gluten/wheat free cooking, what the hell can i eat?

[jellyjelly]

Have been told what to avoid now, but what can i eat.

I dont eat eggs or nuts and normally live on pasta/couscous with soem meats.

I eat lots of soup but what else

I am going to be so stuck.

[MadameOvary]

Oh there are MASSES of things you can eat. Most if not all supermarkets have a Free From range which ALWAYS includes pasta. Just look online. The annoying thing is that its always so much more expensive to go gluten free.

[jellyjelly]

right, i have been to tesco and they dont have alot of stuff.

Is there any one that cant eat gluten/wheat on here so i can pcik your brains?

I do cooking from scratch but i think i am going to find this really hard.

[tomkitten]

If you do most of your cooking from scratch it's easy once you get the hang of it.

Any meals with rice are fine. Most Indian cookery is gluten free (poppadoms are usually fine for example). Anything accompanied with potatoes. Heaps of different types of gluten free pasta - made with millet or rice or corn etc. - all the main supermarkets have good freefrom ranges (but it is usually in the free-from section, not with the normal pasta), or health food shops. Even our tiny village co-op has some. You can make gluten free pizza bases. Anything made from corn is ok so corn totillas (check them as they are not always ok). Home made gluten free bread is edible too if it is fresh - loads of people do gluten free bread flour - for example, Doves do gluten free bread mixes.

Gluten free flour makes really good cakes but you need a specifically gluten free cake recipe as it doesn't work the same way as normal flour. Biscuits don't work so well but you can buy many types of gluten free biscuits (including jaffa cakes!).

Lots of stock cubes are still ok (but not oxo). Just check. It takes a while to shop around and get used to which varieties of packaged food are ok but really there is loads.

It really isn't hard. Just takes a month or so to get used to.

[tomkitten]

ps...we have always done gluten free and wheat free birthday parties and the children just don't notice.

[tomkitten]

ps...we have always done gluten free and wheat free birthday parties and the children just don't notice.

[onepieceoflollipop]

My dh is a coeliac - i.e. has to have gluten free food. He is entitled to the basics on prescription, stuff like bread, pasta etc. He has to pay for his prescriptions.

I would say try and concentrate on what you can have, especially if going out for a meal at friend's house or similar. e.g. baked potatoes, rice, dairy, all fruit and vegetables, nuts meat and fish etc. My diet improved massively when I met him as we usually cook from scratch rather than ready meals (but not long complicated recipes)

Dh was diagnosed as a baby so doesn't really know what real bread, cakes etc are like. He always says that he feels for people who get diagnosed with a food intolerance when they know what they are missing!

[fourlittlefeet]

theres a cook book called cooking without which is quite helpful if you need general ideas

[dippica]

I've been advised to cut down dramatically on my wheat intake too - I'm not intending to cut it out 100%, but even in the week or so that I've been doing it, it seems to have made a bit of a difference - not feeling so bloated, or sluggish.
Tried some wheat-free pasta last night (as I also am a pasta fan) - wasn't bad, could probably get used to it.
Will look at the go without book.
Also I was just getting into using my bread machine again, so will have to search out the gluten-free flour you can use in them. Is this spelt flour??

[onepieceoflollipop]

Spelt is not gluten free dippica.

[Dottydot]

OK, I'm gluten free and we mainly cook from scratch and I tend to have things like:

jacket potatoes - with homemade tuna and tomato sauce, or lentil sauce (doesn't need thickener if you bung lentils in!)

Chicken thighs and rice with lots of veg - grilleted peppers, red onions, with greek yoghurt (yum)

gluten free sausages + mash (rest of family have different sausages; I get much nicer Sainsbury's ones!)

Chicken casserole - you can get g-f cook in sauces and add lots of veg in. Have with rice or potatoes.

I also get gluten free food on prescription, including pasta, bread, crackers, pizza bases and biscuits.

The pizza bases are well worth having - stick in the freezer and good for if the rest of the family are having something gluten-y!

Prawn and salmon kebabs with veg and rice.

I find lunches the hardest - I usually have Ryvita corn cakes with ham/cheese. I miss lovely bread but that's life...

I have salmon and rice when ds's are having fishfingers - much nicer!

The other pain is when you want take away - our local Chinese will cook me King Prawn fried rice without soy sauce. Also be careful if you're ever getting chips from the chippy as they're often fried in the same batter as the fish and therefore not gluten free.

Pizza Express will do you pizzas if you take in a gluten free pizza base but I usually have their chicken salad (without the dough sticks and crutons!).

It's a bit hard going but you (have to) get into the swing of it - I'm nearly 3 years down the line now so give me a shout if I can help!

[dippica]

Thanks, I see things on the same shelf in the health food shop wheat free items and I make assumtpions....must learn to read labels and ingredients.

[Sycamore]

You can make GF bread in a bread maker, and you will get a larger loaf than the ones sold in supermarkets, which are dolly-sized. The best bread mixes tend to be prescription only, but try Roleys mixes, available from the larger Waitroses. They come with instructions for oven and machine baking. I also use rice flour a lot, for browning meat, and in white sauces.

Good luck and try the Coeliac Society for more info, if you haven't already.

Labelling - Tesco and Sainsbury's labelling is very good and very helpful.

