Product Reviews Archives ~ umpalaRAIN

Seattle Area Restaurant Guide

August 14, 2019August 14, 2019

As a family we avoid most of the Top 8 Allergens, Gluten, and a good list of other random foods as well. If you have followed me for any length of time you know that my girls have out grown many of their food allergies. Some of those are now intolerances and some are completely gone. There are two people in our family with celiac disease, and we all have many food intolerances. All that to say, eating out is very difficult for us. We don’t often eat out because it takes a lot of time and effort to find a safe restaurant, but when we do eat out, it is something my family really enjoys. I will continue to add to my list as we find new local restaurants. Just so you have a better understanding of the foods we avoid when we go out to eat, I have them listed below. I am very aware that not all families deal with this many, or the same, food restrictions as we do. My list is to give you hope that you can find safe restaurants to eat at even with food allergies, celiac, and intolerances. Please be sure to call these restaurants yourself before you visit them to ensure that you feel confident eating there. We all have different levels of comfort.

Food Intolerances for us:
Dairy
Soy
Egg Yolk
Cane Sugar
Peanuts
Garlic
Tomato
Apples
Corn
Strawberries
Almonds

Food Allergies:
Peanuts
Tree Nuts

Celiac Disease:
Wheat
Barley
Rye
Oats unless they are certified GF

Even with that long list, here are the amazing restaurants we have found that we can eat at in the Seattle area. They are listed in no particular order.

Red Robin Seattle, Redmond, Bothell, Bellevue, Lynnwood

I know there are Red Robin’s all over our country, but they are still worth mentioning. Even though they are all over, I have heard that each location is very different when it comes to how allergy/celiac friendly they are. My understanding is that not all of them have a separate gluten free fryer and not all staff are well trained on food allergy/celiac safety. We have had wonderful experiences at several Red Robin’s, many of which even use allergy sticks in food items as an extra sign of the precautions they took in the kitchen. I love when I see the allergy sticks come out in our meals, it gives me extra confidence that they took our food allergies/celiac seriously. The Red Robin’s that we have successfully eaten at are: Bothell location off Bothell Everett Hwy (photo at the top), Lynnwood location behind Alderwood Mall, Redmond location downtown, Bellevue location in Bellevue Square, and the Seattle location on the water front.

Razzi’s Pizza Seattle

Razzi’s is well known in our area for being allergy/celiac friendly. Zippy’s Celiac Support Group through Seattle Children’s Hospital has even had them cater one of their events. This small Italian restaurant is well worth your time and drive. They have the most amazing pizzas, calzones, sub sandwiches, salads, and more. Check out their gluten free menu, it’s AMAZING!! Not only do they have amazing gluten free breads and pizza crust, they also have dairy free/vegan cheese. This is the first restaurant we ever went to that had vegan cheese so pizza was actually an option for us. All of their staff are well trained and understand food allergies/celiac. One note of caution, their red tomato sauce contains soy. We found that one out that hard way when Zippy was allergic to soy. :/ They do have a soy free red sauce if you request it which we they told us when we called about Zippy’s allergic reaction. We still love going to Razzi’s and highly recommend it!

Skinny D’s Yogurt Shop Mill Creek

This is our all time favorite local frozen yogurt. It’s as local as it gets, we can walk there easily. They have dairy free options, sugar free options, and only one (cookie dough) of their MANY flavors have gluten in them. We are also dairy free so we order our yogurt on a little iPad and our yogurt comes out in a separate space. Then we get to head to the toppings bar that is full of fresh fruit, mochi, candy, candy bars, cookies, etc. They have Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips and Kinnikinnick gluten free Chocolate Sandwich Creme (Oreo type cookies). While it is great that they have these toppings, they still aren’t safe for Zippy to eat with the chance of cross contamination. Buffet style food is never an option for her. I talked to the owner and asked if we could get all the items that Zippy needed from the back. She said she would be happy to do that so Zippy’s most recent toppings were strawberries, cherries, Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips, Kinnikinnick cookies, mochi, and boba on top of salted caramel frozen yogurt. YUM!! The owner went in the back and used a separate scoop for each item Zippy got or used fresh gloves. We just love going to Skinny D’s, it’s such a great treat! Not only that, they also have lots of board and card games so we often spend family evenings there playing games and building memories. 🙂

Chick-Fil-A Lynnwood, Kirkland, Bellevue

Chik-Fil-A is a new find for us. They have only been in our area for a year or a bit more. I honestly didn’t know that they were a safe option for us until a few months ago. We don’t eat fast food very often, but it’s nice to have a safe option when we need one. It make Zippy’s day every time she gets to go. She is able to safely eat their grilled chicken nuggets, waffle fries, and a juice box or water. They do also have gluten free buns! I love Chick-Fil-A because all of their staff is well trained in dealing with food allergies and their online menu shows allergens very clearly. When we order we tell them that we have celiac disease/can’t have any gluten. That usually cues the cashier to bring over a manager to ensure that your order was heard and communicated correctly. The receipt also says *Allergy* on it so they know to take extra precautions in the back and also change gloves.

