Gluten Free Cooking School » gluten free diet

10 Ways to Accidentally Gluten Yourself at Thanksgiving

Mary Frances — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:51:43 +0000

Thanksgiving is full of gluten-filled landmines. If this is your first Thanksgiving on a gluten free diet, you might not realize the challenge that awaits you. Read this list and make sure you’re ready to stay gluten free this Thanksgiving.

Even if you’re not new to the gluten free diet, a refresher of the potential pitfalls is valuable. How do you think I came up with this list anyway?

10. Eat a turkey that’s been shot up with gluten filled flavorings. Make sure that your turkey is gluten free.

9. Eat cornbread dressing that was made with non-GF cornmeal. Go the extra step and buy certified GF cornmeal to make sure that you’re not getting cornmeal that was processed in a facility that also processes wheat.

8. Attempt to scrape the pie filling out of the pie without catching any crumbs. I’ve tried it – many times. I dare say that it’s not possible.

7. Eating vegetable dishes without asking about the ingredients. Creamed corn is a great example – sometimes it’s made with cornstarch, but it’s often thickened with wheat flour.

6. Let someone use the same spoon to serve the GF and non-GF stuffings. Big no-no. Even little bits of gluten cause damage.

5. Eat a creamy casserole that you didn’t make yourself. Chances are overwhelming that a can of Campbell’s soup was included.

4. Not having a back-up plan for overwhelming temptation, e.g., a can of chocolate icing in your purse.

3. Pouring gravy over your stuffing without checking ingredients. You know gravy is often thickened with wheat flour, right? And that not all cornstarch is GF?

2. Nosh on the veggie dip appetizers that your aunt set out for the early arrivers. Salad dressings and spinach dips seem so innocuous, but read the label before dipping.

1. Getting overwhelmed before you even get to Turkey Day and deciding that you’ll just cheat so that you can enjoy the day. I know some of you are thinking that, so STOP IT! Get busy and figure out what you can cook so that your Thanksgiving meal will be enjoyable.

Am I Gluten Intolerant? How To Find Out

Mary Frances — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:48:26 +0000

In last week newsletter I mistakenly said that the only way to know if you are gluten intolerant is to try a gluten free diet. My wonderful newsletter readers wrote back to let me know that I was wrong. Here’s the question that I was responding to, followed by my readers’ responses.

Q: My doctor did a blood test and ruled out celiac. But my stomach issues continue. I am wondering if I have a gluten intolerance. Could you tell me more about this? Can they do a test to find out? This is all new to me and I am very overwhelmed and just want to feel better soon! I am thinking of getting your kit and trying no gluten to see if it helps. How long would I need to do it for to tell whether it works? ~Patti

There were several recommendations by my readers. The most popular by far was to have testing done by Enterolab. Following is one of the many emails recommending Enterolab.

I thought I’d chime in on the question from a reader about whether there is a way to test for gluten intolerance. You said there is not, except to do a gluten-free trial. But there IS a test, and I recently had it at the advice of a nutritionist and hormone expert, and I tested VERY positive for gluten intolerance.

I have no stomach/intestinal symptoms and have never felt bad eating gluten, but I do have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s Disease) and low bone density, both of which can be caused by gluten intolerance.

Lindsey Berkson, the nutritionist/hormone expert I’m seeing, recommended that I have the anti-gliadin IgA antibody test for gluten sensitivity developed by Enterolab. (Danna Korn says in her book “Living Gluten Free for Dummies” in the section about testing for celiac and gluten sensitivity that Enterolab is the only lab in the U.S. that does a stool test for celiac and gluten sensitivity).

Enterolab offers quite a few different types of tests for gluten sensitivity and the genes for celiac, as well as food allergies. I had the test I mentioned above, which costs $99 ($120 total, including shipping the test materials to me and the return UPS overnight shipping fee).

It’s a simple stool test, and it tests for the antibodies to gluten that are present in stool if someone is sensitive to it and is still eating gluten. You do the test while eating your normal diet that contains gluten. The doctor who runs the lab and patented the tests says on the website that the test is much more sensitive than a blood test because the anti-gliadin antibodies are present in stool before they can be detected in blood.

