The first trimester of pregnancy can be a little rough.  At least it was for me.  That’s what I get for thinking morning sickness doesn’t really exist.  I had to learn the hard way that yes, in fact morning sickness is real.  As you know from my last three years of posts, I love vegetables, whole grains, freshly baked desserts, and fresh food.  During my first 16 weeks of pregnancy, however, my routine eating habits were thrown out the window, due to constant nausea, exhaustion and a general apathy towards cooking.

Most of the foods one “craves” during morning sickness tend to be bread, crackers, and other gluten-filled items.  With my new taste buds, I had to entirely rethink my trips to the grocery store and alter my grocery lists.

Here’s a list of what I semi-successfully ate for the first 16 weeks of morning sickness:

Udi’s plain bagels and cream cheese: Normally I’m a cereal girl but Baby Metcalf did not appreciate my morning cereal routine.  Fortunately, I found a good substitute.  Udi’s bagels taste so similar to the real thing.  Toasted, they are delicious with cream cheese.  I think I’ve had at least one every day for the last four months.  I even traveled with my own bagel stash over Christmas.

Chik-fil-a French fries: Chik-Fil-A uses a separate fryer for the fries so I don’t have to worry about contamination.  Their waffle fries are delicious and could serve as an entire meal for me.  Warning: don’t try to steal any off my tray.  (David learned this the hard way.)

Ruffles potato chips: How did I not know before how darn good these chips are?  Deliciously salty, with amazing texture I’ve been converted from kettle cooked to ruffle.  I don’t know if I’ll ever go back.

Lucy’s Cookies: These were the only sweet thing I had any desire to eat besides fruity candy during my first trimester.  I think I liked them because they weren’t too sweet and I could nibble on them throughout the day.  I bought the variety pack on amazon on a very regular basis.

Mike & Ikes: I normally enjoy all things minty: brushing my teeth, chewing gum or enjoying a mint.  Well, mint flavored anything just made me throw up so I resorted to Mike & Ike’s to get bad tastes out of my mouth.  I know.  It’s disgusting.

Spaghetti: I couldn’t eat bagels and chips for every meal so I found that my body really liked spaghetti.  (Thanks to my sister-in-law, Heidi, for that suggestion!)

Canada Dry Ginger Ale: No longer did I want a glass of cabernet at the end of a long day but a fizzy, sugary soda to ease my stomach.  Canada Dry is definitely gluten free.  I’ve had mixed findings in researching other brands.

Fruit: This was the one healthy thing that I could eat.  I loved blueberries, strawberries, pineapple and grapes.  I also drank a lot of orange juice which I’ve never been a big fan of before. (I would get the OJ with extra calcium since I wasn’t really getting it anywhere else.)

The good news is that everyone is right: morning sickness goes away.  I’m thrilled to be (sort of) back to my old ways.  I’m still not cooking up a storm in the kitchen, and I find myself toasting a bagel every morning for breakfast but I have had salad in the last week.  Baby steps, right?

For those of you gluten-free moms out there: what did you eat when you were battling morning sickness.  I never found a gluten-free cracker that tasted good to me.  I tried Glutinos for awhile but got tired of them.  Would love your thoughts.

Figo is one of my favorite casual Atlanta spots and I think they have one of the best GF pastas around!  Their gluten-free fusili pasta can be mixed with any of their sauces for a delicious gluten-free meal.

Last week, Figo added a new item to their gluten-free menu: the gluten-free meatball!  Made with rice flour and rice, instead of bread, Figo’s Gluten-Free Maria Meatball also includes a yummy mix of ground beef sirloin, carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, parmesan cheese and an herb & spice blend.

If you don’t feel like pasta, think about trying one or two of their meatballs with a salad to add protein to your meal.

The new GF Maria meatball will be offered at all seven of Figo’s locations so check their website for the restaurant closest to you.  You might have already gotten a sneak peak of the meatball at the Atlanta Gluten-Free Vendor Fair a few weeks back.

