Classic Bad Serving

Now this is just classic bad serving... Yesterday I went out to dinner with some cousins to a new seafood restaurant and they had a GF menu. The restaurant was not too busy at all so I was feeling good about what was about to happen. I ordered the salmon salad which was probably the easiest item to make on the menu without screwing it up GF. It was similar to the regular order but without noodles and capers. Waitress was confident to bring it with ease for me. I trusted her. It comes out salmon blackened, with noodles and capers. They completely screwed it up and the chef didn't make the GF version. Wow! Wow! The waitress didn't check and it came to my table as POISION on a plate, basically, hahaha. Luckily, I did the usual fork lift and shuffle and inspected the food before putting it in my mouth, but damn, classic mess up and a near gigantic accident. If you are not sure if this is the right meal on your own, definitely wait, be patient, and have the server inspect it for you to be sure they see it because they should know the menu best! But seriously you can't trust anyone when you go out to eat but yourself. You have to question people (kindly) and even sometimes your own parent, friend or family member because they don't necessarily know what is best. Because the only person that gets screwed when you don't is you! It's you who gets sick and when that is my case, I won't let that happen if I can hep it. Sigh. Another upsetting Gluten Free meal out to eat.

GF On The Go

On the road again... I have been traveling a bit and it is always a jourrney to grocery shop and eat out in many difference cities. For the regular traveler it is paradise... eating local cuisine and trying new menu items. But for the GF consumer, unfortunately the GF education in most restaurants have only evolved slightly. It is still anything, but a day in the park. You still need to have the same conversation you would have with your local server/chef each time you eat out like, "Hello, I can't have any food that has gluten." They typically say unless it's a prestigious restaurant, "What is gluten" and you tell them, "Wheat flour, rye, barley, malts in the food itself or in contamination with it, can you help me find something?" and the trusting begins. Sometimes you can feel good about putting your health in these people's hands and other times you should not, so be sure you trust the server or chef and if you do not then do not eat the food, go somewhere else. Remember there is no cheating with a gluten free diet and you can always find something to eat elsewhere so call the restaurant ahead and help educate your servers and teach them. All in all I have seen some progress... often establishments have a GF menu, but still can't guarantee it is allergen free. Also, why are waiters not educating themselves or employers not teaching them more about allergens. When your job is to work with food, serve food, handle people who eat food, take the time to learn about some of the more common allergens: gluten, nuts, fish/shell fish, milk, soy, eggs ... and all of our dining experiences will be more social and more pleasurable. Think about it, if the world knew what was in the food we ate, we would all be healthier individuals and smarter servers. That'll earn you a big tip, people.

Across The water, Across The Land, Go

(whistling) My new journey begins and ends in the same place, home. Home to me now is wherever I am in the free world with my friends/family. Change is in the air and I have been searching for new places to reside. First, NOLA. However, this place has poor gluten free awareness. After educating your server, you may be able to trust them with your meal, but most places just don't adapt well to the suggestion. Houston has some awareness. The Tex Mex joints are familiar with corn and flour tortillas and can separate them in the kitchen. Austin is a fantastic city for many reasons.

Spread The McLovin

Here is a public service holiday + new years + gluten-free movement message to the entire community who eat food to survive. Ya that is definitely you. You are indeed what you eat and you are capable of controlling your actions, specifically late night snacking (speaking to myself). Eating healthier does not only benefit your entire-ness, but your individual parts like the heart, overall weight and walk forward and it inadvertently affects the people around and the dominoes that surround. Take a tip from the gluten-free movement, learn what's in your foods, each ingredient on that listing and if it's too long you probabyl shouldn't eat it because it's all processed crap. Take a second to realize that when there is so much fillers in the foods you eat, you're not eating anything real, but food that is "made" in a factory. Challenge yourself to enjoy more natural foods, that dont' have the fake man-made box ingredients and taste real food that your ancestors survived on. Then go enjoy the wii and the ipod and the new car.

The Best Kind Of Friends.

Friends look out for you. Friends make you laugh. Friends love you so much, but not all friends know exactly how to cook gluten free. Many of them feel that they do, and I know some of mine definitely do and always look out for me. However, Celiacs, cannot trust everyone. It's key to ask all of the questions you would when you go out to eat. Look over someone's kitchen and find out what they also were cooking and how they keep up with their kitchen. Sometimes baking food in the same oven can cause contamination or not washing the silverware carefully or keep in mind the toaster that your dad used earlier had a regular bagel so it must be scrubbed well. So at the end of the day here is the 2cents... clean utensils, pots and pans and surfaces very well and often and also friends if you want to look out for your gluten free friends take it serious, don't' risk contamination and don't get upset if a Celiac questions your baking etiquette and you'll get a big smile and a huge hug in return. Trust me.

When Just Spotting The GF label Is Not Enough.

Nope. It isn't enough to simply check the ingredients either. It went down when I moved my car as I usually do 2 x week because I live in Park Slope, Brooklyn, notorious for the awful street parking and mom's with luxury strollers. I scored a great spot, but of course that brought me into a new cross section in town sparking a new mood for me as I strolled down 7 Avenue of the Slope. Noticed I was nearby one of my favorite health food groceries, Back To The Land. So I walked in confidently shrugging off that I would spend the usual 2-3 x more than I was planning on considering all I was supposed to do tonight was park my car and go home. After perusing the new gluten free cereals I walked through the middle of the store and saw the refrigerated section and in my peripheral vision I saw the label "gluten free" shouting at me.

 Sometimes I can spot that needle in the haystack. I have a 6th sense radar for the label. I'm talented. Anyway, I was totally stoked for some Sesame Tofu considering I love Sesame seeds and enjoy a nice block of Tofu or two as well and dig the fact it was all mixed up. I read the label thoroughly which was a product from THE V SPOT. The label "GLUTEN FREE" was prominent along with Dairy Free and Vegan stamp approvals. Of course I checked the ingredients because I like to know what's in the food I eat and then noticed the food itself in more detail. Luckily it was a see through clear plastic box and saw all of these lovely quinoa hairs poking and speaking to me. I was soo excited because it's one of my favorite tasting grains that's high in protein. But I realized that the quinoa was not listed on the ingredient list! Wow! This wasn't' good and I thought I should check with the employees to be sure I wasnt' seeing things. Employees confirmed that the label wasn't matching the product and we chatted about this predicament. I was extremely disappointed, upset and actually shocked by the mislabeling here. Celiacs need to trust what the labels! Gluten Free labels are not a joke.