British Columbia

[ROYAL BLUE]

Is anyone out there from BC?

[jeanbrigedav]

Hello - I am from B.C. I live in Surrey about 40 minutes from Vancouver. Only definitely diagnosed in October 2003 but as with many celiacs have been celiac all my life

[ROYAL BLUE]

I live up north, a few hours from Prince George. My son is the one who is Celiac, diagnosed in October. Your lucky to live on the lower mainland, at least you have places to buy food.

I like this message board, but find that alot of the gluten-free food info does not help much because most of the info, I believe pertains to Americans consumers.

Do you know of any brands of Worcestershire sauce that are gluten-free? The only store we have in my town is Super Valu, they sell pretty much only No Name and PC products which really sucks.

[Mocalder]

Hi I've just found this message board, I also live in Surrey B.C and was diagnosed in Oct 2002. I'm still adjusting to this new regime, the thing I miss the most is a nice fresh warm bread roll, with ham and cheese!!! and also a nice cold beer in the summer! Do you have any recommendations on restaurants in this area, I enjoy going out to eat, but am wary of the knowledge of this disease by restaurant staff, have had a couple of bad experiences! The best sompany for gluten-free bread and goodies is Kinnikinnik, from Alberta, I know SavOn foods carries some, and also some Safeways stores, but you have to ask, as its well hidden!!They also have a website, and will mail out orders! I also have had episodes of DH when I've ingested Gluten, thats not fun!! Looking forward to sharing the hints xx

[fraggle]

all you folks who live in Surrey their is a wonderful gluten free bakery in Vancouver called Panno Rizo. They are fabulous and will send stuff out to Surrey if you order it. They have gluten free sausages, homemade pot pies, pie, cakes, pizza, lasagna, you name it. Everything is fresh and not cardboard tasting.

They are in the book and you can probably find them on the net.

I haven't been there in a long time since I live in Summerland.

[Guest Libbyk]

mocalder-

I know you are a ways away, but if you ever go down into washington, there is a restraunt that would bring tears to your eyes. It is at exit 177, a little north of seattle, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours south of you. It is called kaili's, or wheatless in seattle and ENTIRELY gluten-free. the dinner rolls are unbelievable.

Lib

[Thomas]

Thanks

[KarenCM]

I am from Surrey too! I haven't even been gluten free a month but I feel so much better already. I have more energy and I am eating more which is great. November 9, 2004 I had a positive biopsy. At first I was having trouble finding foods but now my collection of gluten free foods has gotten bigger. Safeway, SaveOn Foods, Organic Grocer and Natural Focus have been helpful in finding gluten free foods. Just the other day I found gluten free Chicken Stock and Vegetable Stock at SaveOn and it was the highlight of my day. I was missing having Campbell's Soup for lunch so I tried making my own soup once I got the stock and it was okay (I used Bette Hagman's recipe for creamed soups). Would love to hear about anyone's experiences with restaurants in the area. I haven't eaten out yet.

Karen

[sonia74]

i live in burnaby, b.c. the places i chop are at:

Natural Focus foods in kensington plaza

-save on foods

-safeway has kinikikk mixes on special for clearance ( i think they will discontinue it soon)

-Good nature health foods in westview plaza

Anyone who travels to seattle- great place i just went and all canadians will be amazed at the major gluten-free foods they have- something like a choices but large like costco WHOLE FOODS off of 171st exit on hwy 99.

i have the directions of anyone wants pm me -i was in shock my 18 month will have foods to try now.

[Guest Leidenschaft]

My mother is in the Slocan Valley, (southern interior) she's been gluten-free for about 16 years now! Boogles my brain, I only have one year in!

Mom travels a fair bit throughout the province, I'll have to introduce this board to her, she can share all the good (safe) places to eat!

[KarenCM]

I would love to hear your Mom's experiences especially with her being gluten free for 16 years. Today will be my first time eating out at a Restaurant since being diagnosed I am excited but of course a little nervous as well. I am in Victoria visiting so we made reservations at a restaurant a few days ago and let them know and they said that they are used to dealing with cross contamination issues. Yesterday I found two great stores...The first one that i went to was Planet Organic and the second one Lifestyle Market. I couldn't believe it when I was in Lifestyle Market how much choice that I had. I bought three different boxes of cereal and 2 packages of cookies. When I have been out shopping before there hasn't been as much choice for me. I will report back later after eating dinner at the restaurant.

Karen

[Guest Leidenschaft]

Hi Karen, by now you've had your meal! Hope it was a good one , where did you go? I lived in Victoria for the better part of twelve years, however I did not go gluten-free until moving to New Brunswick so I didn't learn what was safe there.

