On a recent trip to Starbuck’s, something caught my eye.

No, it wasn’t the fact that the calendar had barely reached November, and they were already serving hot beverages in holiday cups.

Really? It's not even Thanksgiving! I do love the holiday cups though.

Nope, I wasn’t salivating over their pumpkin scones, the most missed item from my gluten-eating days.

It was that little basket in the corner where Starbuck’s keeps their pre-packaged, and sometimes, gluten-free snacks, like Lucy’s Cookies.  In that little basket I noticed the Food Should Taste Good chips that I love so much.  But there was something new sitting next to the sweet potato chips…a new variety of Food Should Taste Good chips: “White Cheddar.”  How have I not seen this flavor before at Kroger or Whole Foods?

White Cheddar: Made Exclusively for Starbuck's

I then looked closer at the bag and saw Exclusively Made for Starbuck’s on the label.  Genius.  Marketing genius.  So of course, I bought a bag.

While the Sweet Potato Chips will always be my favorite (now that they no longer make cinnamon), I must say the white cheddar were a nice afternoon snack and a good change to my usual salty snacks of choice.  Paying $1.50 for a small bag of chips is a bit pricey, but since the white cheddar are only being sold at Starbuck’s, my guess is that I won’t find a more economical price.

Yesterday, my friend Jen, and I drove from Atlanta to Naples, Florida for spring break.  In case you’re wondering, this drive takes about ten hours.  Nine hours and 50 minutes of the drive takes place on I-75.  Beautiful?  Not so much.  I can’t take too much credit since I didn’t do any of the driving but it was a pretty painless day of travel through scenic Florida.

Traveling always raises questions and stress for us gluten-free eaters, and anxiety levels start to rise with concerns of ‘Where am I going to eat?’ and “How will I stay healthy?”  Even though I’m traveling without my biggest supporter, David, this week, I feel very safe as Jen, too, is gluten-free.

During our car ride, we ate lots of GF snacks and managed to avoid buying any mediocre fast food along the way.  Here are some of my favorite travel snacks that we ate:

• Peanut butter and jelly on rice cakes: I use two rice cakes and compose it like a sandwich.  Just make it before you hit the road, put it in a zip lock bag and it’s ready for lunch time.
• Stonyfield yogurt with homemade granola: just don’t forget to pack a spoon!
• Popcorn Indiana Kettle Corn: the perfect combination of sweet and salty, and healthy.

• Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips: I don’t turn down anything involving sweet potatoes.  And you can find them at Starbuck’s!
• Bananas
• Trader Joe’s gluten-free ginger snaps: a great sweat snack for the car or packing a lunch for a gluten-free child.  These are some of my favorite store bought GF cookies

• La Croix sparkling water: I prefer the grapefruit and lime flavors

Not only is the food good, but it saves money along the way.  Yes, you feel like you’re carrying a small grocery store in your car but it’s so worth the extra preparation ahead of time, I promise.  When we arrived in Naples late last night, we were tired from traveling, but before heading to bed, we enjoyed a slice of delicious gluten-free chocolate chip cake that my friend, Maury, so sweetly made me for my birthday.  She’s the first non-gluten free person to ever bake me a cake.  Amazing!  Birthday cake and red wine…a great start to spring break.  So, it’s not quite MTV spring break, but it’s perfect for me.