I went to one of the best gluten free friendly restaurants in London tonight, Under the Volcano. I've eaten at it many times and have always had a wonderful experience.
We arrived and were seated in the very Mexican themed restaurant. As soon as I sat down I noticed that they had a little ad up about their gluten-free chocolate cake! A dessert that's not ice cream or fruit - how amazing!
The greatest thing about Under the Volcano and makes it super easy to eat gluten free at it, is that they list everything right on the regular menu that's gluten free. They also list vegetarian and vegan, which is helpful to anyone looking for that as well. The other thing that's great there is that all their wait staff seem to be well informed and understanding of eating gluten free, as they've been doing it for so long (I've been eating there for over 5 years, so well before the "fad").
While we were figuring out what to order, our fabulous waiter brought us nacho chips and salsa. Important: Their regular chips are NOT gluten free. But as soon as you tell them you are eating gluten free, they'll bring out a bowl of GF ones for you to eat.
I had been craving cheese soup for weeks so I decided to order a cup of cheese soup, then a quesadilla with sour cream, tomato and taco beef. Another bonus is that you can order a second order for $3.50 (or something like that), which I always do and use for lunch the next day! The standard side is rice (good) and beans (I hate beans), but the waiter suggested using my cheese soup as my side, which was great as I never really eat the rice and beans anyways.
While we waited for our food we snacked, and snacked, and snacked on our nacho chips. I accidentally snacked to the point that I wasn't really hungry when my food came! Oops! It wasn't like it took long for the food to come or anything, I just started eating reallly fast because I was so hungry! Anyways, I ate my delicious soup, which was as delicious as I was hoping, then I ate one of my six quesadillas! But it was so yummy!
Next time I'm planning to just get a large soup and chocolate cake, since I was way to full for the cake today! Wonderful as usual and I highly recommend!
Their website: http://iloveunderthevolcano.onpage1hosting.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/UnderTheVolcanoCanada
I have no affiliation with Under the Volcano. I'm just a person with celiac disease who loves to eat and loves to eat a Under the Volcano! I make no promises of anything and I strongly encourage you to be safe when eating gluten free and always tell your wait staff!!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Palasad's GF Pizza - Yum Yum
One of my very favourite places to eat GF pizza at in London is Palasad. They have a delicious thin crust (similar, if not the same to Uno's in the States) that's cooked in a wood oven. My particular favourite is the Athena pizza. I've had pizza at the South location a few times and at the North location once. In my own personal experience, I have never had any Celiac "issues" (I'm sure you catch my drift).
The only thing that would be nice would be to have a list of the GF ingredients for the pizzas so there was no guess work involved. However, when I was last there with my sister, she asked about their pepperoni which the waitress checked and found out that it did have gluten in it.
It's semi-pricey since you're paying about $11-$13 for the pizza plus an additional $2 for the GF crust, but I always enjoy the result.
The opinions expressed here are just my own and I have no affiliation with Palasad. I just like them.
The only thing that would be nice would be to have a list of the GF ingredients for the pizzas so there was no guess work involved. However, when I was last there with my sister, she asked about their pepperoni which the waitress checked and found out that it did have gluten in it.
It's semi-pricey since you're paying about $11-$13 for the pizza plus an additional $2 for the GF crust, but I always enjoy the result.
The opinions expressed here are just my own and I have no affiliation with Palasad. I just like them.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
A warning :)
A little warning that I should put in here and warn people of. I swear, a bit. Okay, a lot.
I'm sorry. I don't mean it to be offensive or rude. It just happens. I will try to limit it :)
I'm sorry. I don't mean it to be offensive or rude. It just happens. I will try to limit it :)
No, it's not by choice and it's not a phase I'm going through.
Today when I opened my favourite section of the Globe and Mail (the Life section), I stumbled across an article on the main paged called The Gluten Debate: Cutting the Wheat from the Chaff. My first thought, oooooh, great another article about gluten.
First thought that just crossed your mind "What?!". Alright. Let me explain. I have celiac disease. This is an auto immune disorder where the only "cure" (or even better, the only way to keep it in remission) is to not eat gluten. At all. Not a single itty bitty trace.
What would happen if I wasn't on a gluten free diet? Well, I'd cause major damage to my entire digestive tract, likely suffer from malnutrition, develop some form of intestinal cancer, and lead a generally shitty life. True story. It actually qutie sad but in the past year I heard a story about a 21 year old female who died from celiac disease. Yes, died. Gluten is, therefore, not something I fuck around with.
Okay, so what's my problem with how "popular" being gluten free has become? Shouldn't I be happy? Well, I am. There are much more products available to me now, there's better options and it's pretty great. The problem?? It's a fad. Nothing like this sticks. (Think Atkins, South Beach, the grapefruit diet, etc., etc). And, while I fully support people going on a GF diet if they'd like to, when people don't take it as seriously as someone with celiac disease has to take it, it sometimes gives off the impression that everyone doesn't need to take it seriously. And I do.
Anyways, turns out the article in the Globe and Mail was pretty good. I'd recommend taking a quick read through it.
First thought that just crossed your mind "What?!". Alright. Let me explain. I have celiac disease. This is an auto immune disorder where the only "cure" (or even better, the only way to keep it in remission) is to not eat gluten. At all. Not a single itty bitty trace.
What would happen if I wasn't on a gluten free diet? Well, I'd cause major damage to my entire digestive tract, likely suffer from malnutrition, develop some form of intestinal cancer, and lead a generally shitty life. True story. It actually qutie sad but in the past year I heard a story about a 21 year old female who died from celiac disease. Yes, died. Gluten is, therefore, not something I fuck around with.
