Author: katiebiddle4317

Posted in Life Lessons, Teacher Life

Dear Body, Today I Choose Anger…

Posted on by katiebiddle4317

I know, that doesn’t sound like the kind of introduction you’re used to finding when you open this blog.  To be honest, I started this post from the couch during my most recent bout with illness. I never fully intended to post it, I think it was meant to be more of a cathartic exercise; however, as I wrote, I couldn’t help but think that perhaps these thoughts are in fact worth sharing. I mean, yes, the purpose of this blog is to inform readers about food intolerances and to encourage you through my own journey that life can and will be OK again, even when you’re convinced it never will. However, I think sometimes I go too far and make it seem like my journey is now all sunshine, rainbows, and delicious treats. Believe it or not, there are potholes on the journey too. And though I don’t often share those, I think this time it’s worth sharing…if for no other reason than to to remind everyone that no life is perfect, that dark days are inevitable, and you don’t have to pretend they don’t exist. We’re only human after all.

So, as I mentioned above, today I’m choosing anger. Now that is a strange sentence for many reasons. First of all, because anger is an emotion with which I am not well acquainted.  In fact, I once considered it a point of pride that I so rarely (i.e. never) experienced this particular emotion. However, it was during a rather insightful conversation with one of my ACE “brothers” when we were living in DC when I came to a startling conclusion. I realized that perhaps anger is an important sentiment; because if you never experience anger, then it means there is nothing in your life which you care so deeply about that it can ignite a passionate response . It suddenly troubled me that I rarely, if ever, allowed myself to feel anger. And from that day forward, I have embraced anger as a gift; granted, it’s how you channel this anger into action that defines whether it’s a catalyst for change or simply a vice. In fact, I whipped out my trusty Catechism this afternoon (well, actually it was already out for a lesson plan: Religion teacher problems)  and found paragraph 1767 which definitively states that passions in and of themselves are neither good nor evil but must be governed by reason.  (Side note: the Vatican website has a topical index of the Catechism!! In my Religion teacher world, this is simply amazing.) Second, it may seem strange to define anger as a choice…but that’s exactly what I think it is. (And clearly the Catechism seems to agree) You can feel emotions coming on, but only you can choose what is worth letting go and what is worth holding onto in your own life. So, again, yes, today I am choosing anger.

You know you’re a Religion teacher when…


Why am I choosing anger, you ask? Great question. My body and I are not on good terms.  My immune system in particular. I have just missed out on the second planned trip to visit ACE friends in the Midwest since July. Once it was a stomach bug, today it’s a respiratory infection. In just the 4 weeks since school started, my body has already waved the white flag.  The illnesses ravaging the girls since day 1 have proven too much for my poor, confused immune system. It’s been a long week of coughing, throat scratching, and the kind of exhaustion I never dreamed possible. I somehow made it through back to school night last week with a smile on my face and then crawled home into my bed with an aching chest, still dressed in my school attire. Friday morning it was off to the doctor and a brief pneumonia scare…before it was determined that my lungs seemed OK and I was given a prescription which said “rest, fluids, and a boring weekend” AKA you’re not getting on a plane to Michigan in the morning.

So here I’ve sat. The couch and I have become fast friends. I’ve slept more than I thought possible and downed more fluids and Umcka cold syrup than seems healthy. And I’ve been a little angry. Angry that an autoimmune condition, despite my fervent efforts to convince myself and everyone around me otherwise, does make life more difficult sometimes. It means I can’t fight germs the way other people can. It means when I am fighting said germs, my body freaks out at foods and triggers that it normally wouldn’t. And to top it all off, I received some bad news.  I’ve been feeling gradually worse over the past few weeks but I attributed everything to back to schools tiredness, September/new school stress, every other reason under the sun to explain why I was feeling sub-par. I had a few fleeting moments where I wondered aloud if something was up. I even had the nerve to verbalize a deeply-rooted fear that for the longest time I was afraid to say out loud: that it could be coffee.  I noticed it was often mid-morning, about two hours after breakfast, that I was feeling my worst. Nothing like when I eat one of the other triggers, but still bad enough to take notice. Well, the good news: it isn’t coffee. The bad news: it’s oats.


I know, I know… many of you with celiac or gluten issues are not feeling very bad for me right now. You’re thinking: “no kidding, Katie. Welcome to my world”. That’s right..many people with gluten allergies cannot handle oats, even the ones certified as gluten free. However, until recently, I was one of the lucky ones. (If I can be described as lucky that is haha). Well, those days are no more. For some unknown reason, my body has decided that now is the time to start attacking avenin, AKA the protein in oats that is remarkably similar to gluten. And the cereal I’ve been eating for weeks? One of the main ingredients is oat flour. So this means in some sense, I’m responsible for this latest bout of illness because I’ve been eating oats and thus rendering my immune system incapable of fighting off this recent germ. Or perhaps it’s the germ that invaded first, thus making my immune system attack something new. It’s the beauty of an autoimmune condition: you just never know. It’s like the ultimate chicken or the egg scenario.


Now before you get too concerned, don’t worry. Today I chose anger. But tomorrow I’ll be back onboard the acceptance train. I’ll fill your newsfeed with posts of how this unforeseen event led me to discover my new favorite winter breakfast replacement (Quinoa “Rice and Shine”- yes, that’s a real thing I discovered today) or how lucky I am to have people in my life who care about me enough to let me rant from 700 miles away on the phone since I can’t be sitting with them or who will drive an hour just to bring me Katie-safe food, Mexican (READ: NO CORN SYRUP!!) Coca-Cola, and keep me company when I’m resigned to the couch. Yes, those are all topics for another day. When I wake up tomorrow, I will transform this anger into positive passion. I’ll find new recipes that are safe, I’ll commit myself even more to making the world a better place for my food-allergy-ridden friends, and I’ll drive you crazy with my all-too-upbeat posts about rainbows and sunshine.


Where do you think I went after school/my chat with the doctor today?
If your answer was Mom’s Organic Market, you know me quite well 🙂

For today, though, I will let myself be angry. And every once in awhile, you should too. And you may even let yourself shed a tear or two. I mean, if Pope John Paul II recommended it, it must be sound advice, right??

Courtesy of: http://positiveoutlooksblog.com


Posted in Expos, Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free Life, Product Recommendations

For the First Time in Forever

Posted on by katiebiddle4317

No, I promise I’m not just another Frozen-obsessed enthusiast (though really that is partially true) but rather those are the words I heard uttered by a young visitor to the Gluten & Allergen-Free Expo last weekend. She was surveying tables filled with samples from “Enjoy Life” and she exclaimed “I can eat anything I want here and I don’t have to ask if it’s safe first….for, like the first time in forever!” I couldn’t agree more with that young girl’s enthusiastic assessment of last weekend’s Expo. For those of you have been reading my blog for awhile now, you remember that last year I described my weekend at the Allergen Expo as a fairy tale. Well, if I thought that was a fairy tale, I had no idea what the future had in store for me. I keep saying to my friends (only semi-jokingly) that I’m living my own Baltimore fairy tale at the moment…

I mean, my office is in a castle. I teach in a carriage house. I spend my days teaching teenage girls about God’s grace at work in their lives…and get paid to do it! I just spent a weekend with the service group leaders from my school having amazing conversations with inspirational young women who I have no doubt will set the world on fire in their own unique ways. I get to plan retreats and service experiences to bring a little light into the darker corners of Baltimore and expose my students to the idea that a world so vastly different from their own exists just a short 15-minute drive away. I’m celebrating the one-year anniversary of moving into my own apartment…and NOT having to move again for the first time in several years. And then last weekend, I got to walk around the Expo I described as a fairy tale a year ago as an official blogger. Seriously, I think I’ve uttered the phrase, “My life is so surreal right now” more in the past month than in all my 28 years combined.

This is where I work.
My office window is in the turret on the right…not the window that’s lit up in this one, but the one below it.
That sentence doesn’t even seem real…
(Photo courtesy of Chris Ferenzi Photography)
This is the view from my classroom door.
This is what happens when you teach in a Carriage House…

No, there simply aren’t words to explain the joy which filled that Convention Center last weekend and to do it justice. However, it’s my job to try and do just that…so I’ll see what I can do.


Now, many of you know that I deemed 2014 the Year of Love, and thus have been offering a variety of Love Shout-Outs since January. In an effort to keep with this theme, but not confuse anyone who may be counting, I decided to offer some “Sprinkles of Love” to some of the events, people, and products I found at last weekend’s Expo. I will write longer about some in the future…but for now, here is my attempt to share the joy of Secaucus with the masses.

