I found a wonderful GF travel article in the Quebec Celiac Chapter newsletter this past week written by their President, Louise Pearl. For those of you hoping to travel to Mexico.... I'd love to share her tips and story with you. Here's a bit of inspiration...
``I was lucky enough to travel to Mexico (just before it became a bad idea) and just in case you feel like giving it a try here are a few tips. I went to The Grand Sirenis Mayan Beach Resort. This was my first time at an all-inclusive resort and
needless to say I had a few hesitations. I called first, spoke to guest services and was reassured when they said they deal with GF requests often. Sure enough they did a great job.
First thing you should pack is a gluten free restaurant card in their native language (in this case Spanish). If you search on the internet you can find them in most every language. Make many copies as you will hand them to your water or Maitre D or the chef at every meal and they sometimes do not return from the kitchen. Other
times they come back with food stains!
Rules #1 Always find the Maitre D or the head chef. Explain your needs and do not eat from the buffet. At first they would tell me what was safe for me in the buffet but after I explained the possibility of cross contamination when people serve themselves they were always very happy to make a GF version in the back for me of just about anything on the buffet. Por favor, gracias and a smile go a very long way. After a few days, the Head Chef would recognise me when we met anywhere on the site and always came to say hi. Be nice, say gracias and give him a tip, they don’t
often get tipped because they are mostly in the kitchen. Trust me it goes a very long way in making your stay delicious!
Rule #2 Another tidbit I learned, if you leave a tip as we do here, on the table when you are finished your meal it will go to the server. If the Maitre D was the one who communicated your needs to the chef and took care of you and your intention is to thank him or her, giving them a tip directly is the way to go. Otherwise the waiter who simply cleared away the plates will the one to benefit. We have to remember that salaries are not enough to feed their families and the few tips they get are very important to them so make sure it goes where you want.
Rule #3 Drinks! Hey it’s not a vacation without some tropical drink. Just make
sure you avoid the “blender drinks”. Most often the blenders are not washed
most always they are just rinsed leaving some of the previous concoction behind to contaminate your drink. Options such as Mojitos are made directly in your glass not in a blender and they do the trick of satisfying your need for something wet,
sweet and tropical. All the water they use in food preparation, drinks and ice
is safe but do not drink the water from the tap in your room or elsewhere on the site.
Rule #4 Remember to bring reef walkers, you know those water shoes to protect your feet. The Mayan shore is rocky and I saw more people with cut feet in one week than I ever did before. If you have inexpensive water shoes you will enjoy the ocean so much more.
Rules #5 Learn to say Si, when a massage therapist comes up to you on the beach and offers a free back massage! I am not kidding, it happened. It is their way of the spa, but I didn’t tell him I was going anyway with or without the freebie. This deserved a “muchas gracias”.``
Enjoy and begin your sunny trip planning!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Lesson of the Day: Don't Be Afraid to Speak Up
One thing I have learned while travelling is that you cannot be shy. Whether you are by yourself or with a friend or in a group, you have to speak up if you want to find out about something or find out where something is located. God gave you a voice to use, so use it. If you don’t, you could be missing out on something great.
Being gluten free, you especially have to speak up. No one can read your mind, so you need to tell them that you are gluten free and looking for options when you go shopping or eat out at a restaurant. I have found it is always better to speak up then to have a slip up and end up in pain. When I was first diagnosed over a year ago, I would go out to eat with friend and they would constantly joke around with me calling me “picky” or “high maintenance” when I asked for gluten free options.
Now, you have to know this about me, I am the LEAST pickiest eater I know. I actually love food and will always love food. I’ll eat almost everything and anything (within reason that is). This is one reason’s why it was so hard for me to “speak up” at restaurants and let people know that I needed special food or a special menu. I never wanted to be seen as picky or demanding especially when 9 times out of 10, the restaurant staff had no idea what gluten is and I had to explain it to them every time. The more I learned about the gluten-free diet, the more I would share this information with my friends. They began to understand the diet as much as I had and before I knew it, they would be asking the restaurant staff for gluten free options before I could get a word in. Here is a small shout out to them.... I am lucky to have some great friends.
