Okay, these are my new favorite thing. I think everyone should eat these even if you don't have any dietary restrictions. My Mother-in-law gave me the recipe. I don't know where she found it but it is golden.
All the things I hate about most gluten-free pancakes (weird starches, high sugar, xanthan gum,) are eliminated in this recipe. . .and it is dairy free, too!
French Toast Pancakes
1/2 cup almond meal
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 T vanilla
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs
(**the original recipe calls for 1/8 cup sugar. . .I made it this morning without the sugar and did not miss it. . .I liked it better without, actually!)
You can't feel bad about giving your kids almonds and flax in the morning!
My five-year-old (celiac) loves hers topped with powdered sugar and fresh lime juice.
Little Magggie (20 months) prefers a drizzle of pure maple syrup.
I topped mine with wilted spinach, a poached egg and a scoop of cottage cheese. It was delicious!
Thanks, Grandma Susie! This one is a winner!
Monday, March 5, 2012
Friday, August 12, 2011
Gluten Free at Pei Wei
Pei Wei is one of the only places we have locally that offers a gluten-free menu. My daughter loves it. Unofortunately, two weeks ago, it made her sick. It is easy to do. Use the wrong soy sauce and it is all over. Fry in the same oil as the breaded chicken, and it is toast (or might as well be). I was heartsick that I had allowed this to happen. I was angry at Pei Wei for allowing this to happen and sad that we might lose faith in one of the only places we can turn for a lazy night take out option.
I wrote Pei Wei the following letter:
I first want to thank you for offering such a wide variety of fresh, delicious GLUTEN-FREE menu items. Since my 4-year-old was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 6 months ago, we have been very limited in our choices for eating out. Pei Wei is one of her most favorite. She loved asian food before being diagnosed and it was very comforting to her and to me to still be able to give her some of her favorites. She especially loves the GF Sweet and Sour Chicken and the GF Vietnamese Summer Rolls. We have tried summer rolls at other establishments and even tried making them at home. We haven’t quite made it to “Pei Wei” level yet!
Now you know that we love Pei Wei. Unfortunately, that is not the entire intent of this letter. Last Friday we picked up some of my daughter’s Pei Wei favs for a road trip snack. She was up the entire night with intense stomach pain, throwing up and diarrhea . She has not ever become sick from your GF items before, but this time was truly horrible.
I tell you this not to make you feel bad or to encourage you to remove items to your GF menu, but to let you know that perhaps a mistake was made in the kitchen. While I believe that your corporate understanding of ‘gluten-free’ is sound, I know first hand how hard it is to avoid cross-contamination especially when employees may not fully understand the severity of Celiac disease and the importance of eating 100% gluten-free. I have met met several people, one of them an employee of your store, who thought that eating ‘gluten-free’ meant avoiding nuts. I have also met employees of other stores who thought that ‘gluten-free’ equates with dairy-free. This is not to say that these people are unintelligent. It is only to say that they are uniformed on a condition that is only becoming more prevalent.
Celiac Disease, and it’s requirement for the patient to eat gluten-free is not merely a lifestyle style change for better health or to lose weight (low carb). It is a necessary treatment, without which leads to death. Every time even a TINY bit of gluten is introduced into my daughter’s or any other Celiac patient’s diet permanent damage occurs in the small intestine. However, you do not need a biopsy or a microscope to see how much pain even the smallest amount of gluten from a spoon, countertop or splash of regular soy sauce can cause my little girl.
Offering gluten-free items is truly a blessing for our family and for many others. However, if you are going to advertise ‘gluten-free’ on your menu items you are taking upon yourself a big responsibility. By not training your employees and giving them the necessary information to ensure that those items are truly gluten-free (and not simply lacking gluten containing ingredients) you are risking the lives of any Celiac patient who trusts in your advertisements.
I recognize that simply addressing a problem is only halfway to fixing it so this is what I suggest:
Mandatory training for all employees. All employees need to know how critical it is to have separate dishes and cooking areas when preparing gluten-free items. Employees need to understand what Celiac Disease and Wheat Allergy are to better appreciate the importance of these practices. I would love to volunteer my time to offer a training or informational meeting to any or all of your employees. I am willing to do this not only because I feel it is my responsibility to try to protect others from becoming ill but because we love the food at Pei Wei and would love to continue eating there. However, unless we can feel comfortable that efforts are being made to better train your staff, the risk to my daughter’s health is not worth the food, regardless of how delicious it may be.
