Drivers, Start Your Engines..

It is not possible to always be the best, but it is always possible to improve your own performance.
~ Jackie Stewart

Over Memorial Day weekend the Tall Texan and I traveled over to Indianapolis for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. The Tall Texan went to high school with one of the Indy Car team owners so he has followed racing for years. Me? I just know everyone is gunning for that black & white checkered flag at the end.
Spending a weekend at a racetrack and living in a hotel means being prepared with my own food in my suitcase. Finding gluten free snacks at a speedway is like looking for a flea on a brown puppy. It’s not happening..

The day before we left, I made these No-Bake Sunbutter Crunch Bars.  If you’re not familiar with Danielle Walker over at Against All Grain, you need to go have a look.  She is the true maven of all things gluten free.

I didn’t have any pecans on hand so I sliced up some Trader Joe’s Pepita’s. I also didn’t have any raw cacao butter, so I simply subbed in coconut oil.  They turned out great.

They would have been even better had I remembered to take them. Yes, they sat in my refrigerator the entire three days we were gone.  Phooey.

For a girl who knows little about Indy cars, I got a great history lesson when we stopped by the Chip Ganassi Racing shop the day before the race.

Seeing the drivers up close and personal made it all the more intriguing.  Wink, wink.

Before leaving for the weekend I went to the large convenience store across the street from one of my schools.  I always saw it as a land mine of gluten, but rolled the dice and stopped in to see what I could find.  As it turns out, they have one tiny little corner on the very bottom shelf that is a gluten free girl’s dream.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.

And they all carry my most favorite label:  Certified Gluten Free

These cashews by Sahale Snacks were lip smacking good.  And I have since found them in a bigger bag at Target.

After my celiac diagnosis, I thought Fig Newtons were a thing of my past.  And, well, they are…  But these fig bars by Nature’s Bakery make me very happy.

Finally, for a little pick me up with only two ingredients, That’s It bars are very satisfying. And I recently found them at my local Target.

Armed with my delicious snacks (minus the Sunbutter bars.. grrrrrrr) I could relax and enjoy the weekend.  We lucked out with beautiful weather and saw a great race.

It’s been a year since I’ve had to go gluten free because of celiac.  It has been an enormous learning curve, but I take heart in how much I have improved my performance.