Eating Gluten-Free Takeout from Outback

My family went out to dinner at Applebees.  I searched online to see if I could eat anything there, but found horrible reviews about the restaurant catering to Celiacs and all the cross contamination.  So, instead, I stayed home and ordered curbside pickup from Outback.  My first time ordering Gluten-free from them.

I would have taken a picture, but I dived into the food too quick.

I ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger without the bun, a stuffed baked potato - the sour creme, cheese, chives, and bacon came separately on the side, and the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under for dessert - which is Gluten free.  The brownie is made without flour.  I made sure to tell them I had Celiac Disease so they would understand my order.

I looked very closely at the cheeseburger to see if there were any crumbs (accidentally putting it on a bun and then taking it off again) but there were no signs of contamination.  The baked potato was wrapped by itself in aluminum foil and still very hot.  They did give me a loaf of their brown bread in a separate bag which I can't eat - but my family will love that.  The cheeseburger was DELICIOUS!  So very tender, moist, flavorful.  That was probably the best burger I have ever had.  The potato was also very good, but I was full after eating half of it and can't swallow another bite.

The Chocolate Thunder from Down Under was pretty good, although the brownie was very nutty and I'm not a big fan of nuts in my brownies - I have trouble digesting nuts, so I did not eat more than few small bites.

I have not been feeling well today - I slipped up earlier today and when picking up McDonalds for my little brother and sister, I asked if they cooked the fries in a separate fryer and ordered my own.  Bad decision!!  I have been in pain and feeling sick ever since, and I only had a handful before giving the rest to my brother!  Indigestion, heart burn, bad stomach pain, bloated stomach, bad runny nose and acid reflux, headache, even my legs have been hurting since then!  Why?  Oh why did I do that??  I don't even know if the french fries are just potatoes!  They could be processed with 'fillers' for all I know.  My outback experience tonight won't be a very good experiment since I am already feeling really sick today after those french fries, but it did taste pretty good.

And now I am off to pop Tylenol and take a bath.  I hope I feel better tomorrow.

(Pop Tylenol and take a bath - that used to be an everyday thing with me.  This past month has been pretty good since I started the Gluten-free diet that I almost forgot how I used to feel all the time.  I do have a Crohn's flare, so I'm having some other problems related to that, but generally speaking it's been great.  Now I feel like I've stepped back to where I was before being Gluten-free, and it feels worse now after feeling great.  At least then I was USED to it.)