gluten free vegetarian - help

BeckiGetBetter

Hello all,
I am a vegetarian of 24 years but recently had to give up gluten and have been finding it easier to just not eat than figure out what I can eat. I am incredibly sad because my favorite foods were pasta and carbs and I do a lot of endurance training. I haven't had any energy or appetite nor do I know what to eat. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm totally lost and hungry. I have been living on Chipotle but can't handle much more. Im already sick of it but it's the only gluten free vegetarian meal I can find. Please help.

musicfan68

There is rice pasta you can eat. Tastes the same as regular. Corn tortillas instead of flour. There are lots of things you can eat that have carbs. Beans have lots of carbs also.

MakePeasNotWar

Do you know for sure you are gluten sensitive? You can get blood tests that will determine gluten and wheat allergies and intolerances.

I was concerned I might be gluten sensitive, and had a blood test and a skin test. Finding out it wasn't the gluten was one of the happiest days of my life

If you do have to cut it, try basing your meals on starchy vegetables (potatoes, yams, winter squash) or gluten free grains (oats, rice, and plenty of others.) You can use gnocchi instead of pasta and corn tortillas where you normally would eat bread, or you could pay up for gluten free breads and pastas. I've tried lentil and quinoa pastas and both were good.

Look to other cuisines for meal ideas, too. Mexican is a good choice, as you've discovered, but also try Japanese (tofu and rice, for example), Indian (chickpea curry and basmati rice is amazing), and many other great cuisines I'm too boring and provincial to know about.

(Edited because MFP cut it in half on the first try )

DeStull

I had to go gluten free last fall and it was very difficult at first. I spent the first three weeks constantly hungry. It isn't that difficult once you figure it all out though. I loved pasta as well and found that gluten free Barilla pasta was ok, not quite the same texture, but close enough. Corn and rice chex cereal are gluten free and also good. There are also gluten free breads, usually in the freezer section of the grocery store. If you try to stick to whole, unprocessed foods, it makes things easier as well (no "hidden" gluten). As far as eating out, it is very tricky. I always try to check a new restaurants menu on line first. I usually end up eating lots of veggies (with no sauces), often have to skip the entree and have fruit for dessert.

pomegranatecloud

Oh She Glows has a bunch of good gluten free recipes and usually includes information on how to modify if not gluten free.

RodaRose

There are lots of options for GF pasta: black bean, corn, rice.
Some morning cereals are GF: Rice Chex, Cheerios, and others.
For carbs you still have rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, other root vegetables.
Udi's GF bread and others are available in the frozen section -- they are a little pricier than regular bread.
Buckwheat (it is not real wheat -- comes from a different plant) can take the place of oatmeal:
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=buckwheat+porridge&tbm=shop

elphie754

Chipotle is not the best for GF-very high risk for cross contamination.

Schar has a lot of gf pastas and they are pretty decent.