Eating Out

I enjoy cooking, just about as much  as I enjoy eating out. When I eat out, it's for different reasons. Sometimes, eating out is a matter of necessity. A long day of work or kid's sporting events or concerts often doesn't allow time or energy for a home cooked meal. When we eat out for these reasons, it's not as social as it probably should be. Often, when I'm with my teenage boys, a lot of the time is spent with them looking at their phones (and myself sometimes, if I'm being completely honest) or rushing through the meal so we can get home to bed or homework or whatever it is we need or want to do.

While I appreciate being able to have someone else do the cooking (and especially the cleaning) when I'm too tired or too strapped for time, I do love to go out to eat when it's for the purpose of dining out by choice. When I choose to dine with a companion as a social event, it's amazing. I like choosing favorite spots, or new places, or to celebrate a special occasion. I like eating fancy things that I haven't had before. I never order something I make at home on a regular basis. And I only eat fast food if there's absolutely no alternative and I'm starving. I used to eat fast food a lot, when my kids were little. It was just so...convenient. Being a tired mother going to nursing school made McDonalds my personal chef. I don't feed them that food anymore, though they do go grab it themselves, on occasion, now that they're old enough to drive themselves and make their own money.

I won't lie; I love fast food french fries. LOVE THEM!

Dining out is enjoyable, but not nearly as good as it used to be, before I developed food allergies. I realized I was gluten intolerant in 2012. While it was spectacular to finally discover the cause of my life-long "digestive problems," it made for a difficult time eating out. However, gluten-free is finally catching on, and more and more restaurants are putting effort into creating appealing dishes for the GF community. Unfortunately, I also have a shellfish allergy, which is a common food restaurants place on their gluten-free menu. I also can't eat yellow squash or figs. I'm sure something else will pop up eventually. I'm always cautious now when trying new foods. Having my gums swell in a restaurant after eating a gluten-free fig puree sauce is how I discovered that allergy, and it wasn't fun. Lobster sent me to the hospital at the age of 30, with anaphylaxis, after eating it for my entire life. Now, I have to worry about cross-contamination, which is something I learned the hard way at a sushi restaurant. I ordered a veggie roll, but apparently they must have used the same knife to cut my sushi as they did with the crab, shrimp and lobster ones. My throat started to swell and that's when I realized that dining out had officially been changed forever.

I miss real bread. And Ritz crackers. And scallops. OK, I'll stop now...