New coeliac - which substitutes are best

[hippoinamudhole]

I've recently been diagnosed with coeliac disease and am finding it a minefield with all the free from foods that are available. I mean it's great that there's so much choice but how do i know which are any good.

So does anyone have any recommendations, things to avoid, things that aren't in the free from section but are gluten free anyway.

And what do i thicken my soup with. Cornflour is the obvious option but it tends to make things a bit gloopy so is it better to use the previous blended gf flour.

I wouldn't put flour in soup. Potatoes and lentils are both good for thickening home-made soup.

Maybe a little cornflour in white sauces, cheese sauce etc - though I agree that using a lot makes things gloopy. I'd be inclined to go for thinner sauces just using meat juices, veggie stock etc.

My gluten free stepdaughter mainly eats meat, fish, chicken, eggs, cheese, pulses, rice and rice cakes, fresh veg etc. Crisps for snacks. Rather than buying the 'Free from stuff.'

I'm not coeliac but I know a few people who are and they have always said to not necessarily shop from the free from aisles as supermarkets tend to put more expensive gf flour etc. there and to shop from the flour aisle for exactly what you want. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Buy some glutinous rice and add a tablespoon to any soups which you are going to blitz: makes them lovely and creamy.
I love bread but find gluten free bread (all of them) horrid so eat rice or potatoes instead.
Many of the supermarket finest sausages are made with rice instead of wheat now so do check your labels.
Remember coeliac is an immune condition (not an allergy as such) so you need to completely avoid contamination: this means that you must avoid all the things which say 'made in a factory which processes wheat' or 'cannot guarantee gluten free'.
For a while, and until you are up to speed, I would recommend avoiding processed foods and cook as much from scratch using veg/meat/potatoes/rice etc as you can. It will take several weeks for your body to recuperate.
The burgers in my local butchers don't contain wheat so would be fine for someone with a simple allergy but...the onion powder is made on a line which also makes a stock powder which does contain wheat and therefore contamination is possible....coeliac is a whole new way of thinking. Good luck.

I'm a coeliac. We eat G/F at home as I can't risk cross contamination (consider this too!). We have rice or potatoes as our carb usually. G/F pasta about once a week, try a few to find one that you like the taste of and don't cook for very long or it goes mushy.

I would put potato / sweet potato / pulses in soups as a natural thickener.

I try to avoid substitutes, but if I fancy toast, Burgen do a lovely soy and linseed loaf in the FF section.

I don't know what you have been advised about oats, but the usual advice is no oats (and the they must only EVER be certified G/F ones) for the first year and then a slow re-introduction, so, be careful with lots of G/f biscuits, even from the FF section as they are usually made with its flour.

Doves farm GF flour is great for all baking, white sauces etc... my g/f Yorkshire puddings are WAY better than my wheaty ones ever where!

Feel free to ask me any questions if I can be of help.

My 2 children are coeliac. It was really tricky to begin with. We joined Coeliac U.K. & you can download an app to scan your supermarket shopping which makes things easier. You get a book too with loads of great suggestions on what to eat/eating out. The Facebook groups for coeliacs really help too. We use gf flour, not ever in soup though. It's cross contamination that's biggest danger really - toaster pockets, separate butter etc. Gluten free food is expensive so try to eat meat, potato based dishes. We always eat gluten free as a family as it's just too much faff to cook separate meals. Good luck.

Thanks for all these replies. Yes i have two autoimmunes already so the coeliac diagnoses wasn't a huge surprise, it's just the one that affects day to day life the most.

I'm not a big "sweet" eater so cake and biscuits are not a big problem.

I hadn't thought about things being made on the same line as things made with wheat. Do you just avoid those things?

Potato or rice is a good idea for thickening soups. What about something like gram flour or would you avoid that too?

Quiche i can make crustless, like a baked omlette. I think i may miss pizza though

Oh and m&s are very good for gluten free. Sausages all gluten free. Lots of other things gluten free too but in normal bit. Much cheaper than gf stuff in supermarkets too & tasty. Genius bread goes down best in this house. We tried making our own but took ages & didn't last more than a day before it was rock hard.

You don't need to miss pizza: use a beaten flat chicken breast like a 'pitta pizza' or a rosti, then start it off in a really hot pan so it goes crisp underneath before finishing in the oven or under the grill.