Okay, so what's my problem with how "popular" being gluten free has become? Shouldn't I be happy? Well, I am. There are much more products available to me now, there's better options and it's pretty great. The problem?? It's a fad. Nothing like this sticks. (Think Atkins, South Beach, the grapefruit diet, etc., etc). And, while I fully support people going on a GF diet if they'd like to, when people don't take it as seriously as someone with celiac disease has to take it, it sometimes gives off the impression that everyone doesn't need to take it seriously. And I do.
Anyways, turns out the article in the Globe and Mail was pretty good. I'd recommend taking a quick read through it.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Metro - A whole gluten free selection!
You know how when you're a GF person how everyone is always telling you about how they saw some GF product, or they ate somewhere with a GF menu and you already knew about it but you have to pretend like it's exciting?
Well, I had someone tell me about a GF product that I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT!
A friend at work said that the Metro flyer had an entire page about GF food. So I thought, well, that's cool. But then I looked at it and it was even cooler! They have made their own "brand" of GF food! And it's priced pretty well! The flyer included:
Boxes of pasta - $2.49
Bag of bread crumbs - $3.49
Macaroni and cheese - $1.99 (Very excited about this!!!)
Bag of pancake mix - $1.99
A box of 5 Chewy bars - $3.49
Cake mix - $3.49
Isn't that kind of crazy?! I will admit, while I've never been a big Metro shopper before (because I like Superstore and know what GF stuff they have.... guess that is the point of this blog: to expand from what we know), I think I'm going to have to hit up a Metro on the way home! I'm really excited! I'll let you know how it goes!
Please note that I have no connection to Metro and I'm sure their prices will change so don't hold me or my blog accountable for the prices listed above!
Well, I had someone tell me about a GF product that I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT!
A friend at work said that the Metro flyer had an entire page about GF food. So I thought, well, that's cool. But then I looked at it and it was even cooler! They have made their own "brand" of GF food! And it's priced pretty well! The flyer included:
Boxes of pasta - $2.49
Bag of bread crumbs - $3.49
Macaroni and cheese - $1.99 (Very excited about this!!!)
Bag of pancake mix - $1.99
A box of 5 Chewy bars - $3.49
Cake mix - $3.49
Isn't that kind of crazy?! I will admit, while I've never been a big Metro shopper before (because I like Superstore and know what GF stuff they have.... guess that is the point of this blog: to expand from what we know), I think I'm going to have to hit up a Metro on the way home! I'm really excited! I'll let you know how it goes!
Please note that I have no connection to Metro and I'm sure their prices will change so don't hold me or my blog accountable for the prices listed above!
The point.
What's my point? Celiac disease is become more and more common. On top of that, gluten free living is becoming "trendy" and more people are starting to realize the benefits of it.
That being said, I haven't really seen anyone in London, Ontario get on that bandwagon. Eight years in, I'm willing to take the reigns.
What give me the authority to talk about celiac disease and gluten free living? Good question. Here's the answer: My mom was diagnosed with celiac disease about 34 years ago and living a completely gluten free life since then. Sure, when I was a kid I just thought she couldn't eat the same hot dogs that I did. And it wasn't until I was about 10 when I realized that lasagna wasn't made with layers of rice - who knew!?
I was diagnosed with celiac disease when I was 11, even though I didn't show any signs of it. At the same time, my 16 year old sister was diagnosed. She's been gluten free since then. My doctor at the time, who I will not name but I do have to say I am unimpressed with, told me that I didn't need to go on the diet because I was still growing and my body would just "rejuvenate" the destruction that celiac disease was doing to my small intestines. If you ask my mother, that's why I stopped growing and ended up being the shortest in the family.
After destructing my entire digestive tract over the next 7 years, I finally hopped on the gluten free diet when I was 18 and in my first year of university. I've been completely diligent for the past 8 years!
I realize that I'm lucky: unlike most people, I wasn't sick for years and years before figuring out what was wrong with me. I also had a pretty easy transition from "normal" food to GF food since I knew so many people around me that were also celiacs and living GF. That being said, I think we're always finding out information. I think we get into our grooves of what restaurants work, what grocery stores offer the food you like and you stop exploring. I'm going to explore what we've got because we live in a great town and there's lots to see and do and EAT!
If you have anything you want me to cover or look into, I'm more than happy to do so!
That being said, I haven't really seen anyone in London, Ontario get on that bandwagon. Eight years in, I'm willing to take the reigns.
What give me the authority to talk about celiac disease and gluten free living? Good question. Here's the answer: My mom was diagnosed with celiac disease about 34 years ago and living a completely gluten free life since then. Sure, when I was a kid I just thought she couldn't eat the same hot dogs that I did. And it wasn't until I was about 10 when I realized that lasagna wasn't made with layers of rice - who knew!?
I was diagnosed with celiac disease when I was 11, even though I didn't show any signs of it. At the same time, my 16 year old sister was diagnosed. She's been gluten free since then. My doctor at the time, who I will not name but I do have to say I am unimpressed with, told me that I didn't need to go on the diet because I was still growing and my body would just "rejuvenate" the destruction that celiac disease was doing to my small intestines. If you ask my mother, that's why I stopped growing and ended up being the shortest in the family.
After destructing my entire digestive tract over the next 7 years, I finally hopped on the gluten free diet when I was 18 and in my first year of university. I've been completely diligent for the past 8 years!
I realize that I'm lucky: unlike most people, I wasn't sick for years and years before figuring out what was wrong with me. I also had a pretty easy transition from "normal" food to GF food since I knew so many people around me that were also celiacs and living GF. That being said, I think we're always finding out information. I think we get into our grooves of what restaurants work, what grocery stores offer the food you like and you stop exploring. I'm going to explore what we've got because we live in a great town and there's lots to see and do and EAT!
If you have anything you want me to cover or look into, I'm more than happy to do so!
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