Have you noticed that food trucks are all the rage in ATL?  Well, they are!  Sadly, many of the food trucks serve greasy sandwich type meals that don’t meet the needs of gluten-free diners.  BUT, I’ve discovered a food truck with plenty of GF options!  One of my new favorite things that’s uniquely local to Atlanta is Honeysuckle Gelato.  Native Atlantan, Wes Jones, decided to drop his regular job and start Honeysuckle Gelato with two of his buddies.  I, for one, am very thankful for his decision!  You can find his delicious gelato by following his stylish teal food truck.

Many of Honeysuckle’s flavors are naturally gluten free and so delicious.  Creamy, yummy and overflowing with natural ingredients, not a bunch of chemicals and artificial flavorings.  You might have seen Wes and Honeysuckle at the most recent gluten-free vendor fair.  If you were lucky enough, you tried his ridiculously amazing Salted Caramel flavor.  It is truly divine.  The salty-sweet flavors blend perfectly together and it’s the ideal evening treat!  If salted caramel doesn’t sound delicious to you, what about peanut butter honey or ginger molasses?  Go to their website to see more of Honeysuckle’s signature flavors.

Honeysuckle Gelato at the GF Vendor Fair

Honeysuckle also offers sorbets which are naturally gluten free and dairy free so there’s something for everyone!  Many of their flavors are naturally GF.  Mmm, chocolate mint or watermelon sorbet, anyone? Check out this southern inspired gelato for yourself!

Don't miss the Honeysuckle food truck!

Recently I asked Wes a few questions about himself and his new business.  Here’s what he had to say:

Gluten Freedom: Are you a native Atlantan?

Wes: Yes, I am.

Gluten Freedom: What do you love about Atlanta?

Wes: My wonderful friends and family and the amazing food! What are your favorite eats in Atlanta? That’s a tough one because there are so many great choices. Hal’s is usually up there and Fox Brothers has been a frequented place recently.  Other than that, anywhere in Decatur.

Gluten Freedom: How did you get interested in gelato?

Wes: My business partner, Jackson Smith, was making gelato in NYC at Il Laboratorio del Gelato and we first kicked the idea around of starting a gelato place here in Atlanta as a joke and before long we had talked ourselves into actually doing it.

Gluten Freedom: Where does one purchase a food truck?

Wes: The same place you purchase everything else…the internet.  We actually found our truck on eBay.  It was a New Orleans Shaved Ice Truck in a small town in Alabama.  We thought it looked cool so we convinced the people to take it off eBay for a couple days so we could come look at it.

Gluten Freedom: Where does the name Honeysuckle come from?

Wes: We we’re having a hard time coming up with something we liked that was catchy, southern and sweet all in one until Jackson had an epiphany. He called me up and said “I got it!! Honeysuckle!”  Before I had time to argue he hung up the phone.  Lucky for me, I loved it and it stuck.

Gluten Freedom: What’s your favorite GF flavor?

Wes: It changes weekly as we make awesome new flavors, but “Dock of the Bay”, our Sea-Salted Caramel, was my first love and I always feel guilty when I name a flavor other that.

Gluten Freedom: Where can we find Honeysuckle?

Wes: That’s the beauty of having a food truck – you can find us all over town! We post our schedule here - http://www.honeysucklegelato.com/contact-us/ – and we also tweet our daily menu and locations at @honeysuckleatl.  Our goal is to be in some specialty stores and select grocery stores in the area next spring so keep an eye out for us!

Thanks, Wes, for taking the time to answer my questions!  I hope everyone will check Honeysuckle’s website to find a location nearest you!  This is not just another ice cream place, I promise.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll be at the Hilton Hotel in Norcross at the Atlanta Gluten-Free Expo tomorrow.  Price of admission is only $10, which is a total steal considering you get to fill up on unlimited sweet and savory GF food!  Check out the full list of vendors here.

Some of the vendors I’m most excited about seeing are:

• American Gra-Frutti
• Bella Monica Pizza (which they now sell at the Kroger on Howell Mill!)
• Pamela’s
• Sally’s Bakery
• World’s Best Carrot Cake

I’m sure I’ll discover new brands I love too!  What are you excited about sampling?

