Tips???

June 2, 2006

I was diagnosed with celiac in the fall of 2003. I have pretty much

been in denial. I have try going gluten free a couple times. The last

couple of months things have gotten alot worst. Mentally and

physically. I'm trying really hard to make an effort of going gluten

free and staying gluten free. I have the books and have done plenty of

research. What I really need help with is the what to buy and the

planning. I live with my boyfriend( who is does not have celiac) and I

do the cooking for both of us. I'm not sure where to start when it

comes to shopping and planning meals out. Before I would just wing it

when going grovery shopping but that has to change in order for me to

stay gluten free. I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for me.

Thank you.

June 2, 2006

Hi ,

It's so important to stay gluten free, for your present and future

health, so we will all be rooting for you. Just ask us any questions

that you have, and we will all be happy to help.

I don't know how you feel about cooking, but hopefully you are ready

for some cooking adventures- it will make your diet a lot more

delicious and enjoyable. It is probably easiest to concentrate on

gluten free meals, and then if your boyfriend is pining for gluten

bread or whatever, he can get his own toaster and space on the counter,

without you having to worry about it. You will eventually be able

to " wing it " in the supermarket, but it may take some time to get used

to the brands and aisles that are better for you. For example, when I

walk down the supermarket aisles, the bread aisle, the cookie and

cracker aisle, cereal aisle and the prepared soup aisle basically don't

exist for me. Ditto with the pasta section and bakery area. I don't

even see them anymore. As an alternative, you can spend serious quality

time in the produce section (potatoes can be your new best friend),

meat and seafood aisle. Canned and frozen veggies are also good for

staples, it's always good to invest in a wide variety of spices, and

definitely don't forget to hang out in the rice section.

Rice and potatoes were the first main staple of my gluten free diet

as a kid. I grew to love all varieties of rice. Brown rice is nutty and

is the supreme comfort food, but it does take more time to cook.

Jasmine rice has a lovely, almost floral fragrance and is great for

pilafs. Basmati rice has a faintly earthly flavor, maybe because it's

often packed in burlap bags, and is wonderful with indian currys.

Arborio rice, the short, fat italian rice, is wonderful and creamy when

sauteed on the stove in risotto in a method that involves slowly adding

vegetable or chicken broth (gluten free of course) to it, along with

other desirable ingredients. Sushi rice, or the short, fat white rice

popular in Japan, is great for sushi, or with a Japanese style stir

fry. Wild rice is actually not a rice, but is a nutty needle like black

grain very nice in cold salads. I highly recommend you get some kind

of " Rice " cookbook- not necessarily gluten free, but it should have all

kinds of recipes that will be easily adaptable. One option if you are

looking for easy, one dish meal, is " the Ultimate Rice Cooker

Cookbook. " It has good tips on rice, a wide variety of recipes from

different cuisines, and tells you all about the varieties of rice. One

important tip in this book is to rinse all of your rice (except for

brown and arborio) to get rid of the excessive starchiness before

cooking.

Potato cookbooks are wonderful too because they give you all kinds

of techniques for making varied kind of potato dishes. There is a world

of difference between what you can do with sliced, shredded, cubed,

baked, deep fried, mashed, etc. potatoes- it's exciting, actually. And

potatoes are filling (often a problem when recently diagnosed with

celiac and absorption is an issue) and gentle on the stomach. In fact,

they are my hangover, or gluten poisoning morning after meal of choice.

They don't call America a land of meat and potatoes for nothing! This

kind of side dish goes over well with the more " Traditional " American

guy as well, which may be a plus if your bf is picky. Recently I've

become a sweet potato-aholic, which I especially like cut into french

fry shapes, dribbled in olive oil and baked until crispy.

Another popular staple is the corn tortilla, which many people

enjoy as an easy and cheap bread alternative. I personally get tired of

them, so wouldn't want them every day, but you may find them addictive,

used as a wrap, used to make yummy mexican food (most salsas are gluten

free!!- try subbing salsa for enchilada sauce in an enchilada recipe-

enchilada sauce is NOT always gf), or creatively incorporated in

recipes like lasagna noodles (ok, I'm stretching here). Some of our

members like YGG enjoy making their own from scratch- the flavor is

better although they do take a little time, IMO. Super yummy though!

You can pair rice, potatoes, or corn tortillas with

meat/chicken/seafood/tofu/beans, a sauteed (roasted, grilled, stir

fried, deep fried, blanched) vegetable, and maybe a small salad, and

you have a whole meal! It might sound boring, but you can make an

amazing diverse collection of recipes with these simple ingredients and

by using the right spices and making tasty sauces. I recommend this

kind of " whole foods " approach to the gluten free diet, because some

members are really happy with it, and it's how my Mom initially coped

with the gluten free diet.

