Managing any diet is tricky, you can't rely on eating the same things over and over without checking as manufactures regularly change ingredients as I've found out to my expense and restaurants often don't know what they're doing and the servers often don't understand how an allergy and cross contamination can affect you.
Yes, I can hear you, they should, yes, you've had training, but it's not everyone and when it's not just mild bloating or discomfort and can land you in hospital as is often the case with me, it is very serious, in some cases with allergies it can lead to death. For me it's an intolerance and cross contamination doesn't affect me, however a build up can. And at the end of the day it is MY responsibility to check it out and if I can't or I'm in any doubt, I just don't eat and lack of food can make me poorly as well with migraines.
So here we are on holiday for 2 weeks in Crete, eating out every day.
I have two weeks worth of breakfast cereal, porridge oats and I brought bread rolls and biscuits and crackers with me. We have a fridge and small freezer in the room and have bought cheese, fresh fruit and salads as well as tins of tuna and I brought a cool bag, picnic cutlery, plates and a small kettle, milk frother and take away pots so I can make sandwiches, salads, lunches etc for the day. But the room is NOT self catering.
On our 2nd day here we booked a trip into the city for day 5 so I'd be able to stock up on some gluten free products as the shops in the village where we are staying don't stock any alternatives, other than products that don't contain gluten. I'm fortunate that it's only wheat gluten I can't eat, so we bought some Ryvita to eat with the salads.
We're eating a main meal out every evening and there are some amazing restaurants to choose from, I think we've eaten in everyone the village has to offer. But not one of the restaurants has been able to offer anything gluten free unless it has been naturally gluten free and if the meal has had a sauce, we've not been able to establish if it contains gluten or wheat flour and even with the help from google translate and our phones we haven't had much luck. So unless the meal has been plain (looking at the pictures) I've not ordered it) then every single meal has been served dripping in butter, oils, covered in herbs and that's caused me stress as I've also got gall bladder stones and have been avoiding surgery with a well managed diet and being gluten free causes gall bladder issues, so I have to avoid fats and red meat and ice cream and watermelon and this country is nothing but all the above.
We found a restaurant in a local town that was able to swop out the pasta for gluten free, but it's over an hour away by bus and I don't want to eat the same thing every night. We'll be going back again before we go home.
But I have found plenty of fresh fish to eat and have managed to communicate 'no lemon' no herbs, no oils' I like to taste the fish.
I love sea food in anything and everything and this is the most amazing risotto ever and I don't care how rude I am when I grab my plate and move it away from the parmesan as they try to shovel it over without asking me.
Grilled vegetables will always be eaten and I love balsamic vinegar thankfully, but again, why isn't it listed as an ingredient?
My hunt for gluten free puddings and cakes led us to a shop in Chania that didn't disappoint, initially. They had 3 cakes to choice from, rather than the standard pre wrapped brownie.
Sadly though, it turned out to be a mousse and was chocolate caramel and not rose flavoured, the only rose thing about it was the rose petal that wasn't edible.
And whilst I can't eat the watermelon, sometimes there is cantaloupe melon on offer.
And there is always room for an ice lolly.
I get so disheartened with eating, full stop. I can always find something to eat when we're out, but it's not the same as looking at a menu and deciding what I want to eat. I have to discount all the pastas and pizzas, anything with a sauce, then of course I have preferences, we all do.
I'm looking forward to getting home and being able to prepare my own foods. Eating out for 2 weeks has been difficult and hard work with a food intolerance, it's not just as simple as avoiding gluten, it''s about making sure my diet is balanced and I'm not just eating junk food which always seems to be the alternative, filling up on crisps and chocolates.
Our next holiday will defiantly be self catering eating out for two weeks is just too long with dietary requirements.
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