To say eating gluten free food sucks

Oh and a little warning. Make sure your contraception is bang on. After a few years of thinking I might have fertility problems and being a bit cavalier with contraception, within a few months of being gf I got pregnant. Dr said it was common.

Get yourself Becky Excell's Make Anything Gluten Free. It lives up.to it's name.
Honestly, as a coeliac of 40years, this is the easiest I've had it. Yes it can be still a pita but now there's allergy warnings on foods and in restaurants life is so much easier.

The main problem is bread and flour substitutes. After that it's a lot easier than it was eg there are gf stock cubes and gravies. Zenb do good pasta but there are other brands

If you're putting on weight you need to rejig your diet to something healthier.

PS even M&S do gf as standard in a lot of things like sausages.

There's a Facebook Group called Gluten Free Dupes that you might find useful OP. Lots of people posting things they've found in different supermarkets.

You honestly get used to it from seeing Dd having to navigate it. She was diagnosing at 16yo. Shes fine at home, pack ups and when we’re out for the day are harder.

She makes her own pizzas now using caputo gf pizza flour from amazon. It took some tweaking but she’s a pro at it now and you can make the mix in 5 mins, leave it to prove for a bit then roll it out and add toppings. Id honestly be happy eating them and I can eat gluten.

she likes the Promise bread loaves, says the chia seed one is the best. But yeah expensive. The gf hobnobs and twix cookies also nice but again pricey.

accidentally gf food is cheaper. Dd is vegetarian but in the past I’ve found sausages with no gluten in them as a tesco own brand. Getting something like an Emily excel cookbook could be good. Get baking, I don’t bother with special gf recipes anymore. I just swap gf doves flour for the normal flour and it seems to work ok. Lemon drizzle cake, cookies, brownies, etc.

I’ve been diagnosed coeliac over 6 years now. It takes a lot of getting used to, but now I eat a ‘normal’ diet, snacks and all. ASDA pasta, own brand chocolate digestives, cheese (of course it’s naturally gf), meat, veg, whatever. Please do message if I can help. I absolutely promise it goes get better, and there’s even bread out there which tastes normal!

Maltesers contain barley malt extract, and barley is out if you're GF. Malted rice extract now being used in some products, but read the labels.

Pasta made with rice flour or a blend makes very nice macaroni cheese. The pasta doesn't expand as much as other types, but it tastes good. Schar and Nairn GF products are usually quite nice.

Brazilian cheese bread is GF (tapicoa flour) and makes a great snack. Use a strongly flavoured cheese and make it in mini muffin tins, it's got the texture of choux buns.

If you can lay your hands on either book 1 or 2 of America's Test Kitchen's "How Can It Be Gluten Free" you'll find some cracking recipes and ideas. Some recipes are better than others, but there are savoury and sweet goods that you'd be hard pressed to tell are GF.

If you bake, GF flours don't behave like wheat flour. You'll find substitutes like soured cream or Philadelphia cheese for part of the butter in some bakes, and if the recipe says to chill the dough or batter before baking then do so as it gives the flour a chance to hydrate.

Join local gluten free fb groups if you can - I've found amazing food places that way, including cafes with home made gf cakes/ sausage rolls etc, much nicer than gf versions in shops, and lately one with nice bread. Also Becky Excel is a good group or her books are useful.
Bread has generally always been accepted as dire (Genius looking at you!) gf but it is improving- Warburton's soft rolls are great for sandwiches unusually and their bread/promise/schar ok for toasting.
Lots of cheap own brand crisps are accidentally gf or most Seabrooks and all Kettle.
I didn't like mcvities hobnobs gf, but just found Prewitts (I think) in Waitrose that taste to me like mcvities chocolate digestives.
Actually just avoiding gf aisles and going for natural gf is better - and when I made my kitchen gf my daughter (loves food) didn't find anything abhorrent or different really. However, despite not having a sweet tooth generally in life I do get attracted to trying things that are now in my head as 'unavailable/ not nice ' just because they are there!

Gf bread as others said is pretty rubbish - but is much better toasted.

if I’m making a ‘sandwich’ at home I always toast the bread as 1 it’s expensive and I fon’t use much so it goes off faster than I can eat it so I keep it in the freezer and 2 it’s much nicer toasted than plain.

re toaster - if you haven’t got room in kitchen for dedicated gf toaster - buy reusable toaster pockets (Amazon, Lakeland) so that your bread never touches the toadter. They work really well. Also good if visiting friends etc as small and easy to put in bag for travel.

