Work Lunches and Parties: Orchestrate Your Gluten-Free Options

Is your calendar filled with what seems to be wall-to-wall food-centric meetings; having “coffee”, donuts with your boss and team members, and lunch meetings? Sometimes those days in the corporate world can surround you with temptations — at the worst — or just be constant reminders of what you can’t have – which is frustrating at best.

Navigating the business world is hard enough, toss in your food restrictions and you may have 40 hours-a-week of awkward moments.  So unless you’re the CEO of the company and can pick the food at your next function, we need to brainstorm on options that will keep you lunching with your friends, but staying in the driver’s seat of your gluten-free lifestyle.

I have some ideas that could help people right away, but I am curious about what you folks have experienced.  Give us some unique and successful ways to make it all work out.

Holiday parties:

• It could be as big as a catered banquet-style event or as small as your team going out for a nice meal.  If it is the big party and hundreds or thousands of employees will be there, it is probably worth contacting the hotel and/or caterer about the evening’s meal options.  The chef should be able to assist you with any questions and maybe work out a plan of what you will eat and how they can find you at the party.  If you don’t know who is catering the event, one place to check within your company, is the boss’s assistant.  They are the best friend you could ever have at any job.  They can connect you with the event planner for the company.
• For a smaller meal with your team, talk to your manager about where the team is thinking of going.  Consider throwing out a few options as well.  If they still want to go to that “Italian place on the corner” that has no gluten-free options, then you probably should discuss privately with your boss your situation.  I know many of you are very private about your diagnosis, but it might be time to come clean and at least tell your boss.

Work lunch:

• Again this is one where I recommend you take the reins.  If you and a co-worker are discussing a possible lunch meeting, why don’t you offer to make the reservations?  Another option would be to have three choices that have gluten-free menus and have your co-worker choose from those.  A previous post of mine included great links for finding gluten-free restaurants.
• If the lunch is something your boss is scheduling, check in with your boss’s assistant and see if they can help you or go directly to your boss with your request.

Date night:

What happens if you are on a first date with someone and the restaurant they take you to, has no gluten-free options.  I personally say come clean and change plans. 

What do others do?  I think these are all tough situations to be in, especially if you are private about your celiac disease.  My daughter and our family have been quite open about her diagnosis (hmmm tough to tell right?) so my answers to these questions I think are more liberal than what some people would say.  So all you hard working professionals – help each other out.  How do you deal with the gluten-free diet when you’re away from home and on the job, work trip or on a date?  Send me your feedback and I will do a follow-up soon.

Tags: boss, holiday parties, holiday party, lunch, travel, work meetings, work parties

News alert…Halloween is over.  Lest the stores let you think Christmas is your next big holiday…think again.  Thanksgiving is coming up.  Whether this is your first gluten-free Thanksgiving, you’re cooking for someone else on a gluten-free diet, or you’re a veteran looking for some new ideas, making the meal gluten-free does take a little extra planning, but it is worth it.

My mom was a huge help for me in those early years when I hardly knew how to do any Thanksgiving dinner let alone make one gluten-free.  But with a lot of her help we now have a pretty good system in place.  So I’ll be up front and tell you a lot of the credit for this blog post goes to my mother.

Turkey:

·         Choosing a bird:  You must make sure you buy a turkey that is gluten free!  I remember thinking, “What?  Turkey is turkey!  What could they possibly do to mess it up?”  Well the company could inject it with a broth that contains gluten.  Once I found a turkey, I stuck with it the one I chose actually says “gluten-free” right on the label.  I like to reward companies that are proactive in their labelling with my business. 

·         Preparing the turkey: Don’t stuff the turkey (with ‘gluten’stuffing) and make sure you don’t buy a pre-stuffed turkey.  Regular stuffing put inside the turkey will contaminate the meat for the whole bird.  Also, be sure any seasoning you put on top of the turkey is gluten-free.

Stuffing: 

·         You have a few options here, if you don’t care about gluten-free stuffing, don’t go to the trouble of making it.  If others in your party want regular stuffing, just crank out a box of StoveTop – on the Stove Top and keep it separate from your food.

