Celiac Chicks

Allergy Free Comfort Foods Cookbook Winner

2012-01-27T04:22:03Z

Yay! An excuse to post my latest video clip addiction!!!!!!

[gasping for air]

And the winner of The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook by Elisabeth Gordon is....

[opening white envelope in my clown suit while riding my unicycle]

Angela Sheffer!!!!!

Please email me your mailing address, Angela.

Let's all give her a loud round of...

"Bread Hurts My Head"

"Can't Eat Wheat!"

"Oi Not Soy!"

Kale Martini

2012-01-25T23:46:07Z

Kale Martini?!

Uhuh. That's what Dr. Oz serves at his cocktail parties.

I know, this one has to go under the recipe category of Try Because It Sounds So Weird. Then again, when you think about it, any martini is just an excuse to look cool while drinking hard alcohol, and this one looks like you're trying to be healthy at the same time. Ironic and I love it!

So, c'mon just give this a try!

Their good! Trust me! And all the vegetables cancel out the booze, right?

Kale Martini
This recipe was in the goodie bag from Dr. Oz's cocktail party. See details below.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups spinach
2 cups cucumber
1 head of celery*
1/2 inch or teaspoon ginger root
1 bunch parsley
2 apples
Juice of 1 lime
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2.5 oz. vodka
2 cups of kale

DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients in a blender. This makes approximately 28-30 ounces, or 3-4 servings. As you can see in the photo above, it has little bits of veg in it. I couldn't see what blender they used, but I could see they strained out the juice. I'm thinking a Vitamix might be needed. If you try using a regular blender, please let us know if it works!

*A head of celery is the the complete group of celery stalks bundled together.

THE PARTY DETAILS

Dr. Oz

So, some of you know from Facebook buzz that I was invited last minute to a cocktail party hosted by Dr. Oz and Evamor water last Thursday. I'm still not really sure why I was invited, but I'm not complaining!

The party was held at Hearst Tower, the green architectural darling of NYC. The 44th floor had a glittery view of the city that distracted me while I scanned the room for familiar faces.

(Sorry the photos are kind of dark and lame. It's a challenge to take decent photos in a room with candle light, high ceilings and reflective glass window walls.)

I thought I might run into Dr. Green or Elisabeth Hasselbeck there, but I didn't see them. I thought there might be a chance because Elisabeth had just been on the Oz show that day discussing celiac disease and featuring her new book Deliciously G-free. That's really the only connection I could come up with as to why I was invited to this event. You know, the celiac disease connection on the PR people's radar.

(Did you see the show? Here are some clips. There are 4 parts. What did you think of it?)

I did see Matthew Modine, though. Evidently, Rocco DiSpirito was there too, but even Oz couldn't find him when asking for him from the stage.

Evamor Alkaline Water

The event was celebrating Evamor water becoming a sponsor of Dr. Oz's non-profit named HealthCorps. Evamor water is naturally alkaline, unlike most bottled waters that are either pH neutral or even acidic. I've been meaning to discuss this whole alkaline thing and how it relates to diet and health here on the blog, but a more in depth discussion will have to take place another time in order to do it justice.

Dr. Jamie Koufman was there signing her book Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook & Cure. I checked it out and it isn't gluten-free, but I'm sure you could easily figure out gluten-free substitutions if you are searching for some help in regards to acid reflux.

Moi, Melissa and Chenda. I'm standing like I had too many green martinis!

So, I worked the room all by myself (*sniff*) and eventually approached the lovely ladies above. They were so sweet! It turns out that Melissa Castellanos writes for CBS and Chenda Ngak is part of the tech support team. We got in line to have our photo taken with Dr. Oz against a publicity backdrop and just as we got to the front he decided to leave. Yeah. I know. AND it was the 2nd time I had been in line! So sad. The first time I got all the way to the front and they whisked him away to give his speech. *sigh*

Really, I'm just thrilled that I was invited!

I wish the best for Evamor water and HealthCorp!

Thank you for the invite, Dr. Oz! It was great party!

Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook Giveaway

2012-01-19T17:50:51Z

The Complete Allergy Free Comfort Foods Cookbook

Today I had gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, egg-free Twinkie lookalikes show up at my front door, courtesy of Elisabeth Gordon. The recipe for these little beauties is in her new book The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook.

(Note: I recognize that health issues that respond to a gluten-free diet are not necessarily related to a gluten "allergy". However, many of us that are gluten-free due to celiac disease do have other food intolerances.)

Have you met Elizabeth Gordon yet? No? Let me introduce you.

