Rice and beans

A friend of mine eats rice and beans for lunch all the time and loves it. Somehow, it's just never been on my radar. She uses black beans, brown rice, stirs in some cheddar, and then hot sauce to taste. I've also heard of people dicing up some tomato (I would love that!). I am not a hot sauce kind of girl, though. Well I'm not a hot anything kind of girl actually. I'll season with salt and pepper but I'm trying to think of a more interesting seasoning to use!

Also- headed to Figo tonight to try the gluten free pasta!

Nava

I haven't been to Nava in years but I remember enjoying it when I was there last. I had plans to go last night that ended up canceled but I checked their menu online (as I always do before eating anywhere) and they have a dedicated gluten free menu that's pretty extensive. I will for sure add this to my list of nicer restaurants to go to when I have an occasion.

Click on menu highlights to find the gfree menu

Figo

Sweet, sweet Italian food. I have done a pretty good job at not feeling like I'm missing out on all things Italian by substituting rice or quinoa pasta when I make it at home. But I haven't stepped foot into an Italian restaurant is nearly a year. All that is about to change! Figo has come to my rescue.

Their awesome menu with plenty of gluten free items

Bear Maker Bakery

I'm at one of my favorite coffee shops right now and the owner, knowing that I'm gluten free, just brought me a sample of some gfree cookies that were dropped off. I've never been the hugest cookie person, but this thing is freaking amazing. It's the best gfree cookie I've had so far. They're not available for purchase just yet, but I'll be keeping up with Bear Maker Bakery and plan to order some as soon as I can!

hair care

Wheat is in everything. Every. Thing. That horrible rash I had all over my scalp for months? Yeah, that was from using Aveda's Be Curly products. Granted, those say WHEAT PROTEIN right on the front of the bottle, but this was pre-diagnosis. But then today I checked my favorite hair spray, Aveda's Air Control, and shocker- hydrolyzed wheat. Their Damage Remedy shampoo? Barley. I didn't even bother to check the conditioner. I had a coupon for any Nexxus product for Target and since I now need new hair spray I thought maybe I'd get theirs... wheat. At this point I gave up. My hair is just going to be limp and full of fly aways for a while.

quinoa

Oh, quinoa. When I say I love you, I actually mean that I like you okay... but you're one of my most attractive options these days so I lead you on with promises of love and affection. I pretend that I think about you often but the truth is, most days I forget about you. I will give you this, though, you're good in a pinch and for the occasional nooner.

Which is exactly how I ended up with this:

It was lunchtime, I was hungry, there was baked chicken in the fridge just waiting to be thrown in something. Normally I cook quinoa in stock but I didn't have any already open. What I did have open was a bottle of white wine. So I made 1/2 a cup of quinoa in equal parts water and wine. I prefer the energy saving method. I believe that's supposed to refer to, you know, the environment or what have you, but I think of it as saving my energy. I put the pot on, let it boil for five minutes, turn it off, cover, come back 15 minutes later and tada! cooked quinoa.

The rest is just as simple. A teensy bit of butter, a splash of olive oil, shredded chicken, frozen peas, and some parmesan cheese. Done and done.

El Taco

I love mexican food. I'm sick of it, but I love it. It's my version of junk food. It's what I eat when I want to eat bad-for-you crap. Since I can no longer go to McDonald's for a disgusting but so good cheeseburger, I go to El Azteca for junk. But when I want something a little fresher than El Az, El Taco it is. Before going gluten free, I loved this place. The fried chicken taco with a corn/mayo sauce on it was pretty much the greatest thing ever. Throw in a margarita and the wheel o' taco (win free drinks, woo!), and I could die happy.

I haven't been back since going gfree but I discovered yesterday that they have a gluten free menu! The fried chicken taco obviously isn't on there, but the pork carnitas is, and that's my second favorite. So El Taco is back in the rotation. Thank you Fifth Group.

Gluten Free at El Taco