Yesterday, my husband and I held our annual Summer Music Intensive in which Early Childhood teachers join us for 6 hours of fun and music-making! In all the years we've held these seminars, we've always served a light breakfast upon their arrival to our house, and then a lovely assortment of lunch options, all lovingly made by me. That is, until this year. I decided to make two HUGE changes. To preserve my sanity. It was a very smart move.
Instead of making muffins from scratch, I used two Breads From Anna mixes - a Gluten Free Apple Muffin mix (Gluten, Yeast, Corn, Dairy, Soy, Nut (including peanuts) and Rice Free, GMO Free) and a Gluten Free Maple Walnut Muffin mix, (Gluten, Yeast, Corn, Dairy, Soy, Nut (including peanuts) and Rice Free). They were both delicious!!! The comments from our guests included "ooh" and "yum" and "this is gluten free???" and "wow". Everyone loved the muffins, and I don't think they were just being polite.
Back in my pre-GF days, I always kept mixes in my pantry. You never know when you'll need to whip up a quick pan of brownies or cookies. I was a devoted buyer of Dunkin Hines or Betty Crocker mixes. Now, instead, I keep Breads From Anna mixes (bread and muffins and pie mix) in my pantry. And they're always homeruns. And easy peasy to make. And here's a couple of things worth noting - unlike alot of gluten free baked goods, you can eat them right out of the oven (or after they've cooled off enough to not burn your tongue!), they're moist as moist can be, they're moist the next day and the day after that, they're chock full of healthy gluten free ingredients as opposed to alot of gluten free mixes that contain white not-very-nutritious flours and starches.
The other smart thing we did was take everyone out for lunch to Chipotle Grill. While they don't have a gluten free menu per se, they're very gluten free friendly and knowledgeable. And they're consistent - doesn't matter whether we go to a Chipotle Grill in Dallas, TX or Chicago, IL or Kansas City, MO. The food is fresh and delicious, and the people preparing the food are always helpful and patient. My suggestions for making your dining experience safe - when you step up to order, kindly, with a smile, ask the manager to prepare your food. If he/she isn't available, explain that you have allergies and that you need the server to do the following:
1. Provide you with their gluten free allergy card that lists all the allergens in the foods
2. Use new gloves
3. DON'T touch or go near the flour tortillas once the new gloves are donned
4. Assuming your meal includes cheese and/or lettuce, ask them to retrieve and use a new container for each of these items because the cheese and the lettuce are the two items in the buffet that they literally reach their gloved hands into while preparing burritos made with flour tortilla. Cross contamination is guaranteed!
Our lunch was delicious and quick, and we will definitely do the same thing next year.
So, Chipotle Grill and Breads From Anna - both surefire winners!
Gotta check out those Breads from Anna mixes. You always rave about their products! And I'm a big fan of Chipotle!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation for Breads from Anna. I will have to check them out. Where do you find them?
ReplyDeleteBreads from Anna can be ordered from her website www.glutenevolution.com. As well, there are stores throughout the country that carry them. Her bread is so damn good that it should be carried everywhere. It is honestly the best gluten free bread I've ever tasted, and I've tasted alot!
ReplyDeleteHi. I've been reading your blog for a while, and I absolutely love it. I work at Chipotle, and I think you should know that occasionally there is some very slight cross-contamination when the rice serving spoon touches a taco shell, or we touch a spoon. BUT you can ask the burrito maker for "white rice". It is the rice straight from the cooker into a pan, where it is held until it's made into cilantro-lime rice. There is no chance of cross-contamination because the griller doesn't handle burrito and taco shells. If you really want the cilantro and lime taste, ask for extra cilantro (it's scooped out with a spoon or measuring cup.) and limes on the side. Happy eating!
ReplyDeleteMary - thanks for your comment. I am usually very careful at Chipotle. I have a very specific set of requests from the server who makes my plate, but your post made me realize that I could add an extra request: in addition to washing hands, putting on new gloves, using new lettuce & cheese, I will also ask them to use new everything, as I realize it's possible (VERY) for the large serving spoons to come into contact with the flour tortillas every time they scoop the spoon into the rice or corn or salsa or whatever and then spoon it on the flour tortillas (for those who came before me in the line). Thank you!
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