Sprinkles of Love to:

1) The GFAF Expo team: Registration could not have been more seamless this year. Everything was prompt and everyone greeted you with a smile. I know it’s not easy to put on a production like this every few weeks…but team, you certainly made it look like a walk in the park!

2) DF Mavens Ice Cream: I could not be more sincere when I say this was the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Dairy-filled or not. They had clearly labeled soy-based, almond-based, and coconut-based options. Though I couldn’t try the soy-based option, I sampled all the others…and let me tell you, it was simply divine. So much so that I sent the photo below of my first cup to the Philanthropic Physicist with the message “I think I might actually be in heaven…” They’re based in New York City but have a great website to search for their products in local stores AND they even have A SHIP DIRECT TO YOUR HOME OPTION!!! (*cough, cough* My birthday is coming up in less than 4 months :-), and to top it all off, a portion of all their profits go to a non-profit organization called Mercy for Animals. Yes, I could not be more impressed with DFMavens. So, love sprinkles to you!


My little piece of heaven…

3) Mo’Pweeze Bakery: The name seems odd, right? Well, the reasoning behind it is downright adorable. This family-based bakery was inspired by a mom’s desire to provide delicious treats for her allergy-ridden family, especially her son who now has 19 different food allergies! The name comes from his small-child attempt to say “More, please!” after tasting his first allergy-free treat. Insert heart melt here. Aside from the precious story behind this company, their treats could not be more delicious! I tasted both the banana walnut cupcake and chocolate raspberry before purchasing some to take home…and coercing my mom and sister into joining me in the Buy 3, Get 1 Free deal they had that weekend. Last but not least, these men and women could not have been more pleasant, upbeat, and enthusiastic about what they do! Plus, they seemed almost as excited as me to be part of the Expo. Almost 🙂 And the best news for you?? They deliver nationwide. Take my word for it: Check out Mo’Pweeze Bakery!

4) PASCHA Chocolate: I honestly can’t even type this without getting absurdly excited. I turned the corner at the fair to see a display of chocolate bars. Assuming this would be something I couldn’t enjoy, I kept walking…until I saw the sign that read “free from peanuts, nuts, dairy, soy, eggs, wheat & gluten”. I stopped. I read it again. I tried to prepare myself for the disappointment I was sure would be inevitable when I asked about corn. The only ingredients? Cocoa, sugar, cocoa butter, and corn-free vanilla. Be still my chocolate-loving heart. You better believe I sampled every variety…at least once. AND to top it all off, there was a coffee-flavored bar. That’s right. Someone thought to put coffee grinds in a Katie-safe chocolate bar. I still don’t have words. Other than to say I purchased several bars before I left that weekend…including the very last coffee one they had with them. Oh, and I should also mention they deliver. And it’s all certified fair trade. I still don’t believe it either but I know where I’m buying chocolate from now on: http://paschachocolate.com/



5) Namaste Foods: This is a brand I was already very familiar with. My mom makes pancakes for me with this mix when I go home to the Poconos, my sister made cookies using their mix for our family BBQ in August, and I have their muffin mix in my cabinet as we speak (well, as I type and you read I suppose). They were sampling their Blondie Mix at the fair…and it was as amazing as I expected. Look for their products…you won’t be sorry! 

6) Gluten Free Gloriously Bakery: If you are having any kind of special event in the greater New Jersey area and need a gluten-free cake, these are your people. I couldn’t sample most of the items because of the egg and dairy ingredients but everyone I saw walked away with a smile on their face. And I stood in awe at their gorgeous cake display for a good 10 minutes. I also learned that it’s all the rage these days for brides to have a fake fancy cake on display at their wedding and then serve a cheaper one in the kitchen. I just don’t get what has happened to weddings in our society…but that’s another thought for another time.



7) Wink Frozen Desserts: Cake batter, cinnamon roll, cafe latte; these were just a few of the flavors I sampled at Wink Frozen desserts display. Need I say more?? Well, I should add it’s made from pea protein and was initially planned to be a low-calorie frozen dessert (100 calories for a whole pint…good-bye tear-filled life chats over Ben and Jerry’s, ladies!) but has the amazing side benefit of being vegan and gluten-free! They aren’t in many stores yet but they’re coming to the Whole Foods New Jersey market this fall. Keep an eye out for them!

8) Some amazing authors: I won’t say much about these lovely ladies yet because I will be writing reviews of their new books later, but let me just say how inspiring they are to everyone at the fair. I just wanted to come home and bake up a storm. Also, Elena and her amazing illustrator, Eileen, are coming out with an allergy coloring book soon and it is AMAZING!!! I can’t wait for it to be published…I only wish I had thought of it myself! 🙂
I had a great time getting to know these lovely ladies!
I’ve only read a few pages of Amy’s book and I’m already inspired!


9) Gluten-Free Love: It was a week before the expo when I got an email. As if I wasn’t excited enough already, there was more.  A man named George had decided to propose to his gluten free girlfriend at one of her favorite events: you guessed it, the Gluten Free, Allergen-free Expo!!! We as bloggers were asked to help out by attending the demonstration where the big event would go down, and take all kinds of pictures and videos. In preparation, we had a picture of the happy couple so we’d know who to look for.  Well, all I have to say is that I’ve never been so nervous for someone I didn’t know in all my life. (To any potential spouses of my close friends, I’ve learned from this whole experience that I don’t want to know when you’re planning to propose…not because I’m afraid I’ll tell her, but moreso because it’s just too much for my sappy, romantic heart to handle. I actually prayed for this girl every night that week leading up to the Expo, and I hadn’t even met her yet!) I spent the whole demonstration watching this poor guy and then looking away so I wasn’t the creeper staring at a couple I didn’t even know.  And of course I did manage to learn quite a few tips from the awesome presenter, Amy. The proposal went off without a hitch, Martina said yes, a gluten-free cupcake appeared, and there were more tears than you can possibly imagine for perfect strangers (not my own…I may be a hopeless romantic, but I’m still not much of a crier). In a word: precious.

THE BEFORE PHOTO
I think I watched these 2 during the presentation more than the cooking tips…
THE AFTER PHOTO:
So much joy! And a gluten-free cupcake!
(She has Celiac…he does not; Love can conquer all!)


All in all, the Gluten And Allergen-Free Expo was one of the best experiences I’ve had in a long time. I highly recommend the weekend to anyone who has food allergies, or even if you don’t! They have fairs all over the country so check out their website…and if you want to start planning ahead, I’m sure I’ll be back in Secaucus next September. So save the date now to share in the fairy tale 🙂

My loot from the weekend!
Family Fun at the Expo! You know you want to join us next year!!


Posted in Meals/Sides, Teacher Life

It’s Taco Time!

Posted on by katiebiddle4317

I know what you’re thinking: Katie, it’s the beginning of the school year! Aren’t you supposed to fall off the face of the blog-osphere for a few weeks until things settle down?? And yet here you are posting twice in one weekend??? Well, my response to that is trinitarian (that’s right: I learned this weekend that without the capitalized T, this word is a synonym for threefold…mind blown!): 1) I had a 4-day weekend…so I actually had time to plan and prepare for the week ahead; 2) I designate a theme of the year for each school year (last year was gratitude, the year before was positivity) and I’ve deemed this year the year of balance (namely of the work-life variety)..hence, this is me balancing; and 3) the topic of this post is just so important that it just can’t wait another second.

Tacos. Take a moment: soak in the word. Allow your brain to conjure up a mental image accompanied by the memory of the scent which wafts through your home for hours after your taco dinner has ended. Tonight I made tacos…and of course enough meat to last me for another evening to celebrate Taco Tuesday tomorrow. As I reached for my Pyrex of homemade taco seasoning, I had a horrible realization: I never wrote this post back in July when I originally planned to! So I apologize for my delinquency but let’s not waste another minute!

It’s Taco Time!!

Those of you who know me well are aware that forceful is not usually an adjective used to describe me. However, for this moment in time I will be and I have one admonition to share: DON’T EVER MAKE TACOS WITH THOSE SEASONING PACKETS AGAIN!! I mean this sincerely. Now please allow me to explain why.

1) Homemade taco seasoning is SO easy.
I sought out a recipe for homemade taco seasoning in the midst of my early food-intolerance days. Thanks to my trusty sidekick, Pinterest, I stumbled upon this awesome blog called The Nerd’s Wife. Here is her awesome/super easy recipe for homemade taco seasoning:

3 parts chili powder
2 parts ground cumin
1 part paprika
½ part cayenne pepper
1 part dried oregano
1 part onion powder
1 part garlic powder
1 part salt
½ part black pepper
*Courtesy of The Nerd’s Wife*
Several months old…and still going strong!

