We originally had plans to go to SeaWorld in November, but then I hurt my knee and had to have surgery, so we had to push back our big San Diego trip to January 2013. It was way more rushed and hectic than I would like, but I know that’s how most vacations work with my schedule, so it’s par for the course! I was very happy to report that I had an excellent time finding gluten-free goodies along the way – especially at SeaWorld! Here is a recap of my adventure!

IN N OUT – Yuma, AZ

San Diego is 6 hours in a car away from Phoenix, so even though we stocked the car full of KIND bars – I got hungry for a real meal. We stopped in Yuma, AZ to stretch our legs. There were quite a few chain options for eating gluten-free, but we chose In n Out for their fries (fried by themselves in a frier all alone and without gluten!). I am allergic to beef, so I’ve been SOL on getting anything there. But, I was starved, so I asked if they could make me a grilled cheese without the buns! And guess, what – they did! It was pretty much a cheese sandwich with lettuce, but hey – it was excellent. Thank you In n Out!

We arrived and checked into our hotel and zonked out for the night. We woke up early and went to the Little Italy farmer’s market. I assumed that there would be some awesome gluten-free vendors (we were in Southern California after all), but I was so happy to see the amazing stuff we found!

First up: THE SUSTAINABLE PANTRY

Visit their website here

They had so many soup mixes and baking mixes – I was easily overwhelmed. I purchased several mixes – chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookie, and gingersnap. I could have easily dropped $100 there. I cannot wait to try all these great mixes – and most of them are vegan – or coule easily be made vegan (they give alternatives for eggs and butter right on the bag). I love this place and I’m happy to know I can order online too!

OLIVE OIL ORGANIC CAFE

You can visit their website here although they currently aren’t shipping out of state.

Non-GFBF might have gone a little overboard getting as many gluten-free pastries as we could buy. We bought scones, brownies, everything bars, cakes, cookies, etc. We just lose our minds when we see an endless table of gluten-free desserts. I swear we ate our weight in GF desserts in two days.

I gained 10 lbs. just looking at these photos again. < droooooool >

MAJESTIC GARLIC

You can visit their site here

If you never want to kiss your boyfriend again, this is the perfect vendor to visit! Just kidding – kind of – because Majestic Garlic is amazing. They have the most amazing vegan gluten-free garlic dips and hummus. I bought this garlic spread and a tandoori curry hummus that was to-die-for. Seriously, these people make the best garlic dips and hummus that I’ve had. We destroyed this raw vegan dips.

Overall, we LOVE Little Italy and we fell in love at the Farmer’s Market there. I would move there in a heartbeat – just have to find a job there now (*hint hint wink wink any San Diego companies reading this*)

MORE TO COME FROM OUR SAN DIEGO VISIT ON THE NEXT POST…