Keep Calm And Carry Epinephrine!

You might read labels to check how many calories you’re eating. I read labels so I don’t kill my children. I’m sure caloric intake would be far less frowned upon.

K has a severe peanut allergy. It’s manageable because it is often very clear what has peanuts and what doesn’t. I never leave the house without her epi-pen and she too knows to read labels.

C’s allergies started out in infancy when he had an adverse reaction to dairy…the red dye 40, gluten, tomato and corn allergies didn’t hesitate to follow… I knew nothing about food allergies and was so upset that my little baby would never be able to eat some of the best foods around!  I began making a lot of his food and purchasing anything that had the words “gluten free” and “dairy free” plastered on the front of the package. Of all of his allergies, his gluten intolerance was by far the worst. The littlest trace of gluten would disrupt his digestive system in such devastating ways. He would get so sick he would become dehydrated and refuse to eat or drink anything. He cried in pain. I could tell in my LO’s eyes that he didn’t care about the food, he wanted the pain to go away. When he started to get a little older, and we frequented restaurants more and more I began to wonder what people with a gluten allergy eat at restaurants! Everything seemed to have some sort of sauce, bread, seasoning or dressing on it and even the simple request of “on the side” became a daunting task because it was often messed up. It was frustrating.

So I compiled a list of resturants who off Gluten Free menus.  You will have to ask for it (if they don’t have it already listed) and you will get weird looks but it works. You and your LO can go out to eat like a normal family and eat (semi) normal food.

Here’s the list:

Applebee’s

Chilis

Red Robin

Claim Jumpers

Ruby Tuesday

Olive Garden

Baja Fresh

Moe’s Southwest Grill

Chipotle

Bonefish Grill

Red Lobster

Outback Steakhouse

Longhorn Steakhouse

Mellow Mushroom

P.F. Changs

Wendy’s

Arby’s

McDonald’s

KFC

Panera Bread

Subway

Denny’s

Starbucks

Coldstone Creamery

Dunkin Donuts

I hope this helps!

-Kirstyn