Today I had planned on sharing another vlog on a blogging book that I’m loving right now but I thought today’s vlog could be dedicated to a health scare that has certainly scared this mom. Over the past month, news has really grown about the enterovirus and how it’s impacting children throughout the country. It seemed to slowly creep from the west coast to the east coast where I am and as it reached our town it did something that none of us thought it was able to do. Unexpectedly and without any warning, the enterovirus caused the death of a little preschooler who attended the preschool my nephew goes to.
To see this virus come so close to us is terrifying and to see it claim the life of a little boy is heartbreaking. Just as there’s no vaccine to prevent this virus and no cure for it either, there unfortunately is no explanation as to why this virus is now potentially lethal. It’s a terrifying world that we live in where sending our children to school, running to the store, or having a play date could be risking the lives of our kids. So what do we do to protect them? Take a look at my vlog to see how we’re coping with the scariest cold/flu season that we’ve had to deal with as parents.
I know my family is overwhelmed with fear due to the proximity of this recent tragedy and is even more overwhelmed with how to protect our little girl. As mothers and parents we all posses the instinct to protect our families from anything and everything that can cause harm. I think that this is exactly why this is even more difficult to accept, that we’re unable to give medicines, vaccinate, and really protect our children from this virus. As a mom or mom-to-be, are you as overwhelmed with these feelings of fear and helplessness as I am? Feel free to share how you’re feeling on this health scare and what you’re doing to protect your family.
A huge pot of simmering sauce and meatballs filled the house with the most delicious smells on a Sunday; it’s like it was yesterday how vivid that food memory is for me, probably because sauce and meatballs were a family staple growing up. In retrospect, it’s kind of funny how that’s one of my most prominent food memories from my childhood, especially since my pickiness as a little girl kept me from ever eating the meatballs. They looked delicious of course, but to be honest, I refused to touch anything with ground beef, the texture was a huge deterrent for me. My poor parents, I must have really been a joy to cook for when I was younger! Thank goodness the gluten free challenge came later.
Now that I’ve become a tad bit more experimental with food I’ve really grown to enjoy ground beef, which is a huge relief to my husband who LOVES hamburgers, tacos, meatballs, and beyond. And while I wish that I had at least tried the meatballs that my parents spent all Sunday working on, I’ve now found my own meatball recipe, gluten free of course, that makes our Meatball Sundays just as memorably fragrant. Since I have no way of telling if they’re just as tasty as our family’s version, you can be sure that I put my parents to the taste test and I’m happy to report that these have received their stamp of approval, which means a lot in my book.
Seeing as I come from the wonderful Italian family tradition of not writing recipes down, it was tough finding a place to begin to come up with a gluten free meatball recipe. I wanted something authentically Italian and full of flavor, but full of flavors that would fit my picky palette. You probably all know by now how much my family loves Carmine’s. Each and every dish that we’ve gotten there has been divine and we’re so fortunate that they offer a cookbook with all of their recipes. The Christmas shortly after my gluten free diagnosis I spotted this cookbook at my local BJs and thought it would be a great gift for my husband, especially since at that point we thought we’d never be able to actually dine there again. Since then I’ve created gluten free versions of a few of the recipes from the cookbook, mainly their meatballs. Their recipe gave me a great place to start, and with some changes here and there I’ve really made it my own. I’ve created a family recipe that we’ll enjoy for years to come and will hopefully give my little girl a familiar food memory too! Check out my Carmine’s inspired recipe for Gluten Free Meatballs For The Family!
1 cup Grated Parmesan/Romano cheese, I sometimes use Colonna brand
3 tbsp Parsley
2 tbsp Basil
1 tbsp Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 heaping tsp Chopped Garlic
10-12 cups Marinara Sauce, I like to use Tutturosso tomato sauce to start and season from there
Ingredients for Tomato Sauce:
3 (28) oz cans Tuttorosso Tomato Sauce
3 tsp dried basil for tomato sauce
3 tsp dried oregano for tomato sauce
3 tsp dried parsley for tomato sauce
6 tbsp minced garlic for tomato sauce
6 tbsp olive oil for tomato sauce
Directions:
To a small mixing bowl, tear 4 slices of gluten free bread, without their crusts, into small pieces. Then add 1 cup of skim milk to the bread and allow to sit for 5-7 minutes or until all of the milk has nearly absorbed.
Meanwhile, add two eggs to a large mixing bowl and whisk.
Using your hands, mix in 1 1/2 lb lean ground beef with your eggs
Continue mixing with your hands and add 1/2 cup gluten free bread crumbs, 3 tbsp parsley, 2 tbsp basil, 1 tbsp salt, 1 heaping tsp chopped garlic, and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.
Once you’ve added your seasonings to your ground beef, add in your softened bread and mix with your hands.
Finally, mix in 1 cup grated parmesan/romano cheese.
Mixed ground beef, spices, bread crumbs, and cheese.
Cover your bowl with saran wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes or until meat mixture has firmed up a bit.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Once chilled, using a tablespoon or ice cream scoop, roll out small meatballs between the palms of your hands to about the size of a golf ball.
Roll your ground beef mixture into meatballs.
Add the meatballs to a plate and refrigerate for an additional 10 minutes to firm up.
Once firmed, carefully add your meatballs to a slotted baking sheet or those cookie drying racks on top of deeper baking sheets so they don’t bake in all of their fat. Make sure you spray these with a non-stick spray.
Golf ball sized meatballs.
Bake meatballs for about 30 minutes until they’ve browned. I always check the largest one by cutting down the middle and making sure it’s browned all the way through.
While your meatballs are cooking, prepare and heat your tomato sauce. Feel free to use your go to recipe, favorite jarred tomato sauce, or my tomato sauce recipe that I added to this post.
Once your meatballs have finished, using tongs, carefully remove them from the baking sheet and add them to your sauce.
Browned Gluten Free Meatballs
Carefully cover your meatballs with sauce and heat on low for an additional 20-30 minutes uncovered to allow the flavors of the sauce and meat to intermingle.
