Why CC?

Cross country? Where did the name come from...you may have wondered (or not really at all.) Well, I'm not a cross country runner, although for two of my sisters, Julie and Jill, this title would make sense. The cross country is for a couple reasons:

1. My fellow celiac sister Kristen lives in Chicago (which is far across the United States from me in Texas).

Andy, Me, & Kristen at our first GF Thanksgiving tailgate in Detroit.

2. Justin's in the military, so I never know where we'll be.

This was at a recent award's ceremony!

3. We often travel back to Michigan (or other places on the way), which means my posts are not consistently about one city only.

Please excuse my randomness back and forth about current daily posts and recapping vacations. I want to try to be better about updating the day things happen, but that requires more time, which is often hard to find.

For our trip to see Maren, we were able to visit friends as well. Having not been to East Lansing, since probably our wedding, it was a different experience eating gluten free.  We couldn't visit all of our old favorite places anymore.

Justin found a pizza place, Guido's, in Okemos that was GF that we decided to try with Dave and Amanda. Apparently this is the only Guido's that has GF foods. We talked with the man who makes the pizzas and he was very knowledgable about cross contamination. In fact, he said he was opening an entire GF deli in a few weeks. I will definitely try it next time I'm in the EL area! I was excited when we entered to see some GF desserts: brownies and cookies! I decided to buy a cookie because Jill had the brownies at her house! The cookies weren't made at the pizzeria, but it had been a while since I had a sugar cookie.

It was a good thing I bought the sugar cookie, because it took forever to get our pizza. I know this was because of my BBQ chicken GF pizza. As I mentioned, the chef was very knowledgeable about cross contamination. It was the best crust I've had yet as GF! The toppings were okay, but usually GF crust is paper thin, crunchy, and tasteless. This crust was a little thicker, soft, and chewy.

The pizza was a little pricey at $23.00 but I took the leftovers to my sisters. I was adamant about eating the leftovers too, in order to not waste money! I didn't notice how much bacon was in the pizza until I ate the leftovers. They weren't too bad microwaved, but I bet would taste even better reheated in the oven.

Focaccia Mix

Remember when I bought a whole bunch of Chebe products at HEB for 89 cents each? Well, I finally got around to making one of the mixes yesterday for dinner. I'm a lucky girl because Justin cooks a lot, in fact more than I do I think. He coaxed me into making the bread by saying, "You're the better baker." He prepared the rest of dinner, breaded fish and asparagus.

Breaded fish you wonder? His secret was to cover the tilapia in dijon mustard. Then he used corn flake crumbs for the breading by mixing them with italian spices. Next he pan fried the fish in as little oil as possible. It was a great alternative to our usual fish.

My part of the meal: focaccia bread!

I followed the directions on the back of the bag. It was pretty simple; I combined the mix with eggs, parmesan cheese, oil, and milk. I spread the dough in the pan and made indents with my thumb. Then I dusted the top with olive oil and sprinkled italian herbs and garlic.

I baked it at 375 for 35 minutes. The time on the package was pretty true! It came out golden brown and perfectly cooked.

You can see the cheese in the flakey piece. It was soft and delicious served hot, no butter needed.

I've been on a kick of not wasting specialty GF food we buy. So for dinner tonight we made panini's on the Gorge Forman grill from the left over bread. Mine had turkey, pepperoni, salami, red onion, and Wishbone Italian dressing. They turned out good (I can't remember the last time I had a grilled sub) and the bread wasn't too dry. It was a pretty good thickness as well. My only complaint was that it was a little chewy.

Put a Fork in Me, I'm done

I still have some posts I need to make about my recent Michigan trip, but they require more thinking. I've used most of my brain power today on homework for class and grading so I could verify my grades for progress reports. The other night Justin and I were in the mood for dessert, but I couldn't decide what I was in the mood for. I began searching on the internet and came across a GF blog "The Gluten Free Fork" dedicated to eating out in Texas. I've actually eaten at all the places on the San Antonio list, except for the seafood place. Although two of the places on the SA list I ate at pre-diagnosis. Justin and I like to go to Austin and Houston, so this list will be helpful for when we go there. Of course we want to go to Dallas too!

In case you were wondering, we decided to go to the class six to fill our sweet tooth. Justin bought a pint of ice cream and I bought some Swedish Fish.

Thrill of Layovers

Usually, we try to fly nonstop in an effort to avoid layovers. This past trip we flew into Grand Rapids instead of Detroit. With our last minute buying of tickets we experienced a layover. In fact on the way to Michigan, Justin and I weren't even on the same flight, we had layovers in different cities. Luckily on the way back we were on the same flight and had a layover in Dallas.

Airports aren't the easiest for GF food that is fulfilling. Justin searched his phone and found a couple possible options at DFW. After navigating through out the airport we decided to eat at Ufood Grill. Most of their locations are at airports and they offer healthier food items. These were their GF options.

