Welcome welcome! We are so happy to be with you as the greatest blog for the city of Flagstaff (opinion poll taken by me). As you might have read, my name is Kendra and I am a new-ish mom excited to be blogging for you! I have so many fun topic ideas that I cant wait to share with you!!! So…what are we going to talk about today? GLUTEN. What is gluten? Is it bad? Is it scary? If it’s gluten-free; why is it so darn expensive? Should our kids eat gluten? Well, let’s get started shall we?
According to my handy dandy buddy Wikipedia: Gluten is a composite of storage proteins termed prolamins and glutelins and stored together with starch in the endosperm of various grass-related grains. It is found in wheat, barley, rye, oat, related species and hybrids and products of these.
Okay, one answer to our many questions. Is gluten bad for you? Is it scary? No, I don’t believe it is.
Gluten should be eaten in moderation as many other foods but it is not necessarily bad unless, of course, you are intolerant to gluten or have celiac disease like myself. Then yes, it’s very bad.
Celiac disease is an immunal response to eating gluten that creates inflammation and damages the small intestine’s lining, creating holes in the lining which leads to medical complications. It can also prevent the absorption of important nutrients.
Should our kiddos eat gluten?
Again, in moderation gluten can be part of your everyday meals and of course is ideal in moderation like most foods. Why are Gluten-Free (GF) foods so expensive? Well that, I have many opinions on. First, well why not? It’s all the rave and people will spend the money to buy it so why not rack up prices? Secondly, it’s more difficult to make gluten free items for many reasons. You’ll need a separate kitchen, you need to be certified GF chefs if you want to sell GF products and that likely isn’t cheap.
We’ve been cooking and eating with Gluten for so long that other flours are not as in-demand therefore, cost more money. And probably lots of other reasons. OK, so now that we’ve done our research and answered our questions let’s move on. If you can eat gluten, awesome! Good for you! Enjoy all the yummy things that the world of gluten has to offer and never feel left out at another birthday party.
Should you want to eat gluten free, or need to you have a TON of options here in Flagstaff which is totally amazing! Almost every grocery store has it’s own section for gluten free foods. Many stores have even integrated the gluten-free items into the other aisles near the products they are replacing.
There are also dozens of restaurants that offer gluten free items or full menus! Hooray!
Below is a list of few that I’ve tried and was happy with:
- Picazzo’s Organic Italian Kitchen – everything on the menu is Gluten Free.
- Mama Luisa’s Italian Kitchen – The owner is amazing and you just call in advance to let them know you are coming so they’ll have Gluten Free items on hand.
- Fratelli’s Pizza
- Fat Olives
- Lumberyard Brewery – they’ll offer gluten free buns
- Criollo Latin Kitchen
- BRIX Restaurant and Wine Bar
- MIX
- Satchmo’s
- KickStand Coffee shop
- Macy’s European Coffee House
- Brandy’s Restaurant and Bakery
- Tinderbox Kitchen & Annex
- Mormon Lake Steakhouse & Saloon
- Ewa’s Tai
- Little Thai Kitchen
- Taverna
- Pita Jungle
- Diablo burger
- The Northern Pines
- La Vetta
That is really just the recent ones I have tried and I am sure there are more! Let me tell you fellow readers…when I started gluten free blogging in 2012 that list was much shorter.
