September 21, 2008
| Diet, Pets, Recommendations
| Comments (0) | by Nadine Grzeskowiak
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Almost a year ago, I started our dogs on gluten free dog food, mostly for my own benefit. I wanted to remove as many gluten containing products from our house as possible to limit my exposure. At that time, we had three dogs, now we have four. I never said I wasn’t crazy.
Back to the dogs. The oldest is Slugs, she just turned 14 years old this September. She is an old black lab that lays around the house and wakes up to eat, goes outside, then back to sleep. Prior to going gluten free, Slugs could very capably clear our house of any breathing beings simply by ‘breaking wind’. A foul odor was emitted from Slugs back side that reminded us, on the receiving end , of nothing pleasant or good. Our eyes would water and we would open windows to clear the grey-green toxic cloud from the house. But, it was a heavy stench and it tended to linger so we would bring out the fans.
We also realistically figured, ‘hey, she’s a 14 year old lab, she can’t live forever’, but she lives on and on… But she no longer drops the BOMBS on us. No kidding. A change in her diet, going gluten free, hasn’t made her completely fart-free, but it sure has made her pleasant to be around. And she is healthier, her coat is shiny and she doesn’t shed enough hair to cover another dog everyday!
The dog food I use is called Taste of the Wild. The website for the company is www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com and their phone number is 1-800-977-8797. I buy 30 lb. bags of the ‘High Prarie Canine Formula with Roasted Bison & Roasted Venison- A Grain Free Diet’ at Big B Feed and Seed in Albany, Oregon for about $43. A bag lasts roughly a month with the black lab, a small roguish mix named Ernie, Pumpkin the long-haired dachshund and our newest member Pepper, a senior rescue dachshund. Denson’s feed store here in Corvallis said they would carry it if enough people requested it. We try to keep an extra 5 lb. bag of this dog food on hand; something easy to grab in case of emergency or disaster events. Always be prepared.
The dogs all need treats when they are good, which happens at times, so I also pick up Natural Balance - Potato & Duck formula treats. They are available in small and large breed size. The website is www.naturalbalance.net and their phone number is 1-800-829-4493. I have found these products at every major pet store in the area.
The diet change for the dogs, as for people, is not a cure-all. Slugs still has a seizure once in a while, but still seems to recover to her baseline. Slugs had a check up with the vet recently and he said she is in great shape for her age. The other dogs play like puppies and are fun to have as part of our family.
Interestingly, our newest addition Pepper, came to us with a lipoma or fatty tumor on her back. My daughter was grosssed out by the lumpy bump and wanted us to have it removed. Well, it’s not completely gone, but it is less than half the size it was a few weeks ago. We are adopting the ‘wait and watch’ approach to see if it goes away completely.
I am told by my friends that have cats, the same options are available to them for gluten free cat foods. Since I don’t have cats I don’t know what the effects would be, perhaps fewer hairballs?
Keep me posted. Let me know your thoughts. What works for humans not surprisingly sometimes works for animals.
July 13, 2008
| Discussion, Restaurants
| Comments (0) | by Nadine Grzeskowiak
|
Several months ago, I purchased tickets for the July 11th THE POLICE and Elvis Costello concert at the Clark County Amphitheater, just north of Vancouver, WA. My lovely husband, Brad and I drove up to Portland from Corvallis after work. We planned to eat dinner at Andina, a fabulous restaurant that my 12 year old daughter, Hannah and I ‘discovered’ a few weeks earlier. Brad and I both agreed it was one THE GREATEST meals we have ever eaten, gluten free or not. We were presented with an entire Peruvian gluten free menu on arrival. I choose the ‘Conchas Senor De Sipan’ aka scallops and Brad’s main course was the special of the day, Filet Mignon…WOW! The food was incredibly flavorful and very well presented. DO NOT, under any circumstances, miss out on dessert! I opted for the ‘Plato De Creme Brulee’, not one, not two, but three lovely cups of the flavors of the day: vanilla, guava and chocolate, oh my! Brad chose the ‘Flan De Queso De Cabra’ , which was quite rich and fabulous. Andina is located at 1314 NW Glisan, Portland, OR. 503-228-9535. Reservations are recommended, but not required. I would be happy to carpool up for a meal at any time! I would love to have an Andina sister restaurant here in Corvallis…STRONG hint! Please please please please….think about it.
The concert was great! Not often enough do I get to sing/yell songs from my young adulthood with 30,000 other middle-agers (ouchhhh. I can’t believe I just had to write that)… Our friends, Deb (GF) and Frank, met us at the concert, with plans to stay overnight in Vancouver. Let me just mention, we are all too old to stay up until 2 am, but we did! Saturday morning we met for coffee, then headed to Lingonberries Market located at 6300NE 117th Ave., Vancouver, WA 98662, phone 360-260-7459 or 866-420-4411, www.lingonberriesmarket.com .
Kids in a candy store. For those of you who don’t already know, Lingonberries Market caters to the gluten free and food allergy crowds. There we were, four adults gleefully shopping for gluten free food! Harold graciously answered all of our questions and allowed us to photograph ourselves fighting over boxes of GF cereal. We filled up 3 sacks with totally SAFE food and it didn’t take us hours to shop. Thank you Dee and Harold for setting the standard for GF shopping. The Lingonberries Market brochure pointed us in several directions for lunch…
We decided on the Corbett Fish House located at 5901 SW Corbett, Portland, OR, 503-548-4434. Our waitress was very fun and helped us make several gluttonous, NOT glutenous food decisions. The menu utilizes rice flour only, so all of the soups, chowder, french fries, sweet potato fries(YUM!), and fish are all GLUTEN FREE. Another big WOW! The Hawthorne Fish House is their sister restaurant and is located at 4343 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland OR 97215, phone 503-548-4434.
FYI: The restaurants noted above do very well at accommodating GF diet requests; however, they are not strictly GF eating establishments. I ate extremely well at both mentioned restaurants without any problem. Please make sure you verbalize clearly to your server that your food and drink must be GF. If there are any questions, ask to speak to the chef/cook. Be your own advocate and enjoy some of the best GF restaurant meals in Portland.