[LackaDAISYcal]

sainsbury's have a great range.

their free from english muffins are really nice toasted, and the salute pasta brand from there is great. they sell a GF cereal called Mesa sunrose flakes whioch are really nice with some raisins or banana added.

Have you been diagnosed as coeliac or suffering from DH? If so you are elligible to join coeliac UK where you can get lots of support and advice. you should also be elligible to get basic staples on prescription and getting a prepayment certificate makes it much more economical.

this book is invaluable and was my shopping bible when I was first diagnosed as it not only has all the available foods that are GF, but a list of additives like thickeners and starch which can sometimes catch you out. they have some other good cookbooks as well. I also have this one which has some good basic recipes in and you can get ones for cooking bread in your breadmaker.

It seems very daunting at first, but it does get easier and labelling is a lot clearer than it used to be, with a lot of stuff, especially in sainsbury's, being labelled gluten free or suitable for coeliacs. And if junk food is your thang, a big mac meal with no bun is allowed, in fact all maccyD burgers are GF, except chicken and fish. .

[thumbwitch]

Why are you removing wheat/gluten? Have you been diagnosed as coeliac? Or is it a wheat intolerance?

Although spelt is not gluten-free and is an ancient type of wheat, it can be tolerated by some people who avoid other wheat and gluten products.

Oats, although they contain gluten, have a different form of gluten from wheat and the other glutinous grains, and is often well-tolerated by coeliacs (the less-severely affected ones anyway).

Will post something on my blog about gluten for your info.

[thumbwitch]

A company called Ener-G do a rice and flax bread which I have - it is stocked in Waitrose (not sure where else) and is fine for toast, ok for sangers and not too good on its own as it is a bit dry and crumbly - but unlike most rice breads, it wouldn't brain you if it fell on your head.

Orgran do a great range of wheat-free pastas - we like the millet and rice one best. Rice crackers - you need Mr Sakata crackers as the Thai Bites contain wheat.

You need to be aware that soy sauce can have wheat implications as well.

[LackaDAISYcal]

the enerG rice bread from sainsbos is OK as well. I toast it and then use it for sarnies.

yes, watch out for chinese food as most commercially prepared soy sauces are wheat based so a no go.

and brown sauce is iffy as well.

oats can be contaminated in the harvesting/processing so depending on sensitivity can either be good or bad.

It is a bit of a minefield at first but soon becomes second nature; I remember my first big shop after my diagnosis taking about four hours as I scoured every single label.

[thumbwitch]

Also, for alternative flours, go to the Dove Farm website - they have great recipes too. I have used their alternative plain flour for making their quiches and they tasted great!

another useful website is this one

[jellyjelly]

Hello, thankyou for all the information, i realised about the soy sauce so thanks.

I am doing ok with the new foods but still unsure what i can eat when i go out and all the hidden stuff that you dont think is connected to wheat/gluten.

Have been told to avoid to see if my symptons go away and then reintroduce them to see if they come back.

How long does it take to leave the body (pls dont say 12 hours as it goes through the digestions system).

Is there also anything i need to be aware of to do with curries that i might get from the takeout. ?

[thumbwitch]

you need to do a complete avoidance for 2 weeks. that will give the body time to get rid of everything and relax. After that, you can start to re-introduce gently (small amounts).

BUT be careful - a friend of mine years ago was diagnosed with a wheat allergy, she gave up everything and felt a lot better, but she was a bread addict () and one day she was tempted to buy a fresh half-baguette, ate the whole thing with lots of butter and had a huge reaction - her face, eyelids and throat all swelled up to dangerous proportions and her guts were wretched! It's like her bod had been going on for years gently grumbling about wheat, then when she stopped it went "Phew! Thank god for that" and when she ate some wheat her bod went "NOOOOOOO!! FECK OFFFFFF!"

Anything that has a sauce has the possibility of wheat flour being used to thicken it - even if it's not traditional to use it, it might be used commercially.

[Megglevache]

Thumbwitch- how scary for your friend, I had some cheesecake last week(after no wheat in my diet for 6 motnhs) and have had the most awful side effects , really dreadful tummy cramping, nausea and diarrhoea for a week(yuk) never again!

[thumbwitch]

yes, it was a bit - her eyelids looked like she'd been punched hard in the eyes, 2 little mini cocktail sausages on each eye - she could barely open them. She was lucky with her breathing - if her throat had kept swelling it could have been very nasty for her indeed.

I stay well clear of wheat most of the time - I find I can have the occasional biscuit but cake, bread, wheat pasta etc. give me dreadful IBS symptoms and brain fog. Not worth it IMO.

[jellyjelly]

i have been really forgetfull since i had my son which was mainly when the symptons started.

I struggle to remember the simpliest things. On the plus side i have lost 4lbs this week.

[ChristieF]

Waitrose has a fab Free From section. Biscuits, cakes! I've had wheat allergy/intolerance for four years and it's awful. Been veggie for 30 years so you can imagine it's very hard. I find it almost impossible and am in week 2 of complete wheat free. Trouble is it is agony if you eat anything wheat when you've been avoiding. I had 2 pancakes on sat and felt like being stabbed in torso and back.

[ChristieF]

Also yeast causes me agony. And serious bloating. And yeast is everywhere. You need to make stuff from scratch. Carol Vorderman's detox books are great as they give lots of ideas and recipes for avoiding wheat, yeast and milk. Not too fancy either and available in charity book shops.