A normal level (negative result) is 10 units or less of the anti-gliadin IgA antibody. My result was 71. I called and talked to a nurse at the lab after I got my results because I was so shocked. I said “but I don’t feel bad when I eat gluten! Your lab must have made a mistake!” She replied that I am one of the many “asymptomatic” folks, but that continuing to eat gluten would damage my body, and that it might be the cause of my thyroid and low bone density problems. She said that most of their patients who test positive are in the range of 40 to 80, so my result was very high. But she told me that that is actually a good thing because it indicates that my immune system is still in good shape and is really pumping out the antibodies because it sees gluten as an invader, much like a virus.

You do not need a doctor’s prescription to take any of Enterolab’s tests. You can order the test(s) and pay on their website. One of the founder’s goals is to let people take their health into their own hands. A positive result of this is that the test results will not be in patients’ medical records to possibly be used against them in the future by insurance companies.

The lab site has a wealth of information on it about gluten sensitivity and celiac, and information about all of the tests. The website is:
www.enterolab.com

Once I looked at the website, I realized that I had looked at these tests in considering whether to do any additional testing for celiac/gluten sensitivity for our kids. It’s something that I need to revisit since John and I have not had any follow-up testing to make sure our antibodies are down, and the kids will need periodic testing due to our family history.

I found the Enterolab FAQ to be very helpful in explaining gluten sensitivity and why this stool test will detect a problem before a blood test. Spend some time reading over this.

Another reader wrote in with a great insight as to why having actual test results can be more helpful than simply trying a gluten free diet.

Maybe you’re not aware, but the gluten intolerance stool test that is given by Enterolab is considered VERY accurate. Dr Lieberman refers to it in her book “The Gluten Connection”.

I, personally, could have tried the GF diet, but just knew myself too well. If I’d not seen the results in black and white, I just don’t know that I would have been as careful or committed as I am. I ( as well as my husband who also tested positive ) have been 100 % GF for the last year.But knowing without any question that the damage was ongoing has made a difficult transition pretty much a no brainer.

My daughter and 1 of her 4 children just tested positive…( only 2 have been tested so far, but the other 2 will be tested next. She resisted it for the full year…didn’t really want to know, but again, once she saw black and white test results, the decision was an easy one.

According to Dr Lieberman, one of the biggest misconceptions that doctors (and consumers) are laboring under is that gluten intolerance is not as serious as full blown celiac. Not true…as those of us whose health has improved sooo much can attest.

Just thought you might like to know about the options for those who are convinced there is a problem…even when the docs blow it off..or say that unless you’re celiac, you’ve not really got an issue.

Other readers suggested having an ALCAT test, an applied kiniesology test, or having a small intestine biopsy done (which is the definitive test of celiac).

Weigh in with your opinions in the comments!

10 Reasons You’re Not Staying on a GF Diet

Mary Frances — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:00:14 +0000

The emails that my readers send me tend to go through spurts. Sometimes all of the emails are very encouraging. Sometimes they are filled with questions from the curious. At other times, the emails are filled with whiny complaints and excuses. We’re in one of those phases right now, so here’s some tough love. If you don’t need it right now, it will be hear when you do.

If you’re struggling with any of the following 10 issues, then learn how to love your gluten free life by reading my e-book. I really do want to help you, not just virtually scold you =)

10. You haven’t seen any improvements in your symptoms. At first glance it would seem reasonable to stop the gluten free diet if you’re symptoms are not improving. But, let’s ask a couple of questions first.

First, how long have you been gluten free? Some people see improvement in their symptoms within days. For others it takes months. Give yourself time to heal, especially if your symptoms indicated that there was a lot of inflammation in your body.

