Pizza hodge podge

Yesterday I was at the hospital in the morning with my parents for some testing for Dad.   We got back to their place around 1ish.  I hadn't eaten anything since the breakfast sandwiches I made for Mom and I .   So it was time to eat something and I was craving pizza.  I had to go to the grocery store to get more apples for the apple crisp I was to make for mom, so I grabbed the Against the Grain pizza shell since all their products have been divine.  I topped it off with the Piazza Sorrento's marinara sauce mom had in the fridge and the Daiya dairy free mozzarella cheese and Sargento's Colby Jack cheese.  A total hodge podge of ingredients.  This was delicious.  Seriously good.  And by using the pizza tray to bake it, it was a floppy crust, almost like a pizzeria pizza.  I had to show some restraint eating it.  It was that good.   Mom agreed. She was loving it just as much as I was!

She also picked up some stuff at Made with Love Not Gluten.  OMG.  The strawberry filled cupcakes were amazing. I want a cake of this.  Soooooo good.  The orange cranberry scones were good too.  I have a few more items to try out, but it remains, I have yet to have anything here that was not good. 

 

Piazza Sorrento's, Against the Grain, BRCA

So I have fallen for more of the Against the Grain products. 
Most recently the baguette.   It's good plain or toasted, dipped in oils, toasted with cheese.  Good all around!  Also tried their dinner rolls.  Warm them up first.  It makes a difference. They worked great as a replacement for English muffins in my lazy and cheap pizza alternative. 

 

Totally excited to see that not only is Arooga's changing their menu, but have become gluten free certified.  Woo hoo!  See the article below:

http://www.pennlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/10/aroogas_hershey_new_menu_wings.html#incart_m-rpt-1

 

 

My cousin was in town last weekend to run the Hershey Half Marathon with her sister in law, who has recently gone gluten free.   I was totally excited to take them to Piazza Sorrento's, which I still feel is my all-time fave gluten free place in the area.  Flinchy's comes in second.  They would be tied for first if they had more bread offerings.  Although Flinchy's spinach and artichoke dip is so good, I would down a vat of it in a heartbeat.   But back to Piazza Sorrento's.  The girls seemed to really enjoy not only the gluten free bread, but the tiramisu and dinners.   We had a wonderful time.   Many laughs and full bellies! Just always make reservations on the weekends.  You may still wait just a little, but they try to accommodate everyone and make everything from scratch.  Well worth it !

 

After the half marathon, my cousin was going up to New York to partake in the P.Ink Day 2013 (P-ink.org) for a tattoo to cover up her mastectomy scars.  For her full story, check out her blog here :http://ponderingprevivor.blogspot.com/p/brca-previvor.html.  She was selected to participate not only in this day, but in a Huffington Post interview with her tattoo artist and the P.Ink founder.   It was a great interview and you will learn more about it here:http://live.huffingtonpost.com/#r/segment/pink-project-tattoos-for-mastectomy-survivors/5252c7c402a76017c50003f.   She has made some rough decisions at a young age, to avoid falling to the same genetic fate as her mother.   I always am impressed with her courage to make that decision, which, having her ovaries removed so young, ended her child bearing years.  Luckily, she has two babes already.  But anytime a woman makes drastic changes to her body, the landscape changes are not without emotional scaring.   I know what I went through just having a breast reduction.  I can't imagine what have a preventive double mastectomy and having your ovaries out would be like.  But she made the choice to save her life and to become and advocate.    She is more than willing to answer questions and try and help others in the same boat.   It's not always easy, but she does it well.  So if you or someone you know is facing some concerns testing positive for BRCA, her blog is a good place to start.  

 

Ok, that is it for now.  More soon to come, after my WildTree party in two weeks!!!

Piazza Sorrento, Orville Redenbacher, Wild Tomato

I got to try more yummies at Piazza Sorrento, including their crab dip and the tiramisu.  OMG.  Delicious!  I also got to try the shrimp crostini.  I can't get over how everything I have had there has been so delicious.  They have won my heart and my tummy!

 

A friend also gave me the Orville Redenbacher's Pop Crunch with Brown Sugar and Cinnamon to try as it's gluten free.  Dear lord this was like crack.  I almost ate the whole bag it was that good.   Dangerously good.   Then I felt like making something sweet and made the Betty Crocker Chocolate cake mix and took some butter cream icing and threw some unsweetened cocoa powder in it.  Another home run.  Both Ken and I enjoyed those immensely. 

