Drooling over this.

In a little over a month, it will be my birthday. I love my birthday. It truly is a real celebration of life and good health (good health is subjective. I consider myself healthy!) I've already been pre-shopping online to find birthday gift "suggestions" for my loved ones who have no idea what to get for me.

One thing I've wanted for a while is a solution to being a person with Celiac Disease and being invited to a bbq. You see, I can't eat food off other people's grills because of risk of cross-contamination with sauces or the occasional pizzas cooked on the grill. Or in the case of last summer, when a friend cooked ribs on his grill and dumped cans of beer on top (beer is loaded with gluten). And forget about side dishes- potato salads, pasta sides, desserts, you name it- it's all off limits. Soooo, I always have to pack a little (ok, not so little) cooler with my own food, and I can feel really left out sometimes when I'm eating my re-heated gluten-free leftovers from the night before and everyone else is enjoying freshly grilled steak and chicken. You know how torturous grilled food smells. You want to lick the hot grill it smells so good. Aside from dragging a grill around in my car, or tying one on top of it (not an eye-sore at all), I wondered what I could do.

Then I saw this on Amazon. Made by Lodge, this is a portable little cast iron grill that can cook about 2 steaks and some veggies on it at a time. It's little; inconspicuous, something I can put in my trunk and bring to a bbq without anyone really noticing. And it's so cute I can't even stand it. On Lodge's website, it runs about $140 but on Amazon it's only $79 (hint hint to my loved ones). It even has an optional grill cover- how cute is that???? FINALLY, I might be able to eat grilled food right alongside my friends at a bbq!

I love when I find solutions that contribute to making life with celiac and/or type 1 easier. Little victories! Having celiac disease forces you to be innovative, creative, and patient. Improvising and substituting becomes a part of daily life. It's brought out traits in me I didn't even know I had.

Am I the only one? Have any of you ever felt that your disease has brought out GOOD traits in you or made you stronger?