Swinger's Grille

Friday night, Jeremy and I met up with his dad and brother at Swinger's Grille in Normal...we had never been there before and it was fun to try someplace new. I realize the name sounds somewhat trashy...it is actually attached to a golf store and driving range, hence the "swinger's" reference. :)
After, of course, conversing with our waiter about my gluten/wheat issues, I enjoyed a side Caesar salad...and instead of the "no croutons" as I requested...it came complete with a Parmesan-crisp "crouton"...gluten free and delicious!! For my entree, I had salmon on a bed of pureed sweet potatoes with a apple cider reduction glaze and baked apples on top. It was phenomenal! I really, really enjoyed it...how fun to try somewhere new that had entrees as unique as this one!
We would definitely return to this restaurant...and I think it is the kind of place that I would bring out-of-town guests to!

Red Robin...YUMM!

I am not sure if I have mentioned this on here yet....but I absolutely love Red Robin restaurants! We unfortunately don't have one in Bloomington, but there is one in Davenport and we frequent it when we are in the Quad Cities visiting family and friends. They have a HUGE gluten free menu and the food is fantastic. Love it love it LOVE IT! They have awesome, unlimited french fries with your meal which is just AWESOME...I love french fries!!!

We had dinner at a Red Robin last night...in Raleigh, NC! We are here right now visiting Jeremy's parents' new home...it is awesome! We are having a great time and it is fun to have a little weekend getaway adventure. Jeremy's mom has been here since the beginning of January and is very excited to have guests.

My favorite entree there now (post gluten-free diet...previously I loved the whiskey river BBQ chicken wrap and chicken tortilla soup...sigh!!) is the Royal Red Robin burger...a burger with a fried egg on top! Sounds crazy, but it is soooo delicious! It is a great substitute for a bun, if you will!

Have a great day!

Lovin' me some Flat Top Grill!

Flat Top Grill is a new somewhat-obsession of mine! On Saturday, December 6th I met up with an Augustana professor/friend, Kathy Jakielski, for some chatting and Christmas shopping in Peoria. When deciding where in the area to eat, on a whim, I suggested Flat Top Grill. I have been there in the past (it's a make-your-own-stir fry place) and enjoyed it...and for some reason remembered that they had RICE NOODLES and probably lots of things I'd be able to eat! Well, sure enough...they did! Tons of veggies, meats, rice, rice noodles, and sauces that I can eat! I can eat practically everything there...except the yellow noodles, most of the sauces (they have many, but I can only have 4-5 of them), and the BREAD ( :( Their bread is awesome...a greasy pancake-like thing...YUM!). Well, it was a yummy dinner...and I knew I'd be back...frequently!

Well, Jeremy found out that around Christmas time they had a special...buy $30 worth of gift certificates and receive $20 free. WHAT?! Well, my stocking from him came stuffed with $50 worth of gift certificates from Flat Top (so $50 worth of food there for only $30!!). Also, Jeremy's brother Jon gave me some gift certificates, too, so I had a total of $80 (that we personally only spent $30 on) for Flat Top from Christmas! WOO HOO!

Tonight we ate at Flat Top here in Bloomington with Jeremy's good friend Adam and his wife Ann. I suppose I should say OUR friends Adam and Ann! :) It was delicious!!! I loved it. One of my favorite things is the pineapple in the stir fry...I LOVE hot fruit. I know that might be kinda weird...but I really do!

Jeremy even enjoyed his meal tonight! :) He isn't the biggest fan of Flat Top, and isn't the biggest fan of vegetables in general ;). Well, he filled up his stir fry bowl with just POTATOES, CHEESE, carrots (to feel good about himself? ;) ) and some black-bean garlic sauce...and then had a big huge bowl of beef added to it. Well, he ended up really liking it :). That's a good thing...because we'll most likely be back. When he went up to the line for his second trip, he skipped the carrots ;), and had only POTATOES, TONS OF CHEESE, some black-bean garlic sauce, and tons of beef once again. He liked the second bowl even more. Sigh. ;)

YAHOO for being able to eat nearly everything on the menu...they even have a signal for allergies...you put a special white stick in your bowl to show that you would like your meal cooked in a separate clean wok instead of on the huge flat top grill with the rest of everyones' stir frys...so you won't get cross contamination during the cooking process! It's great!