2) Homemade seasoning is highly cost-effective.
Think about it: when you decide on taco night, it usually involves a stop at the grocery store to pick up a packet of that Old El Paso seasoning. If you’re at the store anyway, why not bypass the packets and head straight for the pure spice section. First of all, chances are you already have some of the necessary spices in your kitchen; second, even if you have to shell out much more for the spices than a simple packet of taco seasoning, in the longrun, I guarantee the cost will likely balance out. Plus, you know you’ll end up using all those spices in other recipes at some point!

3) Do you know what is in that packet?? I didn’t think so…
I’m sorry, I promised I would never be one of those people who preach about how horrible everything that comes in a grocery store package is for you..and I won’t. However, this one has even me a little fired up. Take a look at this package:

Just look at those ingredients…
Now as you know, the corn starch jumps out at me as dangerous, but even for those of you with non-corn-adverse immune systems, think about this label for a moment. First of all, the only actual spices in your seasoning are chili pepper, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder…which are likely spices you already have sitting in your cabinet. Second, soybean oil? In your taco seasoning?? Why, General Mills, why? Third, an anticaking agent? I can personally attest that I made my homemade seasoning back in July and it has sat through a hot, humid summer in my sealed Pyrex and has remained completely fine and uncaked without any artificial preservatives or anticaking agents mixed in. I have a feeling it’s because those little packets sit on the shelves for up to 2 years…but again, that’s just my untested hypothesis.
And last but not least, please note the main ingredient: maltodextrin. Do you even know what that is?? Well, according to the FDA, “(a) Maltodextrin ((C6H10O5)n, CAS Reg. No. 9050-36-6) is a nonsweet nutritive saccharide polymer that consists of D-glucose units linked primarily by [alpha]-1-4 bonds and that has a dextrose equivalent (D.E.) of less than 20. It is prepared as a white powder or concentrated solution by partial hydrolysis of corn starch, potato starch, or rice starch with safe and suitable acids and enzymes” Yep, doesn’t mean much to me either. However, what I do know is that I shouldn’t need to turn to the science-savvy Saint in the Bow Tie…or the even more science-savvy Saint in my life, whom we’ll call the Philanthropic Physicist…in order to decipher the ingredients on my food label. Seriously, google image maltodextrin; you’ll be greeted by a chemical structure model which will bring you back to your high school chemistry lab days. Not exactly what I should have to decipher before putting something into my body.
So in short, I promise I’m not trying to scare you…but I just don’t think this makes any sense. If taco seasoning can be made so easily and frugally at home, why settle for a packet that all too often is covered in dust when you grab it off the shelf?? Granted I’m well aware there are probably a million and one other items on those grocery shelves that have the same issues, but for today I’m choosing one grievance at a time. Today, taco seasoning. Tomorrow (or really whenever I find time to write it again so probably more like Thanksgiving), soft drinks.
Taco meat for tomorrow night!
You know what that means: Taco Tuesday 🙂
Pair your taco with these corn-free chips…a perfect Labor Day meal!
Or Taco Tuesday, as the case may be…
So next time you’re at the store, grab some ground beef and stock up on the spices: tacos are always a great decision…no matter what day of the week it is 🙂
Posted in Cookies, Teacher Life, Tips and Tricks

"I Got My Lunch Packed Up, My Boots Tied Tight, I Hope I Don’t Get In a Fight…Oh Back to School, Back to School…"

Posted on by katiebiddle4317

That’s right, it’s that time of year again. (and if you missed the reference in the title, click here!) Once again we’re all talking about how summer has faded away too quickly. If you’re a student, a teacher, or a parent, the past 2 weeks (or the upcoming week for those of you lucky enough to be in a place where school still opens after Labor Day) have been crazy ones. And even if you don’t fit into any of the categories above, you still know it’s Back to School time for one reason: traffic. Somehow it’s like hundreds of cars that were hibernating all summer have awakened and filled the roadways. And the school buses, ah yes, the school buses. I love them, they’re efficient…but I’ve been stuck behind one enough times to know that most drivers have a love-hate relationships that tends to lean more in the direction of hate. Just remember, if they didn’t exist, that would mean an extra car on the road for every kid on that bus. Perspective for the next time you’re stopping and starting your way down the street behind the big yellow bus 🙂

Despite the griping you’ve probably heard from many teacher friends, we really do love this time of year. At least I do. It’s a fresh new start; another chance to greet some smiling new faces and open their minds to new ideas and their hearts to love just a little more deeply (at least that’s the hope). And this year for me this new beginning has been startlingly more real as I began my new year at a new school. Which means there are not only 375 new student faces but more than 50 new faculty and staff members to meet…talk about brain overload. As any student and any teacher, even the most veteran, will tell you, back-to-school time is nervewracking. Somehow the confidence which we had in June is hiding somewhere beneath the layers of sunscreen we piled on this summer. We’re coming back to do exactly what we did day in and day out without hesitation for 10 months last year…and yet the butterflies that fill our stomachs for the week prior to Day 1 are merciless. It’s Year 7 for me and I can attest they’re just as strong as Year 1…and from the unofficial survey I did last week, it seems that’s the case for the next 4 decades at least. Honestly though, as a certain wise former colleague of mine said this week, I hope these first day jitters never get old…because if they ever do, I think it would be time to move on. You always get nervous about the things you care about, right??

My new office…slowly coming together.
And yes, that is a giant sink 🙂

All right, before I get to the informative portion of this post, I do have to get a bit nostalgic for a moment. It has been a great and exhausting two weeks for me for many, many reasons. I’ve had quite a few “pinch-me-because-this-can’t-be-real” moments and of course some totally “I’m-overwhelmed-and-must-be-close-to-drowning” moments too. However, I had one of those amazing moments this week too; you know the kind that stop you in your tracks and give you chills and make you want to just freeze time or bottle it up to save. Or at least to have dramatic background music and some kind of montage like your life is a TV show 🙂  I had a phone conversation with one of the saints I’ve mentioned before. He’s had a dream we’ve talked at length about for years now, one which until recently he shared with very few people. And this week it started to come true. Now the specifics don’t matter (well I suppose they do but they aren’t mine to share) but the point is the joy was palpable in his voice. Of course I shared my life updates too, relaying stories about my new school and my excitement for next week’s Expo and my foray into the world of Official Bloggers! In the course of the conversation, he pointed out that it is pretty amazing how far we’ve both come over the past three years. (Note: I spent Labor Day weekend 2011 in the ER. And actually 4th of July 2011 too…not a good year for me and national holidays) After I hung up, I sat for a moment and just let it all sink in and I realized how right he was. There were so many days, weeks, and months of darkness, confusion, and even some hopelessness…and yet now I am lucky enough to bring just a little ray of light to people in the midst of their own darkness. And next weekend I’ll get to spend 2 whole days getting to know even more people who have journeys just like mine. Yes, to say I feel blessed would be an understatement.

I’ve come a long way since my dazed and confused early-food-issue days 🙂

Now, sentimental reflection over, I promise. Time for the important information. Now last year, my back-to-school post was addressed to my fellow teachers. This year, it’s for food-allergy-ridden friends (or parents of food-allergy-ridden students); though to be honest many of these tips can apply to any student or teacher heading back to school!

1) Stockpile You-Safe Breakfast Items: Mornings are hard. Early mornings are even harder. And this is coming from a self-proclaimed morning person! After a summer of waking up naturally around 6:45 (that’s right, teachers really don’t sleep that late all summer. At least this one doesn’t), a 5:30 alarm is just not a welcome sound. Coffee helps of course but breakfast in a food-allergy world can be a challenge. No just grab a waffle and go for this girl anymore. And sadly, my Katie-safe cereal options have been rapidly dwindling as recipes change, machinery is shared, etc. so even that has become a challenge. So what’s the solution? Make You-safe breakfast foods the weekend before. I had a pancake-making extravaganza last Sunday and suddenly had a week’s worth of delicious breakfasts just a 90-second microwave trip away. Take it from me, you cannot underestimate the benefit of an easy, delicious breakfast…especially when you’re staring at a time on the clock that you haven’t seen in 9 weeks 🙂

My Katie-safe pancake-making party…
Seriously, a griddle is an amazing time-saver!

