Arctic Zero - Not Gluten Free Ice Cream

Today was my husband's birthday and normally the kids and I would be baking his grandmother's chocolate cake which is made from scratch with lots of flour.  I have not baked it in over a year after finding out I am gluten intolerant due to this we went ahead and bought a store baked cake.  The rest of my family can eat wheat, but for myself, I would just munch on some coconut ice cream.  

We had also decided that we were going to have a Japanese Steak House Birthday dinner night so our daughter and I went to the local Winn Dixie to shop for steak, chicken, zucchini, onions, a cake and the ingredients needed to make the Japanese steakhouse white sauce.  Winn Dixie has a separate allergen area where their labeled gluten free items are.  Unfortunately Winn Dixie does not carry the coconut ice cream that I usually buy at Publix, but they did have an ice cream called Arctic Zero and across the top it said,
 "Lactose Intolerant Friendly - Gluten Free ".  I looked it over on the front a few times and decided to buy it.  It was chocolate mint flavor and sounded delicious.

We spent the evening cooking, eating, enjoying our fire pit, some good music and conversation about our day.

After relaxing outside we came back in for cake and ice cream.  The kids brought my husband's cake to the table and he blew out the candles. While they settled around the kitchen table to eat their cake, I scooped out the chocolate mint ice cream from Artic Zone for myself.  I filled my dessert bowl and then instead of spooning some into my mouth, for some reason I decided to check out what was in the ice cream.  I am slowly but surely getting smarter and less willing to be duped....so my inner self must have been protecting me...."Check the label!"  And I'm very glad I did.  I was shocked  to say the least when I read the allergen information on the side of the carton. 

Allergy Information:  This product has been  processed on equipment that also processes nuts, wheat, eggs, soy and milk.

I read the label aloud and our 15 year old laughed at the absurdity of it.  Can't say I laughed much and I am positive I stated a few explicitives.

Artic Zone:  How can you tout gluten free when you state that your product is processed on equipment that processes wheat?  To me this no longer means it is gluten free.  Just as in a restaurant, just because the ingredients are gluten free doesn't mean the finished product remains that way. 

I quickly shoved all the gluten sharing/cross contaminated ice cream back into the container and it is back in our freezer ready to take a trip back to Winn Dixie tomorrow to visit the store manager.  I want my money back.  * Update:  Winn Dixie did refund my money and listened when I explained how this was not gluten free.  It still remains in the refrigerated specialty area. 

Arctic Zone - Your company needs to be trained in gluten intolerance/celiac disease awareness, cross contamination and what it actually means to have a product that is labeled gluten free.  Arctic Zone Mint Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream is Not Gluten Free and to state this on the front of your container is very deceptive to say the least and harmful to many that are taking that to heart and not looking at the more detailed information on the back.  I am certain that if you had "processed on equipment that processes wheat" right next to that "Gluten Free" label you would sell much less of your product.

Here I was not baking my husband his favorite cake, because I did not want flour flying around me .... I wanted to be safe and not get sick.  Here I was buying myself a desert that was supposedly gluten free .... again so I could enjoy my evening with my family and not get sick.  If I would have eaten the ice cream .... I'm thinking I should have just baked the cake too at that point!  

Gluten Free Cajun Stuffed Mirlitons (Chayote Squash)

We do a lot of Louisiana cooking in our house.  We grew up in the New Orleans area and seafood, cajun spices, crawfish boils, hot sauce, gumbos, french bread, poboys and jambalayas are all a part of our soul.  I have to say that when I found out I needed to go gluten free, this was one of my first sadnesses, not being able to eat Louisiana cuisine as I know it.  While we don't live there anymore, it still is a large part of how we eat.  We often are making gumbo, jambalaya, creole shrimp dishes, and boiling crawfish (when we can get it) or shrimp in crab boil with mushrooms, potatoes, onions, garlic and corn.

While the next time we go back to New Orleans, I won't be having a beignet at Cafe Du Monde, a burger at Port O'Call, a bowl of delicious gumbo, a fried oyster poboy ~ dressed (lots of Mayo!) on delicious French bread or a muffaletta sandwich, I do realize now that I can eat cajun food gluten free in our home.  I have been modifying dishes now for 10 months and it continues to get easier and I am ready to start trying my own gluten free versions of my favorite Louisiana eats.  I might even get around to frying some gfree oysters soon! 