I love Flat Top Grill!

Oh, and I should mention, too, that we had a great time with our friends! They moved to Brooklyn in August, so we don't have the opportunity to see them much :). They both have parents still here in Bloomington, though, so they have multiple reasons to visit :)

FOUR THINGS...to be thankful for (yesterday's thoughts)

I spoke with my mom on the phone yesterday and shared with her the following three wonderful things that had taken place yesterday, for which I was very thankful!

1) HUMMUS: A friend from the Peoria Easter Seals office, Stephanie (a PT) sent me a facebook message on Friday saying that she was going to be passing through Bloomington tomorrow (which was Saturday) on her way back home to Peoria and wondered if she could stop by and give me a present. Totally unexpected and fun! So, we made plans to meet up for a few minutes in the Sam's Club parking lot (per my suggestion, since it wasn't far off of the highway and she was eager to return home!) where she gave me her present...A few months ago over lunch at work (when I was still at the Peoria office), we had gotten into a conversation about hummus and how much we both liked it. She told me about her favorite two places in Chicago that have homemade hummus that she LOVES (she is originally from the Chicago area and still has family there). Well, for some reason she decided she would bring some to me...so I could have a nice little gluten-free snack, as she put it! How sweet was that?! I tried it as soon as I got home, of course...and it was DELICIOUS!!! That stuff is awesome. I was floored by her kindness...I love random stuff like that! It was such an encouragement to me...and a reminder that I need to turn around and show others kindness like Stephanie did to me!

2) BREAD: My friend Catherine called me yesterday afternoon shortly after I picked up the hummus from Stephanie...as I was running some errands about town. Catherine has a friend, Starla, who has Celiac Disease...and has known she has it for like 10 years (so she is an expert! ;) ). Well, Catherine told me that she had been thinking about me and my plight to find bread so that I could once again enjoy a grilled cheese sandwich...well, Catherine told met hat she had spoken with Starla about where to find some decent/delicious bread. Starla told her that her favorite bread can be found at Whole Foods (a grocery store in the Chicago area) in the freezer section...and that the first time she discovered it, she ate the whole loaf in about a week, it was just THAT good! Awesome!! I can't wait to try it. So, yahoo for another great friend and the great kindness and great help she showed to me :)

3) BOOKS: I had a book to return to Barnes and Noble, so I went there yesterday, returned the book, and perused around for another to get in its place. I found...The Gluten Free Bible...check THIS out for a book review! This book is truly awesome! There are tons of topics...from initial diagnosis, to cheating, to pregnancy, to recipes, to suggestions of doctors! I LOVE this book and spent a good amount of time yesterday looking through it. I can't wait to read it all! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone living a wheat-free/gluten-free life!! I am so thankful I found it...I love good, new books...and especially ones that pertain to my life and can offer help to me! :)

4) CHILI'S: This last thing to be thankful for happened later last night, and post the conversation with my mom...but of course is worth noting! See the previous post for a full description :)

Have a wonderful day!

Chili's

Jeremy and I LOVE Chili's...in fact, our first date was to the Chili's in Davenport, IA (near Augustana, where we were both attending school). We typically go to Chili's at least once per month...but we hadn't been in about 3 months, since before I started the gluten-free diet! Chili's does have a gluten-free menu, we just hadn't had the chance to try it out yet. Well, Jeremy got a gift card to Chili's in his stocking from his parents, so we decided to go on a date last night to Chili's!