2) Empower your child (or yourself): As I mentioned above, new years are filled with new names, new faces, new classrooms, etc. While I wish I could say that every teacher will have your child’s unique allergies or issues in the forefront of their brain, I can honestly say I think that would be an unrealistic expectation. The reality is teachers are still trying to connect faces to the names which they’ve been dutifully writing on name tags/class lists for weeks. Now in elementary school it’s a little different. With a class of 20 or so (at least hopefully), the teacher is bound to know your child and their health issues by lunchtime of day 1, if not before. However, it gets trickier when your child reaches middle school or high school and only has face time with each teacher for 45 minutes on that first day. This is why I think it is SO important to empower kids with food allergies (or any health issues really). They should be equipped to handle their own situation, know what questions to ask, etc. If your child can’t do this by late elementary school, you may need to re-evaluate. I don’t have my own kids but even from my time with students, I can’t even imagine how difficult this must be for a parent to relinquish control; however, the reality is your child is going to be living with this allergy or condition FOREVER. Hence the sooner your child learns to advocate for him or herself, the better. However, if your child is young…or even if you’re just concerned…write a note, find the teacher, try to avoid puttig a bright yellow nut-allergy sticker on your child’s sweater (yes, it happens) but honestly, do what you have to do to keep your child safe. Allergies, despite the frequent articles or comedy sketches which poke fun, are actually life-or-death situations. Plan accordingly.

3) “Dinner Plan”: The first week of school is exhausting. For everyone. There’s no way around it. As an article I read yesterday said, going back to school is like running a marathon after not walking more than a mile for 9 weeks. There is no easing back into school. It’s just full speed ahead into classes, grading, homework, sports practices, parent conferences, etc. There’s just no rest for the weary…well, unless you fall asleep in your school clothes by 8:15 one night and don’t wake up until morning. Yes, that happened…and no, I still didn’t feel rested. I learned last year that by the time I get home from school, dinner is the last thing I want to think about, let alone have energy to plan and make. Hence, the teacher in me won over and I started a tradition of Sunday afternoon “dinner planning”. You know, as a welcome break from my Sunday afternoon lesson planning. I survey my cabinets and add some meals to my weekly planner. Then to fill in the missing days, I consult my trusty weekly grocery circulars for what’s on sale. Within a matter of 45 minutes or so, I’m planned for the week. I recently added a shopping list corner too. AND I realized that if I take a picture of it, I can just pull it up on my phone when I’m about to head home from school and remind myself what I need to pick up. I tell you, I was not a fan of the Smartphone idea, but I must admit it has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for me. So go to the dollar store, buy a dry-erase weekly planner, and get to dinner planning. You won’t regret it!

Think easy meals…especially for Week 1!

4) Find a You-Safe Option for Dining Out (or Carrying Out): This is important for two reasons. 1) Because the first week of school deserves celebration and whether that means going out as a family for dinner or just celebrating by yourself, it needs to happen. 2) Because no matter how well you follow Step 3, there will be days when you just simply cannot make dinner. Whether it’s time or energy which is lacking, those nights are inevitable. So make sure you have a back-up option (cough, Chipotle or Five Guys, cough) and of course some money in your “I’m too tired to move so yes, this is considered an emergency” fund.

One of my go-to carry-out options!

5) Make Chocolate Chip Cookies: Need I say more? Chocolate chip cookies just make the world a better place. It’s that simple. Bake them, eat some, freeze some…and most importantly enjoy them.

Enjoy Life now makes dark chocolate morsels!
One word: life-changing.

“It’s Going to Be a Great Year!” Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup gluten-free flour blend (I used Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Flour)
1/2 cup Earth Balance Soy-free buttery spread
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup pure cane sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 tsp. baking soda + 2/3 tsp. cream of tartar (or baking powder if you’re not corn-free)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. flaxseed + 3 Tbsp. water (or 1 egg if you’re not egg-free)
salt to taste

1. Mix all ingredients (I did wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately first).
2. Bake for about 12 minutes at 350 degrees.
3. Enjoy!!

6) Have an AMAZING new school year! To echo what I said earlier, I really do believe every new year is a new opportunity to make new friends, to learn, to love, and to grow into an even better version of yourself. So sharpen those pencils, pack up those new books, put a smile on that face, and get out there! The world is waiting for you 🙂

HAPPY SCHOOL YEAR!!
Posted in Pie!, Teacher Life

7 Months From Today…

Posted on by katiebiddle4317

Today is August 14th…which means 7 months from today will be one of the most memorable dates of our lifetime: 3.14.15 AKA the Most Epic Pi Day until next century. Now if you don’t know what Pi Day is, then clearly a) you do not know me well at all…at least not for the past 6 years and B) you must have completed school prior to the year 2009 when the U.S. House of Representatives supported the designation of Pi Day. The first time I heard of this landmark occasion was March 14, 2005. I was a freshman at Villanova and I waltzed (and by that I mean sprinted since I had 10 minutes to make it from the business building across campus to the science building) into my Calc III class where I was greeted with stickers, pie, and smiling faces. Now I’ll be honest: there always seemed to be a shift from my experience spent in my morning business classes and my afternoon with the math/science majors (and no I’ll never describe one as better or worse, just completely different) but this took it to a whole new level. We laughed, we ate pie, and then of course we worked on some limit and integral puzzle worksheets which conveniently resulted in mostly Pi/Einstein-related answers. It was my first taste of this underappreciated holiday…and I was hooked.

Flashback to 2008: “Our Enthusiasm for Pie- The Early Years”

Just when I thought Pi Day couldn’t be a more exciting holiday, I became a teacher. I mean, yes, even as a 2nd grade teacher in DC, my little 7-year-olds arrived on 3/13 (Pi Day was on the weekend both years) to find a subtract and then connect the differences in order to sketch a giant pi symbol, which they then colored. Granted they had no understanding of this significant concept…but still I couldn’t let the day go by unnoticed. Then I moved to Baltimore, became a Middle School Math teacher, and found two co-teachers whose enthusiasm for Pi Day surpassed even my own. (I know, I didn’t think it was possible either!). We’ve had a great 4 years of celebration…but nothing will compare to the date which is now 7 months out of our grasp. Why you may ask?? Well, think about it. For those who need a slight math refresher, pi is an irrational number, a non-terminating/non-repeating decimal, or in simple terms: a number which goes on and on and on without end. However, pi has been approximated to some absurd number of digits but the first several are 3.1415926… Hence this year (3.14.15) is the kind of Pi Day which math enthusiasts like myself can only dream about.

Yay Math!!

It was almost 2 years ago (so Pi Day 2013) when our math department realized something even better: Pi Day 2015 lands on a Saturday…and hence, the Pi Day wedding dream was born. The perfect day for a math enthusiast’s wedding ceremony. Make it at 9:26 and you’re golden. And since I was the only unmarried member of the math team, clearly the dream fell to me. I made the mistake of mentioning it in front of the kids once and they never forgot. Granted,I have since abandoned this dream…since, well it’s 7 short months away. I’ve reached out to most everyone who dutifully penciled in the date with a question mark on their calendar…if you’re one of the few who hasn’t, get out that perfect pink eraser and go to town. And please don’t worry if you’re thinking you should be sad about this. I’m certainly not…for more than one reason. First, as fantastic as the dream was (I mean “Pi=Love, Both are forever” (and I’d add “are irrational!;-))” rehearsal dinner t-shirts!?!?!) the reality is that I’m one of the seemingly dwindling number of people in this world who believes the sacrament of marriage is more important than a wedding day, no matter how epic, and thus it will come when the time is right. Second, as great as it sounds in theory to share an anniversary with what is already one of my favorite days, I’m almost certain reality would fail to live up to the expectation. For example, it’s like having a birthday on Christmas. Suddenly you only get 1 day of the year that shares 2 special occasions. I already have March 14th as a holiday in my life…why have an anniversary share the occasion? Third, there are plenty of people planning 3.14.15 weddings. I may or may not have found some of them on Pinterest. I swear I’m not crazy. Well, most of the time 🙂

I really will miss teaching Middle School…
To my fellow 20-somethings who get asked about weddings
way too frequently, here is your new response 🙂

So what will I be doing 7 months from today when 3.14.15 arrives?? Well, I don’t know yet. What I do know is that there will be pie. And the same should be true for you. SO if you haven’t yet perfected a you-safe pie recipe, you have 7 months to get it together. Pie is no simple task so take my advice: start test batches now. I don’t want to brag but I’ve reached a point where I’m brave enough to make pies for other non-allergenic people…which is pretty much my way of saying I actually think this is good. Granted, you should know that all things gluten-free, including pie, don’t necessarily keep well. So don’t make it too far in advance. Or inadvertently eat cheese in your salad the day you plan to enjoy the pie…spoken from my own unfortunate experience.

So now to get you a jump-start on your pie-perfecting adventure, here is my favorite Katie-safe pie recipe:

Katie-Safe Pie Crust
3 cups “Katie-safe” flour blend (I used Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose flour)
1 1/4 cups cane sugar
3/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup Earth Balance soy-free spread
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 Tbsp. milled flaxseed mixed with 6 Tbsp. water (or 2 eggs if you’re lucky enough!)