Gluten Free Meatballs ready to top spaghetti or make a perfect sandwich!
Serve your meatballs on gluten free spaghetti or with some toasted gluten free baguettes and melted provolone cheese!
Gluten Free Meatball Sandwich
As the chilly fall days are rolling in, these meatballs are going to make so many appearances in our house. Just the other day I made these for some meatball sandwiches and they were mouthwatering, a little messy, but delicious nonetheless. I just toasted up some gluten free bread while my meatballs were simmering with the sauce, I prefer a baguette but only had these dinner rolls, but they were a great substitute. Then I added a few meatballs and sauce to the roll and melted some mozzarella or provolone cheese on top. It was such a tasty dinner, and hit the spot for a warm and nostalgic meal. And for lunch the next day, we were lucky enough to enjoy nice warm bowls of meatballs too!
Depending on how many you’ll have dining with you, you can adjust this recipe as needed. Without any changes, it usually makes about 30-35 meatballs, depending on how large you make them. For a big family dinner I’ll follow the recipe exactly, but for our family of three I usually half the recipe which makes plenty of meatballs for firsts, seconds, and not to mention leftovers too. We always have enough meatballs for leftover lunch or dinner the next day. I just add them, with the sauce too, to a tightly closed plastic container and rewarm them in a sauce pan or microwave. Be creative too for your leftover meatballs, I’ve even used our extra meatballs for lasagna, and I must say they were a perfect addition!
So just because you’re gluten free, doesn’t mean your weekly Italian family dinner has to be missing meatballs. Throw these together and serve them by themselves, on rolls, or on your favorite gluten free spaghetti and enjoy!
Sincerely,
Lindsay
TIP: I’ve also made these dairy free too just by omitting the cheese, or adding a diary free grated cheese, and they came out just as flavorful and delicious!
Carmine's Inspired Gluten Free Meatballs For The Family
1/2 cup Seasoned Gluten Free Bread Crumbs, I like Schar and then I make my own Seasoned Gluten Free Bread Crumbs by adding the breadcrumbs to the container first, then adding about one heaping tablespoon of dried basil, oregano, parsley, garlic powder, and garlic salt, capping the container, and shaking them to mix!
4 slices Gluten Free Bread, no crusts
1 cup Milk
1 cup Grated Parmesan/Romano Cheese, I sometimes use Colonna brand
3 tbsp Parsley
2 tbsp Basil
1 tbsp Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 heaping tsp Chopped Garlic
10-12 cups Marinara Sauce, try my Tomato Sauce
Gluten Free Mom To Be Tomato Sauce
3 28 oz cans Tuttorosso Tomato Sauce
3 tsp dried basil for tomato sauce
3 tsp dried oregano for tomato sauce
3 tsp dried parsley for tomato sauce
6 tbsp minced garlic for tomato sauce
6 tbsp olive oil for tomato sauce
Add 6 tbsp olive oil and 6 tbsp minced garlic to sauce pan. Cook garlic on low-medium heat until slightly browned. Add 3 28 oz cans of tomato sauce (I like Tutturosso). Stir sauce and heat on low-medium. Add 3 tsp of dried basil, oregano, and parsley and stir to combine. Taste sauce and add a bit of garlic salt if you’d like. Heat sauce for about 20-25 minutes. Remove from heat and set sauce aside.
Instructions
To a small mixing bowl, tear 4 slices of gluten free bread, without their crusts, into small pieces. Then add 1 cup of skim milk to the bread and allow to sit for 5-7 minutes or until all of the milk has nearly absorbed.
Meanwhile, add two eggs to a large mixing bowl and whisk.
Using your hands, mix in 1 1/2 lb lean ground beef with your eggs
Continue mixing with your hands and add 1/2 cup gluten free bread crumbs, 3 tbsp parsley, 2 tbsp basil, 1 tbsp salt, 1 heaping tsp chopped garlic, and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.
Once you've added your seasonings to your ground beef, add in your softened bread and mix with your hands.
Finally, mix in 1 cup grated parmesan/romano cheese.
Cover your bowl with saran wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes or until meat mixture has firmed up a bit.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Once chilled, using a tablespoon or ice cream scoop, roll out small meatballs between the palms of your hands to about the size of a golf ball.
Add the meatballs to a plate and refrigerate for an additional 10 minutes to firm up.
Once firmed, carefully add your meatballs to a slotted baking sheet or those cookie drying racks on top of deeper baking sheets so they don't bake in all of their fat. Make sure you spray these with a non-stick spray.
Bake meatballs for about 30 minutes until they've browned. I always check the largest one by cutting down the middle and making sure it's browned all the way through.
While your meatballs are cooking, prepare and heat your tomato sauce. Feel free to use your go to recipe, favorite jarred tomato sauce, or my tomato sauce recipe that I added to this post.
Once your meatballs have finished, using tongs, carefully remove them from the baking sheet and add them to your sauce.
Carefully cover your meatballs with sauce and heat on low for an additional 20-30 minutes uncovered to allow the flavors of the sauce and meat to intermingle.
Serve your meatballs over gluten free spaghetti or with some toasted gluten free baguettes (or whatever gluten free bread you have on hand) and melted provolone cheese!
By Gluten Free Mom To Be
Adapted from Carmine's
Adapted from Carmine's
Gluten Free Mom To Be http://www.glutenfreemomtobe.com/
Growing up, I went on some pretty memorable family vacations, but one that really stands out is our cross country adventure. For a whole month one summer, my parents hitched a trailer to our suburban and drove us from New Jersey out to California and back again. We saw so much of the countryside traveling this way and got to stop at some pretty cool places too like Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, Alcatraz, Muir Woods, and the Grand Canyon. Not to mention visiting some quirky sights too like the Corn Palace, a place made entirely of corn, riding the trolley cars, and walking the crooked street of San Francisco. It was a jam packed vacation that took us to places we may have never been to otherwise. Thanks to my parents I’m able to tell my little girl more about this country than I ever dreamed I could.
