What Do You Order At Restaurants?

[FlyGirl]

So, I have to travel again. Reasonable happiness is only achieved by staying dairy, soy and wheat free. Salads get a bit tedious in the end, particularly when driving across the upper midwest where it's usually iceberg and tasteless tomatoes.

What else do you order? A burger with no bun? Steak? Soup? Wendy's chili seems to be OK. It just seems that I end up eating too light (salad, no cheese, no processed meat) or too heavy (steak, fries, burgers).

Anyway, I'd appreciate some ideas on successful dining out options you have found...

Thanks!

[jnclelland]

So, I have to travel again. Reasonable happiness is only achieved by staying dairy, soy and wheat free. Salads get a bit tedious in the end, particularly when driving across the upper midwest where it's usually iceberg and tasteless tomatoes.

What else do you order? A burger with no bun? Steak? Soup? Wendy's chili seems to be OK. It just seems that I end up eating too light (salad, no cheese, no processed meat) or too heavy (steak, fries, burgers).

Anyway, I'd appreciate some ideas on successful dining out options you have found...

Thanks!

In a nutshell, I splurge. I go to restaurants that are nice enough to have a chef who can cook me a meal from scratch, and I get some variation on meat/rice or potatoes/vegetables. It's usually fairly plain, but it works. I've had good luck with this at seafood restuarants, and I've managed at Outback Steakhouse, and even Chinese restaurants. (It's actually easier to avoid gluten there if you're avoiding soy as well, since then they won't gluten you with soy sauce.) Any place with a clue about gluten-free is more likely to be able to deal with other food intolerances as well, so that's a good place to start.

Good luck!

Jeanne

[StrongerToday]

What about breakfast for dinner? Omlette and hashbrowns? Can you search for gluten-free restaurants in the areas you travel?

[babysteps]

I agree, aim for 'white tablecloth' restaurants and you can usually do well. Anyplace they make the food themselves from scratch is worth a try. If the bbq is more texas (dry rub only) or carolina style (vinegar sauce added after bbq'ing), that even works well! While not my first choice, if you can find the gluten-free friendly chains along your route, that could add variety.

Steakhouse strategies: if you will have a cooler, you can have steak for dinner but take 1/3 to 1/2 your portion "home" -- every steakhouse expects us to have leftovers anyway -- and eat it for lunch the next day or even dinner the next evening. Or if no cooler (or brown bagging it doesn't work with your itinerary), many steakhouses have a 'petite' filet (depending on the place, as small as 6oz and as large as 10oz) and if you ask will do half orders of those enormous sides. You can also consider having an appetizer (shrimp cocktail, although beware the sauce; carpacio, etc.) as your main course. A surprising number of steak houses have very good fish, and baked or pan sauteed is usually available and easy to make gluten-free (watch out for fried; in some cases grilled can be dicey but sometimes it's fine).

I also carry gluten-free snack bars wherever I go - and often a bag of nuts, and some rice crackers. That way I don't get too hungry if dinner idea #1 doesn't pan out.

Finally, a boiled egg is almost always safe for breakfast! Grits (make sure they haven't used any dairy), sausage and bacon (if you can read the label), etc. can all work in addition to eggs - my biggest challenge at breakfast at a restaurant is cc, use your best judgment depending on what you see (like the comments elsewhere that scrambled egg mix at some chains has a bit of pancake batter in it for 'texture' and 'moisture').

happy travels!

[ptkds]

We usually opt for the unmarinated grilled chicken breasts. Chilies will do this for you upon request. Or a baked potato. Maybe you can carry some dairy free spread or something.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

I do steamed or grilled vegetable, potatoes, rice, or salads, usually.

[Phyllis28]

You might consider limiting your eating our or not eating out at all. This is what I generally do on car trips. I pre-make dinners in advance and freeze them in single servings. I also bring along cold breakfast (gluten free bars, fruit, and cereal) and lunch fixings such as gluten free bread, PB & J, and gluten free lunch meat. I also bring along lots of snacks. I put everything that needs to be kept cold in a cooler. I refill the cooler each day with ice. I stay in a hotel with a kitchen which allows me to heat up dinner and prepare lunch before I leave for the day. Also, I find I need to also bring along sandwich bags, paper or plastic plates, bowls, flatware and papertowels.

Hope you have a nice trip.

[Juliebove]

In a restaurant, we get a plain hamburger patty or chopped sirloin. Sometimes a steak, if we can be sure they are made without butter. Sometimes chicken or pork chop if plain. The chili is often safe. Plain baked potato. Fruit.

For breakfast, home fries are usually safe. We have an egg allergy so that lets those out. Ham is usually out. And we can often get fruit. Daughter has a banana allergy so we have to watch for that in fruit cups.

When possible, I try to stop at the grocery store and get stuff we can eat on the road or in our motel/hotel. I've found more and more places have communal dining areas and you can bring your own food in there.

On our last cross country move, I saw a large family make a meal from corn tortillas, refried beans, shredded cheese and bagged salad. They used paper plates and the microwave and made tacos. Made me wish I had done that!

I always travel with cans of green beans and kidney beans. We don't mind eating them right out of the can, and they make a good snack. I also take nuts, fruit snacks, beef jerky (gluten-free) and small bags of chips. And other stuff for husband. He has no food allergies.

Now that I know of our food allergies, I would also get single serve bowls of cereal (I get them online at Minimus.biz) like Trix (for daughter, gluten is not an issue for me). We just eat them dry and that would be a breakfast for us if we had to have it, or a snack. I would get suitable cans of refried beans (some have soy) and suitable corn chips. This would make a quick lunch along the way. I would also take single serve packs of peanut and almond butter and single serve jellies.

I would supplement this with any fresh food I could find along the way. I once found a Walmart near our motel and bought lots of fresh veggies and fruit. I always travel with a can opener and can cut up most anything with a plastic knife. These days it's easier to find veggies and fruit already cut up and ready to eat. I would also pack stuff like Beanie Wienies, Vienna sausages and small packs of applesauce or canned fruit. Anything that can be eaten straight from the can. If I could manage to get a room with a microwave, I would probably seek out some canned chili or possibly a frozen meal we could eat. The frozen meal would be harder to come by though. If we had a fridge, I might try to buy some hummus.

I would also take along some bread type items for daughter and myself. I can't have eggs or dairy so it makes it tough to find regular bread I can eat. I would start out with one loaf though and hope I could find more along the way. For her, I would take 2 slice packs of Enger-G bread and boxes of crackers and bread sticks.

These days I have found more and more convenience stores selling healthy foods. You can sometimes get packages of lunch meat, small bags of nuts, and usually some kind of fruit. Usually apples or bananas.