Well, that wasn't so bad

So... today was Un-Birthday (belated) party for my sister in law.

Um... she walked in wearing a sparkly thing (very cute) in her hair.  Obviously someone blew the surprise (or she just knows how to interrogate her children, ;D).

My bro was doing it at a restaurant, with one set menu for everything.  I originally told him, "don't inlclude me in the food count - I'll need to have them make me something without any bread or pasta" (it was an Italian place... Luigi's House).  They do their food family-style for parties... which basically means wheat would be touching pretty much everything.  Yay.

He asked, they said they'd be able to accommodate me food-wise.

They brought the appetizers out, bruchetta and pizza, so I was out of luck on those.  No biggie.  A waiter came by to ask me how "sensitive" my allergy to wheat was and he at first obviously thought I was being a bit of a tool about it all and I might have gotten a bit huffy trying to confirm that no, I was not being picky and I couldn't have ANYTHING that involved flour, bread or pasta or anything like that - but they did a stellar job.

They made me a chopped salad without the pasta - I was even beyond impressed that they left off the blue cheese, which can cause reactions in people with celiac but I think I can still, ha, stomach.  When they brought out the main dishes, rather than the breaded lemon chicken and chicken parm, they gave me grilled chicken in a lemon sauce and grilled chicken w/tomato sauce and mozz.  Nothing to do about the pasta - but they did give me a nice side of steamed broccoli.

And I planned ahead for desert... some wonderful gluten-free Outrageous Brownies (with Bob's Red Mill GF Baking Flour.... with a pound of butter and two pounds of chocolate in there, no one noticed any "off" flavor from weird flours) that I made ahead of time came with.  And were enjoyed even by the people who can eat wheat.

I understand how "picky eaters" can be a challenge at restaurants and that it gives a bad image to those who really have issues, but I am glad to at least know of one place where when it is made clear, they go above and beyond.

I hate food.

Yeah.... it's been quiet on the blog.

That might be because me & food are not in a very good place right now.  It is a very odd thing to deal with the fact that wheat had such a bad effect on me.  And it's just everywhere.

Not there, though!!  Apparently one of the local pizza biggies - Lou Malnati's - does a "gluten free" (wheat free is the important bit for me) pizza.  Basically... their deep-dish sausage pizza contains the sausage as one big disk.  Someone was real smart and figured out they could use that as the "crust", and then put the toppings on that.  And it is just like eating a slice of their regular stuff, sans crust.

At least when we come back from Vegas (going at the beginning of November to celebrate the hubby's big 4-0 birthday) I'll know I can order up a couple of personal pizzas (with crust for him) for us for dinner.

Our area Whole Paycheck (Foods) has a cooking class next weekend on "gluten free cooking."  After much inner debate... I'm going to skip it.  I've pretty much already figured out most stuff I need to know on my own, and this particular Whole Paycheck tends to be frequented by a lot of rich 2nd wives from the affluent 'burbs around these parts... and there is a very high chance I might get violent around someone who is doing this as a "lifestyle choice" and not because they HAVE to.  Because when they cheat or mess up, there are no consequences.  There are when I mess up (and not cheat... have no desire to cheat and make myself feel miserable). 

I used to love food.  I especially loved food prepared by other people for me.  Now I almost dread Friday night and ordering out and trying to figure out what I can eat that won't leave me hurting the next day.

Hopefully the kitchen mojo will come back soon and it'll be less of the totally bland food I've been doing lately (most things are so plain they are totally boring).  Anything on a bun or bread I usually eat "naked" pretty much because although Udi's does make a pretty decent gluten-free bread, it's expensive and I am cheap.  If I'm gonna use it... it better be worth it.

This also means I am spending more time actually in the kitchen - I gotta do my own breakfasts (usually an egg) and lunch for every day.  It's not like it is easy to just pick up something wheat-free if I don't plan ahead (although I am increasing the stockpile in my desk with things like Minute Rice, canned oil-packed tuna, jars of beans, etc.).

I might be doing some full-out meatballs with wheat-free pasta and red sauce and - gasp! - some french bread for me next weekend because I have discovered that a local area bakery - Deerfields - does GF french bread and I did pick some up,  but again.... $5 for two mini loaves - I want to do it justice.