I was sooo excited, because I had looked at the gluten-free menu beforehand and knew they had baked potato soup that was gluten free! I was so pumped to have a "real" soup that I could eat! I ordered the soup and a chicken Caesar salad. The soup was AWESOME!! The salad came out with a visible crouton on it, and maybe more hidden croutons...so I sent it back. I explained that I couldn't eat anything that had touched wheat, so it wouldn't work just to pick it out. I felt bad, but they were nice to me about it. A manager even came out and apologized to me. I thought that was very nice. The second time it came out it had clearly been entirely re-made...and it was fantastic!

All in all, I was VERY satisfied with my experience at Chili's and would definitely return! :) It was very encouraging to me!! It's great to know that something that was a part of our life pre-gluten-free menu doesn't have to be entirely eliminated from our lives...just modified. Sure I can't order mozzarella sticks (what we ordered as an appetizer on our first date...and Jeremy was "impressed" because I wasn't a wimpy eater and ate HALF of the cheese sticks...what was I thinking?! :))....or the turkey sandwich and broccoli cheese soup (the entree I ordered on our first date and on many visits thereafter...Chili's broccoli cheese soup is my favorite EVER!!), nor can I order the fajitas (we often would order the "fajitas for two" entree)...but I can be completely satisfied with the baked potato soup and Caesar salad...plus there are some other things that look good that I will try on subsequent visits!

YAHOO for CHILI'S!!!! :)

Gluten-Free Goodies!

We had dinner at Los Potrillo's (again, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, and probably just one of our favorite restaurants ever in general!) with Adam and Jami last night. It was great to see them and catch up a bit...it had been a while since we had hung out the four of us! We had a great time and of course the food was delicious. Jeremy and Adam thought our service was terrible last night (which is very out of the ordinary for Los!), but I didn't even notice. I was just happy to be having a good time with fun friends! I was relieved that I was done working for 12 days, that lunch wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be (thanks to two awesome co-workers, Deb and Christina...our boss was buying us pizza for lunch, but obviously I wouldn't be able to eat it. Deb and Christina ordered me a burrito bowl from Chipotle and went and picked it up so I had something delicious to eat during the holiday lunch and wasn't just jealous of everyone and their pizza! Of course I was still a bit jealous ;), but that's just because I am obsessed with wanting pizza! ;) ), and I had gotten everything done at work that I needed to. It was just a wonderful feeling, and I was very relaxed and ready to have a great evening with Jeremy and our friends.

Also, Jami brought us each a Christmas tin with some goodies she made for us! She made us two separate tins, one for Jeremy with "normal" Christmas cookies and the like, and a gluten-free tin for me! Mine had buckeyes and scotcharoos, both things that I love! I ate some right away last night and I am not ashamed to admit I already ate some today and I haven't even had lunch yet! HA! Half of my leftover meal from Los is in the toaster oven right now heating up for me to eat as I curl up in front of the TV and am lazy for a bit.

I am still in awe of how awesome my friends have been through all of this crappy gluten-less-ness of my life! Jami has been great...especially now with these Christmas goodies! The cookies/sweets part of Christmas has honestly kind of sucked! I know, I know, that's not what Christmas is all about ;). It is still hard, though, to sit by when people are eating delicious looking gluten-ous Christmas cookies and treats! It was nice to have some yummy things of my own to eat. Thanks, Jami! Of course my other friends have been great, too! Sarah has given me TONS of tips (she is a healthy eater and food-purchaser and knew about gluten-free living type things way before I started in on this new lifestyle)...and has made a number of yummy things when we go over to their place. Brooke made a delicious Mexican casserole that she adapted to be gluten free when we visited them in Rockford in November. On December 16th when we had a Youth Leaders' meeting at Josh and Laura's home, Laura made an entirely gluten-free (and DELICIOUS!) meal for all of us there. Jeremy's mom makes me a gluten free meal when we go over there for dinner at least once a week. My mom is making lots of gluten free things for when we visit for Christmas this weekend! Jillian made sure I had things to eat on Saturday when we went to her place prior to her Christmas concert in Peoria (she kept some BBQ pork separate for me so it wouldn't get contaminated, and even bought me some of my favorite yogurt! She also had veggies and hummus I could eat!). I love my friends! I know it's probably such a pain for them...but I am so thankful for their kindness and love!

