Can any people with Coeliac help me please

[Sheselectric77]

Hi,

My little girl who is 9 is Coeliac. We are starting on her new diet asap but we feel clueless. I know things are much better now in terms of the food available but I’m not sure where the best place to shop is, for both cost and variety. Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

Dd already has a very limited diet (probably because she has spent her whole life in pain from eating gluten) and so we need some of her safe foods. I remember trying the bread once and it was like cardboard. Has it improved? My dd is quite particular with textures.

How do people find eating out?
We are going to Spain next month and will be self catering at a villa and hopefully eating out most nights? Is this possible now?

Any advice is very appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

I think it depends on the restaurant and worth ringing ahead to check that they do gluten free pasta and pizza dough as some don't. It might be different in some restaurants but a lot of Italian chain restaurants in the UK are all pasta based.

What does she normally like to eat?

Toaster bags are such a good idea. Thank you. She likes to make herself toast when she gets up or before bed so that’s a good idea. Means she will still be able to be independent.

Might have to look into another holiday, to Italy, obviously for research purposes 😆.

Il get the card thank you for that suggestion.

I’m probably going to change my diet with her for solidarity. I removed dairy when breastfeeding due to her tummy troubles and got used to that so should be ok. I don’t eat massive meals at home apart from the weekends as I eat my main meals at work or once dc have gone to bed as I get home late so I can eat normally at work or whatever if needs be.

Bread still isn’t great. Warburtons do a tiger loaf which is the best of a bad lot. There’s some good frozen rolls as well…..maybe Schar, definitely frozen ones .

spain is meant to be good. Think mcdonalds do gf options there unlike the U.K.

I don’t really rate the app, I think getting used to checking ingredients is better. Remember there’s loads of stuff which is not in the gf section which is fine. Be careful with the “may contain gluten”, that’s more easily missed on the ingredients and should still be avoided.

My coeliac friends (three kids and dad) love Spain because they can get McDonald's!

Most “replacement” foods like pasta and bread are super expensive and utterly disgusting. They often also require different preparation than “regular” versions. You don’t actually need these things. You can make spaghetti bolognese and hide every vege (except Brussels sprouts because they belong to satan himself) in with the meat and onions. Give her that and some cheese. (Store-bought grated cheese is often not GF, so grate your own.)
Rice wraps aka Vietnamese spring rolls are a fabulous and easy lunch food.

When you eat out do ask about their cross contamination policies. An Italian near me declares it does gf pizzas but they cook them in the same pizza oven as the rest right on the oven floor, not on a tray!

there’s a good fb group called something like coeliacs eat out where people swap restaurant recommendations.

Potato waffles in the toaster are good for kids.
Definitely print out an information sheet in Spanish. Personally I'd be ready to prepare a few meals yourself incase she gets limited options out. You might be lucky and find a good restaurant fingers crossed 🤞

Ps tesco app you can filter by gluten free. Obviously double check packets.

I'm not sure how your labelling works, but one thing we discovered was when companies label something with modified corn starch etc, the 'modified' can mean that they have added gluten but do not have to put it on the ingredients list as long as the packaging doens't actually say gluten free. So you might read the list and think that it is fine, but if it doen't say GF then it might not be. Hope this makes sense.

Best of luck to you! Mine was also 9 when diagnosed. If you've not already heard this, keep an eye on iron and Vit B levels as often people with CD do not absord them properly and can be low.

Spain is pretty good.
Go biy a new toaster for her use gf
And her own butter spreads
Go naturally gf foods
And try supermarket brands
Main brands like schar and genius do free samples or samples pscks
Go to a free from fair for samples

The Allergy + Free From Show

https://g.co/kgs/6bAzVw 

In the U.K. if the modified starch has gluten in then it must say gluten in the ingredients so I’d be happy eating something with it in as long as the ingredients didn’t say gluten. https://www.coeliac.org.uk/frequently-asked-questions/modified-starch/?&&type=rfst&set=true#cookie-widget

Ds2 is coeliac
I only had gf pasta and flour in the house to cut down on cross contamination.

