Student newly diagnosed with coeliac disease

[AugustaHope]

Hi all.
My daughter has been diagnosed with coeliac disease. She's 19 and at uni.
Does anyone have any children who are students and can advise on easy quick cheap options?
I'm assuming that the uni food will have gluten free options but she does enjoy cooking for herself and eating out with friends as well.
Cheap and relatively easy options (for recipes or restaurant chains) would be gratefully received. (Also - those of you with children with coeliac disease - do you keep the whole kitchen gluten free at home or just separate out food with/without gluten?)
Thanks in advance

I should add that I'm on here but have name changed for this thread...

A lot of the Italian chains (Prezzo, Bella Italia, etc) do gluten free versions of a lot of their pasta and pizza dishes. They do usually have gluten free menus if you ask.

I’m v happy to share my gluten free cookbook with her - please DM me if you’d like it! Mostly my own recipes with some tips for good websites too

I was diagnosed while at university. I was given a fridge to keep in my own room to help prevent things like "accidental" butter-borrowing with a crumby knife, but other ways to avoid "sharing" are possible. A big chopping board to prep on and things to cover surfaces/grills with are useful to prevent cross-contamination. And don't blindly trust uni catering when they say they can do GF…

Thank you - that's great to know.
Her go-to restaurants tend to be Wagamamas and SE Asian foods and she's most upset about the fact that soy sauce contains gluten 😟. I've found gluten free stir fry sauces today though!

Thank you that's amazing. I'll pm you!

Thank you that's good to know. I read that she should probably contact them about having some separate storage. She is starting with just 4 others this year which hopefully will help.

For cooking, Kikkoman GF soy sauce is widely available and okay, and a lot of tamari soy sauces are made without wheat too (but you need to check obvs).

Oh thank you!

DS3 is just going into his second year, although he was just six when diagnosed so we’ve had well over a decade of practice.

he was self-catered in year 1 and was provided with a fridge in his room. Cross-contamination is a risk in a shared kitchen. He had his own toaster which one of his flatmates managed to contaminate within the first week - certainly not deliberately. Beyond that all his flatmates have been really supportive, plus they had a large kitchen with a quite staggering amount of storage.

check out Becky Excel (like the spreadsheet) for quick and easy cookbook. I think she’s just released a second one.

a lot of things are naturally free of gluten free, but check ingredient labels carefully. Sadly a lot of free from products also come with a price premium. Bread and cereals being the obvious staples in that category.

a lot of restaurants have gluten free options on their menus.

Asda have the best range of GF staples at reasonable prices. Their GF pasta was 45p a bag up until July... now 85p, but a lot cheaper than elsewhere.

I am coeliac and have a separate toaster, chopping board, food cupboard and butter in the fridge to the rest of the family. We try to cook GF where possible.

Get her to download the coeliac Uk app - it allows you to scan barcodes on products and then states whether a product is gluten free or not. Also has a list of restaurants which are gf "safe" It's also worth joining Coeliac Uk as they send you a handbook every year which lists suitable products sorted by supermarket, restaurants etc

My DS was diagnosed 4 years ago at age 15 and he's just returned home after living at college for the last 3 years. His go to supermarket was Morrisons and his local one had all their free from in one place including all ambient, fridge and frozen which he lived as it meant he wasn't searching to find them. It's also surprising how many normal foods are gluten free and that's where the app comes in handy.

My Dd is 21yo and has coeliac disease. She still eats in wagamama. They’re really good.

Dont trust restaurants who say they are GF without checking that they are aware of cross contamination.
Checking how the food will be cooked eg that chip oil is not used for battered foods etc
Or that ingredients like soya, sauces, mustard etc have been checked as GF.

Yes, chain restaurants tend to be better. Some individual places are ok but I quiz them to within an inch of their life. One pizza place near me does gf pizzas but all cooked in the same pizza oven, direct on the stone oven floor, no baking tray, no cleaning down between. I get why it’s not practical but then don’t put gf pizza on the menu!

And she needs to read labels for everything when cooking, even found a spice jar recently which had wheat in it! Drinks as well! And don’t think oh I’ve had it before so it’ll be ok. Co-op have just added wheat to their own brand crisps which used to be ok.

Have they? Arseburgers 😒

Brilliant. Thanks everyone - this is so helpful. I really appreciate it.

easy quick cheap options?
Sausages. You don't need to search out special ones; the default is GF.

The default sausage is very much not GF. Traditional British sausages are extended with rusk i.e. wheat.

Finest/Taste the Difference/other supermarket premium ranges do tend to be GF as standard as and often say so on the front of the package, as are many continental sausages (though you always have to check), but the sausages your average student will buy, no.

How good is she at cooking from scratch because that is obviously the cheapest way to eat gluten free. Anything like bread, cakes, biscuits, and gluten free savoury convenience foods are massively marked up.
She just needs to cook basic meals using rice, potatoes or gluten free pasta.
She does also need to check labels religiously and remember to avoid oats, dried fruit and most crisps.

Becky Excell's website is good for recipes. Gluten free pasta is ok, as long as it isn't over cooked as it falls apart, although it's more expensive than normal dried pasta. Baked beans are generally gf as are tinned tomatoes which are good for making sauces rather than using gf jars of sauce. If she has access to a freezer, the Schar frozen bread rolls are the best gf bread according to dh and good for burgers, sandwiches and make nice garlic bread when spread with garlic purée and butter mix and toasted. If she has an Aldi nearby, they do gf burgers and sausages pretty cheap and the gf tempura chicken mini fillets and nuggets are nice.

By 'default' I do not mean an artisan/butcher product, I mean your average supermarket sausage (the type that students buy). And I mean the average sausage not the premium range. It will say on the packet that it is GF.
The point I am making is that you do not have to go searching in the Free From section, they are the default banger.

Rice and potatoes are gluten free. Avoiding special products saves money.

Loads of supportive groups on Facebook. Would also recommend joining Coeliac Uk, even if just until you get your head round it all.
My daughter is 10 so not at the student stage yet but has been diagnosed since she was 5. Our house is mostly 100% gluten free. My husband has the odd thing but he keeps it away from other food. It's just easier for us - wanted to ensure her home was the one safe place where she doesn't have to give it any thought!