Diagnosed with celiac (can't eat wheat)

[Offthegrid]

Um ... I suck at cooking. Really, really seriously suck at cooking. I've messed up instant rice, and I'm NOT kidding about that.

So all the advice about things you can make is really, really, really nice and truly appreciated, but it's like speaking Greek to me. Fusilli? Tripe? Puttanesca? Posole? Hominy? I have NO IDEA what these things are, much less where in the heck to find them or how to even begin to prepare them.

But I would like to be able to make my own bread. I just don't have the talent or patience to hand-knead it and such.

[tygab]

Hi Susie,

Sorry to be late to see this thread, but I wish you the best. I know virtually nothing about this disease, but I will figure out how to make something tasty that is GF before we go to Lake Placid!

And yeah, slow cookers rule. Definitely get one of those, potatoes do very well in them amongst other friends like peppers, tomatoes, well heck any veggies you have on hand the best part is you mostly have to think of a bunch of stuff to put in but once you do it does all the hard work.

Good luck figuring it out, and I bet when you start feeling better it'll all be worth it.

[Offthegrid]

I know virtually nothing about this disease, but I will figure out how to make something tasty that is GF before we go to Lake Placid!

I just have to find some GF graham crackers so I can make s'mores! Yummmmm ...

I'll be bringing a bunch of my own GF stuff. They have GF hot dog rolls and then you just have to make sure the hot dogs are GF, too. Same with hamburgers. I bet most of the food they typically serve volunteers is out, though.

[LBTC]

I just have to find some GF graham crackers so I can make s'mores! Yummmmm ...

OTG, I checked out one of our local little health food stores, and found a gluten free graham style cracker mix! I found a link to the brand of foods:
http://www.kinnikinnick.com/index.cf...013300434.html
They have lots of gluten free products that look pretty yummy!

See if you can get this brand where you are....

Hugs and butteflies,
~T~

[Offthegrid]

LBTC, thanks for the link. I was told about it at a celiac support group meeting last night (where I bought about a billion baked goods to freeze). I didn't know how to spell it, though.

I do have to look for some sort of graham cracker substitute. I gotta figure out a way to make smores for camping this summer.

[run it, ride it]

I'm hopping on the wheat allergy boat here, too.

It's only been a few months since I found out, and as a student I cannot sustainably afford GF food.

I am also vegetarian--just to make it a little trickier.

Since I cut gluten, I have gained some serious pounds as it no longer HURTS to eat.

Think I'm just gonna suffer through the pain of wheat this summer, as there are no GF-friendly grocery stores near where I'll be living.

It's good to know what causes the pain, though, even if I'm not much in a position to rectify it!

How is your GF diet going, Offthegrid?

[KnottedYet]

If you cook for yourself it is much easier and cheaper, and you won't need to search out a special gf-friendly store over the summer.

tortilla chips, potatoes, rice cakes, and rice fill my "bread" space.

rice pasta fills my "pasta" space.

Fresh fruits and veges.

Your vegetarian diet won't need to change, just stay away from TVP and Seitan. (Seitan is Evil! there is a t-shirt for celiackers that says that!)

Oh, and don't lick stamps or envelopes... that glue is gluten-based.

[eclectic]

I'm hopping on the wheat allergy boat here, too.

It's only been a few months since I found out, and as a student I cannot sustainably afford GF food.

I am also vegetarian--just to make it a little trickier.

Since I cut gluten, I have gained some serious pounds as it no longer HURTS to eat.

Think I'm just gonna suffer through the pain of wheat this summer, as there are no GF-friendly grocery stores near where I'll be living.

It's good to know what causes the pain, though, even if I'm not much in a position to rectify it!

How is your GF diet going, Offthegrid?

