Any ideas for a gluten-free diet?

[Mellowfruitfulness]

My neice is staying with me, and she has coeliac's disease. She also wants to lose weight.

I would like her to have a good breakfast, but she says the gluten-free breads and biscuits at Waitrose/M & S are really dry, and she can't eat cereals, so I was wondering if you have any ideas? Sometimes she has time for a fry-up, but mostly she just grabs an apple.

Atm we are eating soups and left-overs for lunch; main meal in the evening, but do you have any recommendations for light meals and main meals? Any ideas would be appreciated.

[hellymelly]

I find a lot of gf breads and biscuits dry too.I make good cakes with Doves farm gf flour,but if she is dieting then cake is out I suppose. I do sometimes eat gf pasta,but mostly I have meals with rice,bean based things or curries.Salads with smoked mackerel or Salmon, or cheese.(I am mainly veggie but eat fish very occasionally). For breakfast I have fruit and yoghurt,or oaty things like porridge or muesli (you can get special gluten free oats that aren't contaminated from goodnessdirect ,along with lots of other gluten free things.

[Mellowfruitfulness]

Thanks, Hellymelly, we'll investigate the gf oats, but she hates yoghurt.

And she loves fish and curries, but some of the ready-made curry sauces have gluten in them.

[belledechocchipcookie]

The gluten free breads taste soooo much better if they are toasted.

[Mellowfruitfulness]

Yes, and with cheese or scrambled eggs, so that is a possibility!

[pollyteapot]

Genius bread is actaully rather tasty but that's the only GF bread I like. Tescos Rice snaps (cheaper than Kellogs rice crispies) are GF and I eat them every single morning. The GF ones are disgusting!

Light meals - baked pototoes and salad for me. Main meals, maybe shepherd's pie, a spag bol (with GF pasta but no overcooking it). Watch as some sauces have gluten in them - worscester and soy come to mind.

Sorry, not a great cook, so don't have tham many ideas

[Mellowfruitfulness]

Thanks, Polly, those sound like just the sort of things she would like.

[MrsSnow]

If she wants to lose weight then stay away from Genius as it is very high in fat.

[hellymelly]

That explains the size of my thighs then...

[MrsSnow]

Honestly I thought that gf bread would have normal levels of fat but apparently not the better tasting ones are very high in fat. Some of the breads on prescription are low in fat. I use Juvela fresh which is actually low in fat.

[Mellowfruitfulness]

Thanks, MrsSnow. I'll probably buy both of them for her to try, if she hasn't already.

[pollyteapot]

Ah well, that explains my weight gain then (and not the crisps and the wine). I get Genius on prescription too, it really is delicious

[Mellowfruitfulness]

So are Genius and Juvela only available on prescription? If not, do you know where they can be bought?

Also, my niece loves sausages and burgers, but apparently they have breadcrumbs in them. Do you know of any gluten-free ones?

[pollyteapot]

mellowfruitfullnes - you can get Genius bread in Tescos - I often do when I have no presccription bread left. It does cost about £3 though (and it's very small). You'll get them in the GF section.

Marks and Spencers do GF sausages and they are quite tasty. Actually, M&S are very good at labelling what's in the food - look for the allergy section of the packet. as you neice is a coeliac, she needs to avoid anything with wheat, barley, rye. Some foods specify gluten, some say wheat or barley individually. M&S also do some chicken ready meals with sauces that are GF.

On saying that, home made burgers are nicer than bought ones and you could get your neice to help?

[Skimummy]

Waitrose sell GF sausages (Ocado has several brands as well). I am not GF but look at lots of blogs as I try to avoid wheat - check out this one for example, which has lots of links to other blogs.

I also really like this curry although leave out the chillies as it makes it too hot for me!

[jicky]

Most of the supermarkets do gf sausages - the black farmer, musk, and some of the 'chef' name sausages. You can always make burgers if you can't find gf ones.

Genius bread is good for eggy bread. Sainsburys do a gf part baked loaf which ds likes - but it might also be high fat - he is really small so not looked those bits of the labels - I'm hoping he will start to put on weight now he is gf!

Gf pasta is also pretty good.

We have lots of risotto type things, also kedgeree and pork and rice - just get gf soy sauce.

Breakfast here is gf cereal and soy milk.

[Mellowfruitfulness]

I've found quite a lot of stuff - pasta, crispbreads, stock cubes etc - in Scotmid today, and some nice-looking sausages in Waitrose, so we're getting there! Thanks for all your help. Skimummy, thanks for the links, I shall have a look.