Panago Pizza

Ordering in pizza is hard, as a celiac. Most pizza places carry a gluten-free crust, but their contamination policies vary, and it's hard to say whether it'll be safe or not. However, because ordering in pizza is the most convenient, simple, and tasty dinner ever, I keep doing it, despite the risks. When we lived in Moose Jaw, we tried a couple of different places, and I always tried each place more than once. But if it made me sick more than once, I gave up and moved on to another place. There was only one place I could consistently eat without getting sick, and my husband didn't like their pizza. So ordering in pizza was actually quite the ordeal.

On the day that we moved to Saskatoon, we had several people helping us unload, and we were all hungry, so I went online and ordered in some pizza.

I picked Panago, on a whim, and I don't know if I'll ever try anywhere else ever again.

Their online ordering system is smooth, straight-forward and very customizable.

They do have a gluten-free crust, which I think is bigger than most places, but it's been awhile since I ordered in pizza, so don't quote me on that. The best part though, is that you can select Daiya dairy-free cheese to top your pizza with!

So I ordered in a gluten-free, dairy-free pizza with all the toppings I wanted (they have a list of gluten-free toppings, so you're sure) and I didn't get sick at all! There wasn't any dairy to upset my stomach, and I didn't get glutened! We've ordered it in three times now, and I've had the same success.

My husband wants to keep trying other places that we didn't have in Moose Jaw, but they don't have dairy-free cheese, so I'm reluctant. Haha.

I realize most of my friends who don't have dietary restrictions prefer other places, but if you are worried about either gluten or dairy, I would highly recommend Panago.  

London Jack's Fish & Chips in Regina

Inconveniently, I fell in love with a restaurant in Regina, shortly after I moved to Saskatoon. I don't know the next time I'll be in Regina, but I promise whenever that is, I will be eating at London Jack's Authentic British Fish & Chips. As their name might suggest, they specialize in authentic fish & chips, and everything deep-fried.

Wait. Why is a celiac going to a restaurant that deep fries everything? Well, because not only do they have gluten-free flour and batter, they have a dedicated gluten-free deep frier. What? That's right! Dedicated gluten-free fish and chips. Deep-fried, just like everybody else!

They have a very small restaurant, with an order counter and three small tables. The deep friers are behind the counter, and you can watch the cooks work while you wait for your take-out (unless one of the tables happens to be open). I did watch, because I'm paranoid, and I noticed that they have a whole bunch of green utensils, and anything that's green only gets used for gluten-free orders. I don't even need to tell them it's an allergy, they treat it like one anyways.

I was blown away, and super excited.

Hubby and I went to this restaurant a couple weeks ago when we were in Regina. We had a hard time finding it, but I was determined. When we got there, I scoped it out, and asked a bunch of questions, and when I was satisfied that I could really, truly have battered fish and french fries, I ordered just that! Hubby ordered the same, but with regular batter, and we sat down to wait.

One small thing that amazed me was when the next guy walked up and ordered some fish, and the server asked "Gluten-free or regular?" Gluten-free isn't a side choice there, on a seperate menu that you have to know about. It's right up there with everything else they serve. Their menu is just a laminated piece of paper on the counter, and the items on the menu are all either in black or green font. The green items are ones that are gluten-free. So I don't have to check if I can have the deep-fried pickles. I just have to select a green item. How awesome is that?

On top of being awesomely gluten-free friendly, they also make the most amazing fish and chips I've ever had. Seriously. I'm not a fish and chips kind of person, but this was the best I've ever had. They also serve deep-fried pickles, mars bars or cola. Yeah, cola. We got some deep-fried Dr Pepper for dessert. It was awesome.

I would highly reccomend this place whether or not you eat gluten-free. I would, however, suggest planning for takeout. But other than their small storefront, there is not a bad thing I could say about this place. So check it out, as soon as you can!

Chili's Grill & Bar in Regina

I don't spend a lot of time in Regina, so I don't know it very well. When my husband and I decided to meet my brother and his wife in Regina for a late lunch, I pulled out my phone and did a quick search on Urbanspoon for gluten-free friendly restaurants. Chili's came up, and I am always in the mood for Mexican food (even lame Canadian-ized Mexican food), so I basically insisted we go there.