If you are more of a prepared box/ mix kinda cook (a little more

expensive), then there are good gluten free options out there that we

can tell you about. There are some excellent mail order companies out

there with a wide variety of products. I personally like Mrs. Leepers

box noodle casserole dishes- she has chicken, tuna (my fave) or

hamburger. Good for a busy night. You may find it a lot more fun

shopping at a health food store rather than a mainstream store,

especially for this kind of prepared GF meal product (though some

mainstream stores have good " health food " sections or GF prepared food

mixed in with the regular stuff. I like Thai Kitchen prepared noodles

as far as ramen-like alternatives- they use rice noodles, and taste

pretty good (depending on flavoring and your personal taste). Amy's has

excellent prepared GF soups (labeled GF, check for label), frozen GF

meals, and even a frozen GF rice pizza. (Not all of her products are GF

so read label carefully).

As far as shopping goes, I might suggest subscribing to a magazine

like " Cooking Light " (my personal favorite) which has lots of healthy,

not difficult to prepare recipes with photos and easy to follow

directions. You can bookmark recipes that look good to you, modify them

to gluten free (not that hard- mostly involving subbing rice/ GF flour

for regular flour, gluten free soy sauce (tamari) for regular, etc) and

then compose your shopping list for the week. (I don't recommend you

try to modify yeast breads or puff pastry etc. recipes, better to go

with a gluten free cookbook for that (no PP, sorry), but fruit based or

high fat cakes/ muffins may turn out well GF- however, this kind of

magazine is BEST for planning the main dishes and side dishes for us).

If you want to bake, I recommend Bette Hagman or Carol Fenster's

(LATEST) book, as you will probably have the best results from them.

Also, you could look at the recipes in the files, all of which were

contributed by our board members, and compose a weekly menu using these

recipes. If you would like to know our favorites, just ask. I have some

in there that I make weekly. Also, if you want to go fancy shmancy, if

that's your style, going naturally gluten free international is a fun

and tasty way to go. Pick up a thai, indian (esp. Southern), Japanese,

Chinese, or Mexican cookbook that seems to have lots of easy to adapt

or naturally GF recipes, and learn a new cuisine! This is my favorite

way to cook!

Also, as for eating out- we have lists of restaurants in the files

that offer gluten free menus or have extensive " allergy guides " . If you

tell us your State/City we can advise you on specific GF friendly

locations in your area, but people enjoy chains like P.F. Changs, In &

Out, etc. very much. I tend to scout out a restaurant that seems GF

friendly, ask about menu items, and if it goes over well, often end up

ordering the same thing over and over. We enjoy eating out very much-

just have to avoid certain places, like pizza joints (except in rare

locations), Italian pasta places, and bakery cafes. Cuisines that often

have GF options are: Thai restaurants, steak and seafood places,

mexican restaurants with corn tortilla (watch the enchilada sauce-

probably wheaty!!!)- i like the fajita option, and always Japanese

sushi. If your stomach is still messed up you may want to stick to

cooked fish or veggie- ask me if you have questions, I have the skinny

on Japanese food.

Please ask if you have any further questions. I hope this was

helpful. I've been gluten free for 26 years, so I guess I'm an old hand

at this stuff! (diagnosed at 3). Best wishes and happy (and delicious!)

gluten free cooking. PS If you'd like to be inspired, take a look at

our photos- we have pictures of gluten free food made by our members.

-

>

> I was diagnosed with celiac in the fall of 2003. I have pretty much

> been in denial. I have try going gluten free a couple times. The last

> couple of months things have gotten alot worst. Mentally and

> physically. I'm trying really hard to make an effort of going gluten

> free and staying gluten free. I have the books and have done plenty of

> research. What I really need help with is the what to buy and the

> planning. I live with my boyfriend( who is does not have celiac) and I

> do the cooking for both of us. I'm not sure where to start when it

> comes to shopping and planning meals out. Before I would just wing it

> when going grovery shopping but that has to change in order for me to

> stay gluten free. I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for me.

> Thank you.

>

June 2, 2006

Just keep on trying - don't let setbacks feel like failures, because

this is not easy. Every day you succeed, give yourself a pat on the

back! Preplanning is the key for me - it is easy to fall off the

wagon if you're starving and there is nothing around but gluten free

snacks!

Here are some recipe books that REALLY help me:

Grain-free Gourmet by Jodi Bager and Lass (awesome)

Lucy's Specific Carbohydrate Diet Cookbook by Lucy Rosset

Adventures in the Family Kitchen by Raman Prasad (interesting Indian

dinners for the allergy sufferers, along with other recipes)

You can get the first one at Amazon, but you have to go somewhere

like http://scdiet.com/ to get the rest. The Grain-free gourmet has

a great pizza dough recipe made from almond flour - it says make it,

put the toppings on, then bake, but I split the batch in 2, make 2 5-

6 " pizzas, cook the crust 10 minutes, add toppings, cook 15 minutes,

and ta da!! As my 5 year old says - this is AWESOME!!! If anyone

wants the recipe, I can post it.

Also helpful - keep prepared snack in the fridge. I'm allergic to

something in roasted nuts that you buy, so I buy raw and roast (put

in a bag, add 2 tbsp olive oil, spread on cookie sheet, roast at

350for 5 minutes, add sea salt and spices) Those are great for

snacking. I buy fruit and keep it cut up in a bowl, same with

veggies. And I always keep peanut butter brownies and peanut butter

available!

Good luck!

Heidi

June 2, 2006