1. The Chupacabra food truck now has a store front on H Street

With a ton of gluten free and vegan options on the menu, now you don’t have to chase down a restaurant on wheels to get some squash and eggplant tacos, chicken tortilla soup or fried yucca.

2. DC Gluten Free Expo is coming June 2

I had a great time at the expo last year, and can’t wait to see what they’ll have this year. So many new products have come out and I’m excited to mingle and gorge myself on samples. This year I’m making a promise to myself to slow down though since I left the expo with a tummy ache last year due to over indulgence. If you want to burn some calories before the expo, you can also run in the Making Tracks for Celiacs Run/Walk in Arlington in the morning.

3. Lavagna in Capitol Hill has gluten free pasta

I’ve been to Lavagna twice for brunch, but now I’m going to have to stop by for dinner and mangia on some pasta. Thanks to Gluten Free NOVA Girl for the tip off on this one!

Let me know if you know of anything else coming up around the DMV!

One guy’s response was, “Well, I’m gluten free…on Thursdays!“

What are you even talking about, bro? Is that a joke?

Context: This guy was out at the bar for his high school reunion. Because the planning committee knew that he was “gluten free,” they actually brought Redbridge beer to the event for him. What was he drinking as he was blathering on about his “gluten free diet”? Bud Light.

So, that guy was obviously just a jerk. But, it’s an example of how nowadays it seems like everyone thinks that they’re an expert when it comes to celiac disease.

Typically I try not to make my celiac disease or diet a topic at bars or when meeting new people, because it’s kind of a downer and there are other things I’d like to talk about. But now that my job is all about food allergies, it usually gets brought up within the first five minutes of talking to someone, immediately following the “So, what do you do?” question.

Then I end up answering all kinds of questions about what I eat, what I can’t eat, when I was diagnosed, what I can drink, what I can’t drink, etc. Then I’m subject to whatever cliche or tired commentary this person wants to give me. News flash: just because you saw something on Dr. Oz doesn’t make you an expert.

Things like: “Did you know that Dominos has gluten free pizza now?”

Grr. That was like 9 months ago, and I would never eat it because of cross contamination. Thanks though…

Sometimes I think about what life will be like in 5-10 years. Will all of the trend eaters fade away and just let us live our celiac hermit lifestyle? Will so many people be gluten free that we can finally stop making it a topic of debate and bar conversation?

Until then I’m going to just grin and bear it, I guess.

Have you had any interactions with these gluten free wannabes? Dish!

I’ll be sending out my usual email to my family and friends encouraging them to get tested. The average person waits 6-10 years to get diagnosed, which can lead to a slew of health problems, some potentially serious, like infertility and cancer.

I also posted Gluten Dude’s sweet poster in my cubicle at work, and I’ll be talking to any one who will listed about celiac disease. Just casually drop in a few facts around the office like this: “Thanks for sending over that file. By the way, did you know that an estimated 1 in 141 Americans has celiac disease, yet 83% of those who have it are either undiagnosed or misdiagnosed?”

Watch this video, and then download the toolkit from NFCA to plan how you’re going to help raise awareness this month!

Happy CDAM! (I don’t think that’s an actual acronym yet, but let this be its birthplace).

I checked the book out, and flipped through the encyclopedia-like pages. It wasn’t the most enlightening thing I’ve ever read, but it was fun and had what I thought was good advice on some topics.

Then, when I got to the G section, this is what I found:

Apparently the authors have confused gluten intolerance or celiac disease with the Atkins Diet. Life’s too short to go gluten free? Actually it’s more like my life will be too short if I don’t maintain a gluten free diet, like the millions of people who need to stick to the diet to keep their bodies healthy.

I don’t know how stuff like this makes it to print.

This weekend I was really excited to finally try Masa 14 with my dad. I’d tried to get in a few times for brunch, but they book up quickly and the wait is always really long if you don’t have a reservation. Masa 14 is a Richard Sandoval restaurant, which are are known for being gluten free-friendly. All of them have dedicated menus with clear directions on how to modify dishes to make them gluten free.