Also re butter / marg / spread of your choice in a sandwich - either decant some into a labelled pot or buy one just for you and label prominently ‘gf only.’ Not because butter contain gluten but you don’t want normal bread crumbs from normal bread contaminating your butter - honestly even 1 crumb can ‘gluten’ you and set you back - mark out your own in the fridge and train while family that if making anything for you (jacket potato, sandwich etc) they must use clean knife in clean plate and only your butter / marg for you.

If you like a dense brown loaf that can be cut into really thin slices that hold together well for sandwiches and make lovely toast I strongly recommend porridge bread

https://www.flahavans.ie/recipe/mary-flahavans-porridge-bread/

Obviously it works just as well with gluten-free oats. The last few times I made it I didn't even consult the recipe, just started with the 'wet' ingredients in the bowl, added enough oats to get the right texture, then added the baking soda (I think sometimes labelled bicarbonate of soda in the UK) etc. But maybe use the recipe the first time you make it!

Also GF pastry is often excellent. I find it a complete pain to cook with, but readymade frozen pies etc tend to come out well.

Here are a few suggestions that I don’t think others have mentioned

A passable bread… Not cheap (sorry). Can also get from their stores too.
https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/gails-gluten-free-sourdough/869277-807251-807252#

These come in 3 flavours. Brilliant with soup
https://www.kallo.com/things-we-make/products/beetroot-and-three-seeds-veggie-thins/

Goodfellas and Dr Oetker do gf frozen pizza .

I'm Coeliac it sucks.
My regular food in the cupboard aren't in the free from section.
Baxters Lentil and Bacon soup
Tomato soup
Knorr cubes or stock pots.
Alpro yogurts (I like them better than the milk version)
Popcorn cakes, caramel flavour snack a jacks
there's all sorts.
I've stopped buying GF biscuits, crumpets, scones etc as I've gained too much weight.
I do buy GF oats, genius toast loaf or a Promise loaf, Nestle GF cornflakes and rice crispies. Schar pizza bases.
Birds Eye GF fish fingers taste like normal ones and make a good sandwich.
McCains naked frozen chips are vegan and GF in the normal freezer section
Edited to add M&S have nice GF cheese and onion crispy bake things they look like a fish cake but taste lovely.

join fb groups and IG , we follow accidentally gluten free, there’s loads you can eat

Your problem is you need to learn to cook. Meat, fish, dairy, fruit and veg. If you want baked goods go to the loopy whisk website as her recipes are very reliable.
See this in a positive light: getting the big kick you needed to get your health sorted. You will genuinely feel so much better and have loads more energy. It’s an education but its not complicated.
For tomorrow have a tuna mayo on a baked potato with a side of something green. Easy.

Yes, I know you can get gluten free frozen pizzas at great expense and with the most boring toppings ever but that comment made it sound like you could find gluten free frozen pizzas outside of the free from sections.

Stay away from oats for a while, they contain avenin which can cause the same symptons for some coeliacs. When you do eat oats, make sure they are marked as gluten free oats as most are milled in the same place as wheat, etc. I've been diagnosed for 20 years and can only tolerate a small amount of gluten free oats. Watch out for cross contanimation, some restaurants use the same friers for gluten free and non gluten free.

Asda and Tesco do a good gluten free range. M and S have a reduced range but it is nice. The best bread I have ever had is Marks and spencers gluten free bread. Many supermarket own brand sausages are gluten free. Naked sausages are gluten.free-plus no nitrates. I try to come from scratch where possible instead of buying pre- packed items.

Most of the big supermarkets have a free from freezer section. Husband particularly likes Asda's own margarita.

I have recently discovered Tesco Finest Beef and Herb meatballs (GF). 20 mins in the oven. While they are cooking do the GF spaghetti, drain and add Tesco arrabiatta sauce. Heat through and add meatballs when cooked. Really tasty and takes about 30 minutes.

M&S GF quiche are really nice and husband is addicted to their GF sausage rolls.

Morrisons used to do amazing gluten free pizza but they don't any more. You can get schar but not much choice.

lots of frozen pizzas are gluten free too.

Am I misunderstanding, I've never seen a frozen pizza in the regular section that is gluten free.

It's not that they are grown next to each other, it's that the grains are often processed using the same machinery. So yes, if you are coeliac, you should buy "free from" oats and cereals.

I have to follow a fodmap diet too, it's not easy and frustratingly I still have bad days just less. I have a copy of 'The low fodmap diet cookbook' by Sue Shepherd and have found that great for giving me some simple recipes/ideas. I've mainly tried the savoury recipes but they've all worked for me and I'm not the best cook!

I’m vegan, so not quite gluten free but a lot of the vegan foods tend to be free from gluten too. I find a lot of things hit and miss. A few things I would recommend are the wicked ravioli from Tesco and the mister free’d tortilla chips. The brand ‘lazy day’ do the most dreamiest shortbread.