John and I were recently discussing what the greatest challenges/needs of a gluten free diet are. For us, it’s finding time to cook gluten free food at home, but since we, admittedly, do not have a typical lifestyle I wanted to get your input. Leave us a comment to let us know what your challenges are on a gluten free diet. What do you need to succeed on a gluten free diet?
By the way, Gluten Free Cooking School now has over 2400 readers! I’d love to see how many comments we can get on this one post. Who knows, maybe if you tell the universe what you need, you’ll get an answer =)
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I forgot to mention I’m allergic to pea and bean flours, too.
In response to Megan. I understand your panic. I work at a convenience store and we do not get a break and we do not get a lunch. The only people who get a breather, so to speak, are the smokers who get to go outside as often as they want. Lunch is almost an impossibility for me and like Megan, making lunch ahead of time, i.e. a sandwich, is very un-tasty and dry when trying to eat between helping customers. Eight hours is a long time to go without eating something satisfying. Then i end up grabbing a pack of candy of some sort just to stop the growl in my stomach. If anyone thinks working in a convenience store would be great for eating snacks, forget it, there is hardly anything that is gluten free, including a lot of the candy. Gluten free is mostly limited to some potato chips, some corn chips, a few candies, no sandwiches. Label reading is an absolute necessity. So, bringing a lunch is necessary for proper eating.
For Rachel: As far as party ideas go, it depends on the number you plan to feed and where you’re feeding them. If at home or somewhere you can bring the food, do 2 pans of lasagna (one GF & one regular, mark the pan not the foil on top), a big salad, GF bread, store-bought rolls and ice cream sundaes with all the toppings. Or, make a big crock pot of barbecue with corn bread, cole slaw, potato salad and baked beans and mixed fresh fruit for dessert (use a little prepared instant lemon pudding as a sauce and garnish with fresh mint). Grill boneless chicken breasts with seasoned salt, garlic salt, black pepper and a squirt of lime juice. Season every time you turn and turn often. Serve with a big salad, grilled potatoes in foil, corn-on-the-cob and black beans. For the kids, put the chicken on skewers before grilling with or without veggies or cut chicken into strips and pierce with a popsicle stick after it’s done. (chicken pops from Family Fun.com) Do a big taco bar using corn taco shells with cheese, lettuce and tomato, warm queso dip & salsa with blue corn chips, a big salad, Mexican rice, limeade, ricotta cheese sweetened with powdered sugar and flavored with almond extract or liqueur. For birthdays, Betty Crocker (R) has boxed gluten-free cake mix that’s the bomb…chocolate and yellow. Nobody I’ve served it to knows the difference. Hope that gives you a place to start.
My biggest challenge is the calories in gluten free food. When I was diagnosed 7 years ago I could eat as much as I wanted without gaining weight. Of course I was not absorbing the nutrients either. After my diagnosis I gained 30 pounds within a few months. I stay on a strict diet but still fight weight gain. Any solutions?
Judy,
There is a very frequent concurrence between thryoid disease and celiac. You might want to have your thyroid checked.
Just a thought,
Beth