Day 22

Food Report and Check-In

Food for the day

Breakfast: peach and leftover hamburger patty

Lunch/Dinner: Chopped steak, Romain salad (not pictured) and baked sweet potato at Claim Jumper

Check-In: Last night I was up again with some stomach issues.  Today I figured out it was the red cabbage slaw that had vinegar on it - the vinegar is high histamine. And it could also be the cabbage.  I have lots to learn.  Since I was up several hours last night, I slept in this morning.  That felt good.

Today I meet my niece Jennifer for some shopping and lunch.  I was a bit nervous about eating out.  We picked Claim Jumper.  I thought I would have lots of choices. Which I did.  But, the whole experience was one of the worse I've had in a restaurant.  This was the first time in my life I didn't leave a tip and that was because our server didn't get one thing right.  I was very specific when I ordered about what I wanted and how I wanted it prepared.  Pretty simple, a chopped steak with grilled onions and dry baked sweet potato, a dinner salad with olive oil on the side - no tomatoes, onions or croutons.  I know it is a pain to have picky customers but he seemed okay with it.  He got the salad right. But, when my dinner arrived, the meat was covered with some brown sauce and was piled high with mushrooms (which I dislike immensely) and the potato is over flowing with butter. I looked at it, looked at him and said "this isn't what I ordered". He just looked at me blankly.  I told him again I wanted the chop steak with onions and a dry baked sweet potato.  He says "I can take it back to the kitchen and scrape the mushrooms off." What? I can't believe he says that and I tell him, "No, I need it the way I ordered it."  He takes my plate away and what seems like 20 minutes later he returns with a dry chopped steak, no onions, and the same butter soaked baked sweet potato. I had to send it back again! I was about ready to walk out.  It was terrible. It is hard enough to try to eat clean, but with a server that is obviously not interested in doing his job, it makes it so much harder.  I was furious.  We left him a note explaining why we didn't leave a tip.  We would have told him, but after he dropped off our bill we never saw him again. Somehow I don't think he'll get the message. 

On the drive home I thought about it and wondered if I was just being over sensitive because I've been sick. My conclusion, no.  You should get what you want and I have to make my health a priority and I can't expect someone else to take care of me.  But what I can expect is to have a restaurant give me what I ask for.  Then I realized that today I am feeling kind of angry that I have to deal with this all.  That I have a disease the requires I have to watch everything I eat.  And then I have this histamine issue, something new I have to deal with too.  I'm feeling like my nine year old granddaughter Bella when she doesn't get her way "It's not fair!" That's it.  I want to stomp my feet and cross my arms over my chest and just shout "It's not fair!"

I want to go to a restaurant and just order off the menu and eat what ever I feel like eating.  I want to eat dessert and have a nice hot cup of coffee with cream. Sadly, I know that is not possible.  I know that feeling good and getting healthy is far more important.  My I can still pout, can't I?

Thanks for listening to my rant!  It's been a long, crazy, painful, educational week.  Glad to see Monday come.  

Day 22 down  . . . eight days to go.