Gluten free travel - Austin Airport

So it’s no secret I travel a lot – both for work and personal although with work increases the desire for personal travel decreases….

So I thought I’d start collecting my thoughts on gluten free food at airports. It’s tough in airports when you only get so much time, and you only pass so many options it’s nice to know where options are exactly in case it’s worth a side trip!

So let’s start with my home airport – Austin! I will say that for such a gluten friendly town the airport options are just downright slim!

1.       Salt Lick – for anyone out of town this is a great stop if you haven’t made the trek out to driftwood (which I highly recommend. They do throw bread on about every plate so I ask for a glove change and just hope they haven’t put bread down in the exact spot my food is cut. Their sauce, sides and all meat though are gluten free.  A good limited cross contamination order is the baked potato with chopped beef….yum!

2.       Amy’s ice cream – now again the counter can contain some cross contamination because they throw the ice cream down, around, and up but as long as you pick a gluten free topping and avoid any of the specials that have gluten in them you are fine. My go to is Belgian chocolate with Reese’s peanut butter cup or with the turtle topping!

3.       Schlotzsky's -- now as of right now they don’t have the gluten free buns that they have in the store but they do have some good salad options.

4.       Maudie’s – the restaurants have great gluten free knowledge but the airport is minimal. Their chicken tacos are gluten free with corn of course, as are the nachos which are some good options.

5.       Admirals Club – on international flights when I’m lucky enough to get access they have a great spinach salad, meal bars, chips, and nut mixes for sale.

Anyone else find any other good options at AUS?

Stich Fix May 2015

Here is my review of this month's fix! Overall very close and really could have kept worn it all but nothing was really wow or new so I decided to send it back and save for the next fix!

Angela Quilted Detailed Blouse - $68
Loved the shirt and fit great but just too much for something I really have quite a few of so I didn't keep it.

Teegan Draped Blazer - $78

Material felt like it would fade more and not be good for work. also didn't like that it was cropped. Cute sleeves though and again could have kept and worn but didn't 'wow' me.

Emer Jacquard Print Tall Straight Leg Pant - $98

The best part of these pants was they were thick but to call them pants is a stretch. They are tights, elastic waistband and all. Overall they actually fit ok but too much 'flare' for the office, and the bottom of the pants if fitted would have been better to look like fun leggings.

Market & Spruce Jai Dress - $64
Really wanted this dress to work, perfect material for traveling. It was way too tight though even with the side gathering detail. 

Try it for yourself! Great way to expand your wardrobe without the hassle of a store! https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3115097

Gluten Free Review Austin: Jaspers

Jaspers in the domain is one of the best in center! It's good for dinner (a bit of a special treat night pricing) but it's AMAZING during happy hour.

http://www.jaspersaustin.com/jaspers-restaurant-menus/


The menu aside from the sliders and flat bread are gluten free. They use gluten free soy sauce and have a dedicated fryer that they use for the

Wine is all $5 -- and food/cocktails are $6...steals!

StichFix - February 2015

So I started StichFix about a year ago. It's fun, fairly affordable, but EASY returns. I just don't have a ton of time (or energy) to get to malls. I found I was doing mainly online ordering and then having to go to the store for returns (typically box was in my car a few weeks before this lunch time errand happened, ha!). So for me this was also a way to break out of my comfort zone a bit and expand my closet.

I found once I started pinning what styles I liked, and worked with my body type my fixes got SO much better so that's my first tip! I also found I was looking through users reviews for ideas, and suggestions for my stylist so going to do my own to also help others!

Here is the link if you want to try! https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3115097

1. Kept: Cute little dress, looks better with a blazer which I already have so a great work staple, or shower outfit.  Jace Chevron Print Dress $68

2. Returned: Loved the look, but was really boxy on me so just not flattering. 

3.  Returned: cute little tank, fit well and if I didn't feel like I would have to wait for the 4th of July to wear it would have kept!

4. Kept: Fit great, and a fantastic spring shirt! 

Colibri Bird Print Tab-Sleeve Blouse - $48

5: Returned: Jeans, they fit fantastic. I really like their jeans but were just a regular pair of jeans so couldn't justify them.

Review: Pizza Pizza!

So I decided to add a new set of topics to the blog -- Reviews! With gluten free foods some are just amazing (and even per my husband 'better') but we have all had those foods that make us shed a single tear missing gluten. Example: any bread in double plastic....

So recently I decided we should make our own pizzas. I have some mix that you do ALL the work but we decided to save those for another day and took advantage of Pillsbury making pre-made pizza dough.

It was great crust, a fun night and an even more fun at home meal! Will definitely be trying it again, and maybe even trying pizza rolls!

http://www.pillsbury.com/products/gluten-free/thin-crust-pizza-dough

Gluten Free Vegas - Part 2

Back to Vegas -- this is not my favorite city, but the food is great!

On this trip I stayed at the Aria so a bit of a different area than the past so a great opportunity to try some new things.

In the Aria:
Julian Serrano Tapas (x2) -- Yes this place was so good and had so many options I ate there twice! They bring you out a dedicated gluten free menu (and all allergies actually) so you aren't in question and you know the waiter isn't just guessing :)

Lemongrass -- Also in the Aria, was a nice restaurant to enjoy asian food - hardest to find for me! Sadly though the menu was pretty limited. They had a few curries, no appetizers, and in general limited. That being said my green curry was amazing and those I dined with greatly enjoyed their foods as well.

Five50
Had a quick lunch here in between meetings. They do not have gluten free pizza which was sad but not too surprising. Bonus: made me get a salad :) And I will say it was a great salad, and she was knowledgeable on dressings.


Outside of the Aria:
Holsteins -- Took a walk up the strip one day and stopped in here. Was a great burger place with normal size gluten free buns - Winning!! Their fries are not gluten free, but they were able to sub a side salad.

Aureole - Yes this is also in gluten free vegas part 1  but that was actually a trial for a large group dinner we had at this event. They were amazing to work with and able to accommodate gluten free in the pre set menu. And the bread...amazing!

Gluten free - Wilmington and Philly

Hello!

I was back on the road and to your benefit means I have more options for gluten free dining!

First stop: Wilmington DE. I had a meeting there that required a 1 night stay so I have 2 options for you.

Wilmington:
1. Mikimotos -- asian food. They are very knowledgeable, as well as having good options. I had 2 sushi rolls one with lump crab and asparagus and of course the Philly roll! We then split Pad Thai which was excellent and had chicken and shrimp. Really nice to have options and noodle entrees!

2. Washington Ale House - pub food. Was a bit skeptical as it was pub food which isn't typically nice for GF. They had good salad options so I ordered the cobb but was sad to be hear they had no dressing?!?! Now i'm not entirely sure if it was just a lack of understanding or really all their dressings contained flour - thinking likely they just weren't labeled GF so they didn't want to risk which I appreciate and had it not been a work lunch might have dug a bit more. They brought out oil and vinegar which worked out fine and the salad itself was good.


Philly:

We made the drive to the airport early to get some good food in Philly. We made our way to Morimoto Restaurant near the liberty bell. It was such a great atmosphere, very modern with great lighting.

While I was disappointed that their sushi was not gluten free -- malt vinegar in the rice (uggh hate when they do that!). They had this amazing dish that I might not have otherwise had ishi yaki bop rice dish prepared at your table in hot river stone, that I had with wagu beef. They basically brought a bowl out that was 450 degrees and cooked the beef, raw egg and made a fried rice of sorts - so good!