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Add the butter and mix until grainy.
3. Mix the wet ingredients in a small bowl then add to the large butter mixture.
4. Grease the bottom of your pie dish with Earth Balance spread before adding mix.
5. Shape the pie mix into the base of the pie dish.
6. Add the filling of your choice!
7. Use the remaining dough to create a lattice design OR crumble to make a crumble pie!
8. DON’T FORGET: Cover the outside circumference (see what I did there…yay MATH!!)  with foil before baking to maintain a crunchy crust.
9. Bake for about 50 minutes at 375 degrees.
As you can probably surmise, I used cherry as my filling of choice for this particular pie. Of course, I accidentally threw away the paper where I wrote down the final amounts of everything I used as I taste tested the cherry filling on the stove (it got covered in a sticky, cherry mess…and since I’ve had cockroaches, sweet, sticky things don’t last long). Here are the ingredients:
fresh cherries (pitted)
cane sugar
tapioca starch
almond extract
salt 
water
I promise I’ll get back to you with the measurements…but it really is more fun with trial and error anyway 🙂
From this…
…to this!
Do yourself a favor: buy a cherry pitter!
Now get out there, start baking your test batches…and start getting excited!! 7 months will fly by before you know it and the most epic Pi Day of your lifetime will be simply a memory. 
Make it one worth remembering 🙂
Courtesy of Etsy
Posted in Pennsylvania Recommendations, Uncategorized

Love Shout-Out #5: Sweet Freedom

Posted on by katiebiddle4317

It may only be 12 simple letters but trust me these two words used in conjunction could not mean more to me. Sweet Freedom is a place (though actually now it’s 3 different locations) but it’s so much more than that; it’s an experience, it’s an escape, and it’s giving Hershey, PA quite a run for its money in my “Happiest Place in Pennsylvania” category. Sweet Freedom is a bakery that I stumbled upon completely by lucky accident and my life has never been the same. It’s the kind of place that I hope to one day open…but for now the presence of such a place in my world is more than enough to put a smile on this face.

It was June 2011. I had just finished the longest spring semester of my life as my health was most accurately described as “in shambles”. I had been encouraged to try eliminating gluten (only to be forced to eat it again a few weeks later in preparation for my endoscopy…the irony of this crazy condition) and I was feeling well enough to travel to Philadelphia to attend the ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) conference. My school offered me the opportunity to attend and since it was conveniently located within walking distance from my college roommates’ apartment, I readily accepted for a weeklong excuse to hang out with my best friends…and learn about implementing technology in the classroom of course. (Side note: I did actually learn A LOT. Teacher friends, it’s a great conference if you can go! AND it’s back in Philly next summer!) One afternoon when I finished with my sessions, I googled “gluten free near Pennsylvania Convention Center” (note: this was in my pre-smartphone/pre-FindMeGlutenFree app days) and found a website for this place called Sweet Freedom. It was located on South Street, about 2 miles from the apartment where I was staying so I set out in the sweltering heat in pursuit of what I hoped would be a delicious gluten-free treat. If only I knew what was in store, the sweaty walk would not have seemed nearly as grueling.
I walked into the store and was met with this sign. 
Yes, everything 🙂
Granted at the time, none of that meant much to me aside from the gluten part. I ordered some cookies and cupcakes and headed for “home” with my treats. Now one mistake I made on this initial venture was that I didn’t consider the fact that even the most delicious baked goods are no match for the sweltering heat of Philadelphia streets so my treats were in quite a different state by time I settled in to try them at my friends’ apartment that night. Regardless, I could tell I had found something special. 
A few short weeks later, I was in back in Philadelphia to stand beside another college friend as she married the love of her life in the Villanova church and I stopped at Sweet Freedom on my way so I could pick up a gluten-free cupcake to enjoy in lieu of cake at the reception (I had been officially diagnosed at this point). I did…it was legendary. Oh, and of course I was so excited that I talked the owner’s ear off and somewhere in there we decided she was going to make my future wedding cake. Nearly a year later, I returned to Philly to surprise one of my old roommates on her Match Day at medical school. Her mom knew about my plan and being the overwhelmingly generous person that she is, she ordered cupcakes from Sweet Freedom just so I would be able to participate in the festivities. Now keep in mind up to this point, gluten was still my only nemesis.
Cupcake/Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich Sampler…they taste as delicious as they look 🙂
Fast forward to last spring (2013). I had recently learned that casein (AKA dairy) was also an enemy and I was finally feeling well enough to venture outside of the Baltimore county limits…which I hadn’t done since my unsuccessful attempt at Easter in the Poconos. I traveled to Philly one warm Saturday morning in May  to cheer on several of my college friends who were participating in the Broad Street Run. Now Sweet Freedom is conveniently located just off Broad Street so I stopped there first for a morning treat…and that’s when my world was irrevocably changed. Suddenly the glaring casein-free sign in the store window filled my heart with gladness in a way I never dreamed simple words could. After clarifying that in fact EVERY item met this qualification, I started ordering. Then came the biggest moment of all: THE COFFEE MENU. Now you know I love coffee…but what you probably don’t know if you weren’t acquainted with me before 2011 is that I LOVE coffee drinks even more. Lattes and mochas still populate my dreams on a semi-regular basis. However my new dairy restriction, coupled with the even more recent soy exclusion, had rendered those drinks non-existent in my life. However, here on the sign I saw all of these listed. When I questioned these offerings, I was thrilled to learn that Sweet Freedom did something I had yet to find elsewhere: they make all their mixed coffee drinks with coconut-milk-based creamer. What’s even better? They’ve never used anything but that so there is 0% chance of cross contamination in the steamer, steamer cup, etc. You bet your bottom dollar I ordered a mocha…and it quickly became the best day I’d had in months. Maybe even longer 🙂 And yes, I did tear myself away in enough time to catch a glimpse of the runners I came to cheer for and even met them at the finish line for smiles, hugs, and a few photos. Then I even had time to squeeze in the tail end of another friend’s Ultimate Frisbee game nearby too. All in all, it was an incredible day.
Yes, I even made a personalized “Defeat Broad Street” shirt for the occasion!
In the time since, Sweet Freedom has come to mean so much to this poor, immune-confused girl. It is one of the few places where I feel completely safe and completely happy. Of course I don’t get up to Philly often enough for my liking but every time I do, the joy is enough to sustain me until I get to return again. Granted, I should also clarify that these visits always entail some much-needed face time with dear friends who still live there…so I guess my opinion is more than a little biased. However, I will admit I’ve pondered driving up just for the treats when my friends aren’t even there…though I can’t say I’ve actually done it. I mean, Sweet Freedom delivers to Baltimore…need I say more??
That’s right…they deliver. And special order.
 (hint, hint if you have allergy-ridden friends!!)
Just this past Friday I was lucky enough to return to this little corner of South Street. It was a perfect summer morning AND I got to spend several hours sitting outside the bakery with not 1, but BOTH of those college roommates I was visiting back in 2011 when I first stumbled upon this little gem. We’ll call them the Saint with a Stethoscope (she’s a doctor) and the Saint with the Passport (she’s almost never in the country). The three of us hadn’t been together in one place in a year and let me tell you there’s nothing better than spending a warm summer morning catching up on life and laughter with 2 of your best friends. EXCEPT DOING THAT WHILE EATING A DONUT!!! That’s right…I can eat donuts there. I still haven’t quite wrapped my mind around it yet either. We sipped coffee, enjoyed delicious Katie-safe treats, made a new canine friend (well 2/3 of us did), discussed fellowships, a year in Rwanda , a new job in a castle, and a variety of other life events which are quickly becoming all too real …just a typical Philly Friday with friends, right?? 🙂
Best. Breakfast. Ever.
In conclusion, whether you have food allergies or not, add Sweet Freedom to your list of places to visit. (I don’t really believe in the idea of a bucket list because I think it suggests that you have this endless expanse of time in which to accomplish a given number of things; instead I think it’s better to have a running list of all the things you’ve already accomplished and then focus all your energy and passion on just 1 or 2 new goals you can add to the list in the short-term. For me, that’s a lot better than having a long list of plans and assuming you’ll have all the time in the world to get to them “someday”. Someday isn’t promised to anyone…only today). That being said, if you’re anywhere near I-95, start driving and don’t stop until you get to Sweet Freedom. Though I should clarify: don’t do that until tomorrow…they’re closed on Mondays. AND there are now 3 locations! The original store on South Street is the only one I’ve visited but they also have locations in nearby Collingswood, NJ and most recently, on Lancaster Ave. just a few short blocks from one of my other Top-5-Pennsylvania locations: Villanova University. As if I needed more reasons to get excited for trips back to campus.
Now get moving. And if you’ll pass Baltimore on your way there, please let me know. I promise I’m a great road trip companion 🙂
This could not be more true 🙂
Posted in Expos, Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free Life

Meet Me in Secaucus, Meet Me at the Fair!