When we got there, I flipped through the menu, hunting for anything that said anything about gluten-free. On the very last page, I found a note that said "Gluten menu available upon request."

First of all, restaurants really need to work on their phrasing. I don't want a "gluten menu". I want the exact opposite of a "gluten menu". I also don't want "gluten friendly menus" like most restaurants offer. I realize their intent, and I understand that a "gluten friendly menu" will have gluten-free dishes listed, but I would prefer if they called it "Gluten-free friendly" or "Gluten aware" or something that actually suggests there is no gluten.

Anyways... I tracked down a hostess and asked her for a gluten-free menu, and she said "We don't have any." I pointed out the note on the menu and she explained, "Yeah, we used to have them, but our whole menu changed so now we don't." Okay, so you got new menus. I get that. But your new menu says you have a menu for me, but you don't, because you got new menus. Hmmm.

Whatever, I can handle that. The hostess said the waitress would be able to point out some options for me, so I waited for the waitress. When she came, I explained I have a gluten allergy, and asked what I could eat. She said "Well we have corn tortillas available, so basically whatever you want."

Umm, no. Nope. It doesn't work like that. But okay, I'll play your game. My husband wanted an appetizer of chips and salsa, so I asked about that, and she said the chips are corn chips.

"Okay, but are they deep-fried?"

"Yes."

"Are other contaminants deep-fried as well?"

"I don't know."

"Can you check?"

She ran off to the kitchen, although I already knew the answer. I wasn't having any chips. I really just wanted to prove a point, and make her realize how severe my gluten-free-needs are.

When she returned, I asked about the fajitas. She didn't even ask which fajitas, she just told me I could get them with corn tortillas. Well, the chicken on one was marinaded, and on another it was rubbed. Either could contain gluten, so I sent her back to ask again. She came back telling me the marinade was a lime-something-or-rather, so I could have it. I gave up at that point, and ordered those fajitas.

The fajitas were delicious, and I thoroughly enjoyed them, but I was also really frustrated. In my opinion, that was not a gluten-free-friendly experience, but rather an "I'm sure you can eat something" experience. If they'd actually had a gluten-free friendly menu, I might have had a fine time. As it was, I did enjoy my food, and I didn't get sick, but I just really wasn't impressed with the service.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this place. If you have strict gluten-free needs, find a different restaurant. If you want Mexican food, there's a ton of places that make better Mexican food. If you want to go to Chili's, go to Chili's, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Jack Keaton's

I was never one of those girls to order a salad and to tip-toe around a burger. I like real food. I love barbequed food. I love ribs, and pulled pork. I do enjoy my fancy shmancy quinoa and kale salads, but there will always be room in my heart for a slow-roasted half rack of baby back ribs. Always.

I discovered a restaraunt in Regina and I've been there twice now, but will definitely be going again. Jack Keatons BBQ & Grill didn't sound like the kind of place I could eat, but it is. Their BBQ sauce is gluten-free, and although they don't have any gluten-free bread, the only non-sandwich main I couldn't eat was meatloaf. The sides were a little more difficult, out of the eight or so normal options, I only had three GF options.

 The first time I went, I was starving, so I ordered the sampler plate, and I still took home some leftovers. 

Freezer Meals: Teriyaki Chicken

The second meal to come out of my freezer and into my slow cooker was teriyaki chicken.

Ingredients
Medium - large bag of carrots
Red onion cut into large chunks
2 large cans pineapple (undrained)
4 garlic cloves
4 chicken breasts (or eight chicken thighs)
1 cup teriyaki sauce
Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze
Directions for bags:
Add 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce to pot. Cook low 6-7 hours. Serve over hot rice.

 It was super easy to throw everything in the bag, like easier than the other ones. The only part that took any time was the carrots. I wasn't sure from the recipe what to do with them, so I julienne'd them through my mandoline. The original recipe called for chicken breasts, but my grocery store was absurdly out of chicken breasts, so I substituted chicken thighs, and left them whole.

Freezer Meals - Italian Sausage and Peppers

The first meal from my freezer cooking that I made was Sausage & Peppers.

