“What is Gluten?” via Jimmy Kimmel Live
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For our last few days in Kauai we decided to explore the island outside of our beautiful resort. One day, we bravely attempted a surfing lesson at a nearby beach (and survived)! The next day we went on a helicopter tour to get a bird’s eye view of the spectacular waterfalls, valleys, canyons, mountains, rain forests and secluded beaches- most only accessible by air. Then we rented a car- highly recommended-
to explore the neighbouring towns at our own pace and see some of the helicopter sights at “up-close.” We mapped out a route of must-see places (including the cave where Johnny Depp, a.k.a Captain Jack Sparrow, searched for the ‘Fountain of Youth’ in the Pirates flick, ‘On Stranger Tides’) with our concierge, Holly, along the island’s only highway- a ~2-hour drive that takes you around almost the entire island before you have to turn back (= no driving over the beautiful and rugged NaPali Coast – see photo above right).
Along with my own ‘road trip snacks’ from the hotel gift shop, these are the gluten-free foods I enjoyed (and did not enjoy 😦 ) while exploring the island:
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Minus the last incident, all-in-all, it was an AMAZING honeymoon with lots of delicious and safe gluten-free items to eat. It can be difficult to travel with allergies or intolerances so it is helpful to plan ahead to make sure you will be comfortable while traveling (see previous post, ‘Tips for Safe GF Travel’).
Hope you enjoyed reading about my gluten-free experiences traveling to San Francisco, Waikiki, and Kauai (both at the resort and on-the-road). Feel free to share your gluten-free travel experiences below…
It took longer to go through baggage claim than to fly from Oahu to Kauai…and what a difference in scenery! With breath-taking mountains and greenery as far as the eye could see, the remote island- known as “The Garden Island”- inhabits only ~65,000 people! Now THIS was the Hawaii I pictured! I joked to my husband that the island looked like a piece of lettuce on the map and, boy, was it aptly-named. “Fresh,” “local,” “natural,” “organic,” “non-GMO”… these were all words we came across frequently in stores and restaurants. One thing was for sure: this was my kind of place!
When we arrived at our resort, the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa, my husband and I were greeted with a traditional kukui shell necklace, and fresh-flower lei, respectively. While getting acquainted with the resort, we discovered that everywhere we looked was a great photo-op… very “postcard-esque” (if that makes sense). Take a look…
…See what I mean?! And the second picture is just the view from the lobby area (note: that is not a picture in the center… it is an actual open view straight through to the ocean!).
The gluten-free reputation of the resort preceded our stay… I had excitedly read all about it in a PR web press release and numerous reviews, so I knew about their GF Dining Guide at their various restaurants and lounges (with items helpfully marked “gf” right on the menus). While staying at this amazingly accommodating resort, these are the GF eats and treats I appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed:
~Go to Part 4: Kauai On-the-Road~
After a brief delay at the San Fran airport, and 5 “short” hours flying over the ocean, we arrived on the Hawaiian island of Oahu and made our way to Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. Admittedly, my first impression of Hawaii did not match the way I had always dreamed of it (which changed when I arrived in Kauai- check out part 3). Don’t get me wrong, it was BEAUTIFUL… just much busier and action-packed than I thought it would be. But being a city- and a tourist one at that- I guess it should have been expected.
With only 3 nights on the island, here are the GF places I enjoyed while in Waikiki:
After countless hours of wedding planning over the past year, a relaxing honeymoon was definitely in order… and coming from below-zero temperatures, what better places to escape to than San Francisco and Hawaii!
When planning the honeymoon, one thing was a given- it had to be gluten-free friendly. I read about an amazing resort in Kauai with gluten-free options at every restaurant (check out part 3 of this post), so that was an easy decision, but in San Fran and Waikiki I had no GF plans. So I did all of my regular pre-travel GF research beforehand and got some of my favourite snacks ready – just in case.
Basically, in the past few weeks, I went from paradise to, well, just ICE. We were lucky enough to fly out west just before the snow storm and subsequent ice storm hit the GTA in December, and returned home just before the bad flight delays and cancellations began at Pearson Airport in January (feew!). So we cut a few winter ‘headaches’ out (though there are still a few months to go so we’re not in the clear yet!). But now that I have thawed out a bit, I am ready to share my GF travel experiences. With two weeks of amazing gluten-free food and travel, I will break my honeymoon posts into four parts – San Francisco, Waikiki, Kauai ‘At-the-Resort’, and Kauai ‘On-the-Road’.
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In San Francisco, we stayed at the Wyndham Canterbury in the Union Square area, a central location in the beautiful city which we explored on foot, on trolly and by Go-Car. Here are the GF places I enjoyed while in San Francisco:
What to do August long weekend… what to do? How about a spontaneous road trip to NYC?!
With some ‘car snacks’ in tow (plenty of fresh fruit, Enjoy Life coco loco bars and cookies, Nature’s Path ‘Gorilla Munch’ cereal, Sunkist fruit-flavoured snacks, Lundberg sesame & seaweed rice chips… and, of course, water and juice), my travel companion and I hit the road in the middle of the night, and ~7 short hours later (+ a “required” stop at Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets), we made it!
With only a couple of days in the Big City, I had to choose from the wide variety of gluten-free food options wisely. After a quick scan of my GF Guide to NYC, plus a little extra last-minute research, I carefully picked my meals and, boy, was I pleased with my selections…!
A new find: “Bareburger” Organic Turkey Burger on Tapioca Rice Bun with Fire Roasted Red Peppers and Goat Cheese. Love the build-your-own burger concept! ~bareburger.com
A favourite that I was not able to enjoy on my last visit: “Mozarelli’s” Veggie Pizza (+a GF/dairy-free brownie that was eaten too quick to photograph!) ~mozzarellis.com
A mouth-watering dish at my favourite restaurant in the world: “Bistango” Sundried Tomato and Goat Cheese Ravioli ~bistangonyc.com
A perfect ending to the road trip with a classic: “Outback Steakhouse” Chicken on the Barbie with a Baked Sweet Potato ~outback.com
FDA PRESS RELEASE (the information below was sourced from fda.gov)
For Immediate Release: August 2, 2013
Media Inquiries: Shelly Burgess 301-796-4651
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
New rule provides standard definition to protect the health of Americans with celiac disease
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today published a new regulation defining the term “gluten-free” for voluntary food labeling. This will provide a uniform standard definition to help the up to 3 million Americans who have celiac disease, an autoimmune digestive condition that can be effectively managed only by eating a gluten free diet.This new federal definition standardizes the meaning of “gluten-free” claims across the food industry. It requires that, in order to use the term “gluten-free” on its label, a food must meet all of the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten. The rule also requires foods with the claims “no gluten,” “free of gluten,” and “without gluten” to meet the definition for “gluten-free.”
The regulation was published today in the Federal Register.
Fresh off a recent business trip to Chicago, I can’t help but recall how accommodating the city was to the gluten-free diet. I enjoyed some delicious dishes, from pizza to hamburgers to desserts- all gluten-free!! 🙂
Here are some of the gluten-free meals I had the pleasure of tasting below. My mouth is watering just thinking about some of the items!