We've dealt with dairy issues for many years. First with my hubby, then our son, & then I joined them. But it's so easy to avoid dairy in comparison with gluten. There just isn't the whole "cross contamination" issue with dairy as there is with gluten.
On top of the dairy & gluten issues I also have interstitial cystitis & there are tons of foods I am unable to eat because of this.
So my hubby & I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary recently. He told me we were going away for the weekend, but the location was a surprise. He has always done it that way, surprising me for our anniversary, whether it's a trip or a fancy dinner out. And I love to be surprised, but this time I was worrying about eating. And this time we took our son with us & I was worrying about his eating also. My son cannot have dairy & gluten & on top of that he is an extremely picky eater. (While I have to avoid gluten strictly, I can have "some" dairy & be ok.)
However, I must say that he is improving gradually. He now eats quite a few healthy foods on a regular basis: eggs, goat yogurt, home made gluten free toast & French toast, gluten free waffles, chicken, turkey, organic hot dogs, I know there's more that I can't think of at the moment. I am very pleased & am positive he will slowly & gradually continue to improve in this area. I keep on offering & don't get upset when he says no. On a side note, my hubby & I cannot wait for the day he decides to try fresh fruit. We know he is going to be blown away by how good it is & not be able to believe that he was missing out for so long.
I didn't tell my hubby that I was nervous about our trip, only that we needed a refrigerator for our son's rice milk smoothie. But then, on his own, later on, he decided to tell me that we were going to Santa Barbara. I have never been there, that I can recall, so I was excited. He's been there many, many times & loves it. I did take advantage of that knowledge & google "eating gluten free in Santa Barbara" & had a list of places to eat at. That did make me feel much better.
We left on a Friday, around 1 or 2 PM & hit horrible traffic. There was also A LOT of fog, that we weren't expecting in the afternoon through Ventura county. We finally got there, checked into our hotel, unpacked a little bit, & headed out for dinner.
We went to Fresco Café. It was really close to our hotel, we could've actually walked, but didn't realize it was THAT close. I was thrilled to order a grilled chicken breast sandwich on gluten free bread with a huge & really good side salad. So many places offer boring plain iceberg lettuce salads, this was full of wonderful leafy greens & shredded carrots & chickpeas, etc. The sandwich had avocado, roasted bell peppers, & I forget what else, but it was good. My hubby ordered the same thing as me, with regular gluten bread, but wasn't thrilled. He said it was too much like what we eat at home & he wanted to be more adventurous when on a trip. I can see what he means, if not for being thrilled with the gluten free aspect while dining out, I would've probably felt the same way. On the kids' menu they offered a grilled chicken breast with a side of fruit. This is the first time ever we actually ordered food off of a kids' menu for our son. We were worried he wouldn't like it for some reason & refuse to eat it. (I had brought LOTS of snacks for him, far more than we needed, just to be safe, but wanted to make sure he ate "real" food on the trip as well) He devoured the chicken breast, but of course didn't want anything to do with the fruit (it was hubby's dessert). They did have the chicken breast laying on a large piece of romaine lettuce & his very first comment was "I don't need the green". We quickly removed it & he thoroughly enjoyed the chicken. They also offered 3 gluten free deserts. A chocolate & mascarpone pudding, a chocolate cake, & a huge coconut macaroon. I got the macaroon & our son got the chocolate cake. They were both really good.
We headed back to our hotel & played in the pool & Jacuzzi. And then turned in for the night, although our son had a really hard time falling asleep in an unknown place.
Before we went to bed I asked hubby where we were going to eat breakfast. He said the hotel had a restaurant & we could just eat there. I figured eggs would be safe enough, so I didn't worry about it. When we got up hubby had changed his mind & wanted to look for something better. Our son was starving so we were in a bit of a rush. We spotted a sidewalk café called "The Andersens" (I think that was it) & headed there. It ended up being a Danish restaurant. (Interestingly, there was a family from Denmark staying in our hotel & we saw other tourists from Denmark around Santa Barbara) They had lots of unusual food offerings & tons of pastries. When I inquired about gluten free fare I was told all the egg meals were safe & that they had several excellent gluten free pastries. We ordered a plain omelette for our son & he devoured it. My hubby got waffles & an over medium egg & something else......I can't remember. I got an omelette with turkey, fresh basil, & I forget what else. It was fabulous.
For lunch we headed to the Sojourner Café, it was on the website I had found for gluten free eating. Hubby wasn't thrilled with the option, lots of vegan stuff, though they did have a couple of turkey & chicken options. We ended up at an Italian place, Aldo's, it was also on the website, saying they offered gluten free pasta. We both ordered Angel Hair Pomodoro with gluten free angel hair. The kids' menu didn't offer anything that our son would/could eat, but they did allow us to order a grilled chicken breast for him. The food here wasn't that great, but I really lost my love for pasta even before I went gluten free. It's just not something I eat very often.
During this day we headed to the pier, played on the beach (but it was really cold, so we didn't stay long), rented a bike that held all 3 of us, & played in the pool & Jacuzzi again at the hotel.
