To say eating gluten free food sucks

Tesco frozen cocktail sausages are gluten free. Great for parties , gluten free alternatives often just don't match up, the old el paso fajita kits come in glutenfree . The trick to this is to read the ingredients on everything it takes a while but once you get in the habit it gets easier.

I'm intolerant rather than coeliac so I can have traces and the occasional sneaky bread but there's so much that's gluten free - potatoes so as long as you avoid pastry most English food is fine (buy gluten free stock cubes, and you can make great dumplings from chickpea flour and suet). Ditto French food, Spanish is easily adapted too. We eat Asian food at least half the week anyway, rice noodles of course are fine, chickpea flour chapattis. Rice, in all its forms is fine... it's really bread and pasta, it sucks as bread is the best but plenty is fine

Same here.

My tip is to avoid 'gluten free' processed food as much as possible.
Tesco sausages are gluten free. At least, the ones from the finest range are.
I don't bother with gf bread, ever, but I've occasionally made linseed bread. It's a bit too moreish to have too often though.

Quinoa is naturally gluten free. I only just discovered this!

Snacks here are mixed nuts and dark chocolate. Full fat greek yogurt with grated choc, chopped fruit and a teaspoon of ground flaxseed is delicious and very sustaining.

There a quite a lot of gluten free cooking blogs about. You'll get used to it and probably feel better than ever, but the transition is hard!

I agree, it does suck! I've been gluten free for just over a year now and I did find it really tough at first. I mostly shop and Asda and aldi and surprised to find a lot of their stuff (not labelled gluten free) are naturally gluten free.

Most of aldi crisps are gluten free where the branded versions are not. Their tempura chicken is gluten free, they do nuggets and mini fillets. Asda have the best range of sausages as most of them are gluten free. Just because it doesn't say gluten free on the packaging, doesn't always mean it isn't. Be sure to check for wheat, barley and rye as we can't have any of that.

Asda do a really nice gluten free frozen pizza. I jazz it up by adding my own toppings.

A lot of it is trial and error. Some gf products are alright, some are truly awful. I've yet to find decent cake! Either too stodgy or too dry. Try and pick one new thing a week snack wise if convenience food is what you are missing. I started rating things every week till I found the things I liked. I highly rate asda jammy wheels (like jammy dodgers). Asda Free from range is sometimes better than the branded ones (like schar...those prices are extaustionate!). I have heard M&S have a really good range but yet to try.

Totally understand as it means a total change in mindset. I felt completely overwhelmed initially but some relatives have coeliac disease too so they really helped with advice. Your intestine is still recovering but for the first time in years, my iron levels are normal. You will adjust, a month is still early days but you will start to find stuff you can eat and get used to it. (I still have an occasional meltdown in bakeries 😂) Do your research - Facebook pages like Coeliacs eat out too and Coeliacs abroad are really helpful. Becky Excel is the goddess of GF cookbooks. Most recipes can be adapted - use cornflour instead of plain in sauces etc. Add a tiny bit of xantham gum to cakes with GF flour to hold them together.
If you are going somewhere, use the app Find me Gluten free - it gives you restaurants and cafes in the area that offer gluten free. Accept your menu will be smaller and you might have to expand your palate. Always have a snack with you even if it's just a cereal bar or chocolate bar.
Always tell the waiting staff and ask re cross contamination - shared fryers might mean you have a baked potato instead of chips. If the staff have no idea what you are talking about, ask the manager or leave!
I have coeliac disease diagnosed 2 years ago. Other than bread and occasional biscuits, I dont really buy specific gluten free food as it's expensive and full of rubbish and usually tastes a bit crap. Warburton's is about the best. M&S GF shortbread biscuits are nice.
It does take a change in mindset - I have to take my reading glasses everywhere so I can check labels! Check every time even if you've bought it before as ingredients change. Stock cubes, gravy granules, chocolate bars are a few things that can catch you out. I also avoid may contain. I cook from scratch so i know whats in everything (still mess up occasionally eg wrong stock cubes) My kids and husband all read the labels too.I have separate toaster and chopping board at home.
Meat, fish, fruit, veg, pulses all naturally GF. Meal plan the week so you don't end up with nothing to eat.
Aldi sausages and chipolatas are GF ( their special range) Chocolate is good too.
I have a list of restaurants and cafes in each place I visit in my phone I can eat safely at - Nandos, pizza express, Bills, Wagamama plus independent cafes often do GF cakes.
It will become easier.

