Off the Menu: Texican Cafe

Hey all, first off, THANK YOU for reading my blog! I hope it helps you all as much as it helps me while learning how to cope with a gluten-free lifestyle.


Please find the Texican Cafe locations here: addition to the map coming soon! As always make sure to tell your server that you are gluten-free to ensure they won't add anything incorrectly.


Appetizers:

Botana Platter     

Four stuffed jalapenos, four chicken taquitos, a guacamole slad and chile con queso. Served with sour cream.

Nachos:

“Texican Nachos”

A pile of chips with your choice of ground beef or shredded chicken, smothered with black beans, chile con queso, lettuce, pico de gallo, jalapenos and sour cream.

Nachos al Carbon

Tostada chips covered with your choice of beef or chicken fajita with refried beans, white cheese, topped with lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream.

Nachos Supreme

Nachos wth a twist! Refried beans and ground beef with cheddar cheese or shredden chicken with white cheese, topped with lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole and sour cream.

Bean & Cheese Nachos

Tostada chips with refried beans and melted cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.

Soups, Salads y Mas

Tortilla Soup

Best in town! A zesty spicy chicken soup. Served with rice, white cheese, fresh homemade tortilla strips and lime.

Add avocado slices – 1.50

Shrimp Soup Cozumel

Large tomato based shrimp soup topped with cilantro. Served with fresh homemade tortilla strips and lime.    (made to order)

House Salad

Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and tortilla strips.

Grilled or Crispy Chicken Salad

A large House Salad with grilled chicken breast strips or fried chicken strips.

Grilled Specialties:

Steak Juana Maria (10 oz.)

Tender rib-eye steak in a citrus marinade with grilled bell peppers, onion and tomatoes. Served with homemade fries, charro beans, guacamole and pico de gallo.

Steak Tampiquena (10 oz.)

The Owner’s Favorite! Juicy succulent rib-eye steak in a citrus marinade with one cheese “El Paso” enchilada and a side of ranchero sauce, refried beans, guacamole and pico de gallo.

Steak Fabian (10 oz.)

Tender rib-eye steak strips in a citrus marinade with whole Serrano peppers and onions. Served with Mexican rice, charro beans, guacamole and pico de gallo.

Golla’s Pollo

Grilled chicken breast smothered in white cheese and topped with sauteed tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers and whole Serrano peppers. Served with Mexican rice, charro beans, guacamole and pico de gallo.

Pork Chop Platter

Two tender pork chops grilled to perfection with onions, tomatoes and whole Serrano peppers. Served with Mexican rice, charro beans, guacamole and pico de gallo.

Seafood:

Fish Tacos

Two corn or flour tilapia fillet tacos, grilled with bell peppers, onions and roasted tomatillo salsa, lettuce and tomatoes. Served with Mexican rice, black beans, guacamole and pico de gallo.

Tilapia Oscar

Tilapia fillet and shrimp topped with a rich creamy sauce. Served with Mexican rice, black beans, guacamole and pico de gallo.

Tilapia Cozumel

Grilled tilapia fillet with onions, bell peppers, whole Serrano peppers and tomatoes with one “Shrimp Enchilada Cozumel.” Served with Mexican rice, black beans, guacamole and pico de gallo.

Shrimp Enchiladas Cozumel

Two enchiladas stuffed with shrimp, topped with Cozumel (a buttery red tomatillo) sauce and white cheese. Served with Mexican rice, black beans and pico de gallo.

Shrimp Flautas

Two red chile corn tortillas stuffed with grilled shrimp and white cheese and fried crisp. Served with Mexican rice, black beans, guacamole, pico de gallo and Ancho Mayo sauce.

Traditional Plates:

Carne Chile Colorado

Traditional Mexican pork tips cooked in our New Mexico chile sauce. Served with pico de gallo.

Flautas

Two corn tortillas filled with your choice of ground beef or shredded chicken, rolled and fried crisp, topped with guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream.

Plato de Tamales

Two shredded pork tamales with red chile sauce and white cheese. Served with pico de gallo.

