Anniversary Weekend on the Connecticut Wine Trail

September 25, 2017December 22, 2017 - Meaghan Penrod

It’s crazy to me that it’s been a year since my husband and I got married! It has totally flown by. It was good timing though because a few months ago, I stumbled across an article about the most romantic getaways in Connecticut and found the Fitch Claremont Bed and Breakfast in Bozrah, CT. It’s a lovely bed and breakfast located on a small vineyard….and when I read that the room came with free bottles of wine I was in! It’s about 10 minutes to the two huge casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, and it’s also about 15 minutes from 5 different vineyards! Sounded like the perfect romantic weekend getaway!

We arrived around dinner time on Friday and were TOTALLY starving. We checked in and quickly headed out to Mohegan Sun for dinner. We’ve always wanted to try Sol Toro Tequila Grill at Mohegan but I wasn’t sure if they had many gluten free options. Turns out they have tons!! I made our reservation online before we left and added a comment that I had Celiac. When we were seated, the waiter said “I’m having some tortilla chips baked instead of fried because I heard one of you has Celiac Disease.” How nice!? I haven’t been able to have chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant in soo long. The waiter was fantastic and knew exactly what I could have that was gluten free and he won me over when he said “and the good news….tequila is gluten free” haha Whatta guy. So I ended up getting the beef enchiladas and they were to die for!!

My chips and salsa, enchiladas, and margarita at Sol Toro Tequila Bar 🙂

Spicy (kind of) Roasted Potatoes with Sriracha Sour Cream Dipping Sauce

July 27, 2017December 22, 2017 - Meaghan Penrod

So this past week, my grocery store had pork shoulders buy one get TWO FREE. Yasss. So on Monday I put a shoulder in my slow cooker with a few spices and when I came home it was ready to go and just fell apart *sigh*. I mixed in some BBQ sauce and it was all set. So then I was on to my side dishes. I felt like this meal was really just asking for some crispy roasted potato wedges 🙂

Quick Oatmeal Desk Breakfast

July 27, 2017February 5, 2018 - Meaghan Penrod

So as I was browsing the gluten free aisle at Big Y the other week, I decided to look at the instant oatmeal section. I tend to steer away from the pre-packaged single serving oatmeals because usually they have SO MUCH sugar. I’d rather just make my own and add in some natural sweetness. But, plot twist, Ancient Harvest has an Ancient Grain instant oatmeal with 0 sugar in it! So great and convenient. Plus it’s a little different than regular old oatmeal. Love.

My Gluten-Free Wedding

July 25, 2017December 22, 2017 - Meaghan Penrod

So since being diagnosed with Celiac, I thought about whether I wanted to have my wedding be gluten free. I kind of toyed with idea, thinking that it would be a little over the top to go all gluten free…but then I changed my mind. My husband and I eat gluten free at home all the time and a run-in with gluten at my wedding would completely ruin the whole thing. So why couldn’t I just do all gluten free!? Most people don’t even notice unless you tell them and the piece of mind I would have knowing I wasn’t going to be poisoned on my special day would be priceless!

As fate should have it, I found a pretty reasonable catering company that specialized in allergy-friendly foods! They are a nut-free facility and will happily accommodate other allergies as well. This is where my dream wedding menu began….

A Celiac Walks into a Bar…

January 26, 2017December 22, 2017 - Meaghan Penrod

Being diagnosed in college, a major concern for me was what I was going to order at a bar or drink at parties. There’s a lot of information out there about this topic and much of it is conflicting…it’s hard to know what to do. Many sites and doctors say that all distilled liquor is safe for celiacs, while other resources say that celiacs should avoid liquor made from wheat, barley, or rye. So what’s a celiac to do? Honestly, it’s different for every person I think.

Turkey Meatloaf Cupcakes

January 26, 2017December 22, 2017 - Meaghan Penrod

So back when I was a kid…maybe 10 (?), I got a Rachael Ray children’s cookbook and started to make some recipes out of it. My absolute favorite one I ever made were these mini meatloaves (meatloaves is a bizarre word…is that even right?) that you made in a cupcake tin and topped with BBQ sauce. They were SO good. I’m not sure what caused it, but the other day I got a serious craving for these. Maybe it was the cold weather? Meatloaf is really a warm, comforting dish for me. Feels like childhood.

I don’t usually buy ground beef unless I need it for something specific. I tend to just buy ground turkey. So I decided to try making them with that instead. I didn’t actually remember the recipe, but I figured…what’s the worst that can happen?

All-inclusive Traveling to the Dominican Republic

January 25, 2017December 22, 2017 - Meaghan Penrod

I could start crying at any moment as I write this post because I miss this vacation SO MUCH. Just know the DR is the reason for the teardrops on my keyboard (bad Taylor Swift reference…anyone?).

So senior year of college, all of my friends tried to plan a big spring break trip together. As often happens, this large group could not actually decide on one thing and we all ended up doing our own things haha So my then boyfriend, Adam, and I decided to just go somewhere together. I had gone to the Dominican Republic in high school and had a blast so I figured maybe we could look into that. My sister had used a company called Apple Vacations when she was in college so she recommended it. Let me tell you, that was the way to go! They do all inclusive vacations and you basically tell them how much you want to pay and where you want to go and they find you the best deals. So I thought I had done a lot of research before calling them…this was my first time taking a major trip with celiac disease and I was SCARED. I spent hours googling resorts and reading people’s reviews. Most of them said that resorts would accommodate if you just sent an email to them ahead of time. Feeling confident, I called Apple Vacations and set up our reservation for a resort in Puerto Plata at a great price! Then after getting off the phone, I emailed the resort about my celiac and told them when I’d be coming….their response? “We don’t accommodate any food allergies. We apologize.” I. PANICKED. Totally lost it. I was NOT spending $900 (great price, right?) to be sick and starving for 5 days!!

Chicken, Broccoli, and Mushroom Pesto

January 25, 2017December 22, 2017 - Meaghan Penrod

So I have this thing for pesto…it’s a huge thing actually. The flavor is just so satisfying to me! I ended up making a sandwich for lunch yesterday and it was kind of a kitchen sink project. I had some veggie burger patties in the freezer, some lettuce, some avocado…and then I realized I needed some kind of sauce to put on it so it’d have a little flavor and not be too dry. Typically when I have this problem I just use hummus, but I spotted a jar of pesto in my fridge and thought YES. So after I ate that for lunch, of course my brain was like yeah…we’re gonna need infinitely more pesto ASAP. Hence this dinner was born!

I’ve made this dish several different ways depending on what I have in my fridge that I can throw into it. There have been times where I really wanted to make this but the only veggie I had on hand was frozen green beans and I used those…it was still good! If there’s a will, there’s a way…and there’s always a will for pesto.

Welcome to Low Key Gluten Free!

January 23, 2017January 24, 2017 - Meaghan Penrod

Hi friends! So glad you made your way to Low Key Gluten Free! In my experience looking for “simple” or “easy” gluten free recipes or even just recipes in general, I end up finding recipes that are sooo far from simple. If it’s got a laundry list of ingredients I’m automatically out. I want things to taste good but I don’t want to have to buy a million things! I also know how emotionally difficult it can be to live with Celiac. I want to help people figure out how to enjoy life without thoughts of gluten taking over everything and I want to learn from your experience too!

Here’s to a happy, healthy, gluten free life!

Cheers 🙂