Restaurant Freak-outs

[Treen Bean]

I'm sort of new at this whole posting thing. But, I figured I would give it a try. My job forces me to travel and eat out for months at a time. This is particularly unfortunate since I can not eat gluten. I have come to know what I can eat at most restaurants. However, at times I am forced, due to lack of options, to eat at unfamiliar restaurants. In these situations I tend to panic. I get very nervous and edgy. I feel like I am on the verge of tears. I have Triumph Dining Cards, but I still panic. It is an awful feeling no one understands. Even worse is when I go into a restaurant and try to order something I know is gluten free and it is no longer on the menu! I have literally broken down in tears when the one salad dressing I could eat at a particular restaurant was discontinued! (It was very embarrassing...)

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to better deal with this? I am getting ready to head back out on the road for 8 months and an dreading it. I could use some suggestions for making my travels easier.

God Bless,

Treen Bean

[Janessa]

I understand that feeling. Have you tried carrying around with you the single serving size salad dressing and soy sauces. That way you know you have a back up if a place doesn't have a safe salad dressing. Also If you can hit the grocery stores in whatever town your in and get some things that you can eat so you can avoid restaurants for some meals.

And carry around lots for snacks in case you have trouble finding a good meal, like lara bars, fruit, nuts and seeds

[Phyllis28]

I only travel one week at a time to the same place. I stay at a hotel with a small kitchen. This allows me to prepare my own food. Take along a soft sided lunch box and blue ice ( I like the mats). In addition to food I buy or bring plastic flatware, paper plates and bowels, paper cups, ziploc bags ( sandwich and gallon) and one container with a lid large enough for a good sized salad. I like the Gladware. I also pack a flexible cutting board and a good sharp knife (yes , I have to check my bags)

The other thing I do is research the area and find places (WholeFoods or health food stores) that sell specialty gluten free food. Usually the store with the specialty gluten free food sell fresh fruit, milk, eggs and vegetables.

Do you return home on the weekends? If so, you can premake and freeze single meals. I use fliptop containers I buy at the Container Store. I pack them in a small soft sided can cooler (also from the Container Store) and wrap them in blue ice. The food is still frozen after 6 hours. Acess to a microwave is necessary to do this. Also, I bring along my own salad dressing (2/3 rds Sunflower Oil, 1/3 plain rice vinegar, ground oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I put it in a leak proof bottle (yes, the Container Store again). It does not need to be kept cold.

Hope everything goes well.

[Juliebove]

I have made several cross country moves. I didn't know of the food allergies at the time, but I was diabetic so limited as to what I could eat. I always try to take food with me. And when I get to my destination for the night, I look for places where I can buy simple foods like fruit, vegetables and cheese and nuts. If you don't have to eat in a restaurant, it can be much easier.

[missy'smom]

minimus.biz sells travel sizes of stuff, like salad dressings, not all are gluten-free, but some are. You may have to look some up on the individual product's website.

I currently travel once a week to a town an hour away that I am unfamiliar with. Recently someone tipped me off to mapquest the town and click on restaurants. It took time, because there are VERY few chains in the town and alot of mom and pop places, but I went through the list and eliminated some right off the bat, in part because they were the type of place likely to have gluteny stuff. Some had websites so I looked them up and checked the menu for options that might work and e-mailed them with info and questions about those dishes.

I print out gluten-free menus from the chain rest. websites or reg menus of places that work and keep them in a folder and take with me when we are on the road.

I nearly cried, early on in the diet when I sent back a dish 3 times and it still came out unsafe and my family had eaten their meals in the meantime and I had been SO starving when we walked in the door and ended up leaving and going home and cooking a meal for myself. Hang in there. You'll learn your way around it and it'll get better. I still feel nervous in new places but doing my homework ahead of time, even if it is a pain, really helps.

Automatic rice cookers are very portable, if you travel on the roads. Tastybite meals not too expensive, are shelf stable and include a rice and a curry and a container to microwave them in.

Look for Whole Foods Markets where you go. They sell microwaveable gluten-free meals and have a place to sit and a microwave to use.

[Juliebove]

minimus.biz sells travel sizes of stuff, like salad dressings, not all are gluten-free, but some are. You may have to look some up on the individual product's website.

I currently travel once a week to a town an hour away that I am unfamiliar with. Recently someone tipped me off to mapquest the town and click on restaurants. It took time, because there are VERY few chains in the town and alot of mom and pop places, but I went through the list and eliminated some right off the bat, in part because they were the type of place likely to have gluteny stuff. Some had websites so I looked them up and checked the menu for options that might work and e-mailed them with info and questions about those dishes.

I print out gluten-free menus from the chain rest. websites or reg menus of places that work and keep them in a folder and take with me when we are on the road.

I nearly cried, early on in the diet when I sent back a dish 3 times and it still came out unsafe and my family had eaten their meals in the meantime and I had been SO starving when we walked in the door and ended up leaving and going home and cooking a meal for myself. Hang in there. You'll learn your way around it and it'll get better. I still feel nervous in new places but doing my homework ahead of time, even if it is a pain, really helps.

Automatic rice cookers are very portable, if you travel on the roads. Tastybite meals not too expensive, are shelf stable and include a rice and a curry and a container to microwave them in.

Look for Whole Foods Markets where you go. They sell microwaveable gluten-free meals and have a place to sit and a microwave to use.

I LOVE minimus. We can't get their salad dressings because they all seem to have soy and daughter has a soy allergy. But we do get bowls of Trix cereal, single serve hummus, and several kinds of little meats. They also have cheeses, but we're allergic.

A couple of things we always travel with are single serve size cans of green beans and kidney beans. We love to eat them for snacks.

