Downtown Vancouver- Bentall- Licious

One of the things I find difficult working downtown is that options for gluten free, quick breakfasts on the go are really hard to find. So I was ecstatic to find a cafe right under my building that sells gluten free, on the go snacks. They sell "flax rolls" in a variety of flavours like Spinach and Asiago, Roasted Red Pepper, Chicken Curry and more. They are served heated up with some dipping sauce (either hot sauce or sweet chilli sauce and they are delicious! The place is called Licious and its located on the second floor of the Bentall Mall across from the White Spot express... Check it out!

Renee's Gourmet Salad Dressings

Personally, I'm a huge fan of veggies and dip. Going gluten free (for those of us who are really stickler) makes it difficult to find dressings without modified ingredients. Renee's Gourmet salad dressings are all gluten free. There are tons of flavours and the ingredients list is easy to understand, meaning they don't contain tons of preservatives and artificial ingredients. They are also delicious. The nice part is they are not much more expensive than other dressings. Try them out for yourself, you can find them in the refrigerated section of your grocery stores produce section!

Handy App for New Celiac's

One of the hardest things about making the adjustment is not necessarily getting used to reading the ingredients list on labels, but knowing and understanding what the ingredients are and which one are ok to eat. With big words like "Beta Glucan or Calcium Stearoyl Lactylate" it's hard to know if something is ok or not. I've tried out a few different apps to make this easier and have had some successes and some failures. The most recent one I've tried is a fairly basic but has made this a lot easier for me.

It is a free app and is called "GlutenCheck". It's really simple to use as all it is is a list of every ingredient known to man, in alphabetical order. Ingredients that are safe are in Green and one's that aren't are in Red. Simple, right?

If you're new to Celiac, as I know many of you are it's extremely handy to have. It's available on IPhone and Android.

Frankie's Italian Kitchen

Last night, after work downtown, I met up with a few friends to go out for dinner. Unfortunately for me, they chose to go to an Italian restaurant. I figured I would probably be stuck with eating a salad, or some chicken dish or something, looking longingly at the delicious pasta dishes everyone else was eating.

However, to my surprise, they offered all of their pasta dishes with the option of gluten free pasta...and I mean..good gluten free pasta. As in, I'm drooling while thinking about it right now. It was delicious.

Apparently, they use Fiorentini pasta. I don't know where to get it yet, but when I do, you'll be the first to know!

So if you get a chance to check out Frankie's Italian Kitchen, do it. It will make you feel better about missing out on all that pasta before.

Seriously Delicious Pizza

Udi's pizza crust...thank you so much for making an easy to use delicious GF pizza crust. It makes the best GF pizza's I've ever tasted! I no longer feel like I'm missing out!

Vans Blueberry Waffles

I haven't been the hugest fan of Vans waffles because they tend to lose heat pretty quickly and don't microwave well. But the blueberry was a nice change in flavor. Though they fell apart pretty easily. Worth a try if you're feeling like you need some variety.