We, for convenience, ate at Panera Bread. It wasn't something we were planning, so we didn't look at options ahead of time. If you are going to Panera anytime soon, check out the menu at http://www.panerabread.com/menu/. Obviously, going to a bakery might seem strange. If you're looking at a menu, and not finding much, an easy place to head right to is the salads. Since salads seem to get more elaborate each year, you really aren't limited this way. Brooke ordered a chicken cesaer salad, and I got a BBQ Chicken salad.
"I have not been to Panera many times so I was not sure what there would be available to eat. When thinking "Panera" I always thought of either bread or bagels neither of which would work. We have quickly found that due to their recent popularity there is usually a salad of some sort on the menu. I am one to quickly look at a menu. Looking at the salad options I quickly saw cesaer salad. This I know that I like quite well, and the addition of grilled chicken added more substance. Once we got out orders I found Kate's salad to be quite interesting and I wished that I would have looked over the menu more. Oh well. The salad was okay but nothing really special. I think I liked the apple that came with it most of all. Turns out you can get a roll, chips, or an apple with your order, which didn't leave us with much of a choice. Not all chips are gluten free."
~ Brooke
I got the BBQ chicken salad and was pleased. There was lettuce, grilled chicken, grilled corn, blackbeans, and tortilla strips (they are made of corn so should be safe). This was all dressed, and also had BBQ sauce drizzled atop it. I was impressed with it. I usually can do with more BBQ sauce, so would have appreciate more than a drizzle. Even Brooke, who doesn't really do BBQ too much would have wanted more.
The experience was, though, a pleasant one. Even with the group of high school girls who are in prom-mode, and the wedding planning party next to us, the food was good.
Blue Diamond Almond Nut-Thins
Who doesn't love crackers? Personally, I think anything can be put on a cracker. I grew up with a grandfather who loves peanut butter and fluff on saltines, and a mother who loves buttered crackers. And they are also great for parties and get-togethers. Eating crackers when you are gluten free is expensive. I have looked at crackers that were $5 or $6 dollars for a few dozen crackers. My mom found Blue Diamond Almond Nut-Thins (http://www.bluediamondgrowers.com/index.cfm?navid=34) in the local grocery store, so I am assuming they are easily found in the cookie and cracker aisle, for between $3.50 and $4.50 a box (4.25 oz, about 5 dozen crackers. An average cracker box size).
My mom gave me two boxes. One is plain, and the other is cheddar cheese. These crackers are good. They taste a little bit like rice crackers (they are primarily, but also have nuts in them). The nut helps dispel some of the gummy-ness that can come with regular rice crackers. The cheddar cheese flavored crackers are very artificial cheddar-cheese tasting, so if you are missing cheese curls, these are good for you.
We recommend finding these crackers. We are snacking on them right now.
Gluten Free Offer
While browsing gluten free sites, I came across Ener G's website. They offer a fairly wide variety of gluten free products, for what seems to be a good price. One offer that I found particularly interesting was their Gluten Free Sample Kit (http://www.ener-g.com/gluten-free/sample-kits/gluten-free-sample-kit.html). The kit includes two slices of each tapioca loaf, brown rice loaf, white rice loaf, Seattle brown loaf, and corn loaf, and egg-free raisin loaf, as well as English muffins, pound cake, ginger cookies, vanilla cookies, rice mix, white rice macaroni, and Wylde pretzels, which we reviewed yesterday, 4/13/2001 (http://unceremoniouslyglutenfree.blogspot.com/2011/04/gluten-free-pizza-and-product-reviews.html). All of this is available for $19.50 .
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