The Learning Umbrella

It feels like there is a sudden explosion of awareness about gluten-free in my town.  Really, all of a sudden we’re part of a major sub-set of people!

At church, we hit a critical mass of folks who are avoiding or going completely wheat or gluten-free, and there is now an effort being made to provide gluten-free cookies with the coffee service.  For a congregational meeting that was going to order pizza, someone volunteered to coordinate the gluten-free pizzas.  That’s pretty cool, really.

A couple weeks ago when I stopped for my soy mocha at a local coffee stand, they were also selling gluten-free brownies there.  A local bakery is making brownies and cookies and selling them at the coffee stands.  It’s not a dedicated facility, so really sensitive folks have expressed concern, but my family is not that worried about cross-contamination.  We love being able to get a fresh brownie.  The bakery is also supplying fresh bread to a local cafe, and we went there for dinner and were able to just order sandwiches “with the gluten-free bread option” for $1 more.  That’s pretty cool too!

An upscale grocery store that has cooking classes has a gluten-free cooking class on the schedule.  I’m not going to take the class, but it’s pretty cool to see it listed.

And finally, we have a new store in town called “G.F. Joe’s” that sells only gluten-free food.  The kids love it, because they can eat anything in that store.  Pizza crusts, donuts, cookies, pasta, flours, crackers - so much gluten-free goodness.  My new favorite gluten-free brand is now Kinnikinnick, which has frozen donuts (yummy!) and wonderful little frozen pizza crusts and great bread.  Cost is a drawback on this stuff and that store, but I’ll still shop there to support the resource.  I bought a bunch of frozen microwave dinners there (mac and cheese, pizza) and stuffed them in my MIL’s freezer so the kids will always have something they can eat there even if she forgets them when she’s planning a menu.

It’s pretty thrilling to have all these options, and to eat so well gluten-free.