So much to talk about

I didn't expect it to be so long between posts and I have so much to talk about.

First, in case anyone else starts to follow my blog besides my devoted wife, the lists at the bottom are tiny because I am only listing things after I post my take on them.  I have been to lots of different restaurants and tried so many different GF foods that the lists should be pretty large, but I don't want to just list things without having critiqued them first and posting my findings here.

So last week was very active for me.  My body is balancing out more and more everyday.  Still get an upset stomach from time to time, but nothing like it used to be.  My bigger problem is trying to find a healthy balance so that I can start to lose some weight as well.  My gut screams second trimester and it is starting to get on my nerves.  Even old friends of mine are surprised by it as I used to be the skinny kid.  I know that exercise will help but you need both to be truly successful.  Whenever I get more followers, I hope that some of you have tips to help me out.

Friday I went to Olive Garden to eat with my wife and a couple of friends.  They have been dying to go there but have never pushed for it since GF and Italian usually don't mix, but we found out that night that they had a GF menu.  We get there and I see that the menu doesn't have a lot of options.  In fact, the word option doesn't even apply in my opinion.  You can look at the menu HERE and see for yourself what I am talking about.  They offer two salads without croutons, five main entrées, and even a kid's entrée.  There are no dessert options save for coffee items.  There are also no appetizers, though some of their soup offerings are safe.

What really bothers me is that there is only one dish with pasta offered.  When you think Italian, I, like most people, think about pasta.  The dish they have that contains pasta is GF, but you can't modify it.  They don't make it on the premises.  It comes packaged frozen with the sauce already on it.  They just boil it in the bag and serve it.  There is no option to have the GF Penne pasta that is listed in the dish served with another type of sauce.  The other meal offerings are just meat and vegetables, something that can be easily found anywhere.

I was as disappointed by what they had to offer.  In the early days, I got very depressed and upset when I found out that I couldn't eat certain things.  The menu at Olive Garden brought up all those feelings again.  For some of you, their menu may be just fine, but I doubt highly that I will be returning anytime soon.  I may even send their corporate offices a message saying how dissatisfied I was with what they had to offer.  I little effort goes a long way.

Now later that night I got to try out Schar's Chocolate Hazelnut Bars.  These are something I wouldn't have normally bought due to their regular prices (3 bars for about $5), but once again the closing of some supermarkets nearby opened the door for some amazing deals.  Here is my review of them:

Prep Time - It's a wrapper.  Cut it, tear it, rend it asunder with your teeth.  Shouldn't take you too long to get to it.

Look - It looks like any other chocolate covered wafer bar you may have seen before.

Texture - It is not as dense as most GF products.  It is actually very light and airy.  The chocolate is the real deal and the rice wafer layers are crisp.  Very pleasant to eat and chew.

Taste - It tastes great!  The chocolate isn't overpowering, the hazelnut is balanced perfectly and the wafers have a nice simple flavor to them.  Very impressive.  If they weren't so damned expensive, this would be a nice alternative to picking up a Snickers bar or whatever your favorite candy bar is and much healthier.

Smell - They smell as wonderful as they taste, though all you will smell until you break it in half is the chocolate coating, but it is a good aroma all around.

IF you get a chance to find them, I highly recommend picking up a package.  They make a great snack if you need one in a pinch.  If they were less expensive, I would keep my shelves stocked with them all the time.

I will be back later today with a review of a new shop that opened up in my town.  I've been there a couple of times already, but I didn't get a chance to sample any of their food yet.