Gluten Free Niagara

Where to eat gluten free in Niagara?

It's a bit of a tough one. Sure, there are restaurants who do rice pasta. It seems to be the most frequent offering on menus.

I don't eat out a lot here and there are restaurants that I eat that probably don't have a clue what gluten is and yet, I feel comfortable eating certain items. I have a restaurant to eat chicken wings, nachos and french fries at although they are a pub with probably no concept of gluten free. I just know that the wings are fried separately and they aren't breaded.


Breakfasts are often easy... Bacon, eggs and possibly the homefries depending on the spices. Some places will substitute a fruit cup for you instead of toast.

I work in a place that has a very nice restaurant and they make gluten free bread on site. I get a lot of phone calls from people who almost sound stressed when talking about it. " Well, we'd like to stay but I'm celiac"  or "My daughter is celiac and we need to bring food for her"  It's nice to reassure people that we can take care of them.  On a recent weekend, I went to this restaurant for breakfast and enjoyed eggs, bacon and toast. The toast was grilled over an open flame as they don't have a separate toaster and this is how they do their GF toast for breakfasts. I've also heard that they will substitute the same bread for lunch sandwiches.

For dinner, I've always liked The Keg Steakhouse. There is one in St Catharines as well as two in the Fallsview area of Niagara Falls, Ontario which are a little more expensive than the St Catharines restaurant. I've enjoyed the prime rib ( no au jus), baked potato and on a more casual evening, nachos, bacon wrapped scallops and garlic and cheese shrimp. They do bring sourdough bread to the table and the shrimp does come with more bread on the side but I forego that.  Margaritas or red wine may accompany these meals as well. For a short while, they did have a gluten free menu but they have since removed it.



There are a few restaurants that do rice pasta as I mentioned. Johnny Roccos, Cafe Amore - where the local Celiac group has dined and they have desserts and rolls available, and for a small intimate venue, La Scala Ristorante  which is a 30 seat restaurant. I don't usually go out for pasta since I prefer La Veneziane Corn Pasta

 There is a fantastic website called Gluten Free Ontario which lists all areas of Ontario as well as  different chain restaurants as well. It is frequently updated to reflect new establishments.  A few of the stores on the Niagara Falls and St Catharines sections do receive products from a local bakery which unfortunately I find extremely overpriced and the quality dismal.

The Celiac Scene has another list of restaurants that offer GF however I've looked up some of them and haven't really seen any information online regarding their offerings.


Pizza can be ordered from a couple different locations. Pizza Pizza has a gluten free crust and although it's a thin mostly rice flour based crust, it's great if you and your friends all want pizza. You do need to ensure you order the proper kind of pepperoni if you do order as the classic pepperoni contains gluten. Gluten free Ingredients at Pizza Pizza

You can also visit Boston Pizza. They feature gluten free pizza with crusts from Kinnikinnick . All the toppings that are GF are marked with a little star. At my restaurant I had pepperoni and bacon which is my favourite. Ask for it extra crispy so the crust is nicely cooked through.

You can also check out Roberto's Pizza  in St Catharines for a gluten free crust.

One of the local restaurants I often go to  is M.T Bellies  in Welland and they have just put out their new menu which does have some items listed as GF on it. One thing to stress is that you need to ask questions since this is new for them. I've enjoyed the pizza with chicken and bacon and I usually have the Centre Cut steak with garlic smashed potatoes and broccoli. To be perfectly honest, I often have the nachos and the potato skins which are fried and I haven't had any problems. One of their servers has a child with celiac and she helped me when I ordered my pizza.


Another local place I used to go to quite a bit is Jack Astor's. They've just come out with a gluten free menu as well. They have a few options that I would like as well. Definitely somewhere to go back to although I can't have any of their delicious Garlic Pan Bread any longer.
On the American side, you have a lot more options with all the national chains creating gluten free options and/or gluten free menus.

• Bonefish Grill
• Carrabbas
• Chili's 
• Mighty Taco 
• Olive Garden
• Outback Steakhouse
• P.F. Chang's
• Red Robin
• Uno Chicago Grill 

You can also look at the Gluten Free in Western New York website and the Buffalo Gluten Free website for even more places.