I met Elizabeth a few years ago when she dropped off some of her Betsy & Claude brand gluten-free cookies at my office job in midtown Manhattan. (Sorry, I don't think I ever told you about them, but the packaging was totally eco-friendly adorable and the gingersnap cookies were to-die-for. These little babies were even featured on Rachel Ray as Snack Of The Day.)

Elizabeth gave up the hectic cookie company life in order to pursue writing allergy-friendly cookbooks. Her first book is titled Allergy-Free Desserts and now her latest creation is The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook.

Here's the super hip book trailer.

I love her style. And how cute is her family?!

ENTER TO WIN
So, who wants to win a copy of the new handy gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free egg-free Complete Allergy Free Comfort Foods Cookbook? Just post a comment below listing your food allergies to enter and I'll have Elizabeth pick a winner next Thursday, January 26th, 2012.

CORN FREE TOO?
If you are one of my fellow corn-free peeps, you can easily sub the xanthan gum for guar gum and baking powder for Hain Pure Foods brand gluten-free Featherweight Baking Powder. Most of the recipes will work for us.

Now go enter!

You’re Invited To A Free Teleclass About Probiotics

2012-01-18T03:54:23Z

Do you know what probiotics are and when or why you would want to take them? I've been taking some daily after having to take some antibiotics for a nasty cold I couldn't kick in December.

I'd like to invite you to join me for:

How Well is Your Digestive System Working?

Probiotics and their role in GI health, specifically IBS, Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity will be discussed in this FREE Live Teleseminar on Wednesday February 1, 8pm ET

World-renowned experts, gastroenterologist Dr. Daniel Leffler and registered
dietitian Shelley Case will host an informative discussion regarding probiotics and
their role in healthy digestion.

The probiotic diet, probiotic foods and supplements have surged in popularity over
the past few years. At the same time, so has an awareness of these GI conditions,
such as IBS and celiac disease, and a widespread interest in gluten-free living.

With all this has come much confusion. This teleseminar will help clarify any
confusion.

The event will include a Q&A session during which these two experts answer
your pre-submitted questions. So register and secure your spot now at
jamiesonprobioticsteleseminar.com

PRIZES!
10 registrants will receive a copy of Dr. Leffler's book, Real Life with Celiac Disease
Troubleshooting and Thriving Gluten Free, and Shelley Case's book Gluten-Free Diet,
plus a 2-month supply of Jamieson Probiotics.

Limited space. Register today at jamiesonprobioticsteleseminar.com

*This is a sponsored post, but I'm genuinely excited about this!

Coupon Code For Joan’s GF Great Bakes Bagels

2012-01-17T20:25:46Z

Joan's Gluten-Free Bagels

BAD NEWS
Did you hear?

There was a serious fire at Joan's Gluten-Free Great Bakes bakery several months ago and they had to close for 4 months in order to rebuild. Bummer! Despite the setback, she still won the recent Best Of Long Island award in the gluten-free category for the 2nd year in a row! Congrats!

GOOD NEWS
Now they are back in business and to celebrate they want to give our loyal Celiac Chicks readers a 10% off coupon! How sweet!

Gluten-Free Bialys

COUPON CODE
So, let's all help Joan bounce back and order some of her amazing gluten-free products. Some popular favorites are the bagels, bialys, and English muffins!

Here's the website: Joan's GF Great Bakes.

Just type in the coupon code CHICK for your 10% discount.

Easy!

Now go do it!

Gluten Free English Muffins

And if you aren't familiar with Joan and her tasty home baked products, you can read more about her here. She's a sweetheart! Feels like your own grandma. Everything is baked with love. Seriously.

Love you back, Joan! mwah!

*This is NOT a sponsored post. What kind of chick would make her grandma pay for advertising?!

Barcelona Restaurant: Cal Pep

2012-01-15T14:26:40Z

Cal Pep Plaça de les olles 8, 08003 Barcelona

This is the 3rd episode of my Spanish telenovela titled Gluten-Free Croissants: Dream The Impossible Gluten-Free Dream. Last week in the 2nd episode we toured the Condes de Barcelona Hotel.

After a good night's sleep, I woke up feeling refreshed and recovered from jet lag. Joan picked me up and took me to the famous Cal Pep for lunch. He explained that usually there is a line out the door and you have to wait, so it is best to get there about a half hour before it opens. It's always nice to get tips from a local!

Cal Pep isn't a fancy restaurant. Oh, there are some really cute tables in a room in the back, but it is easier to arrive before the crowd and get a spot at the counter. Plus this way you get to watch them cook your food, which is always fun.