Being the great dad that he is, we both ordered everything from the gluten free menu so we could share. I love yucca fries, so those were at the top of my list. On the menu it says to order them with “no chimichurri”, but I just made clear that all of the dishes we ordered should have the modifications in place, so I didn’t pay attention to every change they were supposed to make. The waitress knew that I was the gluten free one at the table and my dad did not have to be, so I guess she took some liberties with our order so he could have the gluten-containing items that were left off of the dishes.

So the yucca fries are brought out by a food runner, not the waitress. There are two sauces with them, which I assume are both fine for me to eat, since we asked that all of our food to be made gluten free. I dip a couple of yucca fries in the green sauce (which I wouldn’t have been able to identify as chimichurri anyways). Then about 10 minutes later the waitress comes over and tells me that the green sauce is not gluten free. They usually combine the sauces, but she had them separate them into two dishes so my dad could have the green one.

Well, that’s just swell. Maybe you should have told us that you were bringing out gluten sauces before I had the chance to poison myself.

Sometimes I wish that the signs of a glutening were more visible to the outside world. No one will see me being tired, bloated, and having stomach cramps for the next week. No one can see the damage being done to my intestines or the brain fog that seems to linger for weeks. So when the waitress asked, “Are you okay?” I just said, “I guess so…” Because what was I going to do? I already ate it.

This is exactly what the celiac community has feared would happen since the “gluten free trend” has caught on. Wait staff don’t pay as close of attention and don’t take requests as seriously, and in most cases it won’t cause any consequences since they probably get a ton of orders for gluten free dishes from people who don’t actually need to eat gluten free.

I’m still looking for that perfect line to convey to wait staff that I really, truly need my food to be gluten free. I’ve been thinking about something like, “If you could tell the kitchen to be extra careful with my meal I’d appreciate it. I’m not on one of those fad diets; I’ll actually get really sick if I eat anything with gluten in it.” I just hate coming off as difficult, so I usually go with a softer approach. But after something like this I might have to grow some cajones and let them know I mean business.

What is your typical one-liner for wait staff to convey that you’re serious about your food being free of gluten? 

I geared up to enjoy one with my morning coffee, and was greatly disappointed with the taste and texture. They were grainy and cardboard-esque, like they hadn’t gotten the memo that people expect more out of gluten free baked goods nowadays. I had two bites and threw the rest away.

Then about a week later I was contacted by ginnybakes asking if I’d like to try their almond and sunshine biscotti. Biscotti destiny.

ginnybakes biscotti were everything that the other ones were not. They held their shape when submerged in coffee, they had a bit of a chew, lots of nutty flavor, and they’re only 60 calories a piece. The only thing they were missing was the chocolate chips

I’d had ginnybakes cookies before, which are great (you can buy them at the Whole Foods on Wisconsin in Glover Park), but I’ll definitely be buying the biscotti now as well.

2. Sticky Fingers bakery in Columbia Heights is rumored to be applying for a liquor license. Which means there is the distinct possibility that I could have brunch there and eat gluten free french toast and drink beer. Winning.

3. Sweet Diablo in Dupont serves “The Best Chocolate Cake in the World”: a flourless, gluten-free confection that features thin, crunchy chocolate meringue layers filled with a creamy chocolate mousse and a ganache top. Although according to one blogger, it’s not that great…

(source)

4. Reston burger joint The Counter is debuting a gluten-free menu (according to Eater). In my book the most important thing on the menu are the gluten free chili cheese fries. But you can also build your own gluten-free burger, and offers some predesigned options that fit the category, like a Cranberry and Avocado Turkey Burger on a gluten-free bun. The restaurant will also offer gluten-free milkshakes, Tweason’s Ale from Dogfish Head, and wine.

(source)

5. Newton’s Noodles will be opening downtown in June. Customers will have a choice of rice gluten free noodles or soba, plus a choice of sauce, proteins (shrimp, scallops, beef, chicken and tofu are all available) and vegetables.

6. Restaurant Eve provides a gluten-free tasting menu (in the Tasting Room) as well as very good gluten-free bread baked on site, with 24 hours’ notice. More on where to find a gluten free tasting menu on Chowhound.

Anything else doing on around the District that I should know about? 

