Gluten Free, R U?: February 2019

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Boston Logan Airport

This was our first stop on our way to Iceland.

We were lucky that there was a Legal Seafood in our terminal as we were definitely hungry during our 5 hour layover.

We took a seat by the window and ordered right off the menu and just changed out the regular roll with gluten free rolls.

The rolls were delicious and the sandwiches were amazing. I loved that the chips were just an individual bag and that I was able to change out the cole slaw with Jasmine rice. Delicious.

Turkey Club with Jasmine Rice and Chips for me

Crab Sandwhich with cole slaw and Chips for hubby

The crab was fresh and the bacon, lettuce and tomato were perfect on the turkey club.

Writing this up is making me crave this sandwhich right now. Next time I will ask who makes the rolls, as they were excellent. They did not fall apart at all and they were not dry or grainy at all. If I didn’t know better, I would fear the rolls were not gluten free.

Highly recommend.

My gluten free history

When I turned 30 years old, I started to gain weight that I couldn't lose and I was getting back to back colds. The final straw was I got bronchitis and I had to take an antibiotic to help me get better. The side effect for 4% of people on this antibiotic was gastrointestinal issues. Yes, I was part of that 4%. The medicine basically stripped away whatever had been protecting me through my first 30 years of life. You see I have always had gastrointestinal issues since I can remember. My father also had the same issues and my paternal grandmother too. I was so sick from the medicine (or so I thought) that I had to go back to the doctor and do a series of tests. During this time I was following the BRAT diet (Banana, rice, a, toast). Saltines and toast were my go to comfort, little did I know they were NOT what I should be eating. My co-worker gave me an article about food allergies and there was a quiz. You only needed to answer 4 of the 8 questions with yes to fall under their designation and I had answered 6 of the 8 with yes. I was on my way. My husband and I cleaned out all our cabinets of the 7 allergens… all that was left was rice. After a few weeks, I was feeling somewhat better when I stayed at a home where they told me to eat whatever was in the fridge. I saw the rice and started eating. Within a hour I was violently ill. I couldn't understand. I took the rice with me to work the next day and when I told my other co-worker about my issue she asked to see the rice. It was orzo… pasta… gluten/wheat filled pasta! I had my first allergen to check off the list as being an issue. It turned out at the time dairy and eggs were also triggers but I have since been able to add them back. My husband and I went on a full gluten free diet and within a few months I had lost my weight, stopped living in my bathroom, looked healthy and was not terrified to eat things any more. Now it has been 15 years and while I have gained some weight back (darn those yummy gluten free cookies and pretzels) my issues are still in check and I couldn't be happier to figure out what was wrong with my body and be able to fix it.