Back on the Canadian side of the border, one classic chain is Swiss Chalet. A 1/4 rotisserie chicken with chalet dipping sauce and salad is a great choice. The salad are never packaged with croutons so there is no worry there. Although they hand cut their french fries every day, they do occasionally deepfry breaded items in the same fryer so it is not a safe option. They also serve their meals with a bun and I ask not to have it added to my meal.



Overall, there still aren't a lot of places because there are a lot of chain restaurants and they are the type of restaurant that only has sauces and condiments listed as gluten free. Not much help there. But with a little research, you'll find something. Otherwise come on over. I'll BBQ!.

Biscuits. Nothing but GF biscuits...

I love biscuits. I don`t know why. I remember while on my very long road trip through the US, we saw sign after sign for restaurants that had biscuits. Going through the drive-thru of Bojangles to get my friend a coffee and I couldn`t convince her to get any biscuits. It`s my belief that my friends should eat the things that I can`t so I can live vicariously through them.

McDonald`s has had biscuits in the US for I don`t know how long now but they just brought them out in Canada so now I am bombarded by commercials for biscuits.

So of course, I`ve been craving biscuits lately. I stopped in at Bulk Barn to pick up some spices and saw that the Duinkerken foods Biscuit Mix was on sale. I`ve bought their flours before there since they come in boxes and I don`t usually buy my flours in bulk due to contamination issues. I saw a box of their biscuit mix and decided to try them.

You add 2 eggs, and a form of shortening ( I use butter ) and then milk and then after mixing and a quick knead, you can either roll it out or pat it out like I did. Since I didn`t have my rolling pin, I made square biscuits instead of round ones.

After a quick bake they are ready to eat.

They are flaky and buttery and have that proper biscuit taste and texture on that bottom crust.

Keep in mind, I`m Canadian. There`s no southern grandma hand-me-down recipe that I have to compare to. Only Pillsbury and Bisquick and well, Red Lobster.

Duinkerken Mixes and Flours can be found at Bulk Barn and they have also just expanded to Walmart across Canada.

This is their only mix that I`ve tried and I really liked it. If I want biscuits, this is the way I`m going to make them and I rarely make things from mixes.I`m going to buy a few more boxes since they are sale and try some garlic and cheese drop versions as well.

The mix is full of starches however so if you are looking for a whole-grain type of product, you won`t find it here. It`s a biscuit. It`s not supposed to be healthy.  When I want a buttery, flaky biscuit, that I am going to add more butter to, this is definitely the way to go.

Also, I did not cut one open today and brush melted butter on it and then put a piece of bacon on it for an impromptu bacon sandwich. Okay, I did.

Gluten Free in Banff, Alberta

For over 2 years, I lived in a park. Filled with wild animals, bears, elk, moose, coyotes, cougars and many more.

Coyotes

Elk

Bears

Deer

More Elk

Big-Horned Sheep

Wolves

I lived in Banff National Park in the town of Banff. It was here that I discovered that I could no longer eat wheat, rye, barley and oats. This didn't mean that my days of eating out were over though. There were still many places that I could go.

Elk and Oarsman - The Elk has always been one of my favourite places to go. It's the perfect apres-ski/sports watching kind of place. Extremely popular on Tuesdays for Steak Sandwich night, they also have other nightly themes every day. Recently, they published their Gluten Free menu with a few items on it and as well, their main menu also lists that they have gluten free bread for sandwiches as well as gluten free pizza. Quite of a few of their other items can be served with rice crackers as you can see on their Gluten Free Menu . They seem to have a good solid staff that doesn't have an extremely high turnover rate as in some restaurants in Banff.  My favourite here has always been the Tin Plate Nachos.

St James Gate - Normal Menu - Located on Wolf Street across from Cascade Plaza. St James Gate has always been a favourite for after work drinks as well. My favourite here - again,  the Nachos.

I see a pattern here. I eat a lot of Nachos.

Keg Steakhouse Gluten Free Menu - The Keg Steakhouse is a Canadian chain that is extremely popular. They are located inside the Banff Caribou Lodge. They have always had a strong fantastic serving staff who know their stuff. They have fantastic....um.... nachos. BUT, I also get other items!

Recently, they have published a gluten free menu online which is fantastic. Many choices here. They serve the table a big loaf of bread and butter but you can push that to the side obviously or watch as your fellow diners enjoy. I think for this reason, the garlic cheese shrimp that I usually have ordered is not on the GF menu. It comes with a side of bread to put the shrimp on. I've always just had the shrimp on it's own without the bread but perhaps this requires a little more research now.