Second, have you really taken this gluten free diet seriously? Have you really been gluten free. There is a steep learning curve when you go gluten free. It can take a while to find all the sources of gluten in your diet. Have you been super careful about reading lables and avoiding foods that could have been contaminated with gluten? Have you been sure to use cookware that’s not contaminated with traces of gluten? If you’re not certain that you’ve been 100% gluten free, then it’s not time to stop the diet due to lack of improvement. read more

9. You don’t think that a little bit of gluten will hurt. If you believe this and you have celiac, then you’re lying to yourself. When you have celiac disease you’re body attacks the gluten when you eat it (or sometimes when you just touch it). That hurts your body, so don’t play around and have even a pinch of a slice of cake that’s made from wheat flour.

But perhaps you just have a wheat allergy….or gluten doesn’t seem to agree with you but you’ve not actually been diagnosed with celiac disease. You shouldn’t be playing around with gluten either!

If you have a wheat allergy then your body probably experiences some sort of inflammation when you eat wheat. Inflammation is NOT good for your body. And that gluten intolerance…..how do you know that’s not going to turn into something serious down the road. I’ve had way too many readers tell me that their ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, migraines, etc cleared up with they stopped eating gluten. You may not have those symptoms now….and you don’t want to. So stop sneaking the gluten when no one is watching!

8. You’re not paying attention to labels. This one is sneaky. Reading labels is boring and tedious and no one’s description of fun. But it’s absolutely necessary if you’re going to stay gluten free all the time. You have to be vigilant and suspicious and alert if you’re going to stay gluten free while eating manufactured foods. Companies change their ingredients all the time…and they process foods that should be gluten free on or near equipment that processes wheat, barley and rye.

7. You don’t have any willpower. I’m as guilty of this as anyone. If there is something that I’m not supposed to eat in the house, then I’m going to eat it. It may not be today, and it might not be tomorrow, but as soon as I get frustrated or discouraged, or tired I will eat that food like it’s the last edible food on this plant.

I’m not about to tell you to have more willpower. Gluttony (which this is, if we’re honest with ourselves) is listed as one of the deadly sins, and I’d be a fool to tell you to just have more willpower. Instead, get the gluten out of the house. If you don’t have willpower, then no one in your house should be allowed to eat food that you can’t eat. You’re health is too important. If the food’s not in the house, then you don’t have to have willpower to stay away, so the problem is solved.

6. You think a GF diet is too expensive. A gluten free diet can be expensive, but if you’re using that as an excuse to not stay on it, then you’re only thinking about the short-term. Is the price of gluten free groceries more than the price of treating stomach or colon cancer in 15 years? Is it more expensive than the lost productivity from having daily bouts of diarrhea, and bloating? Is it more expensive than emergency room trips for migraines, and all of the prescriptions that aren’t doing any good at actually curing what’s wrong with you?

You can find a way to eat a gluten free diet on your budget. You may have to spend more time working on your shopping skills. You may have to cut other costs so that you have more money for groceries. You may not be able to eat gluten free baked goods, which are the most expensive part of a gluten free diet. You many need to to apply for food stamps ask for charitable help that you’re pride is otherwise keeping you from doing. But you can find a way to eat a GF diet if you decide that you’re going to do that.

5. You can’t find GF ingredients You’re wrong. Gluten free ingredients are all around you. Check the produce section and the freshly butchered meats.

Now, you may not be able to find gluten free flours at your local grocery (I’m not),and I know how frustrating that can be, especially if you’re used to the convenience. But you can drive to a larger town or order them on the internet. For those of you who are thinking, “But, I can’t order them on the internet because I don’t buy things on the internet,” I’m not accepting that as an excuse. The gluten free ingredients are there, you’ve just made a choice not to buy them. So, drive over to the big city or circle your cart back to the produce and meat section.

4. You’re not planning ahead. This one’s tough. Planning ahead for every food eventuality is not something that we’re used to, at least not in the United States. But, if you’re going to stay gluten free you need to plan for the times you’re going to be hungry. That means having gluten free food stashes at the office, in your purse, or in the car. That means planning your meals and going grocery shopping so that there is food in the house that you can (and want) to eat. And it means calling the restaurant or checking their website beforehand to make sure that they can feed you. I know you’re busy, but take care of yourself and plan ahead so that you won’t be tempted to cheat.

