New Member From Washington, Hi!

[KuKuKaChoo52]

Hello, I'm a 22 year old named Nolan from Washington. Been gluten-free for almost a year due to allergy that I found through my Naturopath. The other doctors couldn't figure out why my stomach hurt... Anyway, just like the idea of a help site from people similar to me who might have more time/care about helping and finally googled it. I'm excited to be here!

[mushroom]

Hello, and welcome. Kick your shoes off and make ourself at home. And anytime you want some help, sing out

[KuKuKaChoo52]

Haha thank you! Will do. Right now, I'm just trying to get the hang of things and browsing. There is lots of good stuff on here. I guess I'm just suprised how most of the stuff in the gluten-free section seems to be junk food. I can find all the cookies in the world, but I want healthy snacks lol... I'm doing all right, but just probably need to cook more. Still having trouble eating out, everytime I do I have a terrible reaction. I'm allergic to gluten and dairy and I tell people and most people don't even know what gluten is, so I just have a hard time letting myself go out to the torture of restaurant food anymore. Not sure what to do about that, because I still want to be social and go out with people. Any help on that subject?

[Jestgar]

It takes some time to get comfortable with going out. I found a few places I trust and only went there for the first couple years. Mexican is usually easy to assess, and Vietnamese is pretty gluten and dairy and soy free.

[KuKuKaChoo52]

Yeah I could imagine it does take time... I have got terribly sick from mexican and don't know what it could be. I ordered carne asada without the tortillas. So it was basically just the rice, meat and then full beans, because he said the refried beans had cheese sprinkled in already... Vietnamese might be worth a try.

[Jestgar]

At my fav mexican place I can't eat the fajitas presumably because there's either gluten in the sauce they marinate the meat in, or it's cooked on a grill with gluten foods. I get a burrito without the outside and that's fine.

[KuKuKaChoo52]

Oh, probably those 2 factors get me then... Just had a gluten free burger last night off the "gluten free" menu and feel horrible. Won't be eating out again very soon.

[lilu]

Hey Nolan! I'm in Los Angeles now, moved here from Redmond about a year ago, and missing Seattle VERY MUCH!!! When you go out, do you ask for the gluten-free menu? That might help (though certainly no guarantees! I know it's sacrilege up there, but you could try outback steakhouse. They have a pretty good gluten-free selection, just keep the bread away from the table. You might want to get some dining cards. You can get them in different languages, and when going to authentic places, like Vietnamese, etc, it can help when there are language barriers.

Re: Vietnamese and other far eastern foods... Soy sauce has gluten! Beware! Get yourself a bottle of tamari sauce (gluten-free soy) to take with. Teriyaki...probably not safe.

Microbrews, definitely off the list, unless you can find a local brewer w/ a gluten-free brew... There are a few out there.

The good news is coffee is gluten-free! So be a dear, run down to your local coffee hangout, and order me a grande soy half caf vanilla latte, OK? No one here even knows what that is!!!

Missing PNW! Hope all works out for you!