A quick foodie excursion

This trip seemed even more meal focused simply because we're not eating in restaurants as often these days. It's just not worth the hassle of sorting through gluten free menus, though we certainly do it when necessary.

Staying in Columbia with Kelly and Greg is like hitting the culinary jackpot. They are foodies. And I am grateful for it because we get to have delicious food when we are with them. Case in point, I've suspended my no-coffee rules during spring break. And wouldn't you know, Greg has a fancy pants coffee machine that makes cappuccinos and cafe au laits and all sorts of good strong caffeine drinks. I made myself one both mornings. Okay, I made two both mornings. It's vacation.

My kids got their first experience with TV at breakfast.
I may or may not be making myself a delicious coffee beverage.

And, we were treated to a roast with some sort of yummy raisin sauce and potato parsnip puree for dinner. I hear Evelyn doesn't always eat her dinner. Um, Butterfly/Evelyn, you can send it to me.

They told me about a new market that just opened up in Columbia. Lucky's Supermarket is a large grocery store that sells organic and natural items. Fresh produce, a deli, lots of gluten-free items, huge tea selection and a large supplement/vitamin area.

It's very well-designed. Bright, open, and intriguing. The kind of place I'm a sucker for.

Anna always asks me why I like food shopping so much. I don't know. I get as much enjoyment out of finding some little new organic small batch artisanal whatever as some folks get out of shoe shopping.  It's just the newness of it. The idea that someone took the time to dream up this little lovely food. And I get to help try it out. And support them and their craft. And perhaps stumble across the newest and best thing ever.

We decided to grab sandwiches at the deli (gluten-free bread!!) and eat them in the coffee bar/cafe area. The sandwiches were good and we added a package of dried apple rings to round it out.

If you're in the area, I recommend stopping by there. It's a great place to release your inner foodie.

St. Louis Gluten-Free

Our foray into gluten-free living is still very new. We are neither allergy experts nor are we seasoned gfree folks. We're just building habits day by day and trying to do the best we can. So when we started our recent spring break road trip, I wondered whether we could keep up with this effort without obsessing and stressing.

We don't have an allergy issue that forces us to into this. We have just seen enough benefits to know that this feels right and we want to keep exploring it. My challenge was to bring enough snacks to help distract us from readily available gluten options, and to find eating spots where we could at least attempt the gluten-free thing even if it didn't pan out.

You can imagine my excitement to discover New Day restaurant in Ellisville, a suburb of St. Louis. The restaurant is entirely gluten-free and they take it seriously. A sign posted on the door states that no one is to bring in outside food. Anyone with celiac disease will tell you that cross-contamination is a huge scary issue in places where there is no dedicated allergy work space. I love that folks can feel safe and relax when they enter the door here. It must be such a relief.

We opted for cheese pizza for the kids and grilled cheese and tomato soup for me (this is my comfort meal). My previous experience with gluten-free pizza has been pretty disappointing. It's not terrible... it's just not that great. And you want pizza to be great.

This pizza was fantastic. Thin crust, nice thick cheese. Very tasty. And by the sounds of the carry out orders coming in over the phone, everyone else loves it too.

My grilled cheese was pretty good. Gluten-free bread always tastes a little different, but I have to say if I really had a craving for grilled cheese again, I'd order this one. It's not an exact replica, but it's a fair substitute.

And perhaps the best part was the baked goods area where customers can pick up cookies, muffins, breads and all sorts of goodies. I grabbed some gooey butter cake cookies (yum) and muffins and banana bread. That's the nice excuse of a road trip, this shopping can be classified under both the "food" section of the trip and the "souvenir" section. I had wanted to bring something to share with our friends when we arrived and this fit the bill.

Perhaps one of the most heartwarming parts of this visit was reading all the reviews on the place. It is such a gift for some folks to have a gluten-free restaurant. They tell stories of having been recently diagnosed and feeling completely underwater. A restaurant like this helps them find good food when they feel like they've been asked to put it away on the shelf.

If you have any friends or relatives looking for a place like this, I would suggest New Day in a heart beat. It's not fancy, but it's safe and friendly and good. What more can we ask for?