3. You’re proud. So, you just ate a wilted iceburg lettuce salad with mealy, pink tomatoes while everyone around you enjoyed a delicious meal. Congratulations, you stayed gluten free but you’re not going to be gluten free for long.

Nobody wants to eat disgusting gluten free food. Make sure this doesn’t happen. You’re important. If your friends are going to a restaurant that won’t have food for you, speak up. If you’re traveling and the restaurants don’t have good options for you (It’s tough to find anything but fried foods and hamburgers in rural areas), then make everyone stop at the grocery store so that you can get some food. A meal of grapes, nuts, and cheese would be better than a wilted iceburg salad.

Stop worrying about inconveniencing everyone and stop worrying about what they think. You need food, and you need food that won’t hurt your body and that’s delicious. Because if it’s not delicious then you’re not going to stick with it.

2. You’re not trying. Are you losing weight on a gluten free diet because you’ve been eating the same three foods over and over again, and have actually stopped eating because you’re tired of those foods. There are plenty, PLENTY, of naturally gluten free foods. Go figure out what they are and start eating again.

Oh wait, there’s a hand in the back. Oh, you can’t eat gluten and x, and y, and z, and a, and b, and c, and d? I understand that’s difficult, (really, I do!) but please stop whining about it and start focusing on what you can eat. Stop getting all emotionally wrapped up in a pity party and start looking for some recipes that will work for you. Google will not hurt you….start searching for recipes now.

1. You’re afraid. Here’s the biggie. Some of you are not sticking to a gluten free diet, because you are afraid to stay on a gluten free diet. You may be afraid of change. You may be afraid of what it would mean for your life if you started feeling better.

You may be afraid of what life would be like if you couldn’t eat your favorite (gluten-filled) foods. You’re afraid of cooking. You’re afraid of baking. You’re afraid of failure.

Fear will come of with many things for you to be afraid of, and the fears are all illusions. If you can pinpoint a fear that’s keeping you from staying gluten free, then please, please, please start working on that area of your life. Figure out what you’re afraid and do something about. Don’t let fear stop you from being a vibrant, healthy person.

“I’m Starting A Gluten Free Diet. When Will I Feel Better?”

Mary Frances — Thu, 19 May 2011 20:15:08 +0000

One of the more frequent questions that I see in my email runs something like this:

“I’m about to start a gluten free trial because I think it may help with some of the symptoms I’ve been suffering with for years. What I don’t know, and I don’t know who else to ask, is when I should expect to see improvements. How long should I do a trial? A couple of weeks? A couple of months?”

I don’t have a great answer to this question. I’m not a medical expert of any sort, so all I can offer is my personal experience which won’t be all that helpful unless you have a wheat allergy that manifests in your gut (in which case, I felt better in three days). What I do have is an email list of thousands of people who for one reason or another are interested in a gluten free diet. So, I’m going to throw this question out to all of you. I’m sure that collectively we can answer this question.

So, if you’d like to help this person (and many others) out, add a comment to this post describing your symptoms, your diagnosis (if you have one) and how long it took you to see relief of your symptoms. I’d love to get a ton of answers from all of you and then compile it into one post, or a small free e-booklet full of anecdotal evidence of a gluten free (or gluten-free plus) diet making you feel better.

Pasta, Po’Boys and Pineapple: What’s on our table

Mary Frances — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:19:47 +0000

Last night’s supper was delicious AND fast. That’s not a combination that happens by chance in my household. Most of our meals are delicious….they just tend to take a while to cook. The time that a recipe takes has never before been a criteria when I was choosing our meals.

That has changed. Now that John and I are both working at home, there is extra incentive to try to minimize the dinner prep time. All three kids (and us, I admit) are a bit crazy by 5:00, so the faster that we can get through supper and bathtime, the better.