Please note: I had a Catalonian with me that could communicate clearly to our waiter/cook what I could and could not eat. The food we ate was naturally gluten-free and would be fine for someone that isn't super reactive to potential cross-contamination. The cooking space is small here and the counter service is fast paced. That said, if you are extremely sensitive to cross-contamination, Cal Pep may not be the best place for you to eat. Just sayin'.

Cal Pep Tortilla de Patata

As I was about to take my first bite of the tortilla de patata Joan said, "When you taste this you will see angels." How's that for some dramatic food themed telenovela dialogue? And yes, it was true!!

For those of you who are not familiar with tortilla de patata (or in Catalan truita de patates), it is often described as a potato omelette. I'm not really an omelette person though, so, in my opinion, this description doesn't do it justice.

Tortilla de Patata

Cal Pep's tortilla de patata is super melt in your mouth moist with onion and tiny bits of chorizo and then topped with garlic aioli that's like buttah. Seriously, this dish alone is enough to make me want to book the next plane to Spain.

Cal Pep Clams with what else? Chorizo!

Squid

Steak Melts In Your Mouth

I've had some seriously good East Coast and West Coast US of A fancypants dry aged steak and wet aged steak in my life, and this plate rivaled them all!

Shrimp Crusty With Salt And Garlic...10 More, Please! These translate to Gambes a L'Allet

Joan taught me a trick: dip the shrimp meat into the brown juice that comes out of its head. It's ugly, but it tastes good!

Strawberries in Muscat Wine

This coming summer, this is going to be my easy, yet crowd pleasing dessert! Who needs pastry?! Pfft. "More wine, please!"

Are you full yet?

This was possibly the most delicious meal I've ever eaten. No joke. No drama. OK, maybe a teeny weeny bit of drama, but seriously.

As you can see... fresh, simple, and quality are the key ingredients to the beyond delicious food at Cal Pep.

Have you been there?

Next Friday I'll take you to the Museu de la Xocolata....

Have a fab weekend!!!

Free Copy Of Integrative Nutrition By Joshua Rosenthal

2012-01-11T17:10:08Z

I have a prezzie for you!

As some of you already know, I've been attending the Institute For Integrative Nutrition (IIN) founded by Joshua Rosenthal.

By the way, I'm absolutely loving it! And I'm getting ready to announce something really exciting related to this, so stay tuned!

"The Institute" just started making their main textbook Integrative Nutrition available for free as a download! Seriously, no obligation. Normally the hardcover costs $25 bucks.

A lot of you have emailed me with questions about IIN, so I thought you would really like this.

Now, this isn't the whole curriculum, but I thought many of you might be either curious about what the school teaches and this will give you a taste or you just might want some extra ammo for a healthy start to 2012.

Hey, it's free! And I'm always looking out for ya!

Just click on the picture of the book and fill in your email addy to get your free digital copy.

Enjoy! And if you want, come back and tell us if you learned anything interesting. (Oh, and of course I don't subscribe to everything the school teaches, but overall I think it rocks.)

And don't forget to share the love! Feel free to let your friends know about the free digital book offer.

Peace, love and veggies!

Kelly

Barcelona Pictures: Condes De Barcelona Hotel

2012-01-06T22:09:46Z

Bat motif outside our balcony at the Condes De Barcelona Hotel

This is the second installment of the post titled Gluten-Free Croissants: Dream The Impossible Gluten-Free Dream.

Jasmine and I stayed at the Condes De Barcelona Hotel on the popular Passeig de Gracia; the Catalan equivalent of 5th Avenue in NYC.

Our room was the top right window. Oh look, Tous and Rolex are nearby! How handy! (Note: If you click on one of the photos within any blog post here it will turn into a slide show.)

Barcelona Condes Hotel Door Handle

There's eye candy everywhere in Barcelona!! Well, yeah, but what I'm talking about right now is architecture and design! [wink]

Barcelona Condes Hotel Concierge Desk

The Barcelona Condes Hotel used to be two old palaces! I love how they mixed modern design with the old architecture. Somehow it works!

Barcelona Condes Hotel Lobby

Condes De Barcelona Hotel Staircase

I took this staircase to our room instead of the elevator. See the dark square thing in the right corner? It's a little velvet seat for you to rest if you get tired.

Barcelona Condes Hotel Staircase Looking Up. I wonder who used to live here?

Our balcony had dragons on it!

I love this little guy!

Barcelona Hotel Balcony View

The balcony was more interesting than our room, which was very plain, but comfortable. I didn't even take a photo...too boring!

Guadi's La Pedrera was conveniently located on the corner.

