Grab a Bomb

My newest treasure from the gluten free world came to me from http://www.amazon.co.uk, tasty little energy bars called ‘ENERGY BOMB!’ (www.pulsin.co.uk). Now that we have Dover as a home port full time, I’m able to order things, which has made getting protein powder much easier (the amount of time I’ve wasted trolling around Italian grocery stores trying to find protein powder that I can read the ingredients of, I can’t even tell you!) In my last order, along with my new favorite protein powder (enriched with glutamine, best ever!!), I got some energy bomb bars to try out. The flavor I have is ‘Banana Crisp’, and it’s amazing. I’m snacking on one as we speak. They are gluten free, vegetarian, with no added sugar, no trans fats and non GMO!! I’m so happy with the ‘banana crisp’ flavor that next time I’m ordering a bigger box with more flavors to sample!! If you’re UK based, grab a few! If you’re not fortunate enough to be able to get your hands on some, maybe I’ll bring you some back in November!!

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Rocket Nutrition

As a lactose intolerant celiac, when I get attached to something delicious AND allergen free, I get excited. When I was home on vacation, my sister (who is the queen of locating gluten free goodies, and also making them) had found a celiac friendly, all natural oatmeal that I “just HAD to try”. So of course, I got one in every flavor and tried them all. Best plan ever!!! Not only was it the most delicious oatmeal ever, but I’m not allergic to it!! Great success. So I brought multiple bags of it with me on the ship (if you find something delicious outside you become a bit of a hoarder on ships, as we can’t easily access non-ship food). Now I’m running out and I’m not pleased at all. I’m going to have to get some shipped, or beg my family for a care package, or something. Either way, if you can get your hands on Rocket Foods Oatmeal (made with love in Canada, BTW), I highly recommend it!! http://rocket-foods.com/

A Celiac Abroad

I have an amazing tale of gluten-free excellence to pass on from Rome. I spent the entire Mediterranean season hearing about how delicious all the pizza and pasta in Italy was, and never getting to try any, as that is generally a giant pile of gluteny death for me. On our last Rome stop, my Russian friend Alexey and I were walking to the Trevi fountain and happened to turn down a fabulous side street that had a small sign advertising….wait for it….RUSSIAN MENU AND GLUTEN FREE MENU. We both almost had heart attacks. For one, Alexey could read the menu in his mother tongue and I could order something traditionally Italian. We scurried off to the Trevi fountain, after promising the lovely Maitre’d that we would most certainly be returning. A few coin tosses and some priceless photo stops later, we returned to the restaurant, and the waiter proudly informed me that EVERY PIZZA AND PASTA on their menu could indeed be made completely gluten free! After I recovered from the shock and amazement, of course I ordered a pizza, Alexey happily read his Russian menu, and we shared some crisp Sicilian pinot grigio. Let me tell you right now, that was hands down the most amazing pizza I’ve ever eaten, on my last day in Rome, I finally got to experience what my friends had been going on about. It was an absolutely unforgettable day in Rome!

Elevate Me

So, a few of my favorite bloggers have been posting about nutrition today and it got me motivated also post about nutrition. Now, I am a fairly complicated eater, not that I’m picky, but I’m a lactose intolerant celiac. Yup. It’s just as annoying as it sounds. One thing that’s really great is that racing and training diets are fairly easy for me to follow because my regular eating habits are pretty much exactly the same as a racing diet. The one thing I find quite difficult to do is get enough protein. The only meats I eat are chicken and fish. With the amount of excercise I do, I’m pretty much constantly snacking on something to keep my energy up. One of my favorite things to snack on that I always have on hand are Elevate Me bars. I have about 8 in the glove box of my car right now. If you haven’t heard of them, check them out! It’s a locally founded company from Vancouver, and the bars are just fruit, protein and awesomeness. Best of all, they’re gluten free!!! AND I just noticed that they made a new breakfast bar snack. Of course I ordered some, I’ve gotta try it! For those of you who are still confused as to exactly what a celiac is, check out www.celiac.com for a little clarity!