Now that I’m working in more of a business district, there are only a few restaurants that are close by enough to quickly get something healthy (and gluten free, of course) to eat. So, I’ve had to get creative and rely more on leftovers, canned soups, and frozen meals.

I’ve found a couple that meet my requirements, which are: low in sodium (relatively, they’re all ridiculous), contains some vegetables, and as high in protein as I can get it.

1. Evol bowls

All four Evol bowls are gluten free, and they also sell three gluten free frozen burritos. While it’s definitely not the same as making it from scratch, it’s definitely a good option if you want something hot that’s made out of better ingredients.

2. Cedar Lane Natural Foods Egg White Omelette

I was admittedly skeptical of microwave eggs, but I’ve gotten about five of these so far and I kind of love them. The filling is cheesy and I always end up feeling satisfied when I’m finished. While it may not look very pretty, it tastes way better then you’d expect. They also sell three gluten free frittatas (mmm roasted chile and cheese) and a three-layer enchilada pie.

I’ve vowed to start making meals ahead of time more, but until that day comes I’m happy to have found these two companies!

Any one else resort to frozen meals during the work day? Any suggestions for ones you like?

But there are those moments – those times when I just want to throw my hands up and say, “I give up! Just give me a feeding tube for the rest of my life and put an end to this whole ‘Eating’ thing.”

Case and point: 

Last week was a long one at work, and on top of that I offered to take a friend to the airport. At 4am. At BWI, which is an hour from my apartment and the opposite direction from my office. So I drive to the airport and figure I should just go right to the office – get in extra early and avoid driving through the city.

Hunger struck while I was driving at 5:30am like a freight train. I ran through the options in my head: try to find a 24 hour CVS, wait until the grocery store opened at 8am…

Then 30 minutes later I saw the beaming golden arches of a McDonald’s. I was getting frantic-hungry and knew they had coffee and orange juice, and maybe hash browns? Were they gluten free? I pulled into the drive thru and tried to look it up on my phone but couldn’t find an answer in time. I scanned the menu and didn’t see anything else I could get, so figured I’d just buy the hash browns and check before I ate them. At least I’d have coffee and orange juice - right?

The drive thru guy asks, “Would you like cream in your coffee? How many?” I say “Yes. Two.” I get my hash browns and drinks, and pull over to investigate the hash browns. According to McDonald’s ingredient list, the hash browns were not gluten free.

GRR.

I get my blood sugar up a bit with the juice, but my stomach is growling and not happy that it can’t have the hash browns. I pull into the office thinking I’ll just stick it out until I can go to the grocery store. I’ll drink my coffee and do some work, it’ll be fine.

No, not fine.

I take a sip of my “coffee” and it’s cold. And thick…

It was a FULL CUP OF CREAM.

No coffee. ALL CREAM.

Fml.

Hungry. Not-caffeinated. Tired. Cold.

THIS is when Celiac really sucks.

When I just need food. It doesn’t have to be fancy, organic, or good for me. I just needed any kind of food at all and couldn’t find it.

In conclusion – McDonalds needs more gluten free options. Or there need to be more restaurants that open at 5am. And now I keep gluten free protein bars in my glove compartment, so I guess I learned my lesson.

Anyone else have a gluten-free horror story? What are your last-resort food options?

I went to the George Washington Medical Center, and my experience couldn’t have been better. The doctor (a gastroenterologist) was extremely knowledgable, and presented me with a few options for a course of treatment.

One option included eating gluten for two months to test my diagnosis. While it was tempting to have a doctor-approved gluten binge, I declined and went with the other option: a endoscopy and colonoscopy to see what damage there is to my intestines and if I have IBS or something else on top of my Celiac Disease.

Good news is I got my blood work back and the Celiac Disease Comprehensive was clean!

Bad news is (see above) I have to get an endoscopy/colonoscopy, which sounds like just about the least pleasant thing I can imagine. But, if there’s something I can do to get my health back in top form, I’ll just have to power through it.

I’d love tips/advice on my upcoming procedure – I plan on stocking up on jello and tea for the day of fasting, but any help is appreciated!

And a resource for those of you in the DC area – the DC Celiac Support Group keeps a list of favorite doctors in the area if you’re looking for one! Find it here.