[Treen Bean]

Thank you for all the helpful tips. I was especially excited about the minimus website!

The difficulty I face is I do not have access to a refrigerator and only sometimes to a microwave. I travel for 8 months straight. I never go home the entire time. Also, I am rarely in a city for longer than 2 days. It is a rather hectic schedule.

Treen Bean

[Juliebove]

Thank you for all the helpful tips. I was especially excited about the minimus website!

The difficulty I face is I do not have access to a refrigerator and only sometimes to a microwave. I travel for 8 months straight. I never go home the entire time. Also, I am rarely in a city for longer than 2 days. It is a rather hectic schedule.

Treen Bean

Where do you stay? These days most all hotels and motels have refrigerators, but sometimes you need to ask. If you are driving, then perhaps you could buy one of those portable mini fridges that plugs into your car cigarette lighter. They're better than nothing.

[Phyllis28]

Are flying or driving? Can you choose your own accomodations? Juliebove is correct that many hotels/motels have refrigerators and microwaves in the room. When I travel I do not stay with my co-workers. I have made it clear to my employer that I need access to a kitchen to maintain my health. This means I always have a rental car instead of sharing one. This is offset by my food and hotel bill being significantly less.

[Treen Bean]

I have to travel by bus with the group. I also have to stay in the same hotel as everyone else. Some hotels have refrigerators, but most do not. Also, en route to the hotels would mean 8+ hours of unrefrigerated food. There is not room for a small refrigerator or cooler on the bus, or a place to plug one in.

Mainly I am worried about losing all the weight I worked so hard to put on. It seems like as soon as I stop eating my homemade bread, pasta, etc... I immediately start dropping weight. I am barely over 100 lbs. as it is.

Treen Bean

[JNBunnie1]

I have to travel by bus with the group. I also have to stay in the same hotel as everyone else. Some hotels have refrigerators, but most do not. Also, en route to the hotels would mean 8+ hours of unrefrigerated food. There is not room for a small refrigerator or cooler on the bus, or a place to plug one in.

Mainly I am worried about losing all the weight I worked so hard to put on. It seems like as soon as I stop eating my homemade bread, pasta, etc... I immediately start dropping weight. I am barely over 100 lbs. as it is.

Treen Bean

This might be kinda nosy, but what on earth do you do for a living?

[missy'smom]

Can you bring your gluten-free pasta with you and ask the restaurants to cook it for you(explaining to them how to do it). Bring a supply of gluten-free crackers, chips etc. A pain, I know, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I'm thin like you and struggling with keeping my weight on right now too. When I back off the breads etc, mine just drops off so fast too.

[Treen Bean]

This might be kinda nosy, but what on earth do you do for a living?

It's fine.. I travel with touring Broadway shows.

[Phyllis28]

I'd be tempted to follow the bus in an RV, bringing my own kitchen with me. I doubt this is realistic, you would have to do the driving and gas is expensive (This doesn't even take into account the cost of the RV)

Below are some other ideas that actually may work:

If you know the hotels you are staying in in advance, contact them by e-mail and ask if a refrigerator and a mircowave can be made available to you. It does not need to be in your room. It could be the one in the employee break room. This would allow you to keep food cold and refreeze the blue ice.

Look at the Container Store website or visit a store if one is close. They have all sizes of soft sided lunch/can coolers. Most are a size that would be practical to pack a lunch (not too big). (www.thecontainerstore.com) I pack the 9 can cooler in my suitcase with the food wrapped in blue ice. I do need to expand the suitcase. A small one should fit in a large purse or small backpack. I have put ice from the ice machine is a double ziplock bag to keep food cold when necessary. You can not put ice directly into these.

I have traveled with only a small insulated lunch box. I had my non persiable food in my suitcase and stopped by the grocery store everyday for individual items such as box juice, fruit, cheese and yogurt. A loaf of rice bread will last 3 to five days depending on the temperature (longer in a cooler). I bring along a small jar of peanut butter and jelly. No refrigeration required You will need a knife and sandwich bags though.

Are all the seats on the bus full? Can a cooler sit in an empty seat? If so, ask if you can bring a small cooler in order to maintain your health. We have a small hard sided cooler that we use for day trips. You can find one at a sporting goods store. At the hotel I refill it with ice from the hotel ice machine.

Contact the local celiac support group in the places you will be staying in advance and ask if someone might be willing to drive you to a store that carries specialty gluten free foods so you can keep food on hand. PM me if you will be in Southern, CA (including the cities and dates) and I will be happy to help you if you are staying within driving distance and my employer hasn't sent me out of town.

Check with the hotels you will be staying at and ask if they would be willing to accept a package for you. You can order non perishable food online and have it shipped to the hotel or you could buy it all in advance and have someone mail it to you. I would suggest using next day air delivery to make sure the food gets to the hotel before or when you do.

This link Open Original Shared Link will take you to a place that sells gluten free MREs. I have not tried them.

Hope all works out well for you.

[Phyllis28]

It's fine.. I travel with touring Broadway shows.

If what you do can be done with permanent Broadway shows, in movies or TV you might want to think about locating work in L.A., New York or Las Vegas.

[JNBunnie1]

If what you do can be done with permanent Broadway shows, in movies or TV you might want to think about locating work in L.A., New York or Las Vegas.

I agree. Once you're done with this (obviously you're committed) I would try to and find work that's stationary.

My only suggestion would be to buy a bunch of those single-serve rice thingys that are precooked and bring raisins and milk for morning cereal, warm, and chili and other dinner-like toppings for dinners. And I would get the itinerary and plan for all the Trader Joe's and Whole Foods on the way so you can restock these things.