Wheat free - what do you eat?

[AngelDog]

I'm planning on trying a wheat-free diet for a bit, as I think it's irritating my IBS. We had a couple of days on holiday when I happened not to eat any wheat, and I was so much better.

What do you eat though? I have porridge or cornflakes for breakfast and don't mind having potatoes or rice for dinner. But I usually have sandwiches twice a day (DS and I have a substantial pre-nap snack/meal and another after our nap*). At least one of those will be eaten whilst out & about (usually one-handed while steering the pushchair). I often have a mid-afternoon snack too. I can't think of many good alternatives to wheat-based things.

I find rice cakes and corn cakes boring and they don't really fill me up enough. I already eat a high-protein (but not low-carb) diet, so I can't increase my protein any more to make up for fewer carbs. I do like oatcakes, but I probably wouldn't want to eat them two or three times a day.

Any suggestions?

Yes, I do mean our* sleep and not just his.

I eat corn tortillas, ryvita (love the black pepper ones), oatcakes, German dark rye bread instead of conventional sarnies.

Also make flapjacks so I don't have to eat biscuits. And lots of cakes using polenta/semolina/ground almonds instead of flour (or 50:50).

Hot meals I generally have rice instead of pasta, or a pan full of sautéed onions and mushrooms instead of the carbs.

I am wheat intolerant and also find that a low carb diet keeps my weight down more easily.

Oh and I often take a flask of soup with me when out walking. That fills me up brilliantly (homemade ham hock with pearl barley, potato, veg, etc). Would that be an option for your snack? DC might like it too?

PS well done for napping! It's the only way to stay sane

meat and milk, cheese, yohurt etc & veg :)

I found a great book called "Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache" full of easy yummy cakes and snacks whic are gluten free. It helped me a lot.

The other think I found that was delicious was buying those chinese rice pancakes (hard ones, you soften them before you use them) and making lumpia rolls. My fave were roasted chicken, with basil and parma ham, then would serve them with a range of dips for different tastes. really tasty!

Thanks all.

I got some Ryvita today and fussy DS even liked it. :) I'm making flapjacks - I need some cake but couldn't think of what to do.

I'll look for the red velvet book too - I'd heard abou it before, but discounted it as DS is nut allergic and is breastfed so I avoid them too (and IIRC there were lots of nut-based recipes in the book). But he's recently been given the OK on almonds and cashews, so I can probably find some good recipes there.

It's hard work finding things that everyone eats - DS also has problems with kiwi, coconut, banana, tomatoes & citrus, and doesn't like potatoes, cheese, eggs, most fish or most veg. I'm lactose intolerant so I can only eat a limited range of dairy, and dried fruit also makes me ill. Thankfully DH has no dietary complications! :)

Soup is good - I've been having some nice tinned ones lately, but I need to develop a repertoire of nice homemade ones.

Try either Genius or Warburtons gluten free breads for your sandwiches (according to coeliac boyfriend these are the best).

There are good cook/biscuit recipes on the Dove Farm website.

If you need to be gluten free rather than wheat free, you can't have ryvita or oatcakes unless they are specifically gluten free ones, sorry! Try the free from section in te supermarket, but its hard, especially for the "filling" kind of things like bread, bagels, crackers.

The best wheat free pasta I have found is Sainsbury's own brand. There are loads and loads of wheat free products.

Try Dove flour (It contains xanthan gum, but I always add a bit more).

Your supermarket will have cereals, biscuits, bread etc. if it doesn't, there are loads of online products.

There are one or two things I haven't been able to find a substitute for, such as puff pastry, but on the whole, you can eat everything you do now, but find a wheat free version of it.

cake, not cook (spelling fail)

Thanks. :) I think it's wheat rather than gluten that's the problem, but I'm still at the fiddling around with things stage, so I may need to experiment with taking out other forms of gluten.

I've been researching wheat free/gluten free this weekend... Found lots of baking recipes, if you like to bake:

www.celiac.com/categories/Gluten%252dFree-Recipes/Gluten%252dFree-Dessert-Recipes%3A-Pastries%2C-Cakes%2C-Cookies%2C-etc./Gluten%252dFree-Cake-Recipes-%28Frostings%29/

allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/23776/beth-s-black-bean-brownies.aspx

(sorry I don't know how to do fancy shortened links)

For lunches this week I'm going to be having a quinoa/bean salad like this, minus tortilla:

www.everydayhealth.com/diet-photos/healthy-recipes-to-aid-digestion.aspx#/slide-7

Corn tortilla chips are fab if you want something 'unhealthy' and junk food ish :)

Ooh also forgot to mention the thing I meant to say first of all... Found the book 'the Intolerant Gourmet' by Pippa Kendrick, am loving it so far! Loads of recipes for dairy, wheat etc inteolerances but if you're fine with dairy like me then you can use normal eggs instead of the egg substitutes it suggests. They're adaptations of 'normal' meals, but some aren't adapted at all and just happen to be free of intolerable foods. I found that helpful as it focuses the mind on what you CAN have rather than what you can't, which I like.

Revitalise has gluten in it!

Rivita has gluten in!

I am also trying to avoid wheat because I find it triggers compulsive eating as well as makes me foggy and lethargic and affects my cognitive function too ! I am also experimenting with gluten free things because I don't know if it is the gluten or the wheat. I also get either constipation or the opposite. But with Ryvita, I seem to be ok. But I realise it has gluten in it maybe not as much as wheat. I am working with a private dietitian who has asked me to avoid it while she checks my blood test results for any deficiencies.

There seem to be a variety of wheat free breads that you can make at home with things like almond flour and coconut flour etc. I haven't tried making any as yet but have bought the ingredients. What symptoms do you get?

let me know how you get on please as i am exactly in the same situation.

A lot of potato salad and oatcakes!

I eat lots of salad. The gluten free breads etc are mostly awful (and expensive).

If its wheat free rather than gluten free then you have to be careful with some gluten free stuff as they can have wheat starch in.

For easy to make wheat free bread (though these need to be eaten fresh and warm so no good for out and about) I like to make pandebono, fool proof to make and absolutely lovely.

You could look for wheat free breads for sandwiches, if looking in the free from section then remember to check there's no wheat starch but otherwise there are good options these days.

Have you tried sourdough bread?
I follow the low fodmap diet for my IBS and try to avoid most wheat products as wheat contains fructans which can irritate IBS but the traditional sourdough process help to eliminate the fructans. The M&S San Francisco loaf is lovely. Waitrose also do a Spelt sourdough which is even better as spelt is much easier to digest.

I don't eat carbs generally so it's basically the same principle and I'm intolerant to dairy.

So breakfast is berries and soya vanilla yoghurt
And at the weekend bacon, egg and tomato.

Lunch
Various salads with feta, chicken or tuna or dinner leftovers
I really like sliced tomato and buffalo mozzarella with balsamic glaze. Easy and tasty.
Chicken satay with mango chutney

Tuna baked potato if I'm having a day off
Hard goats cheese, pickled onions and tomato
Sliced apple and goats cheese plus grapes

None of these are easy to eat with a pushchair apart from satay sticks sorry.

Dinner
Whatever I fancy and just swap out the carbs for veg or cauliflower rice.
Bbq with salad, cheese and chutney is just as filling as if you'd had a roll.
I still go to Burger King I just don't eat the roll and nobody bats an eyelid!

I don't eat bread at all as it really bloats me but I think some of the polish breads are made with different grains and really tasty!