mzcippy

I have to post this because I was so thankful to the manager at the Hard Rock Cafe in Philly. My 13 yr old son's class was planning a trip to philly and lunch at the hard rock and dinner at a food court. You can imagine my stress.

I called the Hard rock and yes not much to choose from-the veggies ok, steak ok, but the loaded mashed potatoes-no good and fries which are in their own oil was sprinkled w/ "seasoning" that was no good. The manager asked what he could eat and he went a got a baked potato on the day my son was expected , had it cooked for my son when the class arrived. The staff was wonderful as well. Teachers and chaperones all said the staff was great.

I wanted to pass this along because when someone tries to help I am so greatful, I have gotten so many mixed responses this past year, but mostly positive in alot of restaurants.

We have been to the Hard Rock NYC, Philly, Orlando and a few others I can't remember, for us it is always good. Expecially the NYC one, which is close to home for us. So far the Philly and NYC one were very accomodating.....yes no gluten free menu but the managers have been helpful and my son is able to eat. When going to restaurants, even w/ "gluten free" menus- it always seems to be the same, steak and potatoes w/ a steamed veggie. All the menus do is tell us if they don't put stuff on the already gluten free foods. My son is happy with the steak combo but that might not last long, I have only found TRUE GLUTEN FREE menus w/ gluten free pastas, pizza ect. at a very limited amount of places. I can't wait for the day for more places to step up. I am having a hard enough time w/ our local pizza place to carry "riding high" pizza.

I have found the triumph dining cards a huge help, expecially when in quebec the french one helped a ton!! We travel alot for my sons hockey and I could tell you about all kinds of chains that have been horrible or good. -good luck!

There are lots of different mixes available. I'm not sure about the CC with the old machine... not sure I would take the chance... does the dough touch anywhere except the pan? Is it possible that flour dropped anywhere in the machine except in the pan? Anyway I have had pretty good luck with my Zojirushi and mixes by Gluten-Free Pantry. You will find that the bread is fabulous when it is fresh (a little crumbly) keep farely well if you freeze it and makes better toast than bread. (I eat it as toast with eggs and have yet to try grilled cheese or a toasted sandwich but I think it will work well.) You can also find gluten free bread in the freezer section of some specialty stores that is pretty good too... again I have only toasted it, since I am not much of a sandwich lover anyway. That brand is kinnikinnick. Also Namaste makes my favorite waffel / pancake mix. Pamela's makes fantastic chocolate chunk cookies. I could go on and on with my finds so if you are looking for something in particular, let me know. Good luck, it has been less than a year for me, I am afraid I will be going through the same thing you are in the future when I have children. Beth

I ended up buying a Zojirushi and love it, I did not want to take a chance w/ cc. I used a french bread mix, alot went uneating-since it is only my son, but I used the rest for bread crumbs for meatballs and they came out great!! thanks

Yes, there is. Triumph Dining Card are a series of laminated cards in several different languages. They are running a promotion currently. You can find it at www.triumphdining.com.

I have used mine frequently and I highly recommend them.

PM me and I will send you their promotional information.

Thanks! however how do I PM you? LOL

i know, right? it definitely seems like the family owned places are the better option. they cook like they're in your kitchen after just going food shopping as opposed to the processed and injected-with-who-knows-what foods at the chain restaurants.

thankfully my dinner last night was great and our server was wonderful. She even joked that she'd leave the bread basket at the other end of the table Makes me appreciate what i can just cook at home though. i got plain chicken and potatos when everyone else was digging in to pizza and lasagna. i can't say i wasn't drooling at the sight of their plates.

I have to say I made meatballs for the first time today- I used gluten-free bread crumbs I made from bread I made last week that my son really did not eat. (my bread machine is awesome!) They came out great!! I am planning on using the left over meatballs w/ gluten-free lasagna noodles and make lasagna for my son ( in italy they use meatballs instead of a regular meat sauce-it makes a heavy lasagna but omg!) I am hoping it comes out as good as our "before gluten-free" lasagna.

I also found a list of great italian restaurants around here (NY) w/ gluten-free pasta and pizza!!! Can't wait to try them out.

There was an article in my local paper "Newsday" and it was I think the weekend of July 20th if you want to search it. Apparently the owners of these restuarants said someone approached them-maybe you can show the article around-get a restaurant to go gluten-free!!! They say it is good for business!

Is there any kind of small card that you can give to your server w/ a basic description of the problem (celiac disease) and how the food needs to be prepared (plain, no marinades, no contact w/ wheat, gluten products, or a surface where wheat, gluten had been ect) I am finding the servers mean well but like the game of telephone information is not presented in its original form! My friend said she knew someone who had something like this that she handed to the server which was shown in the kitchen.

Any ideas? It is for my son which if he is w/ friends or another family at a restuarant he can pass it off himself. Peace of mind for me I guess!! lol

We have eaten there 3 times since diagnosed and two times no problems at all and my son is thrilled- it is a favorite even before being dx w/ celiac disease. Then we went to a different location wed. eve- thurs he had a horrible headache followed by throwing up. We are not sure if it was Boston Market or something else- we ate at my sister's house for lunch that day-supposed safe meal there.