My other appetizer of choice is the bacon wrapped scallops.
I also enjoy their prime rib and baked potato or garlic mashed ( no au jus) or the steaks are also fantastic.
And in the summer, it's LOBSTERFEST!

Somehow I ended up with 3 butters!! Life is good!

The Grizzly House - Normal Menu - The Grizzly House is a Banff legend with a very interesting history. It's fondue! Gator and elk and kangaroo, oh and chicken and beef as well. You can also choose to do a hot rock instead of fondue. We usually do the full meal which is salad ( I don't think it comes with croutons, but check), the veggie fondue for me and the cheese and bread for my friends since they are built for 2 people so we get one of each with the full meal.

Veggie Fondue

Then we also get either the fondue or the hot rock with whatever meat choice we've opted for. Be warned: At this restaurant, the cooking smell will permeate into your clothes so don't wear anything too nice!

Hot Rock - Chicken, Beef, Lobster with Garlic Butter

Magpie and Stump Another favourite is the Mexican restaurant, the Magpie and Stump. Home to a peanut-covered floor, this eatery on Caribou street serves a mean margarita and lots of tequila. They have a gluten free menu and I often have the fajitas with corn tortillas. When I visited in the summer, I parked the rental car, visited my friend at work and went to meet another friend at the Magpie, which meant I had a margarita within 10 minutes of parking the car. Nice.

Boston Pizza Gluten Free Menu - Boston Pizza has recently rolled out a new line of GF pizza which is based on Kinnikinnick pizza crusts. Check with your server to ensure they will be making it in a proper GF area.

Nourish Gluten Free Menu - This is a small restaurant in the Bear Street Mall which features Vegan, Raw and Gluten Free/Wheat Free menu items.

Edo Japan - This was my lunch spot in the Cascade Mall Food Court. They saw me coming and they would start to clean the grill. Chicken Teriyaki, no sauce, no mushrooms. They would scrape down the hot flattop grill, and pour water on the hot surface which helps to steam it clean. Keep in mind:
Q – Are any of your meals gluten free?

A – As our signature teriyaki sauce contains a wheat based soy sauce, none of our meals prepared to recipe can be considered gluten free. Keep in mind however, you can always request your meal be specially prepared with no teriyaki sauce or soy sauce, hence eliminating gluten.

As a general rule, this does not eliminate the trace gluten on the grill. They got fresh chicken and fresh utensils for me and I never had any issues. Rice, broccoli, carrots and cabbage. Yum! I did however have a bottle of soy sauce in my big purse whenever I went for lunch.

Wild Flour Bakery - They have a few items at this artisan bakery on Bear Street. Website is under construction at this time.

Banff Ski Lounge - This is also a new place. The website says they have gluten-free cupcakes. I'm not sure if they come from the Wild Flour Bakery or not since I never saw GF cupcakes there.

There is another bakery in town who does do cupcakes and cakes. We ordered a cake for a birthday and it was utterly amazing. Chocolate, caramel filling. Delicious. The next month, we ordered another. But it wasn't gluten free. Malabsorption issues galore. I starved for 2 weeks. Couldn't get enough food to rid my stomach of that empty feeling. Lunch was steak, chicken, pork, sausage and potatoes. Second lunch was a repeat of that even though it was supposed to be the next's days food. And so on.

Canmore

Iron Goat - In Canmore, up in the Benchlands, there is the Iron Goat Restaurant named after the train that used to travel through. They have a number of items that can be made GF. I ordered their pizza and they brought out a wheat one by mistake. It looked too good to be true. They took it back and made me a new one. They made the dough from scratch and only one bake with the toppings on which meant  parts of it were not quite done when they brought it out. Par-bake!!! Freeze!! It would have been great if it was was done like that.

Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company Nutter's Bulk and Natural Foods - If you are looking to stock up on treats like cookies, granola bars, and other items, check out Nutter's.

As always, these are subject to change. There are certainly hotels such as the Hidden Ridge Resort with kitchen facilities to prepare your own meals. There is always an inherent risk in dining out.