Even NPR is talking about going gluten free!  In this broadcast, Look Whose Going Gluten Free, they discuss a new flour blend created by French Laundry’s pastry chef, Lena Kwak and owned by the famous chef/culinary entrepreneur, Thomas Keller.  Labeled as Cup4Cup this brand is not actually used yet at French Laundry but available for purchase.  Now that a bunch of celebs are going gluten free, it’s only fitting that their becomes a high end niche in the GF market!  You can find C4C yourself at Williams-Sonoma, online and in the store.

Has anyone tried Cup4Cup yet?  Thoughts?

A couple weeks ago, Mary Stuart and I checked out Sophie’s Uptown, a sweet café in Buckhead, on Pharr Road.  This tucked away bakery/café now serves lunch, including gluten-free options.  The bakery is named after the owner’s beloved dog, Sophie, who passed away a couple of years ago.  If you’re a dog lover, Sophie’s is definitely the place for you.  Dog cupcakes, cookies, and decorations can be found throughout the store.

There are plenty of tables inside, and lots of space, so this is a great spot to meet someone for a lunch date.  The menu isn’t huge but there are definitely some good options.  I went with the gluten-free quiche, which is made with a yummy GF crust, and accompanied with a side salad.  It was the perfect lunch for a gorgeous fall afternoon.  Of course I couldn’t resist trying their huge GF brownie.  (I used good restraint and saved the other half for later.)

Check Sophie’s out for yourself and let me know what you think.

PS: Sophie’s donates 25% of profits to local animal rescue!

Sophie’s Uptown – 54 Pharr Road – Atlanta, GA – 404.812.0477

How did I not (re)discover Mellow Mushroom pizza earlier???  Of course I remember Mellow Mushroom from my college days in Charlottesville, sitting outside, after a long day of tailgating.  Nothing went better with a pitcher of beer than a Mellow Mushroom pizza and pretzels.  Mmm, just thinking about that crust and those late afternoons makes me miss college and my gluten-eating days.

While I had read that Mellow Mushroom has a gluten-free pizza, I just hadn’t made it over there yet.  What was I thinking?  One Sunday afternoon, David and I decided to head over to the Mellow Mushroom on Peachtree Road and try out the GF pizza.  Not only was the craving for pizza pulling us toward Peachtree’s Mellow Mushroom, but their flat screen TVs and the NFL Sunday Ticket.

We’ve discovered our perfect spot for watching the Redskins when they’re not on the Atlanta networks.  Mellow Mushroom was just the right place for an early Sunday dinner with four football games happening around us.

Kosmic Karma with sausage: so many toppings. I love it!

I was very pleased by the GF pizza at Mellow Mushroom.  Of course it’s not the same as the pizza I remember from my C’ville days, but it’s pretty darn good.  And, they don’t skimp on the toppings so it’s not overly bready.  I went with the Kosmic Karma pizza with sausage and it was amazing.  I can’t resist anything with pesto!  The sundried tomatoes, feta, and spinach are an awesome combination.  Since my first visit, I’ve ordered the Kosmic Karma with chicken, another good protein addition.  (Going with just the veggies is plenty of food and flavor, so don’t feel like you have to order a protein topping.)

Almost all of Mellow Mushroom’s toppings are gluten free, and our server was very knowledgeable as to which ones contained gluten.

Unfortunately, Mellow Mushroom does not currently offer gluten-free beer on their menu but hopefully if more people request GF beer, they’ll add it to their beverage list.

Will I be going back to Mellow Mushroom? Um, already have.  Thanks, Mellow Mushroom, for making a delicious GF pizza that satisfies my carb and greasy food cravings!  I’ll look forward to more Sunday afternoons with you.  You can also call ahead and order takeout too.  Another great option for an easy Sunday dinner! The Vinings location also sells gluten-free pizzas, if that’s closer to your neck of the woods.

Note: I found that reheating the GF pizza worked best in the oven, not in the microwave.  The pizza returns to its normal state in the oven, but is not so good in the microwave.

Mellow Mushroom – 1770 Peachtree Street NW – Atlanta, GA, 30309 – 404.687.4766

I’ve recently been converted to the world of Amazon Prime.  My sister-in-law, Blair, convinced me that Amazon Prime is the way to go, as it diminishes the frequency of shopping, which for me is a huge plus.  Basically, I hope to buy all of my food, toiletries, etc. (except meat and veggies) through Amazon Prime.

