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Dear Listmembers,

Since we seem to basically write about problems or complaints, I would like
to cheer all of you up with some good news for a change.

My 8 yr. old daughter and I went to San Diego last week and we had very
good experiences with food.  It has made me much more willing to travel
with her now that I know I can keep her safe.  We brought food in her
insulated lunch kit with a cold pack everywhere we went.  We didn't find
food to buy out except for Lay's plain potato chips and an apple at the San
Diego Zoo.

First of all, we ordered Gf meals on United Airlines.  These meals
consisted of wrapped plain rice cakes with ingredient listings, a plain
salad, but the dressing contained distilled vinegar in the ingredient
listing, what looked like canned peaches (no brand name info) and a chicken
breast with some sort of white sauce on it over what looked to be roasted
potatoes.  My advice for future flights would be to state what items cannot
be used in gf cooking when ordering a special meal on the plane and bring
your own food (which we did, but they had no way to heat up anything so
make sure you bring cold food).  Also, I think it would be helpful if the
airlines had a list of ingredients on the tray, so we can be sure of what
they are giving us.  My daughter only ate the rice cakes and salad plain
and did not trust the other food as a result.  I've trained her well!

It turns out that California is a great place to live if you are a Celiac.
There were so many places to obtain GF food, that I could  have just
brought her special order foods, and bought everything else there!  They
have Whole Foods, Henry's or Boney's, Trader Joes, and a new store that I
didn't get a chance to check out.  I can't recall the name now, but it was
right down the street from my parents house in Escondido.  I'll know for
next time that I can reserve the extra suitcase for gifts to bring home
instead of food for her.

As far as eating out in S. Cal, In-N-Out Burgers was a miracle to my
daughter.  We went there two times, I asked to speak to the manager as soon
as we arrived, and specified exactly what I needed (a protein burger
wrapped in lettuce and tomato, no sauce, salt, mustard or ketchup and
cooked far away from the buns, and fries no salt).  When my daughter bit
into the first burger, her eyes rolled back in her head and she said
"mommy, I'm in heaven!"  It made me want to move there on the spot.  We
went another time during our visit and both times, the managers were
wonderful and my daughter did not react!  She is very sensitive, so if she
got the slightest bit of gluten, we would have know it.  Be sure to ask for
a separate box for your order if you are ordering regular hamburgers and
fries for other people.  I made the mistake the first time of forgetting to
ask for a separate box, my bun was touching her lettuce as a result and the
manager remade her burger and fries for free even though it was my mistake.
 I give this restaurant in Poway California a gold star for excellence!

A gigantic thank you to all of you who sent me info on how to find GF food
in San Diego!!  You guys are the greatest!!  Now I just have to work on my
hubby to get us to move out there!

Happy holidays!

Bev Wahl still in Chicago IL