Product Review: S'Better Gluten-Gree Corn Dogs

S'Better Beef Corn Dogs
http://www.sbetterfarms.com/

Last week, I was at my local Wild Oats (currently transforming into Whole Foods), in search of my favorite gluten-free crust by Sans Gluten. However, they were out and I had to settle for the "other" one which is more expensive and not as good.

I took my 6 year old with me, as we were at the store after school. She is a beautiful, bright, extremely friendly little girl. [Next post will be about cool yiddishe maidel.] After we put her "special" ice cream (needed for her restricted refined sugar/dairy/citrus diet) into the cart, she struck up a conversation with an older man looking at the gluten-free products. While I was searching for that GF pizza crust, she immediately started to explain how she needs her "special" ice cream (fruit-sweetened Soy Delicious) because she's on a "special" diet. His interest was piqued and she continued to describe how her "eema" (Hebrew for "Mom") can't eat gluten because "it hurts her tummy".

The man showed me the large assortment of GF products, and I explained that I really have to label search since we also keep kosher. Right before he walked away, he pointed to a section of the freezer containing this company's entire line. Now, you have to understand that I was skeptical when I saw the hechsher (kosher symbol) as I have all but given up on finding too many kosher-certified GF products outside of Passover (when made with potato starch). I didn't want to risk paying the $8.59 for a box of corn dogs and find out that they were not kosher.

Yesterday, I had a friend contact the Orthodox Union (who certifies the product) who vouched that this company is indeed kosher-certified. Immediately after work, I drove straight to that Whole Foods and purchased the (last) package of corn dogs. [S'Better also makes Chicken Fingers, Chicken Siciliano, and a couple frozen dinners.] I realize that the point of this blog is to explore eating gluten-free without going broke but as a working mom, sometimes I have to go for the convenience.

You have to understand...most people who know me happen to know me as a scratch cook all the way. Puttering away in the kitchen and creating has always served as a wonderful de-stresser, but, unfortunately, has gone (somewhat) by the wayside with my going to work full-time. It also happened to be this school year (I work as a teacher's assistant) that I discovered my gluten issues.

Product Review: I was disappointed at seeing how small the five corn dogs were, especially after paying $8.59. Luckily, I had also stopped at the local grocery store and purchased a package of "regular" kosher beef dogs (Aaron's Best is also GF) to stretch the meal between the family. For a frozen corn dog, it tasted alright (although the corn bread coating took my children by surprise as they have rarely eaten these since they are generally unavailable in kosher establishments). Would I purchase it again? I see these products as a convenience, but they have earned a space in my freezer for "emergency" meals. Perhaps to save a little money, I will continue to buy "regular" products for the rest of the family and eat a portion of my GF "look alike". For those of you who are Muslim, in a true sign of religious harmony, they are also certified halal.

Day 3 of a Possible Reaction

Sunday night, hubby and I went to a benefit for my school. I ate a lot of "safe" food with reckless abandon: corn tortilla chips, seven layer dip, veggies, and then the buffet. I did not realize until this morning that the chicken breast I naively enjoyed may have been dredged with flour! THIS would explain the cramping/bloating feeling I've had since Sunday. Today, I was in bed with a great deal of abdominal pain until 10AM! Tonight, the rash is coming back. It may not look like much (especially with my bedroom's bad lighting) but it's itchy as anything (and had been essentially gone until tonight). If there are any fellow sufferers out there actually reading, let me know if this is the start of DH or if I am a hypocondriac!

I have also taken the step of locating a gastro doctor in the area who may actually know something. It has been suggested that I may have to glutenize in order to prove the problem. If I have been off gluten long enough, the tests will come up negative.

What Will It Take?

I went to the doctor last month for a scheduled physical. While there, I shared with her my concerns about gluten intolerance. Immediately, she discounted the issue by telling me that I can't be celiac because I am overweight. I countered with research consisting of the tests I have done on my own body. Wheat seems to trigger my appetite for more food, resulting in bloating, gastric distress, and fatigue. I also observed that when I would eat rice, potatoes, and corn, I did not feel the same way.

Five years ago, while on a low-carb diet, I attributed the increase in energy to my leaving bread and pasta behind. As soon as I was off the diet (because of becoming pregnant with child number two), my fatigue came back due to a combination of the growing baby and the return to starchy delights. The "baby" is now three and despite (mostly) obedient calorie-counting and diligent dieting, the weight has stuck.

My decision to go gluten-free was a combination of wanting my energy to return as well as the realization that the only two times I have lost weight on diets were due to eliminating gluten ("blood-type diet" for type A and low-carb).

Before approaching my GP, I repeatedly tested myself by not eating wheat for several days and then having it again. Each time, it would trigger me to eat more (of whatever it was), feel bloated, followed by horrible gas pains that mimicked menstrual cramps. Then, the rash came...

At first, I thought it was an allergic reaction to some new body wash (I am perfume-sensitive and am limited to certain soaps). However, it was mostly on my arms and horribly itchy. After an ENTIRE MONTH of putting up with this, I came across some information connecting a rash to gluten intolerance. While I had been toying with the idea of going gluten-free, I kept myself from doing it because of my unwillingness to put my husband and children out. Sure enough, I stopped eating gluten, and after a week... THE RASH WAS GONE!