Some of my favorite times on our cross country vacation were spent in California where I met a whole other half of our family for the first time, where we went to Disneyland, and where we walked the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco, taking in all of the sights, sounds, and tastes these cities had to offer. I still remember like it was yesterday, spending a morning seeing San Francisco’s Alcatraz and then walking along Fisherman’s Wharf, picking out a place for lunch. We decided on soups and/or sandwiches from a delicious restaurant nestled right in the wharf, offering authentic San Francisco sourdough. It was so chilly and windy, a perfect San Francisco day for soup and sourdough bread. I remember my mom and dad’s huge sourdough bread bowl, overflowing with piping hot soup inside, it was a sight to see for sure and apparently tasted even better than it looked. Never being a huge soup fan, I had a sandwich on sourdough bread and I can still taste the delicious flavor. The crust was so crunchy on the outside and the inside was light and filled with wholes, but chewy too, just how a perfect sourdough roll should be. Years later, and we haven’t been back to San Francisco but the flavors and textures of that lunch have not been forgotten.
Gluten Free Sourdough By Bread SRSLY
Since going gluten free, my diet has been left with many holes in it, without gluten free substitutions to fill them in. As the hype and popularity of this diet/lifestyle grows, there seems to be more and more unique gluten free options out there. We’re far from where I hope we’ll end up one day but just being able to find new items like this gluten free sourdough is really encouraging. Which brings me to the beauty of Twitter. I was blogging not too long ago and stumbled upon a gluten free sourdough bread company in San Francisco, Bread SRSLY. Just after one glimpse, I was instantly transported back to my family’s time in San Francisco and couldn’t help but crave a taste of that crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside sourdough bread. But would these gluten free rolls and loaves of bread compare to the ones that stood out in my memory? Well there was only one way to find out.
Happy delivery day in the Gluten Free Mom To Be’s house!
A little chat later, and the generous gluten free folks at Bread SRSLY in San Francisco were sending along a couple of samples of their gluten free sourdough bread. I couldn’t have been more excited for their arrival and thankfully didn’t have to wait too long. I opened the box like it was Christmas morning and found three brown paper packages of gluten free sourdough in a few varieties, including rolls, a loaf of regular bread, and a loaf of kale bread. I couldn’t wait to dive into one of them, so that day for lunch I decided on a warm sandwich of fresh mozzarella and sliced tomatoes between two halves of a sourdough roll.
Fresh Mozzarella, Sliced Tomatoes, And A Gluten Free Sourdough Roll
Looks tasty doesn’t it? Well, I’m happy to report that these rolls taste just as good as they look. After unrolling the top of the paper package you get a whiff of sourdough. The rolls are bit darker than your classic white sourdough rolls but texture and flavor are right on point. You can enjoy them with or without toasting, both ways they taste good. The crust on the outside is crispy and the inside is chewy and light, just like the sourdough deliciousness I enjoyed years ago. Of course you can enjoy these anyway you’d like, but I highly recommend heating up a couple of slices of mozzarella and tomatoes on a toasted gluten free sourdough roll. You end up with a warm, gluten free sandwich, with all of the fantastic flavor and texture of the sourdough roll, that would be perfect being served in Fisherman’s Wharf for a breezy and cool San Francisco day.
Gluten Free Sourdough Rolls By Bread SRSLY
Bread SRSLY has joined the ranks of companies that have seemed to accomplish the impossible. They’ve produced a gluten free product that is 100% unique to the gluten free world that resembles it’s regular version remarkably well. We all know that perfecting taste and texture of gluten free products, especially those in the bread family, is incredibly difficult but seems to be done flawlessly by some of these smaller companies. My favorite feature of these sourdough rolls is that you can taste the love that’s baked into them. You can just tell that so much thought, trial and error, and passion has been put into making a great product, which just makes them taste that much better.
Take a look at the Bread SRSLY site to see the entire list of gluten free products that they offer. And if you’re not in the Bay area it’s not a problem, neither am I, but I can still order some of their sourdough products on their site and get them sent right to my front door. These rolls are yet another fantastic addition to the gluten free world and one that I’ll add to my pantry whenever I can. Congratulations Bread SRSLY on your gluten free success!
Finally, rounding out the Gluten Free Guides To Disney World are those for Disney’s moderate and value resorts. On two of our Disney vacations in the past 2 years we stayed at Art of Animation, an amazingly themed resort that offers family size suites and standard rooms. While the four movie themes, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, and Cars, are perfectly portrayed in the scenery, pools, playgrounds, and rooms, I have to admit I’m mostly taken aback by a resort’s ability to feed me. Gluten free dining at Art of Animation lived up to the high standards that Disney has set everywhere else on property. From daily breakfast to an occasional dinner or lunch, I certainly never went hungry thanks to the help of the chefs at Art of Animation who I met with before each and every meal. So without further delay, here are my final Disney Gluten Free Guides for Moderate and Value Resorts, split up into four separate guides because there’s just so much gluten free fun that they offer!Gluten free donuts anyone?How about some allergy free breaded chicken tenders? Maybe some BabyCakes gluten free cupcakes? Take your pick in gluten free drinks and ice cream too!
As you can see Disney resorts offer tons of gluten free dining options, and what they can put together with this list of gluten free ingredients is really impressive. So make sure you pick a few restaurants out to try while your on your Disney vacation and use these lists to do just that!
No, sadly we’re not really going back to Disney World, but rather I’m getting in touch with my Disney side, yet again, to finish off my gluten free guides with the resorts. With my Disney theme park gluten free guides so far, you now can find your favorite gluten free products when you’re making your way around any of Disney World’s main theme parks. But what about the resorts? Home to many a character meal, quick service option, and sit down dinner, the resorts make up a large portion of dining options in Disney, so of course a gluten free guide would be coming your way for all of your favorite places to stay and dine in Disney!
