Episode 53: Gluten-Free Valentine's Day Recipes, Misbranded Spices, Celiac Research

In this episode, Jules and Erica talk about Valentine's Day, including gluten-free Valentine's Day finds at Target and gluten-free Valentine's Day recipes. They also talk about facial misbranding of spices and a new FDA recall, plus the most recent findings from the CDGEMM study on celiac disease from Mass General.

RESOURCES
Gluten-Free Valentine's Day Candy List
Gluten-Free Valentine's Day Recipe Round-up
Yum Earth Valentine’s Day Candies
Lesser Evil Valentine’s Day Popcorn Sweetheart Pop
Enjoy Life Foods Vegan White Chocolate Chips
Pascha Vegan Chocolate
Endangered Species Chocolate Oat Milk Chocolate Chips
Trupo Treats Earth Gems
gfJules heart-shaped cookie cake
gfJules gluten-free hand pies
gfJules sugar cookie recipe
gfJules Gluten Free Cut Out Sugar Cookie Mix

Mass General CDGEMM Study
Designer Shit Documentary
gfJules Instagram Post about spice mislabeling

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• Find more articles, recipes & info at gfJules.com & celiacandthebeast.com

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Transcript

Erica [00:00:13]:
Hey. I'm Erica.

Jules [00:00:14]:
And I'm Jules. Most people have at least 1 thing that they can't or won't eat.

Erica [00:00:19]:
Now we're definitely like that.

Jules [00:00:21]:
When we started this podcast to talk about the gluten free food industry,

Erica [00:00:25]:
Like new products and some of the stories behind your favorite brands.

Jules [00:00:29]:
And living life with especially diet and also some important health care topics.

Erica [00:00:33]:
Since we're basically both broken inside,

Jules [00:00:36]:
you had me at eat.

Erica [00:00:42]:
Hello. Hi. Welcome to another episode of You Had Me Eat, the number one voted podcast, in The entire known universe ever published ever made. Yes.

Jules [00:00:54]:
Mhmm. I'm Jules, and this is, your lovely Erica here introducing

Erica [00:01:00]:
our crew member at this point. So, Jules, it's January. It's 2024, ma'am. I thought

Jules [00:01:10]:
you were talking about the temperature when you said that. It here, where I am, It it's barely gotten into the twenties today, and it's 75 degrees

Erica [00:01:19]:
It's lovely. Yeah. Everyone else is complaining about not going outside and, like, having to walk their dogs. I'm like, oh, I got hot yesterday. I took off my sweatshirt and was just, like, walking around. The sun is beautiful.

Jules [00:01:31]:
Yeah. No. That's not happening here. We have, I think at last check, we have 8 or 9 inches outside.

Erica [00:01:37]:
It's too much. How much is too much snow? I don't know. I don't know, man. I don't I mean, the last time I was in that snow was probably in 2019 when I went to Minneapolis, Listen. They had a snowstorm, and I'm like, this is horrible. Why do people live here? Because you need to be reminded of winter. I know. I know.

Erica [00:01:56]:
It is beautiful. It looked beautiful outside. Oh, it's gorgeous, but here, it's like, no. Sunny.

Jules [00:02:02]:
No. It's really beautiful here. It's, I'm loving it. Of course, I didn't go out and shovel, but, it's very pretty to go crunching in it, you know, in your snow boots and on You're parked up.

Erica [00:02:16]:
I guess I kind of understand seasonal depression at this point because I'm battling the whole near New year, new you kind of phenomenon that's happening online. And I can't imagine doing that and also being like, oh, outside is An impenetrable sea of whiteness. Like, this seems like a lot to put on your conscious at that point.

Jules [00:02:37]:
Except that, you know, this impenetrable sea of whiteness is bright. So it's kind of at least, you know, if it was raining because right now, if it was a few degrees warmer, this would be rain, and that would be depressing. So this to me is fluffy and pretty and white and bright, and you get to look at the birds. You have, like, snow on their beaks, and they just you know? It's just so cute and it's happy. Adorable. It is very adorable and it's happy. So, I don't know. I I don't tend to get depressed in this weather, but, when it's a typical Maryland winter, which is, like, 34 and raining, yeah, that's disgusting.

Jules [00:03:16]:
And I I'm all kinds of depressed because I'm like, where's the effing rain? Like, it's right here, and I want snow. And it's too cold to do anything because it's 34. So it just should might as well be snow. You know? But this, this is winter. This, this is where it's at.

Erica [00:03:32]:
So I'm

Jules [00:03:33]:
I'm all about it. You're so cute in your little sweater. My sweater. I'm all bundled up. I have the cheater on.

Erica [00:03:40]:
I know. This weekend, I'm headed to Vegas, and I was like, yes. Awesome. Got my whole freaking suitcase packed, and, like, this is gonna be great. And then I looked at the weather because Vegas and Phoenix are roughly the same for weather, so I was, like, not playing on anything wild. Dude, it's raining the entire time that I'm there. Sorry. And it's cold cold for me to go

Jules [00:04:03]:
to inside. I mean, you're never outside Vegas. Right?

Erica [00:04:06]:
Yeah. Because I walk the strip from, like, one place to another, so it's because everything in Vegas is walkable. Mhmm.

Jules [00:04:15]:
Yeah. Gotta you gotta hit those, slots all up and down the strip.

Erica [00:04:20]:
Got you. Well, like, Monomie Gabby is, like, Walking distance for more like, we don't take Ubers unless you're going far off the Strip, so I guess it's gonna be depressing and cold, which means They won't have the Bellagio fountain on if it's raining, and then it's like, isn't even Vegas if you don't take a fountain pick? Oh, I

Jules [00:04:37]:
don't know. You can still go in front of the Eiffel Tower and get your rain picture.

Erica [00:04:41]:
Right? It's raining in Paris. Exactly. So I don't know. The whole thing kinda put me in a bad mood because I'm like, I wanted it to be like this cute weather that's outside right now. It's not. It's gonna be raining the whole time. Sucks. And that means that everything I get in my sample bag is gonna be wet.

