hsd1203

if you're in AZ you should check out picazzo's for pizza, and they used to carry bards tale before their brewery change, and may carry it again sometime in the future.

my apologies for hijacking this thread, but there is a health food store near pittsburgh - sunny bridge natural foods - no I don't work for them but I do love them... they have just about everything in a nice and convenient gluten-free aisle AND they give a 10% discount on gluten-free items to celiacs! however, I did make my second trip to trader joe's tonight and after spending forever the first time, this time was a relative breeze just grabbing the gluten-free stuff as I walked up and down the aisles (rereading labels, of course:)

so the point of this post for those outside of the 'burgh was break out your yellow pages and check out your local health food stores, you never know what you might find, or what you might be able to convince them to carry for you at a discount! (There is a little store in Georgetown, TX that has a punchcard discount, and one in Dover, NH that does it on special promo days only).

there is a short bit about this here: Open Original Shared Link

just thought I'd put up a reference to the idea that babies can have trouble with their oral motor skills and develop food/texture aversions if they don't learn to experience/manipulate food in their mouths in a certain time frame. it might be helpful to ask your pediatrician some more about this...

... and edited this to say that this is a really tough situation, so best wishes for you and your family with whatever you choose!

h

I've had good luck at the old library... they don't have a "gluten-free menu" but they know what I'm talking about when I say no wheat/flour. The hot bacon dressing on the spinach salad is excellent (w/o croutons, of course). I usually get the porkchop with a baked potato, but have had good luck with the steak (just have them check on the seasonings for you) and one time they even made me a flour-free version of the chicken with pesto sauce (they were really slow that night).

We've had such good luck there we really haven't tried other places... except beef and barrel once when I had a plain salad (no dressing) with plain beef on top (safe, but boring).

I've heard there is a smokey bones all the way in buffalo (and even a place that does gluten-free pizzas on wednesdays only, called the pizza plant - I've never been, but if you find yourself there it might be worth a try), and you can check the outback website... but I think the closest one is about 45 min away.

(oh, and tops sells tinkyada and a few other gluten-free things near the end of an aisle up in the front of the store, just ask someone to point you in the right direction!)

if you do a search for maui, this topic has come up once every few months for the past couple of years and there is a bunch of great (extra) info buried in there.

have a great trip, h

I did 2 of their events pre-dx... from what I remember, there is nothing provided that you'd be able to eat, BUT there were some people that had their families bring them food into the camp for dinner every night. You could probably pack breakfast stuff in your bags... lunch might be tricky on the walk during the day, but you could either bring a pack with you or have someone cheering you along the way bring some food too.

There are some ppl who question their operating costs for these events, but having done them, I think that they have been some of the most inspiring events of my life, so I think it would be worth figuring out the food issue.

best wishes, h

Does anyone know what grist's policy is about cross-contamination? Especially where it looks like that company brews a lot of gluteny beers? It makes me a little nervous to drink a beer that is made in the same place as one with lots of barley, unless they're cleaning very well, and even then....

btw, if bards ever does start making beer again, it was really, really good! (well, the non-exploding batches, anyway)

thanks

WHAT??? the vegetable broth has gluten??? how can they say that item is gluten-free then? hmmm. I was planning on eating there tomorrow night but now I'm not so sure...

Other good mail order brands are breads by anna www.glutenevolution.com, cause you're special (good biscuits and yellow cake) and 123 gluten free (yummy pancakes and brownies). Shipping isn't too bad and it'll save you a trip to austin, cause whole foods is pretty expensive and a lot of their bakery stuff is loaded with milk and soy, which can often cause issues for celiacs, too. If you're near georgetown, definately check out the herbery, they have a great selection of kinnikinnik breads, which are, in my opinion, a lot better than energ. I had a hard time shopping at TX walmarts, personally, but some HEB's even have gluten-free sections, and most have a good selection of minimally processed meats and such, like I know that there is at least one brand of chicken there (can't remember the name, sorry) that is ok due to having no extra broth or anything. Look on here for lists of the mainstream brands that you can buy... there may be more out there to eat than you think... just hang in there because there is a pretty big learning curve on this, but once you get the hang of it you'll be ok!

oh, also central market (also in austin, but part of HEB) does gluten-free grocery store tours a couple of times a month... you might want to find out if they have any plans to start doing this in their regular stores, it might give you some good new ideas.

heather

How about Kauai? Long flight from Boston but worth it if you can stay at least a week. I really recommend renting a condo or cottage and not risking cross contamination or gluten at every meal... plus, celiac or not, who wants to eat restaurant food 3 meals a day for a week anyway, ick. So my advice it to check out vrbo.com (vacation rental by owner)... it can save you a lot of $ and I've had 2 good experiences, one on Maui and one on Kauai, with them. The last one we stayed at had a bbq grill, which was great b/c my hubby did a lot of the "cooking" and you just can't beat fresh fish on the grill. yummy.