For each of our recent vacations as a family of three, we’ve dined in Wilderness Lodge, the Contemporary, and the Polynesian, all of which are home to multiple restaurants that each offer a variety of gluten free dishes. Since we usually call Wilderness Lodge our home for the week though, this is where we predominantly eat breakfast and occasionally lunch. During our stay at Wilderness Lodge, every morning, with the exception of a character breakfast morning, we would head to Roaring Forks for a quick service breakfast. Dan would go straight to the counter and pick out a plate of hot food for little one and he to share, while I would wait with our little girl to place my order with the manager. Sometimes I’d have to wait a bit, especially in the morning as we’re early birds, but never too long, and soon enough my order is placed for whatever gluten free option my heart desires, usually a breakfast sandwich is my breakfast of choice on vacation. Once we pay and pick out our table, I get our little girl started with her breakfast. By the time she moves onto her banana, a delicious plate of gluten free breakfast sandwich arrives for yours truly, a heaping portion of carefully cooked eggs, crispy bacon, and cheese is placed between Udi’s bread. Oh how I wish I was in Disney enjoying one of those instead of the rice cake I just forced down!Quick service meals are not the only dining options available at Disney resorts; in fact, a large portion of their meal offerings come from sit down, table service meals. Usually during our stays in Disney, we use at least one or two of our meals at resorts, either for breakfast or dinner. We love picking out at least one character meal that we can treat our little girl to, but right now, since she LOVES Mickey and his friends we tend to go with Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary for breakfast. The buffet spread at Chef Mickey’s is huge and offers anything you can imagine, from hot to cold to savory to sweet. But for me, even though the chef offered to escort me around the buffet line to point out the gluten free choices, I always opt to have my meal prepped in the kitchen away from the inevitable cross contamination that happens at buffets. For this meal, I usually go a little crazy and request a few different items, including gluten free Mickey Waffles, eggs, bacon, and my favorite, their cheesy hashbrowns. With hardly any wait at all, my plate arrives just as my husband and little girl are starting on theirs and soon enough the stars of the morning make their grand entrance too, bringing smiles all around the table. There’s many a meal at home that I wish Mickey or any of his friends would jump off the tv screen to make my little girl that happy again!After a long day of trekking around Disney theme parks in the hot and humid Florida air, we certainly are well prepared for our dinners. We plan our dinner reservations 180 days out and look forward to each and every one of them. While we love dining in the parks, we usually find ourselves for one or two of our dinners at the resorts. One of our favorite resorts to dine at is the Polynesian. Dan has fond memories of staying here when he was little and we just love walking around the resort and enjoying the greenery and water features. We’ve had great gluten free experiences at both Ohana and Kona Cafe and really love both of them for different reasons. Kona Cafe though, has become one of our more recent favorites, thanks to their gluten free Chicken and Noodle dish, something I can only get while in Disney, not to mention my daughter loved the Mickey shaped raviolis and sweet Hawaiian bread there too! But really whether we dine at Kona Cafe or Ohana, I’ve had some amazing gluten free food with even better company and scenery. For the foreseeable future, I think we’ll probably revisit either Kona or Ohana each time we go to Disney, so we always get our Polynesian fix each vacation. There’s so much in a Disney vacation that makes it as special and amazing as it is, but one of the highlights for us are all of the great meals we get to share and even better food that we don’t have to cook ourselves. Each time, after we get home from a trip, usually within a day or so, and that’s being generous, either myself or Dan asks when we’re going back next with a smile. We love going to Disney and we love even more that our little girl loves it so much too. No sooner having asked the question of when we’ll go back, do we follow it with “well, when we do go back, where do you want to eat?”. After every vacation, we create mental lists of where we want to go back to and where we haven’t yet been, we always like to try one or two new places when we go. We definitely have a growing list of places to visit that we’re slowly chipping away at, a number of restaurants of which are at resorts. Disney dining for us are the kings of gluten free eating in my book, and offer allergy free options flawlessly wherever you go. They really make sure to give each vacationer a great experience from start to finish, and that includes dining. What you eat, as a gluten free guest, is a priority to them and I for one am so glad it is! Thank you Disney for making our vacation dining so simple and easy!
So if you have a Disney vacation approaching or just dreaming of your next one, pin or print these guides so you can spot your favorite gluten free items while you’re out and about. Also, you might have noticed that there’s only the deluxe resorts listed on these guides; since there’s just so many resorts and so many gluten free food options, I had to split them up, so stay tuned for the moderate and value resort guides!
Super exciting news today! I’m debuting my video blogs, something I’ve wanted to do for quite awhile since starting my blog. On here I’ll review gluten free cookbooks, books about pregnancy and gluten free living, products in both the gluten free and pregnancy world, and hopefully down the road some pregnancy updates for myself!
For my first post of my vlogs, I’m introducing the BabyCakes Covers The Classics cookbook. It’s definitely a winner with easy to repeat recipes with simple ingredients too! My kind of cookbook. Enjoy!
This is an exciting new chapter for my blog and I’m ecstatic that we’re starting it together!
A couple of years ago, pre-gluten free, my husband and I first dined at Carmine’s in New York City, Times Square. We’d heard fantastic things from family and friends who had visited there in the past, so we were definitely excited to experience the Carmine’s deliciousness ourselves. And that we did, we left there full and satisfied, even planning our grand return in the future. We never did get back there to have our pick of the menu but we have triumphantly returned thanks to their massive gluten free selection taken right off of their regular menu with only a few adjustments.
Carmine’s has only a few locations, two of which we’ve visited in the gluten free phase of life. Just recently, we decided to take little one to the National Zoo in Washington D.C., which also meant a trip to Carmine’s too! While I’m always excited for a trip to the zoo with my family, it’s equally as exciting to go to Carmine’s again. We don’t get to go too often since we aren’t right around the corner, but whenever we’re in the area of one we’re sure to take advantage. We just love the family style serving theme of their delicious Italian food, not to mention the family and friend vibe that we always get dining here. After a couple of weeks in anticipation of the Carmine’s/D.C. day it had finally arrived and we were headed out for a little road trip. Even though it was early September, the weather lent itself more to a hot, summery day which was more than welcomed seeing as the weather forecast predicted rain instead of the sun that appeared. With a long drive behind us, we were raring to go to explore the gorgeous National Zoo. This zoo is phenomenal, home to all kinds of different animals, but perfectly set into nature with hilly paths and trees all around. If you haven’t been and are in the metro area, you absolutely must go and enjoy this day’s worth of adventure. Our little one surely loved it, even took to exploring a lot of the zoo on foot. Some of our favorites were the seals who made our little girl burst out in belly laughs when they starting talking to each other, the elephants, which she now calls by name and imitates all of the time, and the cheetahs, who she greeted with a growl! It was a great day in D.C. and made our little one’s weekend for sure.
