Author: stlmaryland

Getting lost sucks!

/ stlmaryland / Leave a comment

So I have had an exhausting few days. On Sunday my daughter had to be taken to Girl Scout Camp which felt like I was driving to Timbuktu! It was over 3 hours drive time to get there.

I drove through Tahoe originally there and then drove home through Reno. Since my daughter was only there for 3 days, 2 nights it meant I had to do that awful drive twice in 3 days!!

My daughter had to be picked up from Camp between 10:30 & 11:00am on Tuesday.

Since the Reno drive was nicer coming home I decided to go that way, instead, when I had to go back and pick up my daughter.

My mom and I hit the road around 7:15am. Stopped and filled up the car. Drove about 2 hours to Portola, CA made a bathroom stop and then jumped back into the car for what I thought would be another hour arriving at the Camp around 10:30am.  WRONG!!!

Continue reading →

Berry Orange Smoothie

/ stlmaryland / Leave a comment

Berry Orange Smoothie

Today felt like a smoothie kind of day so I blended up a berry orange smoothie for the kids and I for snack today. I grabbed 3 bags of fruit out of the freezer to add to my concoction.

Continue reading →

Gluten Free Tuna Melt Panini Style

/ stlmaryland / Leave a comment

Tuna Melt | Small Town Living in NevadaI don’t know if it is from growing up in California or what, but I love tuna melts. It is tasty as it can be. In a perfect world this would be great on rye bread, but I am not lucky enough to have gluten free rye bread in my area. Anyhow, I have made this delicious sandwich with Udi’s Gluten Free bread and yes, it came out oh so wonderful!

Continue reading →

Asian Ginger Fish

/ stlmaryland / Leave a comment

My husband loves the Ginger Steamed fish you get at Chinese Restaurants. Since we never go to Chinese Restaurants because the ones we have in our town never has anything gluten free I have to make my own. Nevertheless, I have gotten really good at making Asian food at home. This is my version…

Asian Ginger Fish

Continue reading →

Classic Tuna Salad

/ stlmaryland / 1 Comment

Although I don’t purchase a lot of seafood in general, however I find myself recently eating a lot of tuna salad in a bowl or even making myself tuna melts on the panini grill.

Anyhow, tuna in a can is quite convenient and versatile. This recipe is great for sandwiches, as a spread on crackers, can be used as an appetizer, or spoon some on a salad as a main dish…. it is endless.

Tuna Salad Continue reading →

Seasoned Butternut Squash Fries

/ stlmaryland / Leave a comment

Butternut Squash FriesI had a butternut squash in my pantry that really needed to be used up. Since we were making barbequed burgers for dinner I decided to pull out my french fry cutter — but unfortunately the squash killed my blade on my cutter. I guess it wasn’t made for anything but potatoes. The butternut squash must be way harder than a potato I guess.

Nevertheless, I got some fries made then tossed them into the oven at 425º F for 40 minutes until they were golden.

Continue reading →

My Washington DC journey…..

/ stlmaryland / Leave a comment

I had a fun time in Washington D.C. despite the humidity and down pours of rain. Even though this was my 4th time in D.C. this was actually my first time staying over. The rest of my visits were just day trips with family. I was looking forward to all the things my husband and I were going to do over the course of 11 days.

We originally, during the conference, stayed at a hotel in D.C.’s Chinatown for the first 6 nights and then when the conference was over went to a vacation house for the next 3 nights with several of our friends. Then we stayed one night in Alexandria at another hotel closer to the airport the night before we flew back home.

While we were in DC we were able to visit several of the Smithsonian Museums, which included the American Art Museum, National Museum of Natural History, and the The National Zoo. We were able to see many of the Monuments around the National Mall as well.

Continue reading →

ShopHouse – Restaurant Review

/ stlmaryland / Leave a comment

ShopHouse Store FrontShopHouse generously sent me a couple of gift cards to try out their restaurant while I was in Washington D.C. Unfortunately, it took me all week to get there, but yesterday my husband and I were able to finally make time and headed over to Chinatown via the Metro for dinner to try out their bowls.

The ShopHouse really intrigued me because 1. EVERYTHING they prepare in their shop is gluten, wheat, and dairy-free! 2. It is a sister restaurant to Chipotle – and who doesn’t love Chipotle?! 3. The menu is inspired by traditional ingredients, flavors and cooking styles of Southeast Asian restaurants. And everyone knows I have a love affair with Asian inspired food! And 4. Their meats are Responsibly Raised®! So yeah, for all those reasons I really wanted to try out their restaurant!

Continue reading →

Where not to eat in Alexandria, VA

/ stlmaryland / Leave a comment

Last night we took the ferry ride to Alexandria, VA and thought we would be able to visit all the cute little shops. Well how mistaken were we. It started to rain and rain and rain and then rained even some more! I had to buy an overpriced umbrella to stay somewhat dry even though my shoes and socks were a different soggy story.

Two places down from where I purchased my umbrella was Pizzeria Paradiso. Our friends took refuge there because 1. our friends were hungry and 2. since being indoors kept you warm and dry. Nevertheless, we decided it was a very good idea especially since our phones all went off alerting us of flash floods in the area till 11:30pm.

I ordered a nice hot cup of tea to warm up with when I noticed on Pizzeria Paradiso’s menu it stated they had homemade gluten free 9” crust for an extra $2. Not pre-made, cool!!!  Now that really sounded great and prompted us to place an order for their Blanca Pizza which consisted of White Sauce, Roasted Cherry Tomatos, Baby Arugula, Basil, and Speck (very thinly sliced smoked prosciutto). I asked for them to put the Speck on only 1/2 the pizza since my husband is allergic to msg and sodium nitrates.

Continue reading →

Eating Gluten Free in the Chinatown district of Washington D.C.

/ stlmaryland / Leave a comment

Eating out with a gluten allergy or intolerance can be totally challenging and that is putting it mildly. Let’s just say I am a research queen before I even leave for a trip just so I can find where my best options will lead me. I usually search the internet for local restaurants that serve gluten free entrees as well as which ones are walking distance from my hotel.

The first leg of our trip we stayed in the Chinatown district of Washington D.C. until July 2nd. The following restaurants were in this area and walking distance from our hotel.

$ = $10 & under
$$ = $11-$20
$$$ = $21-$30
$$$$ = $31-above

Continue reading →