New Products from General Mills: Asian Chicken Helper Review

It is almost time to send my gluten free daughter back to college. As she was thinking of easy things to cook for herself she came across the new Betty Crocker line of "helper meals" at Kroger. Based on the traditional hamburger helper theme of "one pound, one pan, one tasty meal", this sounded pretty quick and easy for a college student in her first apartment. We tried the Asian Chicken Helper, which called for a pound of chicken and 2 eggs in addition to the mix. The meal was easy to make and tasted pretty good. Although the package says it serves 5, we each ate about a 1/3 of the meal which provided about 466 kcals per serving. You can access lots of great information on products and recipes at the General Mills website Live Gluten Freely.

FYI: Gluten Free Tidbits to Share....

* Chelsea Clinton's wedding was a private event and I read that caterers had to sign privacy agreements. There have been several published news stories that discuss her vegan menu options and her choice of a GLUTEN FREE WEDDING CAKE! I do not claim to know anything about Chelsea's medical history, but some articles claimed she has a "Gluten Allergy." Regardless of the reasons, this high profile wedding and discussion of the gluten free wedding cake, helps to continue to increase the awareness of Celiac Disease and a gluten free diet!

* My GF daughter had the recent experience of dining at Mellow Mushroom in Durham and noted that after she ordered her GF pizzza, the server proceeded to ask her if she had a true allergy to gluten? and when she answered yes, the server then took everything off the table and sanitized the table. She said it was a new procedure to make sure everything is clean and safe. Way to go the extra mile Mellow Mushroom!

*I have written previous posts about Twin Cakes having a booth at the Durham Farmer's market on Saturday morning, but note they are also there on Wednesday mornings!

Donate Gluten Free Food at the NCSSM Food Drive-Saturday March 20,2010

The North Carolina School of Science and Math will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for a 24 hour food drive by a non-charitable organization in a single location on Saturday, March 20th. The School will be accepting donations from 7:00am-10:00pm. It is very difficult to find gluten free food options at food banks this would be a great way to help stock some of the shelves with non perishable gluten free foods!
According to the Food Drive Website the schedule is as follows;

NCSSM World Record Food Drive
Saturday, March 20, 2010
7 a.m. – 10 p.m.1219 Broad Street / Durham, NC / 27705
Stay tuned throughout the day for Food Drive updates:
twitter.com/NCSSMFoodDrive
facebook.com/NCSSMFoodDrive
www.ncssm.edu/fooddrive
Questions? Call the NCSSM Food Drive hotline 919-416-2963
Due to limited parking availability on the NCSSM campus, if you choose to stay for any events,
we ask that you please park in the surrounding neighborhood.
Thank you!

Schedule of Events
7:00 a.m.
Food Drive begins!

9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Food Drive T-Shirts Available for $10*
*$5 will go directly to purchasing additional food for the drive
Raffle Tent
Bryan Lawn

11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Meet & Greet: Miss N.C. Teen USA 2010 and Mrs. America 2009
Raffle Tent
Bryan Lawn

11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Meet & Greet: “Biggest Loser” Contestant Antoine Dove ’04
Raffle Tent
Bryan Lawn

1:30 p.m. “Biggest Loser” Journey: Antoine Dove ’04
Raffle Tent
Bryan Lawn

5:00 – 9:00 p.m. RAFFLE DRAWINGS (See separate schedule)
Raffle Tent
Bryan Lawn

7:00 p.m. NCSSM Asia Fest
General Assembly Hall
John Friedrick Educational Technology Complex (ETC)

10:00 p.m. Food Drive ends
T.B.A. Meet & Greet: Wool E. Bull

Gluten Free Product Recall,Gluten Free Naturals Mixes

GLUTEN FREE NATURALS MIXES HAVE RECALLED SOME OF THEIR PRODUCTS DUE TO POSSIBLE SALMONELLA CONTAMINATIONL The following information is from the FDA website:

GFN Foods, LLC Voluntarily Recalls Gluten-Free Naturals Pancake Mix, Gluten-Free Naturals Light & Moist Yellow Cake Mix and Gluten-Free Naturals Cookie Blend Flour
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 11, 2010 - GFN Foods, LLC of Cranford, NJ is voluntarily recalling:

Gluten-Free Naturals Pancake Mix – UPC 187058 000043
Lots 09159 (exp 12/8/2010), 09320 (exp 5/16/12) 09322 (exp 5/18/12)
Gluten-Free Naturals Light & Moist Yellow Cake Mix – UPC 187058 000067
Lots 09083 (exp 9/24/10) and 09322 (exp 5/18/12)
Gluten-Free Naturals Cookie Blend Flour – UPC 187058 000029
Lots 09086 (exp 6/24/10), 09219 (exp 11/7/10) and 10035 (exp 5/4/11)

These products, manufactured by GFN Foods, are being recalled because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. The FDA and Thumb Oilseed Producers Cooperative of Ubly, MI found traces of salmonella in Thumb Oilseed's facility. GFN Foods, LLC is voluntarily recalling the products that contain the ingredient supplied by Thumb Oilseed.

Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and in some cases fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which can be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with salmonella can result into getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections, endocarditis and arthritis.

The safety of our products is of paramount importance to GFN Foods. Customers that have purchased the above products should contact GFN Foods at 866-761-6147 for a refund or to arrange for replacement product. You can also email sales@gfnfoods.com or call with any questions.

Note: The GFN website does not list any retail options for these mixes in North Carolina, however they are also a mail order product through the Celiac Shack and through GFN's own on line store.

FYI: Resource for Gluten Free Toddlers

A Durham resident and follower of the GFD blog asked me to share the information pertaining to her blog. Jessie is a mom with a GF toddler, who was diagnosed with Celiac Disease around the age of one. She is sharing helpful tips for toddlers on her blog entitled Gluten Free Toddler. The following descibes the posts from her blog:

Ramblings from a full time working mom struggling to find easy to make and ready made food that is gluten free and healthy for her toddler with Celiac Disease

Jessie, thanks for taking your time to share tips with others!

FYI: information of interest

Pick up a copy of the Durham-Herald Sun, Wednesday, January 20th edition and read the article "Nutritional Niche" on the front page of section D. This article features Custom Choice Cereal. This new company which is located in Durham lets the consumer order their own custom cereal blend of gluten free grains, fruits, etc.

We are always looking for that delicious piece of gluten free bread.
Although I have not tried it myself, I have been hearing about the good quality of Udi's Bread. I was contacted about this product by a reader of the GFD blog, Rebecca. Rebecca lives in Raleigh and is interested in placing a large group bread order and asked that I share this information with my readers. If you would like further information on this ordering opportunity click here.