Gluten Free?!... There's an App for That!

With so many information sources available in this technological age, it can sometimes be overwhelming. Combine that with the anxiousness that can accompany being on a restricted diet, it can go from overwhelming to exhausting. However, gluten free information overload "has an app for that".
Many of us has phones that do more than simply act as a communication device. They entertain, inform, and help with productivity. And now we are in the dawn of the "tablets" that do even more. Both tablets and smart phones have a vast and varied number of applications- gluten free applications included. For this post I will be only referring to those apps that can be used through the iphone or ipad, since I am unfamiliar with other similar devices.

The first app that I added to our gluten free arsenal- Gluten Free Restaurant Cards for iphone (works on ipad too). These "cards" can be handy to have available when at any restaurant. They explain simply the condition of Celiac Disease and it's dietary requirements in the language you need. Very handy if you plan on visiting ethnic restaurants, and there are no "cards" to lose because it is on your iphone or ipad.

Some apps specific for ipad that are great for the kitchen (celiac or otherwise)- Allrecipes.com and Epicurious. Though both are good and provide lots of recipes at your fingertips, I prefer the format of Epicurious. Both though have good feedback for rating each recipe, which is helpful in choosing a recipe that you have never tried before. But don't fret about having to choose between the two- both are free. Another excellent free recipe app is Whole Foods Market Recipes. Again, there are what seems to be hundreds of recipes. You can even further tailor your dietary needs if you needed dairy free on top of gf- each recipe is coded for easy viewing to find the one that suits your needs. Epicurious has the ability to input multiple search parameters, allowing for gluten free, low sodium, kosher recipes to be searched for, or any other combination. Both Whole Foods and Epicurious also have the added benefit of creating a shopping list for the recipe too. Handy!
Though there are many more apps available, those I have mentioned are free and seem to be the most helpful of the free apps, making living gluten free simpler for Celiac's. I have yet to explore those apps that need to be purchased. Though their cost is not great, I have been too occupied with the ones I currently have. I will post on this later when I have explored more of these handy little gf digital tools.