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November 21, 2017

Chocolate Pretzels Recipe

Traditional chocolate pretzel recipe

Its always hard to find the right dish to bring to a potluck. You can't go wrong with a gluten-free chocolate dessert treat. The good thing about this recipe is that it doesn't take much time to prep, and you don't have to worry about it.

Gluten Free Pretzels have more of a crunch, and would certainly recommend using gluten-free pretzels than regular pretzels. In addition, gluten-free pretzels tend to hold the crunch longer when in the refrigerator.

Simple Ingredients

  • Bag of Gluten Free Pretzels
  • Hershy Hugs
  • M&M (Seasonal Colors)

Pretzels

Basic Instructions

Top a pretzel with a Hershey's hug and put it in the oven for 5 mins. Take it out and place an M&M on top of it. Put in the Refrigerator to let it cool for a few minutes.

Download the complete Instructions.

Things I learned

We have been making this for years, even so, there are a few things I learn this time around:

  • It takes about 2 bags of Hershey Kisses (16oz) to top all the pretzels in a 16oz bag.
  • One 1 lb bag of M&Ms is enough for 3 bags of Pretzels
  • Better off getting a 16oz bag of Snyder Gluten Free Pretzels than two 8oz bags Glutino's Pretzels. (Cheaper!)
  • The Snyder's Pretzels are a bit smaller and are perfect for this project.
  • Hershey Hugs are better than typical Hershey Kisses because you get a nice color swirl
  • Once completed, I kept the finish product cold all morning, and it was a nice and cold treat.
  • This easily could be made several days in advance.

Quick and Easy to Make

The nice thing about this is that there's no prep ahead of time. You don't have to wait for the microwave or mix ingredients at the last minute.

Simply store the container in the refrigerator and take it out when you're ready. A great idea for anyone who wants to contribute to a potluck but may not have time during the day.

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November 14, 2017

Best Hot Chocolate

Marshmallow Fluff and Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate are the perfect combination for a treat on a nice cold day. Have you tried it yet?

Super Swiss Miss

Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix

The large 58.4 oz container of Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix is great to have in the pantry. You never know when you have to make a large batch of Hot Cocoa when company comes over. Once open the container is good for a year.

If Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix isn't strong enough chocolate, you can always put a Hershey Miniatures in the cup. Simple drop in the mini and stir the mix before topping it off with Marshmallow Fuff. The hot water will melt the Hershey Mini for a nice boost of chocolate flavor.

Marshmallow Fluff

Typically you would top off the hot chocolate with standard Marshmallows, but the melted Marshmallow Fluff is an excellent way to sweeten your drink. I have found that the Marshmallow Fluff has a more taste than a standard marshmallow. In addition, you can pack more fluff in a cup than you can with typical marshmallows so you get a slightly sweeter cup of Hot Chocolate.

Super Fluff

Dehydrated Cereal Marshmallows

If you're not into Marshmallow Fluff, try Dehydrated Cereal Marshmallows instead of standard Marshmallows. We have found a 2 lbs bag of Hoosier Hill Charms Original Cereal Marshmallows is great for the entire winter season.

Gluten Free?

Yes, both Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate and Marshmallow Fluff are all naturally Gluten Free. There's no need to look for a gluten free container in the Natural foods section.

The Hershey Miniatures may contain gluten. Your better off using Hershey's Nuggets Milk Chocolates. Check out the Hershey's Gluten Free page on which products are gluten free.

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November 7, 2017

Moat Mountain Smoke House & Brew Co

This past summer we visited several attractions in the White Mountains, including Story Land and Santa???s Village. On our last day we stopped at the Moat Mountain Smoke House & Brew Co for dinner. It was a great experience and we???ll certainly be going back!

We accidentally discovered Moat Mountain Smoke House because we stopped at the Local Grocer thinking that we could get a good Gluten Free meal there. We arrived too late and they had already closed the kitchen. They don???t open for dinner. We did a quick search and surprise to find that the highest rated Gluten Free restaurant, on Find Me Gluten Free, in North Conway was right next door.

Good Gluten Free Options

Moat Mountain Smoke House & Brew has a great selection of Gluten Free options. Which was a nice change of all the different places that we tried in North Conway.

