Off the Menu: Doc B's Fresh Kitchen

Oh, the baked chicken wings :) Doc B's has been one of our staples for years now. With one location in

Austin at Domain Northside, it's an easy to-go or dine-in for us. Their menu is diverse with a mostly American fare tilt. 

Their dine-in menu calls out gluten-free options and their staff is very knowledgeable about cross-contamination, and if you sit at the bar you get free bacon! It is one of the few locations where I don't get the same thing every single time. 

Options (make sure you tell them you have Celiac so they can make the proper adjustments:

Snack + Start + Share

- Our "Famous" Candied Bacon

- Rustic Salsa

- Housemade Guacamole

- Oven Roasted Chimichurri Wings

- Grilled California Artichokes

Salads (All can be altered!)

Burgers + Sandwiches (w/gluten-free bun)

- Traditional Cheeseburger

- The Wedge Burger

- Turkey Burger

- "All Green" Burger

- The Wright Chicken Sandwich

- The Number Six (sub grilled chicken)

- Crispy Chicken Sandwich (sub grilled chicken)

- Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

- Carnitas Sandwich (no onion ring)

- West Coast Steak Sandwich

Very Special Entrees

- Chicken Kebabs

- 6oz. Petite Filet

- 10oz. Chimichurri Steak

- Fall Off the Bone Danish Barbeque Ribs

- Simply Grilled Salmon

Wok Out Bowl (all - double check on teriyaki dressing)

Sides

- French Fries (yes they are fried without cross-contamination!)

- Sautéed Broccoli

- Coleslaw

- Kale Slaw

- Cucumber Salad

Enjoy!!

The Kids: To Be or Not to Be Gluten-Free?

 

As a mom of two (Hayes, 4 and Brewer, 10m) I have had a lot of conversations with teachers, friends, providers and my husband about how to handle eating, or not eating, gluten as a family. The science says they have a 1 in 10 chance of having Celiac disease which are not overwhelming odds, however, I still believe that less gluten is better for the body. In addition, there is no clear recommendation for early testing (more later).

So the question is not whether our home remains gluten-free (it is, with the exception of beer for the hubs) but how strict we need to be with school snacks, cake at birthday parties and meals at friends houses, until we know more. I would love to allow Hayes to partake in the rainbow Spiderman cake or the little grilled cheese triangles but I'm afraid to introduce gluten into his life since he hasn't had it. Although, I'm sure he's grabbed a cracker or snack from a friend at some point and been fine, but so was I until I was diagnosed at 26! 

In speaking with the kids pediatrician, the recommendation on testing, for a child that doesn't eat gluten, continues to be unclear. For kids with suspected Celiac who have been eating gluten, the testing plan is the same as for adults - blood test and biopsy. For Hayes though, in order to test him, we'll need to give him gluten for at least a month to then run the blood test. 

What a conundrum! First, that means someone has to give him gluten on a regular basis (and I still don't want gluten in my home) and second, he'll be introduced to foods that I will then have to take away from him if the blood test is positive. However, the upside to knowing is unparalleled.

We will continue to monitor the recommendations coming from trusted experts and adjust as necessary, but for now we have aligned to "do the thing" next summer before kindergarten because who can stop a 5-year old from doing what he wants?! At least then if he is negative he can stop asking "is it gluten-free?" for everything offered to him. For now, we will bring our own food to every event, leaning on our favorite treat stand-ins (Made Good Cookies and Better Bites Bakery) and the baby will follow the same path.

For any other parents out there - I'd love to hear from you!

Traveling in France: Gluten-Free in Paris and Dijon

My husband and I were lucky enough to recruit the grandparents to watch our sweet Hayes while we

flitted off to Europe for an amazing trip! As most of us (those with Celiac Disease) are, I've been extremely nervous and cautious as we've dined out in both Paris and Dijon, France.

While there are blogs upon blogs out there with recommendations of where to eat in Paris, we found it to be much more difficult in Dijon, but were not about to give up the opportunity to taste Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Burgundy.

Below I've outlined where and how we ate in each city. We are officially on the train into Barcelona and I did NOT get sick - huge relief!! Spain's up next and I'll be sure to share out experiences there too.