 My husband has almost always been the meal initiator in our 20 years of marriage.  When I married him I knew very little about cooking.  He on the other hand grew up in a family that cooked together.  His parents, especially his father, got all of the kids involved. Cooking was a social experience in his home from the planning together, prepping together, eating together and sharing with others/family and friends.



 I always thought it was a bit strange at times that my husband would often wake up in the morning thinking about dinner.  Maybe that was good practice for what I now have to do.  I grew up not thinking about my next meal. Growing up my mother did the cooking by herself and my father was not into cooking at all. By the time I was in high school we were often all doing our own thing.... through high school and college I just pieced together something in the frig or pantry when I got hungry.    Occasionally I did experience this in my great grandparents home and at one of my childhood friends home and it was joyful, but basically on my own I was not into prepping or thinking about cooking a meal.  I eventually grew to appreciate the habit of planning dinner at breakfast time : )  and even more so 20 years later needing to be gluten free, I now totally get it ~ and appreciate it.!  Planning meals, cooking together, working together and eating together is also a sign of a healthy and happy family.  Involve your kids in the process too.

I am glad that my husband  passed this gift to us. We cook as a family and eat as a family and I do believe the history of working together in the kitchen, trying new things and enjoying tremendously what we have created in our home and kitchen has helped us to adapt more easily to having gluten free become a part of all of our lives and not just mine.  And thank goodness he taught me how to cook.  If you are not into cooking I do believe not making your own meals makes being gluten free a lot more difficult. I encourage you to start doing it and learn to love it.  It will help keep you healthier.  And having gluten free being a part of your entire family is not a bad thing.  While our kids and my husband eat gluten during the day, we always eat gluten free dinners and other meals together.

So what was going to be for dinner this evening?  Husband: "Let's make some stuffed Mirlitons".  Me:  "OK!"  I love mirlitons, no need to twist my arm.  We had shrimp and sausage already in the freezer, I just needed to go grab some Mirlitons or Chayote Squash at Publix, or as they say in New Orleans I needed to go  "Make some groceries".

Mirlitons, pronounced in Louisiana "Melatawns" are a favorite food to add to Louisiana dishes, but the most popular is "stuffed".  You can fry it, use in casseroles, salads, or pickle them.  It is a soft, mild tasting, squash like fruit that came to Louisiana from Mexico being one of the central foods of the Aztecs and Mayas.  It is grown easily in south Louisiana, Florida and California.  In Florida it is known as the "Chayote Squash" or "Vegetable Pear".

Gluten Free Stuffed Mirlitons


Makin' Groceries (grocery shopping items):

Meat and Veggies:

4-5 mirlitons/chayote squash
1 cup of chopped (approx. 1 bell pepper)
1 cup chopped celery (2-3 stalks of celery)
1 cup chopped vidalia or sweet onion (about half a large onion)
1 lb. shrimp (or cubed chicken)
1 Link of Kielbasa Hillshire Farms sausage sliced in halves
6 Tbsp of butter or butter substitute - I use Earth Balance Soy Free
2-3 slices of Udi's white bread - toasted and crumbled for bread crumbs.

Spices:

With peppers - if you don't like spicy or have kids - cutting them in half makes them edible for little ones.  You can always add some heat to your own plate.

1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne/red pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 large pinch of oregano
1 large pinch of thyme

2 tbsp minced garlic

Top with:

Tabasco
Pecorino Ramano cheese 
More garlic powder
s&p to taste if needed

Boil the mirlitons in a large pot of water for about 30 minutes, or until fork soft all the way to center.  Remove and set aside to cool.   Once cooled, slice in half, remove the seed.  Eat the seed now!  It's good!  Or you can set them aside and use in a salad at a later date.  Scoop out the Mirlitons leaving about a 1/4 inch around.  I use a Pampered Chef stem remover to scrape the fruit out and set aside. It works well.  If you don't have one use a spoon, be careful not to puncture your mirliton.  Chop up the fruit - you will add it to the stuffing later.  After slicing the mirlitons place them in a casserole  dish to be stuffed later.

Mirlitons waiting to be stuffed

While the mirlitons are boiling.  Chop all vegetables and mix spices. 

And in a skillet brown the sausage and set aside.

In a large skillet melt the butter/butter substitute.  Add bell peppers, onions, celery and spices and cook on medium heat until vegetables have softened.  Stir often.  Add shrimp and continue cooking until shrimp are pink.  Add the mirliton and sausage to the mix and heat through. 