The server was very helpful with the choices that my daughter could have. The server appeared to be not only knowledgeable about how things were prepared in the kitchen, but also cross contamination issues.

My daughter selected the gluten-free cheese pizza. She was happy to have so many choices and even delighted to have cheese pizza on vacation.

Moat Mountain Gluten Free

Excellent Meal

The pizza was excellent, and as I recall she ate most of it. Which is a rare thing for her to do? Usually, she just has a couple of bites and says she???s full. So the pizza must have been that good to want to eat a lot in one sitting.

I did have a bit of one of the slices and it was good well and nice and crispy.

We???ll Be Back

All out meals were really good, and it was a nice family restaurant. They actually have quite a good selection of micro-brews. We???ll certainly be back on our next adventure to North Conway.

We were lucky that we didn't have much of a wait, as we left we could see that the wait to sit down was going to long wait. I can tell you that it's definitely worth the wait. Especially if you want delicious gluten-free food.

Finding Moat Mountain Smoke House

Moat Mountain Smoke House Co. is located on historical White Mountain Hwy. It's about 4-minute drive North from the 5 and 10 store. The address is 3378 White Mountain Hwy, North Conway, NH.

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October 31, 2017

Lucky Charms Shake

Perfect drink for a Post-Trick or Treat evening, also delicious as a Saturday Morning treat. Try this mix some time:

Luck Charm Shake
DIY Lucky Charms Shake

It???s a homemade version of Burger King???s Lucky Charms Shake. At least when you make it home, you know it will be gluten free.

Lucky Charms Still Gluten Free?

Lucky Charms are still Gluten Free. I have seen some Facebook posting about how Lucky Charms is not safe. All the information I have found out over the last few days are quite the contrary. The FCC hasn???t posted any warnings and there???s nothing about it on the General Mills website.

Fact is that Lucky Charms is still Gluten Free and currently meeting the US guidelines of being gluten free.

In 2015, there was a change.org petition titled, "Change testing and production of gluten-free Cheerios to be safe for all.??? While not directly related to Lucky Charms, the Cheerios testing would have impacted testing and certification by General Mills. Oddly enough the petition failed to pass by one person.

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October 24, 2017

Halloween Candy 2017

Its Halloween season, time to start thinking of gluten-free candy.

Several bloggers have put out their annual list of gluten-free candy. Rather than duplicating their work, here's a link to verywell.com website. It's a good list of popular candy that and if it safe for celiacs.

Gluten Free Candy
Comprehensive Gluten-Free Candy List - Halloween 2017

There are some big changes in what's safe for celiacs this year. The biggest surprise is that there are many Hershey products are no longer safe.

We are going to be handing out both gluten-free candy and non-candy goodies. We got our non-candy goodies from Oriental Trading. Don't forget your Teal Pumpkins.

Hopefully we distributed the right amount of candy and toys and we don't get eggs on our cars.

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October 17, 2017

Back Deck

This past summer we saw Phantom of the Opera at the Boston Opera House. We searched around looking for a great place to eat Gluten Free. We found some great reviews with Back Deck and thought it would be good to check out.

Back Deck

Back Deck

Brief description from their website:

Hardwood charcoal is made by partially burning oak and maple with limited oxygen which eliminates the more volatile components, like trapped hydrogen, methane and tars, allowing for a more predictable, even burn and much less smoke than wood. At the same time, we feel it gives you some advantages over grilling with gas.

Besides the pleasant smoky flavor it imparts, charcoal gives you higher, more intense heat. Charcoal can produce temperatures 100 degrees higher than gas which means foods sear better, delicate food like fish stick less, and the "grilled" taste, which is a product of the hot grate searing the surface of the foods, as well as the smoke produced by the fire, is enhanced.

If you are skilled in charcoal grilling, in some ways burning hardwood charcoal allows you more control than gas. A charcoal fire has many levels of heat, unlike a gas fire, so that if you can read the fire you can adjust the temperature under a piece of food by simply moving it to a hotter or cooler spot.

Gluten Free Options

They have a dedicated fryer for their french fries. Which isn't all that important for adults but its good news for a six-year-old. My daughter order the usual Cheeseburger.

