Tips for a Gluten Free Vacation

Our family loves to go on adventures. It doesn’t matter if it is a day trip to the mountains or a week long vacation at the beach. We are goers and pretty spontaneous about it too. Examples: we decided on January 1 to visit Disney and we arrived February 3, we decided to hit the beach so I made a reservation 2 days in advance. Just because we are spontaneous with our trips does not mean I ease up on the Gluten Free food planning. No matter where we travel I take the time to get our family prepared.

Here are some tips for traveling Gluten Free:

Bring snacks, road trip snacks are a necessity because you never know if you can find safe food when you are hungry
Make a menu plan and grocery shopping list. As soon as you arrive hit the local grocery store and load up on all the food items you need. A- it saves money B – you know you will have safe food
Get a place with a kitchen. This saves money and reduces the stress of having to find safe restaurants for all your meals
Research local restaurants. Visit blogs and read reviews to find safe local places to eat. Visit the website to preview the menu and call the restaurant to get details about their safe food prep practices. When you arrive have a list of 3-5 safe restaurants that you can try.
Bring basic cooking essentials with you. My standard cooking travel gear includes: foil, a sauce pan, a skillet, a plastic spoon and a plastic spatula. The foil ensure safe baking and I can cook all of our meals with the other items and know they are safe.
Use paper and plastic. If you are not sure if the dishes that will be provided are safe just bring your own paper plates and plastic silverware. Not only are you making sure you will have safe food but you are also reducing the amount of dishes to wash. Because, it IS vacation!
Bring basic cleaning supplies like hand soup, dish soup and a new sponge for cleaning dishes. Also bring plastic sandwich bags so you can pack individual snacks while you are out.