Skip to main content

A Gluten Free Valentine's Day Recap

Happy Valentine's Day from Anthony and I! This is from our engagement photo shoot back in August.


Valentine's Day. A day full of love, dinner, and lots of chocolate. Before I was diagnosed with severe Gluten Sensitivity and a host of food allergies this holiday was an easy no brainer and my fiance would surprise me with chocolate galore and dinner at a nice restaurant, often with a prix fixe menu. While it require a bit more planning and preparation, I have to say this Valentine's Day was a sweet sweet success.

About 2 weeks before Valentine's Day Anthony and I realized that for the first time in about 3 years we were both off from work on Valentine's night so we decided to make dinner reservations. Most of my former go to places were only offering a prix fixe menu that did not allow for substitutions of any kind. Enter Portobello Cafe and my dilemma was solved. When I called to inquire about reservations the hostess was happy to answer all my food related questions and told me that they would be happy to accommodate my dietary needs. (Side note: I've eaten at this restaurant several times since my diagnosis and the staff is extremely knowledgeable and careful.) I booked a 7:30 reservation and was excited to eat a safe, yummy meal.

When we arrived Anthony was highly impressed with the menu and very excited to enjoy a good Italian meal. I scanned the menu and had a few options ready to go. When the waiter came over I talked to him in length about my food and he made a few suggestions based on my needs. I settled on an arugula salad for a starter and steak with asparagus and broccoli rabe for my main course. I then excused myself to use the bathroom and happened to pass the kitchen on the way and heard music to my ears: "Kitchen staff listen up! We have a food allergy alert for table 17. THIS ORDER NEEDS TO BE MADE SEPARATELY AND NOT COME IN CONTACT WITH GLUTEN, DAIRY, EGGS, SHELLFISH, OR FENNEL." The head chef repeated all this info again to ensure that no errors were being made. While I've never had a problem eating here, I now felt so confident and safe that I know I will continue patronizing this place. I shared what I heard with Anthony and he smiled saying, "That's so cool! Good choice babe." This information put us both at ease about our food and we enjoyed a truly romantic night.



I know, you're probably wondering about dessert. Since I follow BED I'm not one who cares much for sugar and most restaurants use one of my allergens in a dessert (dairy, eggs, and coconut knock out most options, even at a vegan place). So I came home and made myself a guiltless sweet treat :)

Quick Fix Chocolate:
1 tablespoon Raw, Organic, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
1 tablespoon Raw Organic Cacao Powder
2-3 dashes of Cinnamon
1 dash Alcohol Free Vanilla
Liquid Alcohol Free Stevia to taste (I use 3-4 drops)

Mix all ingredients together and place into a mold. If you're really in a rush place in the freezer for about 10 minutes or place in fridge for 20-30 minutes. Savor and enjoy this melt in your mouth treat!


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Birth Story

On December 1, 2018 at 12:06pm Julia Patricia entered the world. But her story doesn't begin there. This birth went nothing like I had expected and while I have not regrets or disappointments, to say I wasn't (and still am not) stressed and emotional about it would be an understatement.

When I found out I was pregnant in early March, I was so excited and a little bit nervous at the same time. I was excited that we had been able to get pregnant without any complications and very quickly too. I had been diagnosed with mild PCOS a few years earlier and had spent most of my teens and twenties with menstrual issues and often wondered if I would ever be able to get pregnant. I know that following the Body Ecology Diet, working with functional doctors, seeing my chiropractor  for nutritional therapy, and going to acupuncture made a huge difference going into this process. Getting my health back definitely is something I'm grateful for and what I attribute my pregnancy success too…
2 comments
Read more

The Truth About My Journey With The Body Ecology Diet

It's been a really long time since I've posted here. Some of it was because life's been very busy. A lot of it has been because I've been afraid. I'm afraid of disappointing you, my tried and true readers. I've received so many wonderful messages over the last 3 years since starting the Body Ecology Diet that I'm an inspiration and that my blog has helped you to stay on track and commit to your health. I was afraid that if I wrote that I've been struggling lately that you would be disappointed. I haven't abandoned my beliefs about the wonders of this lifestyle at all. In fact I believe in it 100%. After my wedding 2 1/2 months ago, I had a lot of emotional baggage come up. I'm so happy in my marriage and have the best husband in the world but I no longer have the distraction of wedding planning to keep me distracted from really dealing with my issues; issues that go beyond food. You see Body Ecology taught me that this whole adventure is a mind/…
3 comments
Read more

Diving Into Motherhood

The first 2 weeks of Julia's life were a lesson in patience, energy, and making a lot of medical decisions. I'm not going to lie, it was a mentally and physically exhausting time and while I know there are many kids out there who have way worse going on, I was not expecting to have to make decisions about surgical procedures and ultrasounds for my new born child so quickly. As someone who likes order, structure, and control, this was a huge transition for me.

As you can read in my birth story, Julia was in the NICU for the first 3 days of her life. I had spiked a fever while pushing and she was born with a fever, covered in meconium, and was not breathing. She was hooked up to antibiotics and fluids via IV to make sure she was getting the nutrition she needed. At around 10pm on the day she was born the neonatologist gave us the ok to start breastfeeding her. She had a lot of trouble latching and the nurses just kept trying to shove my boob in her mouth (to put it bluntly). The…
Post a Comment
Read more