Yahoo for good food, good friends, and...most of all, Yahoo for CHRISTMAS!!!

Day 45

Today, December 1, 2008, is my 45th day of living gluten free. Crazy! I am still in the infancy of this new lifestyle...learning more every day....but things are, for the most part, going pretty well! Sure, I have cravings for foods that are part of my "old life" (like I expressed in my prior post!)...but for the most part I am happier living the way I am. I know it's healthier, and I know it's better for my body. That doesn't mean it's easy....or fun all of the time. However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun sometimes...making new recipes, reading new information; it's all kind of a big puzzling adventure! I do enjoy a challenge...and this is definitely a challenge!

This weekend I had TWO new messages on Facebook from girls I knew in college: one has Celiac disease and the other is gluten free by choice (since it is healthier). Random encounters such as those help me see that I am not alone in this craziness ;). I really am finding out that quite a few of my acquaintances either have Celiac, live gluten-free by choice, or know someone who has Celiac disease. It's kind of crazy! I mean, in my reading I learned that an estimated 1 in 133 people has Celiac in the United States....

I guess, technically right now, I fall into that category of someone who has not been officially diagnosed; someone who is just living gluten-free by choice. I mean, we all obviously have choices every day of how we are going to live our lives...my choice just happens to be somewhat strange and/or unique...I am going to attempt to live as gluten-free as possible. My doctor has strong reasons to believe I have Celiac disease...however he suggested a gluten-free diet prior to getting the biopsy of my small intestine. Based on some of my reading, this was a poor call on his part...since the only way to REALLY know for certain if it IS Celiac is a biopsy...and you need to be eating a "normal" diet for the biopsy to be truly conclusive. SO, in order to have a reliable biopsy, I would need to go back to eating normally for a while. Honestly, I am not sure that it is worth it to me to go back to eating normally, feeling terrible and not knowing when exactly I will need to visit a bathroom! I am fine with having a "possible diagnosis" of Celiac or just generic gluten intolerance. I know how much better I feel...and that it really is probably what has been ailing me for years and years. However, before we decide to have children I plan on having genetic testing. Regardless of the result, I believe I will raise my children gluten free, at least until they are 2. Based on my reading, this is suggested by some people, even for kids who are not gluten intolerant. Human bodies are not made to digest gluten...and no one digests it fully. It's just that some people can tolerate it and some (like me and so many others I am learning about!) can't!

SO, there you have it.

Oh, this weekend I found out that Red Robin has an extensive gluten-free menu! We had lunch there on Saturday before leaving the Quad Cities to come back home. We met up with some of my aunts and cousins...it was a great time! I felt especially wonderful because I had TONS of choices! We will definitely be going back there :). The manager and our waitress were both wonderful...very accommodating and cautious. I totally appreciated it!

Have a wonderful day...it's snowy and nasty here! I have to drive around town to some off-site visits today, here's hoping my car handles the nastiness well!