Here's a better view of the La Pedrera Exterior

Even the street tiles are decorated here!

Ah! I can't stand it! At the hotel restaurant Loidi they gave me a chocolate that looked like the street tiles!

And Gaudi's Casa Batllo was a few doors down

This place was right across the street and I ate there almost every morning. Fresh squeezed orange juice, jamon and tortilla de patata. Sometimes I'd mix it up and get patatas bravas instead. That's roasted potatoes with a garlicky aioli on top. mmmm

Remember: it is less expensive to sit at the bar below the jamon.

Stay tuned until next Friday for my lunch at the famous Cal Pep!

Gluten-Free Croissants: Dream The Impossible Gluten-Free Dream

2012-01-13T17:58:59Z

Gluten Free Croissants by Proceli

2011 has has nearly blown my mind.

I have so much to tell you, but I don't want to blather on with a never ending telenovela, so I've broken up my European adventures into a series of posts. I'll try to publish them on each Friday; a little brain candy for those of you who are interested.

I thought I'd start with what might be the most exciting gluten-free discovery of the year... gluten-free croissants!

Chocolate croissant or classic?

A MYSTERIOSO INVITATION
Earlier this year I opened a mysterious email. It was from a gentleman by the name of Joan [pronounced Joe-on] Turull, the president of a gluten-free food company named Proceli. I was personally invited to come visit Barcelona, Spain as his guest and tour the headquarters. I use the word "gentleman" because he even invited me to bring along a friend in order to feel more comfortable with the situation and to make clear his intentions were honorable. He made it clear he wanted to talk to me as an expert about the gluten-free market in America.

The name Proceli is the combination of the two words "pro" and "celiac".

I think I had an adrenaline hangover for about one week! You could say I've somehow managed to travel a lot of the world in cava style on a cerveza budget, but I'd never been to Barcelona before. I had to think about it. NO, not really!!!

Barcelona's airport was a stark contrast compared to La Guardia or JFK , and it's the visitor's first exposure to the passion Spain has for design.

I was nervous, "What does this guy look like? How are we ever going to find each other?" I called myself a few degrading names for not having arranged a plan for some sort of tell-tale sign, like wearing a red scarf or something.

Phew! It wasn't a problem finding each other after all! Joan stood out from the crowd beaming with Spanish hospitality, euro-chic attire, bright blue eyes, and olive skin.

My good friend Jasmine was due to arrive in two days. She was my first choice as a companion for four reasons; she's a powerful businesswoman in the world of finance, she speaks fluent Spanish, her palate is refined, and most importantly, she's always a good time! I knew I would feel more at ease on this adventure with her around.

Joan promptly took me to breakfast near the hotel. We got better acquainted over some jamon and tortilla de patata. I was ravenous after the long night flight.

As I stuffed my face while trying to keep my eyes open, Joan went through the itinerary he had planned as a most gracious host. "Today you will rest, tomorrow I will pick you up and we will go to lunch at Cal Pep. Afterwards, we will visit the chocolate museum that my father owns, and then we will visit Sagrada Familia."

Rewind! "...chocolate museum my father owns"!!! OMG!!! I might have been half asleep but my brain cells registered as if with a jolt of theobromine that he's basically the son of Willy Wonka! I quickly said to myself, "Do NOT give him the organic Oregon chocolates that you thought were such a great gift idea!!!"

THE MAN BEHIND PROCELI
Joan Turull learned the art of baking as a young man while working with his father in their family owned bakery. (Now his father is the leader of what tranlsates into English as the patisserie society of Spain and famous people like Albert Adria have apprenticed with him.) Joan has even competed and won some awards at the baking equivalent of the olympics in France and Japan.

Joan Turull, President of Proceli

Patrons of the bakery started asking for gluten-free items and Joan took on the challenge. In true entrepreneurial style, he branched out on his own in 1976 by starting Proceli and creating only gluten-free products. Growing leaps and bounds it is now sold in 15 different countries in Europe and now there are 40 gluten-free products to choose from. Many different food allergies are accommodated with a clear chart on the labels and the products are certified by just about every possible certification you can qualify for in Europe. You can find an assortment of their items at the popular Il Corte Ingles stores in Barcelona and Madrid. There is also a store locator on the website.

GLUTEN-FREE CROISSANTS
So, back to the croissants, if anyone could create gluten-free croissants, Joan Turull could. This quixotic quest was perfectly suited for a pastry chef with a Spanish pedigree. After all, Spain is the land of Ferran and Albert Adria, Gaudi, and Cervantes!