After a huge breakfast & lunch we were really stuffed & actually chose to skip dinner. Our son had had a hard time falling asleep the first night & so he was really tired & fell asleep in the car so we knew he wouldn't be missing dinner, he'd be too busy sleeping. We did however stop at the Andersens again & hubby inquired about gluten free pastries. They had 5, so hubby bought one of each. We headed back to our hotel, put our son to bed, & sat on our patio (we had a poolside room with a little private patio) & ate our pastries & drank our martinellis (our hotel left us a bottle of martinellis in an ice bucket with champagne glasses for our anniversary).
The next morning we packed up, checked out, & went out to find breakfast. We really didn't see anything that caught our eye, so we decided to go back to the Andersens. We parked but on our way there we passed another little café that was on the gluten free website, Jeannine's Bakery. It was really busy & we asked some customers & they said it was fabulous, so we decided to eat there. I had huevos rancheros, hubby had pancakes & an over medium egg. Our son got a plain omelette again. They had TONS of gluten free breads, cookies, etc. But it wasn't fancy stuff like the Danish place had. It was mostly stuff like what I make at home, so I didn't bother to get anything here. But it sure is nice to see places offering gluten free fare. Their menu also had a symbol next to gluten free dishes. I really wish more places would incorporate that!!
After this we started heading home. We decided to take PCH, highway 1, to go through Malibu. I have always wanted to see where Cindy Crawford lives, so I was able to do that. Of course all you can see from the street is just the gate, but I've seen lots of photos of her home & her yard. And I can see a skyview on Google Earth as well. She has the main house & also a beach house right on the beach. I am curious if that is a private beach or if I can go on the beach & see her beach house from there. But I'll leave that for another day.
We actually skipped lunch this day. Hubby had some snacks & I had a gluten free protein bar. Our son snacked as well. When we got home I unpacked everything while hubby made dinner.
We stopped at Point Mugu beach on the way home. We had wanted to spend time at the beach in Santa Barbara, but it was too cold. So we stopped here & had a nice time. It was warmer, but the water was still super cold. I don't go in the ocean ever, since I don't know how to swim, but I do like to feel it on my feet & legs. My hubby likes to go in, but it was too cold for him.
All in all it was a really great trip. We had fun, it was so nice to get away, even if only for a weekend, we had no food issues, I wasn't accidentally "glutened" even once, & I am soooo impressed with our son. With his eating, his willingness to stay in an unknown hotel, etc. It was all around fabulous. I was also extremely impressed with the amount of gluten free fare in Santa Barbara.
We really need to (& are hoping to) get a small motorhome so we can get away (for far less money) anytime we want. No hotel costs & we can eat out less, both will save money & the cost of gas will still be less than the cost of hotels & eating out the whole time.
So my hubby & I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary recently. He told me we were going away for the weekend, but the location was a surprise. He has always done it that way, surprising me for our anniversary, whether it's a trip or a fancy dinner out. And I love to be surprised, but this time I was worrying about eating. And this time we took our son with us & I was worrying about his eating also. My son cannot have dairy & gluten & on top of that he is an extremely picky eater. (While I have to avoid gluten strictly, I can have "some" dairy & be ok.)
However, I must say that he is improving gradually. He now eats quite a few healthy foods on a regular basis: eggs, goat yogurt, home made gluten free toast & French toast, gluten free waffles, chicken, turkey, organic hot dogs, I know there's more that I can't think of at the moment. I am very pleased & am positive he will slowly & gradually continue to improve in this area. I keep on offering & don't get upset when he says no. On a side note, my hubby & I cannot wait for the day he decides to try fresh fruit. We know he is going to be blown away by how good it is & not be able to believe that he was missing out for so long.
I didn't tell my hubby that I was nervous about our trip, only that we needed a refrigerator for our son's rice milk smoothie. But then, on his own, later on, he decided to tell me that we were going to Santa Barbara. I have never been there, that I can recall, so I was excited. He's been there many, many times & loves it. I did take advantage of that knowledge & google "eating gluten free in Santa Barbara" & had a list of places to eat at. That did make me feel much better.
We left on a Friday, around 1 or 2 PM & hit horrible traffic. There was also A LOT of fog, that we weren't expecting in the afternoon through Ventura county. We finally got there, checked into our hotel, unpacked a little bit, & headed out for dinner.
We went to Fresco Café. It was really close to our hotel, we could've actually walked, but didn't realize it was THAT close. I was thrilled to order a grilled chicken breast sandwich on gluten free bread with a huge & really good side salad. So many places offer boring plain iceberg lettuce salads, this was full of wonderful leafy greens & shredded carrots & chickpeas, etc. The sandwich had avocado, roasted bell peppers, & I forget what else, but it was good. My hubby ordered the same thing as me, with regular gluten bread, but wasn't thrilled. He said it was too much like what we eat at home & he wanted to be more adventurous when on a trip. I can see what he means, if not for being thrilled with the gluten free aspect while dining out, I would've probably felt the same way. On the kids' menu they offered a grilled chicken breast with a side of fruit. This is the first time ever we actually ordered food off of a kids' menu for our son. We were worried he wouldn't like it for some reason & refuse to eat it. (I had brought LOTS of snacks for him, far more than we needed, just to be safe, but wanted to make sure he ate "real" food on the trip as well) He devoured the chicken breast, but of course didn't want anything to do with the fruit (it was hubby's dessert). They did have the chicken breast laying on a large piece of romaine lettuce & his very first comment was "I don't need the green". We quickly removed it & he thoroughly enjoyed the chicken. They also offered 3 gluten free deserts. A chocolate & mascarpone pudding, a chocolate cake, & a huge coconut macaroon. I got the macaroon & our son got the chocolate cake. They were both really good.
