brown rice

(minus onions and green peppers)

 

Pei Wei has a pretty amazing GF menu (scroll down to the bottom of the link for the GF section)..... there are lots and lots of options! Although my favorite dish, Honey Seared Chicken, cannot be prepared GF, I have switched over to Sweet and Sour Chicken and LOVE it! You'll find several salads, chicken and shrimp dishes prepared either Sweet and Sour or Pei Wei Spicy, Vietnamese Chicken Salad Rolls, as well as edamame. Even though their proteins are GF, they are still nice and crispy and I found some info on the website that explains how they do it. 

When you order one of our Gluten Free dishes, we dust your choice of chicken or shrimp in potato starch, all of which is Gluten Free, and then cook it in fresh oil.

When cooked in oil, the potato starch gives the protein a crispy texture that also allows the sauce to stick to the protein for better flavor.

They even provide GF soy sauce! Alas, stay away from the fortune cookies, as there is no GF option there! You'll have to do what I do, which is let my kids eat my cookie and read my fortune to me.

 

Sasha Goes Gluten Free At Raisin Canes

NOTE: I spoke with the manager at my local Raising Cane's on 10-07-15, and they are NO LONGER GLUTEN FREE. At all. 

The post below was originally posted in April 2014, when I had spoken with the manager and was told they had a dedicated fryer for their fries and naked fingers to keep them gluten free. A friend recently told me that was no longer the case, so I talked with the manager yesterday who verified they indeed fry everything together now.

I immediately removed the post, but then I realized how many hits it had gotten since being published, and decided to re-publish it to make sure that people with Celiac Disease know NOT TO EAT AT CANE'S.

 Please spread the word. I am sure there is a possibility that other Cane's may still have dedicated fryers, but YMMV, and if they tell you they do, the only responsible thing to do is ask each and every time you dine there to make sure they continue the practice.

Raising Cane's Naked Chicken Fingers

A friend mentioned to me that our local Raising Cane's has unbreaded chicken fingers and also has a dedicated fryer used only for those "naked" chicken fingers and their fries. This week we decided to try it out, and after verifying that was indeed the case with the manager, I indulged.

And YUM! I actually think I liked the naked chicken fingers BETTER than the breaded! There was a nice crispy coating, but it wasn't at all heavy and I felt like I was eating amazingly fresh chicken and not just breading. (I'm talking to you, Arby's!)

The Cane's Sauce is also GF and so good I actually dream about it. So glad to have another GF-friendly restaurant to eat with my family!

This post is not sponsored, I am just a new fan of Raising Cane's!



Cookie Dough Greek Yogurt

A while back, I pinned this very yummy looking pic and recipe for Cookie Dough Greek Yogurt.

The recipe calls for adding 1 tbsp. of creamy peanut butter, 1 tsp. of honey, 1/4 tsp. of vanilla extract, 1 tbsp.. of miniature chocolate chips and a dash of sea salt to an individual Greek yogurt cup.

I thought I'd modify it a bit to include my favorite peanut butter alternate- PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter, and clear vanilla extract.

Have you tried PB2? Through a unique process created by Bell Plantation that does not involve the use of any chemicals; over 90% of the fat is removed from the peanut. Essentially the oil is squeezed out of roasted peanuts and what remains is a peanut powder.

I also buy Greek yogurt in the bigger tub since it's more economical than the individual cups.

My modified recipe:

• 1 cup Fage Total 0% Greek Yogurt
• 2 tbsp. PB2 powder
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1/4 tsp. clear vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. mini chocolate chips
• dash of sea salt

It's absolutely amazing and a great start to my day!

Sasha Goes Gluten Free.... at Qdoba

 

Qdoba Naked Burrito

 

My meal contained:

Brown Rice

Steak

Queso

Shredded Cheese
Salsa Verde

Sour Cream

 

Last week I did some online research and it looked like I could have a pretty darn good GF meal at our local Qdoba. And as luck would have it, the girl immediately in front of me in line was also a Celiac! She was a former Qdoba employee and shared some great info with me.

 

1. First, they are glad to change into a fresh pair of gloves for you.

2. Their burritos can be ordered "naked", which means no tortilla.

3. Your have your choice of rice type, beans, and meat. The only meat off-limits is the Ancho Chili BBQ. And all their salsas are GF!

4. Do ask them to get fresh shredded cheese for you- the cheese in the assembly line has been touched while making dishes containing gluten.

5. Their chips are not safe, but I bought a baggie of chips from home to eat with my Naked Burrito.

 

It was DELICIOUS. I may just go there for lunch again today!

 

This post is not sponsored, I am just a new fan of Qdoba!

 



Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes..... Gluten Free!

In 2010, I made Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cupcakes with a recipe from the blog Kevin and Amanda. They turned out amazing (definitely dessert contest material) and once I found out I needed to eat gluten free I went to work modifying because I knew this was a recipe I still wanted to be able to make.

Here's the finished product. Everyone from my kids to my coworkers agreed they were delicious.

Betty Crocker makes a GF yellow cake mix that is pretty easy to find in places like Walmart or Target.It's a standard mix that you add water and eggs to, along with some gluten free vanilla extract.

I found this GF cookie dough at my local organic grocer- they were a bit expensive at $5 for 12 cookies, but I only used 6 for the recipe since I cut each cookie dough ball in half to get enough for 12 cupcakes.

I topped the cupcakes with Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Milk Chocolate frosting since it's GF. It's so nice to find that some everyday products are already GF!

Luckily I am finding that having to eat GF is not all that bad. It is definitely an adjustment and requires quite a bit of pre-planning, but I am finding it do-able!

Sasha Goes Gluten Free

Well, I got some test results on Monday that I'm certainly not excited about..... looks like I have Celiac Disease. It actually explains a lot.... I haven't felt right since I got an infection in my liver 4 years ago, but it was still a diagnosis I was hoping not to get.

Any info you can share would be great- favorite gluten-free foods, places to eat, books to read, etc. Bring on the info!