Gluten free - help please!

[Grockle]

I'm newly gluten-free & have managed so far but know there is gluten hidden in things & I don't know what. Obviously anything wheaty or barley & I know flavourings & seasonings often contain gluten. A friend mentioned smarties and someone told me I can't eat cornflakes or rice crispies... I'm confused.

Also, I'm veggie (for the most-part... very picky meat-eater and rarely have any) so need some non-meaty but GF meal suggestions if possible.

If anyone can help or point me in the direction of a helpful site, that would be great. TIA

Get into Doves flour, pasta, cornflakes, cornflour etc. It isn't too difficult, look out for recipe blogs and just adapt your usual recipes

Look at the Coeliac UK website, it's got lots of useful information, and very helpful lists of what's safe, and how to read labels.

Most cornflakes/rice crispies have barley malt in them, so if you are gf, not suitable. You can get gf ones in the Free From section in supermarkets.

To begin with, you'll need to read the label on everything. If you put it in your mouth, don't put it there till you've checked the label for gluten - in the UK all prepackaged food must declare gluten/barley/wheat content on the label. You find gluten in the weirdest foods, and manufacturers changer recipes regularly, so you have to keep up.

What meals do you normally have ? Most things are easy to adapt once you have gf soy, stock, pasta in.

Join the Coeliac UK website , they will have all the information you need on luving gluten free and have a food directory ( I think it's free for the first six months then you have to pay a yearly fee).
Mainstream cereals are generally a no-no as they tend to have barley malt extract. Also watch out for malt vinegar (contains barley)and soy sauce (contains wheat).
Supermarket own brand labelling includes allergy info, so saves you reading through every ingredient.
You can generally eat most of your normal meals just using GF equivalents.
Gluten free pasta is readily available (doves farm brand is good) and Gluten free flour can be used to thicken sauces, make cakes/ biscuits ( again Doves Farm is a good brand).
Genius Bread is a good ( though expensive)
Remember you can still have rice, potatoes, beans.
You can't have cous cous but can use quinoa instead
There are loads of websites with lots of recipes, ( for
example good food has a specific Gluten Free section)
It can be a bit over-whelming at first but you soon learn what to look out for.

My mum is gluten free and vegetarian and fussy so we are used to checking labels, gluten is in the weirdest of places like some crisps and frozen chips, some cream cheeses etc. A lot of gluten free stuff is rank though, really nasty so we only tend to buy a few of the available products for her - Genius bread is apparently one of the nicest. Bob the builder tomato pasta sauce from the free from aisle is actually really quite nice and a good base for a lot of meals.

I have a good recipe for gf vegetarian sausage rolls, gf pastry and cheese scones. I also do soups, pizzas, risottos, roasted veg, quinoa,flapjacks using gf oats, macaroons (coconut), sushi, jackets, stews, pasta bakes, lasagnes etc. I have some gf recipe sites saved on my laptop, but I'm on the ipad right now and can't get to them.

When she visits we always eat vegetarian and gluten free too so she doesn't feel left out and we haven't struggled to find things to eat. Every second year we host a veg/gf Xmas and pull out all the stops and its awesome- no one goes away hungry!

This
gluten free message board
website is very helpful.
I am vegetarian. DH is the one with celiac disease but I do cook vegetarian for him so I can help if you have any specific questions :)

Thanks everyone. I am only wheat-free atm so cornflakes etc should be ok although I am trying to avoid as much as possible. I have some Doves flour which I used to make a cake yesterday & it's really good. I've realised that i cannot make the same things I used to - a victoria sponge made with GF flour is not the same. BUT, I CAN use it to make other things - eg almond cake & it's fine.

It's things like malt vinegar & soy sauce that I'd forget about, despite the word malt in the name

Meals... I've been ill (hence diet change) & haven't been eating hot food all year but generally eat pasta (because DS loves it), baked spuds, frittata, shepherd's pie.

I need to find out if Quorn is ok.

We went out for lunch today & I had to eat meat because all the veggie options had gluten in them. I took my own bread which they let me eat instead of the stuff from their bread baskets. I think the difficulty is being veggie & GF but I can't be the only person in that positon?

Materfacit, thank you, thats really helpful. I'd never have thought of looking at ingredients in cream cheese I will look for Bob the Builder pasta sauce

Thanks for links & suggestions.

Quorn pieces and fillets have no gluten containing ingredients but don't claim to be GF. Most other quorn products do contain gluten.

Thanks chopchop... how about baked beans?

Heinz baked beans are fine.

Try adding a tsp of xantham gum to the flour mix when making a Victoria sponge. Mine all turn out fine, I use Doves or one of the prescription brands. Xantham gum helps add back some of the binding that is lost through having no gluten in the mix and is available in the free from aisles.

Branston baked beans are gf also. Heinz have started making gf pasta which tastes "normal" it's about £1.50 a bag (bought mine in morrisoms)

I prefer gf sponges now, I use asda own brand gf flour as its cheaper and cook as normal.

Look up honeybuns bakery online. Quite expensive but the cakes and biscuits are delicious and perfect for special occasions! I adore the almondi biscuits

Quorn mince has gluten in, but like chopchop said the fillets don't.

I'm gluten free and veggie as well and i'm finding it gets easier. Eating at home I just have what I'd usually have but substitute pasta, bread, etc for GF version. I use Knorr vegetable stock cubes, they're gluten free. I joined the coeliac society and got the directory of what you can and can't eat. They say that rice crispies and corn flakes have such a low level of gluten in they're safe to eat. I eat them and i'm fine but my SIL who is also coeliac gets ill if she eats them, so it depends on your sensitivity to gluten.

Eating out is more difficult but I've got several places I know I can eat at, eg Indian restaurants nearly always fine, carluccio's, Zizzi, pizza hut, pizza express, Ask, all do GF pizza/pasta. Wagamama's also good. With non-chain/independent restaurants i'm getting better at asking in advance and a lot of places are very good at cooking something different for me. Cafes/sandwich shop type places I nearly always end up having a baked potato!

Good luck with it. Have you been diagnosed coeliac?

Iwouldgoouttonight, it's good to hear from people in the same situation. And nice to know cornflakes & rice crispies are ok! I'm not coeliac & don't have bowel problems so I don't think it matters terribly if I have a tiny bit of gluten.

I have fibromyalgia & other chronic conditions that cause crippling pain & fatigue. I am clutching at straws really but have seen articles that suggest wheat may be an issue & I've heard lots of anecdotes from people who have drastically reduced symptoms by avoiding wheat. This seemed like a relatively easy way of doing something to help myself.

Thanks again to everybody.

Grockle - if you're going gluten free then you really need to avoid all gluten otherwise you won't know where you are - so no cornflakes or rice krispies!

Have you thought about your symptoms possibly being linked to vitamin D deficiency? Have a good google and discuss with your GP. If you do go for a bit D blood test then make sure they check your calcium too.

Vit D is not just linked to bones!

Telephone tree, I will go completely gluten free but for now, I have been advised that wheat-free is the place to start. I have had blood tests for everything so am failry sure I am not deficient in anything.

Can anyone recommend a good recipe/ guide book?