Wheat-free ideas needed please

[Sazisi]

I have finally bitten the bullet, and given up wheat for a trial period, to see if it sorts out my skin and tummy 'ishoos'
(I've gleaned from several sources that wheat is probably my problem; tried eliminating dairy which made no difference)

I've got 3 young kids and almost everything I usually eat has wheat

I've bought some special pasta, but need some more ideas

have a look her
www.pig2twig.co.uk

it is a diet site primarily but there is NO wheat knocking about

risotto
tuna casserole (tuna, rice, cream of mushroom)
corn tortillas - quesadillas (cheese and corn totrillas)
stir fry with rice noodles

any pasta sauce - bolognese etc but with rice.
Ricecakes/oat cakes for breakfast instead of toast, cornflakes,oatbix, porridge.
Rice noodles, baked potatoes, moussaka, salads, fish pie with mash, chicken pie with mash.

I stopped eating wheat six months ago due to an allergy. It has made a massive improvement not only to my health but as a bonus also to my skin and (formerly ) bloated tum.

It can be really hard when you're out and about because EVERYTHING has wheat in! At parties for instance, you have to battle past the canapes, mini sausages etc, all of which I LOVE. Also I have to phone restaurants in advance to go through the menu for wheat free options.

At home though, things are so easy!

Here's what I use:

1. Bread - try to get sourdough rye bread, it's v. nice. If you can't get it and fancy making your own, try using spelt (a derivative of wheat but it rarely produces undesirable side-effects) or a wheat and gluten free flour (Doves Farm is excellent). Recipes usually found on backs of their packets.

1. Flour for cooking - again, use spelt or something like Doves Farm... both work pretty much OK in cakes and sauces, esp. the wheat and gluten free stuff. As I said, recipes are on the packets so making pastry, muffins etc is fairly straightforward.

1. Again with pasta you don't have to compromise. Most supermarkets, in particular Sainsbury's, do an excellent 'Free From' range (although the bread is pants) and the pasta is just as good as the wheaty stuff... take care not to overcook it though as it turns to mush!

1. Cakes. A-haa, now we're talking! If you're a domestic goddess then you'l manage fine with the replacement flours but again go to the 'Free From' aisle and you should find plenty to indulge in! Flapjacks and Crispy Cakes fine, just be sure to read the label.

That's all I can think of for now... just be sure to have wheat-free snacks in like rice cakes (Snack-a-Jacks, mmm...) and bread and you'll be OK.

Good luck, it's hard work but worth it!

PS will refer to pig 2 twig, thanks for that. Is that India Knight's?

Sorry, I stand corrected. Spelt is an early strain of wheat, no a derivative. I believe... Anyway, it's great.

all the wheat free biscuits, bread etc are horrible
the pasta just disintegrates

i dont find it difficult at all - i just dont bother with those foods - dont find replacements or anything, just dnt bother

Best tip? dove farm gluten free self raising flour

seriously, with that I can whip up fab GF pancakes / cakes / whatever (have 2 gf, although 1 consistently so)

Asda sell it

GF bread is not fit for human consumption (the best of the worst seems to be lakeland mix from their website) but the naan breads, pitta etc are lovely so we give those toasted with eggs eyc, or for sarnies.

Check everything: wheat gets hidden well. You'll soon pivck it up, and learn whats fab- forexample for gf / df ds4 Alpro yoghurts are a saiour as they are nicer than the real thing!

Wheat free isn't too bad really, more options than GF anyway. Ad anything becomes the nrom really quickly ime.

rice is good; oatcakes and oat biscuits fill a gap; you can buy lots of specialist breads that are wheat-free now; look in the Tesco etc. Free From ranges and also the Food Doctor range; for home baking look at the Doves Farm specialist flour range and recipes.
Are you going wheat free or gluten free?
if the latter you will probably still be ok with oats even though they contain gluten - it is quite a different sort of gluten and even some coeliac disease suffers can tolerate oats.

Don't forget about potatoes as well! have mashed potato tops to pies instead of pastry

Nailpolish, pasta fine but if you overcook it even slightly it disintegrates. I have made the mistake too many times to count!

Looks like everyone else is in favour of Doves Farm, it really is fab don't know where I'd be without it!

Oh thanks everyone
So Doves Farm gluten-free flour is a must, then
The things I was most dreading going without is quiche and cheese sauce, but looks like they should be okay now with some minor adjustments.
Our local Tesco is shite, I had a look at their gf breads etc and they're vile. The naan looks normal enough though ('cept for the price) so I'll give that a go. The health food shop is a bit of a trek, but they do stock all kinds of beautiful breads so I'll go there and stock-up

thumbElf, I'm just going wheat free because I suspect an intolerence (probably brought on by over-consumption of bread/pasta etc) as oposed to gluten allergy. I couldn't ever give up porridge!

I've been trying to start this new regime for ages, but kept putting it off because I don't eat meat and this feels like excluding another whole food group But I'm sure it'll be a doddle once I've got used to it

Thanks again for all the advice and tips

are quiche and cheese sauce

Sazisi, then you will find it easier than if you were going gluten-free.

Personally I recommend the rice and millet pasta by Orgran as being the nicest of the wheatless ones - my DH even prefers it now to wheat pasta!

the Doves farm recipe for pastry using their gluten free flour makes FAB quiches - I made 3 for DS's christening and almost everyone asked for the recipe!

You might find you are ok with spelt, as it is an ancient form of wheat and lots of people with a wheat intolerance can still take spelt - but in the initial stages I would avoid it. Give yourself a month clear of all wheat and wheat-based stuff and see how you feel, then introduce the spelt and see if it brings on any symptoms again. If not, then you'll be ok with it.

Good luck!

oh yes, and the Tesco bread- agree the GF stuff is horrible but you don't need that, you can go for the rye breads etc. (Rye has gluten in so doesn't qualify as GF)
I buy spelt bread when I can get it (not in supermarkets) but also get a Rice bread with Flax seed, made by Ener-G, available in most Waitrose stores but you can get it by mailorder. It is nice enough for toast and sandwiches - not great for eating on it's own, it's a bit crumbly but it isn't brick-like, as so many of them are. I love the Ener-G range but much of it isn't easily available.

I also suggest you stay well away from Mrs. Crimble's range of GF cakes. They are totally addictive, especially the double choc brownies!!