Thai Rhapsody Mill Creek
Before we had kids with life threatening food allergies and celiac disease, we used to frequent Thai food restaurants everywhere we went. It’s definitely one of our favorite ethnic cuisines to eat. We have spent the last 9 years not being able to eat Thai food. Now that our girls have outgrown most of their severe food allergies, we only need to worry about gluten and nuts when we eat out in terms of cross contamination concerns. Last fall, I was on my Find Me Gluten Free App (free, I use it everywhere we go) when we had guests in town and read that a local Thai Food restaurant was great with celiac customers and other food allergies. I called the restaurant at an off busy time to ask lots of questions to ensure they could feed us safely. By the conversation I had with the restaurant I felt comfortable trying it out. We went early (4:30pm) which we typically do so we can be sure the communication with our server isn’t rushed and the kitchen isn’t too busy. When we arrived we talked to our waiter about celiac and nut allergies and they said they could feed us safely. To be honest, I still felt a bit of anxiety because I’m still human and have seen my girls have many celiac and allergic reactions. They made Zippy’s meal separately and she got to basically create her own meal there. The food was great, the staff was helpful and wonderful, and everyone left feeling healthy. We have since eaten there and had the same great experience!

Terracotta Red Everett
If you love Chinese food and have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, you need to visit Terracotta Red! They are very knowledgeable about food allergies and celiac disease. Their gluten free menu (listed as GFO) is long and amazing. It is a place that you will want to get reservations for as it gets really busy, or go at on off hour from the rush. I remember my family couldn’t believe how good the food was and how many options they had to choose from. It’s definitely worth going to!

Grilla Bites Snohomish

We just found Grilla Bites last week, but had heard about it a few months ago. It’s a small restaurant/cafe’ in a quaint town close to us. They serve soups, salads, sandwiches, chicken nuggets, and lots of drinks. The staff are very knowledgeable about food allergies and celiac/cross contamination. They have gluten free bread for sandwiches and burgers as well as gluten free chicken nuggets. We had a great experience here and will definitely be back.

Asiana Bistro Redmond

This is a new find for us last week as well, again I found it on the Find Me Gluten Free App. Almost the whole menu is gluten free (58 items are). If you love Asian food you need to go here! It’s a small shop, but is a great one. The owner is very knowledgeable about food allergies and celiac disease. She is also very sweet and funny. My severely peanut allergic mom ate here with us. All of us, including her, ate safely and well. The food was delicious! We will definitely be going back!

Hopefully this list is helpful for you. I will continue to add to our list as we find new great restaurants that we can eat at locally. If your list of food restrictions isn’t as long as ours, you can likely find many more safe finds. We love using the Find me Gluten Free App and Allergy Eats App to help us find new restaurants to try. I would love to hear your favorite safe restaurants in the Seattle area, leave me some in the comments below.

Nesco Dehydrator Review

September 14, 2017September 14, 2017

Several people have asked me what dehydrator I use. I often post through the summer and fall all of the fruits and vegetables I like to dehydrate. We have apple and pear trees in our yard so this time of year I am busy picking, chopping and freezing, and also dehydrating. I have tried to dehydrate all kinds of fruit because I hate to waste food. Dried watermelon is my girls favorite. I have dried peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, canteloupe (yuck), carrots, peas, and I’m sure a few I can’t remember. This fall and winter I will be testing dehydrated meals and beef jerky. There are so many great ways to use a dehydrator.

I bought this Nesco Dehydrator several years ago. Mine came with four trays, this new version comes with five trays and a jerky gun. The price is a great deal. I have saved our family far more money than I paid for this dehydrator. The one down side is that it does take up quite a bit of space. Mine lives in our kitchen green house window. Not the prettiest thing to put in there, but it fits there and is quick to grab when I need it.

