and of course we hit a PF Chang's...

 Our checked bag arrived on Thursday afternoon, a mere 4 days after us. It was an exciting moment to be able to have wardrobe options again plus a more pragmatic pair of shoes then the Danskos I wore traveling and the flip flops I had tucked in my carry on as area was getting pounded with snow and the snowbanks stood 5 feet high.  I had lots of time to work on my knitting and finished a few projects during our visit.

From Droid think outside

On Saturday we packed up and jumped on a bus down to Boston- the roads were getting slick and our early flight on Sunday didn't leave much of a margin for error. We packed our bags with my gluten free snack festival and headed into a hotel near the airport. We checked in and asked about area dining and if the in house restaurant had a gluten free menu- the uncertain look had Dave convinced that my idea of heading to PF Chang's wasn't so crazy after all.

From Droid think outside

 I had used my droid navigation while on the bus to figure out that we could easily take the hotel shuttle to a T stop on the blue line and swap to the green line and end up a block away from PF Chang's. It was a Saturday night and the place had a 50 minute wait so we opted to eat at the bar so we could make it to bed at a decent hour. We even walked through the city a bit after dinner, grabbed Dave breakfast donuts at Dunkin's and made it back to to hotel within 3 hours. There wasn't much time for sleep as we were up at 3:30am and on a shuttle soon after.

From Droid think outside

The best part about our 6am flight on Sunday from BOS to ATL to MTJ was that all worked out we arrived by noon in the mountain time zone, hit a quick food shop were reunited with our monster puppies back in Telluride before the lifts closed at 4pm.

Legal seafood

I'm not a seafood fan but I'm a huge fan of the commitment to the gluten free menu, such a nice change after the ATL airport.

snacks... don't leave home without them

This week we booked tickets on Sunday and Monday were traveling east. That's not a lot of time to pack, find dog sitters for our two monsters and leave with a clean house so one of the dog sitters could stay there plus formulate a quick plan to be absent/work remotely this week and research GF options for our Atlanta Airport layover on our trip to Boston.
Thankfully we left early enough on Monday to stop at Natural Grocer's for some gluten free travel food for our carry on. I pounded an Odwalla since TSA isn't fond of their liquid nature and grabbed a box of Glutino Blueberry Breakfast bars, Glutino Chocolate Covered pretzels and Enjoy Life Chocolate bars.  (see-I really needed that Odwalla to add a bit of balance to my day)
I had done a quick search on ATL to see what options I had and found this... at Wolfgang Pucks I had hoped to find a sit down location but it was a grab and go. When I asked the attendant if she had a list of ingredients she looked at me funny. When I asked if things had gluten she picked up a sandwich to read the ingredients to see if gluten was listed. I thanked her and ran walked away.
At Chick-Fil-A I asked about the fryer for the waffle fries since their website lists it as being just for the fries and gluten free friendly. Again- a funny look but she called her manager over who told me that nothing else used that fryer but "we do use peanut oil". I explained that I wasn't allergic to peanuts- I'm just not able to eat gluten. I ordered the fries and the lady asked me, "What is the gluten?" as she rang me up. I gave the quick explanation that it was a protein found in wheat, barley and rye and that my body wasn't able to process it.
At Chili's Too they had the Chili's Gluten Free menu so I ordered a bun less burger with a side of plain mashed potatoes. They didn't have potatoes so I had oranges instead (funny combo but desperate times....) my food arrived- with a bun. I explained very politely that it was not gluten free and that I wasn't able to eat a burger that had even touched the bun due to my "allergy". She brought me a fresh burger with my strange side choice and I was sure to inspect it after she walked away. She was very kind and sincere about wanting to get it right so I felt safe but I wasn't very trusting at this point!  I haven't had a burger from a chain in a while and it was greasy, not exactly a great feeling. I think next time I'll find an overpriced airport Odwalla drink and just be happy for safe options.
I had stashed some Ancient Harvest Pasta in our checked bag but as of Wednesday night it hasn't show up yet due to some massive snowfall that's halted air travel to Boston. Thankfully we headed to Stop and Shop and found some of my staples like Chex Cereal, Thai Kitchen soups and Udi's Bagels along with naturally gluten free foods. It was a decent selection but not as good as my Natural Grocer in Colorado. We fly home early Sunday morning and you can be certain that I will have a stocked pile of snacks in my carry on as I can't face the ATL airport options again.

Baking at sea level

Betty crocker mix at sea level, oh my this rocks.

Travels

We're not spur of the moment kind of travelers but can be if needed. Trip booked less then 24 hours ago and almost ready to board the first leg of our flight to Boston. Dogs are with friends and away messages have been set. Thankfully we had tome to stop for some glutaded snacks despite all the chaos as it's a long day of traveling.

a bit of local love... La Cocina de Luz now serves New Planet

La Cocina de Luz translates to the kitchen of light and has been in Telluride serving up local, organic and wholesome food for over a dozen years. It's a great spot for glutards and has just become a bit better... they now serve New Planet Beer. We tend to go when we're in town and in need of a quick bite and it's popular with both visitor's and locals. It's one of the few places in town that doesn't take a break between the busy summer tourism season and the winter snow riders since it's so popular with the local crew.

Today's fare was enchilada's with garlic roasted veggies and green Spanish rice, OK this was actually Dave's plate. I just went for one chicken enchilada with rice, I am a terrible veggie eater. There- now you know- in case it wasn't obvious from my obsession with all things deserts (whoopie pies).  La Cocina is right on Colorado Avenue which is Telluride's Main Street and has quick counter service and all the makings of a solid Mexican joint with good margaritas with fresh lime juice and all.

Stuffed Squash

Two weeks ago on our grocery store adventure- (really a full day of stocking up is an adventure) I found squash on sale. I'm working on eating more veggies and picked a few up. I did a bit of research and found Allie's Stuffed Squash and gave it a whirl with a few tweaks of my own.
I cut the squash and cooked for 45 minutes at 400 with some butter and syrup then stuffed with quinoa and spinach that I had made in the rice cooker/steamer. I fried up a bit of bacon for a garnish and moderate the insane veggie intake of my dinner.

My squash came out a bit on the dry side so next time I'll go back to my normal squash prep of cutting in half and baking the two sides upside down in a Pyrex dish with a half inch of water in the pan. It just works better for me- I live at 9,000 feet in a dry climate.  It's not a meal that Dave would get excited about but made for a good dinner and leftovers for me.

Artisanal Brownies

Our food bill has been insane this winter. It seems like prices have gone up at the store but also we've been eating more partly due to the cold weather and additional exercise with skiing, Dave's snow making and playing in the brisk mountain air with the pups. We're working on cutting it back without depriving ourselves of good food. Instead of buying a mix for upwards of $5 we're baking more from scratch and using real food. I pulled out the Bronski's cookbook and gave the brownie recipe a whirl. I have made homemade brownies before- years ago when I was a gluten eater and made the recipe from the Moosewood cookbook a few times. I really need to start marking the book with all the things I've tried, last month we were enamored with the snickerdoodles and I am now smitten with brownies.
See....

Next time I'm going to pull them a smidgen earlier as I like a gooey brownie....
I'm also trying to go back to being 96% dairy free. I've been cheating with Dairy during the holidays- eating real butter for cookies, gluten free pizza loaded with cheese and sour cream in mashed potatoes- and I feel it. My energy is low and I've gained back a few pounds... blah! So back on track I go which is going to be hard as my baking was happier with butter and the pizza has become more accessible thanks to Crazy Elk. I've started to clean it up but had pizza last night and felt the congestion hitting soon after leaving me to wonder- is it really worth it?