Throwing caution to the wind...but living to tell about it

Well...sometimes you just gotta! ;) Today was a long day....including a run-in with a big kiddo...yup, I got beat up by a two-and-a-half-year-old today...{sigh}
Jeremy and I met up at our polling place, the McLean County Farm Bureau building not far from our home, after I got off work around 6:15 and cast our votes. After voting, we talked for a bit outside and tried to figure out our plan of attack for the evening. He was dressed for the gym, but I didn't have time to pack clothes this morning....and I was starved! We decided to go to Los Potrillo's....our FAVORITE Mexican restaurant here in Bloomington. This is the place I chose for my LAST "normal" meal on Friday night, October 17th...before going gluten free the next morning. I ate so much, I felt terrible later that evening...and wasn't sure if that was from the gluten in the food or from the quantity OF the food ;). It was a fitting "last hurrah." ;)
Well, we decided early on that Los Potrillo's was really impossible for me to give up. Really! We love this place! It's just us. We even went there on Valentine's Day (no it's NOT a "nice" restaurant...this is a story for another time ;) ). There have been weeks when we eat there twice in one week! Obsessed? Yes! And, nearly every time we are there...we get the same thing: a side of cheese dip to go with the chips and salsa everyone gets at their table, and we share a Burrito Loco...the HUGEST burrito you'll ever see (yes, significantly bigger than Chipotle, Moe's, or Q'doba, REALLY!). We get the burrito "with chicken, no lettuce, and beans on the side instead of rice." Some of the waiters there have even memorized our order. It's hilarious! We totally threw off our poor waiter today when I ordered something different! Jeremy ended up getting "our usual" and I got flautas. The burrito loco is made with a flour tortilla shell and the flautas were made with 4 small corn tortillas. Even though I know: 1) there is no use trying to explain gluten intolerance to a bunch of Mexican waiters for whom English is clearly a second language...I have no idea how I would do that! 2) Even if nothing was lost in translation (we all know this would be doubtful! ;) ), the chances for cross-contamination are abundant there...think of your favorite local authentic Mexican joint...they are delicious, but aren't the cleanest of places! ;). Well, I tried to at least control everything I could (order a dish made with corn tortillas instead of asking them to substitute corn tortillas into a dish typically made with a flour tortilla seemed simpler)...and just threw my hands up in the air and decided to just live it up tonight. Well, I do have a stomachache...but none of the crazy bloating and minimal cramps. No bathroom misadventures yet either! This could be a good thing! I am gonna go OD on fiber in a few minutes, though :). In my reading I learned that if you ever think you consumed some gluten, you should take lots of fiber (it IS "nature's broom", after all ;) ) and hope for the best.
Well, I made it 3.5 weeks trying to be as good as possible...this was my first real "cheat"...and it may have not have been that bad! :)
Tonight was one of those nights I just wanted to live....like I was used to! It felt great to share something NORMAL with my husband. I know I risk sounding like a huge fatty saying this, but it really blows to not be able to share that with him...I know, I sound so food obsessed! I am not really...but you can't really relate to what I am talking about unless you've experienced it. And if you haven't, you definitely don't want to!
So, I am grateful for tonight...and here's hoping my stomach is too ;).

{sigh}

Well. Tonight I got pissed. I was irritated with....
work (my billable hours for this month blow, I have a ton of reports to write, and a really obnoxious father to deal with),
irritated with my house (I feel like I am so behind on cleaning/laundry and never have time to fully catch up),
irritated with my body (although I am down approximately 5 lbs. right now due to NOT EATING (because half the time I am hungry there is nothing around me I can eat)...I haven't been to the gym since Sunday and that GROSSES me out in a majormajor way),
irritated with friends who didn't acknowledge my birthday (I understand how juvenile that may be),
AND
irritated with a lame Home Show Parties Open House hosted by Easter Seals of Peoria....I dragged all of my Longaberger crap there and SOLD $0.00 worth of merchandise...seriously. The show sucked. I wasn't the only one who sold $0.00, either.
Anyway.
During the long drive home from Peoria to Bloomington (that I know far too well!) I decided to be bad. I was starving...hadn't eaten since lunch around 12:30 (and it was 7:30 at this point). I decided to make a pit stop...at McDonald's approximately 15 minutes into my drive, in Morton, IL. I had myself convinced that I could be totally bad and order a large fry and a medium chocolate shake...and convinced myself that they were gluten free. I totally devoured them both (well, I couldn't quite finish the shake).
Well, my stomach hurts. DUH! What is the cause? Who knows! Grease? CHECK
Zero nutrative value?! CHECK
Stuffing my face quickly? CHECK
Gluten?????
ALSO FREAKING CHECK
Check out the ingredients in McDonald's French Fries: Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor [wheat and milk derivatives]*), citric acid (preservative), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color), salt. Prepared in vegetable oil ((may contain one of the following: Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness), dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent). * CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK (Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients).

SCREW YOU, McDonald's.