I was a little disappointed that a variety of the items were minus the tortilla or bun. So I ordered the UBowl - Portabella Chicken with Broccoli because it seemed like it had more substance.

To be honest, there was nothing special about the meal. But I can't complain too much because it was a filling meal for our three hour layover. When I had a layover in Atlanta on the way up, I survived on a cup of grapes. While I do pack snacks like Larabars and some fruit, you want a good hearty meal. Justin wanted to go to a nice sit down place for dinner, so it was a little different than he expected with the fast food set up. We enjoyed our meal at the USO which was a relaxing and enjoyable way to kill time. 

KENS 5

Today I went to a presentation about weatherbug, a tool that many schools use in the classroom with real time data. The interesting thing is that the local news also uses the data, so there is a partnership. I spent my day out of the classroom at KENS 5 news with local meteorologists Bill Taylor, Paul Mireles, and Jared Silverman!

This was the little set where the presentation was given. The room was once used to film Air Force news that was streamed all over the world.

My photo op. with the weekend weatherman Jared Silverman, a fellow Big 10 Alum from Penn State.

Then came the live feed segment! Bill Taylor talked about the program on air and they scanned across the audience with the camera. I waved and was pretty sure I was on camera. Unfortunately, I did not have the DVR set up and didn't get to see it.

Lunch was provided for everyone. As a celiac, I prepared my own sack lunch and lugged it in a bag that I squeezed under my chair. I was happy to see Jason's Deli was the choice. They do have gluten free bread, so I wondered would there be any gluten free bread boxed sandwiches? Curious, I wandered over to the table, only to see labeled pieces of paper of white, wheat, and rye. I meandered through the line to grab a bottled water, then ate my lunch discretely out of my bag. Six months into eating GF, I'm still figuring things out. When thinking about my day today, I should have emailed the coordinator ahead of time to ask for a GF meal. The worst thing they could say is no, but I know Jason's Deli would've been able to accommodate. In the future, I need think more ahead than just bringing my own lunch but to call head.

After lunch we listened to the presentation about the features, costs, and highlights of the system. We wrapped up the day with a tour where they shot the weather. We saw the green screen, computers, anchor chairs, Good Morning San Antonio set, the prompters, and the whole set.

Here's a photo of all three meteorologists.

Tomorrow I'll take the info and report it to my principal. Even if we don't get it, what an experience!

Surprise Attack

Ah, so I'm completely exhausted but it was worth it! For those of you who weren't aware, Justin and I made a last minute surprise visit to Michigan. We arrived home shortly after midnight last night, leaving only a few hours for sleep before work today. Justin is the godfather of Maren, so we decided to go to her Baptism. It worked out pretty well...I was on Spring Break, Julie had visited but was on her way to Austin, and Justin had already asked for two days off to enjoy SB with me.

Of course a 5 day trip is going to include daily GF adventures in finding and eating food safe for me! I won't be able to talk about them all tonight, but will hopefully be able to blog regularly again.

Here's a few highlights from our trip:

Justin and I took separate flights, with varying layovers due to the fact that we literally bought the tickets 5 days before. This is my Michael Jackson look at the airport. No, it's not a style statement...I still wear compression socks on planes because pre-celiac diagnosis my feet would often swell after flying. I just need to invest in a pair of skin tone socks so I can wear one of my many pairs of Tom's. Oh yes, you can see my stylish pedometer as well.

We surprised friends in Ann Arbor for St. Patrick's Day. Of course, I had to post a traditional picture with Justin from St. Pat's. Justin sported MSU gear in U of M land, while I showed my Texan side with a cowboy hat. I enjoyed Sangria flavored drinks from Dominick's...and we'll leave it at that.

There's the little ball of beauty herself, Maren Jean with her aunt Karen Jean.

At the baptism.

Looking through my photos, I realize I take more pictures of food than I do with people. My goal is to continue photographing my food, but also take photos with all the amazing people we visited. I hope everyone enjoyed our visit as much as we did. It was awesome to see so many friends and family, I love you all! We'll be back in June, where I'll be sure to have more people pics.

I need to get some stuff ready for class and get to bed! The coming days will tell of my food adventures.

Beat the Wheat

We decided to go wine tasting in Fredericksburg when Julie and Rachel were in town. Wine tasting is awesome because...it's not beer tasting, full of barley, which I'm not allowed to have. We tried a couple new wineries where we drank jalapeno wine and visited a winery that looked like a saloon. On the tour, we stopped in a chocolate shop where we spotted a sign for a gluten free bakery. I had found the bakery online prior to the visit, but was pretty sure the hours were Monday through Friday only and it was Sunday. I decided to call anyways while Justin and I were waiting for Julie. They said they were still open, so I was thrilled.