There's a national difference of the sausage front, Ireland here, did a recce, all the sausages in Lidl - de Luxe, Clonakilty and the others, and all in Aldi except their own g-f, had wheat rusk. So keep reading the labels,

Not in my experience 😂 being able to properly digest food means putting on weight for me. No more daily diarrhoea.

@Stickseas0n it gets easier once you realise that all of the free from stuff is awful and stop trying to find replacements!

That's part of the problem.

Most foods eaten in their natural state are gluten free.

Do you like greek yoghurt? Greek yoghurt is filling and I have some of this with berries, nuts and seeds for breakfast most days. The berries are frozen, I put some in the fridge overnight and they are ready for breakfast. I buy the nuts from Lidl at the moment as they are very reasonably priced. (Greek not Greek Style - it's additives that make Greek Style thick)

It's hard to change your diet overnight, but if you can move away from processed foods and processed white flour, and start to include more natural food (i.e. fresh chicken rather than breaded) then you might find that the transition is a bit easier than you have found.

M&S free from food is incredible- the bread is unbeatable. Yes it’s not cheap, but no GF bread is, but anything they do is delicious.

tesco GF range won prizes, Sainsbury’s GF range and Morrisons GF range are fantastic

you’re in shock, but you will find your way through, it will get better.

remember too that the biggest proportion of people with gluten intolerance is in italy, so the range of GF pasta is amazing. Rice, potentially wholemeal rice is a good filler, quinoa is a great food for a couscous replacement for example and with some experimenting on dressings you can have wonderful results.

We have an amazing company near us ABasing Bakes, their pies are all GF and oh my god they are amazing, they sell them at a number of markets and are wonderful

my oh eats rye bread daily and that I think has no wheat gluten, so maybe that’s an idea for you too.

chin up, it’ll get easier as you explore options

If you’re wanting to try some of the bread products glutafin and Juvela both do welcome starter free boxes for newly diagnosed, it’s what helped me decided I hated juvela without having to spend money on it 😂

100% absolutely LOVE going to Pho

Have you tried Tesco own brand marmite? It’s gluten free by coincidence!! Tastes soo close to the real thing

If you want an easy way to make a pizza, you can buy either gf pizza base or gf pita breads. If its the pita breads, toast them first. Then spread on some tomato sauce (you can buy wee jars of pizza tomato sauce), add some mozzarella and whatever toppings you want and pop them in the oven until they're ready. I often use the pita breads now. It's a really easy and quick tea.

Hi
I was diagnosed 6 months ago.
The website that saved me is Becky Excel and the Jane Devenonshire cookbook ( she won masterchef with GF food) she does loads of Gluten free recipies, so you can have Yorkshire puddings, dumplings etc.
I bought gluten free flour, GF baking powder amd xantham gum and can make most stuff I like even cakes! Think of it as a new food adventure!
Sourdough is not GF!
Only thing to note is GF food in restaurants in England is hit and miss.
Pm me of you need a chat, advice or recipies, always happy to help

This is a similar recipe from The Loopy Whisk but I haven’t made this one:

https://theloopywhisk.com/2024/08/02/gluten-free-blueberry-loaf-cake/

Hope those help.

