The Millennium

I haven't been posting much lately because we've been on vacation, and then when we got home, we went back to eating gluten and dairy. We'll be getting tested soon, and we need to have accurate test results. So, we are trying to get in all the foods we may never get to eat again in the next two weeks!



Last October/November, we all took a trip to San Francisco. I was very excited to try the cuisine at the famed Millennium restaurant in the Hotel California. I thought I'd take a little time and blog about that! It was a very upscale restaurant. When our family of six invaded them (we had a reservation, of course!), they were prepared with a big table for us. This restaurant has been named the best by Veg News for a couple of years at least. We looked over the menu and ordered, and then started with the bread and lentil spread that was on the table. We were excited for our meals because the bread and spread was fabulous! Unfortunately, we were really disappointed with our meals. They were plated beautifully, as you can see from the pictures. Beth Ann ordered a soup, that she said she liked. I tried it and gagged. I nearly spit it out. Trey ordered a "raw"violi that he only ate because he was starving. Ray ordered a black bean dish that was pretty disgusting. The dish that Olivia and I ate was good. It was a portobello mushroom dish. It was absolutely not worth the money we paid for it though.


The one true highlight of the meal was the desert. I wish I'd gotten a picture of it. It was a vegan, nut-based "cheese"cake that was to die for! Overall though, we were severely disappointed. We felt like the restaurant was overrated and overpriced.

Yummy premade bread

My mom buys bread from Kinnikinnick that is pretty darn good. We made grilled "cheese" sandwiches with it, and we had toast. We really liked it. Most pre-made gluten free breads are super crumbly and gritty. This bread is chewy and not at all gritty. I'm going to have to find where I can buy it in Denver. I didn't get a picture of the bread because I didn't think about it until we had already eaten all of it!!!

Blackberry pie

While we were in Arkansas, the wild blackberries were ripe! Yum. The kidlets and I picked about six cups worth and I made a pie. My mom had a Gluten Free Pantry pie crust mix, and I used it. It was really a pain. I couldn't get it rolled out and then off the wrap like it says to do, so I ended up just putting it in the pie plate and using my fingers to spread it out. It worked pretty well. Then my mom and I made small rounds that we flattened out and put on the top.
Before:

After:

The pie crust was pretty darn good. If was very flaky, but a lot of pie crusts are flaky like that. It had ten tablespoons of margarine and ten tablespoons of vegetable shortening, so I'd like to find a healthier alternative, but it tasted good!

Arrowhead Mills gluten free pancakes

I haven't been posting much because we went camping in South Dakota for nearly a week, and then after we got home we went to Arkansas! We're still in Arkansas. My mom made some gluten free pancakes from an Arrowhead Mills gluten free pancake mix. She added blueberries to the batter. They were yummy. They are much lighter than Bob's Red Mill gluten free pancakes. The kidlets ate them up. My friend has a recipe for gluten free pancakes that I'm going to try when we get home, but for a mix - Arrowhead Mills is the best I've tried!

Aaaahhhh, Tofutti!!!

So, we're on vacation here in beautiful northwest Arkansas, and we shopped at a small health food store in Rogers. What do they have? They have two kinds of Tofutti ice cream in stock. The huge, mega, superstore, Whole Foods Market can't keep it in stock, but little Cook's can. Hmmmm. I love Arkansas.