Jules [00:05:00]:
Well, I'm sure that Vegas needs the rain, so I'm not gonna be grudge on that.

Erica [00:05:06]:
Yeah. Yeah. Whenever. Anyway but speaking of Vegas, I'll be going there for the my annual trek to Vegas, my 30 minute plane ride, for the fancy food show, which is The diet food show, and this is not a gluten free show. So every year, it's, like, so hit or miss on if there's actual things that we can eat there and new products. I've been getting quite a few pitches, and some of them are, like, Just wildly off brand as they always are. But

Jules [00:05:38]:
I love registering for press and saying, you know, these are the things I'm interested in and, you know, gluten free, you know, whatever. And then you get all these things like, we're a whole whole wheat company, and we do everything with Barley and wheat and whatever. I'm like, why? Why are you reaching out to me? I just don't understand. But yeah.

Erica [00:05:58]:
Yeah. Mhmm. So I don't even know what I'll really be seeing there. The 2 people that I know that pitch me that I'm, like, really interested in are Whoa Dough, which I've already had all their products, including their new ready to eat cookies, that are, like, refrigerated, and you just pop them in your, Pop them in the toaster oven or whatever. And then Little GF Chefs, who who I know, and then, Oh, Republic of Tea reached out to me, and they have some new tea, which I'm like, how exciting. And, yes, it is certified gluten free tea. But it's like it's not this revolutionary stuff we really see at west because, obviously, it's it's not made for that. This is a specialty show.

Erica [00:06:38]:
Right. But, yeah, what'd you say, like, 90% of what we see at the Fancy food shows like salami. 90% salami show.

Jules [00:06:46]:
Cured meat. Mhmm. And cheese. Yeah. Although, fancy food in all fairness, fancy food is where I discovered Miyoko's. I mean, probably I don't know. Call it it was 11 or 12 years ago. Mhmm.

Jules [00:07:06]:
I mean, I wrote about Miyoko's for the magazine before anyone had ever heard of Miyoko's. I think I think I I, Yeah. I mean, it was like it was probably she was at Fancy Food before she was ever even at X so it was really one of our very first shows. So you can find some cool stuff like that, but it is it's, Yeah. It's cheese and meat. Yeah. It's like it's charcuterie board in a show.

Erica [00:07:36]:
Yes. And, also, like, some stuff that you would find at sweets and snacks, like these the high end candies would be there. Mhmm. I know Jelly Belly is a big one every year. And so oh, they, they did launch new bamboozled flavors. Oh. I did not check to see, like, what gross flavors they are because I wanna be surprised. Mhmm.

Erica [00:07:58]:
But I can't wait for that. That'd be fun. Booger barf. Mhmm. Can't wait.

Jules [00:08:03]:
Well, So and back to your tea comment. I think that's interesting because a lot of people are like, tea is like, duh, tea is gluten free. Okay. Back it up because duh, tea is not Necessarily gluten free. Yeah. Because there is a lot of barley in tea, and you have to be careful that, you know, your teas that you're picking out are actually gluten free. And so finding a certified gluten free tea is actually kind of a a a win, to find a brand like Republic of Tea that is willing to Go that extra mile and certify that their teas are gluten free? Yes. Love you, Republic of Tea.

Erica [00:08:38]:
That Plus, they launched this whole bakery line, which is really interesting. Knows, like, a decadent red velvet tea, and I'm like, there is no way that this is gluten free. Of course, it is because it's certified gluten free. Their team is so amazing. Their brand is so amazing. That's why I've Always supported them. I am an addict. I have at least 8 to 12 canisters on me at a time.

Erica [00:08:58]:
Yeah. And they do just the cutest Stuff. Like, I remember years ago when bridgerton, or the crown first launched or something. I know I did a party for them. It was just like they're just such good people, And the fact that they are certified gluten free makes it even better because I know that I can have anything there that is great. So they launched this Chai tea concentrate that actually came out in sprouts already.

Jules [00:09:21]:
Oh, I need to look for that.

Erica [00:09:22]:
So very excited about that. I haven't tried it yet. And a couple new things that I'm like, oh, this definitely piques my interest. But, other than that, it's charcuterie and tea. So Nice. We'll see. Stay tuned to my Instagram, if you wanna see stuff live, but we'll be discussing it the next episode on what I find at Fancy Food that's happening this weekend.

Jules [00:09:43]:
Cool. I look forward to it Yeah. Because I will not be in Vegas with you, which is unfortunate because we would have such a good time in Vegas.

Erica [00:09:51]:
You'd be like, wow. This girl is intense.

Jules [00:09:55]:
I'd be like, I'm gonna spend $5 and nickels, and then I'm gonna hold. Yeah. Yeah. That'd be me in Vegas Yeah. In terms of my gambling, but we'll see. Yeah.

Erica [00:10:06]:
But I do have a reservation at Mon Ami Gabi, which they're very good about gluten free because it's a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant out of Chicago. That whole chain of restaurants is incredible. And, I do have a reservation at Yellowtail, which is an another amazing, sushi place, and I also have front row tickets to Magic Mike. Oh, that's so cool. I'm sitting in the same seat as I did last time because when I was front row there, I sat right by the stairs. So every time the guys come up the stairs, they'll, like, put a hand on you to go up the stairs.

Jules [00:10:46]:
Tete a tute. Not older.

Erica [00:10:47]:
Yeah. Totally amazing. So, yep. So I'm excited about that. Oh, I did wanna share a research study. Do you have a second For research study.

Jules [00:11:04]:
I am all about the

Erica [00:11:05]:
research study, so lay it on me. So Massachusetts General hospital, Mass Gen, Brigham, whatever, has doctor Fasano, as you know, Heart. Yes. They launched a press release January 5th, so not that long ago. And it talked about identifying a Material strain, in children that demonstrate a a potentially protective role for celiac disease. And if you're if you're kind of hip to the the celiac disease reacher, this comes from the CDGEMM study, which is, like, the Sexiest study for the genomic environmental microbiome and metabolomic study. So all those factors. Right.