Has anyone had any experience? I read the website listing and the chicken should be safe-no crazy injections, potatoes fine-that is all he ate. Thanks-

thanks everyone for your replies. I decided to stay the heck away from the chains and i called the local Italian place. I spoke with the owner and explained i had an "allergy to gluten". He chuckled and said "well, i guess the pasta is out then huh?" he was very nice and quite helpful. he explained everything they make is fresh and to make sure i mention it to the wait staff when we get there.

i've decided on:

- pan fried chicken breast (they use olive oil and Italian seasonings - i forgot to ask about the seasonings but i will when we get there and go without if it is questionable)

- potato (mashed are just red potatos and milk/cream, nothing else added)

- veggies (not blanched in pasta water...who knew they did such a thing!)

anything else i should be on the lookout for? i'm starting to feel less nervous....and more hungry!

Yikes the veggies I now have to worry about too!!! Just when I thought I was getting along pretty well w/ this! LOL

YAY! Glad you found it! I mentioned it in my PM after you told me you were going there, but ya beat me to it!

Let us know how your dinner goes!

We went with my son a couple of weeks ago- he ordered off the gluten-free menu and had the potato soup, plain salad

with NOTHING on it (they dont seem to get the croutons/breadstick/ and I don't trust the shredded cheese) and a plain hamburger patty. Of course they have the gluten free menu and my server had an aunt w/ celiac disease, I was so happy-but then they brought his burger on a bun!!!

We have also had success at TGIF- he ordered a plain salad (the first one came w/ a breadstick on top-sent that back) plain flat iron steak and mashed potatoes w/ steamed broccoli. In that restaurant they were so happy to tell me one of the servers has celiac (not in on that day) but like I said the breadstick on the salad! Both times I asked to speak w/ the manager first, discussed cc ect.

I would love to just stay home and cook for him-but both my son's play travel ice hockey and we travel to various places at least once per month-stay in hotels and I am going crazy searching for places he can eat SAFELY! I now have a mini micro and bring stuff w/ me to be safe-but that is not always an option!

I think Chili's is linked w/ a few other restuarants that list gluten-free ingredients, if you go to their websites they have the same webtype listing and menu listing.

Good luck!

I have many pampered chef baking stones and use them all the time, my 12 yr old son was just diagnosed w/ celiac disease.

Can I use parchment paper to cover the stone to prevent cc? Is that enough or do I have to "unseason" all my stones and "reseason" from scratch gluten-free?

Today I made gluten-free meatballs (they came out great!!) -used the parchement paper (the one I am using I got at whole foods w/ a silicone coating) and when I pulled off the paper I noticed the stone beneath was bone dry-so no grease/juices went through the paper. However I want to make sure there are no problems- thanks for the help

One topic of interest that I have seen nothing on the message boards about-is has anyone noticed a difference in meat that they have eaten which should be safe? My BIL was told by his holistic dr. that beef/chicken ect that has been fed grains can contain gluten and cause reactions compared w/ grass-free range type meats/animals.

My son is newly diagnosed and hearing this just made my head spin that much more!! Anyone hear about this? Any validity? I hate to say it does make sense but I have not seen anything written on it- thanks

Hi Paige's mom and everyone else- I just went through almost the same thing w/ my son. We thought it was a stomach virus, went on for two weeks, he lost 10 pounds and ended up in the er getting iv fluids due to dehydration. The er dr. sent us to the gi. I am still mad at my pediatrician for letting it go on so long and not just taking a blood test instead of sending us home after two visits w/ a "let the virus run its course, he does not seem dehydrated-if you want we can get a sono". The sad thing was, he was at my very italian mother-in-laws house while he was sick because I had to work and in an effort to "fix him and get him to eat" she fed him toasted italian bread and pasta w/ butter for lunch every day!!! The poor kid was coming home throwing up everyday for a week!

The scope biopsy tested positive and we found out this past friday and had our first shopping trip saturday-and nutritionist next week. He had some stomach irritations this past year which I attributed to a witchy teacher this year-but before that nothing. He was always 95%+ in height and weight since a baby-this past yearly check up was the first time he had a blip in his growth chart- but nothing really to note before that.

Here is my present problem, my son and husband don't seem to understand that cross-contanimation is an issue -as my husband says "how can a little do anything" and my son does not understand that he can't even have one french fry that might have been fried in chicken nugget oil???? Help!!!

I am getting the home under control-not sure if I can get my whole house gluten free, we still have to get the other two kids tested ( 9yr old boy no symptoms, 5 yr. old girl no symptoms, and my husband and I no symptoms) but I am only in this 4 actual days now.

Going out and traveling scares me to death. Both my sons play travel ice hockey and we go on tournaments at least once per month. This weekend I have a mini kitchen w/ at least a micro and fridge at our tournament hotel but most of the time we stay in regular hotels w/ the team and preparing food will be a challenge. HELP!! Although I have found some restaurants that have gluten-free menus they are not everywhere and I am finding my son is just not eating. With hockey he is very active and needs protien and calories and while we travel I am afraid this will be an issue. He can't live on a bag of corn chips and yogurt. HELP!! (did I say that already )

Anyway any suggestions or forums for kids not babies would be helpful too!! I am trying to get him to understand we are in this together and give him support -

thanks for listening-

My son was just dx last friday, I have ripped apart my kitchen to make room for his food and special areas he knows are safe since we are just learning and I want him to have some independence. I took out my bread machine from ages ago thinking homemade had to be better than the gluten free-brick I just bought at the store saturday. Question #1. -even if I wash the container will I still have cc? If so I will look into a new machine.

question # 2 are there bread mixes available out there , and what types of non-gluten flour works best for making bread in these machines? thanks so much, so far the transition has been rough and I am afraid my son is not eating enough of the foods he can eat and he can't afford to lose anymore weight.