Posted on by katiebiddle4317

There’s something most of you probably don’t know about me/may find hard to believe but it’s true: once upon a time I was an actress. I know, I know, seems crazy right? I mean this is the self-proclaimed painfully shy child whose first role (as an angel in the church Christmas play) ended with my 4-year-old self tearfully running off the altar before the Wise Men even arrived. This is the girl who nearly got sick the morning of high school graduation because the thought of standing up to address an auditorium full of people was near-paralyzing. Yes, I think my family was just as shocked when my 7th grade self came home from school proclaiming that I would be auditioning for the school play. Yet I did and I loved it and for the next 6 years, without fail, I was up on that stage performing in every school production we had. I think something about leaving Katie behind and taking on a new persona for a few hours was what brought me profound joy/enabled me to overcome my otherwise crippling stage fright. (Which by the way has since dissipated, mostly due to the Public Speaking course I took sophomore year at Villanova…thank you, Professor McCloskey)

My favorite stage experience to date remains our production of Meet Me in St. Louis from my Junior year of high school. If you’ve never seen it, please do yourself a favor: rent it. It’s the kind of simplistic, joyful, family-centered musical where the worst tragedy is the thought of having to leave St. Louis before the 1904 World’s Fair arrives/the boy next door notices you’re alive and yet everything is all wrapped up in a joyful family hug by the time the 2 hour show is over. Plus, Judy Garland is the star. What more do you need?? I played the role of Anna Smith, the mom of the family, who spent the whole show trying to guide her 4 daughters and 1 son through adventures in love, college, and of course some mischief while also keeping the peace when Mr. Smith insists on moving the family to New York City which means leaving before the arrival of the World’s Fair. I won’t ruin the ending but let’s just say, this production took place almost 100 years after the real World’s Fair and I can only imagine the thrill and joy of the real thing if we found that much excitement simply pretending to be there.

The Smith Family: sometimes we’re sad…
…and then we go to the Fair and all is right with the world again 🙂

So what does all this have to do with food allergies/intolerances?? Well, nothing and everything. It may not be the 1904 World’s Fair BUT if you have food allergies, this might just be the next best thing: The Gluten & Allergen Free Expo! You can imagine the wonders which await you at this fantastic event…but I can promise you that reality will far surpass even your wildest expectations. Just as the fair attendees personified by the Smith family had no idea what they were excited for, you cannot appreciate the true joy of the Gluten/Allergen Free Expo until you experience it for yourself. However, since I’ve been there and lived it, here is my attempt at giving you just a glimpse:


What made the World’s Fair so Spectacular??
  • Ice cream cones, Dr. Pepper, iced tea, and cotton candy were introduced on the world’s stage. (Note, apparently all these things existed prior to their debut in St. Louis…but not many people knew about them; remember no social media back then!)
  • The iconic ferris wheel which has become synonymous with the event…even though it was destroyed over a century ago
  • A similarly iconic song was popularized which expresses the excitement of the fairgoers even a century later (I would highly recommend listening to this song as you continue reading…11 years after the fact, I still remember every word: it’s that catchy 🙂
  • John Philip Sousa led the band/parade which entertained the crowd for miles.
So what makes the GFAF Expo so Spectacular??
  • You will discover “you-safe” foods that you thought were off the table forever. Gluten-free ice cream cones, dairy-free/soy-free ice cream, even soft pretzels were all things I could eat there!! SOFT PRETZELS?!?! I’m getting excited already!
  • There are “you-safe” samples EVERYWHERE. And because everyone there is well-versed in allergies, there are clearly visible signs at every display indicating which allergens are contained in a certain product. That’s right, a full day of living like the rest of you non-food-allergenic friends. That is actually priceless.
  • You will make connections you never dreamed possible. Imagine this scene: a jolly man in a chef hat approaches you with a hot steak sandwich. ON BREAD. He tells you it’s gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and corn-free bread and it just came out of the oven they brought with them. You hesitantly take a bite: it is AMAZING. And then you realize he is from Texas and thus your dreams of delicious bread in your life again are dashed. Not so fast! He hands you a business card, he tells you he’ll ship anywhere in the continental US, and then you hug him (after asking permission first of course) because your frown has been turned upside down. And yes, that is a true story.
  • Coupons. Need I say more? You will leave with so many coupons. Tickets to the Expo are $20 but I guarantee you will more than break even with the amount of coupons you’ll take with you. And that doesn’t even factor in the absurd amount of samples you’ll have consumed before you walk out the door. Not to mention the intangible asset of feeling like you were “normal” again for a day. Priceless.
  • Informational presentations, meet-the-author tables, cookbooks, I could go on and on and on. And trust me, I will if you ask me about it.
Let’s just say words cannot adequately convey the wonders which await you at the GFAF Expo. Plus, if you come to the one in Secaucus…you get to meet me!!! (Or just hang out with me if you already know me.) I mean, I’m no John Philip Sousa, but I’ll see what I can do to match his caliber of entertainment 🙂
So what do you need to do to make sure you don’t miss out on this landmark opportunity?? A few things:
  1. Watch this video. Then let the excitement start to build 🙂
  2. Go to this website: http://gfafexpo.com/. Check out the various dates and locations. Some of them have already happened this year…but that just means you can start planning for 2015!
  3. If you find an expo you can attend, buy your tickets now. (But if you’re going to Secaucus, skip to #4 first) I mean that, last year when I arrived there were people who had to wait outside because the number of tickets for a given timeslot were already gone. Everyone did get in eventually…but trust me, this is the highlight of someone’s year and they will be waiting in line an hour before it opens to get a good spot/first dibs on all the samples.
  4. If you decide to come to Secaucus, send me an email at cupofcoffeewithkatie@gmail.com. Include your name, email address, and one thing you’d love for me to write about (food-related or otherwise) and you will be entered to win 1 of 4 free tickets to the Expo!! (Hint: non-food-allergen friends, this would make a great gift! Or you can come experience the joy too…you don’t need food allergies to love this event!)
  5. Even if you don’t win a free ticket, just for being a loyal reader, here is a discount code to save you 20% off your ticket price!  EXPONJ20
  6. Last but not least, get yourself to the Expo and have an AMAZING day/weekend!! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
And now for me the one month countdown begins!! 
Meet me in Secaucus, 
Meet me at the (Gluten/Allergen-Free) Fair!! 
Posted in Labeling Laws

It’s Going to Be LEGEN-wait for it- DARY!! (Or Non-Dairy as the Case May Be:-)

Posted on by katiebiddle4317
I miss HIMYM already…
(Photo courtesy of: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/565201821954797545/)

Today is a day which many gluten-free friends have been working towards and dreaming about since before I even knew that a pesky little protein called gluten even existed. And August 5, 2014 is a date which has been circled on most calendars for both gluten-free producers and consumers (I recently found out I’m teaching an economics course this year…I need to bring back out the business lingo:-) for almost a year now. Today is the day the FDA officially regulates the term gluten-free when applied to food products sold in stores across this great nation.