Erica [00:11:56]:
The genes, the environment that you're in, your own microbiome, like, what is in your individual stomach and small intestine? And then they're studying about 600 kids here in the US and Italy and Spain, and then trying to get an understand of, like, What is happening to kids that either helps them not get celiac disease or, allows them to To have that celiac disease gene triggered. So the CDGemm study has been going on for a while. It's a 10 year longitudinal study. So the thing about longitudinal studies is they're not really sexy when they start because it's gonna you're gonna wait about 10 years to get the research that you need. It's like waiting forever to have a cake come out of the oven. You're like, this smells really good, but I don't know what the final thing is. So They're they're looking at the microbiomes of these kids and, I mean, what they have to do for this study. They're sending in poop And urine and I think saliva and a couple of other things, for these kids over and over again, and they found out a ton of stuff already about the, microbiome and epigenetics and genetic profiles of these kids that may or may not lead them to develop celiac disease.

Erica [00:13:13]:
But this research study that they just put out, talked about that there are 5 Microbial strains that appear to play a protective role against the development of celiac disease. So these are with kids that are, Predisposed to having celiac disease. Not just, like, normal people because normal people are just like, okay. Well, this is a small percentage of celiac disease.

Jules [00:13:36]:
In their family.

Erica [00:13:37]:
Yep. So They're predisposed, and then they're eating, you know, things, gluten, that may cause, obviously, celiac disease to trigger. So it's really interesting that there are 5 of these things that may be productive, And you're like, cool. What does that mean? And I'm like, I don't know, but that's very exciting. But just knowing that there are there are guts and bugs,

Jules [00:14:03]:
but bugs

Erica [00:14:04]:
and guts and things within you. And this is where the start of, like, is there a micro is there a probiotic that kids can take to help them from developing celiac disease. Is there a bacterial strain that we know is important critically important for kids to have that will help them Not potentially have an autoimmune disease triggered. What's what that what can we do to protect these kids and their microbiome to help further prevent celiac disease or even future autoimmune disease from occurring. So Well, fecal transplants. I mean,

Jules [00:14:41]:
if they've identified a a host that has this one of these or all 5 of these bacteria That is protective, is it at some point worth exploring a fecal transplant to prevent someone else need to exchange that to change that to prevent smells from then contracting it. That's a very interesting extension of this study.

Erica [00:15:05]:
It is. It is. And I I love, Talking about fecal transplants. I love talking about fecal transplants.

Jules [00:15:11]:
I did Should've been a comment in there somewhere, but, yeah, that

Erica [00:15:15]:
I watched this amazing documentary, and it's called Designer Shit, and it is so good. And it talks about a woman with ulcerative colitis who decides to do a DIY fecal transplant from her partner, but, like, in a in a completely, like, appropriate way.

Jules [00:15:33]:
Mhmm.

Erica [00:15:33]:
Like, she consulted experts. She consulted these people who are doing these studies, but it has not been found to be helpful in people with IBS sadly. It's not been helpful in people with IBD. It has only been really proven and useful in c diff, But experts are still exploring this, so she's like, listen. If it works for C. Diff, why can't I not try it for ulcerative colitis? So there's this whole realm of, like, research that's being done about microbiota therapy. Like, what is what is going on in your digestive tract besides your genes And besides your environment, but what's going on your microbiome that is triggering these autoimmune diseases or Giving you flares of autoimmune diseases. So it's really interesting to see the CDGemm study come up with these things that it's like, okay.

Erica [00:16:22]:
So we are seeing Bacteria, bugs, and guts, that can help kids not necessarily be triggered. Yeah. Disease. That's really cool. And research is weird because it's like, that's great. When are we gonna Put it to theory. Like, when can we just have, you know, been like, oh, great. Well, 10 more years.

Erica [00:16:44]:
Put put it back in the oven. Bring it back out again. Yeah. That's just kind of bummer about our research is it's so great, but then it's like then it goes into practice, and then it goes into clinical trials. And then it's, like, 10 years from now. We'll be very excited about This study that happened today. Right. But knowing that the research is happening and knowing that they're finding things that could potentially be preventative are just So good.

Jules [00:17:08]:
Yeah. I know a lot of people are done with their year end gifts, but some people do a monthly giving. Mhmm. And, you know, if you're into that or if you're looking for some place to put your money, like Mass General, like doctor Fasano's program, like, you know, this stuff is going on in the background. Robert, it may it may not be as sexy as some other stuff or, you know, you might not hear about it as often or whatever, but this is the forefront of The research that's out there.

Erica [00:17:34]:
I would also say at the SSCD, the study for the Society For the Study of Celiac Disease, Along with their partners, CDF and Beyond Celiac, they give grants to researchers to study this stuff. SSCD takes donations. SS, Beyond Celiac and CDF takes donations, and they give Partner grants to give $50,000 or $100,000 each year, for grants for the study. And it's really interesting at the last SSCD meeting, the Society for the study of celiac disease. I can never say that. They actually ran through all the people that had been given the money, And then they talked about what the research was, and I'm just like, woah. This is wild, and it's gonna be really hard for me to tell people what this actually means, But it's very exciting. Yeah.

Erica [00:18:26]:
Most recent

Jules [00:18:27]:
to good place. I knew it went to good place.

Erica [00:18:29]:
Places, and that's, like, a 100%. I will give them my me because they are doing amazing things with it, and, like, that is the only way that we're gonna move forward with this disease is is having the research dollars to fund stuff like this. Yeah.

Jules [00:18:41]:
Very cool. I think a lot of people didn't realize that they had to worry about gluten being in their dry spices. And I'm like, well, did did know that to a certain extent, but, like, There there is oftentimes flour is used as, you know, something to keep an anti caking agent in in things like dried spices. And so a lot of times you'll see, you know, listings of spice companies, like, why is this not listed as gluten free? And people are like, it's just a Spice. Well, it's not necessarily just a spice. Unfortunately, folks, you really do need to look for gluten free spices, especially spice mixes because there could be something else in there that's not Just a spice. And so along the same lines, there was this company. What is it called?.