My friend Jasmine is not gluten-free, but has eaten in some of the finest restaurants in the world. So, she was the perfect person to take with me to the Proceli headquarters for a tasting. Imagine a board room table full of gluten-free treats! It is true that a lot of gluten-free products, although delicious, do not taste exactly like their glutenous counterparts. Consider too, that Jasmine's palate hasn't adapted to a gluten-free diet. She kept a rating system for each sample and many of them she exclaimed were as delicious or more delicious than the real deal! The gluten-free croissants were well received.

The entrance to Proceli headquarters in Terrassa.

At the time of our tour, the gluten-free croissants were still being made by hand! This is something that deters most companies from attempting to produce them.

(I would have taken photos, but they weren't allowed within the facility.)

The Proceli gluten-free croissants and other products are not yet available in the US, but continue to "dream the impossible dream" of eating gluten-free croissants soon! For now, you can keep up to date with Proceli on their English Facebook page. There's also a Spanish Proceli Facebook page. And you can also follow Proceli on Twitter and Joan Turull directly via Twitter.

[sexy saxophone music]

Stay tuned when I share my adventures visiting the Museu de la Xocolata, Sagrada Familia, Cal Pep and Albert Adria's new restaurant!

Besos!

What Is Malware? How Can You Protect Yourself?

2011-12-21T18:10:24Z

Malware is shorthand for malicious software. So, it is the general term that encompasses the terms you may be more familiar with such as virus, trojan horse, etc.

Why am I talking about this?

According to the Wikipedia page on malware, "Microsoft reported in May 2011 that every one in 14 downloads from the Internet may now contain malware code, according to the Wall Street Journal. Social media, and Facebook in particular, is seeing a rise in new tactics for spreading harm to computers."

So, we all need to stay on top of this stuff if we are going to use the internet and I've learned a few things the hard way that I'd like to share.

And most importantly, I want you to know that I'm doing everything I can to protect you!

Recently, Celiac Chicks was infected with malware. How totally embarrassing! When the emails started coming in I could identify with that girl in high school everyone said had herpes. It turns out though, that I'm not alone. Potentially millions of sites that use WordPress software were vulnerable to this attack or similar attacks. And a lot of popular food blogs use WordPress software.

OK, so my IT guy went to work to check out the files and I had my hosting service run some scans. Both of them found a bunch of nasty files, quarantined them, and then deleted them. More scans were run and everything came out clean.

Shortly after this I received a few more emails from readers saying the site was setting off their anti-virus software. I'm so grateful for these conscientious souls for alerting me! So, more scans were done and this time the hosting company found more files, but my IT guy was frustrated because "according to Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic Celiac Chicks is clean." And for those of you that don't know, Google can blacklist your site if it is found to have malware on it. This never happened to me.

The hosting site deleted the new files and completed another scan and everything came out clean again.

And then more emails started to appear! My IT guy insisted that they had to be mistaken, but I had heard of "backdoor sleeper trojans" that hide from scans and then regenerate. I had a sneaky suspicion this is what I was dealing with.

What to do? Listen to my IT guy? Or listen to my intuition and my readers?

This is when I decided to call in The A Team. Not only was my reputation on the line, but I felt a responsibility not to spread anything through my website. I love my readers and when one wrote in about to cry I couldn't take it anymore.

So, a web designer in a women's business group I'm a member of, Michelle Martello of Minima Designs, said that she recommends Sucuri Security to all of her clients. The testimonials related to the exact same thing I was dealing with were impressive. So, I wasted no time and let them work their magic. Within two hours they had found the hidden malware and removed it. I was so blown away by their service I signed up to be an affiliate!

AND the thing that really makes me rest at ease is their service will now scan my website every six hours looking for suspicious content, report it, and delete it. Their logo is true, "Malware has no chance."

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF

Do you have a blog or website? I highly recommend Sucuri. I wish I had known a service like this existed before I had to deal with this mess. It's reasonably priced and you'll be able to sleep at night knowing you're doing your part not to spread the equivalent of virtual STDs. Your reputation is worth it. You can check out their free scans for starters.

For home computer users, you need to have some sort of anti-virus service in use. Macs tend to be a little less vulnerable to these things. They aren't completely immune, but less vulnerable. Sophos is a good free scan for Macs. My Mac came out squeaky clean. Norton Antivirus is a great paid service for other computers.

In conclusion, I'd like to publicly thank the readers that wrote in to let me know about this problem. I hope you will now read Celiac Chicks with confidence knowing that it is fully protected from anything nasty. Together we can all fight malware!

Thank you for your patience and understanding! I love you guys! And thank you Sucuri!

OK, back to more fun things! mwah!