Happy vacation planning,

Heather

The featherlight is nice for some things, especially things that you would like to be on the lighter side, I use it for pie crust but not tea breads, for example, but if you want to stay away from corn, any of the corn-free mixes that she lists in her book will work with any of the recipes, with slightly different results, of course. Really the best way to do it is experiment with different mixes in different recipes and see what you and your family prefer... I know my mom, bro and I all use different flours for different things tailored to how we like them.

Heather

Kim,

When you're checking out at the herbery, just ask the person at the counter for a punch-card... they make a mark in it every time you spend $ there, I think it is one punch for every $25 (or maybe it was $15, I can't remember...) and when the card is full, you get a certain amount of $ off your next purchase (again, 15 or 25, just ask them and they'll explain it to you). They also have loads of supplements and stuff like that.

Mightymorg,

The people at the Austin meeting I went to were really nice, a mix of how and when people were diagnosed, too.

Try out the gluten-free cooking class at Central Market, it was cool, like a live cooking show, and you get to eat some of everything they make!

Also, products I've found in AZ that I never saw in TX but are worth mail ordering (in my opinion) manna by anna bread, if you don't want to have to go to wildwood every week to buy more , 123 gluten free brownies, and cause you're special biscuits and yellow cake. yummy.

Noelle,

Have a chicken salad for me, please!!! I miss wildwood, I used to go there at least once a week when we lived in Georgetown (and about once a month when we were in Killeen.)

Heather

Aren't they great there (the herbery)? They really need some better advertising, though, as they're a bit of a secret. Make sure you get one of their punch cards for frequent shoppers, $ off gluten-free food is always a nice thing! They will special order for you too if you have a request. Also, I really recommend a trip to Wild Wood for anyone in the area, I love their hamburger buns and Gluten-free Casein-free ding dongs... oh, I miss TX!!!

thanks everyone, that really helps!!!

his food is authority (we found it at petsmart) brand large breed puppy food. it does list natural flavors that I haven't checked on but it is the dog eating it, not me, and at least the first ingredient isn't wheat!!! not sure if any of the rest of their brands are gluten-free, but I'll be looking for a gluten-free adult food in a couple of months, so when I find one I'll post that.

I'd heard of giving dogs people food treats, goodness knows that I always have fruits and veggies around. I'll have to talk to my husband about it b/c he was pretty serious about not giving the dog any people food... but I think as long as the stuff we give him is good for him he'll be ok with it. hmm.

thanks again!

Heather

We are housetraining our new puppy and he loves to get treats for going outside... but I haven't been able to find ANY that are gluten-free and my hands are so raw from washing my hands every time I have to take him out and give him a treat (and he goes out a lot and I just know that every once in a while I'm forgetting to wash my hands and then eating something and, well, its a pretty silly reason to get sick).

So has anyone found any gluten-free dog treats that would be safe for me to handle? His food is gluten-free, which is great, but treats have been hard to find... I'll even mail order them if I have to!!

Thanks,

Heather

I stopped eating Amy's a while ago for this reason... I usually just assumed it was something else I'd gotten into or something like that, especially since it was pretty early on in my gluten-free life, but I really think I may be pretty sensitive, as I also have had issues with food and restaurants that others on here haven't.

Good for you for being so proactive and contacting them... I'm so glad they were so concerned and tested and everything... but an occasional accidental 30 ppm is just a little too much for me!

Dedicated facilities would be wonderful... but as this story highlights, unless they make EVERYTHING on site, from start to finish, there can always be that "other supplier" contamination. Sad.

Heather

I don't eat it very often, but the breads by anna one is very good. the texture is easily the best Ive come across for gluten-free breads and even my husband, who won't eat anything gluten-free, voluntarily ate a huge chunk the last time I made it. If you haven't tried it, I'd give it a shot.

H

oh, and just be sure to really oil and flour your pans well... it has a tendency to stick to the pan! happy baking!

I just moved from there or I would love to hang out... a few pieces of celiac advice from that area, though

1. go check out wild wood art cafe on bee caves... they are a bakery cafe that makes all sorts of gluten-free goodies... my favorite meal there was their tarragon chicken salad on a gluten-free hamburger bun with a gluten-free cf chocolate ding dong for dessert. they also have brunch with gluten-free french toast (on saturdays, I think) I miss Texas!

2. Check out the central market cooking class schedule... for 45 bucks or so you can go, get recipes and instructions for 3 or so meals to surprise and amaze you friends, and of course, sample every one and meet some cool celiac people... oh, and the knife skills class also is a gluten free menu!

