Gluten-Free Maui

I’ll be out traveling for the next 3 weeks, but then I will return. I may post short updates about my trip and how it is to be gluten free where I am going. I know there is a pizza place in South Carolina (one of the states I am going to) which has gluten free crusts. The small town in Florida that I am going to has no strictly gluten free restaurants, but it has a few chain restaurants (Chili’s, Outback, Carrabba’s) which offer gluten free menus.

As always, I wish you much health.

See you soon!

Amanda

Here’s just one more reason to eat local beef.

Happy cows, happy meat. Happy meat, happy body.

There are multiple reasons to eat locally raised cattle. The picture above says so much. These cows reside on thousands of acres of land grazing on fresh grass daily. While they are currently finished on pineapple tops, sugar cane, and a few other things they are heading toward being completely grass fed.

Grass fed, free range beef is the best way to go when buying beef. It’s good for your body and for the environment.

Meat from grass fed cattle is higher in beta carotene, vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids than feedlot cattle. Grass fed beef is also lower in saturated fat. While saturated fat isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s still best to not eat too much of it. Everything in moderation, right? On the American Grass Fed Beef website it is stated that grass fed beef is similar in fat content to grass fed bison and commercial skinless chicken breast. It is also stated that there are fewer calories in grass fed beef.

On the environmental front, grass fed beef requires no farmed land for grains and soybeans for food supply. It takes 16 pounds of grain or soybeans to produce a pound of meat from feedlot cattle. While more land is required, that land isn’t being pumped full of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides to grow grains and soybeans for the cattle. While not all grass fed beef is organic, and not all of the land is certified organic, it seems to me that it is still a better option.

Maui Cattle Company land isn’t certified organic, but that is partially due to how much land would have to go through the certification process. The good thing about the amount of land though is that there is way too much land for them to fertilize or spray with herbicides or pesticides. The cattle do the fertilizing for them (if you get what I’m saying).

I’ve hiked the land, slept on the land, and I’ve never seen anything that makes me afraid of the beef I have on my dinner plate. I certainly wouldn’t sleep or hike in a feed lot.

Now, here’s hoping nobody sues me for talking about beef.

You know my ethics. I try to purchase food that is local and/or organic as much as possible. But, when dining out I find that it can be difficult to do (even though I know a lot of restaurants get local produce from my friend’s produce distribution company).

But, if you want to know what ranches, farms, and dairies the foods are coming from easily all you have to do is look at the chalk board on the wall at Flatbread Company.

Flatbread, as it is shortened to, is a small chain with outlets in Amesbury, Portland, North Coaway, Portsmouth, Canton, Bedford and our own little one right in Paia.

At Flatbread they specialize in using ingredients that are organic, local, free range, and nitrate free. They toss their pizzas by hand, and their pizzas are cooked in a wood burning earth oven.

If you’re gluten free your pizza will not be a hand tossed pizza, and will cost an additional $7.00, but it will still be cooked inside the earth oven on aluminum foil. The foil prevents your delightful little gem from being cross contaminated.

To also prevent cross contamination the cooks will prepare your pizza away from the others inside their walk in refrigerator.

When ordering the gluten free pizza crust you will be asked if you have an allergy or if it’s just a personal preference. Even though we all know Celiac Disease isn’t an allergy, just say allergy and then they’ll be sure to make it away from everything else to keep you safe.

Steer clear of the house salad. Even though everyone says it is amazing, their dressing contains tamari that isn’t gluten free.

The pizza crust is crispy at the edge, but isn’t crisp throughout due to the aluminum foil keeping moisture in. But, it isn’t so flimsy that you can’t pick up a slice and deliver it safely to your pizza pie hole (a.k.a. your mouth). The brand Flatbread uses is called Mommy’s Muffins from New Hampshire. There used to be a gluten free baker on the island supplying them, but since she moved without leaving anyone her recipes, they’re outsourcing. But really, this pizza crust is awesome. Even if you don’t have a Flatbread near you, check out Mommy’s Muffins site for a list of stores and restaurants carrying their products.

My favorite pizza at Flatbread is Mopsy’s. This is a mango barbeque sauce topped pizza with pineapple and kalua style, or Hawaiian style smoked, pork. There are also red onions and chevre from Surfing Goat Dairy. This pizza is dangerously good. I could eat the whole 12 inch pizza by myself! It even makes great cold leftovers for breakfast.

My other favorite is the Coevolution which is loaded up with veggies, mozzarella cheese, and chevre.

I’ll often go half and half with these two flavors. Ask for a container of Jay’s Hart dipping sauce to go with your crusts. Mmmmm.

There are many vegetarian options, and you can always go cheese-less if you’re dairy free!

I can’t recommend the sodas. They all have a kind of funny taste. I have liked some local sodas before, like Ko soda, but the one they’re serving up just has a funky aftertaste. Opt for the mint green tea or the lemonade (the lemonade does not have free refills however as it is hand made).

And, if you’ve got room for dessert and you have a few mouths to feed, or if you’re still starving yourself, get the big one. Get the banana split. It has three baseball sized scoops of ice cream (vanilla, strawberry, coconut), bananas, whipped cream galore, chocolate sauce, nuts and of course the cherry on top.

I didn’t try it, but the server said they also have a gluten free brownie. I’ll get this the next time I go. This is probably served with some vanilla ice cream as The Nerd ordered the glutenous brownie and it came with ice cream.

If you’re dairy free, head up the road for some delicious sorbetto from Ono Gelato Company. In keeping with the local and organic theme, Ono Gelato uses many local and/or organic ingredients and uses organic milk for their milk shakes too. My favorites are the Lilikoi (passionfruit) Quark, Mint Stracciatella, and so many of the others.

Flatbread gets quite busy at dinner time, so you may want to call ahead and get on their wait list or go have dessert first at Ono Gelato (as I’ve done) while you wait!

Flatbread Company

89 Hana Highway
Paia, HI 96779
(808) 579-8989

Ono Gelato

Paia, Maui
115D Hana Highway
(808) 579-9201

Lahaina, Maui
815 Front Street
(808) 495-0203

Kihei, Maui
1280 South Kihei Rd. #101A
(808) 495-0287

***EDIT***: I had a bad experience with Flatbread recently. It was both the fault of the waitress and myself. I should have told her that it wasn’t just a preference. Usually they ask. But, this time the server was swamped and didn’t ask. So, if this happens to you be sure to specify that it is an “allergy” (although it isn’t). Personally I believe all orders for gluten free pizza should be treated equally (especially since you’re paying a premium already).

The dessert was quite delicious. I finally tried the gluten free brownie. It was crispy on the outside and soft and hot on the inside. We asked for a bit of fruit on the plate with it, and the ice cream on the side. It was the best brownie I’ve had in a while.

A big happy father’s day to all of those dads out there in the world. Be good to your kids and you’ll have a better chance of them being good to you.

Here’s a flash back post, with a recipe, about me and my daddy:

Making Pancakes With Daddy