The power of muffins

Photo/GlutenFreeGarden State

Garden Lites and Nickelodeon have teamed up to launch a new product line geared toward kids.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Power Muffins and the SpongeBob SquarePants Chocolate Krabby Square Muffins are, like other Garden Lites products, chock-full of vegetables. Mixed with lesser quantities of other ingredients, they are moist, delicious treats.

I've been extolling appreciation for Garden Lites products since September, when we first discovered these wonderful muffins and souffles at the Gluten & Allergen Free Expo in Secaucus. At the time, the Garden Lites staff had only prototypes of the boxes that would eventually hold the kid-friendly items. Based on what we learned then and have tasted of the "regular" products, we happily agreed to put the child-size snacks to a taste test.

We assembled a panel of three children for this review. I'll call them Anna, Bryn and Caitlin.

GFGS Community Calendar: February 2015

As a service to our regular readers and the Celiac community at large, Gluten Free Garden State has started an ongoing list of upcoming events of interest. We will feature local happenings, as well as national events open to the public. The calendar will appear on the second Sunday of each month. Links will be posted to Facebook and Twitter using the hashtages #2ndSundaySked and #savetheceliacdate.

Enjoy!

In the Garden State

Tuesday, Feb. 17: Northern New Jersey Celiac Support Group meetup, 7 p.m., Dorothy B. Kraft Center, 15 Essex Rd., Paramus.

Sunday, March 1: CSA (Celiac Sprue Association) Southern New Jersey Chapter #9 meeting, 2 p.m. at Hope Church, 700 Cooper Rd., Voorhees. New members welcome. Visit the group's website for more information.

Paradise with a gluten-free bun

Image/Cheeseburger in Paradise

Cheeseburger in Paradise, the small chain of burger joints owned by musician Jimmy Buffett, announced yesterday a new "gluten-friendly" menu. And, yes, it includes buns!

A word of caution: The restaurants, including its Secaucus location, are not certified as "gluten-free" by any of the organizations that do so. The menu states that the company is taking "careful precautions" to maintain the gluten-free nature of the ingredients it uses and that the chefs and managers strive to avoid exposure to potential "allergens," it does cannot guarantee there won't be cross-contamination and suggests customers use their own judgement in consuming products. If you're comfortable with that, read on ...