A sign visible to patrons explaining your ‘gluten-free’ practices. I have seen signs like this at other establishments. They explain things like “When ordering gluten-free items we changes our gloves, use a separate counter, store food separately etc.” This kind of signage is very comforting to me as a mother and is also a reminder to employees of what is expected of them. It takes a lot of pressure off of me as a customer and avoids awkward encounters with employees because I don’t have to ask if they are changing their gloves of if they are sure they used the right spoon to stir the pot, etc. When I see sign like this I know the employees have been trained and the employees know that I know what is expected of them.
I hope that Pei Wei will continue to provide gluten-free items, but that you will consider what I have written so that no other customer has to suffer as my daughter did. I would love to speak with anyone that has any questions about my experience at Pei Wei, eating gluten-free, cooking gluten-free or anything else that may help provide a safer menu for anyone looking for tasty gluten-free options.
Sincerely,
ME
PS While I have your attention, my daughter would really love a Gluten-Free Pad Thai added to your menu!
About 5 days later I received a call from a Pei Wei big shot. He apologized (but not too much) and then assured me that he rarely hears of this kind of thing (I would hope he NEVER does, but either way, that doesn't help MY kid). He then told me that the current protocol at all Pei Wei's is to use a different color plate in the kitchen when preparing gluten-free dishes. Apparently the gluten-free color dish had not arrived at our local Pei Wei but was now on order. I appreciated his call, and I appreciated his looking into how a mistake could have been made but I guess I wanted more. I wanted them to offer to show me the kitchen, or tell me that extra training would be done. I wanted him to make me certain that he and all the Pei Wei employees down to the dishwashers understand what it means to be gluten-free.
3 days after that I received a letter in the mail from the guest services CEO of Pei Wei. Also enclosed were 3 ten dollar gift cards to Pei Wei. The letter was better. I felt the wording in the letter was more sincere and apologetic. It also stated intent to issue more training at our local Pei Wei.
Overall, I am pleased with how Pei Wei handled the situation. I am not over the moon about it. I still am not sure I will ever use those gift cards, at least not for my daughter. I am impressed that they took action, however. My other experience with being glutened at a restaraunt was much less impressive. No apparent action was taken. I guess everyone is still learning, even myself.
I wrote Pei Wei the following letter:
I first want to thank you for offering such a wide variety of fresh, delicious GLUTEN-FREE menu items. Since my 4-year-old was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 6 months ago, we have been very limited in our choices for eating out. Pei Wei is one of her most favorite. She loved asian food before being diagnosed and it was very comforting to her and to me to still be able to give her some of her favorites. She especially loves the GF Sweet and Sour Chicken and the GF Vietnamese Summer Rolls. We have tried summer rolls at other establishments and even tried making them at home. We haven’t quite made it to “Pei Wei” level yet!
Now you know that we love Pei Wei. Unfortunately, that is not the entire intent of this letter. Last Friday we picked up some of my daughter’s Pei Wei favs for a road trip snack. She was up the entire night with intense stomach pain, throwing up and diarrhea . She has not ever become sick from your GF items before, but this time was truly horrible.
I tell you this not to make you feel bad or to encourage you to remove items to your GF menu, but to let you know that perhaps a mistake was made in the kitchen. While I believe that your corporate understanding of ‘gluten-free’ is sound, I know first hand how hard it is to avoid cross-contamination especially when employees may not fully understand the severity of Celiac disease and the importance of eating 100% gluten-free. I have met met several people, one of them an employee of your store, who thought that eating ‘gluten-free’ meant avoiding nuts. I have also met employees of other stores who thought that ‘gluten-free’ equates with dairy-free. This is not to say that these people are unintelligent. It is only to say that they are uniformed on a condition that is only becoming more prevalent.
Celiac Disease, and it’s requirement for the patient to eat gluten-free is not merely a lifestyle style change for better health or to lose weight (low carb). It is a necessary treatment, without which leads to death. Every time even a TINY bit of gluten is introduced into my daughter’s or any other Celiac patient’s diet permanent damage occurs in the small intestine. However, you do not need a biopsy or a microscope to see how much pain even the smallest amount of gluten from a spoon, countertop or splash of regular soy sauce can cause my little girl.
Offering gluten-free items is truly a blessing for our family and for many others. However, if you are going to advertise ‘gluten-free’ on your menu items you are taking upon yourself a big responsibility. By not training your employees and giving them the necessary information to ensure that those items are truly gluten-free (and not simply lacking gluten containing ingredients) you are risking the lives of any Celiac patient who trusts in your advertisements.