One other note: If you are travelling from the USA, you're in luck. While the US has malt-based coolers such as Mike's Hard Lemonade, Smirnoff Ice etc, the Canadian version is made with vodka. Which means..... You get to drink it!!!!!!!!!!   We also have a lot of ciders in different flavours such as pear, raspberry, peach, apple etc!!

My favourite lake  - Moraine Lake

A favourite backyard meal

Sunrise on the ski slopes

The view driving towards Banff

The other lift said there were wolf tracks.

The Banff Springs Hotel on a snowy day

Me. On a mountain.

Sunset one night walking home.

Mount Rundle - reflected in Two Jack Lake

Hiking at Sunshine Meadows

ENJOY!!!!

xo

Kathleen

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Hot Dogs

A friend and I went down to Niagara Falls sightseeing one day and we were hungry and I had no snacks. I know. Bad. But we saw a hot dog vendor and I wanted one incredibly badly. There was no wheat listed in the wiener but they were also $7.50 which is a lot to pay for a weiner wrapped in a napkin.

A few weeks later I was shopping at Wegman's and saw a new product that they were carrying. I've tried some other Hamburger/Hot Dog/English Muffin type buns and they are always sooo heavy.

These were "The Grainless Baker". They felt a little heavy before I defrosted them but once I sliced into one, I knew it was going to be good. It smells a little sweet but after toasting, that went away and it was like a normal bun.

It's not crumbly and held up to being toasted on the grill and held together once the toppings were on. And by toppings, I mean only ketchup. There was an article in The Food Network magazine a month or so ago about hot dogs and their toppings and although the pictures looked great, I'm still just a ketchup only girl.

Nathan's Hot Dogs, The Grainless Baker buns and it's going to be camping heaven!!!!

Gluten Free @NatureValley Roasted Nut Crunch Bars

Wow, that sure is a mouthful to say. Much easier to say is I <3 General Mills. The poor USA/CANADA border patrol. They must know me by now for how much shopping I do over the river in the US.

Anyways, General Mills. I love them for their Chex. Their Betty Crocker Mixes. The upcoming Gluten free Bisquick mix this summer which I CANNOT wait for. www.liveglutenfreely.com

And now, their granola bars.

To be honest, I thought it was the granola bars that they were going to have. Much to my surprise, it's actually whole almonds, sunflower seeds and peanuts.

A nice sweet treat. Granted, it looks just like something you can make at home. I had to check the label a few times since it looks like there are faux Rice Krispies in them but it's from the corn flour I think. Anyways, I certainly don't have a packaging plant in my house which is why I love these. So easy to throw in the purse to have as a snack which is definitely one of the hardest things about this.

 


So good!!!

Pickle Barrel Restaurant

What to eat? So not prepared. This is why I need an iPhone!!


In another city, not too sure what I can eat and just hoping for no fast food. We decide to check out the mall and if nothing, at least I know I can have New York Fries since they only do french fries.


Just in the door of the mall is the Pickle Barrel restaurant at Sherway Gardens Mall.They had a sign right on the hostess sign saying "Allergies, please let us know" So far so good. I check with the hostess. She's not too sure and I start to scan the menu. I find a few things I think might be okay and ask to speak with someone who may know. The manager comes out and we start to talk.

I never make this much effort or bring this much attention to it. He offered to bring me a copy of what they had and he did in a few minutes and made a point to mention it to the server as well who seemed aware. A server who is aware is also new to me. It was fairly limited but that's okay, since I'm fairly picky anyway!

I chose the Grilled 10oz New York, Striploin Steak  - Premium and well marbled beef with P.B.
special spice rub. Served with grilled vegetables, baby bok choy, mini potatoes and side salad.

Just salt and pepper on the steak, the veggies steamed and salad with balsamic and oil.

What a wonderful dinner at the Pickel Barrel!!!

Picazzo's Pizza Review

One day I saw a link to Picazzo's Gluten Free Menu and knew that one day I would go there.
And one day last fall, I did.
Driving through Arizona, led me to Flagstaff to stay for the night.

I asked for the gluten free menu and a beer! My first Bard's Tale beer. It was just like drinking a microbrewery beer.

I ordered the garlic bread and the server asked if I wanted some marinara sauce to dip it in. Oh, heck yeah! My first garlic bread in months. It's a little heavier than you might be used to but it was still great.




