I just got back from a wonderful trip to Oahu.   We stayed far from the hussle and bussle of the city in a private home that was right on the beach.  We could literally walk out our back door and jump in the ocean.    We needed a home since we needed a full kitchen with all our food allergies eating out is kind of rough on us.

We were pleasantly surprised that their local Safeway carried Udi and Rudi bread along with french meadow which we ended up buying because we bought all the other bread they had.   we eat Rudi and Udi here but french meadow bread was new.  I didn’t enjoy their bread but I think I would have liked it better if I had a toaster that I could have put it in (we had a toaster it was just contaminated from others using gluten bread)   I may revisit testing their bread but not any time soon as it is very expensive.

We went to a local health food store and found glutino pretzels, daiya cheese which was out sadly and some enjoy life products.   I was very happy to see these and I was surprised again to see they costed no more than if we were at home in Alaska.

I found that finding gluten-free along with some select allergy free food was fairly easy in Hawaii and I was so happy for that, even though keeping food fresh on the go was a problem.  We learned to carry a small cooler every where we went.

Eating out in Hawaii was more of a problem but we did find a PF changs and all their locations had the gluten-free menu and we enjoyed a wonderful meal with them.   The Polynesian cultural center was more than accommodating for our food choices and we were allowed to bring in food for our youngest who is pretty much all allergy free.   It was nice to be able to enjoy the sites and to enjoy the food without having to pack a full cooler there.

the only place that gave us trouble was the wet and wild park no food at all was allowed so if we needed a snack we had to go out to the car to get one.  Not a problem just not convenient.

Oh and get this the Outback steakhouse offered their usual gluten-free menu and even cooked a hot dog in the back for us so that my son was able to actually get a plate of food with the rest of us.   That was an A+ in my book.  Thank you Hawaii Outback!   I simply told them he had more allergies than the gluten and he was more than happy to help and he even made sure they grilled it on tinfoil as to not touch any contaminates (this without me asking him to do)  I was so happy.  I would have given him my business every night had we had the money to eat out more.

The only other place we tried was a zippy’s and a Denny’s.   both were very accommodating and I appreciated the fact that they did not mind that I pulled out a PB sandwich and allergy free snacks for my son.   A lot of places give me a hard time about that until I tell them if they can find me something that is free from gluten/dairy/soy/dyes/sugars/ and made on a contaminate free area then I would be more than happy to buy from them.  they usually are silenced with that.

So over all our trip was great and we ate great and not a single one of us got sick.  That is a plus in my book.  I really worried that Hawaii would not be accomodating to our allergies but it was not the case and I worried for nothing.

The people that lived next door who took care of the house we rented even cooked for us and it was gluten free……..   They knew nothing about allergies but they listened and they were very fast to adapt for us.      They learned alot by the time we left so hopefully the next allergy family will have as great a time as us.

Love you Hawaii, miss you very much!!!!   Aloha and Mahalo.