We jetted over before they closed. Actually the bakery, Beat the Wheat was inside a store called the Peach Basket. Unfortunately the bakery was indeed closed. But the good news is that they had a couple of cookies, muffins, and bread in the health store. I wanted a snickerdoodle cookie but it felt pretty hard, so I settled on a chocolate chip cookie that felt softer.

Since I prefer soft cookies, the hip chip was a good choice. I thought the cookie was decent. I'm starting to be able to differentiate a little among gluten free baked goods. You could definitely tell it was GF and made with alternative flours. I'm not saying it was bad...just not comparable at all to the ones we devoured from Snap Kitchen in Austin.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I wasn't disappointed with the cookie though, it was that the bakery was closed. I wanted to try some of the other food they offer too. There's something about going to a place that is completely dedicated to your specific diet needs that makes your heart beat a little faster. I know we'll go back to Fredericksburg again, and next time I'll make sure it's a week day.

More Visitors

Iivana's warmed up to a lot to more people lately. She's had to with all the visitors! She's become completely comfortable with my niece, nephews, Justin's parents, and now my sister and her friend. Iivana even played with her new cousin Pandora at grandma and grandpa's over the weekend. They could practically be sisters!

We still have company here, and we're even waiting to pick up Julie's other friend tonight too, so I'm taking a moment to try to catch up a little on GF life lately. We've been so incredibly busy everyday that I haven't had any time to write.

Saturday we went out to eat at Paloma Blanca, a fabulous mexican restaurant that offers a GF menu in addition to a regular menu. I ordered a bowl of Caldo Tlalpeno which was a spicy chicken soup. It made my nose drip a little but was delicious. This was our second time there. Last time I ordered enchiladas that were also really good. We wanted to take Julie and Rachel to an awesome Mexican restaurant and this was an excellent choice. It puts my mind at ease eating at places with separate GF menus. Their website even links to Alamo Celiac. While I know cross contamination can still occur, it's nice to know they're educated about celiac disease.

Justin ordered the special, which I'm not even sure what it was called. It was guacamole in a pig that they made look like it was flying with corn tortillas filled with cheese and a sauce. There was some sort of meat in the middle. I'm not sure if his dinner was GF, but it sured looked good! I also forgot to mention they gave me my own GF bowl of chips and salsa too!

Yesterday we went wine tasting in Fredericksburg. This is Julie, me, and Rachel at Rancho Ponte Vineyard. More to come later on a GF bakery there...

Today we went to Bandera, the cowboy capital of the of the world, where we stopped at a dude ranch and even went horseback riding by a river. Julie has all the pictures from there, so hopefully I'll get them later.

Busy Bee

I've been meaning to blog the last couple days, but I just haven't had the time. We have visitors in from out of town. While I'm not too motivated to do homework right now, I figured I'd write a quick entry.

Since my brother-in-law's kids are here and his name is Jason, I thought it would fitting to write about a recent Jason's Deli trip. I'm hoping Subway will soon offer a GF bun, but it's nice in SA that there are quite a few Jason's Delis. It makes having a sandwich a possibility and a good one at that. The first time I tried their GF bread I was in Houston for a convention for school. I saw on the menu it said to ask for a gluten free menu. Being newly diagnosed and my first trip there as a GF eater, I asked the young worker for a GF menu. He said I could get any sandwich on GF bread. Wow, I thought that is awesome! While I questioned it a little, I figured the ingredients in the one I chose sounded like they could be GF. When my sandwich arrived I made an enormous error by not double checking that it was GF. Now 5 months into eating GF, I realize double and triple checking is key. As I ate the sandwich, I thought it was the best bread and maybe eating GF wouldn't be so bad! It was a big hoagie bun. As you can see in the picture, their bread is not in bun form. While I don't recall feeling any effects, I know that I went to bed early.

Luckily, that experience hasn't stopped me from returning to Jason's Deli. We've gone back many times since that first experience in November. I now recognize what the bread looks like and know there is a separate menu. I create my own sandwich, which usually consists of the same ingredients: turkey, red onions, spinach, and balsamic vinegar. I ordered with fresh fruit a dollar more, I avoid the salad bar, and I'm always sure to get a little bowl of their free ice cream!

Typical Lunch

Today was all day state testing at school, which means lunch is bought for the teachers who are testing. My options for lunch were a Chick-fil-a breaded sandwich, Doritos, brownies, and soda. Of course being a celiac, I do not expect people to make exceptions for me, or do I always trust when they try. I skipped out on the food except for the soda, yes my midwestern friends I now say soda...often! I brought my typical packed lunch.

Items that I often use:

• rice crackers to eat with Boar's head turkey (instead of a sandwich)
• greek yogurt
• Either gluten free pretzels like glutino or GF potato chips like Cape Cod
• Larabar

Of course I cut up some fruit for a little fruit salad

Inside view, I always pack some carrots

My lunch ready to go