Ole: Celiac Awareness Month with French Meadow Bakery

Happy Cinco De Mayo!  It is holidays like these that among anything else, food is a major component.  and if you have any sort of food allergy, it can be hard to find food options to incorporate so you can join in on the party.  And for Cinco de Mayo, the company I need to recommend:
French Meadow Bakery
They are a great company with gluten free options.  I reviewed their brownies last year.  They sent me a bunch of gluten free tortillas, which are quite versatile.  I put them to the test for Cinco de Mayo this year and made quesadillas with goat cheese, mozzarella cheese, and mushrooms.  My mom makes them and they are always delicious (click here for the recipe).  And here is a picture of me with the quesadillas.  Now appearance wise, don't judge - that's all on me - I am not a pretty cook - I cannot make it look ascetically pleasing.  But judging on taste - yum!  This was probably one of the most complicated things I've ever made, but the tortillas were delicious and well-received (not just by me, either).  It is so important to be able to make things like these that fit with the theme of the event, and suit both my gluten free needs and the needs of the party.  Ole!

Gluten free quesadillas for Cinco de Mayo.
Ironically, I am wearing a St. Patrick's Day shirt for the big holiday.

And the other product they sent was gluten free pizza crusts.  These are awesome, and are personal size, which means you can bring them to lunch, or to a party and you are good to go.  They taste just as good as gluten-filled ones, and get the job done.  One of the things that the gluten free crust can also do (and I meant to write about this last month...but time always slips away) is serve as a nice meat-free option on Friday's during Lent.  I think of the 7 Fridays of Lent this year, I had this pizza (with cheese) for dinner 6 times.  It also served as an excellent pre-race meal, and I had it before several races this year, including the National Half Marathon.  
May is Celiac Awareness Month.  1 in 133 people have this disease.  I have it, my aunt has it, friends from high school and college have it, Amy Yoder Begley and Stephanie Rothstein - 2 of the top American distance runners have it.  And the national response has improved - there are increasing numbers of restaurants and companies taken action to provide gluten free options and gluten free cooking environments.  However, more work still needs to be done in terms of labeling products with information concerning allergies.  Visit 1in133.org for more information on this.
I'd like to thank French Meadow Bakery for jump-starting Celiac Awareness Month for me and for continuing to send and offer fantastic gluten free options, yet proving once again that gluten-free does not mean taste-free!