The directions are very simple and easy to use. The lid of the dehydrator lists the temperatures that each type of food should be dehydrated at. I love this feature because I don’t have to rummage around for the instructions each time I use it. From there, you just have to check each item every hour or so until you know how long certain foods take. Yesterday I made thin sliced strawberries and most of them were done in 3-4 hours. Blueberries take me about 12 hours or so.The thinner you cut your fruit or vegetables and how much liquid is in them will lower the time it takes to dehydrate. Thin carrots obviously take a shorter time than thin strawberry slices because carrots don’t have as much natural liquid in them. I have only ruined one fruit in all of my experiments. When I realized I had way over dehydrated the blueberries I made them into beautiful frosting. This link gives you a video tutorial too. 🙂

Here are a few pictures of my dehydrator so you can see what it comes with. The lid shows you all of the dials and temperatures to dehydrate at. All of the trays are “webbed” so air can flow through them. Mine came with one solid plastic tray that fits on top of the other trays. This is used for very small items that would fall through the webbed trays or liquid. I have used the solid tray to make fruit leather, peas, and thin carrot slices. It’s a simple but great machine. I highly recommend it! If you have questions about the dehydrator that I didn’t answer let me know, I’m happy to help. 🙂

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Hello Toothpaste

July 21, 2017July 25, 2017

My husband works for a dental lab and attends many trade shows. He finds new products at these shows and brings them home for us to try. This one in particular, Hello toothpaste, he was very excited about and thought I would be too since it is a natural toothpaste. I’ve honestly never thought about using a natural toothpaste, but it only makes sense since I am very careful to use natural products in most areas of our lives. Hello toothpaste sent us a free sample to try along with a guide telling us about their company and products. I have given you several photos below out of their guide.

I posted the picture above on social media about a month ago and had several people ask questions about natural toothpaste, fluoride, and it’s safety. On Instagram I follow Gena (pronounced Jenna) at Symplynourished. Can I just tell you for a minute how much I love following Gena? She has been the sweetest, supportive, and encouraging lady. If you’re on Instagram go on over and follow her and check out her new blog with the link above. There you will find information about holistic health, great recipes, and life with a food allergic child. Gena is a dental hygienist by trade and has worked in a traditional dental office and a holistic dental office that didn’t use fluoride treatments. When I posted on Instagram that I was going to test this toothpaste out and others had questions about it, Gena was our sounding board. She has kindly written a very thorough post answering all of our questions about oral health in regards to traditional toothpaste vs. natural toothpaste. It is a must read, I learned a lot from reading her post and know you will too. 🙂 Thanks Gena for a great and informative post!

I have now been using the Hello Toothpaste for about a month. It is important to me when I am writing a review to be sure I have given a product enough time to give an accurate review. Here is my honest review of the Hello Toothpaste. When I thought about using this toothpaste, I’ll be honest, I was apprehensive. I have sensitive teeth and have grown accustomed to using traditional whitening toothpaste. The sample I received in the mail from Hello was about a month’s worth so I figured I could use it until it was gone. I tried the extra whitening, but there are several other flavors including a sensitive one on the way.

Here is a picture of the ingredients.

I was very pleasantly surprised with this toothpaste. When I brush my teeth, the most important thing to me is that my teeth FEEL clean and smooth, the sweaters get removed well. 😉 The Hello Toothpaste definitely left my teeth feeling clean and smooth. The next important thing to me in a toothpaste is that it gives me fresh breath. I will give this toothpaste and ok in this department. The flavor of the toothpaste that I tried has a mild minty flavor with a hint of coconut. Now, I think the flavor of this toothpaste is very good and refreshing, but it doesn’t leave me with super fresh breath like traditional toothpaste does. Whitening is at the bottom of my list of what I want in a toothpaste, but I like to keep my teeth at their “normal” color. I haven’t used this toothpaste for long enough I don’t think to make a great judgment call on whether this toothpaste is good for whitening. In the month that I did use it I will say that my teeth stayed the same color which is a good sign to me. The Hello Toothpaste I noticed doesn’t foam at all. This isn’t a bad thing it is jsut different from traditional toothpaste and takes getting used to. All in all I was very impressed with this toothpaste and will continue to use it. It does have fluoride, though I’m not sure which ingredient is the fluoride.

They also have kids toothpaste that I have heard great things about, but my kids haven’t tried it yet.

The price is more than traditional toothpaste, but not as much as I anticipated. I would love to hear your thoughts if you try it!

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