They have a separate Gluten Free menu with lots of options to select from, check out the Dinner menu online.

The waitress was very knowledgeable about their gluten-free options and how the kitchen is set up to prevent any cross-contamination.

The Flourless Chocolate Sundae was yummy and highly recommended.

Overall Experience

It was actually a good experience eating at Back Deck. We had an early dinner, which was good since we could take our time and not feel the rush to make the show.

Note: We tried to get a reservation closer to the 6 pm show time but they didn't have anything available. If you do eat early and have sometime before the show, there are a couple of nearby coffee shops where you can sit and chat. Caffe Nero is direct across the street from the Boston Opera House.

The Downtown Crossing area isn't a fun shopping experience as it was back in the 80s and 90s. It's not as fun to walk around and browse the stores. (Hasn't been the same since Barnes and Noble left.)

As we were leaving the restaurant was getting busy - clearly from the theater crowd.

We certainly will be going back to Back Deck for our next show at the Boston Opera House. The food was delicious and they had great gluten-free selection.

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October 10, 2017

Muddy Moose Restaurant and Pub

Muddy Moose is located in the center of the busy North Conway Shopping area. Tourist visit here because of the location and the food. It's a very popular location.

If you arrive during the typical lunch or dinner hour, expect a 20-30 minute wait.

Muddy Moose3

Gluten Free Options

The Muddy Moose has a separate Gluten Free Menu. Be sure to ask for it when they call your name. (or as you see them collect the menus as you walk to the podium.)

There are lots of excellent Gluten-free options on the menu, including Burgers and Sandwiches on gluten-free bread. They don't have a separate fryer, so french fries are not available.

Trailside Burger

My daughter ordered the Trailside Burger with a side of white rice. She was happy to get the rice since she actually likes that when we go out for Chinese.

The person taking the order was educated about the Gluten Free options and make sure to put that it was for an allergy.

My daughter liked the Trailside Burger but didn't really like the rice. While she did like the thought of getting rice, I think she was disappointed because other children had french fries with their order.

Recommended?

If you do go to Muddy Moose, my daughter would recommend getting the Baked Potato as the rice wasn't that good. Otherwise, it wasn't a bad place to go. It was a good casual restaurant that seemed reasonably priced.

Directions to Muddy Moose

The Muddy Moose is located at 2344 White Mountain Hwy, North Conway, NH 03860. Directly across the street is the 1768 Country Inn.

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October 3, 2017

110 Grill

A few months ago we tried getting to the 110 Grill and found that it had a 40 minute wait. On the next attempt, we arrived early and we were seated within a few minutes of arriving.

Allergy Friendly Resturant

From the top of their menu:

Here at 110 Grill, we pride ourselves on our commitment to accommodating all guests??? allergen needs. We do this through preparing dishes to order in our scratch kitchens, utilizing allergen picks and only having management deliver allergy-safe dishes. Our management teams have current certifications for Food Safety and Allergen Awareness, and all employees receive extensive allergy awareness training to ensure guest safety.

110 Grill

Gluten Free Bread

Most places don't have any gluten-free bread as an appetizer while waiting. 110 does have it. The waitress was very helpful in making sure that my daughter had a Gluten Free bread. Which is nicely toasted. When one didn???t arrive, she ordered another one.

My daughter was delighted to get two pieces of fresh warm bread. (I suspect that its frozen dough and they warm it up in the oven.)

Dinner

110 Grill has a separate Gluten Free menu with lots of choices. (You can see the menu on their site.) My six-year-old daughter was excited to order Fish and Chips.

We were delighted that they were able to make a kids size portion of the meal. It was the perfect amount. She loved the Fish as well as the chips.

Desert

For dessert, 110 Grill actually have a Gluten free cake. This is a perfect option if you're looking to do a cake to celebrate a birthday or any special occasion. I got the Caramelized Banana Flatbread, which isn't gluten-free, and it was delicious. I wasn't able to finish the whole thing and had to take it home.

Finding 110 Grill

The 110 Grill that we ate at is located in Hopkinton, Massachusetts - just off of exit 21 on 495. As mentioned earlier, this is a very popular restaurant, we highly recommend having an early dinner - especially if you have hungry kids.

