GlutenAway Blog: Eating Out

Showing posts with label Eating Out. Show all posts

I've traveled to quite a few places before in my 18 years of living but you'd be surprised to know that I haven't traveled to many places since going gluten-free. Sure, traveling around the U.S. is already considered hard enough as a celiac. But traveling to a country where people speak very little English is even harder. This past week my mom and now step-dad got married in Punta Cana as what I would call one of the most fun weeks of my life. The destination was perfect, the friends and family there was perfect, the entertainment was perfect. But when you're celiac, there's one thing that may matter to you most out of all when you travel. The food. Most of the time the food was amazing and I felt 100% safe! But other times I was left searching for food, feeling like I didn't have many options. By the end of the trip I learned that it's all about where you dine rather than the resort itself. That's why I'm here to help you know how to have a gluten-free paradise at the Hard Rock Punta Cana Hotel.

Like most guys, I love sports. Watching football, basketball, and baseball is something that I love to do. It's easy to watch sports from the comfort of home when you have all the gluten-free food you can eat, but going to an actual game is a completely different story. That's why I looked up every venue to see which stadiums have gluten-free options and which do not for the 2015-2016 season. I hope this helps many of you!

By now you've probably all heard about the new gluten-free options coming to both Pizza Hut and Coors Light. If you haven't heard about this day yet and you're a guy, this is probably the best day of your life. Pizza Hut and Coors announced that they will be offering gluten-free options coming soon by the end of this month. In a way, it's an awesome win for the gluten-free community! But when big companies get involved to the gluten-free industry, you have to wonder if they're going to do it right. Here's all the big things you need to know about both products and when you can see them coming soon!

This post will be short and simple since a majority of what you need to do is over at vegetarianmama.com! Cindy from Vegetarian Mama is celebrating her 5 year blogging anniversary! I'm extremely happy and excited for her and I can't wait to get my blog to that point as well. To celebrate her 5 year blogging anniversary, Cindy is doing a giveaway every day this month! I happily got to take part in this giveaway as I am giving away some of my Allergy Awareness Restaurant Cards! These cards are meant to make dining out while being gluten-free or with any allergy easier! A lot of people have had great success with them saying that they make explaining their allergies to waiters much simpler. To enter this giveaway to win some I Am...Cards, go to visit Vegetarian Mama through this link! Happy 5 year blogging anniversary to Cindy and good luck in the raffle! Click here to learn more about these cards!

Recently my mom took a trip up to Ohio and passed through the Baltimore airport on her way there. Like most airports there was tons of restaurants and food options to choose from. But like usual there was very little options when it came to being gluten-free, especially for breakfast in the mornings. My mom looked around and noticed that she didn't have many options. That was until she came across a Chipotle in the airport and saw that they had new breakfast options! Most of us already know the Chipotle is one of our best friends when it comes to getting a safe gluten-free meal on the go. So now to have the possibility of getting them for breakfast too makes it a win for all of us in the gluten-free community. Chipotle has always been good when it comes to gluten-free options but there are a few things they do that show they go above and beyond for dietary needs.

Dining out while being gluten-free is probably the hardest thing for us all to do. After venturing through almost three years of living with Celiac Diseases these are the places that I have found to be the most allergy friendly. Below I list the name of the restaurants as well as all their gluten-free menus. I hope this is helpful and makes your dining experience easier! Also check out my Allergy Awareness Restaurant Cards to make your experience at a restaurant easier as well!

I've been gluten-free for 3 years now and have pretty much found a way to overcome any situation with Celiac Disease and make it easier. But the one thing that seems to not be getting easier no matter how hard I try is dining out. I hate having to explain my allergies each and every single time I decide to eat out away from home. I especially hate how I spend a majority of the time when I'm dining out worrying about if my food is even safe or not instead of actually enjoying my meal. That's why I came up wit this idea to help make dining out with any type of allergy normal again and something we can all enjoy.

Often times I think the hardest places to have a meal that's gluten-free is when you are on the go or somewhere away from home. These were something easy that my mom and I came up with to help with school lunches since it was hard to get food then. It's super easy to make in the morning or the night before to have for your day. If you have problems with corn or want a more fresh meal, just use lettuce. That's what I do now!

Although McDonald's oatmeal is supposed to be natural, it is not gluten free. There is a growing controversy that oatmeal contains gluten anyways, but what McDonald's adds to their oatmeal will definitely make any person, educated or not, realize that it is not at all gluten free.

Note: All info is taken from McDonald's Nutrition Page.

Commercials

Oatmeal-

Whole grain rolled oats
Brown sugar
Food starch-modified
Salt
Natural flavor (wheat and plant source)
Barley malt extract
Caramel color

Reality

Light Cream-

Milk
Cream
Sodium phosphate
Datem
Sodium stearoyl lactylate
Sodium citrate
Carrageenan

Cranberry Raisin Blend-

Sweetened dried cranberries (sugar, cranberries)
California raisins
Golden raisins
Sunflower oil
Sulfur dioxide as a preservative (contains sulfites)

Added-

Blueberries
Walnuts
Diced apples

Allergens: Milk, Wheat

Even though oats have been shown to possibly contain gluten and this is an on going controversy, their is no reason these extra ingredients should be added. The fact is the fast food industry is never safe, even if the product is sold as organic & natural it can never be trusted.

If you've seen commercials for Taco Bell's Cantina Bowl and think they finally made something gluten free, think again! On their commercial they claim to make this bowl all natural with only a few ingredients. Although it may look like it's natural and you would think it has to be gluten free, it's not. On Taco Bell's website it shows the following info below. To view Taco Bell's Cantina Bowl page click Here!

Commercials

Ingredients listed in Cantina Bowl

Marinated chicken or steak,
Guacamole
Tomatoes
Onions
Cilantro
Roasted corn
Pepper salsa
Lettuce
Black beans

Reality

Rice

Allergy information listed in Cantina Bowl

Gluten
Milk
Soybean
Wheat

As you know the movies are one of the most favorited things to do on the weekend. Whatever movie you may see there are so many options to choose from you may not know what to pick. Sadly that's not the same with the options of food you have if you are gluten free. Finding foods and drinks at the movie theater can be very difficult. Many people wonder, "Is pop corn gluten free? What drinks can I have? Can I really trust this candy?" These are the last things you want to worry about when you are with friends and want to get to that movie you can't wait to see. That is why I created a list of all the gluten free options you can have at a movie theater and not have to worry about getting a reaction.

Living a gluten free life is hard enough as it is but learning what alcoholic beverages are gluten-free can be tough. Check out the gluten free alcohol guide below to help learn what is safe...This was written by my mom since I'm obviously not old enough so don't worry. Lol!

Gluten Free Alcohol List:

Armagna

Gluten Free Beer

Ramapo Valley Brewery
Microbrasserie Nouvelle France

Joseph James Brewing Company
New Planet Beer Company

Recently I have noticed while checking out the labels of the sushi that grocery stores are providing by sushi chefs and kiosks that "wheat" has been added to their label of ingredients. Some of you may know that those living on a gluten free diet need to watch for gluten in soy sauce but sushi is known to be mainly gluten free. The stores that I have noticed this at is Kroger, Giant Eagle, and Publix. This has been something that I have seen a lot recently and at most stores everywhere.

As a note and tip:

Make sure that you regularly check labels on items that are made in-store including guacamole, dips, spreads, etc. These items though may naturally not include gluten, they may have additives placed in them by the store that contain gluten.
Also soy sauce has been known to contain gluten and buying your own from select stores instead of taking the soy sauce they give you is usually a better option.

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