I recognize that simply addressing a problem is only halfway to fixing it so this is what I suggest:
Mandatory training for all employees. All employees need to know how critical it is to have separate dishes and cooking areas when preparing gluten-free items. Employees need to understand what Celiac Disease and Wheat Allergy are to better appreciate the importance of these practices. I would love to volunteer my time to offer a training or informational meeting to any or all of your employees. I am willing to do this not only because I feel it is my responsibility to try to protect others from becoming ill but because we love the food at Pei Wei and would love to continue eating there. However, unless we can feel comfortable that efforts are being made to better train your staff, the risk to my daughter’s health is not worth the food, regardless of how delicious it may be.
A sign visible to patrons explaining your ‘gluten-free’ practices. I have seen signs like this at other establishments. They explain things like “When ordering gluten-free items we changes our gloves, use a separate counter, store food separately etc.” This kind of signage is very comforting to me as a mother and is also a reminder to employees of what is expected of them. It takes a lot of pressure off of me as a customer and avoids awkward encounters with employees because I don’t have to ask if they are changing their gloves of if they are sure they used the right spoon to stir the pot, etc. When I see sign like this I know the employees have been trained and the employees know that I know what is expected of them.
I hope that Pei Wei will continue to provide gluten-free items, but that you will consider what I have written so that no other customer has to suffer as my daughter did. I would love to speak with anyone that has any questions about my experience at Pei Wei, eating gluten-free, cooking gluten-free or anything else that may help provide a safer menu for anyone looking for tasty gluten-free options.
Sincerely,
ME
PS While I have your attention, my daughter would really love a Gluten-Free Pad Thai added to your menu!
About 5 days later I received a call from a Pei Wei big shot. He apologized (but not too much) and then assured me that he rarely hears of this kind of thing (I would hope he NEVER does, but either way, that doesn't help MY kid). He then told me that the current protocol at all Pei Wei's is to use a different color plate in the kitchen when preparing gluten-free dishes. Apparently the gluten-free color dish had not arrived at our local Pei Wei but was now on order. I appreciated his call, and I appreciated his looking into how a mistake could have been made but I guess I wanted more. I wanted them to offer to show me the kitchen, or tell me that extra training would be done. I wanted him to make me certain that he and all the Pei Wei employees down to the dishwashers understand what it means to be gluten-free.
3 days after that I received a letter in the mail from the guest services CEO of Pei Wei. Also enclosed were 3 ten dollar gift cards to Pei Wei. The letter was better. I felt the wording in the letter was more sincere and apologetic. It also stated intent to issue more training at our local Pei Wei.
Overall, I am pleased with how Pei Wei handled the situation. I am not over the moon about it. I still am not sure I will ever use those gift cards, at least not for my daughter. I am impressed that they took action, however. My other experience with being glutened at a restaraunt was much less impressive. No apparent action was taken. I guess everyone is still learning, even myself.
Learning Curve
I guess I should not have been surprised that mistakes would be made. I certainly shouldn't feel angry. But I do. Both times my daughter has ingested gluten by mistake since learning of her Celiac Disease 5 months ago, I have been angry. Mostly at myself for letting my guard down and angry at whoever was responsible for the offending food.
Both times Lily has ingested gluten by accident, it has been from a restaraunt. Both times I have called or written letters. Both times were horrendous.
It is easy to be hard on ourselves as parents. I find myself overwhelmed someitmes by the responsibility of making so many of my children's life choices for them. Nutrition is something that has always been important to me. I limit sugar, encourage greens, avoid dyes and chemicals, etc. With the added pressure of avoiding the ubiquitous wheat it sometimes is overwhelming. So I can consciously tell myself not to be too hard on myself. I can locially explain to myself why and how mistakes happen. Wheat is everywhere, you were sick, you are still learning too, you needed a break. And yet, when my four-year-old is writhing in pain, throwing up and suffering, none of those excuses, however grounded in logic, seem to stick. I just feel angry. And guilty. And sad. And then, I have an ever stronger motivation to push on, to do better and to try harder.
Both times Lily has ingested gluten by accident, it has been from a restaraunt. Both times I have called or written letters. Both times were horrendous.
It is easy to be hard on ourselves as parents. I find myself overwhelmed someitmes by the responsibility of making so many of my children's life choices for them. Nutrition is something that has always been important to me. I limit sugar, encourage greens, avoid dyes and chemicals, etc. With the added pressure of avoiding the ubiquitous wheat it sometimes is overwhelming. So I can consciously tell myself not to be too hard on myself. I can locially explain to myself why and how mistakes happen. Wheat is everywhere, you were sick, you are still learning too, you needed a break. And yet, when my four-year-old is writhing in pain, throwing up and suffering, none of those excuses, however grounded in logic, seem to stick. I just feel angry. And guilty. And sad. And then, I have an ever stronger motivation to push on, to do better and to try harder.
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