A little tired and a lot hungry, we were ready to drop our stuff off at our hotel and head over to our dinner destination. While the food at Carmine’s is always a huge perk for me, I was also super excited this time to share our family style dinner with one of my good friends Sara, who lives in the metro area now. So after a quick drive to our hotel, we dropped our stuff off and headed out to catch the metro. A short ride later and we had finally arrived at our Gallery Place stop. As we made our way to the familiar red awning, I could just smell the gluten free Carmine’s Salad, Vodka Rigatoni, and Titanic soon to be coming our way.
Inside, our party of four was escorted to our table and we were set up with a gluten free menu, while the regular menu was displayed in their signature fashion, largely on the wall. Whenever we go to Carmine’s, my husband is always on board to partake in my gluten free choice since the portions are intended for an entire family, but always, per my encouragement, is sure to get a dish of his choice too though, gluten free or not. For dinner that night, Sara was more than happy to enjoy the gluten free Carmine experience with me, along with anything else Dan might choose.
On our menu that evening, we decided to go with the gluten free Carmine’s Salad and Scarpariello Chicken Wings to start, the gluten free Vodka Rigatoni and non-gluten free Chicken Parmesan for our entrees, and for dessert, the gluten free Tugboat, a miniature version of the Titanic, their signature dessert. Within just moments of placing our order, a basket filled with all types of non-gluten free breads were placed on the table. Some focaccia pieces were just seasoned while others seemed to be topped with a tomato sauce of sorts, I hate to say it but they looked incredible, but a no go for us gluten free folk. A great start to the meal though for my little girl, especially since she was chomping at the bit for some dinner.
Not long after though, the gluten free Carmine’s Salad had arrived and should have really come with a trumpet fanfare too, that’s how fantastic this opening dish is. The salad unfortunately did not survive for a picture (sorry) but no worries I was able to capture pictures of each of the other gluten free dishes before they were disturbed. Before we get there though, I have to tell you how delicious their salad is. I know I’ve mentioned it to you before when I made my own Carmine’s Salad at home, but it’s just so good. When the waiter placed down the masterpiece of salad in front of us the table fell silent in amazement. Their signature salad is a huge plate with a mountain of mixed greens, tomatoes, pepperoncinis, cucumbers, onions, roasted red peppers, celery, radishes, olives and assorted meats and cheese mixed throughout, including provolone, mortadella, salami, all slathered with their house vinaigrette. This salad is by far the best salad that I’ve ever had and is a meal in itself!
Now, our second appetizer were the Chicken Scarpariello wings, courtesy of my husband. These wings are one of Dan’s favorite Carmine’s dishes and actually happen to be gluten free without any changes. With their arrival, Dan’s face lit up and you could just see his excitement as he glanced over the heaping plate, piled high with beautifully glazed, crispy wings. The wings are cooked to perfection, with a crispy outside and juicy inside. On the flavor side of things, these wings are seasoned with a variety of herbs, most potent though is rosemary, making them incredibly tasty with a little zip on the end. These are amazingly flavorful wings I have to say but a little too zippy for me, but we all know I find a hint of pepper to be spicy so don’t use me as a judge of spiciness. My husband LOVES these wings which is absolutely fine with me, more Carmine’s salad on my plate and my little girl’s too who seemed to be a big fan like her Mommy!
Carmine’s Chicken Scarpariello Wings, they look so delicious don’t they? And they’re gluten free!
And, after much anticipation, Carmine’s family sized portion of Gluten Free Vodka Penne had arrived, made gluten free only with a substitution of the normal rigatoni with gluten free penne. I just love their vodka sauce, creamy with prosciutto bits mixed throughout, complementing the perfectly cooked gluten free pasta, amazingly. While this plate was placed down at my end of the table, the huge plate of massive Chicken Parmesan was placed at the gluten eaters end. I didn’t take a picture of this dish since it’s not gluten free but it was very drool worthy, as pretty much everything at Carmine’s is. Don’t worry though, at Carmine’s the deliciousness of their gluten free dishes more than makes up for the absences of those that you can’t eat.
Carmine’s Gluten Free Vodka Penne, my favorite!
While the chicken parmesan was plated, I couldn’t help but snag the first taste of the vodka penne. It was PHENOMENAL! Gluten free pasta cooked perfectly al dente and the sauce, one of the best vodka sauces I’ve ever had; mind you, vodka rigatoni was and still is one of my favorite pasta dishes, so I’ve had a lot to compare it to in my gluten and gluten free days. After my sneaky bite, I went on to ladle some pasta and cut up some chicken for our little Carmine’s diner to enjoy, and that she did. She gobbled up every last bite of both and even had a little bit of seconds of Mommy’s gluten free favorite.
Carmine’s Gluten Free Vodka Penne
A little while later, the aftermath of our meal fit for royalty was a sight to be seen. Some stuffed bellies all around with satisfied grins on all of our faces. It was an amazing meal shared with even more fantastic company. It’s been awhile since we’d been to D.C. and since my little girl had seen her honorary Aunt Sara, so a reunion was definitely in order. And for us what better place to reunite with a friend, who might as well be family, than at this family oriented, family style Italian restaurant. Carmine’s gave each of us a meal to remember and even some leftovers too!
