Hey guys, welcome back to The Dairy Free Diaries! Hope you all have had an amazing week. Today’s post is going to cover something that is so important

and can be extremely helpful to those who are struggling with eating out with a food sensitivity. I have experienced the anxiety and stress that is accompanied by

feeling as if everything on the menu will upset your stomach. I have gone through it and I am here to share the things I wish I knew because it has made

managing a food sensitivity much more enjoyable. And at the end of the day, that is all that matters. I hope that I have and continue to make your journey’s with

food sensitivities, health, wellness, and lifestyle much more exciting and enjoyable. That is my goal, and this post is a huge part of that. Enjoy!

Prepare Ahead of Time

This is one of the most crucial steps to eating out, especially for people like me who prefer things to be in order and to know my options beforehand. I think it is

a really good habit to get into of checking the online menu before you get there. For me, this could either look like checking the night before or even a couple of

hours before I am actually going. But I want to be very clear that this time is not to figure out exactly what I am going to order. I believe that takes the fun out of

going out to eat. Personally, I prefer to listen to my body in that exact moment and pick whatever looks good to me. But now you are probably thinking… “So,

what’s the point of checking the menu beforehand?” The reason it is so important to look at the menu before going is to browse through and find a few options

that you might want to order that also are free of your specific sensitive foods. I have found that by doing so, I am not as stressed at the restaurant trying to figure

out what the heck I can actually eat. Eating out is supposed to be a treat and something to look forward to, so I try to keep it that way as much as possible.

Along with the menu, most restaurants also will have some sort of allergen info page where you can see specifically what types of allergen/sensitive food groups

are in each of their menu items. They can include any of the following categories: gluten, dairy, nuts, soy, eggs, vegetarian, vegan, and so much more. This is a

great resource to look at because some menu items may contain foods that you did not realize were there. And the last bit of preparation that I recommend is to

get into the habit of keeping a granola bar or a small snack with you, whether it be in your car, purse, etc. This can come in handy at plenty of times but will

definitely be a lifesaver if you eat out very last minute and do not have much luck with the menu they have. These are just small additions that will make a world

of a difference when it comes to eating out with a food sensitivity.

All About Menus

So, remember when I mentioned earlier that certain menu items might have ingredients that you did not know about? Well, I am here to share my tips when it

comes to reading a tricky menu. It is usually for the most part common sense, but there are a few things I have learned that are definitely worth sharing. The first

of which being that menus do not always include all of the ingredients in the description. I have been on the back hand of this and it was not fun. You know the

popular saying, “innocent until proven guilty”. Well when it comes to menus, I say “guilty until proven innocent”. It’s better to treat each menu item as if it has the

food your sensitive to and go from there in order to avoid eating something that will upset your stomach and cause the issues you have been trying to avoid. So,

what I do first is ask the waiter if they have an allergen friendly menu. Some restaurants may have a separate menu that might be gluten free, vegetarian, etc., so it

is worth it to see if they have one for your specific sensitivity.

In my experience, most of the time they will not, but I have been surprised a couple of times so do not be afraid to ask. But let’s say the restaurant did not have an

allergen friendly menu, what’s next? Now you are going to look at the menu items you had previously browsed in preparation and ask the waiter if these contain

any of the foods you are sensitive to and in what capacity. So, what I mean by this is asking the waiter what is in it and where is that ingredient in the meal. I am

specific about this part because there are some ways to work around and customize it to avoid the sensitive foods, which I will get into. Throughout my journey

of being gluten and dairy free for about 9-10 months, I have picked up about 9-10 months’ worth of customizations that I have made and were delicious. So here

are the most common possible customizations for gluten and dairy free meals that I have asked for from all types of restaurants.

GLUTEN FREE

Changing to normal bun to either lettuce wrapped, no bun, or sometimes a gluten free bun (if they have one)

Removing the croutons from a salad

Substituting a side of breaded onion rings to French fries

DAIRY FREE

Getting a hamburger instead of a cheeseburger

Removing the cheese from a salad

Asking for a smoothie with plant-based milk, instead of regular milk

Going for a vinaigrette dressing (usually will not contain any dairy no matter where you go) such as Italian or balsamic

Okay, so after reading this I hope you feel like you have got some great options here. And that is completely true. It is possible to eat in a way that does not upset

your stomach and also tastes amazing. I hope that you all keep these in mind while ordering at your favorite restaurants. But sadly, eating in this way also comes

with challenges. Along the way I have asked waiters the questions I have told you all to ask, but sometimes my customizations just cannot be met. I am going to

say that this is not always the case, but I have found in my experience that the below are the items that 9 times out 10 you will not be able to eat.

GLUTEN FREE

Anything that is breaded like onion rings, fried pickles, fried zucchini, etc.

Most sandwiches or breads, unless they offer a gf bread option

Any type of wrap or quesadilla, unless it’s a corn tortilla

Desserts such as cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and brownies

DAIRY FREE

Italian food (pasta sauces and meatballs will almost always contain cheese that cannot be removed)

Chocolate based or creamy desserts such as ice cream, chocolate sauces, etc.

Creamy dressings such as ranch, ceasar, thousand island, etc.

Hope you guys found today’s post very interesting and helpful. I will continue to be specific with my tips for dealing with food sensitivities because I want

you all to have as much information as possible. If you guys have any questions, you can fill out the form below or message me on Instagram,

@the.dairyfree.diaries. And lastly, let me know in the comments what kinds of topics you want me to cover about anything health related; it can be about

food sensitivities, physical/mental health, fitness, wellness, lifestyle, etc.