For those of you that don’t know about Amazon Prime, it’s truly genius.  You pay an annual fee of $79 and you get free two day shipping on all of your purchases (that qualify for Amazon Prime, which is most items). Not only will I be buying things like toilet paper, laundry detergent and trash bags, but even groceries.  (And of course there will always be the book impulse buys.)

Did you know that Amazon has an amazing selection of gluten-free products???  Some of my favorite GF items are on Amazon.  This is a great option if you live in a small town and don’t have access to a Whole Foods or natural food store.  Or if you’re like me, and the thought of going to Costco or a shopping mall makes you break out in a sweat.

Mesa Sunrise Cereal

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Lara Bars

bionaturae fusili Pasta

Peanut Butter Panda Puffs (Enviro Kids)

Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix

Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oats

Jif to Go

Bye bye Costco membership, hello Amazon Prime!  Just make sure you recycle all of the Amazon boxes you’ll start to accumulate!

What do you like to order on Amazon Prime?

You may have seen American Gra-Frutti at your Atlanta Whole Foods or perhaps at a Braves game, in the gluten-free concession stand.

Did you know they’re a local, Atlanta company?

Did you know they are a 100% gluten-free bakery?

Did you know they make a variety of vegan treats?

Well, now you know!  You should check American Gra-Frutti’s website out and learn more.  Recently, they sent me a bunch of treats that I’ve been thoroughly enjoying.  And the ones I can’t yet get to, like a loaf of bread, I just stuck in the freezer for a later date.

This isn’t your typical bakery folks…sure, they have cupcakes, breads, and muffins but just wait, there’s more.  American Gra-Frutti makes two of my favorite items that I have not had since I was diagnosed with celiac FOUR years ago!

#1: Cheese straws: If you grew up in Virginia, like me, or anywhere in the south, you probably share my love for cheese straws.  I freakin’ love cheese straws.  They remind me of the holidays, of the gift baskets my parents always received from their students, and of course, they remind me of cocktail time.  American Gra’Frutti’s cheese straw crackers are so good, I had to keep a close watch on them because David wanted to devour every single one of them from the moment the package was opened.  They’re that good.  Perfectly cheesy, crispy and with a spicy kick.  Just the way I remember them.  And reasonably priced!

#2: Graham crackers: These crispy, sweet treats can be enjoyed a variety of ways (peanut butter and nutella?) but they are best when used for the sandwich of a s’more.  Since we got our package of graham crackers, David and I have started making s’mores all the time.  They’re the perfect dessert, especially now that we’re heading into the cool weather months.  We’ve been cheating a little and just heating up our marshmallows over the grill.  Still delicious!  American Gra-Frutti’s graham crackers hold together perfectly with s’mores, and yes, you can fit two jumbo marshmallows between two of them.

You can order American Gra-Frutti through their website or at the Buckhead Whole Foods.  Where else have you found these treats?

Next time I’ve got my eyes on the carrot cake!  Thank you, American Gra-Frutti for safely making delicious gluten-free food.

PS: Their flat bread with hummus is currently my favorite afternoon snack…

Farm Burger on a GF bun!

Happy National Celiac Awareness Day!

That’s right, September 13^th is officially Celiac Awareness Day.  It’s a day to celebrate!  On this day, I’m particularly thankful for my health and the many resources Atlanta has to offer its gluten-free residents.  Thank you, ATL!

Last week, I enjoyed my first trip to the new Farm Burger in Buckhead (with elaney), and thoroughly enjoyed my cheeseburger with FB sauce (I kept accidentally calling it “Facebook Sauce”) and tomato, as well as my delicious salad (both of their salad dressings are GF).  The burger hit the spot.  Thanks, Farm Burger, for working with Pure Knead, another local treasure, to allow me to enjoy a dinner out, just like everyone else!  A great way to celebrate Celiac Awareness Day if you ask me!

So, in honor of Celiac Awareness Day, take your favorite gluten-free loved one out for a night of GF goodness.  There are so many choices…check out my Restaurants page for guidance.