While we chatted some more and little one colored, played with her souvenir bucket of animals, and was chatting and making animal sounds, the waiter had rejoined us and inquired about dessert. Okay, so you’ll by no means really have room for dessert when you dine here, but with the temptation of a gluten free behemoth of a dessert dangling in front of you like a carrot, you’ll more than likely need to try it. You’ll have trust me on this one, I highly recommend that you make a little room for it! Carmine’s offers a dessert called the Titanic, a mountainous sundae built to feed about 10 people, as are most of Carmine’s dishes, that can be slightly altered to be gluten free. Dan and I have both enjoyed this in the past and couldn’t let our little one and Sara get away without seeing and tasting this concoction. So for our smaller group of 4 the waiter recommended the miniature version called the Tugboat, made to feed half the number of people and for the half the cost too. We were sold, and soon enough little one and Sara would meet the miniature version of the Titanic dessert for the first time.
Carmine’s Gluten Free Tugboat Dessert, a miniature version of their Titanic
This dessert is enormous! It’s hard to picture what a family style ice cream and brownie sundae may look like but trust me, it is huge, and this is just the tugboat so picture a doubled version of this one for the Titanic. Okay, so what’s in this sweet treat exactly? Well you start off with a flourless chocolate torte on the bottom (great gluten free start, yay!), then some scoops of vanilla and chocolate ice cream are placed on top of the brownie, tons of fresh whipped cream are next, sliced bananas and strawberries decorate the sundae throughout, roasted cinnamon pineapples are placed on it’s sides, and chocolate syrup and chopped hazelnuts dress the top, and all of this is 100% gluten free! The only adjustment that is needed to make the regular version from here is to add those chocolate swirl cookie sticks to the top for the smoke stacks, which are not gluten free, but believe me they are not missed at all with all of the sweetness going on.
Carmine’s Titanic Miniature Dessert, The Tugboat
After the photographer was finished, this perfectly artful creation was demolished, divided onto four plates, and the first taster, who was the smallest one at the table, was busy taking the first bite. With her signature “mmm” in approval and plea for “more please mommy” we took it that our little girl was a huge fan of Carmine’s monstrous dessert, while the rest of us adults agreed completely with her praise. The gluten free torte was divine, but with the additions of the fruit and ice cream, this is what really stole the show! It was a delicious finish to a meal that couldn’t have been better in the gluten free department.
Years ago, when I experienced Carmine’s the regular way I thought then that it was amazing, but now, with gluten free glasses on, I’ve realized just how fantastic they truly are. Their gluten free selection is above and beyond what many other Italian restaurants are able to do. They offer countless gluten free options that are flavorful and just as delicious as their regular counterparts, which in my opinion is how gluten free restaurant dishes should be; their gluten free dishes never make you miss a gluten filled dish adjacent to you at the table but rather allowing you to enjoy your very own gluten free version just as much, hold the sickness.
If you’re local or visiting any of Carmine’s locations, two in New York City and one in Washington D.C., Atlantic City N.J., Las Vegas, or Atlantis in the Bahamas, you absolutely must try them out. Embrace their family style dining and go with your whole family or invite some friends along too! If it’s just you and your own little family, do as we do and don’t be afraid to treat yourselves, you’ll just have lots of leftovers later on, there are worse things. Do keep in mind their menus are priced for dishes that can feed a large number of people and everything is meant to be shared among your group. And even more good news, I’ve already mentioned that they offer a huge list of options on their gluten free menu, and I do mean huge so take a look, but they also cater to countless other food allergies, making them even better in my book!
So, we had yet another fantastic Carmine’s experience, to top off our little weekend away. You can’t get much better than a gluten free meal fit for your dreams and your little girl giggling and laughing with family all around. While I don’t know when we’ll be back to Carmine’s, I do know that we’ll always make it a point to get there when we’re in the neighborhood. I also know that Carmine’s has surely won a few more fans with that meal who will definitely be lifelong guests from here on. All of this reminiscing about that meal is tough but certainly gives me something to look forward to in the future, which makes our meals at Carmine’s that much more special. But until we return, it’s homemade Carmine’s salad for us and back to dreaming of those massively tasty plates of gluten free food.
I’m personally not a huge meat eater, but I certainly have my favorite dishes with my go to proteins. Chicken definitely is at the top of the list and something that we eat very often in our house. It’s our go to protein for salads, stir frys, and baked dishes, either in pre-made, time saving form of Perdue’s Shortcuts and Gluten Free Tenders, which we love, or made from scratch by yours truly. I’ve posted plenty of dishes in the chicken department that’s for sure, which you can check out on the blog here, but who doesn’t like adding parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs to chicken.
I was food shopping one day and spotted one of those little pamphlets with recipe ideas by the Hellmann’s Mayonnaise and spotted one that was too good to pass up. Of course the recipe in the pamphlet was not gluten free,, so I tweaked it a little to work for our family and there you have it, deliciously moist and crunchy Gluten Free Breaded Parmesan Chicken. This recipe is fantastically easy with only four ingredients that certainly do chicken proud. Ready to try it yet? Without further ado, here’s Gluten Free Breaded Parmesan Chicken that has become a favorite in the Gluten Free Mom To Be’s house and will surely become one in yours as well.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Hellmann’s Mayonnaise (Most varieties are gluten free which is stated on the label)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 lb skinless chicken breasts
Seasoned gluten free bread crumbs, about 4-5 tbsp (I season my own Schar bread crumbs like this, but you can also purchase already seasoned gluten free bread crumbs like Gillian’s too.)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Clean and trim 1 1/2 lb skinless chicken breasts before adding them to a baking dish.
Clean and trim chicken breasts before adding them to your baking dish.
Combine 1/2 cup of any gluten free variety of Hellmann’s Mayonnaise and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I do this right in my measuring cup, measuring the mayo first and guesstimating the parmesan cheese on top. Less dishes=happy mommy). As far as the mayo, I really like the Olive Oil version, but I usually use either the regular or light options, all of which state gluten free on the label.
After mayo and cheese have been mixed together, spoon mixture on top of chicken breasts and spread evenly across each piece of chicken (I just use the back of the spoon for this part).
Add mayo/parmesan mixture to chicken and spread evenly across each piece.
Once each piece has been coated with the mayo/parmesan mixture, sprinkle seasoned gluten free bread crumbs on top of chicken, making sure that all pieces are fully coated in bread crumbs.