The new weekly gluten free menu plans over at the Cooking School are FAST recipes. According to the author’s note*, all can be made in less than 20 minutes if you’re comfortable in the kitchen and prep foods as you’re cooking. Believe it or not, he’s right. Unlike certain 30 minute meal cookbooks that I’ve tried, these meals are fast and simple to make. And they use seasonal ingredients and pretty standard pantry items (standard, at least, for a GF kitchen that doesn’t use a lot of processed foods). That means that the meals are pretty easy on the budget too. This was the first week that I cooked off of the menu, and I spent much, much less at the grocery store than I usually do.

(*We’re cooking through Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express cookbook.)

Here’s what we’ve had so far this week:

Banderilla Pasta: GF Pasta tossed with pickled peppers, green olives, and marinated artichokes. This was not a flavor combination that we would typically eat, but it was delicious. I really enjoyed having something different for supper. And the only cooking that was required was boiling the pasta. We ate this as a main dish with a side salad, but it would have been really good paired with grilled chicken, too. ( I forgot to take a picture of this one, and it was gone in no time!)

Gluten Free Po'boy

Shrimp (*tofu) Po’boys with Shrimp Bisque or Slaw: Tuesday night I baked up some GF sub rolls and we ate Po’Boys. Since we’re vegetarian we had fried tofu rather than fried shrimp, and vegan coleslaw rather than the shrimp bisque.

If you bake the bread earlier in the week (I try to do all my bread baking on Sunday), then this would be a pretty easy meal to put together. I tried to bake bread and take care of and feed sick babies and a sick husband and this meal took a while to put together, but I think that was entirely my fault.

Doesn’t that bread look great. It’s the Finally, Really Good Sandwich Bread baked into a hoagie shape. I’ve posted a picture tutorial at the Cooking School.

Tofu with Pineapple and Bell Peppers

Tofu with Pineapple and Peppers: Wednesday night’s meal was AMAZING. So simple and so tasty. I made a double batch so that we’d have leftovers for today’s lunch, but I spied John having seconds late last night, so that plan may be scuttled.

For those of you who have never cooked tofu, I’ll post a short tutorial in the Cooking School section. It’s very easy, and so much nicer than working with raw chicken. Of course, you could always substitute chicken in this recipe and I’m sure it would be very good.

We served this over rice and it is seasoned very simply with garlic, ginger, GF tamari (or soy sauce) and rice vinegar. So yummy!

Our Gluten Free Beer Tasting

John — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:45:59 +0000

This post was written by my husband, John.

A few weeks ago, my sister and her husband came to stay with us for a few days. We were celebrating the birth of our daughter, Lucy, and decided to have a gluten free beer tasting to go along with our gluten free pizza. Mary and I are pretty much used to drinking gluten free beer now, but we were curious what Elizabeth and Greg’s reaction would be to trying some GF beers for the first time. Neither of them are gluten free, and they both like to drink beer, so we decided to try several different gluten free beers to see what we all thought of each one.

Here is the gluten free beer list from our tasting:
- Redbridge by Anheuser-Busch
- Hornsby’s Crisp Apple Hard Cider
- Bard’s Gold
- Shakparo by Sprecher

After tasting each beer, we took a vote and here are the results from our beer tasting:

Redbridge – The overall winner, Redbridge received high votes from everyone – ladies and guys, gluten free eaters and gluten eaters. I can also say that Redbridge is the best gluten free beer that I’ve had. It goes great with food or just by itself. Gluten free beers, as a whole, are generally a bit darker than the most popular “regular” beers, and this can take some people by surprise, especially if they’re used to drinking domestics like MGD, Bud Light and Coors Light. Redbridge is definitely more full-bodied than most regular beers, but it’s also a good bit lighter than a lot of gluten free beers. If you’re new to gluten free beer, I definitely recommend giving Redbridge a try. Final Vote = 9/10

Hornsby’s Cider – Hornsby’s, while not technically a beer, was a great addition to our beer tasting. It’s light and sweet and makes a great summer drink for those really hot days. Horrnsby’s was rated the highest by the ladies, and was also rated well by the guys. If you’re not a big beer drinker or if you don’t like the dark taste of most gluten free beer, give Hornsby’s or another hard cider a try. I bet you’ll find that you like it. Final Vote = 8/10

Note: Hornsby’s Cider does not say gluten free on the bottle, but the company does claim that it is gluten free. We’ve never noticed any problems from drinking it.

