The Joint Pizzeria

I have yet to go to a restaurant in the United States that has a giant gluten free menu posted on the wall. Sure there's been a small sign here or there  "gluten free pancakes, "gluten free crust available" but nothing like this....

The picture doesn't really show you just how big this plake is, but it's about the length of your average couch. In any case, we ordered a pesto chicken pizza.  The crust is thin, crisp, and they piled on the toppings. The pesto chicken had large chunks of chicken, artichokes, pesto, and spinach; it was amazingly good. I kept 1 slice as left overs in my bag for a snack later in the day. The other plus was this pizza was not over priced, like so many of them are. 

They also had a bakery selection of items all labeled- with options like a huge slice of gluten free cheesecake, cakes, and brownies for dessert. We went with the brownie and it was so soft and fudgy- it was good! 

Avocado Pudding

That's right I made pudding from avocados- no dairy! I've used avocado to make salad dressing, cake and even frosting, so why not pudding....(although the recipe I used called it mousse, but mousse is much more light and fluffy than what this was, and thus, it's pudding). 

You're going to need a really good blender or food processor to make this but trust me you'll want to try this, as long as you love avocados, that is. Normally you just use dairy free milk to make pudding, but sometimes that still contains an ingredient you might not be able to have, or have on hand. Instead, you just need two really ripe avocados, honey or agave, a dash of salt, and cocoa powder. I did add a little extra sugar just to sweeten it up a little but this certainly had the consistency and tasty of pudding, with a minor hint of avocado on the tongue. Add some fresh cut strawberries and this was a truly decadent treat. 

Now the funny part is that I told my coworkers about this and one of them wanted to try some so I brought it in. She loved it, and another coworker came in and thought she was eating chocolate ice cream and tried a little. She was in shock because A, it was not ice cream, and B, she generally hates the texture of pudding. After she got over the initial shock, she still didn't like it, but was impressed that it was made from avocados. So see if you can trick some of your friends and family into liking this alternative pudding. 

Acme Cafe

Acme Cafe is in the Gastown neighborhood of Vancouver, B.C. and is a small diner that offers any of their sandwiches on gluten free bread. The also have some gluten free desserts, but selection depends on the day. The place kind of reminded me of Mel's diner for some reason; maybe it was the black and white decor, but that was the vibe I got. All of their sandwiches sounded really good and my husband ordered the turkey sandwich and I went with the chicken club. 

Mike thought the sandwich was ok but they were skimpy on the meat; in comparison my sandwich seemed like the complete opposite, as it had full chunks of chicken breast. The sandwich was overall really tasty and I thought the bread was good; it didn't get soggy, or crumble from weight. The only downfall of the sandwich was that it was $12.00. There are not many places you can go in California, where I live, and order a sandwich on gluten free bread, so I was categorizing this as a treat, but I still don't think it should be $12.00. Does that just make me cheap or does that seem high to others?