All these foods fall under the regulations…
Whether you’re gluten-free yourself or not, I have a feeling you’ll notice the changes…or perhaps you already have. Since these changes were announced a year ago, many food companies have spent the past year clambering to get their products (or more specifically their labels) into conformity before the sun rose this morning. Yes, it was all over the news this morning. No, it didn’t seem like the news segments really provided much information…but in their defense, I think it’s because the laws are so confusing that it really can’t be adequately explained in a brief 45-second news segment. 
So what does all of this mean? Why am I not outside flipping cartwheels or throwing some kind of “Happy Day that the Gluten-Free FDA Regulations Go Into Place!” party? Trust me, I’ve been reading excited posts and emails and in solidarity I did already take a cupcake out of my freezer to thaw and enjoy after a long-awaited digital reunion with my college roommates later tonight. I am over the moon for my gluten-free friends and I do love that there is now something concrete we can do as gluten-free consumers when we are duped by a product’s claim or false labeling. However, I must admit I’m also a little nervous. Partially because I have so many other food sensitivities that the label only establishes 25% of the criteria I need to cover before diving in…but also because I think there are some opportunities for potential confusion, or perhaps even flaws, as newly gluten-free consumers (and to be honest producers too) try to navigate their ways through the murky waters of FDA land. That being said, I do sincerely appreciate all that the FDA does to keep us safe on a regular basis…and I’ll end there because I have never and will never turn this blog into any kind of political commentary. If you want any feedback on that, you’ll have to come over for an actual cup of coffee with Katie…or look at pretty much any newspaper or TV news program, it’s everywhere.
Here is my condensed summary of the new laws in effect today:
What Makes Me Smile
  • Anything labeled gluten-free cannot contain more than 20 ppm (parts per million) of gluten. That means if it contains any gluten, gluten-derived substance, or remnants of a gluten-derived substance, it cannot state gluten-free on the package unless that trace amount measures less than 20 ppm.
  • It applies to ALL packaged foods sold in the United States…which means all imported goods are subject to the same regulations in order to be stocked on American shelves
  • It ends the wheat-free vs. gluten-free confusion. Gluten is a protein also found in rye, barley, spelt, etc. However, most newly diagnosed patients, or their well-meaning friends and family, assume wheat-free on a package means it’s safe. NOT TRUE. So now if a package only says wheat-free, chances are it’s not gluten-free or it would say so.
  • It addresses cross-contamination…sort of. Prior to today, any food which didn’t include any gluten ingredients could state gluten-free on the label, regardless of where it was manufactured. So in other words it would be like me whipping up a loaf of gluten-free bread from rice flour, kneading it on the same surface that just held countless loaves of gluten-filled bread, cooking it in the same breadmaker with the spinner which has gently kneaded countless loaves of gluten, then wrapping it up and labeling it as gluten-free. Is it a lie? No. However, I can guarantee that within an hour after eating it, I’d be on the bathroom floor. Starting today, such a product can only be labeled gluten-free if the total gluten content is less than 20 PPM, factoring cross-contamination chance into the probability equation. (yay math!!)
  • IT INCLUDES VITAMINS!! Perhaps shopping for vitamins will no longer involve an hour in Walgreens or a phone call with Trader Joe’s corporate which ended with me saying “Oh great, I don’t care if it contains meat, I just was looking for a vegan label so I know there’s no egg or dairy”. Problem is I’m pretty sure he was vegan and let’s just say I don’t think I made a friend at corporate office that day.
  • There is something you can do if you get glutened! (You know aside from lie lifeless on your couch, holding your stomach and swearing that you’re never letting another morsel of food you haven’t cooked yourself cross your lips). There is now a hotline to contact at the FDA if you think a package is mislabeled as gluten-free and they will follow up and investigate! 
Maybe as a GF team we can make the grocery store a safer place!
What Has My Palms Sweating:
  • First and foremost, it needs to be noted that this regulation requires that any packaged food PRODUCED from this day forward must adhere to the above standards. In other words, the foods that are already packaged and out there on grocery shelves and in warehouses are not required to be thrown out (thank goodness) or altered. Hence until the shelf life of all current gluten-free products has expired (which honestly is not ALL that long), the products on the grocery shelves do not necessarily adhere to these standards. In short, shop with caution, my friends…though really what else is new?? 😉
  • The FDA has no jurisdiction over foods overseen by the USDA (i.e. meat, poultry, eggs, etc.) or the TTB (i.e. alcoholic beverages)…so finding that you-safe steak dinner and accompanying spirit hasn’t gotten any easier. Good thing you probably mastered that around Week 2 🙂
  • The regulations do not apply to restaurants. So your gluten-free dining out anxiety is here to stay…
  • There is no actual testing required before products are consumed. That’s right. This is one of those “Let’s scare them all into conforming and then figure out later what we’ll do if they don’t” type discipline strategies. (Teachers and parents of the world, you probably understand why I’m a little uneasy) Manufacturers cannot label a product as gluten-free unless it contains under 20 PPM..but there is no actual test ever required to ensure it does. It just means the manufacturer is confident enough to put the label knowing that if someone gets sick and reports it, the product will be tested and sanctions will be brought if they are found in violation. Who knows what that means…
Why I’m Somewhat Indifferent:
  • My life won’t really change. The FDA will never pass any kind of regulatory practice to disclose the use of corn…considering it’s in well, everything…so I’ll be investigating packages, googling products, and making things from scratch for the rest of my days. And to be quite honest, I’m more than OK with that. It’s become part of my life so much so that I forget it isn’t normal to travel with a packed lunchbag and a spare clean sponge.
  • I’m sure this will just fuel the “gluten-free people are just high maintenance” culture, especially because of the people who go gluten-free simply because they’re convinced it’s healthier and they’ll lose weight (I can almost guarantee that won’t happen).
Then why do I think today is legendary? Well, because it is. Today’s law change means that the FDA has finally acknowledged that Celiac Disease is real, that it is dangerous, and that for some of us gluten-free is not simply a passing fad, but rather a medical treatment…and a key to happiness, or even sanity.
So cheers to you, members of the Celiac and Gluten-Intolerant Community! I hope today is the start of an even better gluten-free life for you. And especially those of you who were fighting for this regulation back in the days when I was still naively devouring bagel sandwiches for breakfast, I’m happy for you and I hope you enjoy your moment in the sun.
As for me, I’ll celebrate this monumental day with you in spirit. And then tomorrow morning, I will wake up and my world will be relatively unchanged, minus the one less cupcake in my freezer supply that is. And for the first time in quite some time, I can honestly say: I wouldn’t have it any other way 🙂
Click hereif you want to read the official statement from the FDA.
Posted in Tips and Tricks

Just call me a Boy Scout…

Posted on by katiebiddle4317

For obvious reasons I have never been and can never be a member of the Boy Scouts…however, I would say by default I live out their motto better than most of them probably do: BE PREPARED. Although, I just learned today that apparently the Girl Scouts of America claim this same motto; somehow in my brief (and I mean very brief…I was not the best at activities which required socializing as a kid) stint as a Brownie, I never learned that was our motto. 

