All posts tagged: hayley

Lona’s Lil Eats | St. Louis, MO

Published by

First let me address the elephant in the room (picture): The can of Busch is my boyfriend Sam’s and even though he drank some gluten with our dinner, he really enjoyed his gluten free food. Lona’s Lil Eats’ menu is completely gluten free expect their dumplings and like 1 dish with a flour tortilla. However, they are known for their MASSIVE (seriously they are huge) rice paper wraps. But in typical Hayley fashion, I got something else. I got the Lona-Q Chicken. It consisted of grilled chicken, stir-fried glass noddles, and Lona-Q sauce. The sauce was similar to a sweet and spicy asian BBQ sauce and was amazingly good. All plates come with a side or salad so I opted for the chopped vinaigrette. Sam got the #1 5 Star platter which was basically everything on the menu, typical. We both loved this place and are planning to go again very soon. It had such a cute interior and patio seating outside. Check out their hours and menu here. 

Kayak’s by Kaldi Coffee | St. Louis, MO 

Published by

 I’ve been meaning to post about Kayak’s for months now but I keep eating my food before I remember to take a picture… Anyways, I love this place. It’s so close to my campus and work that I find myself in there more often than I should. They have a huge menu and most of their items can be made gluten free with a $1.50 up-charge for the GF bread (womp womp only downside). This place has amazing coffee as well. It’s the perfect environment to study, meet with friends, or grab a quick bite to eat. AND they have free wifi! On my most recent trip, I stopped in for breakfast and got an orange, a strawberry smoothie, and a biscotti. All very delicious. I get their sandwiches and they are great about informing me on the cooking process. They do cook the food on the same surfaces but will put foil down per your request to help minimize cross-contamination. Thanks, Kayak’s! Check out their full menu here. 

Hacienda |Webster Groves, St. Louis, MO

Published by

Mexican food is a go-to for most celiac’s, however, this picky celiac finds it really hard to go to Mexican Restaurants because I only ever want nachos and a dedicated chip fryer is hard to come by. But Hacienda’s in Webster Groves has you covered. They fry all of their homemade corn tortilla chips in dedicated fryers and it makes for one happy Hayley. I was very hungry last night and ate my beef nachos before I could get a picture. Don’t you hate when that happens? They came with beef, jalapenos, refried beans, and of course CHEESE. I ordered a side of guac to go with it, as well. The one thing I will mention is that you should still tell your server that you have celiac/an intolerance when you order. They make sure to tell their kitchen staff to be extra cautious. Another thing I love is that they have a dedicated gluten free menu at the restaurant that they give you instead of the full menu. I feel like this always makes the …

Gluten Free On The Go

Published by

I found this article written by Shannon Bauer on Fitness Magazine’s website while doing my normal gluten free internet exploration. I absolutely love easy snack ideas because I am always on the go and love trying new things. However, while looking through their list, I realized I have tried and LOVED several of these products and would love to try the rest of these. I think that this post will be a running list and I’ll update it when I try more of these products. I could write and may write separate reviews on these products but because of the sheer volume of them I am going to use a ranking system. If I have not tried the product I am going to go with a simple ☒, the rest I am going to work on a star system:★(1) star means I have tried and would not buy again and ★★★★★ (5) stars means I love this product and would buy over and over again. Let me know your thoughts on any of these products! As of 1/1/2016 1. …

Peanut Butter Chocolate M&M Balls 

Published by

Oh the holiday’s… Filled with ugly sweaters, too many family parties, and food that kills your New Years diet before it even begins. I’m here to continue that trend with this extremely addicting and wildly unhealthy treat. Seriously, it took a lot of willpower not to just eat the peanut butter filling with a spoon before the party even started. These chocolate peanut butter goodies also only take about 35 minutes to make and can be made with ingredients you most likely already have in your home. This makes it the perfect last-minute treat to bring to your next holiday party. What you need: 1 1/2 cups peanut butter 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar 1/2 cup (one stick) melted butter M&M’s to taste (leave a few for decoration at the end) 12oz package of chocolate chips Step 1: Melt your stick of butter. I melted mine in the microwave. Add the melted butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar to a bowl and mix until smooth. Step 2: Add the Christmas mini M&M’s next. The original recipe used traditional …