Bard’s Gold – Bard’s beer finished in the middle of the pack at our beer tasting. It was rated medium-high by the guys and medium by the ladies. Bard’s definitely has a strong taste to it that can take you by surprise if you’re not accustomed to gluten free beer, but if you’re a beer aficionado you’ll probably like it. The taste is a little too strong for me to drink it by itself, but it does go very well with food. Final Vote = 6/10

Shakparo – Shakparo was definitely an interesting beer. In fact, that was just about everyone’s reaction when they took their first sip: “Wow… that’s interesting”. Shakparo was initially rated medium by the guys and low by the girls, but the more I drank of it the lower my vote got. It had a very unique taste to it that I liked at first – it’s an African brew and it had some prominent fruity undertones – but the more I drank of it, the more I began to notice a very bitter medicine-y aftertaste. After I finished one cup of it, I really couldn’t drink anymore because the aftertaste was so strong. I can’t recommend Shakparo to anyone except the most hardcore of beer drinkers, but if you want to give it a shot, be sure and let me know what you thought of it. Final Vote = 3/10

So there are the results of our gluten free beer tasting. Let us know in the comments if there are any other good GF beers that we should try. We’d love to find some new favorites.

Gluten Free Waffles

Mary Frances — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:10:29 +0000

Our family has found a new favorite weekend breakfast – gluten free waffles! You all know that we’ve been on the gluten free diet for years now, so that first bite of homemade waffles was absolute heaven! We stuffed ourselves!

The recipe is a conversion of the “Basic Waffles” recipe in Joy of Cooking. The only change that I made was to swap my gluten free flour mix for the all-purpose flour used in the original recipe. The original recipes lets you adjust the butter from as little a 4 Tbsp for a low-fat waffle to 16 Tbsp for a super yummy, my mouth is in bliss waffle. We’ve tried 8 and 16 Tbsp and 16 is definitely the way to go.

Gluten Free Waffles

1 3/4 cups all-purpose gluten free flour mix
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

3 large eggs
16 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 c. milk (soy, cow, rice, etc)

Cooking Directions:
1. Mix first four ingredients together in large mixing bowl.
2. Beat the eggs together until frothy. Add the milk and stir again.
3. Slowly pour the melted butter into the egg/milk mixture. Stir constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking.
4. Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until all of the flour is wet. You don’t have to get all of the lumps out.
5. Pour the batter onto a hot waffle iron. Follow the affle iron manufacturer’s directions for cooking. For ours we use 1/2 c. batter and let the waffle’s cook until there is no more steam coming out.

Additional Notes:
1. Let your eggs and milk come to room temperature. If the eggs and milk are cold, then they will resolidify the melted butter when you mix them together.
2. These waffles are not sweet, so you can add sweet or savory toppings to them. You could also 1/4 – 1/2 cup of raisins, cheese, bacon, nuts, sliced bananas, grated coconut to the batter before cooking.

Starting a Gluten Free Diet: Free Menu Plan

Mary Frances — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:31:55 +0000

Free Menu Plan: As promised, here is a free menu plan for the first week of your gluten free diet. If you haven’t subscribed to our newsletter yet, head over to our sign-up page, register for the newsletter (it’s all free!) and you’ll get the download instructions for the gluten free diet menu plan.

If you like this menu plan and want more help with planning your menus, check out my ebook, The Gluten Free Survival Guide, which comes with another bonus menu, plus a menu planning worksheet to simplify your grocery shopping trips.

The menu ended up being chicken-centric, which I apologize for. I was trying to pick recipes that wouldn’t require any ingredients that aren’t widely available, and it wasn’t until I finished that I realized I’d only picked chicken recipes. Hopefully you can manage it for one week, or substitute other meats in if you want =) Oh, and all the recipes are casein optional! Another option if you’re looking to add some variety to the menu is to cook a loaf of my gluten free bread, and turn the Roasted Chicken and Vegetables meal into Chicken Sandwiches and Vegetables. Yum!

