Tag Archives: restaurant

Did you lose friends over Celiac?

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I think if you didn’t, you might be one of the lucky ones. Don’t we all have them… the people who don’t take Celiac seriously, who get slightly embarrassed when we start questioning a waiter or a manager, the not so discreet eye rolling when we start wiping crumbs from a table in Starbucks or tell our Celiac kid not to touch anything. Then they blame us, because WE changed. Well of course we bloody changed! We had to! And Celiac is hard enough without us needing people in our lives making it harder! It doesnt bother me to wipe tables in cafes, so why should it bother anyone else?

Haven’t we all heard it all?

‘A little bit of Gluten wont hurt’

‘You need to expose her so she can get used to it and grow stronger’

‘I know a family where a kid was allergic to bla bla bla and they started….’ (SHUT UUUUUUUP!!!!)

‘Oh comon, of course there wont be gluten in -insert ice-cream, dried fruits, chewing gum, crisps etc here – ‘

Why is it that people who hardly know what gluten is all of a sudden consider themselves total experts?

But then there is the good side, the best bit about Celiac! The instant friendships with other families like yours, the Celiac buddies. The ones you can call from the supermarket aisle and they do as much researching as you and can tell you in 2 seconds which salad dressings are safe. The people you can 100% relax with. Wipe tables, hands, ask the strangest questions around, and then offer them your baby wipes so they can do the same.

The truth is, for us, we gained far more friends then we lost. Sure, we lost some, but again, we don’t need people in our lives who try to ridicule or belittle our situation. So if you lost friends over Celiac, then get out there, go to your local Celiac meet up and meet others like you. For me, this is the very reason I started Gluten Free UAE, I wanted my child to not feel so different. And by having a huge network of Celiacs around us, being gluten free is as normal to my kids as it is to wear glasses. Some people eat gluten, some don’t. But I will NOT have people in our lives eye rolling near my daughter when we are doing things we have to do to keep her safe. I don’t make a big deal about Celiac, neither should they.

-Linda

crumbs

Friendly Food Poznan, my first visit to a gluten free restaurant!

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Yesterday I did something I haven’t done in 2 years and 8 months (give or take), I went to a restaurant and didn’t use even ONE wet wipe! We went to a gluten free restaurant! And its really gluten free. It doesn’t just have a great gluten free menu, it has a gluten free premises! No gluten allowed what so ever, everything is certified gluten free! The owner and the staff all know their stuff. I assume they are Celiacs themselves, but due to a language barrier I am not 100% sure.

Before becoming gluten free we used to have lunch out every weekend, even when Celiac kid was undiagnosed and difficult, we still made the effort to eat lunch out, taking turns to hold and comfort our screamer. Then there was a period of us attempting to continue this (after diagnosis), we would bring Celiac kids food , wipe down the table etc, but it always felt a bit like Russian roulette, not something you want to play with your kid! So the restaurant visits became fewer and fewer. It just didn’t seem so important anymore. Sure, there are a few places that we trust that we go to, likewise, if we travel we do eat out if when we feel like it, we don’t let celiac rule our lives, BUT, given the choice, we would rather eat at home where we know everything is safe.

We went a bit crazy I must admit. I mean, a whole menu where everyone can eat everything??!! Its like letting kids in to a sweet shop and saying, ‘hey, you can have whatever you want!’.

We had crepes with spinach and feta filling, crepes with turkey mince and tomato filling, crepes with chocolate and pizza and hot dogs, and some grainy thing that was some kind of kasha (looked a lot like quinoa) and it tasted so amazing I cant wait to go back and have it again. We had chicken with veggies and roasted veggies. Everything tasted awesome. The best part was actually not the food though, it was being able to sit together, with everyone being able to touch each other without using hand wipes AT ALL, and all of us being able to try everything from every plate and not having to worry. It actually brought tears to my eyes. So normal for most, but something we so rarely (never) get to do.

They have a shop too, they sell spices, tons of them, I was overwhelmed! Then there are pizzas and breads and grains and flours and biscuits and so much stuff!! Again I must apologise for my photos, iPhone again, I really need to bring my camera out with me.

Im not a food reviewer, but if you are a gluten free person and you ever find yourself in Poznan, you MUST visit Friendly Food.

Friendly Food Website

rezerwacja@friendlyfood.pl
tel. 665 450 858

-Linda

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