Carne Guisada

Tender beef tips in a brown gravy. Served with pico de gallo.

Enchiladas

Sour Cream Enchiladas

House Specialty! Two shredded chicken enchiladas with our homemade sour cream sauce

Santa Fe Enchiladas

Three flat stacked enchiladas with ground beef, shredded chicken or cheese with a smokey red chile sauce.

Chef suggests adding two eggs on top – 1.50

San Antonio Enchiladas

Two cheese enchiladas topped with carne guisada and creamy chile con queso.

Chef suggests adding red chile sauce – 1.00

Spinach Enchiladas

Sauteed onions, mushrooms and spinach rolled in two corn tortillas and topped with a cream cheese cilantro sauce. Served with black beans.

Shrimp Enchiladas Cozumel

Two shrimp enchiladas topped with Cozumel (a buttery red tomatillo) sauce. Served with black beans.

Enchiladas Rancheras

Two corn tortillas with your choice of ground beef or shredded chicken topped with our spicy ranchero sauce. Served with chile con queso.

Migas:

Migas with Cheese

Not just for breakfast anymore! Scrambled eggs with salsa, tortilla strips and cheddar cheese. Served with ranchero sauce.

San Antonio Migas

Migas with a twist! Scrambled eggs with tortillas strips, topped with carne guisada and chile con queso!

Monterey Migas

Scrambled eggs with tortillas strips, topped with chile colorado and chile con queso!

At Home Food-Testing Kits

At the GFAF Expo and a few times before that I had come across these testing kits that allow someone to test their food for gluten. The idea is great, but it needs a lot of work before it will become mainstream at all. From what I learned the two companies who are developing this technology mainly work with manufacturers and consumer packaged goods companies for help with their product adjustments, etc.

The two brands that I learned about (and spoke to at the Expo) are GlutenTox Home and EZ Gluten. Thus far I don't find a whole lot of advantage to the kits in the way that they are currently functioning, unless you really feel like you must send it with your child for a meal at a friend's house or when you MUST eat out and there is no way of ensuring gluten-free food otherwise.

In my opinion, the main problems with the tests are the price and the complication. I am aware that the steps are easy to follow but there are SO many steps and it takes approximately 10 minutes for the test to process. For example, if I have some cake that a friend says they made gluten-free I would take a piece and put it into a test tube, add liquid, shake it, let it sit and then stick the testing strip in to see if it's over 10ppm (the average for these tests). By the time I've completed all of this everyone else will have eaten, as much as I love good food I would rather stick with something I know is safe and be done with it.

The second current roadblock is the price. We all know that prices of pharm products get better with time and I have no doubt that will be the case here too. Right now though it's approximately $10-$15/test. For one use that is a LOT in my opinion. I've been really trying to come up with use cases that would warrant these costs and honestly I could verify it only with a traveling situation where the waitstaff didn't speak English and I could NOT get sick (hotel far away, on a bus, etc.).

Despite these drawbacks I love what they are trying to do. The fact that something like this even exists is a move in the right direction for gluten-free food testing and piece of mind for Celiacs. I will be sure to continue following the developments of these companies and others who are working to make life easier for us!

New Symptom: Migraines...

To start I just want to tell myself "I told you so...". This weekend while tailgating for the UT football game I decided to have what were claimed as "gluten-free" fries from the food trailer sponsoring our MBA tailgate. I spoke with the cook before ordering anything (it was all free) and they explained that the fries were only fried along with tofu, so I could get them plain. Well when they came out they were not just plain but had a spice on them...

My gut screamed MSG, MSG at me but of course I didn't listen this one time. I have never had a slip-up with MSG before but I know as a Celiac we are supposed to stay away from it. About half-way through the game I started getting a terrible headache and by the ride home (3rd quarter) I could hardly stand it. There were no digestive problems oddly but I was up until 5am with a knife sticking out of my head...and now a couple of days later I'm getting a bit of a red rash on my hands.

I inquire to other Celiac and gluten-free patients out there - have you had these types of reactions? If so, are there are ingredients that specifically cause symptoms other than those that are digestive? Please help!