Hampton trip...

So i just realized that i never even told you guys about what happened in Hampton! I'm not sure how this one got missed...

Well basically what happened is C and i signed up to volunteer at the spartan race up in Amesbury sometime in august. We got stuck in a ton of traffic on the way up and by the time we got to park we were beyond late for our assignment. There was a huge screw up on the spartan race's park by lack of direction with the volunteers and then we had decided to head up to hampton and make it a beach day and then go back the following day to help break everything down.

We really had an amazing day just hanging out by the water, laying back and relaxing. We ended the day buying some fireworks and setting them off by the beach. Before we left to head back on the 90 minute drive home, we decided to stop and get something to eat. 

I saw a place i have been before and decided it was a good idea to stop there. We stopped at Ceal's clam shack. (Now mind you i have learned now that it is never a smart idea to eat at a shack/stand with food intolerances and allergies but unfortunately this lesson i had to apparently learn the hard way.) I almost squealed with excitement when i saw a little sign that said that they had Udi's gluten free rolls. When i went to order i told the woman i was allergic to gluten and she seemed to understand and put in our order. 

I was so excited that i even took a picture.. oh the irony

My plain hamburger on a udi's roll popped out of the other order window a few minutes later and i woofed that thing down like i haven't eaten in days. Within about five minutes my stomach started to get really upset. I knew something wasn't right...

So C started driving us back and i could feel my stomach starting to wrench and twist around. WHICH FEELS AWESOME. This was seriously the worst episode i have had in the past year by far. I was sitting in his car and with each passing moment i could feel myself getting more and more sick.

Sweating, fevering from hot to cold, hot to cold.

Feeling my stomach twist and turn.

And to be honest and a tad graphic i didn't know if i was going to straight up shit myself or throw up.

The poor guy kept asking if he needed to pull over. No no...

Now keep in mind we were still doing that hang out dating sort of thing then. And lets get real no one ever wants to go into explicit detail of what their body does to "evacuate" food when you are intolerant/allergic to it.

Anyways i don't really remember much except for sitting in his car crying with my hand over my face and repeatedly apologizing for having that happen and being completely mortified. We finally got to my house and i was completely delirious at this point. Rushed into the house and pretty sure i told him i would grab all of my stuff later.

C being the super nice guy that he is sent me a text shortly after making sure that i was okay.  A few weeks after this thats when he told me that was the day that he knew he really cared about me.

Needless to say i did not end up returning the following day. I was feeling the effects for about ten days after it happened. Sick to my stomach for the following three and bloating  weight gain and brain fog for the rest.

I followed up by calling the restaurant and letting them know what had happened. I wasn't mad (although i had every right to) i was more concerned that someone with a more severe allergy could have landed in the hospital. The manager was very kind and assured me that she would be re-educating her employees on food safety. 


Moral of the story/lessons learned:

1. NEVER EAT FROM A CLAM SHACK AGAIN

2. C is a keeper.

3.Finding places to eat out is becoming increasingly impossible with my ever growing food intolerances.

4. If at any time you are not sure about the safety of your food DO NOT hesitate to talk to the waitress, manager or chef.

I was feeling pretty good during the day and made this little thing in the sand. looks pretty neat eh?

Help me! I've been glutened and can't get up!

"I've been glutened"

For anyone living with celiac, gluten sensitivities or allergies i am pretty sure you are about to sit back and agree with everything i am about to say...

I have always had a love/hate relationship with any season that involves large family gatherings and parties because of my mucho complicated and ongoing issues with food. So naturally as we approach the end of spring and the beginning of summer it seems that my calendar is booked with graduation parties, weddings and baby showers every weekend.

So since this is the first year that i actually have a clue of what to avoid i feel a bit more prepared. As always friendly reminder ringing in the back of my head is constantly doing its job of showing me what horrors would happen if i eat any of my no-no foods.

Here's the usual set up: 

usually is a mis-mash of delicious looking and smelling "who-who-know-whats"in large pans with mystery sauces. And my even more favorite part of this whole event is the completely ignorant event staff or that uncle who has been grazing the table for the past hour and is telling you what everything is. Because we all know both are DEFINITELY reliable sources of information for those of us with allergies... NOT.

So i personally am yet to master the beast i call my hungry stomach and stick to what i know are more times than not safe foods.

Safe foods:

-Salad (usually dry with dressings on side)* Jackpot if the bottles are there to read!*

- I am still yet to find another solid option to put here... sometimes if you are lucky they will have burgers and other meats for the grill made to order. But for all my GFFs* you're out of luck :(

(GFF=gluten free fiends)

Iffy Foods:

-Potatoes. 

          I find that these are usually cooked in either butter or some sort of oil (vegetable/olive) with seasoning.            usually no obvious signs of wheat or gluten. I say this is IFFY because we all know gluten likes to surprise us sometimes..

DO NOT EAT:

-Chicken ... anything. Hidden in that sauce is only lord knows what.

- Any food with any sort of sauce.. 

So basically my best advice is to try to load up on goodies before you go somewhere with uncertain food choices. 

King Arthur GF cookie mix with Enjoy life non-dairy choco chips! Made by yours truly.

OR if possible bring a dish to share that is friendly to your dietary restrictions. I tend to always bring GF "chocolate chip" cookies because i LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate. 

And then this brings me to my recent experience with these parties...

The past two graduation parties i got a little cocky and thought that since i asked what was in my mystery chicken dishes that that means that it was gospel knowledge at that point... Which as we have all learned the hard way is not true.

So i had to leave early those two times. Once because of some BBQ chicken deal (which in their defense was quite tasty until it settled) and some chicken in red sauce. 

And in case anyone wanted to know how i spent the rest of my afternoon...well i think you can get what happened there...

So lessons learned.

Don't get cocky

Stick to your safe foods (we all remember what happens if you don't..)

Bring appropriate back up food/snacks

Lastly in case you haven't seen this site yet: When i went gluten free Gifs

And yes we are all making those same faces as you are right now.

:)