[angelpie545]

Hi, everyone, I'm new to this forum and was wondering if we have anyone else here with celiac disease or otherwise on a gluten-free diet. I just discovered that I have issues with reflux and terrible stomach pain(there is a thread in Health and Healing about it) and my doctor reccomended (a med dr at that!) that I go off all dairy and begin a gluten-free diet immediately, and also take Prilosec OTC for reflux issues. So..how the world does one go off gluten and still stay sane?

I have lots of other health issues as well so this isn't gonna b easy...but I'm looking at the price of that and thinking in my head...we aren't rich...so what do u all do?

 

[krissi]

Dumping gluten is one of the easier of diet changes we've been through lately in this household, I'd have to say. If it's just gluten that's the problem, there's a lot you can do with substitutions. A flour mixture that's two parts rice flour to one third part tapioca starch and two thirds part potato starch substitutes nicely for wheat flours in recipes. Other blends exist that can be substituted. When we were initially cutting gluten we were still able to make breads, pizza crusts, cakes, cookies...just with gluten-free flours. There are some great cookbooks out there with recipes. "The Gluten Free Gourmet" is one I've heard good things about. I'd actually recommend baking the stuff yourself and not buying the ready-made storebought gluten free breads, because most of them aren't very good and cost more than the ingredients to make it yourself -- and baking gluten free bread is not very hard to do. Also, most gluten-free breads taste better toasted even if you're using it for a sandwich. It takes away some of the spongey taste that they'll get when it's just freshly sliced. HTH!

For cutting dairy...that was harder for me because I loooove cheese. If you can still have soy, there's a decent (although hardly delicious) soy cheese called "Follow Your Heart" that works okay for pizza. DD can't have soy either so I make her pizza by using mashed cauliflower with turmeric as the cheese. Doesn't taste great but it gets the job done! And IMHO, the best tasting soymilk is Silk Enhanced. If you have to cut soy also, you might be able to sub rice or nut milk but watch out for anything flavored with barley malt. Some types of margarine are dairy-free, made with palm and soy oil...I've successfully used these in cooking and as spread on gluten-free toast. (I really miss being able to use soy!)

 

[kallyn]

I really like this dude's food blog, and all his recipes are gluten-free because his wife is celiac. There's lots of stuff in his archives.

http://somethinginseason.blogspot.com/

 

[angelpie545]

Thanks! I like the idea of making your own bread, actually! It does seem like it would be cheaper than store bought bread. This is going to be a huge change for me b/c I'm used to just eating whenever and eating fast food occasionally. My sis has celiac disease as well (duh-I'll ask her too!

) and she's also on a dairy-free diet. The dairy is the main thing that bothers me as well as the acid reflux. We think that however the underlying issue is celiac disease since it is hereditary and my sis has it.

 

[Chanley]

www.glutenchallenge.com

dairy, soy, corn and gluten free.

 

[Panserbjorne]

My daughter and I both have celiac disease. Very easy once you get the hang of it! You are not alone on this board.

 

[Annikate]

G/F here too. Hard to adjust to at first but after that it's easy and I guarantee you'll see some health benefits once it gets out of your system.

 

[cathe]

Moved to Allergies forum

 

[daniusa]

since removing gluten, dairy and eggs from our diets i am missing the feeling of a good "meal". although i do feel healthier since we are mostly eating whole foods. i am still searching for recipes where i can just follow them and not have to substitute everything.

 

[flitters]

ds is gluten free.

i'm almost gluten free.

i wish dh would do it too. i think it would be good for him.

the only problem i have with lots of the gluten free recipes is they contain nuts which we can't do either.

 

[SUNMAMA]

My dd(3), my mom and I are all gluten free. I order from www.glutenfree.com
, they seem to have reasonable prices, we use the baking mixes and pancake mixes not the ready made foods. You can pretty much use any recipe and modify it with alternative flours and mixes. It took almost a year for my colon to heal and it is sooo worth it! One thing I didn't realize was the depression I suffered from was caused by gluten. Best wishes to you!

 

[daniusa]

whenever i sub all the ingredients we can't have i end up with a mushy dish. i'm still searching for a cookbook that is basically vegan and gluten-free. i finally made dairy-egg-gluten-free pancakes and they are so yummy! other than that we've been living on rice, beans, broccoli and a ton of fruit. and enjoy lifes cookies and veggie-bootie for fun snacks.

 

[jocelyndale]

I've been gluten-free for two years. It does get easier. I highly recommend you check out some of the yahoogroups (SillyYaks, LivingWheatAndGlutenFree, vegetariangf, vegan-and-gluten-free). The Celiac forum at DelphiForums is *excellent*.

Just remember to read labels. You'll learn what is and isn't safe. Everyone has a different comfort zone, too. Labels in the US will become easier once the USDA and FDA regulate the definition of "gluten-free". FALCPA requires listing of wheat, but not barley, rye, or oats.

And no matter what anyone tells you, spelt and kamut have gluten!

 

[newcastlemama]

Right now I have eliminated gluten for 10 days and on day 14 I am going to test my reaction to it.

Jennifer

 

[NoMariposa]

I have a child with CD. At first it was expensive buying the GF stuff that he would not eat anyway. Then I realized that Mac and Cheese powder was GF, add it to GF pasta and bingo Mac & Cheese he will eat that didn't cost $4.99!!!
Let me just say HomeMade GF bread is WAY better than store bought (other than products by Kinnincki whatever).
I use sorghum flour as my base and it is delicious.
Cookies made at home taste better too. I do splurge on Pamela's baking mix, I use it for cookies, waffles and pancakes. I buy it through a co-op call Frankferd Farms at Frankferd.com you might live in their delivery region.

And slowly after 6 mo after dx I started looking at regular products that are GF. My trips to the HFS are 1X every 6 to 8 wks now for a few specialty flours and corn chex call Corn Crunch'Ems. Our local grocery store has a new section of HF stuffs and quite a few GF items (Rice Crunch Ems, the frozen kinninniki items, other frozen food items that I will buy on occassion for my ds2, some flours but they are next to vital wheat gluten so I won't buy them there, and GF cookies and breads if I'm in a pinch).

I would suggest reading a GF cook book. Internet recipes as I found have not been tested the way a published cook book have been. That does not mean they are bad, it just isn't the way to start when you've got no idea what mixed together makes good bread. A GF cookbook on bread baking specifically is also a good read to under stand how bread's ingredients work in wheat and how that crosses over the GF - it was a science lesson not to be forgotten and the results are great bread every time.

It was a really easy switch for my son, he was so sick and in so much pain. He is sooo much better, happy, content -- we have our little boy back!

 

[my2girlz]

We aren't gluten free, but we are wheat, dairy, citrus, and onion free. We've been on this "diet" for 1.5 years now and it's much easier. Wheat was one of the easier things to get rid of.

 

[daniusa]

do you have the name of a good bread allergen-free cookbook?