Washington University in St. Louis 

Published by

Hey everyone, just wanted to give you all a little update on my life. I haven’t been as active as I would like to be because grad school is kicking my butt. I am so sorry about that and I hope to post some drafts I have in the works over my Thanksgiving and Winter breaks.  AND MY THANKSGIVING BREAK STARTED TODAY, BOO YAH!  On a more gluten free note, I recommend any High School aged student or undergraduate looking for their next step to consider Washington University in St. Louis. They are outstanding when it comes to catering to my gluten free needs. I could not have picked a better school to continue my education. My building in the Brown School of Social Work has a cute little cafe called “Grounds for Change” and most items get labeled with stickers “gluten free” “vegetarian” “dairy free” etc. And for days that I feel like there aren’t any options for me, I can go to the Danforth University Center and ask for a chef and they …

Simply Balanced Pasta

Published by

I am the number one offender of “my eyes are bigger than my stomach”. You would think after all these years of making or taking too much food and not finishing it I would get the hint. I haven’t. Tonight was different though I made too much, I ate it all, and now I feel like I’m going to die. But at least that means that I loved what I made, right? I’ll keep telling myself that.  Target’s Simply Balanced brand is one of my favorites for many reasons but the price is definitely one of them. Almost always on sale or on Target’s Cartwheel coupon app (if you don’t have Cartwheel yet what are you doing with your life?!?!). You can normally find a bag for less than $3! I really love the taste of their gluten free pastas too. They have 3 types!! THREE!!!! The Fusilli pictured above is my go-to, but they also have penne and spaghetti. This pasta also tends to keep together better rather than fall apart and get mushy …

Shichi (Seven) Sushi Bar | Belleville, IL

Published by

Sushi is a relatively new food for me. The first time I tried sushi was sophomore year at my sorority house and I literally cried I hated it so much. I’d like to think I’ve come a long way from sorority house sushi and crying. I’ve slowly been working my way into the sushi world since then. My boyfriend and I had a few favorite sushi restaurants in Champaign-Urbana, IL and we are on the hunt to find new favorites here in the greater STL area. Belleville, IL is town located about 15 miles east of St. Louis. It’s a great town and just so happens to be where I grew up. The downtown area, in recent years, has exploded with awesome restaurants, bars, and shops. A favorite of mine is Seven. It’s technically two different restaurants, Seven and Shichi Sushi Bar but you can order off of either menu at both places. I’ve tried their sushi twice and didn’t have a single issue. They staff seems well informed about gluten and the medical necessity …

Homemade Fried Mozzarella Sticks 

Published by

I have mentioned how much I love cheese and with that, I love fried cheese…. How could you not?! Finding good mozzarella sticks that are gluten free has not been an easy task. One of my college roommates was also gluten free and she bought frozen gf moz sticks from Meijer one time and all of the breading fell off before we got them into the oven. We ended up having to break out the eggs and smash up some gluten free croutons to reattach the breading to even be able to cook them. It would have been easier to make them from scratch like I did below. I looked up a few different recipes for making your own fried cheese and then adapted them all into one of my liking. This was a lot easier than I originally thought it would be. I think frying my own food was the most intimidating part… I pictured my whole home engulfed in flames just because I wanted some fried cheese. I have also adapted the recipe to make fried calamari …

Pizza Crust Mix

Published by

Pizza is something I took for granted before I was diagnosed. I didn’t love it when I was younger because of my dislike for tomato sauce and by the time I got to college I only had 2 years to truly appreciate all of its greatness.  That being said I work at a summer camp and handle delicious looking delivery pizza on a weekly basis and I am on the search of my life to buy/defrost/make from scratch the best pizza I can. My most recent pizza attempt was found at my local Fresh Thyme. Only takes a few minutes to make just mix 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 cup shredded cheese (optional), 2 eggs, and 1/4 cup  milk or water. Takes about 15 minutes to bake for a 14 inch pizza crust.  I put all of my ingredients under my cheese because that is how I prefer my pizza. This particular pizza was bacon, green peppers, white onions, fresh garlic, romano and mozzarella cheeses, and some garlic salt and ground pepper. I used Preggo Pizza Sauce. …