Yes, you do need to avoid anything that may be contaminated. You do need to ask, not just rely on the ingredients. It gets easier.

Gram flour is gluten free as it's made from chick peas. If you do fancy pizza and want to eat out Zizzi do nice GF pizzas. Pizza Express do GF pizzas too and also sell them in supermarkets.

If you do buy ready made foods, sausages, tinned soup etc, don't take for granted that they won't suddenly change the recipe. I had the same veggie sausages for a while and then suddenly got ill, and noticed they'd started using wheat flour in the ingredients. Would definitely recommend joining Coeliac UK as PP mentioned, as they update you when ingredients change.

I don't really like any of the GF breads, I find the wraps and crackers much nicer.

99% of GF biscuits are awful, and hugely expensive, so don't bother with them!

My GF friend bought a breadmaking machine and so just bakes her own bread, as it's nicer and cheaper than the fairly dismal GF breads on offer. The warburtons seeded rolls are not bad if you want to make breadcrumbs for stuffing etc, though.

(I am not coeliac but have a close friend who is, so road-test GF products frequently!)

Oo I have a bread making machine. I'll have to dig out the instructions to see if it will make gluten free bread.

Oh my gosh, stuffing, i hadn't even thought about that, i like stuffing.

Schär bread is the best. We have used a breadmaker for 20 years but don't bother for gf bread as it just never tastes very good.

We must have tried half a dozen recipes, too.

I really wouldn't bother with it.

We try and concentrate on food and recipes that are naturally gf. When my son is home we eat a lot of rice and wedges. Occasionally gf pasta. I have just made chocolate flapjacks for a treat. Easter pudding will be a chocolate meringue birds nest with chocolate eggs I have checked are naturally gf and made on lines where no gluten is used.

Heck sausages are gf and my son eats them once or twice a week.

Oh, and rice noodles! It's taken me ages to learn how to cook them properly so that they don't just go into a big lump (soak in warm water for 10 mins, then drain, immerse in boiling water for max 2 mins or less, drain), but once you know, they are so easy.

Sainsburys do a nice gf pepperoni frozen pizza.

Just roll now do a gluten free puff pastry which is really handy.

What supermarket do you usually use?

I usually shop in Aldi but have a Tesco within walking distance

I got some really good gf white chocolate and cranberry cookies in Aldi last week. I think they were £1.25 which is pretty reasonable for gf.

That's very good value!

Pizza express GF pizza a real treat.

I use Waitrose GF pasta and no one can tell the difference.
I like the brown ciabatta rolls as bread. M and S do a small GF loaf that's the best I've found to toast.
Swiss bouillon stock.

Breakfast can be hard. I like Quaker Gf oats (some people avoid oats altogether) or Natures path granola. Genius GF scotch pancakes for a weekend treat.

Careful with eating out esp curry - you'd think GF but often thickened with flour.

Snacks can be hard. Some crisps ok. We use Doves farm GF blend flour to bake with and it's great.

Personally, I think that you have to try stuff for yourself really - what some people like, others loathe. I've been GF for 19 years, and personally, having to bake all the cakes or biscuits I wanted to eat got very old and I'm deeply appreciative of being able to buy a ready meal/fishfingers/frozen gateaux (thanks Tesco!)
If Ocado deliver in your area then its worth doing the odd order with them as they sell such a huge GF range and its very easy to check ingredients.

Aldi are pretty good for GF, with their new free from section, a lot of the sausages are GF (you need to check every time though) and the crisps are mostly.

Pizza Express do nice pizza. So do La Favourita if you're ever in Glasgow or Edinburgh (they deliver and there is also a restaurant).

Genius GF crumpets aren't bad, generally speaking though we've switched to potatoes/rice/quinoa as most of the substitutes are pretty poor.

Gluten free hobnobs are good.

My biggest tip would be if you go on holiday, go to Madrid. There is a really active coeliac society there. They have gone out to all the restaurants and educated them about cross contamination etc. There is a great bakery there called Celicioso. you can get really good crusty rolls in El Barril de Las Letras or La Parilla del Mago on Calle San Agustin, or any of the other Gropo Oter restaurants. Made only with rice flour, cornflour, yeast and water, no xantham gum/hydroproxymethycellouse nonsense like all the breads here. It's made by some people in Barcelona, so doubtless you can get it elsewhere in Spain.