There are locations in Berlin, MA, Braintree, MA, Chelmsford, MA, Haverhill, MA, Hopkinton, MA, Leominster, MA, Nashua, NH, Rochester, NH, Wayland, MA.

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September 26, 2017

Metropolitan Coffee House and Fine Art Gallery

In North Conway is a small coffee shop located directly across the street from the old '5 & 10' store is The Metropolitan Coffee House and Fine Art Gallery.

From their website:

The Met Coffee House has been a destination in downtown North Conway, New Hampshire for over fifteen years and is proudly locally owned and operated by Larry and Diane Flaherty.

Stop in for a refreshing hot or cold specialty latte, a quick bite, or a piece of delectable desserts. Whether you're in town or from far away, Meet Me at The Met for Coffee, Comfort, Culture and Community.

Met Coffe House

Really Good Coffee

We stopped in to get some coffee after a long day at Storyland. The store was pretty quiet as it was very close to closing time. The service was awesome. We didn't feel rushed.

They worked with us to make a very good coffee. We wanted a delicious low-calorie coffee. They knew exactly what would satisfy our taste buds Almond Coffee with sugar-free caramel.

Wow were they right!

Try the SugarFree Caramel Coffee with Almond milk - its way better than what's offered at Starbucks. (Not sure why there's is better. )

Gluten Free Snacks!

In the refrigerator are some gluten-free snacks to enjoy. We saw brownies, cookies, and other treats. Perfect snacks to fill you over until lunch or dinner.

Highly Recommended

We love Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks but there's something special about trying the local flavor. People that get hired to work at a local shop go out of their way to satisfy their customers.

Next time you're walking around downtown North Conway, stop in for a treat. If you eating Gluten-free, you'll be happy to enjoy a snack as you walk through all the small shops.

Nothing like holding a nice hot cup of coffee while walking around North Conway to explore all the outlets.

We tried going back again on our trip but our schedule didn't make that option available. It's on our list for our next trip.

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September 19, 2017

Red Parka Steakhouse & Pub

Red Parka Steakhouse & Pub, located in Glen New Hampshire, is a pub style restaurant well known for their grill food and BBQ sauce. It's a favorite for locals and seasonal visitors. There have live entertainment on the weekends.

They are famous for the BBQ ribs. I remember getting some back in the late 1980s. They were really good and I look forward to trying them again.

On this particular trip I skipped the ribs as I didn't want to spend much money - we were on a low budget trip.

Red Parka Pub

Gluten Free Options

They didn't have a Gluten free menu. Our server worked with us to create a dish that my six-year-old daughter could eat. They do have gluten free buns.

The server did tell us that they didn't have a dedicated fryer so we couldn't order french fries.

We ordered a cheeseburger with no bun and a side of string beans - fortunately, my daughter like string beans over french fries.

We went to the salad bar and got from fresh vegetables to start. My daughter was very tired from a fun day at Storyland. She just ate the salad and didn't touch much of her dinner.

Overall Feeling

The food was delicious and my daughter loved it. I think she was a bit skeptical about her food because they didn't have a Gluten free menu.

Can't really recommend this place because officially they didn't have any gluten-free options. However, if you're looking for good BBQ this is the place to try. The BBQ sauce was delicious and I would go back just to try the ribs again.

Finding the Red Parka

The Red Parka is located in Glenn, New Hampshire. Just down the street from Storyland. It's a great place to stop after a long day at the park. You can enjoy a nice meal and avoid the traffic through North Conway.

You can purchase the Red Parka BBQ sauce, which is gluten free, at the bar or at Zebs General Store in North Conway.

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About

This series of posts will cover some tips and tricks that I have learned about my twelve-year-old daughter's gluten-free lifestyle in the Boston area. Gluten-free eating can be challenging in any big city, but especially in Boston due to the high number of restaurants and availability of options. I've been learning what I can to make sure my daughter can still enjoy eating out, and I want to share what I've learned so that other families in the same situation can benefit.

Check out all the blog posts.

Schedule

ThursdayGluten Free
FridayMacintosh
SaturdayInternet Tools
SundayOpen Topic
MondayMedia Monday
TuesdayQA
WednesdayNew England