We headed back to our hotel & played in the pool & Jacuzzi. And then turned in for the night, although our son had a really hard time falling asleep in an unknown place.
Before we went to bed I asked hubby where we were going to eat breakfast. He said the hotel had a restaurant & we could just eat there. I figured eggs would be safe enough, so I didn't worry about it. When we got up hubby had changed his mind & wanted to look for something better. Our son was starving so we were in a bit of a rush. We spotted a sidewalk café called "The Andersens" (I think that was it) & headed there. It ended up being a Danish restaurant. (Interestingly, there was a family from Denmark staying in our hotel & we saw other tourists from Denmark around Santa Barbara) They had lots of unusual food offerings & tons of pastries. When I inquired about gluten free fare I was told all the egg meals were safe & that they had several excellent gluten free pastries. We ordered a plain omelette for our son & he devoured it. My hubby got waffles & an over medium egg & something else......I can't remember. I got an omelette with turkey, fresh basil, & I forget what else. It was fabulous.
For lunch we headed to the Sojourner Café, it was on the website I had found for gluten free eating. Hubby wasn't thrilled with the option, lots of vegan stuff, though they did have a couple of turkey & chicken options. We ended up at an Italian place, Aldo's, it was also on the website, saying they offered gluten free pasta. We both ordered Angel Hair Pomodoro with gluten free angel hair. The kids' menu didn't offer anything that our son would/could eat, but they did allow us to order a grilled chicken breast for him. The food here wasn't that great, but I really lost my love for pasta even before I went gluten free. It's just not something I eat very often.
During this day we headed to the pier, played on the beach (but it was really cold, so we didn't stay long), rented a bike that held all 3 of us, & played in the pool & Jacuzzi again at the hotel.
After a huge breakfast & lunch we were really stuffed & actually chose to skip dinner. Our son had had a hard time falling asleep the first night & so he was really tired & fell asleep in the car so we knew he wouldn't be missing dinner, he'd be too busy sleeping. We did however stop at the Andersens again & hubby inquired about gluten free pastries. They had 5, so hubby bought one of each. We headed back to our hotel, put our son to bed, & sat on our patio (we had a poolside room with a little private patio) & ate our pastries & drank our martinellis (our hotel left us a bottle of martinellis in an ice bucket with champagne glasses for our anniversary).
The next morning we packed up, checked out, & went out to find breakfast. We really didn't see anything that caught our eye, so we decided to go back to the Andersens. We parked but on our way there we passed another little café that was on the gluten free website, Jeannine's Bakery. It was really busy & we asked some customers & they said it was fabulous, so we decided to eat there. I had huevos rancheros, hubby had pancakes & an over medium egg. Our son got a plain omelette again. They had TONS of gluten free breads, cookies, etc. But it wasn't fancy stuff like the Danish place had. It was mostly stuff like what I make at home, so I didn't bother to get anything here. But it sure is nice to see places offering gluten free fare. Their menu also had a symbol next to gluten free dishes. I really wish more places would incorporate that!!
After this we started heading home. We decided to take PCH, highway 1, to go through Malibu. I have always wanted to see where Cindy Crawford lives, so I was able to do that. Of course all you can see from the street is just the gate, but I've seen lots of photos of her home & her yard. And I can see a skyview on Google Earth as well. She has the main house & also a beach house right on the beach. I am curious if that is a private beach or if I can go on the beach & see her beach house from there. But I'll leave that for another day.
We actually skipped lunch this day. Hubby had some snacks & I had a gluten free protein bar. Our son snacked as well. When we got home I unpacked everything while hubby made dinner.
We stopped at Point Mugu beach on the way home. We had wanted to spend time at the beach in Santa Barbara, but it was too cold. So we stopped here & had a nice time. It was warmer, but the water was still super cold. I don't go in the ocean ever, since I don't know how to swim, but I do like to feel it on my feet & legs. My hubby likes to go in, but it was too cold for him.
All in all it was a really great trip. We had fun, it was so nice to get away, even if only for a weekend, we had no food issues, I wasn't accidentally "glutened" even once, & I am soooo impressed with our son. With his eating, his willingness to stay in an unknown hotel, etc. It was all around fabulous. I was also extremely impressed with the amount of gluten free fare in Santa Barbara.
We really need to (& are hoping to) get a small motorhome so we can get away (for far less money) anytime we want. No hotel costs & we can eat out less, both will save money & the cost of gas will still be less than the cost of hotels & eating out the whole time.
1 comment:
Eating out is very tricky for me, however I have found a balance now. When I eat at a friends house I am clear about what I am not able to eat. Sinfully Healthy Foods practically changed my life.
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