California?

[DingoGirl]

I am new to this site.....any celiacs in central California? Would love to hear from you. Also would like to know about restaurants.....can we EVER eat mexican food again???

[Rachel--24]

Hi where are you in central California? I live in Manteca (near Stockton/Modesto) but spend the majority of my time in the Bay Area cuz of friends/family and work.

Welcome to the board.

[DingoGirl]

Hey! I am in Fresno, RIGHT in the center of the state. Can't remember how far Manteca is, seems to me it's about a two-hour drive? I don't spend much time in the Bay area, used to, but not too much now. Oh, I am a little daunted by the thought of travel now....just diagnosed four days ago, what would I eat???

[Rachel--24]

Oh, I am a little daunted by the thought of travel now....just diagnosed four days ago, what would I eat???

Awww...don't feel bad. I'm gluten free for several months now and still dont know what to eat.

If you dont have other intolerances the diet is fairly easy (for me it was anyways). I got alot of other problems so its basically just meat and veggies for me right now....and yeah...no traveling.

Theres so much you can eat thats gluten free though. Seriously, theres a store here in the Bay Area thats got everything gluten free. Its great. Whole Foods has alot of stuff. You'll learn alot from this board. My regular grocery store hyas a big gluten free section...I never even realized it was there until I looked for gluten-free stuff. You'll be surprised at all you can eat. Its not that bad.

[dlp252]

I'm near San Jose. I'm with you on the not knowing what to eat. I'm going to Disneyland in about a week and a half and am terrified even though I hear it's one of the better places to eat if you have special dietary needs, lol.

[pturse]

Seriously, theres a store here in the Bay Area thats got everything gluten free. Its great. Whole Foods has alot of stuff. You'll learn alot from this board. My regular grocery store hyas a big gluten free section...I never even realized it was there until I looked for gluten-free stuff. You'll be surprised at all you can eat. Its not that bad.

I am from Sacramento. Not far from the Bay Area. I am curious what store you are talking about. I agree, Whole Foods is great but also expensive (friends have nick named it Whole Paycheck).

Thanks!

[Mango04]

I'm near San Jose. I'm with you on the not knowing what to eat. I'm going to Disneyland in about a week and a half and am terrified even though I hear it's one of the better places to eat if you have special dietary needs, lol.

Have you ever seen this? - Guidelines to Eating gluten-free at Disneyland

Open Original Shared Link

It says some of the places there carry Kinnikinnik bread. Crazy!

[Rachel--24]

I am from Sacramento. Not far from the Bay Area. I am curious what store you are talking about. I agree, Whole Foods is great but also expensive (friends have nick named it Whole Paycheck).

Thanks!

Its a little health store in Cupertino. Its called Cupertino Nutrition. They carry alot of supplements but also the biggest selection of gluten-free foods I've seen in one place. Thats how I found out about them. They have a huge sign that reads "Biggest selection of gluten-free products in the Bay Area".

[pturse]

Thanks! I might have to check it out some time. Davis has something similar though it has more "supplements" then food.

Thanks for the info!

[dlp252]

Have you ever seen this? - Guidelines to Eating gluten-free at Disneyland

Open Original Shared Link

It says some of the places there carry Kinnikinnik bread. Crazy!

Wow, thanks for the link...it has some great information!

Cupertino Nutrition is WONDERFUL...they are so helpful and they did indeed have a great selection.

Pturse - I've had one of the Whole Foods employees joke about Whole Paycheck, so something tells me they've heard that before.

[pturse]

That's funny that they know!

Hey Cupertino Nutrition has a website!

www.cupertinonutrition.com

Nice!

[Guest Tish]

Hello I Live in Northern California and have been a "CELIAC" for about 4 years now and most of what I have learned has been trial and error and products especially the last two years have really turned around.

I loved to travel to the bay area because there is alot more to choose from but I all these products are spendy and there is nothing worse than buying products but not able to eat them so my word of advice for you is check out this site first before shopping. They rate all the products and I have found it to be a great indicator when purchasing products such as bread, snacks and so forth. Now if you order from them there is shipping and handeling where I have found a few times I have ordered to check it out such as LARABAR's and once I tasted it I was on the hunt where I just recently found these bars close to home and cheaper..

Open Original Shared Link

Also a year ago I broke down and purchase a gluten free dining guide which I have used several times.

I hope this information helps.

Good Luck

Pat Embury

[CMCM]

Hi....I'm in Nevada City (in the foothills, between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe). I went to graduate school in Fresno, so I know the area (we lived in Clovis) ! Hang in there....I think it will get easier. I'm feeling overwhelmed right now too, but I have my mom as an example...and she learned to live with celiac quite well, all alone, with no support group at all. So if she could do it, so can we all!

[ruddabega]

Hey! I'm from Central California, Dixon near Sacramento. And, yes, we can eat Mexican food. Thank God for corn tortillas. The only real Celiac store is in Davis, CA and it's called the Natural Food Works. Lots of gluten-free stuff.

Let me know where exactly you are!