Soy Sauce Substitute: If you can’t find gluten free soy sauce or tamari
, use an equivalent amount of the following mixture in the Cashew Nut Chicken recipe:

3 Tbsp beef bouillon* (or 9 cubes) – I use Better than Bouillon
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 pinch black pepper
1 pinch garlic powder”
1.5 c water

*please do read the label

Grocery Shopping for Your Gluten Free Diet – Week One

Mary Frances — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:57:48 +0000

This is the second post in a series on Starting the Gluten Free Diet. Click here for a list of the other posts in the series. To make sure that you get all of the posts in the series sign up for free email updates in the right sidebar.

For more help getting started on a gluten free diet, make sure to read my ebook, The Gluten Free Survival Guide. It’s packed full of practical strategies to help you keep your sanity as you go gluten free!

Making a Grocery List:
After reading the first post you should have a good idea of what you will be eating for each meal this first week. The next step is to make your grocery list. If you’ve never done this before, start by grabbing a sheet of paper and listing categories that match the general layout of your grocery store. I usually use PRODUCE, FROZEN, DAIRY, MEAT, CANNED GOODS, DRY GOODS, and HOUSEHOLD.

Now, go through the list of your meals and write down each ingredient that you need to buy. If you’ve followed the instructions in What to Eat on a Gluten Free Diet, then there will be a lot of whole foods listed on your sheet and very few processed foods, if any.

Remember, on this first shopping trip the goal is to read as few labels as possible. If you will be using foods that you already own in this week’s menu, be sure to check to see if they are marked “GLUTEN FREE”. If they are not and they contain any processed products I would strongly recommend that you change your menu to not include these foods. Reading labels is the most depressing and tedious part of a gluten free diet and I’d love for you to be able to avoid that until you’ve had at least a week to adjust and do some reading.

If there are some essentials that you need to replace – like mayo, ketchup, etc., consider shopping at Walmart this week. Walmart’s store brand, Great Value, is very good about clearly marking all of the gluten free products on the label.

Absolute No-Nos:
Wheat is so ubiquitous in the Standard American Diet that we often forget that we are eating it. Here are a few foods that you may not realize contain wheat.

all-purpose flour
self-rising flour
semolina (the flour used in most pasta)
couscous
most soy sauce
Campbell’s Cream of ______ Soup
cornbread mix
most cold cereals (barley malt flavoring)

At the Grocery Store:
The best tips that I can give you for the grocery store are to stick to the outside aisles and whole, unprocessed foods. Follow your grocery list and look forward to feeling better during the coming week. While you’re there ask the service desk if they have a list of gluten free foods that they stock. Also check to see if you they have a special location for gluten free foods, or if they shelve them near their gluten-filled counterparts. This knowledge will help you plan for next week’s shopping trip.

You may feel that my advice to only eat unprocessed foods and foods that are clearly marked “Gluten Free” is overly restrictive. But I really do want you to feel better quickly, and the easiest way to accomplish that is to get ALL of the gluten out of your diet. And it’s only for a week. By next week you’ll have learned more about identifying gluten in foods, what foods are naturally gluten free, and where to buy gluten free foods that your local grocery doesn’t stock.

What to Eat on a Gluten Free Diet – Week One

Mary Frances — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:14:42 +0000

The hardest part of the gluten free diet is probably when you realize that wheat is in almost every processed food imaginable. So don’t think about that now! Give yourself a week to mourn the fact that you can’t buy normal bread and pasta, and that Campbell’s soup can no longer dwell in your pantry. Mourn the obvious losses – we’ll deal with the rest later. For the first week, just focus on eating whole, unprocessed gluten free food.

(For more information on what to eat the first week of a gluten free diet, check out my ebook, The Gluten Free Survival Guide. It’s packed full of practical tips and strategies to help you get started and stay gluten free successfully.)