Ingredients:
6 Italian Sausages
2 Green Peppers
1 Red Pepper
1 Red Onion
4 Cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Cand Italian Diced Tomatoes
2 Tbs Italian Seasoning
Split between two bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze
Directions for bags:
Add drizzle of olive oil, cook on low 6 hours, serve over hot noodles or fresh french bread with mozzarella cheese.

Just looks like veggies to me!

Freezer Cooking

 I love freezer cooking. It's a pretty basic concept, but the application is a little intensive.

Basically, you take some time, and prep a whole bunch of meals and put them in your freezer so when you want dinner, it's prepped and ready and just needs to be finished. Finishing varies on what recipes you do. I've done casseroles that just need to be popped in the oven for an hour or two, I've done barbecue meat that just needs to be thawed and grilled, but my favourite is slow cooker meals. You toss everything in a bag and then thaw it, dump in in your slow cooker and have dinner! Or, put it in a strategically sized container before freezing and then dump the frozen dinner in your slow cooker.

I haven't done this gluten-free, but I did do it a few times a few years ago. I always had a hard time getting all the groceries - it would take me a few days to find everything, and then I had to set aside an entire Saturday to do it all. I'm not sure how exactly I did things differently this time, but it worked a lot smoother.

I figured out what meals I wanted to make, made a combined list of groceries, went straight to the grocery store after work, got home around six, and by ten o'clock everything was in the freezer.

Daiya Pizza

A few weeks ago, my sister and I were discussing what to eat for dinner, and I said, "Is it too much to ask for a gluten-free, dairy-free pizza?" She looked at me and said, "Uh, yeah. It is."

I realize that this small town will probably never have a restaurant that offers a DF GF pizza, but you can buy frozen ones! I had to hunt and hunt for one, but after trips to three different stores, I found one! Exactly one.

Daiya Foods mushroom & roasted garlic pizza, to be specific. I really wanted one with meat on it. I'm honestly not a fan of vegetarian pizzas, but when the decision was between a pizza with meat on it and a pizza that won't make me feel sick later, I chose the vegan option. I'm okay with this.

When it comes to ease and time of prep, it's a pretty classic frozen pizza. Didn't take much work, or much time. When it was done, the cheese didn't look melted. The photo above is after it came out of the oven. I thought the cheese was still frozen, but when I poked it, it was melty and hot.

The pizza was relatively good. The toppings were great, and the crust was good. But honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Daiya cheese. I have heard endless raving compliments about it, but I don't like the way it clings to the roof of my mouth. Mind you, I've always had issues with that. I stopped eating peanut butter for years because it freaked me out when it clung to the roof of my mouth. So maybe this is just me. Anyways, the pizza was good. And I didn't feel sick all night after eating it. Two wins.

I will probably buy this again, although I'll probably hunt for a different flavour. I liked it well enough, but I like to try other things too.

I guess I'd give this pizza three stars. It was good, it wasn't amazing, but it didn't make me sick.

Yam Fries

I am a huge fan of yam fries. Actually, I'm a huge fan of yams. Hubby doesn't like them so much, but I love them. I quite often order yam fries at restaurants, but I don't buy them often, because hubby doesn't love them. I did buy one recently, and I plans to boil and mash it for dinner some night.

Then one night, while hubby was working late, and I was home alone, watching Netflix, one of the bloggers I follow posted a pictures of her yam fries for dinner on Instagram. And suddenly, I decided I really needed to make yam fries. I've made this recipe before, and I'm pretty sure I've blogged about it before. So I found the pin, I sliced my yam, and I made yam fries.

And that was that. They don't take long to make, and you can prep them way ahead of time and let them soak. You're supposed to let them soak for up to half a day, but I let them soak for as long as it took the oven to heat up, because I was impatient.

Peel, slice, soak, shake, drizzle, bake. Easy-peasy, right? I wasn't totally satisfied with the texture of my fries, so I'll try to remember to slice them thinner next time. They were still delicious, and I whipped up a really simple dip which I love, but I know isn't for everybody. I just mixed mayonnaise with mustard. 

A Day In The Life

I haven't really told you about my daily activities in months, mostly because my life got really boring, and my meals got really repetitive, but I had quite the exciting weekend, so I'll share!

