Salty Zebra

  When you have food allergies or intolerances, traveling can be really tricky! That's one of the reasons I love cruising, but even then, you encounter strange lands, like * Miami*  where you have to forage for food outside of the main dining room. When you have Celiac Disease, or you're even just intolerant to gluten, getting exposed while on vacation can put a rather unpleasant spin on your experience. Enter Find Me Gluten Free . This fabulous, crowd-sourced site and app are a great place to start when trying to hunt down that elusive gluten free meal in a new town, or even the one you live in!   The app is a really handy tool to include on your phone and can be found in your product's app store for free. I, however, typically like to do my searching ahead of time on the computer, but unfortunately the web version no longer includes a map for free, so I use the app for that part. I like to start by searching for everything and then begin to narrow it down from...

 One of the things I look forward to most on a cruise is the food! Not having to plan, shop, cook or clean up after is a special treat. And on Norwegian, they do a really great job with it! I've written before regarding dining with special diets, but this is a more general post that applies to everyone.   If you have the time, the main dining rooms are lovely places to eat. You can take your time, eat in courses, and order of their wonderful and varied menu. They have a section at each meal that remains the same of go to favorites, for example at dinner there are always roasted chicken and New York steak as options. The appetizers and a section for entrees will rotate each day. Yes, you'll see certain things pop up often, like bruschetta, but they will have new and different things each day. Most people get on board the ship and go straight to the buffet, but if you'd like to eat in style, head downstairs instead!   Depending on the ship, they will have two or t...

Pictured: Bruschetta made with GF bread - delicious!  When you are having to avoid certain foods, cruising can be your best travel option! For those with severe allergies, say to peanuts, where even having them in the air can be dangerous, I'm afraid this isn't the case. But for those who simply need to make sure that gluten or dairy or meat is not in their  meal, then this is for you! When you travel regularly, flying somewhere and staying in a hotel, you're having to visit a new restaurant for each meal and try to assess whether their preparations are safe, what menu items are available to you, and how to communicate with the staff. If you are in a place that speaks a different language this can be really tricky! Pictured: GF Flourless Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Compote (I was so excited to eat it that I took a bite before I remembered to take a picture!)  On a cruise, you not only unpack once and get to visit lots of places, but you also only have to sort out the d...

  So said a plaque in my Mom's office at the Fire Department. She worked in IT there for more than 30 years before she retired last year. One of the main things she learned? At the Fire Department, everything is an emergency!   For many years (maybe decades?) I've been a big proponent of having a meal plan. This informs my grocery shopping and keeps me from overspending and wasting food. It also solves the age-old question of "What's for dinner?" One of my favorite tools? I use a meal planning service called Plan to Eat *. On it I store my recipes (I have nearly 2,000 saved at the moment). Then, using the planning tool, I schedule my meals by dragging and dropping them onto a calendar. Plan to Eat then generates a shopping list based on the ingredients from my recipes. It learns over time which stores I prefer to buy things at and what category (like produce or dairy) things will be found in. It takes just a few minutes for me to delete any items I already have on...

    Today I’d like to share with you an incredible little spot. Some people like to keep secrets like this to themselves, but I want this bakery to stay open forever, so I’d like to drive lots of business in their direction! I’ve dealt with restrictive diets and food intolerances for as long as I can remember. One of the most well-known and yet still difficult ones of these is being gluten-free. We’ve come a long way in recognition of this allergy with many restaurants marking their menus with safe options and occasionally offering gluten-free alternatives like pasta or sandwich bread. Still, if you’re going out to eat, your options will be limited. The cruelest thing you can say to someone who is gluten-free is, “At least you can have a salad!” We’ve heard that so many times it’s become a trope. I almost cried the last time my husband said that to me.   Said husband has completely redeemed himself though by finding this little gem for me! He was out serving the homeles...

  So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.   1 Corinthians 10: 31 I have a long history with restrictive diets. Really, it dates back to my childhood watching my family yo-yo dieting with Slim Fast and other equally toxic and unmaintainable eating styles. Those early messages were so conflicting and confusing. “Food is bad, because it’s so good.” I’m not sure how you ever really clear out those founding memories. Sugar is bad. Salt is bad. Fat is bad. Carbs are bad. Artificial sweeteners are bad. Red Meat is bad. Gluten is bad. Dairy is bad. Oh wait, but most of those things are good and necessary too. As an adult, I’ve bumped up against several needs for diets. When my children were born, I wanted to lose the pregnancy weight. My babies had severe allergies and I was nursing them, so I had to cut out dairy and soy – not an easy thing to do at the turn of the century when labels were still very lacking. Then my body started ...

      In my opinion, cruising is the easiest way to travel when you have a special diet, and Carnival did not disappoint.  What's important, though, is knowing the best way to navigate dining with a special diet, so I'm here to give you the 411.     Most cruise lines request that you inform them of your dietary needs before the cruise, but Carnival does not.  What they do ask you to do is inform each server you work with about any allergies or special diets.  Their special needs website ( Facilities & Services for Guests with Disabilities | Carnival   > Guests with Dietary Needs) talks about a system called Menu Mate.  I never saw anything like this onboard, nor was it offered to me, but perhaps the crew uses it to figure out what is safe to offer.       Carnival is able to customize many of the menu options for different diets, but they need the request to be put in the day before so you will need to order som...