G-Free in the City Expansion

Friends, family and followers...I've decided to expand my restaurant and community contacts outside of the city of Austin and will start soon reaching out and researching menus. There are a few reasons why I want to expand. First, as part of my MBA program I am required to do a summer internship so I could end up at a company outside of Austin (most likely actually), secondly I'm working on my official website (www.gfreeinthecity.com) that will have a nationwide mapping feature hopefully within the next 6 months or so, and finally I want to start helping others everywhere! I know that there are cities that seem to have a better grasp on gluten-free than others, these include Chicago, New York, San Francisco and San Diego so I'll hit these up later on down the line. The goal for the current list is to aim for cities where it's a little more challenging...

Please feel free to provide suggestions on other cities that you'd like to see, or send me a message if you know of restaurants that would be a good addition to the site. My goal includes at least 20 unique restaurants in the following cities:

- Seattle, WA
- Denver, CO
- Minneapolis, MN
- Columbus, OH
- Atlanta, GA
- Tampa, FL
- Phoenix, AZ
- Knoxville, TN
- Charleston, SC
- Pittsburgh, PA

Wish me luck and again feel free to send any menu pics, suggestions or lists to jaime.sutton@gmail.com!

A few of my favorite things :)

Last weekend I went to the grocery store and loaded UP. I decided that it would be fun to share some of my go-to favorite things with my readers (all gluten-free of course). I highly suggest trying them out because all are amazing!

Thai kitchen makes a variety of these lunch bowls that are microwavable. Not all of them are gluten-free but the Pad Thai and the one below are gluten-free and so tasty, especially for lunch when you don't have time to cook or pack a lunch. It's 500 calories but very filling. I normally can only find it at Whole Foods in the World Flavors aisle.

Pirate's Booty also has a lot of varieties but the Aged White Cheddar takes the prize. It is light, fluffy and very low calorie. It resembles bagged popcorn but has much better flavor. Sometimes it's only in the gluten-free section but lately our local grocery store started carrying it too.

Udi's muffins...whoo! I love muffins for breakfast. I need to have something substantial to last me through to lunch and these do the trick. You can find it in the frozen breakfast section or gluten-free frozen section. The best way to eat it is to do a quick 30 sec. in the microwave to soften them up.

Don't even need to find gluten-free specifics for this! Celery is crunchy and healthy and most peanut butter is also naturally gluten-free. This here is crunchy peanut butter and these keep all day in my backpack.

Applegate Farms has done a fantastic job of making their lunch meats gluten-free. Most lunch meat is NOT gluten-free so this allows for a number of lunch items to be created. My favorite is the honey ham. I also have to give a shout out to Applegate for sending me some $1.00 off coupons!

Okay, so I think Grandma's Humus is a local Austin creation but every Whole Foods, at least, in the country should carry it. It is like the crack of hummus. It is the most amazing hummus I've ever had - pair it with some fresh veggies and that's dinner!

Annie's does a great job all around, but their dressings take the prize for gluten-free varieties. It tends to be very challenging to make dressings or sauces without a filler and they have mastered it. The Lite Italian seen below is my norm so maybe next time I'll try some others.

I had to throw these in there...wine and Steaz green tea. It is 80 calories and sweetened with cane sugar so it's much healthier than other canned teas. I'm not a fan of water so this is a good way to hydrate.

Evol Brand Foods are not all gluten-free but the ones that are definitely  need to be given a try. The fire grilled steak and chicken enchilada are my favorites but there are some other bowls. I would suggest however to move it into a new bowl after microwaving because they get a little soggy! Added bonus: free sticker with each meal.

Back to Applegate Farms again...gluten-free chicken nuggets that can be put in the microwave or oven...enough said!

Last, but definitely not least...Annie's creamy deluxe gluten-free. There is nothing healthy about this but it is tasty rice pasta with some very creamy cheesy goodness. Try it, you will not regret it.

I'd love for others to comment with their favorite gluten-free items!!