Saturday - I worked at my retail job from 10am-6pm, selling lots of clothes and catching up with my coworkers, who I hardly see.

6pm - I left work and drove straight to Saskatoon. Ate "dinner" on the road. I had a pudding cup and a couple chocolate peanut butter cups.

BBQ Chicken and Potatoes in a Slow Cooker

When I don't have much time to prep dinner, I steer towards my slow cookers, because I can put something together at lunch and then eat it a few hours later. When I don't plan for something specific (and find ingredients and a recipe), then I fall back on one simple guideline: Potatoes, chicken, flavour. It's simple, low-prep and fool-proof. I usually have chicken and potatoes on hand, whatever flavour I use can vary from spices to sauces, whatever I'm feeling or whatever's handy.

I buy baby potatoes, and we like eating them with the skins on. You could peel and cube larger ones, but slices of potatoes also works well. You want to cover the whole bottom of the pot.

Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes. I love the flavour, the texture, the colour. I love how they can be dressed up in brown sugar and cinnamon and taste like a desert or be covered in savoury spices and make a great side to a breast of chicken.

[Fun fact: A yam is a plant that grows large starchy tubers, and while sweet potatoes are large, starchy tubers, they are not actually yams, although places in the US call them that. Google it.]

Taco Pork Tenderloins

Something I've been trying to do lately is make a little extra for dinner and plan for leftovers. Often our leftovers just sit in our fridge until we give up and throw them out.

One of the best ways to do that is to make two meals at the same time. I saw a recipe in a magazine for pork tenderloins, and underneath it had a couple of ideas of what to do with the leftovers. One of those ideas was to shred the pork and put it on a sandwich, another was to put it in a taco. That one sounded brilliant.

So I put bought two pork tenderloins and put them both in the slow cooker for a day. We ate one for dinner that night and it was delicious, and the other went in the fridge. The next day, I shredded it, added taco spice, warmed it back up and we had tacos. It was also delicious.  I'm going to have to do more meals like this.

Flavours of India

I have a friend who is really into India. Indian food, culture, dress, music, movies; you name it, she loves it. I've never met someone who is as into Bollywood movies as she is. She's taking belly dance classes. She raves about Bollywood actors. She's adorable.

Every time we're in Regina, she wants to go for Indian food, but either I wasn't sure about what I could eat, or the people with us weren't into Indian food. I like it well enough. Well, I had already eaten a small dinner before our most recent trip in, so I didn't care if I couldn't eat anything. I can at least eat rice, right?

So we decided to go to Flavours of India. She had been there several times and already loved the place, but I had no idea what to expect - gluten-free wise.

The restaurant itself is very nice. Everything about it from the decor to the music feels like I just walked into a small portion of India, but it's very clean and classy. It's not overbearing, and it's very welcoming. Just the right kind of atmosphere.

Tuna Casserole

I was never a fan of canned meat as a kid. I flat out refused to try tuna for a very long time, and I'm not sure if it was my aversion to fish or my aversion to canned meats. When I was just dating my now-husband, he introduced me to tuna salad sandwiches. I actually enjoyed the one he made for me, so I started making them. Like, all the time. I lived off of tuna salad sandwiches in highschool.

After I got married, my husband made a tuna casserole. I loved casseroles, and I loved my tuna salad, but tuna and pasta? I wasn't sure. Once again, I enjoyed it, and after that, I started making tuna casseroles. We both liked them quite a bit, so they become a staple in our early days of meal planning.

When we started eating gluten-free, I wanted tuna casserole, but I couldn't use a can of cream of chicken soup anymore. Instead of googling how to make a gluten-free version, I just made it up. It took a few tries, but I figured it out. M and I love it, and it's super easy, and uses things we have on hand (which most of the stuff I make up does). It's not dairy-free yet, but I'm getting there.