Jules [00:19:34]:
Vesta. Vesta is the is the the brand name, but the company is Benny Tea. And so there is this FDA recall that came out this month, and it's this dry spice mix. It's called dry hot sauce. And these this company has been putting not just flour in their spices, but Breadcrumbs, but the the ingredient listing said enriched flour, and it was actually breadcrumbs. Anyhoo, they've been doing this for apparently 15 years, and they had been just saying, like, in the ingredient listing, you know, Enriched flour. Well, part of what the, Food Allergan Labeling Consumer Protection Act Has been saying for many, many, many years, like, I don't even know how many years this has been in effect. I mean, like, 25, 30.

Jules [00:20:31]:
I don't like, a long time. There is something called the top number of food allergens, and that number has changed over the years. It used to be, 8 food allergens. Now as of the addition of sesame, it's 9. If one of those food allergens is listed and is is part of your ingredient, so in this case, Wheat being part a component of flour or breadcrumbs, it has to be separately called out on a food label. This is Understood across the board in manufacturing of food because it is part of FALCPA, Food Allergent Labeling Consumer Protection Act. I mean, you're gonna you're gonna manufacture food. You have to understand food labeling because you're labeling your food.

Jules [00:21:14]:
It's part of the your job As a food manufacturer because it's the law. And so if you have a food label, you have to have a nutritional label on it, and you have to have a label listing what the ingredients are. And those ingredients can't just say stuff. It has to say

Erica [00:21:31]:
And if you're gonna sell

Jules [00:21:32]:
in retail, sell in retail, or if you're going

Erica [00:21:35]:
to just, like because, like, Things at a farmer's market, you don't have to have this. Correct?

Jules [00:21:41]:
Yeah. But

Erica [00:21:42]:
you should.

Jules [00:21:43]:
Yeah. You have I mean, if you're selling it As a food, it's regulated by the FDA. If it's a packaged good, then it's regulated. So it has to be Listed this way. And so these folks have to abide by the FDA regulations. And, And it sounds like I'm going into the weeds, like, about this particular brand, but hear me out because it's bad enough that this brand didn't do it. But This is an example of many, many brands that do it wrong, and it gets it gets worse. But, They they have to not only say enriched flower, which is true, that that was actually a a component part, But they have to tell you what that enriched flour is made of.

Jules [00:22:31]:
Mhmm. In this case, a food allergen being wheat. And So wheat has to then be called out on the label, either bold in in parentheses afterwards or separately later on And a contains statement contains wheat because it's one of those top 9 food allergens. Now for those of us who are gluten free, this is not enough Because it could also contain barley or rye, which contain gluten. So we are not covered by falcaba in that way. We're Completely covered, which is part of the whole reason why food labeling is such a problem for people with flu, right? Because we are not Completely safe with a food allergy label that contains wheat situation does not totally cover us. But in this situation, at least it would have said, you know, okay. Wheat is in here.

Jules [00:23:20]:
Yes. We should know that flour Often means wheat, but it doesn't necessarily mean wheat, you know, what have you. It doesn't take the onus off of them to do it right. But the point is they were doing this wrong apparently for 15 years. They have been not listing this according to their own admission in their statement. But then they said

Erica [00:23:42]:
This is the worst part.

Jules [00:23:43]:
This is the worst part. This to me, this is the part. This is the worst part. Because, yes, I suppose you could operate in your own silo of ignorance. It's not excusable. But the way they handled it was what was so wrong. This is what Eric and I are getting to. They put out a statement that said, Hey, our inspectors didn't tell us that we were doing this wrong.

Jules [00:24:10]:
And so, it's not our fault. And then they said, you know, basically, this was just a typo is essentially what they said. And that This is a completely safe product to ingest if you don't have a wheat allergy. Further showing that, a, it's no big deal to them. Like, this this literally they said, this is basically just as a typo. It's an oversight. No one told us we shouldn't have been doing this.

Erica [00:24:38]:
Yeah, no one said that we had to include we in the label.

Jules [00:24:41]:
Right, and which is No one had to tell you this was your responsibility to do this yourself.

Erica [00:24:47]:
You manufacture, you idiot.

Jules [00:24:50]:
Yeah. And then the other part was that They still don't get it. It's completely safe for anybody unless they have a weed allergy. That is a 100% like Their their entire caveat is as long as you don't have a wheat allergy, you can eat this. Again, completely wrong. What about the millions of people who have celiac disease, Where the millions of people who have gluten intolerance, where the millions of people who are have other autoimmune diseases or other medical conditions Because that mean that they cannot have gluten. That I mean, there are hundreds of thousands of people with a weed allergy. There are millions of people who have other conditions who cannot have gluten and wheat, and and they don't still don't even understand this.

Jules [00:25:35]:
And and they're they're basically just glossing over it saying this is no big deal. And, I I was really appalled by the statement that they put out because they were not apologetic at all about what they did. They said it was someone else's fault.

Erica [00:25:53]:
Yeah.

Jules [00:25:54]:
And they know. And then they went on and still made gross errors, Saying it's a safe product, the way it's labeled for for the entire population, except for this very small, tiny little segment of the population of people who have wheat allergies is what they said. And, again, this is an example of 1 company. I'm sure most people listening to this have never part of the company and they're not in danger by this company, whatever. The point is, this is an example of what happens all the time. Mhmm. Because We see examples of this. Our readers bring it up to us all the time too.

Jules [00:26:29]:
It's called facial misbranding, if you wanna know the Technical term, but it's when manufacturers put products out on the market. Manufacturers put products on the market, They don't understand their obligations. They make a mistake on the label, and it goes to market anyway. And that is why when you hear us beat this drum that you have to read every single label every single time, it's not just us, you know, Trying to scare people. And in fact, reading the labels every single time still doesn't necessarily mean that you're gonna be able to find every problem in every position. I think this

Erica [00:27:11]:
is what scares me the most out of this. One, they're just the whole apology that's not really an apology. It was just, like, so perfect because they're just like, I didn't know I was supposed to food. Jesus Christ. But it's more of a worry that, like, Someone you know would make something for you or, a food service or restaurant uses these spices. Like, Jesus. Because those

Jules [00:27:41]:
what people said in response to my post. People were like, well, people what are you saying? People don't have an obligation to read the label? That's ridiculous. Like, these people, you know, you should read your own label. I said, absolutely, you should read your own label, but that doesn't mean that these people shouldn't have that this manufacturer shouldn't have, Like, listened to the law and done the right thing. That is their first and foremost, their their duty. Because, Yes. We, as consumers, who have food allergies and celiac disease, live by this rule of read every label. But Exactly what you just said, and this is what I said in my comments.

