being a celiac on an island
I'm seriously kicking myself. I thought that since I can find gluten free items in stores such as Fry's and Safeway, I wouldn't have any problems out here on the island of Oahu.
First of all, there are no chain grocery stores. They take pride in that. The closet thing I could find was Longs Drugs that had lots of food I couldn't eat. The Wal-Mart that's within walking distance had a limited amount of food and sadly, no Redbridge.
I also walked to the asian market to see what they had. Most of it was mixed with soy sauce that I couldn't eat.
Yesterday was boyfriend's birthday. I was desperate to make a cake for him. I wanted it to be a cake that I could eat too, but I was resigning myself to admit that it might be a Betty Crocker birthday cake.
But in asking around, I got the names of a couple "natural foods" places that were a block apart. So I hopped on a bus to go over there. Not too surprised that it was by the university. The first place only had Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour. I didn't want to have to buy the xanthum gum, and other things the cake recipe called for. So I checked the other store a block away.
It was a natural foods market and deli, so I wasn't holding out much hope. But as I walked in I saw Boomi Bars, I began to hope. I then found a Gluten-Free Panty yellow cake mix, and almost burst into tears and song. I also picked up an energy bar that was gluten-free. If it's any good, I'll probably buy a case.
So boyfriend got his birthday cake gluten-free.
I hate baking out here because it's so humid it permeates everything you try and make.
As for restaurants. Forget about it. Even Outback that offers a gluten-free menu seems to be lost here. I had been doing good by eating a lot of sushi rolls and avoiding the soy sauce. But last night, I treated boyfriend to ShoreBird (I ran into some newlyweds that raved about it). It was a nice on the beach setting, but it's a "cook your own food" place. Boyfriend tried to clean the grill we were using, but it was either something on the grill, at the salad bar, or from the bar that got me.
But seriously - what's up with the Spam? I'm not joking. Even McDonalds downstairs offers a Spam breakfast sandwich. You can get Spam in sushi rolls. And of course, Wal-Mart has a huge section of Spam in their limited grocery section. I haven't seen someone carrying around containers of Spam, but there must be enough of a demand to warrant McDonalds serving it. At least Spam uses potato starch, so I can eat it, but why?
First of all, there are no chain grocery stores. They take pride in that. The closet thing I could find was Longs Drugs that had lots of food I couldn't eat. The Wal-Mart that's within walking distance had a limited amount of food and sadly, no Redbridge.
I also walked to the asian market to see what they had. Most of it was mixed with soy sauce that I couldn't eat.
Yesterday was boyfriend's birthday. I was desperate to make a cake for him. I wanted it to be a cake that I could eat too, but I was resigning myself to admit that it might be a Betty Crocker birthday cake.
But in asking around, I got the names of a couple "natural foods" places that were a block apart. So I hopped on a bus to go over there. Not too surprised that it was by the university. The first place only had Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour. I didn't want to have to buy the xanthum gum, and other things the cake recipe called for. So I checked the other store a block away.
It was a natural foods market and deli, so I wasn't holding out much hope. But as I walked in I saw Boomi Bars, I began to hope. I then found a Gluten-Free Panty yellow cake mix, and almost burst into tears and song. I also picked up an energy bar that was gluten-free. If it's any good, I'll probably buy a case.
So boyfriend got his birthday cake gluten-free.
I hate baking out here because it's so humid it permeates everything you try and make.
As for restaurants. Forget about it. Even Outback that offers a gluten-free menu seems to be lost here. I had been doing good by eating a lot of sushi rolls and avoiding the soy sauce. But last night, I treated boyfriend to ShoreBird (I ran into some newlyweds that raved about it). It was a nice on the beach setting, but it's a "cook your own food" place. Boyfriend tried to clean the grill we were using, but it was either something on the grill, at the salad bar, or from the bar that got me.
But seriously - what's up with the Spam? I'm not joking. Even McDonalds downstairs offers a Spam breakfast sandwich. You can get Spam in sushi rolls. And of course, Wal-Mart has a huge section of Spam in their limited grocery section. I haven't seen someone carrying around containers of Spam, but there must be enough of a demand to warrant McDonalds serving it. At least Spam uses potato starch, so I can eat it, but why?
Labels: vacation
posted by Jenn @ 17:14
3 Comments:
At 19:35 ,
Anonymous said...
Gluten-Free Panty yellow cake mix? Sounds like a good birthday! ;)
As for Spam, it was shipped there during WWII because it was low-quality, therefore cheap, and it was canned, so it wouldn't spoil. The native Hawaiians just took to it like Republicans to a tax loophole. Supposedly there's something like 10 different varieties of Spam on sale in stores there, too, compared to 2-3 at most in the rest of the US.
-- Chris (Z).
At 06:49 ,
Anonymous said...
we can have Spam? i had no idea. for some reason i just assumed no.
sorry you're having a rough time trying to eat there. i would have figured it would be easy, too. are they brushing the inside of the sushi rolls with soy sauce before they roll them up? i know they do that at most of the Japanese restaurants here.
i hope you have better luck the rest of your stay.
At 21:21 ,
Anonymous said...
Please, what was the NAME of the natural food store where you successfully found the Gluten-Free Pantry cake mix? I'm spending two weeks on the north shore in February, and may have to UPS a Bob's Red Mill care package to myself. A store and source would be great to know.
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