Gluten free tips for eating out of the home

[Jackieweaverishere]

Hi, just to start with , I'm not coeliac! I've been diagnosed with a condition, GP is not much help but the general consensus online is cutting out gluten really helps. I already don't eat dairy. I do eat meat and fish.

So I'm trying to get my head round how this will work. Home cooking is fine, and restaurants will generally have something.

But I'm going away for the weekend soon on a self catering weekend with friends, I'm not keen on lugging rice and sweet potatoes in my suitcase. I was at a friend's catered function today, mostly sandwiches - both these kinds of situations are going to be more tricky.

I need snacks, easy subs, ideas for gluten and dairy free easy meals. I'm not keen on upf bread. Any ideas?

Well for your main meals, if you're self catering then you will just cook whatever you're currently cooking for yourself at home, surely? I don't see the issue if you're SC.
For snacks to take out with you to eat on the go, take cashew nuts, dried fruit, homemade GF flapjacks, GF pitta stuffed with any GF filling.
I'm coeliac, so is DS. You just eat as you would do at home if you're SC.

Gluten-free pasta is fine - really not that different from normal. Most gf bread is awful, but M&S stuff is the best I've found. I tend to take packs of rice cakes away with me - useful as a vehicle for spreads, cheese etc for breakfast and lunch, and very light to transport! If you're self-catering with other people it's tricky. Hard to take substitute ingredients unless you have a plan jn advance of who'll be cooking and what they are planning to make. GF versions are almost never as nice, so I always feel a bit unreasonable to expect others to eat them! I'd probably take some rice. Maybe those microwave pouches for convenience.

@MagicLoop yes, you get it! My friends are lovely but planning food in advance won't be top of their priorities and it's a very new situation for me to navigate. I know they will just get easy food like pizzas which will be difficult for me. There's no easy sub. I can definitely take some rice pouches and rice cakes in my suitcase on the train. Maybe oatcakes and vegan cream cheese as well for snacks.

I’m low gluten per GPs advice (also not coeliac). There are some good accounts on insta that show lots of alternatives.

Potato waffles are quite good replacement for bread/toast in some meals. Pop them in a toaster bag and done!

I’m non-coeliac gluten intolerant. If I eat gluten I feel very ill, so am quite strict.

In scenarios like that - although my friends are really great at making sure we go places / order from places I can eat well- I tend to always take:

• a loaf of sliced gluten free bread
• gluten free pittas
• chocolate/ nuts/ GF biscuits whatever nice snacks I like, in abundance- the m&s GF cheese puffs are nice!

if I knew friends were going to order in pizza, I’d either call the local pizza place and ask if they do GF (some chains now do- and had a lovely surprise in a tiny village pizzeria this summer, where the GF pizza was amazing) or I’d a couple of Schar GF pizzas. if you take margarita it won’t matter too much if they’re in your bag for a bit.

Also GF beers.

You can get some pizzas that are both gluten and lactose free in the free from section of the supermarket. I know Schar do one. Would that work, or does lactose free not meet your needs?

I think needing to be both dairy and gluten free is the kicker. Baked potatoes with baked beans? A tomato based sauce with gf pasta? Scrambled egg with mushrooms or ham?

I am sure you are used to checking labels due to being dairy free. Wheat is added randomly to soups, frozen chips, stock cubes, Haribo sweets etc.

I appreciate that you say you don’t want to do ufps and I’m with you, but sometimes this is the time they come in useful - if you want to have easy substitutions when eating with others. Obviously you can eat gluten free without eating any substitutions, but it’s much harder when eating with others. When we go away self catering, we tend to take a few bits with us so they’re available if needed: some pasta, some wraps (warburtons wraps are pretty good), and a packet of biscuits and a cake / flapjacks, etc, generally so there are some easy switch in options. Breakfast is often the meal that gets forgotten - obviously porridge or fruit and yoghurt is easy if that’s what you normally have, but if people might be having pastries, the schar frozen pain au choc and croissants are good. The white rabbit pizza with ndjuja is also really good if people might have pizzas for ease. Hope you have a lovely time

@CaptainSevenofNine I love potato waffles!! I've got the toaster pouches. That would work and everyone will like them.
@Pineapplesunshine yes I think for the occasional get together, upf stuff might be the way