Gluten Free Fridays: National Pizza Week #GFF

This post is part of a series I am doing. Each Friday, I explore gluten free options at various types of establishments. I'll be reviewing local, regional, and national eateries as well as offering some tips on surviving various gluten-y situations. Welcome to Gluten Free Fridays!

Thanks to the internet, I was made aware that this week is officially National Pizza Week here in the US of A. Beautiful, right? Dedicating an entire week to the celebration of one food group. Because pizza IS a food group. Ask my dad. He is a bonafied Pizza Master. He has told me on a number of occasions that if he could only eat one food for the rest of his life, it would be pizza.

It is a family tradition that has gone on for two generations now that Sunday night is Homemade Pizza Night at my parent's house. Heck yes, it needs to be capitalized! It's pretty dang important!! I mean, it's not every Sunday, but it's pretty frequent. We even do homemade pizza for birthday parties with my mom's side of the family. So you can imagine my level of distress when I was diagnosed with Celiac.

"But. Homemade pizza...."

I may have actually said that after getting off the phone with my doctor. I'm sorry I'm not sorry. I love pizza.

If you are newly diagnosed with Celiac or are new to a gluten free life, I'm guessing you know that feeling. That pit of your stomach panic that you will never enjoy pizza in any form again. I tell you, I've been there. And I'm here to tell you, my friend, there is hope.

There are tons of at-home methods for making yourself some yum-o pizza crust that wont make your guts try and kill you. But today (as much as I enjoy homemade pizza) I want to talk about the possibility of being able to dine in or carry out some awesome GF pizza. Shall we explore some regional options?

Most people from the greater Rockford, IL area know about Lino's. It has been a Rockford for over 40 years. They have the most amazing "Special Salad" which is gluten free if you order it sans croutons. They do also have GF pizza crust (for an extra couple bucks) and most of their toppings are GF. I have never gotten and cross-contamination sickness from Lino's, but they do make their pizzas in a shared kitchen. This place is my dad's fave carry out pizza. In case you were wondering.

Here's a fun find from our time out in Salt Lake City: The Pie Pizzeria. This place has several locations throughout the Salt Lake valley and is absolutely amazing as far as their cross contamination prevention practices go. They have a whole separate kitchen for cooking their GF pies in!! Though there were a couple times their homemade crust got a little too crispy for my liking (it's very very thin) I was never disappointed with The Pie. My fave? The "Mini MEat". Bacon, pepperoni, and ham. YUM. You just really can't beat that peace of mind though, knowing all your food is prepped in a self-contained GF kitchen.

 And to round out the "local pizza places from regions of the country in which I have lived", I have to include this Minnesota place: Pizza Luce. I first went the Pizza Luce in Duluth years ago before I was diagnosed. More recently, I've been to a couple of their Twin Cities locations. I love that they not only have GF pizza, but also GF hot wings (another love of mine). Their food has always been quite safe for me too. Never had an episode from Luce.





So, there you have it friends! Three great gluten free pizza locations at which you can celebrate National Pizza week with joy and peace of mind!!


Do you have a fave local pizza place that caters to gluten free needs?
 

Disclaimer: Though I have Celiac disease and may have not had reactions at any of these restaurants, cross contamination practices may not be up to par at every single restaurant you visit. Please proceed with caution and use your best judgement. If you see blatant gluten dangers, don't just trust that because I was okay you will be too.

Fiber Field Trip: Crafty Planet, Minneapolis

 About a month ago, Sailor and I took a little trip to Minneapolis. There are so many crafty shops in this town, it is worth the drive to have a weekend of exploration. Plus, the streets are dotted with gluten-free friendly cafes and whatnot, which makes it super easy for me to while away some hours shopping and snacking.

On this last trip up, I had some solo adventuring time. I decided to hit up a store I've been reading about online for months: Crafty Planet. It is hard to put into words how amazing this place is. Fabric. Yarn. Buttons. Beads. Patterns. Glitter. I mean. I just. This:

"Crafty Planet is an independent retailer who prides itself on a do-it-yourself ethos, bringing you the coolest craft stuff in the galaxy!" -CraftyPlanet.com

Walking around this shop, I was overwhelmed with the selection of fabrics. I am very very easily inspired by color, and let me tell you, this place was a mecca of inspiration. I was pulling fat quarters off shelves and pairing them til I made myself dizzy. It was very enjoyable.

 While Crafty Planet does offer yarn in addition to fabric, the selection of yarn was not enormous. I read a few reviews about the lack of yarn choices, but when I visited the shop myself, I was not at all disappointed in their offerings. They had a variety of fibers and weights at good prices. Their selection of hooks and needles was quite extensive as well. By no means could it compete with a yarn-only shop, but it was impressive when you take the vast array of sewing supplies crammed into this store.

Besides the fabric, and yarn, and tools, and just the sheer inspiration of the store itself, there were a few more factors that made me want to unroll my sleeping bag and camp in this shop forever:

1. The staff: The ladies behind the counter were so cheerful and helpful, I felt like I was a member of a fun secret crafty club. Even though it was my first time in the shop and I don't even live in Minneapolis. While I was checking out, we bantered about sock monkeys (our hometown is the birthplace of the Nelson Red Heel Sock and thus the Sock Monkey), reupholstering chairs, and how easy it is to spend money when surrounded by such beautiful fabric.

2. The patterns and displays: Besides the amount of inspiration I already felt from the colors of the fabric alone, the shop was full of funky project patterns displayed with the finished projects made by workers of the shop. Plus little piles of fabric that would look oh so great together conveniently placed right by the patterns that they would work on. Sales ploy? Oh yes. Did it work? -hides pile of fabric sheepishly-

3. The classes: Again, I know I don't live in Minneapolis, but the list of classes offered at Crafty Planet made me wish I did. Knitting. Embroidery. Quilting. Crocheting. And then some. Come on. You cannot say that taking a fun class in an inspiring shop would be pointless. So much fun. I wish Crafty Planet was in my town!!

So yes. If you are even in the Twin Cities and have a hankering to be inspired, head to Crafty Planet. Guh. I love shopping. I'll have to take some pictures of the fabrics I scored on my adventure so you can drool and jump in your car and drive to this store and get your own. Oh wait. You don't have to drive all the way to Minneapolis. Because you can shop CraftyPlanet online.

I'm sorry for telling you.