·         If you want to make gluten-free stuffing or dressing and don’t want to cut up a ton of gluten-free bread, my mom’s recipe for Wild Rice Dressing is great!

Gravy:

·         Thickener: Easiest way to do this is Corn Starch (this choice is especially popular if you are a “guest cook” for the gluten-free meal and don’t have many gf supplies around).  I use my gluten-free flour mix for my gravy.  It is actually Bette Hagman’s recipe for a gluten-free mix: Rice Flour, Tapioca Starch and Potato Starch.  I find that flour mixture to be the most like regular gravy, my husband – the gravy lover in the family — can’t even tell it’s gluten-free.  You can also use plain potato starch as a thickener. 

·         Extra Flavor: you can use bouillon –but again, make sure it is gluten free.

Pie:

·         Pie Crust:  Use your favorite gluten-free pie crust recipe.  Here is one recommendation, but there are many others available.

·         Modifying your favorite pie recipe: The good news here is, besides the pie crust, modifying your pie recipe may be an exception, not the rule.  Whether you love pumpkin, apple, sweet potato or cherry pie, many of the recipes for fillings are already gluten-free.

You have a few weeks to gear up for this extravaganza.  So get cooking! Once your tummy settles

and the kitchen is cleaned up, you may look back and think that it was easier than you thought.

Tags: dressing, gluten-free, gravy, meal, pie, stuffing, Thanksgiving, turkey

If you’re already wondering how to handle Thanksgiving with mandatory a gluten-free flair, you can’t forget about the turkey’s dressing!  Here’s a good one my family clamours for.  If you need further suggestions or support in dealing with a gluten-free Thanksgiving check out my other post on the subject.

Roberta’s Gluten Free Wild Rice Dressing

Ingredients:

1 cup Wild rice

Chicken bouillon (see directions below for amount)

1 cup Brown Rice

1 Cup White rice

Several cups hot water (as needed according to cooking directions in different steps)

1 cup finely cut onion (mild/sweet)

1 cup finely cut carrots

1 cup finely cut celery

1 lb. fresh ground turkey or chicken

1 lb. mushrooms, cleaned & quartered (we use combo of baby portabella and white button mushrooms)

2 Tbsp. dry milk

1 Tbsp. Tapioca Starch/flour

½ lb (precooked weight) bacon crumbles

Directions:

Preparation: Day before cooking:

Rinse 1 cup Wild Rice (fancy) soak in water overnight (for decreased cooking time)

                Fry ½ lb. bacon, make into crumbles

Cooking :

In a large stock pot:  Follow package directions for cooking wild rice, substitute a teaspoon of chicken bouillon for salt. (1 tsp. bouillon for each cup of water).  Cook for 30 minutes.

Add in brown rice and white rice to mixture—with the appropriate amount of water for one cup of each rice (per directions from each bag of rice).  Cover and cook for another 30 minutes, or until rice is done.  Careful not to overcook – rice should maintain its shape, cover and set aside.

In a large fry pan:

Sauté in butter: Onion (mild/ sweet), Celery, Carrots.   One cup each cut fine and sautéed in butter.  Add one pound Fresh Ground Turkey or Chicken continue frying until fully cooked and add fresh ground pepper to taste.  Add one pound mushrooms cleaned and quartered. Cook an additional 15 minutes.  Set aside.

Mix up a Cream Sauce: combine the dry milk, chicken soup base (1 Tbsp.), and the tapioca flour. Mix together dry, then add 1 cup wm water.  Set Aside.

Assemble rice, sauté mixture in the large stock pot, adding poultry seasoning to taste. Mixture will be dry, add above cream sauce to moisten. Add in bacon (this can be added before or after the 1 hour baking time, it will add a little extra crunch the later you add it).

Place in large greased casserole pan. Taste for seasonings. Cover and Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Serve with turkey.

As always, this is gluten-free as long as you are using gluten-free ingredients, so make sure your bouillon, bacon, and other ingredients are safe.

Tags: dressing, recipe, stuffing, Thanksgiving