Hurting is not fun and there are other options as was pointed out.

the main thing I have found is I have to cook more. GF products are more expensive but if you don't buy the mixes and make stuff from scratch it is much more reasonable.
The GF bread is pricey but I found I eat less (I eat all my sandwiches open face now instead of 2 pieces)
Kinnickinnick makes a GREAT flax and sunflower bread that is very heavy so 1 slice is plenty (and only 90 cal)

At Walmart in the frozen food section I found some GF waffles 6 for $1.97 - no more than eggos! i put a little syrup, some banana and some walnuts on them Yum!

I love rice cakes w/ PB&J - I have to say I don't really miss bread up to this point. I use tostitos instead of crackers.

When I am tempted to eat wheat products I just think of how much better I can ride my bike up hills now

[KnottedYet]

But I would like to be able to make my own bread. I just don't have the talent or patience to hand-knead it and such.

Uhhh, hang on a second. Kneading is only done to bread made with gluten. You won't be kneading anything, cuz you won't be eating gluten.

If you are making "bread" it will be a batter, not a dough. No kneading. No gluten.

More than likely you will be taking a couple cups of mix, adding an egg some oil and a cup of milk, beating it briefly, then pouring it into a greased pan and baking it.

5 minutes prep time, tops.

Makes good "bread" though.

Uh, and "graham" is wheat, so I'm not sure what you can do for graham crackers. I've never seen any gf graham crackers, but I bet you could use GF gingersnaps.

Edit: hot dogs and hamburgers, I eat 'em naked! no fuss, no bother, no bread product to worry about. And if you go to a restaurant they are very cool about giving you your burger without a bun. Most sandwich places (Subway, etc) don't even bat an eye if you ask for your sub-stuffing to be put on a bed of lettuce instead of a roll. Watch out for the vegetarian burgers and hotdogs. Those critters are often laden with gluten.

[Aggie_Ama]

I thought of ya'll today (especially Knott)... Paul Harvey had an ad for a new gluten free beer! Budweiser is making one but leaving out the barley and something else. I just wonder if it will be awful?

[KnottedYet]

OOOOOOHHH!!!! I *want* that beer!

I drink beer anyway, willing to pay the price. Microbrews seem to go easier on my tummy than the big brands (the bigt brands sometimes add gluten to make the beer foamy)

Searched around the gluten-free section of my favorite *expensive* but good selection natural foodstore today but didn't see any GF graham crackers. Saw some spiffy arrowroot cookies and gingersnaps and vanilla wafers that would all probably make nice S'Mores, though.

OTG, I dunno if I've mentioned it before, but The Cravings Place makes really really REALLY good cookie and brownie mixes. www.thecravingsplace.com I just bought some of their pancake/baking mix to try, even though I adore Pamela's pancake/baking mix. (mainly because the store was charging 2x what I felt like paying for a big bag of mix) T.C.P. brownie and choc chip cookie mixes are my favorites, so I have high hopes for their general mix. Usually you can just substitute your favorite general mix for flour in any of your favorite NON-KNEADED recipes.

I also checked out the frozen GF bread and rolls section. Kinnikinnik and Wheatless In Seattle make a lot of nice breads and rolls. I have no interest in them, but you can probably google them and order some. En-R-Gy breads and rolls are really yucky, in my opinion. I'd stay away from them unless that's all you can get.

Oh, yeah, and Pamela's sells pre-made cookies and such as well as mixes. The cookies are ok (for pre-made). A little dry, generally. (The Cravings Place are my all-time favorites, so I'm really biased.)

OTG, you just gotta come to Seattle! We've got GF restaurants and darn near every grocery store has a GF section, even if it's a little one.

[Offthegrid]

Wow, so much updating on here !!!

First, for my own update. I'm definitely still lactose intolerant. Got a GF milkshake the other day while I was sick with a cold, and man did it ever make me sick. I *hope* *hope* *hope* that when my small intestine heals I can have milk again.

OTG, you just gotta come to Seattle! We've got GF restaurants and darn near every grocery store has a GF section, even if it's a little one.

I'll be visiting Seattle for a day sometime around the first week of August. Maybe you can show me around! (I'm actually going to visit a friend in Portland, but we're going to take a day trip.)

