Pain-Free Road Trips

I just got back from a road trip from my condo in Florida to my house in Virginia. It took 2 days and many boring hours staring into space...we decided that driving is only worth it if we are going to be at the condo for more than 2 weeks. It's just too much of a pain. Hence my post title.

Here are some of my ideas to make road trips with allergies pain-FREE:
1. BRING A COOLER- you cannot make it on a long car trip without a cold cooler full of drinks incase you're thirsty and don't want to get raped at a truck stop. It is also very handy if you want to bring safe lunchmeats to avoid fatty highway eateries (There is a McDonald's at every single exit down 95).
2. BRING ROOM TEMPERATURE BREAD- Who wants to eat a bland burger that tastes like the floor without a bready cover up? Sometimes you have to eat just to eat, no matter how terrible it tastes. I brought my own Schar rolls...but ran out way too soon. I also suggest bringing some small packs of peanut butter, just incase you can't find anywhere safe to eat.
3. PACK SNACKS THAT CAN BE DEFROSTED AND STILL HAVE TASTE- I bought gf/df frozen chocolate chip muffins from Publix that were meant to defrost naturally. This came in handy in the car despite the chocolate chips melting all over the place.
4. IF YOU MUST EAT OUT, STOP AT A CHICK FIL-A, RUBY TUESDAY or OUTBACK- These were the best options for me during the trip. Chick Fil-A has gf fries (thank god!) and Ruby Tuesday, although the servers were a bit stupid and slow, was very careful with serving me. I ordered turkey sliders without the bun and mentioned I was allergic to wheat...his immediate response was "Oh but the buns are not wheat buns...they're white." I almost said HOW STUPID ARE YOU? but I politely said, no I can't have ANY type of bread. Outback has a gluten-free menu and was very helpful serving me sides without butter.
5. FREE BREAKFASTS AT HOTELS ARE A BIG NO-NO- We stayed at a Comfort Suites on the way down which pleased my dad because of the "great deal" since it included "a free continental breakfast." Ummm I don't know the definition of a continental breakfast exactly, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't include premade flattened egg circles, hard-boiled eggs that taste like rubber, and only low-fat milk with bready carbs only. Of course, we were in the south so I shouldn't have expected anything else.
6. IF YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE SERVER IS SAYING (for example, has a thick Southern accent) DON'T TRUST THEM- Sure eggs don't have dairy in them....because butter isn't dairy according to half of the places that serve eggs. Excuse but what is butter then? Magic milky bars that come from buttercups? How about you GET AN EDUCATION. Oh and asking for soy milk in your chai at Starbucks in North Carolina apparently means I want non-fat. And what the hell does "turn leff" mean?

Okay enough ranting for the day...and off to my next trip to Pennsylvania and New Jersey! Expect more complaints to come....

Singer Island

It's mid-summer which means it's the best time of the year. Fruit! I can drink a smoothie without being chilled to the bone and shivering in a corner. And I mean a real smoothie with fresh fruit not frozen ice blocks with a hint of fruit plus a shit ton of milk. Now I haven't had milk for atleast 4 years, except by accident, but I know what a smoothie with milk tastes like...fake! I'm a bit prejudiced...but I wouldn't change my diet for anything. If I got tested and they said I could go back on wheat and dairy, I wouldn't. It's gotten to the point that thinking about eating a piece of real pizza could make me throw up by itself.

Now to explore where I am currently, which is Singer Island, Florida. It's basically West Palm Beach or Palm Beach Gardens, but my condo is on the island and we have to go over a bridge to get to mainland. We've eaten in restaurants for dinner every night and here is a rundown of the places we've been.

Habitat Cafe, Singer Island- Tiny little place next to Publix. Small menu with mostly sandwiches, bready items, breakfast. I abhore this place. Their salads taste bad, they served me buttery eggs and lied about it even though I could TASTE the dairy in it. This time I brought my own Schar bun (but forgot to toast it) and just ordered plain turkey sandwich without the bread. The turkey had some sort of spice on it that sucked and the bread fell apart all over the plate (my fault). Wait staff isn't too friendly and didn't even flinch when I told her about my allergies.

Fiorellas, Boynton Beach- This is an italian restaurant in Boynton Beach, near my grandparents house. It made me love Italian food again! I always hate going there because the restaurants are disgusting and cheap, but after finding this place I don't mind. They have delicious gluten free penne and spaghetti, though I recommend the penne. They even have lasagna but of course I can't have it. It's one of the biggest gf menus I've ever seen.

Pizza Fusion, Palm Beach Gardens- This place is AMAZING. Not only do they have gluten free pizza that tastes great, but they have vegan soy cheese and gf/df brownies! I got mine with mushrooms and peppers, my favorite. No matter how full I am I always get a brownie because they are the size of my face and taste like heaven. If you get one, make sure to ask them to heat it up for you. It tastes the best when the chocolate chips inside are melty.

Kona Grill, Cityplace in West Palm Beach- I love this place because it's Asian AND it has a gf menu. Unfortunately the selection isn't too huge and I always get sushi. The edamame is delicious and generously salted though! I was served a sauce with my sushi that the waitress claimed was gluten free, but it was in a Kikkoman bottle which kinda freaked me out. I wasn't about to take that risk. Sushi was tasty but I wish they used less tempura in their roll selection.

Spoto's Oakwood Grill, Palm Beach Gardens- I just ate there 2 hours ago and remembered it being better the last time, and it's overpriced. I ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon but they had to leave the sauce off and I got a sweet potato instead of the rice pilaf. It was very bland fish for a cedar plank. Not sure I'd go back.

Has anyone ever been to a Publix Greenwise? It's the Disney world of health food! I even thought it was better than Whole Foods. They had my favorite brand of bagels, Udi's. And basically anything I would normally eat at home and more. I found chocolate chip muffins that are delish.

Recipe of the Day:

GFDF Quick Smores
4 Kinnickinnick Smore crackers
1/2 cup of Peanut Butter & Company Dark Chocolate Dreams PB or PB of your choice
4 large Jetpuff marshmallows

Add a dollup of PB to each cracker
Top with 1 marshmallow per cracker (may break cracker in half)
Put in the microwave for 30 seconds MAX
Enjoy!
WARNING: Very messy...you will probably drool everywhere so a bib might help.


--This is my first post...we'll see how often I keep up with this.--