And that begins my gluten free travels to Australia. As my best friend, Nicole, and I began our journey to the land down under, we first flew to Los Angeles for 2.5 days which was just a warm up to all the “speaking up” I would be doing over the next few months in an unknown country.
In our short time in LA, we stayed in a great hostel that I would recommend to anyone, HI Santa Monica Hostel http://www.hilosangeles.org/. Great location and great price! We managed to visit Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, The Farmer’s Market, The Grove, Hollywood, Santa Monica and Venice Beach. The Farmer’s Market in the Grove and Santa Monica Farmer’s Market both had some great gluten free finds. We stumbled upon our new favourite restaurant in Santa Monica too (we still dream about that place today). If you are a Thai food fiend like myself, Buddha’s Belly (http://www.bbfood.com/) is definitely a great spot to find a gluten free meal. They have the best green Thai curry I’ve ever tasted (next to the actual curries in Thailand). Sweet and spicy at the same time and the portion size was huge. They even had a gluten free menu (yup, a Celiac’s dream)! This was a great start to my gluten free journey and we would have never found it if I had never “spoken up”.
Seize the day and speak up,
The Gluten Free Passport
Being gluten free, you especially have to speak up. No one can read your mind, so you need to tell them that you are gluten free and looking for options when you go shopping or eat out at a restaurant. I have found it is always better to speak up then to have a slip up and end up in pain. When I was first diagnosed over a year ago, I would go out to eat with friend and they would constantly joke around with me calling me “picky” or “high maintenance” when I asked for gluten free options.
Now, you have to know this about me, I am the LEAST pickiest eater I know. I actually love food and will always love food. I’ll eat almost everything and anything (within reason that is). This is one reason’s why it was so hard for me to “speak up” at restaurants and let people know that I needed special food or a special menu. I never wanted to be seen as picky or demanding especially when 9 times out of 10, the restaurant staff had no idea what gluten is and I had to explain it to them every time. The more I learned about the gluten-free diet, the more I would share this information with my friends. They began to understand the diet as much as I had and before I knew it, they would be asking the restaurant staff for gluten free options before I could get a word in. Here is a small shout out to them.... I am lucky to have some great friends.
And that begins my gluten free travels to Australia. As my best friend, Nicole, and I began our journey to the land down under, we first flew to Los Angeles for 2.5 days which was just a warm up to all the “speaking up” I would be doing over the next few months in an unknown country.
In our short time in LA, we stayed in a great hostel that I would recommend to anyone, HI Santa Monica Hostel http://www.hilosangeles.org/. Great location and great price! We managed to visit Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, The Farmer’s Market, The Grove, Hollywood, Santa Monica and Venice Beach. The Farmer’s Market in the Grove and Santa Monica Farmer’s Market both had some great gluten free finds. We stumbled upon our new favourite restaurant in Santa Monica too (we still dream about that place today). If you are a Thai food fiend like myself, Buddha’s Belly (http://www.bbfood.com/) is definitely a great spot to find a gluten free meal. They have the best green Thai curry I’ve ever tasted (next to the actual curries in Thailand). Sweet and spicy at the same time and the portion size was huge. They even had a gluten free menu (yup, a Celiac’s dream)! This was a great start to my gluten free journey and we would have never found it if I had never “spoken up”.
Seize the day and speak up,
The Gluten Free Passport
Once called "Banana Babies"
In October, I went to a friend's wedding (congratulations again Corey and Mac!) where I met another woman who was a Celiac just like me. I was immediately thrilled and so, we got talking. When I had asked her how long she’d been gluten free for, she replied “since I was born” and shared a story with me that I was not yet familiar with. I've always been wondering how this gluten-free phenomenon came about. Well, here's a bit of history...
