Gluten free, from me to you!

Welcome!
My name is Laura Hill, I was diagnosed with celiac disease ten years ago. Like many others, it was like pulling teeth to get a diagnosis! When my doctor had performed numerous tests and prescribed a vareity of medication with no cure, I requested he test me for celiac disease by the recommendation of a friend and he refused. He told me I could not live the rest of my life without gluten. He also suggested I was making myself sick. I finally decided to seek a second opinion. The next doctor performed the blood work and the results came back confirmed celiac disease. Starting the gluten free diet totally changed my life. The condition I was in before the diagnosis was scary, without the gluten free diet I am not sure I would be here today! From my experience with celiac disease over the years, I have a desire to help others with the condition.

It can be daunting starting the diet and changing over to the gluten free lifestyle. This inspired me to become a dietitian, in order to help those make dietary changes. I just graduated with a B.S. in Nutrition and I am currently a dietetic intern. I enjoy researching celiac disease, recipes, and the correlation between diet and disease. In this blog I want to share recipes and general information to help you navigate the gluten free diet, in the gluten filled world.


Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Gluten Free Chicago

My cousin, aunt, mom, and I have been planning a trip for years, and finally got the chance to take a girls trip to Chicago.  We had a great time and I am already wanting to go back. Chicago has so much to see and is just such a neat city!

I did some research before we left, and found it was going to be simple eating gluten free in Chicago. They have so many restaurants that either offer a gluten free menu or the chefs are aware of the condition. Thanks to my cousin's blackberry we were able to pull up gluten free restaurants according to what area we were in.. Here is a little review of the restaurants we choose while in Chicago.

Bistro 110 did not have an actual gluten free menu but the chef was very aware of the precautions to take when preparing food for someone with a food allergy or intolerance. Many of their menu items were naturally gluten free without having to make many adaptations. I ordered a chicken sandwich with mozzarella cheese and roasted vegetables.. minus the bread. The chicken was served with a salad.

Guido's Pizza is a famous pizza place in Chicago that is famous for the supper thick Chicago pizza. We found ourselves stuck in a bad storm the first night and took cover in a Walgreen's.. where we bought wine and snacks. We hailed a cab back to our hotel and it became evident that we would not be leaving the hotel due to the weather.. We decided to order a pizza and found that Guido's offers a gluten free pizza.. The pizza was a thin crust pizza and it was luke warm when delivered but it was a pretty nice treat to have a gluten free pizza delivered.

Cafe Ba Ba Reeba is a tapas (appetizers) restaurant that has a great gluten free menu! My brother had eaten at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba on a previous trip to Chicago and highly recommended it. It was not convenient to our hotel but it was worth the short cab drive. We started out ordering sangria, and the waiter brought the regular bread to the table. He noticed I had a gluten free menu, and said do you want me to get you some bread started... I thought he was confused. But he explained to me they have gluten free bread!! He brought it out to me and I thought he had made a mistake, it was that good!!! They order the bread from a local bakery called Rose's. Check out their website to order the bread and baked goods online!! It is amazing bread. Next, we ordered Tapas to split.. short ribs with mashed potatoes, grilled chickpea and chicken, and chicken artichoke paella (Spanish rice dish). It was all so so so good!! I have to learn to make paella it is amazing! We also split two small desserts, a butterscotch custard and a chocolate torte. Both were really rich so a bite was all you needed of either. To top it all off our sweet waiter brought me extra bread to take with me.. I hope to go back to Chicago and eat at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba again!


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