Wegmans has a decent selection that I'm going to mainly live off for week to week things. They have GF frozen waffles that are absolutely delicious. They also have some frozen pizza dough (and a complete frozen pizza for $7) that isn't good, but it's convenient.

AND Wegmans puts little seals on ALL of its brand name products that say if they are gluten free, lactose free, etc., so I can get Wegmans pancake syrup and Wegmans spaghetti sauce and not have to spend a fortune for the peace of mind to know that it's safe.

No GF soups, though. Do you make a GF soup? I'll have to look in the recipe book that I have, but if you can't use a commercially available broth or boullion, that is probably way too much work for me.

I'll definitely have to try those brownie mixes you were talking about.

But Wegmans doesn't have some of the mixes (Pamela's for instance), which I probably will continue to order online. There is a Trader Joe's near Philadelphia (about an hour drive each way) that I'm going to visit at some point to see what kind of selection they have.

There is a specialty store in Amish country that has a bunch of the specialty flours, but that store was a good hour's drive, too. I tried a banana bread that actually turned out OK (needs a lot more sugar)!!! Who knew I could actually *make* a bread?! Wow.

I want to make some regular bread sometime soon, though. If there's no kneading, then perhaps I can do it myself.

The Ener-G hamburger bun I tried was tolerable. But I want to try corn tortillas with hamburgers next.

Thanks for the B12 tip. I'll have to check it out because I'm almost out of the $15 ones (for 30-pack) from the health store.

[KnottedYet]

I make soups, and since they never had any gluten in the first place, they end up gluten free. (toss cubed steak, chopped potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, and water into crockpot = GF soup!)

I buy some soups, but since it's so much cheaper to make my own now that I have a crock-pot I mostly do that.

Gotta be careful with soups. Quite a lot of them have wheat or "vegetable protein" or such. "modified food starch" can be a booger. Read the labels, and if it isn't clearly identified I assume it's got some wheat in it. Lots of GF soups in the world, but since they never had gluten they aren't labeled GF.

Yeah, the lactose can be a problem. Generally if my gut is in a bad mood I stay away from milk. If I want a fake milk, I use Rice Milk. Haven't bothered to try Lactaid cow's milk, cuz the rice milk is so cheap and tastes fine.

Wegman's sounds like a good store!

[Duck on Wheels]

Edit: hot dogs and hamburgers, I eat 'em naked! no fuss, no bother, no bread product to worry about.

Here one way hot dogs are served is with "lompe", like a soft tortilla made from potatoes. There is some flour in it to bind it, but it doesn't have to be wheat flour. You could probably experiment with a gluten-free flour or bread mix. My recipe: Boil 4-5 good-sized Yukon gold potatoes in their skins. Peel while still warm and mash. Add a good dollop of butter and a couple heaping spoonsful of sour cream. Then stir or mash in flour to make a fairly firm dough. Wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge overnight. Take bits about the size of a ping pong ball and roll them out thin (about the size of a frying pan). Cook them on a dry(!) frying pan or griddle til they just start getting "tan" spots, each side. Place under a tea towel with something heavy on top. That helps keep them soft. Dough and finished lomper can be frozen and later thawed. You can also try different types of potatoes, but the Yukon gold were best of those I tried back in Madison -- had a hint of almond taste

[KnottedYet]

Ok, just made pancakes with my newly purchased T.C.P. pancake/baking mix.

In a nutshell: Bleh.

Very fluffy, fragile, and bland. Pamela's Products general mix is definitely the winner. (I found the 4 lb bag online for $2 cheaper than at my Manna Mills store, but still not as cheap as Trek and I saw last night at Berkeley Bowl.)

PP gives you more of a crepe style pancake, TCP gives you a cakey style pancake. PP has buttermilk powder and almond meal in it, which really does add to the entire experience.

www.thecravingsplace.com
www.pamelasproducts.com