American Airlines stops gluten-free meals on domestic flights

I just got back from a trip to Alaska, which was fabulous!  There was one blemish on my flawless experience; American Airlines does not serve any special dietary meals on domestic flights to save costs. I was fine since I had called ahead and travelled with my customary bag-o-food on the the 6-hour-long flight, but it would have been a nasty surprise if I hadn't been expecting it.

When I called American, they were sympathetic, as were the flight attendants on the aircraft, but they said this was a purely financial decision.  They no longer provide kosher, diabetic or vegetarian meals either. If you think this is unacceptable, I encourage you to email or call the airline.  Either way, be prepared with your own snackage!

Miraculously delicious Mrs. Crimble's Cheese Bites

I saw these Mrs. Crimble's sour cream and onion cheese bites at Central Market today and thought I'd give them a try. They are flaky, delicate and quite tasty. Sort of filo dough meets Cheez-Its. Also, they are baked and not incredibly terrible for you!

Rocky Mountain Popcorn - Gluten free and delicious

On a recent late-night drive from Austin I stopped at a truck stop to find some snackage to help me stay awake. To my surprise, I came across Jalapeno flavored Rocky Mountain Popcorn. It sounded too good to resist. I bought it and ate it at lunch the next day.

Clearly, I thought it was good enough to write home about! If you see it in stores near you, give it a try.

Gluten Free at the Food Shark in Marfa, TX

On a recent road trip, I was bemoaning the fact that I never got to eat at "cool" restaurants like a normal person. Well, I'm not sure how "normal" it was, but I was definitely accommodated at the Food Shark in Marfa. Since they operate out of a truck, they only fry one thing in their oil, gluten-free falafel. They hooked me up with three falafel on a bed of lettuce with some GF dressing and hummus. Quite a feast and worth a stop!

Baatar in Bedford

Baatar - 1925 Airport Freeway, Bedford, TX

Last night I ate at Baatar for the third time and felt no gluten symptoms, so I feel confident in recommending it even though a shared grill is a risky situation. Baatar calls itself a Mongolian BBQ, but it's one of those places where you put whatever you want in a bowl and they stir fry it on a huge griddle for you. I was able to go on their website and figure out which sauces are gluten free.

I've eaten their Sweet and Sour sauce and Peanut Sauce. Whenever I go there, I tell the cook that I have a serious food allergy and that the grill needs to be cleaned before my food gets put on there. For simplicity sake, I tell them my problem is soy sauce.

Then, I watch while they clean it. They are always very nice about it. They also have some vegetarian options, which is nice.

The buffet, which costs about $8 also includes a salad bar, fresh fruit and Blue Bunny ice cream for dessert. On the Blue Bunny website it says all Blue Bunny products are GF unless they contain an obvious wheat-containing ingredient like cookie dough or cookies and cream.

BJ's Restaurants

BJ's Restaurant Brewhouse offers good food in a fun atmosphere and, most importantly, has an easy-to-read allergy menu that will quickly point you in the right direction to a satisfying meal even if you have multiple allergies.

I had a stuffed baked potato with grilled chicken and it was quite tasty. There are BJ's in the DFW area and they are popping up across the country!

Starbucks - the new Gluten-Free plan

After a fairly unsuccessful attempt at launching a gluten-free line of baked goods mainly consisting of a packaged piece of sponge cake soaked in orange flavoring, Starbucks has made what I think is a brilliant decision to carry a wider array of prepackaged gluten-free snacks including 150 calorie packs of Lucy's cookies.

I've written about Lucy's before and I think they are one of the best bang-for-your-calorie-buck, gluten-free cookies on the market. I am very pleased that Starbucks is now carrying them.