A Love Post to Biaggi's

Don't you love it when a restaurant just 'gets' you?

I know that gluten free menus are popping up everywhere now-a-days but they're still a little more sparse than I'd prefer. Some places claim to be gluten free friendly but all that's available to me is salad and burgers without buns. That's fun while I'm at home but if I'm paying over $10 for a meal, I want it to actually fill me up. However, every now and then I find a restaurant that knows their food allergy knowledge and even offers to cook me my own gluten free bread...it's like I've fallen in love.

Let's cut to the chase. This awkward lovey dovey post is actually devoted to a restaurant called Biaggi's. It is located in pretty random states across the country and thankfully I've always lived near one (since being gluten free). Not only does their food taste delectable but it's also not as expensive as one would think. For only $15, I can have the best alfredo of my life and make almost 3 meals out of it. I kid
you not!

I don't think Biaggi's gets enough credit for how much they've gone out of their way to cater to people with food allergies, Celiac Diseasers in particular. Biaggi's, I will continue stuffing my face with your fancy Italian until I grow sick of it, which is hopefully never.

Now that I've admitted my favorite restaurant that makes me feel like a king, what restaurant in your area makes you feel the same exact way?

Staring in the eyes of gluten

Have you ever ordered something at a restaurant, it comes and you realize that you're staring directly in the eyes of GLUTEN?! You blink a couple times to make sure you're not dreaming and think to yourself, How do I get out of this without a scene and with a non-glutened substance in my belly?

Well, I don't quite have an answer to this because the first time it happened to me I took the 'poor me' approach and let my girly emotions take the best of me. However, the second time this nightmare occurred, I apologized to the waitress, explained my food allergy and ordered a different menu item. She looked a bit doubtful of my excuse but I didn't get charged for the first meal. I'd say that was a success!

Upon being diagnosed, the doctor can't exactly tell us what awkward situations we'll eventually be put in and how best to react to them because, let's be honest, they don't even know. No one does. I may have my days where it doesn't bother me that everyone in the office gets free pizza except me but for every 20 'good behavior' days I have, there's about 1 or 2 'bad behavior' days. They do say that negative experiences often overtake positive ones in your memory and that's true in this case.

My best advice on the matter is to surround yourself with people that respect your disease and understand that it can be a sensitive subject from time to time. We all have our bad days and it definitely doesn't help when your restaurant food is inedible for you and your stomach is growling at you to feed it.

Show gluten who's boss the next time you two cross paths!!

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'It' who shall not be named...POOP

I was carousing good ol' Facebook this morning like I normally do and came across a post that 'Find me gluten free' added and I KNEW I had to share it to anyone who comes in contact with me today - which is a good thing I decided to write a blog post this afternoon. I bet you're wondering what the big deal is so I have taken a screen shot and attached it. -->          

Now I'm not certain how many celiac diseasers all experience bowel issues when glutened but I know I do and it does seem odd when strangers ask me this question: "What happens when you eat gluten?". I am aware they're just curious but how many ways can I avoid the word 'poop' or 'diarrhea' or simply 'spending the whole day on the toilet'? I mean I'm obviously pretty open about the subject but I have dated guys in the past who are still convinced that girls don't poop and it's not exactly a dinner topic.

I know celiac disease and gluten intolerance can affect the whole body, even causing headaches and an overall achy feeling. To us, gluten is a poison and when it gets inside our body, all is fair game. That being said, what do you say when people ask you the harmless question?? Do you provide a sugarcoated answer or do you describe such a vivid image that the question-asker feels like they're being glutened themselves??

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