3. if you ever find yourself in Georgetown (where I lived) Wildfire is a restaurant on the square that is pretty celiac friendly and very good. also there is a healthfood store in town there called the Herbery at 2411 williams that carries kinnikinik breads and such (mmm, donuts!).

4. whole foods is pretty good for staples like tinkyada pasta, Bobs red mill cereals and flours, and bake house muffins, and I bought bread about once a week at wild wood, but mail order is great, too... right now I'm loving 123 gluten free brownies and cause you're special cakes. mmm.

happy gluten-free living in Austin!

Heather

I tried this pizza out at their Scottsdale restaurant a few weeks ago... it is good, and it was really nice to go to a pizza place with friends and be able to eat something "safe."

Good points- It is a tasty rice crust... their toppings are great, and a non-gluten-free friend even had a couple of pieces. Waitstaff seemed pretty on the ball about the whole thing. It was good warmed up the next day as leftovers (it got a little crispier) so feel free to take some home to leave room for a gluten-free dessert (available at the restaurant) from the Aspire market. It is located across the parking lot, and is a super cool store/bakery that has everything gluten-free clearly labeled on their shelves (ie. anything gluten-free has a #5 listed on the tag, and dairy free is listed as D and so on... ). They're really nice and have a pretty wide selection of gluten-free stuff, a lot of which I've only ever seen mailorder before. I recommend a visit if you're ever in the area. (and no, I don't work there or anything, I just really appreciate places that put in this much effort.)

Other points- In my personal opinion (knowing that everyone has their own faves and dislikes, please take this with a grain of salt), this is a passable, if a little flat, and rather dense, rice crust that was not exactly what I'd had my hopes up for. Also, mine took a really long time to cook (my advice, order one of their yummy gluten-free appetizers to ease the wait) and then got soggy really quickly at the table.

Ah, well, at least things in the restaurant world are moving in the right direction! So hooray for picazzos for offering this service, and I'm sure I'll be back.

H

not sure if you already did a search but there is a thread from Feb of 2004 with some ideas (from me and some others) on maui, including names and addresses of health food stores and friendly restaurants.

my best advice, eat when it is not super busy... will leave your waitstaff and chefs time to take care of you (and not end up with a salad that has had the croutons picked off- happened to me on our last trip, argh!)

also, there is a safeway on maui and if you check their website you can get them to email you a list of all their gluten-free foods.

also, I went with my hubby to kauai this spring and I just brought extra lara and boomi bars (available at the health food stores if you want to buy them there) (nectar bars from clif are good too) and ate tons of really fresh yummy fruit and such... very nice.

have a great time!

Heather

you should try to see if you can find any gluten-free Bard's Tale beer... it is very good and seems like it is sold in many places all over NY state (lucky! none even close to my whole section of the country, but luckily I got to try it when I visited my parents)... go to www.bardsbeer.com and they have a "where's the beer?" link. Now, gin and tonics are good and all, but sometimes it's just nice to have a beer.

This happened to me too... I lost about 15 lbs, a lot for me (before was 130 at 5'4") and freaked out over the fact that I just couldn't seem to gain it back... well, about a year later I am in the mid 120's and have no trouble keeping it on . Really I just tried to listen to my body and ate really simple foods (none of the really complicated replacement foods) for several months and slowly I stopped losing and adding some back on. So if you think your diet is clear of any gluten and other foods you may be sensitive to, you can definately see a nutritionist (make sure that when you make your appointment you ask if the person is familiar with gluten-free diets or it could be a waste of your time) but my advice would be to be patient, its only been a few weeks, right? As my mom kept reminding me, it took me a while to get this sick, it will take a while to get better.

Don't you just hate that??? The last time it happened to me (at a restaurant where I'd asked tons of questions... but that's another story) it completely freaked my husband out as he caught a profile of me and my huge belly the next day while I was standing in the kitchen and he said "oh my, you're pregnant..." took him a little while to believe me that it was just the gluten. oh, what fun! I guess the only upside is that then I get to wear some of my "big" clothes for a couple of days

MMM... beer

I tried the bard's tale this weekend for the first time and it is so tasty! Now I just have to convince a distributor in my state to carry it.

h

I switched to Bare Escentuals too and love it! and it is expensive, but it lasts forever because you have to use so little of it (and actually the less you use the better it looks.)

I would recommend going to a local ulta or sephora, if you have one, and they'll doll you up with it so you can see how you like it for free... and I can almost guarantee you'll have someone compliment you that day on how good your skin looks (yes, I sound like I'm a sales rep or something, but I swear I'm not )

best wishes, heather