Picnic at the Eiffel Tower

Paris: 2 Days

• La Guinguette d'Angèle - We dropped off our luggage and headed straight for the Louvre. On the way to the Eiffel Tower, we grabbed a picnic from the take-away location of La Guinguette d'Angèle. The restaurant has two sit-down locations as well. The take-away location was conveniently located and fast, so it was an easy choice. There were entree and dessert options of the day and choices to combine these with one of two juices. The menu on the day of our visit was vegan (it is not always) and we both chose the rice and veggie dish (there was a salad as well). We are normally a bit hesitant of vegan-only options but it was fabulous and I would highly recommend. **Important Note - you CAN bring/drink wine on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. There are even shady guys there that can sell you more :)

• Scuderia del Mulino - Since we had tickets to see Moulin Rouge,

  

  Scuderia del Mulino

  our goal was to find a restaurant close by the show. After doing some research and finding this listed on Find Me Gluten Free, we felt confident in their understanding of Celiac Disease. We were right! They were amazing and had a long list of gluten-free pastas, pizzas, appetizers and desserts. If we would've been in Paris longer we would've definitely dined here again. 

• Bears and Raccoons - SANDWICHES!! I cannot explain how excited we were to find this small, husband and wife owned, sandwich shop. It was basically a 100% gluten free sub shop with some gluten-free sides and desserts to compliment. I was half tempted to ask him if we could open a franchise at home in Austin, Texas because quick, easy meals (especially sandwiches) that are safe are basically impossible to come by. So awesome.

Bears and Raccoons

• NOGLU - their website is being re-worked so the full menu isn't online, but you can make reservations on "The Fork". This is the restaurant that pops up constantly when you look up gluten-free in Paris. They have multiple locations, are 100% gluten-free and boast a sophisticated menu. While it isn't the least expensive option, the multi-course meal we had was fabulous. Between us we got soup, appetizers, burgers and dessert - plus a loaf of bread to go. It is a must!

Dijon: 2 Days 

While it was not the easiest, we found our way and were able to find enough food to soak up all of the Burgundy wine!

Cute little cheese shop!

• Cheese! The first day for lunch we found a cute little cheese shop and along with the bread we had bought from Paris made makeshift "sandwiches". Those plus a little wine got us through the middle of the day :)

• Il Ristorante - Well, this was an adventure! Dijon is a small town and basically everything is closed on Sundays and Mondays (the two days were we there). After a whole lot of research, and disappointment that the listed places weren't open, we found this Italian restaurant ~2.5 km away. Little did we know that we were going quite a ways out of town in our taxi to a restaurant chain similar to Macaroni Grill! The good news was that they had not only a gluten-free menu but also an English language menu. We had salad, risotto and even ribs which filled us up, and of course a bunch of wine. Getting back was an additional challenge in that the taxi company didn't want to

  

  La Vie Saine

  come get us. While I didn't get glutened, I wouldn't recommend as it was a pain in the butt to get there and back.

• La Vie Saine - this organic grocery store was great! I'm a little biased given my job at Whole Foods, but I'll admit they had a great gluten-free selection and fantastic-looking produce. Highly recommend to grab some snacks, cereal bars, etc. for keeping in your hotel room and bringing on excursions.

• Restaurant Bio La Petite Marche - This restaurant was located above La Vie Saine and while they didn't speak much English, understood exactly what we were looking for once I whipped out my translator app. We shared a very fresh, very seasonal salad which was fantastic and ended up each getting a steak/burger that came with sides of quinoa, lentils and steamed veggies. It filled us up, made us feel slightly healthier and was much needed after our wine tour that morning.

• Grill & Cow - The decor of this restaurant matched the name perfectly. We sat on cowhide

  

  Grill & Cow

  chairs, next to pictures of cows and got steaks for dinner. It was fabulous - reminded us of home! While this was an expensive meal, our filets were cooked to perfection paired with a side salad and we enjoyed both burrata and bone marrow appetizers to start. While they didn't outwardly advertise sans gluten (nothing in Dijon did) we used Google translate to share information about my diet and were met with a big "oui"!