Going gf on bread was a step too far for me, but ds2 had his own toaster and separate area for his bread.

GF pasta is not too bad. You just learn not to overcook it or it turns to smush.

Experiment with bread, pastries, snacks to see what your child likes.

Learn to check ingredients (uk is very good about labelling) and keep checking as they can change so a trusted product suddenly becomes unsuitable.

Holidays were worth doing research to check what shops were available, what restaurants had gf options. I found cruises were good as they catered for dietary requirements. Ds2 used to like having his own waiter on MSC ships.

Ds2 was diagnosed as a toddler and got used to managing what he could and couldn't eat.

M&S gluten free fishfinger (in freezer section) are the best- better than their normal ones

There are a range of GF wraps I use called BFree and I add M&S GF chicken strips plus salad- very nice

M&S GF brownies- very good

Bread- warbutons tiger is about the best, followed by the unsliced M&S GF cob loaf

I eat a lot of Nairn cheese oatcakes!!

We have a great Italian cafe here in Bath where nearly everything is GF called Rosarios- includes fantastic cheesecakes and cannoli

These chick pea fritters however are my favourites and they do with ham and eggs- never had them anywhere else

www.mangiabedda.com/panelle-sicilian-chickpea-fritters/

Thanks again.

My dd will be made up if she can have McDonald’s in Spain.
To be fair we would be making most of her food anyway because she struggles to eat out normally and ends up eating very little.

@MostlyHuman we finally got answers because dd started getting new and worsening symptoms due to absorption issues. Her hair has started to fall out and her skin is all broken and dry, she’s been in so much pain she has had to go to bed and that’s very unlike her.

I have been taking her back and forward to the doctors for 7 years with symptoms. I’m not blaming anyone and especially not the nhs as I know how hard and underfunded it is. They kept treating symptoms with steroids, pain medication, strong reflux meds, vitamin and calorie shakes, all sorts. The blood tests came back negative for coeliac twice. Done as part of a full blood count.

We went shopping recently because her clothes we’re hanging off and she tried on clothing, I knew she was slim but we ended up buying age 6 clothes, she is almost in the same size clothes as my 5 year old. She’s average height so it is noticeable. That, along with her hair falling out was enough and we paid private. Worth the money.

I hope she starts to feel better soon. Doctor said she must have been in agony for a long time and her little stomach is already seeing the damage.

I forgot to say that I often make rice wraps, egg bites, or risotto balls for lunches, or take leftovers in a thermos. There are so many really good gf foods (that are not highly processed like a lot of GF-labeled food replacements). Gnocchi is super-easy and delicious to make with tapioca flour. (I have become experimental and make pumpkin and sage. Delish!)

Also Juvela do a free starter pack if you're in certain areas - you get a huge box with a selection of their products so it's worth doing.

https://www.juvela.co.uk/sign-up/

My daughter's favourite GF things are warburtons tiger bloomer, co-op chocolate cake, Napolina spaghetti and Schar Jaffa cakes. Also M&S shortbreads are pretty good.

Abel & Cole (veg delivery boxes) have a good range of tasty gluten free stuff on their website (the brown rice noodles are particularly nice and the Mr Organic stuff). I'm on a healthy eating plan though, not coeliac, so check ingredients.

The Nairns gluten free oatcakes are nice. I bought them by mistake! But those and hummus (if she likes it) are pretty nutritious and very portable.

@Sheselectric77 one thing to say is that rather than it being a real bind I've actually found it has been a real change for me and I've forced myself to really look at what I eat and eaten far more 'new to me ' things too. I'm also pre diabetic so it's bit of a double challenge as gave had to cut the carbs a lot too - but it's certainly given me more variety and I've eaten far healthier too. Eating out can be a bit more challenging I admit

Be careful about gluten free oats, some coeliacs, including me, can’t eat oats either.

@Kimchikeffir luckily I have no problem with oats- so bowls of porridge and oatcakes crop up a lot- although I then have to watch the carb levels all day- !!