Camila

[flagbabyds]

I'm is Stanford, (Palo Alto) and I have been gluten free all my life. I would say that you should join the Yahoo group BayAreaCeliacs, it is a lot of help. I run the Bay Area ROCK group with my mom and other people around us. If you want to come to San Jose Area Maggianos is Santana Row best place it is Italian food, and they make gluten-free pizza and have Tinkyada pasta always there, just call ahead and make sure they know that you are gluten-free and they will make sure to have supplies. There are many other places in this area, e-mail me and I can tell you more places, but the celicbayarea is really the best place to start for places to eat out.

e-mail me and I can help more, celiacmolly08@mac.com

[gf4life]

I'm in Fresno County about an hour out of Fresno, but I come to Fresno a lot for shopping/doctor appointments, etc.

Have you been to the new PF Changs yet! It is awesome. They have a gluten free menu and ALL the staff knows about gluten free! The first time I had chinese food in over 2 years.

We also eat at Mimi's Cafe, In-n-Out, El Pollo Loco (chicken only), we used to eat at Boston Market, but they are renovating their menu and we are now waiting to see what is going to still be on the menu that will be safe for us. There are some items at the Elephant Bar and I'm sure there are other places I am not thinking of right now. As for mexican, my kids don't like it enough for us to bother trying to get gluten free Mexican food...

Let me know if you ever want to try to get together for a gluten-free lunch or something. There used to be a Fresno Celiac group that met once a month, but I think it sort of fell apart. I never made it there because it was on a weeknight and my kids are young...

God bless,

Mariann

[corinne]

I'm moving to San Luis Obispo in July for work. Montana is beautiful but I can't wait for the warmer weather (it was 30 below a week ago) and for better food shopping. The closest town big enough to carry a good selection of gluten free foods is 300 miles. I love internet shopping.

[Mindy35]

Hi I am in Lodi, California. I have been gluten free for about two months now. It is getting easier but I still make mistakes. I had some potatoes from Safeway today and realized they had a seasoning on them. I checked on the website and found out that they were made with wheat flour. Oh well I am still learning.

[ruddabega]

pturse--

Do you live near Davis, CA? Have you heard of Natural Food Works? I shop at the Davis Food Co-Op, do you?

I am from Sacramento. Not far from the Bay Area. I am curious what store you are talking about. I agree, Whole Foods is great but also expensive (friends have nick named it Whole Paycheck).

Thanks!

Oh, I see, you're from Sac. I'm from Dixon. Do you go to the Celiac support group? I haven't gone yet, but I think I should. I would reccommend Trader Joes for shopping... their Thai Kitchen stuff is excellent. I like rice/soy noodles, and the Food For Life Rice bread is really good. If you go to the support group, let me know.

[munchkinette]

I'm in San Francisco. I've been shopping at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Rainbow Grocery.

As far as Mexican food goes, it seems like all the things you need to worry about only apply to Americanized chains. We have tons of authentic taquerias and Mexican markets in SF. I've made lots of Mexican food from scratch before with ingredients from these stores. You have to worry about cross-contamination from the grill in taquerias, but soy sauce (in the marinade) isn't in real Mexican food. Aside from flour tortillas there just shouldn't be any wheat in real Mexican food. A lot of real taquerias make their stuff from scratch every day. The grilled/asada stuff *might* have something to give it that bbq flavor, but the stewed meats definitely don't have wheat if they are made the authentic way. You can totally make stuff yourself! Mexican markets are all over California.

[pturse]

Hi....I'm in Nevada City (in the foothills, between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe). I went to graduate school in Fresno, so I know the area (we lived in Clovis) ! Hang in there....I think it will get easier. I'm feeling overwhelmed right now too, but I have my mom as an example...and she learned to live with celiac quite well, all alone, with no support group at all. So if she could do it, so can we all!

Hey, I am from Sacramento and I competed in the Celebration of Life Triathlon last September at Scott's Flat lake. My friend's family lives & owns an art shop there too. Nevada City is a great little town. I wasn't following the diet when I was there but you seem to have quite a few restaurants (that vegetrian healthy one in particular) that might cater to you if you asked.

Nevada City was great. We stayed over night and had a great time.

[CMCM]

Hey, I am from Sacramento and I competed in the Celebration of Life Triathlon last September at Scott's Flat lake. My friend's family lives & owns an art shop there too. Nevada City is a great little town. I wasn't following the diet when I was there but you seem to have quite a few restaurants (that vegetrian healthy one in particular) that might cater to you if you asked.

Nevada City was great. We stayed over night and had a great time.

I actually find a lot of gluten-free items up here. We have two health food stores that stock various items, and I've even found a few specifically gluten-free foods in our local market. And the health food stores are very accommodating...they say as soon as I get a list of requested items they'll see what they can get. They say there are a fair number of celiacs up here who look for things.

[luvsports486]

I found a pretty good selection of gluten free products (at a reasonable cost) at Elliot Foods in Sacramento. It is across from Country Club. I was pretty excited about some of the foods.

[CMCM]

I found a pretty good selection of gluten free products (at a reasonable cost) at Elliot Foods in Sacramento. It is across from Country Club. I was pretty excited about some of the foods.

My mom goes there. I also found a fair number of items at Sunrise Natural Foods in Sacto...can't remember exactly where it was. That store had a bit more than the Sunrise in Auburn.

[pturse]

Wow. Thanks for the tips about Elliots and Sunrise! I will have to check those out. Next time I am in Nevada City I will check out some of the stores up there as well.