...in other news....
it appears that, while CULVER'S hamburger patties are supposedly unsafe for me, McDonald's hamburger patties are A-OK!
Put that in your pipe and smoke it...makes no sense to me!

OOOOH!

This is an addendum to my previous post titled "Mourning" in which I was sulking about not being able to eat at Moe's, Q'doba, and Chipotle...according to their websites, I actually have options at these places!!!!

Someone created this Gluten Free Guide to Eating Out that I found through random google searching....it's awesome and very helpful! It has links to TONS of restaurants (some that are even here in town!) that have gluten free options!

I also found an online celiacs forum that said that Noodles and Company has rice noodles available....so I am contacting the company to see if the Bloomington-Normal locations have these available! WHOA!

...yeah, you can see I am "wasting" most of my night trying to find things I can eat!

Time for me to hit the gym, make myself dinner (maybe I'll have popcorn...that's what I ate last night! Seriously.), and watch Grey's! BYE for REAL this time

Darn Culver's!!

I despise the fact, now, that we live so close to a Culver's! Culver's really is...er WAS...my favorite fast-food restaurant. They are known for their awesome custard and their fun "flavor of the day" which is different each day...and every Culver's has different flavors each day. Well, I drive by Culver's at LEAST twice each day...on my way to work in the morning and on the way home. Today, the marquee announced that the flavor of the day was "CHOCOLATE OREO VOLCANO"......arrrrrrrrgh!! You're killin' me! That one is one of my f a v o r i t e s! Seriously. Chocolate Custard. Crushed Oreos. Mini M&Ms. Chocolate Syrup. Chocolate Flakes. sigh.
According to their website, I can have: some soups (black bean, potato au gratin, mushroom medley, bean with ham, and black bean...Culver's serves a wide variety of soups but only 3-4 per day), cole slaw (sick), and chocolate or vanilla custard (YESSS!!!)...but I am not sure about any of their sundae toppings (it doesn't say on the website). Also, I am curious about their burgers without the bun....
According to the website, even the fries are unsafe for me! What?! Darn it all....

Ruby Tuesday's and more

Well, I met up with my friend Jami for lunch today at Ruby Tuesday's. I think it went pretty well. I stopped home before heading back to work (where I am right now) so I could drop off my leftovers in the fridge and I checked and responded to some work e-mail. I decided to jot down a quick post as well ;).
We each got the salad bar...I steered clear of the prepared pasta salads and potato salads and didn't use salad dressing or croutons (well that one is a no-brainer ;) ). We ordered burgers...I typically don't order a burger when I eat out but I was craving meat! Maybe I need some iron or something ;). I ordered a potato instead of fries since she told me they use the fryer for lots of things that are breaded, and not just fries. I checked to be sure the burger was 100% beef and didn't have grain additivies. I told her to be sure that buns were nowhere near my food and tried to explain a bit about my "allergy". I checked to be sure the butter was 100% butter and not margarine with lots of iffy ingredients (not even sure if that matters, but better be safe than sorry ;)) and since she checked and said it was, I ate it on my potato.
I discovered that my appitite was down! I thought I was soooo hungry but ended up having lots to take home.
On that same topic, I weighed myself this morning and I was down 4lbs. I typically fluxuate in my weight day to day, morning to night, etc...but this weight is below anything I've been for a long time!
I have a bit of a tummy ache...but I wonder if that's due to the quantity of what I ate (since it was more than I've eaten at most meals lately) and not necessarily what I ate...but who knows!! We'll see. No bloating or other issues.
Ok, enough outta me! Gotta get back to work.

Mourning

RIP Chipotle, Q'doba, Moe's, and Noodles and Company.

Ok, they might not be deceased ;), but to me they have to be now.

I drove by Culver's on my way home for lunch (I am on my lunch break right now for a few more minutes) and saw the flavor of the day advertised, "Brownie Thunder". Oh dear. Why are there going to be temptations everywhere I turn?!

***edit later on: please note, after further research I found out I could eat at ALL of these places, other than Noodles and Company! WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!