Sprinkle tops of chicken with seasoned gluten free bread crumbs.
Bake chicken for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees until chicken is cooked all the way through.
Gluten Free Breaded Parmesan Chicken
Enjoy!
Easy right? Just four ingredients, 10 minutes of prep, and 20 minutes to bake and you have a tasty and healthy dinner on the table. And let me promise you, it’s just as tasty as it looks. The bread crumbs on the outside crisp up just a little while the inside of the chicken gets really flavorful and juicy. A favorite for us for sure! Thanks so much to Hellmann’s for this idea because this makes some amazing gluten free chicken!
1/2 cup Hellmann's Mayonnaise (Most varieties are gluten free which is stated on the label)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 lb skinless chicken breasts
Seasoned gluten free bread crumbs, about 4-5 tbsp (I season my own Schar bread crumbs, but you can also purchase already seasoned gluten free bread crumbs like Gillian's too.)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Clean and trim 1 1/2 lb skinless chicken breasts before adding them to a baking dish.
Combine 1/2 cup of any gluten free variety of Hellmann's Mayonnaise and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I do this right in my measuring cup, measuring the mayo first and guesstimating the parmesan cheese on top. Less dishes=happy mommy). As far as the mayo, I really like the Olive Oil version, but I usually use either the regular or light options, all of which state gluten free on the label.
After mayo and cheese have been mixed together, spoon mixture on top of chicken breasts and spread evenly across each piece of chicken (I just use the back of the spoon for this part.
Once each piece has been coated with the mayo/parmesan mixture, sprinkle seasoned gluten free bread crumbs on top of chicken, making sure that all pieces are fully coated in bread crumbs.
Bake chicken for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees until chicken is cooked all the way through.
Enjoy!
By Gluten Free Mom To Be
Adapted from Hellmann's
Adapted from Hellmann's
Gluten Free Mom To Be http://www.glutenfreemomtobe.com/
So, I seem to have babies on the brain lately, and with the apparent baby boom that seems to be erupting all around us I can’t help but reminisce about my birth story with my little girl. I suppose if I’m going to be blogging about pregnancy, I should share my road to motherhood too. As much as I wish that my story was picturesque and something straight out of a movie, the birth of my little girl didn’t quite go as planned, but the end result, was just as remarkable as I had dreamed. Before we get there though, I think I should probably start a little bit earlier, in my pre-married life, when a certain diagnosis would change the future more than I knew.
Before Baby
At 20 years old, while I had my digestive and tummy troubles, I also suffered from ongoing headaches and migraines. With so many issues coming out of the wood work I finally made my way to doctor after doctor. The diagnosis for the stomach side of things gave me the same result as always, that it was just my body and I would have to just get used to it, a very unsatisfactory response yes, but my other ailments were more of a bother at the time. Headaches wise, I was sent for an MRI just to be sure all looked fine, little did I know I’d be signed up for these annually for the rest of my life. I reported back to my neurologist for the MRI results and I honestly can’t recall anything past his first sentence of something being abnormal. After the doctor told me that I had an irregular venous formation in my brain called a venous angioma, VA, my mind literally went blank and his voice turned into the teacher from Charlie Brown, blurting out unrecognizable words.
Before I knew it, I found myself seeing the best neurosurgeon on the East Coast for an angiogram to test the functionality of my malformation. Pretty overwhelming stuff for a 20 year old in college, but thankfully, I had my family by my side. The angiogram was less than pleasant and pretty scary for a surgery novice. Afterwards though, the doctor stopped in to check on me and let us know that my venous angioma was benign and functioned normally, whew finally a sigh of relief. The only catch was that I would have to go for annual MRIs from then on to make sure everything stayed the same. Not very much fun to have an annual reminder of this thing but altogether something I could live with.
We’re Expecting
Years later and still getting my annual MRIs, I was 26, married, just graduated from grad school, and hoping to start a family. Ever since my angiogram, everything had remained stable and with a pre-pregnancy visit to my neurologist I was given a go for pregnancy. But as the reality of becoming pregnant drew closer the fears of how this condition may affect a pregnancy, delivery, and maybe change afterwards were a constant concern. Soon enough though, God blessed Dan and I with our little one and our road to parenthood was underway. While we were overwhelmed with excitement and joy, the fears that I had before pregnancy about my VA were now magnified by hundred, adding a million more questions at my appointments with my OB. Thank goodness though, I have a fantastic doctor who perfectly balances my overly concerned and somewhat paranoid personality and with a great bedside manner to boot, making the whole experience a little less stressful.
Like many, throughout my pregnancy I envisioned the story book birth scenario, your contractions starting at home, maybe your water breaking too, a rush or at least quick drive up to the hospital, a progressing labor (preferably quick and not the dreadfully long labor our moms always told us about), and a few quick pushes and out comes your precious little baby. With some research of my own and some answers from my OB, I knew at the very beginning that my delivery might not be as I had hoped, thanks to my VA. During a vaginal delivery, the act of pushing and the actual epidural alone could affect my pressure and cause a possible hemorrhage, obviously a big and scary problem. However, since my VA had been stable for quite some time, with the approval of everybody on my team then I would be able to bring my little girl into the world just as I had hoped. So my entire pregnancy I played phone tag with my neurology specialist, OB, and anesthiologist trying to get approval for a vaginal birth with an epidural. Throughout this time, we received many a reassuring written and verbal okays but then things changed in my 8th month. The week of Thanksgiving, I had heard that despite 8 months of planning and getting the okay from every doctor under the sun for a vaginal birth, it seemed that I’d be undergoing a scheduled c-section after all, quite the opposite of my dream delivery.
So with that, the questions were gone, it was c-section for us and there was no more debating it. To say I was disappointed would be putting it lightly, I was hysterically crying after this news was delivered. I was 8 months pregnant, being ordered to a c-section contrary to all of the go aheads I had already heard, terrified of this form of delivery since we knew nothing about all that it entailed, and oh yeah, we picked out a delivery date just 3 weeks away. It was an appointment I’ll never forget that’s for sure, but with all of the guess work gone, the official countdown until our baby girl arrived had begun.
