First! (Lame, I know)

I was one of those lucky people that discovered that I was celiac at an older age.  I read stories about how other people found out all the time, and I don't see much need to rehash mine outside of I have a much happier life when I don't eat wheat, malt, barley or rye.

That being stated, I choose not to eat meat either.  I won't say that there's any moral ground for it other than I simply just don't like it.  When I was first learning what I could eat, I did make myself eat chicken and steaks; I was miserable for it too. I really just don't enjoy it.  If you, dear reader, have enjoyment from such things, please continue to do so. I'm not trying to hype up my own lifestyle, I'm trying to bring attention to a detail of my life that I know I am not alone in enduring.

I don't eat meat. I don't eat wheat.  And often times, I have a bitch of a time finding things at restaurants to eat outside of a side salad. 

Don't get me wrong, I like salad. I usually eat 6 or so salads a week. But when I go out to eat, I want something different. I want something to wow me.

And yanno what? It just doesn't happen very often.  More often than not, I'm left with .... side salad. 

I'm eating a side. No entrees, no appetizers, just a side.  Let me tell you how that makes me feel as a diner, paying to be fed like that: I am not worthy of an item on the 'real' menu. I am marginalized.   I have had recent experiences that were orgasmically fantastic, I have had others were i canceled my entire order and will never, ever go back.

Am I a minority? Damn skippy I am. I'm not trying to say everybody should make their plates friendly to me.  I'm trying to encourage some diversity, to show some awareness, and maybe advise other veggie celiacs that there are possibilities beyond side salads.  And it shouldn't matter that I'm a minority eater-- I won't eat certain places, so my friends won't go there. So my minority eating situation is also affecting majority eaters.  Head's up, diner/restaurant owners: You may lose one sale to me, but you'll lose a slew others if my friends choose to dine someplace I can eat.

So here it is.. the first post. I never thought I'd have a blog. I never thought I had anything worth saying before that would be of any interest to anybody else.  However, after trying to google some answers on my own, I feel that maybe, just maybe, I may be able to provide a service to people who have celiac, who love somebody who is a celiac or somebody who just loves to read food reviews with a weird little twist to them.

I do travel some and I just moved to Tampa from Ohio. So I'll probably post a few reviews of things I liked from Ohio and other places around the country as well as when I visit restaurants in the Tampa/Clearwater/St. Petersburg areas.

Up for suggestions, hints and tips from anybody reading this. Hope I'm up to the task. :)