Jules [00:28:15]:
What if a well meaning friend or neighbor or a chef, A very busy chef who is taking a label at its face. You know, what if any of these people trying to do the right thing for someone else who doesn't live and die By, you know, reading every label because their health depends on it, uses this product or any other product that is mislabeled On

Erica [00:28:36]:
the half of you. And that's what I'm getting at is these these in I don't wanna say ingredients, but these, like, sub Ingredients on a recipe that you would think would be naturally whatever, the inclusion of spices or salts or flavorings, It's like the whole rest of the recipe could be safe, but if someone's Right. A dummy and just picked it up and didn't see wheat or didn't really fully flesh out, like, what is enriched Flour. I mean, most people would know, but if they're just like, yeah. This works. And then you're like, dude, for real? Like, come on. Like, the fact that it's breadcrumbs, like, come on. Right.

Jules [00:29:10]:
Well, okay. Let's let's just take it take what you just said and follow it through to its natural conclusion. Let's say that the enriched flour was gluten free flour. Okay? So they didn't have to say contains wheat. And so the And they, by the way, no one's under any obligation to say their product is gluten You do not have to say gluten free anywhere on a product. So let's say that this product said enriched flour on it, didn't say wheat. Yep. That flour could have been gluten free flour.

Jules [00:29:39]:
And it would have been correctly labeled bread. Like, so someone could have Assumed that they were doing the right thing because the label should have been accurate.

Erica [00:29:52]:
Yeah. Some people just gloss over not anything, and then they're like, Oh, well, they would say wheat if it had wheat in it. Exactly. People be like, well, I didn't see anything. It's like, bro. That's why, like, not having barley called out is so frustrating because So easy to miss.

Jules [00:30:06]:
And barley is a lot of things. Yeah. Rye not so much, but barley. Barley is a cheap Flavoring, and it's in everything from rice krispies to tea. So it's yeah. That one is is in a lot of places, And it's not it does not have to be called out. Like, it's you know, this barley is usually named malt. And would your friend or neighbor know that malt Means gluten in most situations? No.

Jules [00:30:32]:
Probably not. So this is just an example of The fact that you cannot necessarily trust a company's labeling because they don't all get it right, which is why we Love companies that are certified gluten free because they've gone to the extra trouble of Having somebody look over everything from the outside Yes. And audit it and test it and retest it And, you know, look over all the component ingredients and make sure everybody's doing everything right. And if, God forbid, there was ever a problem, The company who certifies them will issue a recall way faster than the FDA will, way faster. You can see my post on Instagram at GF Jewels, and on on my Facebook page as well if you wanna see the letter From, yeah, we'll link it. We'll drop the link, but, it's it's not so much about this particular company. It's about the fact that this is an example of the fact that this still happens, unfortunately. I know.

Jules [00:31:41]:
No one told me. Like, what else did they not tell you? You have to clean your equipment?

Erica [00:31:47]:
Like just a little baby. Nobody Yep. We're gonna go. Manufacturer's paces. It's a wash blanket. Hair net?

Jules [00:31:53]:
Like like, Oh god. Please. I don't know. I just Gross. People. Anyway okay. So it's January,

Erica [00:32:05]:
but we're gonna skip to February and talk about Valentine's Day because because Because

Jules [00:32:11]:
I wanna get out of this whole dry January, new year, new new you, whatever. I wanna start talking about chocolate.

Erica [00:32:19]:
I need chocolate in my life. Cake and chocolate,

Jules [00:32:21]:
and candy. That's right.

Erica [00:32:23]:
So I mentioned this Because and I wanna get this out early. Mhmm. Target always has their Valentine's Day stuff super early. They've already sold out of other Valentine's Day Stanley Cups. We've all seen this stuff online.

Jules [00:32:37]:
Oh god.

Erica [00:32:38]:
There was can

Jules [00:32:39]:
I just tell you that the store had Easter stuff out when I was out yesterday? Yeah. Of course. Easter stuff. Yeah. Anyway Yeah.

Erica [00:32:45]:
I went into Michael's. It's all Easter. All the Valentine's Day are

Jules [00:32:49]:
7th the Valentine's Day stuff? I'm, like, at least Did I miss something with Idaho? Did it snow that much that I just missed Valentine's Day?

Erica [00:32:58]:
They're like, Valentine's Day is on clearance, and I'm like, Valentine's Day hasn't happened yet.

Jules [00:33:03]:
I haven't put up my decorations yet.

Erica [00:33:05]:
I'm like, okay. I'll take all of this at 40% off. Like Yeah. Right? Okay. But, yeah, it's all Easter. Anyway, we're not talking about Yeah. Don't even get on that. But Target has a Valentine's Day stuff at it.

Erica [00:33:16]:
And Target is great because especially if you have children, if they do Valentine's, which It's cool. That's awesome. But, like, if you ever have those, like, Valentine's Day candies, the stuff that they put out, or if you attach candies to your Valentine's Card whatever. They have the most adorable stuff out, and you have to get them now Because they sell so quickly just like Halloween, and it's roughly the same things for Halloween. Like, they've got the Ciate Foods Churros in the individual bags, and they're all individual bags. But some of these are special items that you can't get anywhere else. And so I went out and, like, cleared out my Target already, which is great.

Jules [00:33:55]:
So you're the reason why Target sells out so fast? I'm raising the Target sells out.

Erica [00:33:58]:
So These are I'm holding up Yum Earth gummies, so they're shaped always like, like hearts and cute things. This is a new product. This is not the regular gummies. This is organic sugar coated gummies, and they're really good.

Jules [00:34:17]:
And Sugar on top of sugar.