Vegetables, mirlitons and shrimp

Take stuffing with just a little of  the juices and spoon into the mirlitons....you will have a lot of stuffing - Overflow it ~ It's all good!   Save your juice as you will add some to the bread crumbs to keep them soft.

Toast your Udi's bread and crumble.  Add juices/spices from the vegetables to the bread to soften it up some and then sprinkle on top of your stuffed mirlitons.  Add as much or as little as you like. 

Udi's bread crumbs with juices from veggies

Bake stuffed mirlitons on 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until bread crumbs are browned a bit more. 

Stuffed Mirlitons with Udi's bread crumbs

Serve with hot sauce, extra garlic powder and if you can tolerate dairy - add some grated Pecorino Romano cheese.  It's Good!

Growing Mirlitons:

If you love gardening and are in a southern state, growing Mirlitons is very easy.  Take a few mirlitons, place in a open paper bag and set in a cool, dark, dry place.  Late fall is the best time.  They will start sprouting within a few weeks and can be planted when the vine is about 12 inches in length.  The plant will bear fruit in the fall and possibly late summer. 

Matanzas Innlet Restaurant ~ St. Augustine, FL

Fall in Florida is a beautiful time of year.  It is one of the reasons we love living here.  A fall weekend is the perfect time to take a drive and get outdoors in Florida. We recently headed out again to visit the rocky beach in Palm Coast, FL.  We love this beach any time of the year.  Climbing on the rocks is different each time and is great exercise for your mind and body and on this day it was windy, a little cool, overcast and the waves were very rough a perfect day for rocky beach climbing and jumping. I also love to find a good rock to sit or stand on and just become one with the beauty of the waves hitting and engulfing the rocks.  I wrote a previous blog on the St. Augustine area and you can find it here.

When we go on a trek somewhere I always have to preplan on where I can safely eat.  I don't have to do that when going to Palm Coast.  This was probably our fifth visit and each time we come we make a stop for lunch at The Matanzas Innlet Restaurant.  If you are in the St. Augustine area and are looking for a delicious and safe gluten free meal this is where you want to stop.  The Restaurant has a separate area where they prepare the gluten free food and their menu has several appetizers, soups and varied meals (seafood, tacos, pizza and pasta), as well as a dessert. The pasta used is a rice pasta and make sure you specify gluten free corn tortillas for the tacos.  The gluten free meals were added to the menu by one of the owners, who was diagnosed with celiac.  All the staff have been trained to avoid cross contamination.

The Matanzas Innlet Restaurant has a casual patio area to eat and relax on with a beautiful view of the Inlet.  We always sit outside unless the weather is just too uncomfortable. 

We were quite hungry on arrival and because I don't have the pleasure of enjoying appetizers often anymore we decided to order 2.  We decided on the Artichokes Heart "Scampi" and at the suggestion of our waitress, the Crab Cakes with Roasted Pepper Sauce.  Both are very delicious, but especially the crab cakes.  Our son said they were probably the best thing he had eaten recently.  I am sure he would have wanted this as a meal if he had not already ordered the wings.   And I would agree, it's been a long time since I have had a breaded appetizer and it tasted just like it should. 

Gluten Free

Artichokes Heart Scampi

Gluten Free Crab Cakes with Roasted

Pepper Sauce

For my meal, I ordered the gluten free blackened shrimp tacos (on corn tortillas) with a side of black beans and rice.  They can also be made with fish or chicken/grilled or blackened.  They were quite good and my husband enjoyed them as well.  He can be quite picky and a good cook, so to get a thumbs up they have to be pretty darn good.

Gluten Free Shrimp Tacos

It's sometimes amazing what happens when you have been gluten free for a bit and have been limited on your choices for appetizers, dinner and desserts.  All of a sudden you find yourself ordering desserts when you have not in years.  Thank goodness we were going to get some exercise after this on the rocky beach!

Creme Brulee

The Matanzas Innlet Gluten Free Menu - I did not take the best pictures of the menu, so there are 2 below so you can see the entire menu.  There is also a link to the menu on their website. The creme brulee dessert is not located on the menu.  Just check with your server as to what they have available. 

8805 A1A South
Saint Augustine, FL 32080

904-461-6824

Palm Coast on Dwellable

St. Augustine on Dwellable