The last straw was the Subway brought into work for the staff. [I work at a Jewish day school and they thoughtfully provided us with kosher-certified Subway for a working lunch.] I purposely ate a portion of a sub (as well as a cookie) before departing (as my work was done for the day). Within a HALF HOUR, I was feeling tired, itchy, and spent the evening with cramps. (The sandwich was definitely NOT WORTH all that pain!) Oh, and the rash? It came back for a few days.

I don't know why my doctor can not be convinced of my having gluten intolerance. I mean, since the treatment is essentially my never touching gluten again, it's not like I will have to pay insurance premiums for a cure. The more I read about gluten intolerance, the more frustrated I have become. For starters, I have been "slightly" anemic for a long time (during all my pregnancies and now) despite my "healthy, well-balanced diet". My father (who died of colon cancer at the relatively young age of 59) has a Scottish ancestry. [For those of you who have not done much research, untreated celiac CAN lead to gastro-intestinal cancer and people with a Celtic background are generally more prone to the disease.] He died six years ago.

My plan now is to simply take myself off of gluten as a blood test will not diagnose me unless I am celiac. Why wait for the testing when I know the results based on my body?

Laws of Bread for the Celiac Observant Jew

According to halakhah (Jewish law), bread needs to have been made from any of five grains (wheat, barley, oats, rye, and spelt) and a majority proportion of water to any other "liquid" (classified as oil, sugar, honey, and eggs). Yeast added to the mixture is not taken into consideration as shown with matzah during Pesach (Passover). Therefore if one encounters a "bread" product made with apple juice (rather than water), it is technically mezonot (a baked good) rather than motzi. [In frumspeak (lingo used by frum Jews, those who are ritually observant), foods are often categorized by the blessing one recites before eating it. Therefore, hamotzi is anything that is actual bread, and requires the ritual washing and full Birkat ha-Mazon (Grace after Meals). Mezonot is the last word of the blessing on any other flour-based product that is not bread, such as cookies, crackers, cake, and pasta.]


Called the "staff of life", bread is the basis of a meal. During Shabbat, Jews sit down to several meals, all containing challah, a "fancy" braided loaf. This can be problematic for the person who is gluten-sensitive. Solutions for some have included not eating the bread at all or eating a small bite (depending on the sensitivity level). No rabbi worth following would suggest that one with a food allergy should feel forced to eat bread, as pikuach nefesh (saving one's life) takes precedence over the observance of mitzvot (commandments).


There are several gluten-free "breads" on the market made from rice flour. The best-tasting one I have found is made by Food for Life (see picture at beginning of post). They make an entire line of whole grain (for the non-celiac) as well as gluten-free/wheat-free bread products. They are rice flour-based and are considered she-hakol (the "catch-all" blessing for food that is no longer in its original recognizable form). All their products are certified by the kaf-K as pareve. Food for Life is also sold at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Some have the custom of regarding this as "bread" and will treat it as motzi since it is "bread" to them. However, it is not motzi.

Since I am gluten-sensitive and not a celiac, I have started to bake loaves of oat bread for exclusive consumption on Shabbat (I'Y'H, I will post recipe and pictures soon) while eating the rice flour bread during the week. I like this custom I have taken for myself since it reminds me of the specialness that Chazal (Rabbis from the Talmudic era) placed upon bread in the first place. Historically, it was common for poor people to make "bread" from "inferior" flours by grinding lesser grains (as well as legumes and nuts). Wheat was more expensive and it therefore makes sense that it would have been reserved for "special occasions" such as Shabbat. Today, wheat flour is VERY available and eaten, sometimes to excess.

Please check for my post Pesach for the Gluten Sensitive where I will go into detail about handling Pesach.

[Note: I advocate a high consumption of whole grains in any eating plan rather than enriched. All whole grains have the fiber and vitamins that are stripped in the refining process, but added in a synthetic form as "enrichment". Non-gluten sensitive people should continue to select whole grains at least half the time over the white stuff. To illustrate my point to people, I have taken white flour and water, mixed it together and made paste. (This does not work with whole wheat flour.) In my case, as well as the millions of people worldwide who are gluten sensitive, eating wheat adds more problems than it is worth. It is recommended for gluten sensitive people to choose brown rice over white and other non-gluten grains as a part of a balanced varied diet.]

Welcome to the blog!

This blog is about living with food sensitivities and being able to do it without going broke. Part memoir, part cookbook, I intend to add another voice to the food blog world.

I am not an officially diagnosed celiac, just someone who has noticed, by simple trial and error on my own body, what eating wheat (and its cousins rye, barley, and spelt) can do to harm me. After consuming these foods, I experience bloating, fatigue, sometimes even a need to eat even more of it. It was interesting how rice, corn, and potatoes (even beans!) did not have the same weakening effect that the wheat has in recent months. I have known about gluten sensitivity for close to ten years, and have only recently begun to consider my connection to it.

Future posts will be devoted to information about gluten sensitivity, recipes (after all, a gluten-free diet can be costly as well as time consuming), and how I have to tie all of this into my lifestyle as an observant Jew.