Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Wahoo! Gluten Free Restaurant Options and Ski Lodges!

Hey everyone! Sorry I have't posted in a while, it's been really busy. So, last week I went to a Red Robin for dinner. I walked in knowing they had a menu with gluten-free options, but what I didn't know was if it was a completely different menu, modified recipes, and if it was any good. The staff was super friendly and really made it easy to be gluten-free. The manager came and talked to the table about the gluten-free process and how they fight against cross-contamination. At Red Robin, which is very unusual, they use completely different fryers for their fries, as not to cross-contaminate them. They also prepare all the food on separate surfaces. I got the Bruschetta Chicken Burger, made protein style (on lettuce instead of a bun) with white rice instead of fries. I substituted gluten-free salsa for the bruschetta salsa. It was to die for! I now can recommend Red Robin to fellow celiacs knowing that their gluten-free food is amazing, and their service to us tops. 


Over the weekend, I went snowboarding with a few of my friends. My only concern was lunch. Thanks be to God, I brought a lunch just in case. We went to Loon in Lincoln, New Hampshire. The Pemigewasset Base Camp by South Peak was where we ended up for lunch. They did have salads, although they were prepared on a contaminated surface. I ended up eating what I brought, not wanting to feel sick so far from home and without my parents. What I did not worry about was dinner. We ended up going to The Common Man, also in Lincoln. I was settling myself for a caesar salad with no crutons and no dressing, when one of my friends found a note saying that rice pasta was available as a substitute. I was overjoyed. I told the waitress about my diet restrictions, and the staff was also very cooperative. We came to a gluten-free Chicken Sautee, made with chicken, spinach, tomatoes, rice pasta, and olive oil. It was to amazingly wonderful! I hope you all are finding these diamonds in the rough as I am!


Happy Trails! ~mc

Friday, January 15, 2010

Lunch is Challenging

So today I decided that I was going to challenge myself to get a gluten-free lunch at school, which was not my brightest idea. I spent the first fifteen minutes of lunch looking for a cooler with salads in it, the hot lunch being homemade pizza. Once I found the cooler with salad in it, I spent ten minutes in line waiting to get and pay for my salad, but to my dismay, when I got to the cooler, the salads were all gone. By then lunch was over, and I ended up having a bag of doritos, possibly the most unhealthy gluten-free chips, and headed to my next class. My only solace was that there was only one more class, and then i could go home and get some food. A heads up to high school celiacs, don't rely on school lunch. It was frustrating that the school didn't have enough supply of salads. The salads were probably sitting in the cooler for days anyway. Thanks for reading! :)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Beginnings

Hi everyone! Well, no one yet. My name is Maddy, I'm 15 years old and I was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Celiac Disease is an inherited, autoimmune disease in which the lining of the small intestine is damaged from eating gluten and other proteins found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats. The developement of this has had a pretty big impact on my life. My school does not offer gluten-free meal choices and not all grocery stores carry gluten-free foods. Every time my friends want to go out to dinner, I need to make sure it's a restaurant with a gluten-free menu. In my research about Celiac Disease, I've found a lot of medical journal type stuff, and I haven't found something I can really relate to. My hope with this blog is that I can help give others teens trying to navigate the unfamiliar waters of the beginnings of celiac disease something to relate to. I hope you all are willing to take this journey with me. :)