Quick Meals - Tuna Spaghetti

As I mentioned in my previous post, I don't always have a lot of time to eat, and I eat some creative meals sometimes. This is definitely one of them. Sometimes, I look at whatever ingredients I have on hand and type them into a Pinterest search. I've gotten a lot of really great recipes this way.  I'll type things like "Bacon hashbrown" or "egg spinach" and it comes up with pins where people typed something like "Breakfast casserole with bacon and hashbrowns". This time, I opened my cupboard and grabbed a box of gluten-free spaghetti and started boiling it. While it was cooking, I found a can of tuna and searched "tuna spaghetti." The recipe I found was a lot more complicated and involved sauteing garlic, but I skimmed it, got the basics, and went from there.

I dumped one cup of garlic and herb pasta sauce into a microwaveable bowl, stirred in a can of tuna and heated it up. When the pasta was done, I dumped the sauce on top and chowed down. Super quick, easy, nutritious and delicious. It could have had chopped fresh veggies or cheese to make it better, but my focus was time and ease. Feel free to make it your own. 

This made two servings, which meant it could have been a meal for my husband and I, but instead it was lunch one day and dinner another for me.

Battling the Beast

Truthfully, I haven't felt like I've been in control for quite some time now. There is this thing hanging over my head that determines what I can eat, where I can go out to eat, how much energy I have, and how I feel about food. I've tried to own this disease of mine, making the eating restrictions just another part of who I am. The one thing I will never have control over, though, is getting sick. I have no say as to when, how bad or why I get sick. I can't make it go away faster, I can't even silence the symptoms. I am helpless to the angry beast that is my stomach.

This last weekend, I went out with a group of friends. We went to a restaurant I've been to several times and never had a problem with, but something went wrong. Before I'd even finished eating my food I started to feel it. Two of the people I was out with have watched me get sick before; they know the symptoms and they know how fast they set in. They started to pick up on how I was feeling right away and asked if I wanted to go home. I insisted on staying, but eventually everyone else started to notice too.

Quick Meals - Slow Cooker Dump-Pot Soup

Well, the new year is not everything I hoped it would be. I haven't done a lick of baking, I haven't blogged much so far, I still don't have much energy, and I'm still crazy busy. We're only ten days in, sure, but I just feel like I've failed the last ten days.

I have been cooking, though! Sort of... I've made two dinners in a slow cooker this week. One of them turned out fantastic, and the other was so-so. So what was so fantastic? My dump-pot soup, that's what. I basically took everything I had lying around and threw a bit of it in the slow cooker.

I started with a pound of ground beef, and added some water and cooked it on low for four hours. When I was home for my lunch break, I added some more. Two tomatoes, some spinach and half an onion went in the food processor before going in the slow cooker. I also minced two cloves of garlic, and added a bay leaf and some oregano for spice. I tossed in a tiny slice of dehydrated jalepeno, and a few baby potatoes sliced thinly.

In hindsight, I should have left out the potatoes. I was thinking that the soup needed something with consistency, but the potatoes left it feeling like a really thin stew.

It was really tasty though, and even tastier the next day after the soup sat in the fridge.

How I Survived The Holidays

The holidays are full of gluten. Left, right and center, there is nothing but gluten. Everyone makes and gives baking, there are dinners constantly, everyone has at least one Christmas party to go to, and then of course there is Christmas day! A lot of people who try to avoid gluten-free, or just eat less gluten give up over the holidays. I know several intolerant people who are just saying Oh well, and feeling sick because there is too much temptation.

But as a celiac, I don't have that luxury. So how did I survived the holidays?

Merry Christmas from Lola!

Main & Thatcher Boston Pizza

I've reiterated this a few times, but I'm a creature of habit. Once I find something I like, I stick to it. I love trying new things, but I like safe, familiar things even more. As such, there are a few restaurants that I eat at much more often than anywhere else. Boston Pizza on Main & Thatcher is one of those. Maybe because I know people who work there, maybe because they've treated me so well, but either way, it's always the first place I mention when someone asks where I want to eat.

I've hesitated to write a review because I recognize that I'm very biased. I've heard from other gluten-free people that they're aren't so accommodating, but I find them amazing. They do have a gluten-wise menu that you can ask for, but I typically just order off the regular menu and make adjustments. I don't order the same way at other Boston Pizza locations, but the staff at this one know my husband and I. Over the past few months, I have ordered some pretty crazy things. I often pay an extra dollar or so for a substitution, but I don't mind.