Hellobee Boards

Oooh, subscribing to this one! I'm thinking about trying some sort of modified gluten free b/c I've heard it's good for acne around the jawline (which I seem to have the past year or so).

DD has a wheat allergy (and possibly oat) and so I've learned to cook and buy gluten free foods. She has a lot of rice, potatoes, corn. When I cook, I use potato starch instead of flour and I bake with a gluten free flour that's a mixture of corn, potato and rice flour. I've turned to a lot of Asian recipes since most are rice based and it's easy to find gluten free soy sauce.

@IRunForFun: thanks! That is actually really helpful because I don't want to make such a huge change if I don't have to. I'd love to hear your general gluten free thoughts too!

@hellobeeboston: We agree about a lot of things! I made the mistake of using Bob's all purpose to make something and immediately spit out the final product because it tasted like beans!

Here are my recs:
Udi's for breads and pizza crusts
Tinkyada pasta
Bob's Red Mill GF oatmeal
Envirokidz cereal, Gorilla Munch is my fav (don't judge!)
Nut Thins or Crunchmaster multi-seed/multi-grain crackers
Jules GF flour mix (great but $, so only if you're in it for the long haul)
Be careful of soups, sauces, marinades, soy sauce, and sushi with "crab"

OK so, here are some products I've found that I think are pretty good subs for things with gluten:

- Pamela's baking mix (this is a combination of gluten free flours pre-mixed for you in the correct ratios and is good for breads, cookies, cakes, muffins, etc.)
- Ancient Harvest quinoa pasta (much better texture than rice pasta, IMO)
- Trader Joe's gluten free oats
- Chex corn or rice cereals, Barbara's gluten free multigrain or honey rice Puffins cereal
- Against the Grain baguettes and frozen pizza dough (this might be regional though...)
- Udi's multigrain bread
- Van's crackers
- Annie's salad dressings and marinades (some have gluten but others are very obviously marked gluten free)

Those are all good for more processed food substitutes.

As far as meals go, you've got plenty of options. Eggs, fruit, yogurt, gluten free cereal or oatmeal for breakfast. Salads with hard boiled eggs, nuts, or meat, and lots of veggies for lunch. Yogurt, nuts, fruit, veggies and hummus, gluten free crackers and cheese, corn chips and salsa, popcorn, etc, for snacks. For dinner if you want a carb/grain/starch you can do quinoa, rice, potatoes, or sweet potatoes, and whatever protein you like - chicken, fish, pork, beef, tofu, whatever, as long as the seasoning doesn't contain gluten.

Things to look out for: Soy sauce contains gluten, but you can find a gluten free version in the store. Lots of salad dressings have gluten, so check labels, or make your own (I like to mix balsamic vinegar and oil in a 3:1 ratio and add a little spicy brown mustard.) Most ice creams contain gluten, so check labels (Ben and Jerry's has a list of gluten free flavors on their website.)

Tips: If you want to make a recipe that calls for dredging something in flour, coconut flour and rice flour work really well, but if you're baking, I highly recommend the Pamela's mix. If you check out some gluten free baked goods recipes, you will see most call for a crazy mix of flours at a very specific ratio. That gets complicated and expensive, but Pamela's has it covered. However, whenever you are making a gluten free baked good, make sure to add a pinch of xantham gum. It will help things rise. You can find this at the grocery store in the natural foods section (Bob's Red Mill brand) or in bulk at health food stores.

Hope this helps!

@blackbird: Noooooo not dairy! Say it ain't so!

http://glutenfreegirl.com/

I went gluten free months ago and I am not looking back! I feel so much better. At first it was hard and sometimes I find it hard but I remember how I felt before. My favorite snack is Annie's homegrown Cocoa and Vanilla bunny cookies. There are more and more gluten free options available at the grocery store. When shopping look throughout the store. The stores around me have a gluten free aisle but not everything is in that aisle. Going gluten free helped me drop 25 pounds (in combo with also dropping diary and egg). My acne has for most part cleared up, although to be honest my acne was never too bad. Do the research about being gluten free and then go to the store and look to see what they stock.
Where I live it is harder but I have gotten creative and I stock up when I am in the big city.

@Pirouette: Udis everything bagel?!? No! Must have. I was addicted to the cinn raisin bagels when preggo - I ate one every day!

Also, I agree -- Cup 4 Cup flour is my favorite! Expensive - but the best all purpose GF flour I have used. Better Batter would be second.

@blackbird: @IRunForFun: my sisters demotologoist thinks fairy is the cause of her acne too. As I was reading this thread I was going to post that but then I saw blackbird did.