A gluten-filled, gluten-free beer?

Have you heard of this O Mission beer? It's allegedly gluten-free, yet made with malted barley and put through a "deglutenizing" process.  I haven't tried it, but it's picking up market shares all over the states.    I can't wait for this storm to be over so I can test it out! And for other reasons.  Obviously.

Hurricane Preparedness

We're all battened down here in DC, waiting with a mix of skepticism and anxiety to see what Sandy will rein upon us.  We have water in abundance.  We've brought in the Halloween decorations, lest a jack o'lantern become a missile.  We've even tackled the mountain of laundry so that we'll have some clean clothes if the power is out for any extended period of time.  We have diapers and formula.  We have flashlights and batteries.  And we have a kerosene heater sitting in the basement.  We learned some lessons from the derecho! These were the easy things.   The tough part was the food.

I think we generally have the gluten-free thing down in our house.  Like every other family with two working parents, we've got a solid rotation of meals that can be thrown together.  But we definitely eat "fresh."  (And, to a lesser extent, local and organic).  Which means that if the fridge goes down, I'm kind of at a loss.

I've stocked up on gluten-filled snacks and nonperishables for the husband and kids.  But what am I going to eat?

I started with fruit.  Fruit is easy.  And I've got some chips.  Some almonds.  Some Mary's Gone Crackers.  That was about it.  Not terribly sustaining.   So I went to MOM's and had a peek around.  I've been generally unsuccessful at finding canned goods that are labelled gluten-free.  Sadly, I didn't find much more here.  I got a couple of cans of soup that will work in an emergency (kind of the point, huh?).  Then I got some new crackers.  I was kind of striking out.  So I got some KIND bars -- which I love and frankly rely on for meal substitutes in every-day "emergencies."   And I got some Flamous chips.  They're made of chickpea flour, which is relatively healthy.  That's pretty much it.

I gave up on finding some magic, non-perishable sustenance.  Living gluten-free is great for forcing you to eat relatively healthy, fresh foods.  Not so great for Armageddon   I've got a lot of snacks.  And wine.  I have a ton of wine.  I think I'll be ok.
 

Weird Gluten-Free Resources

When you have a baby--at least here in DC--you get signed up for a ridiculous number of solicitations.  (Or maybe I didn't see the opt out box).  Most of these eventually just peter out.  One, however, has followed me relentlessly, like a harmless stalker.  Parenting magazine lands in my mailbox periodically and it provides a good thirty-minute distraction.  This month the "snack" section caught my eye.  Allergen treats! For kids! And their parents!  The gluten-free snacks even looked delicious.   Most of these, celiac parents are already aware of--like Lucy's Cookies--but it is nice to see them mainstreamed.

Gluten-free iPhone apps...as if you needed a reason

Ever since I saw a friend playing with the highly addictive "flick the paper into the trashbin" application on her new iPhone, I've been coveting them.  My husband made some noises about giving me one for my birthday (subtle reminder) so I had put-off buying one.  I may not be able to wait. 

I just discovered that someone has been reading my mind and making iPhone apps from my thoughts!  Or maybe I'm not the only celiac who has stood in a grocery aisle, mentally debating whether I want to take the risk of buying an item without going through the whole, check the label, call the company, search the web rigamorale...but no more!  Zeer, Inc. has released the glutenScan app, which has a database of over 30,000 specific products and their safety for those on a gluten-free diet.  I think I need an iPhone just for this app. 

Since discovering this delight, I've found a number of other apps I want to try.  There's the iEatOut Gluten and Allergen Free, which tells you what you can eat at restaurants--clearly an excuse for me to eat out more often.  There's the iCanEat On the Go, which tells you what you can eat at common chains that would be found along a highway--I'm a little skeptical of the utility of this one.  There's the glutenFreed, which searches for gluten-free restaurants for you based on your area. 

Now someone needs to create an app that tells you whether there is gluten in certain medications and an app to figure out the difference between the cost of gluten-free groceries versus "normal" for flexspending purposes.  Anyone up for the challenge?