Nice gluten-free alternatives,

[MsVanRein]

I'm starting on a gluten-free diet from tomorrow and am really nervous as I eat quite a lot of bread, pasta etc.

What are the nicest gluten-free products? Or do you have any nice GF recipes?

In the supermarkets we prefer the Heinz gf pasta - it cooks ok.

We avoid most GF bread as ds doesn't like it. We occasionally but it from Marks and Sparks.

We eat a lot if potato/rice/stir fry/salad meals.

Gf crispbreads and rice cakes are a nice alternative.

Thanks notapizzaeater - online shop arriving tomorrow am and I have some crispbreads in it as thought they'd be good for lunch or snacks.

It's a mine-field for me as I rely probably too heavily on bread as if is.

Got some gf bagels too - I have heard a lot of the bread isn't great but thought even if I hate them I can drown them in banana/honey etc to disguise the taste/texture!

My son loves the bread from wheat free bakery direct - it's online and looks and tastes "normal" but we manage with only eating bread probably every few weeks so it's not an issue for us.

Jacket potatoes are a good stand by.

I bake my own cakes and buns using Asda gf flour, I get the best results from this.

Thanks for tip about flour I'm keen to find a good alternative as I bake a lot!

You could probably pick up some good ideas from looking at the weightloss topic under the bootcamp recipe thread, as low carb is often gluten free? You can make crumb coatings from ground almonds, use lettuce leaves for wraps or eat salads instead of sandwiches. I found tesco's Gluten free pasta to be fairly ok. Costa have a gluten free chicken wrap now and also do a gf chocolate brownie! GF bread isn't that yummy really so it might be healthier and cheaper just to avoid it as much as possible.

A lot of the gf bread I find is sweet, really WRONG with bacon and scrambled eggs in the morning. Best one I have found is the Newburn Bakehouse thins which are pretty good once toasted. from Tescos. I don't really do sandwiches now, will do pate on rice crackers or a gf pasta salad, just takes a bit more planning, but tastes a lot better.

I eat a lot less bread these days, but home baked cakes with gf flour are pretty good. never managed to make a decent gf loaf, although some swear this is possible. I look out for the reduced bargains and freeze them, GF chocolate croissants aren't too bad.

TBH feeling better is reward enough in itself for being forced to give up granary. Baguettes. Croissants... well it is for me, it's lovely to be confident about letting a fart go in public (sorry TMI)

Will have a look poppycat - love lettuce in place of wraps so will definitely be trying to incorporate that more. Less bread definitely a better option all round I think I just need to be a little more organised!!

Penny I know it will all be worth it of it helps me feel better! You are so right.

I'm just finding such a big change daunting! Will try the bread you've suggested at some point. I'm going to try to just go without as much as possible but good to have suggestions for those times when I really want or need a good gf alternative.

Don't know what sort of food you eat but all the sausages in m and a are gf. They have a really good choice of food.

If stuck when out we have a McDonald's burger without the bread – all the toppings are ok. The chips are fine there too. Not healthy per say but good if needed.

Most burgers have gluten in them so be careful of that. I have to buy mince and make meatballs or burgers usually as sains and morrisons meatballs and burgers usually contain gluten.

I'd bet that McDonald's put all kinds of bulking stuff in their burgers

I've just done this, it's not as difficult as I thought. The main time I struggle is if I'm in a rush as I'd usually go for a sandwich or toast. Breakfast can be tricky, too. Sainsburys have a good gluten free range.

Mcd burgers are gluten free.

Some of the m and s burgers are gf and Asda do a quarter pounder that is gf.

Shopping takes forever at the start - it gets better as you know what you can have, I no longer have a preferred supermarket - I alternate as the stuff each has is different.

Best thing I did was buy another freezer for the garage. I keep lots of home made meals in stock (lasagne, shepherds pie, curries, soups etc) it's not quite as easy grabbing something on the way home anymore

Ds (the coeliac) doesn't like many of the breakfast cereals (he like gf chex but at £8 a box we don't have them often !!). We tend to have protein for breakfast, ham, corned beef, cheese etc.

Thank you all for your replies really helpful!

Good to know about the m&s sausages as we are invited to a BBQ next week so I will definitely take some of those along. I had forgotten about 'hidden' gluten so thanks notapizzaeater and LionHeart for that. Thankfully I cook from scratch a lot so should be able to make adjustments to evening meals easily!

I think I'm mostly worried about when I'm rushing as I am like you Gerty and would automatically go for something on toast! I suppose it's just a case of being a bit more organised.

Notapizzaeater £8 a box!!! Think I will def have to avoid those! I've been thinking yogurt and fruit, eggs and bacon etc for breakfast - hopefully can transition to that fairly easily.

You could also make your own museli with non gluten grains from the health food shop such as quinoa flakes also chopped nuts, coconut shavings, dried fruit etc.

DP made GF yorkshires yesterday with Doves Farm self raising flour (the plain doesn't react like normal flour and puff up, so he makes a more cakey version with SR, a bit like a massive American pancake).

When he went to eat the leftovers later there weren't any, as the dcs had scoffed it all, leaving the big impressive 'proper' Yorkshire!

So successful was it, that we used the same batter for pancakes later and his were much fluffier than the regular ones.

poppycat will definitely make some muesli that's one thing I was thinking I might miss - so a gf version would be lovely. Even reading that it sounds lovely!

Penelope those sound great! I've added gf flour to shopping list.pa

Oops posted too soon after DS spilt is smoothie on me!

Thought of missing out on yorkshires etc makes me want to cry a bit so will def give them a go!

I make yorkshires with about 80g plain flour and then add a big heaped tablespoon of corn flour and three eggs and milk to double cream consistency. Use any left over batter to thicken the gravy and pancakes.

I'm doing a chicken and med veg pasta bake tonight, only think different is the pasta.

Just ordered gluten free lasagne pasta and gnocchi too!

Will try your Yorkshire recipe too notapizzaeater.

LionHeart that sounds nice.

Today has not been too bad so far, had a carrot, apple, cucumber and ginger smoothie and half a gf bagel. Not so sure about the bagel, edible so will use the rest up but probably wouldn't buy them again. Have only just had lunch made a avocado, grilled peach and feta salad and really enjoyed it - did not miss bread at all!

We didn't like the bagels as bagels so rather than waste them we turned them into pizza !

DD2 was GF for a while. Iirc pom bears are gf :)

The seeded genius bread is ok.