Erica [00:34:19]:
Sugar on top of sugar. I swear to god. They're so freaking good, and it has the to and from here, so you can write your little Valentine on this packet. It's so cute. So I bought a packet of these, but my favorite thing, and they only do it for Valentine's Day, is, the company lesser evil. And Lesser Evil does popcorn, but Yeah. They do seasonal popcorn, and their seasonal popcorn is above and beyond their best flavors that they have all year. So in summer, they always have a watermelon, which is kinda weird.

Erica [00:34:49]:
Woah.

Jules [00:34:49]:
I haven't seen that one.

Erica [00:34:50]:
Mhmm. Mhmm. And they have a pina colada, And I got them early, and they're in my cabinet. And so that's summer flavors, and you can you can usually get these weird seasonal flavors only on, like, Thrive Market because the second that they hit Whole Foods, they're like, done. They're out. Everyone grabs them. It's people like me. But their winter flavors are Matcha white chocolate and, pumpkin spice, and they're all vegan.

Erica [00:35:19]:
And that matcha

Jules [00:35:20]:
love that.

Erica [00:35:21]:
That matcha changed my life. I bought so many on Thrive Market, like, just the big giant Thrive Market boxes, and they're just full of from lesser evil, and that is probably my 2nd favorite flavor because my first favorite flavor is a Valentine's Day Exclusive. And every year, I tell lesser evil they're my favorite, and you need to make them in large packets, and you have to sell them All year long and just to you. It's a seasonal flavor lady, but I've done this for, like, 4 years. I'm like, it's my favorite. So I am showing a ginormous Oh my gosh. Of 18 bags, and they're 18 snack bags. But if you can read, it's white chocolate strawberry flavor, and it's gosh.

Erica [00:36:07]:
Organic popcorn. Labels are. They are, made with strawberry powder, and beet juice concentrate. And, they're made in a facility that has milk and egg, but, again, these are vegan and certified gluten free. And, again, they are tiny bags that you can write to and from on. So if you want to use them as Valentine's Day for kids, Valentine's, They're so freaking cute, but the strawberry white chocolate flavor is my favorite. So amazing.

Jules [00:36:37]:
I bought Can you can you only get them at Thrive and on And at Target? So Target, Whole

Erica [00:36:45]:
Foods, Thrive, and I do not know where else, but those are the only places that I found them, Like, in my in Arizona. But yeah. So last year, I went to pick them up at my one Target, and it was Sold out. So I went to all the targets in my area, which there were, like, 10, because I, like, drove out there and Picked up as much as I could because they're so freaking good. And then this year, I'm like, wait. I could just order them on Thrive Market and have them delivered to my door? Okay. So Save on gas. Yep.

Erica [00:37:19]:
Well and also, like, the whole, like, oh, what am I gonna find at this Target? Yeah. I went to Target

Jules [00:37:24]:
for popcorn and came home $200 later.

Erica [00:37:26]:
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. So those are the 2 that I, like, Definitely get along with the individual bags of churro strips from Ciate, and they have a whole line of the Yum Earth, food allergy friendly gummies And, lollipops that you can also do to from on. So they have a ton of stuff, and that is why we're talking about it now because if you want Good Valentine's. Got a

Jules [00:37:51]:
plan now. And do you wanna address the issue of, The smarties, the little hearts, which ones are gluten free and which ones are not?

Erica [00:38:00]:
I don't know. I never know. That's what worries me about everything is I just Spend us 2 hours in Target looking at every single freaking Valentine's Day candy, and nothing is safe. That's why they have everything in a special section for, like, the specialty food section. Yeah. Because I never I go into the other ones, and I'm just, like, lost at a word jumble that are on some of these things.

Jules [00:38:20]:
Mhmm. Yeah. Well, it's interesting because some of them in Canada are, and in the US are not, and so it gets really confusing. Again, please buy the ones that are certified gluten free. It makes the thing just so much But we will drop a link to my candy article in here that tells you, like, which ones are gluten free, which ones are not. And, You know, Erica will probably drop a link to some dedicated shopping list of her own.

Erica [00:38:45]:
Go to your Target and wipe them out like I do. There you go.

Jules [00:38:47]:
There you go. I love it. Well, for me, I love all these candy ideas, but, of course, I'll be doing baking and everything chocolate. But, I, I I have been excited to, as I said, get out of the, the the January, like, month of, like, You're supposed to be depriving yourself. I never do that, though, but, I feel like everyone else does. And so I'm I know. I've been doing a lot of bread baking in January, Which is great. I love the comfort food, like, all the bread, you know, just I love that.

Jules [00:39:19]:
But I'm excited to get back to some sweet treats, but I have I have probably, like, I don't know. I can't I I think I lost count of the number of chocolate cake recipes I have on my site, and I just made I just made triple chocolate cookies, which are Chuck Chuck they're like a chocolate a Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie, but I made them with, all vegan chocolate chips, vegan white chocolate, Which they now have, from Enjoy Life Foods has vegan white chocolate chips as well as Pasha. Yep. And, and I used Pasha, dark chocolate candy bar, and I chopped it into big huge chunks. And then I used, the regular vegan semisweet chips as well. So I made, like, a Toll House cookie, like, with all of those in it. Can I tell you what? Good. What? I just

Erica [00:40:07]:
did that, but I did a rice milk, Certified gluten free rice milk chocolate from Enjoy Life, a certified gluten free oat milk chocolate from endangered species. Oh. I got a bag only because I asked, and I was very nice, and I have no idea how to buy it. But they're so freaking good, and, again, certified gluten free. And the Trupo Treat Earth Gems.

Jules [00:40:30]:
Oh, gosh. Yes.

Erica [00:40:29]:
I love the Trupo Treats. Yeah. The mini M and M's. They were so freaking good. I bet. So 3 kinds of chocolate, and they were, like, a little under baked, so they were all green. And I'm like, you've got

Jules [00:40:43]:
to be kidding me.

Erica [00:40:44]:
These are the best cookies Yes. Yes. Reach out to you.