I know one thing that has made a huge difference for me when travelling is my gluten-free Survival Kit! I also made one for my Mom and she has since sent the idea on to everyone she knows who is Celiac. She was amazed at the simplicity of the idea and surprised that nobody she knew had thought of it previously! I guess maybe it just took some fresh perspective AND a LOVE of food!

Anyway the survival kit quite simply consists of a roomy lunch box/bag/kit, whatever you prefer, and a wide variety of McCormicks seasonings!

Most of the seasonings in my kit I have purchased in the US, I'm close to Maine and travel there a few times per year. I also have a great friend in Mass. who comes up almost monthly! Anyway, the main reason I get mine in the US, is that I cannot find many of the seasoning combinations in Canada, also the US packaging is small plastic shake bottles, which are less likely to break during travel. I do have a couple of the new glass bottle grinders for fresh ground pepper, sea salt and my new favorite for ANY type of potatoe is the Garlic Pepper blend. So far I haven't been able to find that one in Canada, however I am going to take the empty bottle to my grocer to see if they can order it.

My kit includes Chicken Seasoning, Steak Seasoning, "It's a Dilly" which is a garlic, lemon and dill combo, awesome on fish!!! I have cajun seasoning, and various other flavours for grilled or BBQ meats, Mesquite, and so on. After I put my kit together I got many of these same seasonings for my kitchen at home. I know they are gluten-free and they make my menu choices SOOOO much easier!

I found that when ordering at many restaurants, I had to specify that since I can not have the bread, could I please have extra veggies or a salad? I have gone home hungry on a few occasions, due to kitchens not thinking about the lack of food on my plate. I have also found that many "chain" restaurants don't necessarily have a complete list of ingredients since many of the foods they offer are mass produced for that chain. Much of their meats are preseasoned and not safe for us. I prefer to find establishements that are local and get their meats from local sources. A few "chain" restaurants that I've had great experience with while travelling in the US are The Cracker Barrel and The Texas Roadhouse! The Roadhouse in particular has so many options, and after a week of eating Baked Potato I was thrilled to find Baked SWEET Potato as an option (actually it was a Yam!) It was a wonderful change! I find my safest meat choices are a steak, chicken breast or fish. Desert is extremely limited! I did enjoy a wonderful homemade Chocolate Mousse at a homestyle place in Mass.! Usually I just treat myself to Bailey's in my after dinner coffee!

Another menu choice you may not think of, is Nachos! We have a Keystone Kelly's in town that serves up a mean Chicken Nachos! When they brought out the seasoning bottle for the chicken, I recognized it immediatlely as what I use at home! Montreal Chicken Seasoning!

Anyway, now I'm rambling... just trying to let you know that you can still get some tasty treats outside your home even being gluten-free! Make yourself a survival kit and keep it in your car! I made a little sign that I've attached to mine that says "This Celiac Survival Kit contains Gluten Free Seasoings. If found please phone: your name and number! I put my cell number on it, because likely if a waiter is going to find you've left it behind, you're not at home yet!

I will be chatting with Mom this week and will encourage her to get on board!

Good Luck!

[KarenCM]

The restaurant was a german restaurant called the Rathskeller. We went at 4pm so it was nice that it wasn't busy. The waitress was very good and checked the ingredients for me. I had the bratwurst which came with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots. Unfortunately I couldn't have the gravy. I missed the spaetzels more though. The meal was good and I didn't have a reaction from it which is even better.

Karen

[Guest Viola]

Hello Karen; I'm Tammy's mother here in the Slocan Valley near Nelson and Castlegar. I'm a real Newbie at this forum, but an old hand at gluten free.

One thing I've learned over the years is ... we are so thrilled at finding a new product, and especially those of us that live a long way from town tend to buy two or three boxes without trying them. Sometimes we are thrilled with the product and it was a good buy, but other times we are stuck with so much of a product (new cookies or cereal) that isn't very good. Careful! It can run into a big expensive disappointment.

We have educated our 'Save on Foods' here in Nelson to the point where Celiacs are traveling from Trail, Fruitvale and Castlegar to get the gluten free items. They even bring in Christmas cake and Maple dipped donuts for us I started working with Ed when it was still Overwaitea. He really was super!

Restaurants can be tricky. We have found several good ones all over B.C. but you need to check and make sure the management and kitchen staff haven't changed drastically. I've even had the chef come and sit with us and explain exactly what was in his soup! It was wonderful to have a hot bowl of soup on a freezing day in Hudson Hope! Everything was freshly made including the broth and fresh ground pepper.

[KarenCM]

SaveOn Foods is great especially when they have a sale on. Recently there was a sale on Tinkyada rice pasta. So, I bought 6 bags of the brown rice spirals which is perfect for baked macaroni.

Karen