Certainly 😊 I got it from the low carb site below. She cuts it into 12 but I find that impossible so cut it into 10 slices. If you’re not worried about carb content, you can cut as you see fit. Because it’s low carb, it’s a little more fragile than some loaves and cakes, so cut carefully. It’s a simple recipe but I really like it. I’ve also made it with dairy-free coconut yoghurt and that worked well too:

https://thelowcarbkitchen.co.uk/blueberry-yoghurt-cake/

If you’re after something more traditionally cakey then I recommend The Loopy Whisk (link above in my first post).

Eating out is slightly fraught, though a lot more people do g-f sauces, and wait staff understand the question. Though I've started meeting a group for friends for tea and scones once a week, and take a scone from the g-f bakery in town and get it heated as the least faff way to be able to join in (the meringue roulade with berry coulis was a kind gesture, but really not what I want mid-morning)..

Also if you are on the toilet after eating anything something isn’t right. Either you’re getting contaminated food somehow or possibly consider is dairy triggering you? It’s not uncommon to develop a temporary dairy intolerance when going gf. Dd had to avoid it for six months as she was still being sick. I was convinced for weeks she was accidentally getting gluten somehow. Then realised it was after cheese.

@breatheandfocus please will you give is the recipe for the blueberry loaf?

Asda have a good range of snacks bits and their prices for own brand aren't too atrocious either

Gluten free flour is your friend you'll suddenly be able to make sauces again AND pancakes and plenty of other bits if you like baking

M and S gluten free products are good but expensive

Flapjack is usually GF and popcorn

Ds is gluten free. Last night he had pasta in cheese sauce with bacon and brocoli.. all gluten free as I made sauce with GF flour and used GF pasta.

If you're looking for somewhere to eat out Pho is good as most of their menu is GF

The Jolly Hog sausages are gluten-free; Tesco and others do gluten-free biscuits and mixes where you can make GF brownies, which are surprisingly nice (I make a batch and freeze them for snacks); Mrs Crimbles GF Madeleines are really nice, as are their coconut macaroon things; lots of the low carb stuff is GF too, eg I make a Blueberry Loaf with almond and coconut flour; re bread, I’ve found the Co-op GF seeded one nice (I can actually eat it in a sandwich, not just toasted!)

Evening meals are fine. Get some GF pasta in; some rice noodles; nice potatoes; sweet potatoes; other grains like quinoa and buckwheat, etc. You can also buy GF Yorkshire Puddings.

I try to base my meals on foods that are naturally GF but in the first few weeks, I found having some GF foods in really helpful, especially GF snacks.

For baking try The Loopy Whisk. She’s fabulous and also has a couple of great books out:

https://theloopywhisk.com

Yup, my mum was finally diagnosed with coeliac disease due to investigations for infertility.

If you eat a lot of packaged foods/snacks then it gets really expensive (and they don't taste nice). Chocolate digestives being a prime example.

Most non-UPF is naturally GF. All the sausages we get from Tesco/morrisons/ocado/sainsburys/aldi are GF because we get the higher meat content ones. Cheaper sausages are more likely to not be GF.

If you base your dinners around meat+veg+carb then you shouldn't need to buy "special" GF food. Just read the labels for ingredients and may contains.

Snacks like biscuits and cakes I found it's best to make your own. Becky Excel recipes are all fabulous; I've never had one fail.

There are some staples in my cupboard that I have to watch. Stock cubes and gravy granules are a bugger for gluten, and they keep changing the ingredients. Normal stock cubes and gravy rather than free from is so much nicer (because free from exclude so many ingredients), but you have to read the ingredients every single time you buy them.

Beans/ketchup etc are difficult because of malt vinegar. Again it's a label checking exercise.

I hope you'll find it easier as time goes on and you use up or give away all the "wrong" beans etc from your cupboards.

All asda sausages are gluten free and nice.
Juvela bread is the least bad. They have it in Morrisons or it's online order.

Meat, Fish, Potatoes, Vegetables, Rice, Cheese, Dairy, Chocolate ...so many choices!