When she was born in the 1950’s, Celiac Disease was not yet well known or even heard of. Just a few months old, she became very sick and the doctor had told her parents that she didn’t have long to live because her body was strangely not able to hold down any food. She was hospitalized as the doctor tried feeding her a variety of foods that kept failing. Until, one day they fed her bananas. Miraculously, of all the food they had tried, this was the only one that her body accepted. She was deemed a “banana baby” as the doctors believed that the only thing she would ever be allowed to eat was bananas. Imagine only being able to eat bananas for the rest of your life? This theory was quite common around the 50's and 60's and so, the banana baby generation began.
Later on, she was officially diagnosed with what doctors revealed as Celiac Disease but continued to struggle throughout her life because it was believed that you could outgrow the disease and go back to a normal diet.
Mythbuster: We all know today that once you have been diagnosed as a Celiac, you become a Celiac for life. Once a Celiac, always a Celiac.
What most people today don’t realize is the severity and true meaning of what being a Celiac is all about. For example, if you have a life-threatening allergy to peanuts and you are exposed to them, this can cause an immediate and deadly allergic reaction. If someone who is Celiac eats gluten (anything containing wheat, barley or rye), they also experience immediate symptoms (I hate to say it...bloating, chronic diarrhea and constant fatigue) that though, do not seem life-threatening, actually are in the long-term. Failing to stick to this diet only leads to more years of pain not to mention the deterioration of your digestive system that will knock off years of your life. My question to you is: If we now have the power, the resources and the knowledge available to us to live the longest and fullest life, why not take advantage of it? If eating gluten free means that I live an extra 5 years, bring it on!
For my new-found Celiac friend at the wedding, though it took her years of trying to fully understand and become familiar with this disease, she was able to finally reach her full potential again. Best of all, she is able to maintain it. She is strong, healthy, a breath of fresh air and a great role model for others living gluten free. I’m glad to be sharing her story with you.
Long live the Banana Babies of the world!
The Gluten Free Passport
When she was born in the 1950’s, Celiac Disease was not yet well known or even heard of. Just a few months old, she became very sick and the doctor had told her parents that she didn’t have long to live because her body was strangely not able to hold down any food. She was hospitalized as the doctor tried feeding her a variety of foods that kept failing. Until, one day they fed her bananas. Miraculously, of all the food they had tried, this was the only one that her body accepted. She was deemed a “banana baby” as the doctors believed that the only thing she would ever be allowed to eat was bananas. Imagine only being able to eat bananas for the rest of your life? This theory was quite common around the 50's and 60's and so, the banana baby generation began.
Later on, she was officially diagnosed with what doctors revealed as Celiac Disease but continued to struggle throughout her life because it was believed that you could outgrow the disease and go back to a normal diet.
Mythbuster: We all know today that once you have been diagnosed as a Celiac, you become a Celiac for life. Once a Celiac, always a Celiac.
What most people today don’t realize is the severity and true meaning of what being a Celiac is all about. For example, if you have a life-threatening allergy to peanuts and you are exposed to them, this can cause an immediate and deadly allergic reaction. If someone who is Celiac eats gluten (anything containing wheat, barley or rye), they also experience immediate symptoms (I hate to say it...bloating, chronic diarrhea and constant fatigue) that though, do not seem life-threatening, actually are in the long-term. Failing to stick to this diet only leads to more years of pain not to mention the deterioration of your digestive system that will knock off years of your life. My question to you is: If we now have the power, the resources and the knowledge available to us to live the longest and fullest life, why not take advantage of it? If eating gluten free means that I live an extra 5 years, bring it on!
For my new-found Celiac friend at the wedding, though it took her years of trying to fully understand and become familiar with this disease, she was able to finally reach her full potential again. Best of all, she is able to maintain it. She is strong, healthy, a breath of fresh air and a great role model for others living gluten free. I’m glad to be sharing her story with you.
Long live the Banana Babies of the world!
The Gluten Free Passport
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