<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
Thanks to everyone who responded to my email about our first GF Trip.
Most respondents either wanted to know more about veratrum album (the
homeopathic remedy that has helped our daughter through gluten and
other food reactions) or requested a copy of the list of brands that
label for allergens and/or gluten sources. A couple of people told
about their experiences at Disneyland or Disney World, which sounds
terrific!!
You can purchase veratrum album at many health food stores and probably
over the internet. It is not a prescription drug. Our family has
used homeopathic remedies for our daughter since she was a toddler.
She particularly likes the tiny pills which dissolve in your mouth and
taste sweet. You can find out more about the philosophy of homeopathic
medicine at websites such as www.trusthomeopathy.org/ or
http://www.hpathy.com/ (if you conduct a Google search, you will find
hundreds of thousands of entries). Our favorite brands are Boiron's
and Hylands. (I am not a homeopathic practitioner nor do I have any
financial interest in either of these firms.)
Here are the other helpful hints that were provided:
I can offer some extra tips, we have been travelling with our daughter
for 13 1/2 years as a celiac. First, I always designate one large
suitcase that goes with us as a Katie food case. I always take bread
products because these are not easily obtained. If possible, I have
manufacturers ship directly to our hotel. Speak with the hotel
directly, they are usually very good about helping out. I also take
Katie's toaster, a small George Foreman grill and a small toaster oven
with us. I can make just about anything possible with these 3 items.
I also take a sharp knife, a small cutting board, paper plates, bowls
and plastic silverware. I also went to sam's club and bought styrofoam
"takeout" containers and small plastic containers that can be used to
take food to restaurants etc.
We have been to Alaska and on an Alaskan cruise. We go skiing in
Montana every XMas. We have extensively travelled across the US. We
have been on cruises in the caribbean. Katie has also gone to camp for
many years, this year for 3 weeks. There happened to be a counselor
and 1 other girl with celiac.
No trip is impossible, you just need to be flexible.
***************
I agree with you 100% on the whole container issue. I have invested in
lots of containers. I have bought some from The Container Store (that
are a little bit pricey compared to some)... but I use those to store
the various Tinkyada pastas I buy, and to keep about 6 GF cereals
stowed properly. (Our daughter likes to make a GF cereal mix/trail mix
sort of thing, so I keep about that many boxes of cereal opened at
once). I also use one to keep the GF pretzels in.
I bought a whole ton of those sturdy Ziploc/Glad style containers and
use those to keep about 15-20 different GF flours on hand. I labeled
them clearly with a permanent marker... and it's easy to see if I'm
running low on any particular one. As anal retentive as it may
sound... since there are so many flours, I do keep those stacked
alphabetically. Many GF recipes call for so many flours... this way I
can quickly check to see if I have the flours on hand to make something.
We have an extra freezer for storage. I make homemade GF chicken
nuggets, GF chicken patties, GF meatballs, etc. in bulk and freeze them
in these nifty little containers. I also bought a few round containers
that look like they could hold 7" - 9" tortillas, and I make up GF
pizzas (personal size) with kinnikinnick pizza shells, sauce & cheese &
put 2 or 3 in each of these round containers and freeze them for later
use. (if we order a pizza for the rest of the family, all I have to do
is pull out one of these and bake it for about 15 minutes at 350).
The containers are definitely handy for traveling, tossing in my purse,
or diaper style bag. I do keep an "emergency stash" of a few things in
each vehicle. Those are in a shoe box size container. They contain a
few Capri Sun drinks, small water bottles, THAI Kitchen Noodles, Dinty
Moore pop top Beef Stew, UncleBens ready made rice in a vacuum sealed
bag, and a bag of munchies (popcorn, funyons, fritos, etc.), and some
fruit roll ups.) These have been invaluable to traveling... instances
where we've been stuck in traffic, or when we decided last minute to
eat somewhere that wasn' gluten-free friendly.
*******
We just took our first trip as well. My 20 month old son was diagnosed
with celiac in April and the difference in him in just these few short
months are amazing. He is back to being my little guy again--no more
laying around sick for him. We just went up to Michigan too. We go up
to Houghton Lake every year so I know the area fairly well. This
helped tremendously since I knew what kind of stores were there.
However, I did contact the Chamber of Commerce to check on health food
stores since I didn't recall seeing any of those. As it turns out,
there was one with a very limited supply of things. However, this did
help me plan better for our trip since I knew more of what I would
need. We rent cottages on the lake so this really was an ideal
situation for our first big venture out into the gluten filled world.
We have most of our meals in the cottage, so I could be certain that
what he ate was gf. We took alot of frozen stuff. It is about a 9
hour trip for us, so we packed everything with dry ice. I actually
packed the cooler the night before and didn't unpack until four the
next afternoon. Everything was as solid as a rock. I had never dealt
with dry ice before and was thoroughly impressed. I do agree with you
about the smaller quantity idea. I packed so much extra stuff that
could have just as easily been left at home in the freezer to be eaten
at a later time. I had a whole bag of gluten free chicken nuggets. I
should have just packed 4 or 5 and this would have taken up a lot less
space. We packed rice cakes, crackers, pretzels, etc. in little
containers and they stayed intact and fresh. I also prefer to speak
with the staff at restaurants instead of just handing them a card.
Most people are very understanding and accomodating. This has been a
great learning experience for us and all in all, I think it went very
well. This is still so new to us, we are all constantly learning, but
every day it gets just a little easier. All the extra time, energy,
and effort is so worth the end result. When Matthew was sick, I knew
how bad it was. Now that he is better, I realize that he was sick for
so long before he was really sick. It amazes me to see the changes in
him just from his diet.
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