Jules [00:40:47]:
Literally I'm I'm putting this up today, which is, of course, you know, when this post, it's gonna have been up before, but I was literally I just did a little quick, video today showing people that you always take your cookies out when before they look like they're done because You want them to be a little unless you want them to be or the whatever, the Chips Ahoy, like, the hard ones.

Erica [00:41:07]:
Mhmm.

Jules [00:40:43]:
If you want them to be still be chewy, take them out before you think that they're done because they will continue cooking on the baking sheet.

Erica [00:41:14]:
Mhmm.

Jules [00:41:14]:
And then they they, like, are puffy, and then they sort of sink a little bit, and They're so, so, so, so good. Yeah. It's it's perfect. That's the way you want them to be. But I have a recipe on my site, and this is what I love doing for Valentine's Day. This is this is where I was going I've been making the little cookies, which is great. And I was dipping them in my coffee this morning. It was so good.

Jules [00:41:34]:
But You know

Erica [00:41:34]:
where it's at girl.

Jules [00:41:35]:
I know. But, I have a recipe where you take the same dough, and you just take a pizza play tray, Like, a a round one, and you make it into a big heart. So good. The cookie.

Erica [00:41:47]:
Mhmm.

Jules [00:41:47]:
But you follow the recipe on my site to for how to do it, how thick to make it and not because it's gonna spread out some. And you don't have to do anything to it if it's just a heart. Or you can frost the heart or you can write, you know, to, from, or whatever you want to in the heart. It is the cutest Valentine's Mhmm. Treat, and it's so easy to make. I mean, everyone knows how to make chocolate cookie dough. And then, you know, I will drop the link to the recipe that we're talking about that's just so delicious. But, if you need a delicious vegan and gluten free chocolate cookie recipe, or it doesn't have to be vegan, but, it's gluten free.

Jules [00:42:23]:
And then you can put all these delicious yummy things in it, like What we've been talking about or only 1 or nothing, it doesn't really matter, whatever you wanna do, but make it in that heart shape. It is so good, and it's so easy. It doesn't have to be, like, this big grand triple chocolate chocolate, you know, cake thing that, you know, maybe you're going to make. No. It doesn't have to be like that. But who wouldn't just love, you know, giving someone or receiving a heart shaped chocolate chip cookie? It's really, really cute. And along the same lines, we usually make a heart shaped pizza as well, so I use my gluten free pizza crust mix and just make the pizzas in heart shapes. And that's also really, really cute to do for Valentine's Day.

Jules [00:43:05]:
You can pretty much do anything in a heart shape. I I make my, my pie crust, And I'll make I'll take large heart shaped,

Erica [00:43:15]:
cookie cutters cookie cutters.

Jules [00:41:14]:
And I Can I make hand pies with that when I fill them with cherry pie filling? I'm telling you, when you do that and you bake them and then I I finish them off in the air fryer after they're baked, They taste like I'm gonna say this out of love. They taste like the McDonald's hand pies of old. Like, the ones that I remember, like, going through the drive through and burning my tongue on that I just thought were, like, the best things in the whole wide world. That's what they taste like. And it's the perfect proportion of pie dough to pie filling, and they're just I just love them so much. So, you can do anything in a heart shape. And, of course, there's the classic sugar cookies. You cannot miss making sugar cookies for Valentine's Day.

Jules [00:44:02]:
And you can frost them or not frost them. I was just teaching my son the other day, the easiest cookie icing ever is simply Take some confectioner's sugar and add as much milk or apple cider or whatever liquid you want, orange juice. It could be really anything you want to, to flavor it, just add little drops of it until it gets to the consistency that you can drizzle it on or dip the cookie flat down into it. Could not be easier. You can put, frosting, food coloring into it or just leave it white. Doesn't matter. None of these take skills, people. Like, they are so easy to make, especially, like, with the sugar cookies.

Jules [00:44:41]:
I have a sugar cookie mix, which is super, super, super easy, so you

Erica [00:44:44]:
don't even need to buy anything for

Jules [00:44:45]:
the cookie. It really is.

Erica [00:44:47]:
So you hear

Jules [00:44:48]:
from people all the time that it's better than regular cookies. So if you feel like, I've never made this before, I've never made that gluten free, or I'm not a really good baker, whatever, Don't miss out on these fun traditions, these fun things that you can do to share your love with people through food, because it really is a magical thing to do to bake for someone and to share it, especially when it's, you know, super yummy like that. I think the other thing, I would say about Valentine's Day, and, of course, I have tons of other chocolate and and So many of the recipes. Please. Yeah. I mean, everything from, like, a 5 minute chocolate mug cake to chocolate beer cake. I mean, like, there's just so many different things. But the other thing I would say is just For Valentine's Day, find somebody you love spending time with.

Jules [00:45:34]:
It does not have to be a romantic partner. It could be anybody you love spending time with, and make food together. That is a true, like, moment where you're just absolutely just Being Are you gonna cry?

Erica [00:45:48]:
I feel like you're gonna cry right now. You're spending time together. You're

Jules [00:45:54]:
Yeah. No. I mean, if you if you love spending time with somebody and you make food together, you are like you're You're baking. You're you're making love. Like, that is I just think that's just a beautiful yeah. I am gonna cry. You're crying. Like, no.

Jules [00:46:12]:
It's, Because I would

Erica [00:46:14]:
not do that with anyone. I swear to god, if he comes in and I'm like, get away from everything. We I don't we don't cook well together 3rd. Good night.

Jules [00:46:23]:
I've seen you both. Segregate. You say, like, this is your station, and this is what I want you to do. And and so it could be that he makes 1 dish and you make a different dish. Like, if if you don't work well together in terms of making the same dish.

Erica [00:46:36]:
No. He does great. It's me because I'm like, I am So in retentive about everything when it comes to my cooking, baking, mise en place

Jules [00:46:45]:
Okay. So do this. So do this. You make the homemade gluten free wonton wrappers, you make the filling, you lay it all out, and then You say, together tonight, we are going to fill them and then, like, finish it. Or or you make Empanada dough, and then you make the filling, and then we all fill them together, or ravioli or whatever.

