On the Road Gluten-free!

Sunflower Mills Pumpkin Muffins

Before I went on my trip to Seattle, I baked these pumpkin muffins to take with me. I made them from Sun Flour Mills Pumpkin Cake mix. I wanted to try this mix because it contains sorghum flour and because I LOVE pumpkin cake! I added walnuts to the mix to make them more wholesome. I used a whole can of pureed pumpkin, which may have been a tad too much. The mix made about two dozen regular sized muffins.

The muffins turned out very moist and soft – very light. I decided to take about a dozen on my trip with me and put the rest in the freezer. I thought they would be ok to carry in the car in a plastic food storage bag. Big mistake! I should have used a sturdier container because the muffins fell apart the second day and I had a bag full of mushy crumbles. It’s not easy to eat those while you’re driving . . . kind of sticky.

So, although the muffins were quite yummy, they probably weren’t the best choice to take on the road. I would definitely make these again if I needed something quick to take to a party. Hmmm, maybe a Fourth of July picnic?

Celiac-Friendly Restaurants

On my vacation I visited two restaurants where the staff seemed very knowledgeable about preparing gluten free meals.

The first one was in Coure d’Alene, Idaho, a very pretty little mountain town on Interstate 90. The restaurant was called Fisherman’s Market and Grill. They make fish and chips with all kinds of fish, which didn’t really sound very safe for me, but I decided to just go in and ask if they made any meals that were grilled and explained why. The woman at the counter knew all about gluten-free and assured me that the fish could be safely grilled and that the French fries were cooked in their own oil. They had eight kinds of homemade tarter sauce and she made sure I knew which one was not gluten free. I had grilled salmon with my chips and it was heavenly!

Grilled Salmon and chips with homemade tartar sauce

 

My son took me to this Caribbean restaurant called Island Soul, located in the Columbia City section of Seattle. We found it by searching online for gluten-free restaurants in the area. Their gluten-free dishes are marked with an asterisk on the menu and the staff was very friendly and helpful. I tried the Jamaican Rundown with snapper and prawns, and my sides were collard greens and yams (yeah, I’m from the south kinda.) It was an amazing meal, which I couldn’t finish, and the atmosphere was very nice, as well.

Jamaican Rundown has snapper and prawns cooked with vegetables, garlic and coconut milk; sides of yams and collard greens.

I ate out at other restaurants while I was traveling, but these two were outstanding in their assistance with choosing safe, gluten-free meals and were great dining experiences, as well.

 

Milo says….

Maizy took me for a walk and I sniffed EVERYTHING! It was the BEST walk ever! Then Maizy gave me a new BONE! Life is good when Maizy is here.