So, what are whole, unprocessed foods?

Fruits and vegetables that do not come in a package.
Meats that the butcher has processed in the store and that have not been puffed full of saline solution and seasonings.
Grains that only have one ingredient listed on the packaging, e.g,. “Rice” and do not say “Contains Wheat” or “is processed in a facility that also processes wheat”.
And since you always have to break the rules you create, any processed food that is CLEARLY marked as gluten free.

Most people are not used to cooking with whole, unprocessed foods or for looking for gluten in their foods, so don’t freak out if you still can’t figure out what to eat. I’m going to give you some ideas for breakfast and lunch and a menu plan (with shopping list) for your suppers.

Breakfast:

If you usually eat cold cereal for breakfast, then this week try Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Cinnamon Chex, Honey Nut Chex, Chocolate Chex, or Strawberry Chex. These Chex cereals are the only mainstream gluten free cereals. If you live near an urban center, you may find that your grocery store carries other gluten free specialty cereals, and if they do then feel free to try them. The advantage of starting with Chex is that it’s widely available, less expensive than other gluten free cereals, and familiar/

If you usually eat a breakfast bar for breakfast, first check to see if your usual bar is marked gluten free. If not, then I’d suggest switching to cereal or fresh fruit for a week. You’ll be tempted to read the labels on all of the breakfast bars in the grocery store, but that’s just going to depress you. Save that for next week. Unless your store carries Larabars – those are all gluten free.

If you usually eat a hot breakfast, then see how many eggs recipes that you can come up with. A few that I can think of off the top of my head are: scrambled, fried, poached, omelette with veggies, and frittatas. Bacon, sausage, and hot cereals are all processed and should be avoided this week unless they are marked gluten free.

Lunch:

If you have access to a microwave at lunch, then the easiest option is to eat leftovers from last night’s meal for lunch. Add a salad or fresh fruit if you need to round out the meal. Lunch is easily the most bread-centric meal of the day, so don’t freak out when everyone around you is having sandwiches. You will be able to eat good bread again.

If you don’t have access to a microwave, then pack a large salad and some fresh fruit. I like to add chickpeas to my salad as the protein – that way I don’t have to worry if I forget to take my lunch to the refrigerator. A lot of salad dressings contain gluten; an easy solution is to make your own vinaigrette at home and take that with you to dress your salad. Check out these recipes from Michael Ruhlman’s new book, Ratio, if you need some guidance.

If you have to go out for lunch, please try to get the lunch moved to a restaurant that has a gluten free menu or has a chef that is very familiar with the diet. You are new to gluten free foods and you are very likely to slip up if you try to identify the gluten foods on your own.

Call the restaurant before hand and talk to the manager or the chef and explain to them that you have to eat gluten free, but that you’re going to need their help since you are new to the diet. They should be able to tell you which items from their menu are gluten free, or can be prepared gluten free. The manager at a good restaurant should also be willing to oversee the preparation of your food to make sure no one slips up. And, if you call ahead, hopefully all of this can take place discreetly in the background, especially if it’s a business meeting.

Supper: To make supper easy for you, I think you’ve basically got two options. The first option is to prepare simple meals of a meat (seasoned with salt, pepper, and/or other herbs), a side of fresh vegetables, and a side of rice and potatoes. The second option is to print off the free menu plan that I’ll be publishing later this week, and follow it. It will have recipes for 6 meals, a cookie recipe, and a shopping list.

The point of these options is to keep you from having to search for recipes and then make sure that all of the ingredients in the recipes are gluten free. That would be way too frustrating for the first week of the diet. Option one will probably work best for those people that are accustomed to cooking without a recipe and feel comfortable dealing with unprocessed foods. Option two, the menu plan, should work for everyone else.

Homework: Make a list of what you want to eat for each day of next week. Here’s an example:

Monday: Rice Chex and banana for breakfast, green salad (with chickpeas) and balsamic vinaigrette dressing for lunch; cheddar cheese slices and an apple for snack; baked chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and roasted veggies for supper.

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