The Delivery
Flash forward 3 weeks and we had arrived at c-section day. Besides starving beyond belief, I was in tears on our way up to the hospital, both out of excitement to finally see that little one who had her toes jammed in my ribs for the past few weeks but also out of complete and utter fear of the unknown. We had arrived, were checked in, changed into my hospital gown, and hooked up to an IV and monitors of all kinds, all within a matter of a half hour. Unfortunately, we were delayed by about 2 hours making the anticipation, nerves, and anxiety that much greater. Finally though, we made it back to the operating room, Dan was shuttled over to a waiting area while I was sent in to get set up. Before I stepped foot inside, the anesthiologist met me at the door and decided to inform me just moments before I was about to deliver that he didn’t feel comfortable giving me the necessary, and already approved by the way, c-section spinal nor the medicine that goes with it, WHAT!!! Yup, just what you want to hear moments before you’re about to get a c-section. He had planned to instead give me an epidural and a different medicine but assured me that all would be just fine. To be honest, I wanted to turn and run for the hills but clearly it was too late for that, so I put on my brave face and marched into the operating room alone.
After some trouble with the epidural, we were finally underway and Dan was beside me yet again. Only 10 minutes in and my OB announced that she was here. A dark haired, 8 lb 9 oz baby girl had been born and we couldn’t have been happier. I sent Dan over to capture her first moments of life on camera and to give my precious baby girl a kiss from her Mommy. I’ll never forget that cry, it was the most beautiful sound that brought tears to my eyes. I wanted so badly to meet my little girl but I knew that she was being kept company by her loving Daddy.
While I was basking in my new Mommy glory, I all of the sudden was overwhelmed by a difficulty to breathe, then a numbing of my left arm, throat, and dizziness that made me feel like I was about to pass out. Since all of the doctors seemed to be alarmed by these symptoms, I took it they weren’t your standard c-section feelings. Before I knew it, I was being given oxygen and told that my epidural had gone to high, a high block, a serious and life threatening complication with epidurals. I heard the anesthiologist tell Dan that they may need to put me under and that he had to wait outside. I was terrified and heartbroken as I watched my equally as terrified husband be shuttled outside in a matter of a few seconds, leaving my little one alone in her first minutes of life. My eyes started filling with tears as I had yet to meet my little girl, hadn’t done skin to skin bonding time, Dan hadn’t cut the cord, and now this, nothing seemed to be going how I had hoped.
After the scariest moments of our lives had passed, Dan was beside our little girl again. Meanwhile, even though I had started to feel a little bit better, I still laid helpless as the doctors were in “operation get the epidural medicine out of my upper body so I could breathe again mode.” But as they were explaining that I needed to remain in the operating room for awhile yet, I tuned everybody’s voices out as I caught my first glimpse of my little girl in a nurse’s arms coming towards me. I couldn’t hold her yet thanks to my upper body being totally numb but she laid her beside me so I could meet her for the very first time in person. I breathed her sweet smell and kissed her on her chubby little cheeks and forehead, something that I waited a little extra time to do. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the little angel that laid beside me, and wished my numb arms would start working so I could scoop her up.
A short while later and we were finally being moved into recovery. In the meantime, seeing as the operation took way too long for your standard c-section, Dan’s phone had filled up with worried texts and voicemails. But for those moments in recovery, it was our time to recoop from the events earlier on and the world outside just didn’t seem to exist. It was finally time for us to enjoy being a new family of three and to finally give this mommy what she had been so desperately been waiting for. After waiting for 9 months and a long operation, I finally had my little girl in my arms. Our first picture with her in my arms says it all. I’m crying looking at the camera, so overwhelmed with emotion and couldn’t get enough of my little girl. I knew at that moment that that little one would be my whole life and I was so excited for the moments to come.
My delivery and recovery were less than ideal, filled with a lot of pain, some complications, and a lot of tears but the end result is a loving, friendly, and happy little girl that has made our family that much more complete. I had a hard time recovering physically, but the emotional toll that her birth took on me was something I still have hard time dealing with. It’s difficult at times to understand what happened and why but I do thank God everyday that I’m here to be her Mommy and share the rest of her life with her.
From time to time, we thumb through pictures of her early days and I’ve realized even more how fantastic my husband is. He captured all of the first moments that I missed, from the doctor holding her, to her first bath, getting weighed and fingerprinted, and getting swaddled with her knit baby hat on, all of the precious moments that I wished I had been a part of in person but I can now remember fondly thanks to Dan. My little one’s birth was anything but textbook, but bringing her into this world was a complete fairy tale.
While I’ve seen many around me have babies since, it only reminds me more that everybody’s story is different. Some live the movie scene while others are faced with a couple more challenges. It’s difficult to move on passed the events of my daughter’s birthday but holding that beautiful baby in my arms made the details of how she got there a little less scary. Stay tuned for my next pregnancy post about Being A C-Section Mommy!
In light of the recent debut of Freschetta’s gluten free pizzas in my local grocer’s freezer case, I thought I’d pass along a Freschetta coupon too! Since I’ve only just seen these pizzas locally, I have yet to actually taste one, but in the past, Freschetta was always my favorite for a quick, ready to cook pizza. While I certainly love taking the cheaper route and making my own pizzas, either with Bob’s Red Mill mix or Udi’s or Schar premade crusts, we’ve all had those lazy nights where you just wish that you could plop something in the oven to cook for 10-15 minutes without any prep besides placing it on a baking sheet.
Well, thanks to Freschetta we can do just that. Finally, a mainstream pizza brand has produced a gluten free pizza that’s full size and equivalent to the regular, non-gluten free version. They offer two varieties of thin and crispy gluten free pies, a four cheese which is right up my alley and a pepperoni looking equally as tasty. Is your mouth watering yet? I know, mine is too; that’s why I’m going to print my coupon and head over to my Shop Rite to snag one of these pizzas for a rainy day, or maybe just for tonight’s dinner! Make sure you print your coupon here and save $1.50 on your gluten free pie!