 I also ordered pizza. Of course. Now I could have ordered any kind of specialty pizza but I just wanted a good old fashioned Pepperoni Pizza.

Nice and thin crust. Covered in parm.
I just wish they were closer. Franchise anyone?










Y'all need to get some!

Another Gluten Free Pasta

Another attempt at pasta. I enjoyed the Schar pasta that I had
bought much more so than the Tinkyada which had no flavour whatsoever.
The Schar pasta, as I've written about was good but really didn't heat up well. It sort of
defeats the purpose of making a big batch of sauce if it's not easy to
have noodles to eat.


That's one thing I haven't done in a while. Make my own sauce. Soon though.


I was told about a bakery nearby that had gluten free products according
to a sign in their window. So naturally, I was excited to go. I've been
there before and it was full of warm, crusty Italian rolls and breads.
I asked about the gluten free products and they pointed me to the only
things they carried. Corn pasta and spelt pasta. So they were 1 for 2,
I guess, since spelt is not allowed. Nor would I even try it if I could
since I don't particularly like the word "spelt". That's me. Super
picky but yet a food snob.


I bought a package of the penne and put it away at home along with all the other pastas I've picked up and have yet to try.


A whiff of homemade tomato sauce one day made me crave pasta though and I decided this would be the package I would try.

"The Le Veneziane corn pasta gets its characteristic golden color from its rich natural carotenes (vitamin A). This corn pasta has a delicate and gentle taste that allows it to work
with any sauce. It taste just as good as (some say better than) regular wheat pasta.

Le Veneziane corn pasta embodies Italian pasta making traditions at its best."




This was good.  Really really good. I didn't taste too
much of a corn flavour but this might be my new go-to pasta. Easy to
cook, not too starchy, not mushy, not brittle. As Goldilocks would say,
" It was just right".


I made the whole package and the leftovers, I rinsed in cold water to stop the cooking, then put a
little olive oil on the noodles so they wouldn't stick. I had a really
good feeling about the pasta. Threw some sauce on top and brought it to
work the next day for dinner. My gutsy Move of the Day? Not bringing
any other meal to eat. If this didn't heat up well and turned into
mush, I would have absolutely nothing to eat other than my snacks.


And.......










It was fantastic heated up as well. All in all, just like normal, eating for one meal and having great leftovers.




Now, I think it might be time to start making my own tomato sauce again.

Maple Grove Gluten Free Pancakes

Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday. Pancake Tuesday.

Bring it to my mouth!

I've tried another pancake mix before and they just did not turn out. I was happy to find Maple Grove Gluten Free Pancake Mix at the store and it was in the regular food section as well. Not in the Natural Foods area. Sweet!

Looking good.

You can't really see it but mine are more square-ish.

I can't even begin to tell you how good these were.

They do have soy flour in them so I don't know that I would buy them again but for $2.79, if you can eat soy, they are worth it.

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread Review

I was driving through the southern states last year and wasn't able to have a lot of the regional foods. South Carolina and its hushpuppies and honey butter were particularly tempting but I could only watch as everyone around me ate them.

I found Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread Mix and thought I could make some hushpuppies out of that. Changed my mind and just decided to first try it as cornbread. Just add eggs, oil or butter and milk and mix it up and pour in the pan. It really doesn't get much easier. I added some Cajun spice which was nice. I think it's a little more on the sweeter side of the cornbread scale though.  

Also made some Honey Butter for the cornbread. 1/2 cup of butter with 2.5 tbsp of honey mixed in. 

Y'all need to get some. 

Swiss Chalet

Sometimes you just want something familiar. When I was on vacation with friends in the Dominican a few years ago, we were chilling in the pool area, having some cocktails and lamenting the lack of familiar food. Granted, the food was great to me to me at least since I've always been a bit of a plain eater.

But the talk soon turned to Swiss Chalet. Rotisserie chicken with chalet sauce with french fries and a soft roll is a classic. We all made plans for a couple of weeks after the trip, to meet there and have dinner once again.


Now I can't eat the exact same thing that I did then but I don't mind. Quarter chicken with white meat, salad with Italian dressing and no bun and I'm a happy camper.


The fries are cooked in oil that sometimes fries other breaded items so I stay far away from that.

But other than that, it's a quick fantastic gluten free meal. Check it out here: Swiss Chalet Allergy Guide