Dining out when on a restriced diet.

It's darn near impossible I tell you.

We spent last week on the Oregon coast. It was beautiful.

Before we left my biggest worry was probably wondering how the heck I was going to eat when away from home, especially now that I am soy-free too. I decided to pack some staples (brown rice pasta, quinoa pasta, quinoa, gluten-free bread, etc) and stop at the store on the way down to get fresh goods. Luckily we had a full kitchen in our condo so cooking for myself should not be a problem. We planned that I would cook "in" and Glenn could order from the restaurant and get it to go. Or I would just cook for all of us.

But, we were on vacation. My dad and step-mom were there a few days. They wanted to take us out. We ended up exploring down the coast one afternoon and needed lunch while we were away. My step-mom wanted to take us to a hippy dippy (her words) place for lunch. Supposedly they had gluten-free bread. Not that that would guarantee that it was also dairy- and soy-free, but whatever. The only thing hippy dippy about the place was that they wore tie-dyed tee shirts. And they didn't have any gluten-free bread that day.

I was frustrated because as careful as I was being I knew there was a very strong likelihood that I was consuming soy, and probably even some unknown dairy or wheat. I felt like I was fighting a losing battle trying to explain it, even to Glenn. When I said something about how we needed to get back to only eating at home so we can get the soy back out of Bubby's system, Glenn was like "what???!?!" I tried so hard, but who knows what was in the corn tortilla (that I ordered instead of flour), the salad dressing (that I used oh so sparingly), or what cooking oils they used for the fish and chicken.

I know it's probably hard for anyone to understand who doesn't have to eat this way, but it really is just impossible. At the beginning of our trip I had been soy-free for two weeks. Bubby was doing better. Finally! He also cut a tooth the first day we were there, so he had extra reason to be fussy but we still had noticed improvement in his mood and his diapers. And, he hasn't had any hives since I gave up soy. Now I feel like we totally back-tracked. Like we're back on day one of being wheat-, dairy- and soy-free. I'm sure relatively small amounts, if any, were consumed but Bubby has had horrible diapers today. It's like his body is ridding itself of the allergens. And it's just like before I re-eliminated the soy.

At least we're back home and I can know without a doubt what I am eating. That's the only way to be sure.

On a side note, I think Glenn is starting to realize how hard it is to be soy-free. He keeps looking at labels and saying, "Soy! Why?" I wonder too. Does anyone know why it's so prevalent in EVERYTHING?