Regardless, I don’t think 2 words could better sum up my subconscious approach to life. You can ask anyone in my family. I was the one who immediately located life vests and lifeboats when we boarded the Hudson Ferry, took note of emergency exits in movie theatres, and committed the escape routes on the back of hotel doors to memory within minutes of arrival. Whether it was cute or crazy, it was who I was. And though I like to think I’ve made great strides in the decades since those days, I’ll be the first to admit that girl is still in there trying to make sure I don’t try to take on too much of life without escape routes and contingency plans in mind. Whether it’s more preparedness or paranoia, I’m honestly not quite sure. What I do know is that this compulsion for preparation has proven invaluable during these past 3 years of food issues; so perhaps it is true what they say: God gives you unique gifts (or quirks!) which equip you to be the person you choose, or sometimes are forced, to be. 
Now preparedness is a good characteristic for all people, regardless of allergies/intolerances, etc. However for those of us with food restrictions, I would argue it is a little more important. And yes, of course, this refers to the various social functions we attend on a regular basis: lunchbox packed, ice pack frozen, Pyrex sealed and filled with a carefully-prepared dish or perhaps a lengthy phone call with the venue’s chef to plan ahead for your visit. However, it is so much more than that. Think about what goes into preparing/storing you-safe foods (HINT: gluten somehow keeps things from spoiling longer…hence GF things don’t keep very well). Now imagine a few hours, or even a few days, without power. Imagine multiple days without the use of your stove or your gluten-free toaster. (Or any toaster for that matter). Now I know what you’re thinking: “yes, Katie, but Al Roker is my best friend. (In fact he was just referred to as a National Treasure today for his role in Sharknado last night). If there is any kind of impending severe weather, he’ll give me plenty of notice and I’ll spring into action”. I hear you. You should have seen me in the days leading up to Superstorm Sandy. I think I had enough Katie-safe foods to feed a small village sealed in Ziploc bags. The same was true this past winter as storm after storm after storm struck the East Coast. Yes, this is important…but what about those little unexpected life emergencies which come without warning??
For example, let’s say you come home from a long day of teaching to find a note on your door that cockroaches have invaded your building and that you must clear out every drawer, cabinet, and counter space in your kitchen for spraying. Of course you then learn that the chemicals they use last for days so you can’t put everything back for a week and each night you arrive home to a kitchen floor covered in dead cockroaches. Yep, sounds like a kitchen I’d want to be cooking in. And sadly this is a true story. Welcome to my world. 
Yep, that’s my whole kitchen…in the dining room 😦
I don’t think I slept for days…
And what about another morning when you spend half an hour whipping up a new recipe for breakfast muffins only to realize the oven you actually remembered to preheat is still freezing cold. That’s right: broken stove. That happened yesterday. See, life is filled with these little hiccups and though I won’t be a proponent of living your life in a constant state of paranoia (take it from me, I’m pretty certain I did that for the first decade or so of my life…it’s just exhausting), I would suggest a few simple steps to prepare yourself for the unexpected surprises life might choose to send your way. I’ll try to keep it simple and concise. After all, I am a member of the Y2K generation; if nothing else we learned how to prepare for unfounded and yet massively publicized crisis situations 🙂
1) Fill your freezer…with cooked foods! I live alone now so filling my freezer with extra food has been an easy task. For example, if I buy a pound of ground beef, there’s no way I’ll come close to devouring that all myself. Hence, I used to cook half of the meat and then form the rest into hamburgers, throw them in a Ziploc freezer bag, date them with my trusty Sharpie, and throw them in the freezer. This is a logical thing to do…and I do still have a few frozen uncooked hamburger patties in there. However, when the power went out, I quickly realized that having a freezer full of uncooked meat is not at all helpful. Especially if the outage goes on so long that it thaws and spoils anyway. So now I always have a supply of already cooked and THEN frozen hamburger patties from my ground beef purchases. This came in handy during the cockroach crisis: just moved a frozen cooked burger into the fridge to thaw while I was at school and then a quick visit to the microwave when I came home had me ready for dinner. Also, I always have a few extra bags of frozen veggies…not that eating them after just thawing and not heating if there’s no power would be ideal, but at least I’d be getting some nutrients 🙂
2) Get a grill…if you’re allowed. A downside to apartment living? I can’t have a grill. I dream about one some nights though. There’s nothing like grilled veggies on a summer night. Not to mention, when the electricity is out, the grill could be a lifesaver! So if you’re lucky enough to get one, do yourself a favor and do it.  If/when I eventually move out of apartment living, expect my wedding registry to be filled with grill supplies 🙂
3) Stock your cabinets with cans. Believe it or not, there are still canned foods you can eat! You do have to be ridiculously cautious because SO many canned things have that pesky “processed on shared equipment” label…but it can be done. Plus, go when they’re on sale and you can have a cabinet filled with canned beans for less than $10. Granted, cold beans from a can is not the most appetizing meal…but you know what they say about desperate times!
I’m ready to survive on beans for days if need be…
4) Have a “rainy day” fund. I know, this seems like common sense. However, I feel like this recommendation often gets brushed aside with the “you really should floss everyday” recommendation. The reality is sometimes (i.e. when your house is overrun with dead/dying cockroachs and smells like chemicals) you just can’t eat there. By now, I’m sure you’ve found at least a few places with dishes (or A dish) that is safe for you to eat. Go there. You might have to go there everyday for 3 days until they fix your home. It’s not ideal…and it’s certainly not cheap, especially on your “my-loaf-of-bread-costs-$6” budget…but again, desperate times. Have a little savings fund for unexpected weeks like this. Plus, I don’t know about you, but if my power is out, I will need to go out for coffee every morning…even though they make about 400% profit on every cup. Priorities 🙂
5) Make friends near and far 🙂 The good news is that in the more localized situations described above (cockroaches and stove), you don’t have to travel far to find friends who will loan you their stove or grill. Just don’t forget to pack your aluminum foil! The other thing is even in times of major disasters (outages on the city power grid, hurricanes that batter multiple states, etc.) there are usually places within reasonable travel distance that are safe. Granted, I’m extremely lucky in this regard because due to my 2 years in ACE, I have friends scattered across pretty much every corner of the country. (In fact during ACE many of them provided such aid to one another in the form of Hurri-cations…another thing we missed out on up north) So stay in touch with friends who live far away. You can never underestimate the fun found in an otherwise frightening situation if you have a place to find solace with friends far away!
Thanks to ACE, I have friends as near as Baltimore and as far as China!
 So, take it from me (or really Ben Franklin): an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Don’t live your life in a state of total paranoia…but take some steps to make sure you’re ready. I mean you just never know when a “twister with teeth” may strike 😉
Posted in Baltimore Recommendations

Love Shout-Out #4: Glory Days Grill

Posted on by katiebiddle4317

Upon glancing at the calendar this week, I realized that 2014 is now more than half over. I also realized I’ve written an unacceptably small number of love shout-outs; hence, I made a list of topics I need to address before the year is through. (Of course, I’m also optimistic enough to believe there will be additional items added to the list before the 2014 calendar is removed from its place of honor in my kitchen on December 31st) And here is the next item on the list: Glory Days Grill.

Now to be completely honest, my love affair with Glory Days dates back to before my food allergy days when I could blindly consume any item on the menu; due to that fact, I can also personally attest that every dish is beyond scrumptious! Furthermore, the delicious dishes and wide array of choices were just the beginning. The true reason I fell in love with this little sports bar/grill is because of the people who populated my time there in the early days. As you may remember, I moved to Baltimore 4 years ago after my time in ACE DC came to an end. You may also remember that I knew only one person in the Baltimore metropolitan area when I arrived. So one week into my tenure at my brand new school, I received a message from the Saint in a Bow Tie that there would be a group of other new teachers from his school gathering at a place called Glory Days to celebrate the fact that we all survived our first week as part of our new school communities- not always an easy task I can assure you.

The early days: I can’t believe how young we look!

Little did we know that day was the start of something truly beautiful. Every Friday afternoon for an entire year, our little crew gathered to share laughter, smiles, hugs, the occasional rant, life advice, etc. And of course our group evolved as other colleagues, spouses, friends, and roommates were added to the mix.

It’s now 4 years later and though our group rarely gathers at those same high-top tables anymore, it is still those same individuals (and the other amazing people I’ve met because of them) who have become my Baltimore family. There have been new jobs, new spouses, new babies (and of course new food restrictions!) and some haved moved on to new adventures away from Baltimore as the years have passed; but I can say without hesitation that I am forever grateful for the fellowship and friendships formed over those delicious Glory Days burgers.

Making days glorious since 2010 🙂

Now the sentimental attachment I’ve formed with this place is just the beginning. If you have food restrictions and live in the Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia or Florida area: do yourself a favor and find your nearest Glory Days. And because I believe in efficiency, I’ll provide you with an enumerated of reasons.

  1. They have a gluten-free menu. And it’s an extensive one at that! Burgers, wings, salads, even desserts(!!): so much to choose from! AND they just recently added certified gluten-free buns to their burgers. I can’t say I’ve tried one because of the soy and corn issues, but a lettuce wrap is a delicious alternative too!
    That’s right: I’m such a frequent guest, they gave me my own gluten-free menu to keep!!
    It now hangs proudly in my kitchen for quick reference.
  2. They have a dedicated fryer!! Yes, that means french fries are back!! As you may know, french fries themselves are gluten-free; however, there are very few places where I (and my gluten-free friends) can actually order fries because they’re usually cooked in the same oil as the chicken tenders, fried shrimp, etc. so it’s off the table.
  3. Burger Monday! I am not exaggerating when I say these are the best burgers I’ve ever had. And every Monday you can get any burger for $5.99! (Though if you want a specialty burger, it’s $7.99) I know that may sound like a lot…but keep in mind that include fries and a pickle. I can guarantee Five Guys will cost you more than that (though don’t get me wrong, I LOVE them too!!)
  4. Taco Tuesday! Now the regular tacos are not on the gluten-free menu, but it’s a good way to entice your gluten-eating friends to join you on a Tuesday. Plus, they have fish tacos during certain months and they were gracious enough to serve them to me on a Tuesday wrapped in lettuce and it was totally safe for me! Tacos are also $5.99 all day every Tuesday.
  5. My personal favorite: Wing Wednesday!! Bone-in wings are 80 cents each and boneless wings are 60 (though bone-in are the only option for gluten-free friends!) I highly recommend the Old Bay Wings. They’re good enough to warrant a visit to Baltimore. Plus you get to see me too of course 🙂
  6. Happy Hour! It runs every day from 4-7 PM. Each location has different specials but take it from me, they’re great. AND they now have Angry Orchard on tap!! (Though you will have to check at your location to make sure it’s on a new line, not a tap that used to have glutenous beer coursing through it) I finally get to enjoy cider from a glass at a discounted price. Dreams do come true.
  7. Curbside-to-Go! Yep, even when I don’t have a friend to join me for an evening at Glory Days, I can enjoy it in the comfort of my own home with just a quick call ahead. Life-altering to say the least…
Last but not least, this is a timely post in the sense that this Tuesday is NATIONAL CHICKEN WING DAY!!! I know, I know, it seems everything has a national day these days. However, regardless of whether this is a real thing or simply a keen invention of the Glory Days marketing department, it means this Tuesday is $5 Chicken Wing Day! $5 for an order of 6 bone-in or 8 boneless wings: all. day. long.

3 more days!!
That ends my rambling review of Glory Days Grill. For those of you fortunate enough to live in close proximity to one, please make time for a visit. You won’t regret it. And those of you who aren’t so lucky, I’m sure there are other great you-safe restaurants near you too. But if you make your way to the Baltimore area, let me know. I now live within walking distance from the Towson location…so I’ll meet you there anytime 🙂