 

Now I also finally tried Wild Tomato's Margheita pizza.  It was better than I had expected.  I had to fight to not eat it all.  Another yummy find there.  Granted it arrived a little disgruntled...

 

My bestie and I are beach bound this weekend, and I am thinking of trying some new things down there as she is a seafood lover like I am.   I am excited to get to spend time with her since she lives on the other side of the country and to get to enjoy some beach time.   Woo hoo!!!

Piazza Sorrento

I finally got to try the Eggplant Involtini at Piazza Sorrento.  I have been wanting to try this for so long, but it's only offered at dinner and we rarely are there for that.  It was delicious.   I can't wait to go back and try it again.  Piazza Sorrento really does go above and beyond to offer a slew of gluten free foods, and prepare them with care and make sure every plate that is gluten free is marked as such.  I just love this place!

Such a slacker!

With vacation, me being sick, Ken being sick, dad falling and having to go to the ER, work and a few other incidents, I have fallen way behind on my posts!  I will have to sit down and organize myself a bit, but I will say I have continued to find new and delicious gluten free restaurants and food!   

I also stumbled across a gluten free discount card.  It cost $10 and has some discounts for a few places, so I figured, why not!  It arrived this week and I am anxious to give it a try.  They have two separate ones, one for Dauphin county and one for Cumberland.  I bought both since I live in one and work in the other.

http://www.glutenfreebeescard.com/

I finally decided to try something else off the gluten free menu at Piazza Sorrento, as I figured, if they are nice enough to have such a full menu, I should give more than pizza a try.  I had their chicken Marsala over risotto.  It was delicious!   So glad I gave it a shot.   

In Massachusetts, many places were able to accommodate me, and I appreciate the efforts they made.   We hit Guiseppe's Ristorante and Piano Bar, and they had a wonderful gluten free pizza and just a nice atmosphere.  I would so love to go back there.   http://www.giuseppesma.com/

I recently purchased Three Bakers gluten free stuffing and am looking forward to seeing how it tastes.  My hope is that it is close to Stove Tops.  That, would be awesome.   

That is about all for now, until I sit down and organize the things I have been accumulating to add.

Tasty Eats

I figured, I search hi and low for this kind of info, so I might as well share my research!

I have personally eaten at and can vouch for these establishments:
http://piazzasorrento.com/#13425512153051&true
http://feniccis.com/
http://thepizzagrille.com/ourmenu.html


Some big chains that have GF items or lists. These are either direct links or you have to look for the allergen/gf info to link from here:
http://www.olivegarden.com/Menu/Gluten-Allergen/
http://www.redlobster.com/health/allergy/
http://www.redrobin.com/menu
http://www.applebees.com/menu#


I haven't tried these yet, but they have GF items/menu's:
http://houlihans.com/eat.aspx

And so it goes...

Sadly, Thursday Grandpa passed.  This obviously, no matter how well we understood was coming, was devastating, and relieving at the same time.  I am greedy, I hate to let people go, however, I also hate to see people suffer, and the last month of Grandpa's life, when this all started, was a struggle.  Some days he would bounce back and other days we were preparing for the end.   Fact of the matter is, he would have been miserable to keep going on unable to walk freely and breathing with an oxygen tank.  His periods of being awake were getting less and less.   So while my heart is breaking, I am also glad he doesn't have to endure that anymore.  Almost everyone in the family rallied the past month to be there for him. My aunt moved into the house to take care of him, so fulfill his wish to be "carried out of his home", and my sweet cousin who has two kids, a working husband and a Nana also going through surgeries and health issues made time to help out, god bless her. My parents where there regularly and we were too.  Too many more to mention, but the constant flow of visitors was a reminder of how loved he was.  This Tuesday when we lay him to rest will be the end of an era, and a beautiful life.

I guess I should get onto the gluten free part of the Gluten Free Journey this blog is to be about.   I had some Gluten free pizza at Piazza Sorrento yesterday, which seems to be the average pre-made gluten free crust I have encountered at all the establishments with gluten free pizza that I have tried so far, but it was tasty.  Their Old World Pizza is one I am quite fond of.   Also tried Hogdson's Mill Gluten Free Cookie Mix and that yielded "awesome cookies" according to Ken.  SCORE!  Really looking forward to trying the Better Batter mixes and all purpose flour I got soon.   Also tried was the Pizza Grille's Gluten Free pizza.  Another pre-made crust, but their flavors are usually good.

This week will be an emotional one, but I know it's another chapter in the journey of life.  R.I.P. Grandpa.