Erica [00:47:10]:
With so we are a meat household, Make things a little tricky because I've seen him be like, oh, I dropped a Raffi's turkey, and I'm like, did you just put that in your mouth? He's like, yeah. I'm like, That's Rod Turkey. Are you kidding me? Which is why he doesn't cook for me because my stomach is not strong. But I do remember we used to do that, and we used to make sugar cookies together. And I go, okay. You have 1 cookie to decorate, and we'll put it on Instagram. And he put it I'm like, this is such a weird looking cookie, but okay. And I put it on Instagram.

Erica [00:47:43]:
And he's like, did you share that on Instagram? This is maybe, like, 5, 6 years ago, like, a long time ago. Yeah. And, and I'm like, yeah. He goes, it's a dick. That's what you mean. We mean in, it was a dick and balls and whiteflies coming out of the dick, and I had not looked at it from that way because I was not assuming that my partner would would put a dick on a cookie. And I'm like, And it was on Instagram, and I'm like, this is so weird. And people were like, did you just post a a dick on A dick pic.

Erica [00:48:21]:
And I genuine and he's like, how did you not know that was a joke? And I'm like, I genuinely thought that's just how you wanted to decorate your cookie, and I didn't even see a dick on it. I'm so sorry. I was just like, you've gotta take that off of Instagram. I'm like, clearly. I remember it was because it was Annie May's Annie May's cookies from From Kentucky, and we had got a whole bunch, and I'm like, this is yours to decorate, and we'll put it on Instagram put it on Instagram. He's like, it's a dick. I'm like, oh my god.

Jules [00:48:48]:
So it was like a round cookie, and he

Erica [00:48:50]:
decorated it was a heart cookie, big heart cookie.

Jules [00:48:53]:
Oh, he turned it upside down.

Erica [00:48:55]:
But a dick, balls, and, semen coming out of the cookie. And I'm like, this is why we can't do this together.

Jules [00:49:03]:
This is why we can't have nice things.

Erica [00:49:05]:
That's why we can't have nice things.

Jules [00:49:08]:
Oh my god. Okay. Well,

Erica [00:49:10]:
I'm just clueless, and I'm like, that's a lovely cookie. Think so much? Snap a picture and then, like, probably was a great idea.

Jules [00:49:18]:
Well okay. So, calzones. Wow. Calzones. You guys do calzones together.

Erica [00:49:24]:
Without without raw meat? No raw meat? I think he can accidentally

Jules [00:49:27]:
No. No. Because right. Exactly. Because you fill, like, calzones with, You know, cheese and sauce and pepperoni or whatever. Yeah. Anyway, just doing something together, Where your hands are are in the food together making the food. I think it's a beautiful place.

Jules [00:49:44]:
Gloves. Sure.

Erica [00:49:47]:
Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure he'll be so excited that I told that story.

Jules [00:49:52]:
If I know Matt, he will not care at all.

Erica [00:49:54]:
I know. I'm pretty sure I stopped the photo, which I will not be sharing because I took that Instagram.

Jules [00:49:59]:
I love it. I love it. Yeah. Well, anyway, I just think, you know, I don't want you know how. We you are you and I are both the same way. We don't want anyone to miss out on anything.

Erica [00:50:08]:
And I

Jules [00:50:08]:
think a lot of people feel like, you know, if they have dietary restrictions, they have to miss out on a lot of things. Maybe they feel like they can't go out to dinner because it's Valentine's Day. Well, I say take this as an opportunity to save money on that stupid overpriced dinner and make something super fun, make a memory, and, You're not missing out on anything because you can make anything at home deliciously, and it doesn't have to be complicated or difficult or, like, Overpriced because And if

Erica [00:50:35]:
you have a kiddo that's gluten free, there's so many options to send your kids with gluten free Valentine's. Jules has so many amazing cupcake recipes. Like, have some, freeze some, and that way your kid can have some when the rest of the whole school has, you know, A Valentine's Day cupcake or whatever that some mom brought in. Like, you can experience it. Everyone can have the same exact holiday. They can have Valentine's. They can that same kind of magic together that you get and or the trauma when you don't get a Valentine from that 1 kid in class that you're

Jules [00:51:08]:
really like. Someone. Yeah. That sucked.

Erica [00:51:11]:
Did your did your school ever do roses where, like, they could buy roses for someone, Like, as a fundraiser, and then they would drop off the roses in your class and be like, this is from so and so. And, like, every year, I was like,

Jules [00:51:30]:
If we did, I have blocked it out of my memory. I should too. I don't recall I don't recall that. And so if we did, I definitely didn't get one.

Erica [00:51:42]:
Yeah. Well, that sucks, and I hope that schools don't do that anymore because that was certainly more traumatizing. Rude. That was really more traumatizing and rude. The 1 girl

Jules [00:51:52]:
in the corner was a dozen roses, and, like, everyone else is like it. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, straight up. Yeah. That would that would really Well,

Erica [00:52:00]:
that sounds horrible. I hope the schools won't do that anymore. I'm gonna ask my teacher friends if they're still doing traumatic things like that. But, yeah, Having Valentine's Day in advance. Make sure that you're planning. Yes. Absolutely. Thanks so much for tuning in to another So if you had me to eat, we'll be back in 2 weeks with our biweekly podcast.

Erica [00:52:20]:
Make sure that you stay tuned for next week because we will be talking About what happens when you accidentally eat the baby out of a king cake.

Jules [00:52:31]:
Then you need a fecal transplant. Get your get your supplies now.

Erica [00:52:40]:
We'll be we'll be talking about We'll

Jules [00:52:42]:
be talking about King Cakes.

Erica [00:52:43]:
Mardi got bra. Marty Mardi. Mardi Gras. Whatever you say. Mardi Gras. We'll be talking about that next week, so make sure that you go to your bakery. You get the teeny tiny little babies, and you stock up on Flour, because next week, we'll be talking about baking king cakes. So see you then.

Jules [00:44:02]:
Thanks for tuning in to You Have Me At Eat, the number 1 voted gluten free podcast in the country. Remember to like and subscribe, tell all your friends, and we'll talk to you next time.