Be Free For Me Blog

When I first heard, I thought it was too good to be true. The behemoth of food companies, General Mills, was coming out with a new line of gluten-free baking mixes. Too good to be true. I needed to see it to believe it.

So, I called a good friend in the food industry that was able to get me boxes of the four gluten free varieties: brownie mix, chocolate chip cookie mix, yellow cake mix and devil’s food cake mix. 

When the FedEx driver showed up at the office door I practically pounced on him.

I ripped open the box, and literally just stopped and stared.

To hold in my hands baking mixes that said “Betty Crocker” and “Gluten free” together – right on the same box – blew me away.

Blew me away.

Sure I’ve seen gluten-free baking mixes before. But this is big news. General Mills, yes folks – General Mills, one of the world’s largest food companies that has products in over 100 countries and owns not only Betty Crocker, but other well-known brands such as Pillsbury, Bisquick, Green Giant and Cheerios has noticed us celiacs. It makes me giddy. It makes me beam.

It makes gluten-free mainstream.

And here’s the best part. The products are phenomenal too! “Moist”, “chewy” and “super chocolaty” are some of the adjectives used to describe them.

To make things engaging, I decided to have a taste test. I recruited some gluten-eating friends & family, blindfolded them and had them try both the Gluten Free Betty Crocker Mixes along with the traditional gluten-filled Betty Crocker comparable mixes.

Very interesting outcomes! Check back for the taste test results of the “Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Challenge” in my next few blog postings.

Oh, and also, Mr. FedEx Man – I apologize for almost knockin’ you down in my sheer excitment. To make it up to you, I’ll have some really good gluten-free goodies for you tomorrow.

~ You can whip through reading any product label like a food engineer on steroids…

~ Your first few grocery trips after being diagnosed take a full morning – if not a full day…

~ It is fair game to drum-up conversation with anyone that has Van’s Waffles or Cherrybrook Kitchen products in their shopping carts…

~ When you bought your first box of gluten-free Rice Chex in the “regular” cereal section you did cartwheels down the rest of the aisle….

~ You can quickly become a contortionist in a moments notice while trying to read the labels of deli products behind the glass display case… 

~ You look at end-caps of Twinkies and Ring Dings and realize you don’t really miss them – and you’re actually glad you can’t have them…

~ Your grocery cart has the healthiest contents of every shopper in the store – without even meaning to…

~ You know where the Natural Food section is located in every supermarket 35 miles from your home…

~ You usually end up shopping at 2-3 stores for your groceries each week in order to find everything that you want… and need…

~ The cost of the contents of your weekly grocery cart could put all your children through a full semester at a private school…

~ You know that Kinnikinnick and Namaste are not the names of characters from the new box office hit “Monsters vs. Aliens”…

~ Someone says “GF” and you know what they mean…

~ Your purse starts to look like a shopping bag because it’s full of food that you “just might need”…

~ You know that “WBOR” does not stand for the call-letters of your local radio station…

~ You insist that any relative that shows any celiac symptoms get tested right away…

~ You know brown bagging it isn’t a fad. It’s a reality…

~ Santa is uncannily starting to look a lot like Bob from Bob’s Red Mill…

~ Preventing cross-contamination takes more than just sanitizing cutting boards and countertops…

~ You sometimes eat before going to a cocktail party or buffet function…

~ You’ve found the need to explain more than once that you are NOT on the Atkins diet…

~ You know that rice cakes are not just for hippies anymore…

~ Anyone that thinks that celiac disease is a good thing since it (may) prevent you from gaining weight really has no idea whatsoever what the disease is about…

~ You look at pictures of yourself before you went gluten-free and realize how much better you now look… and feel.

~ You go on vacation and one of your suitcases is full of food…

~ Hotel rooms with kitchenettes are a necessity – not a convenience…

How do “You Know That You’re a Celiac?” …???

Please Share!

This is the first of three blogs in the series of “You Know You’re A Celiac When….”
The next two will be coming later this week! ~ Be Free! Kathleen

Since going gluten free I don’t eat that much bread. I know that there are plenty of gluten-free breads out there that taste just fine and could fool even the savviest of gluten-eaters – but I still don’t eat much of it.

What I do love is finding creative ways to wrap, roll and stack my deli meats, cheeses, nut spreads and jams.

Some of my favorites? Rice spring rolls, corn taco shells and really big lettuce leaves. Read more of my favorites in my article, Use Your Head for Substitutes for Bread.

Post to this blog and share your ideas and thoughts about your “next best thing since sliced bread” too… We all need some more lunch ideas!

Should we all start thanking our lucky stars? Is there more to Starbucks than a good cup of joe for celiacs and the gluten free everywhere?  How about the dairy, soy and nut avoiders too? Should Starbucks include other allergen free products in new item introductions as well?

According to a Starbucks blog post, they are considering offering some gluten free food options in their stores. Click here to read the article posting on Starbucks blog.

Knowing that there is more strength in numbers than a triple grande expresso, I thought it would be a great idea to pool all of our ideas & comments here on this post, and I would compile and submit them to the new product innovators over at Starbucks.

According to the information they posted they want to know:

• What specific gluten-free products would you like to see in our stores?

• Would you prefer to see it individually packaged or unpackaged?

• How would you like to learn we have gluten-free products? For example, would you like to see it on a sign or would you prefer the barista tell you?

• Where would you like to see gluten-free products in the store; in the pastry case or placed elsewhere?

• The ingredient costs of gluten-free products tend to be higher, so would you understand if we charged more for the gluten-free version?

Please help support our celaic and food allergic community and cause! Reply to this post today and I will submit all comments together as the strong demographic we are!

We are celiac and the food allergic … hear us roar!
Be Free!
Kathleen