Gluten & dairy free options?!

htate85

I was recently diagnosed with colonic inertia. After years of trouble, finally got an answer. Apparently my intestines are "beyond repair" but have found that change in diet could help with symptoms... I want to try anything that could avoid surgery. Almost a week into my new diet and I'm grasping for meal/snack/dessert ideas. Any advice would be a huge help!

Grimmerick

foods with probiotics , fermented things are good, saurkraut, kimchee, kombucha, nato, coconut milk yogurts etc. Nuts, veggies with hummus make good snacks, I make my own fruit rollups with a food dehydrator.

SunsetRanch

I recently complete Whole 30 (30 days with no sugar, alcohol, dairy, gluten, soy, legumes, sulfites or MSG). I found a lot of good recipes on Pinterest. Try there - search Whole 30 compliant recipes.

davert123

Try making some flapjacks with gluten free oats, dried fruit etc. I sometimes make a tray , cut them up and fridge them and they can last a few days. You can get them to be quite tastey without adding refined sugar

ClubSilencio

Melons are typically easy to digest.

htate85

Sounds like I'll have to cook a whole lot more! Having 3 small kids and a husband whose diets are fine, I'm always making something separate for myself. I know they don't mind eating what I do, but I'm not going to force a change of lifestyle on them too. Will power is definitely tested when most of the pantry is off limits. I haven't strayed and can already tell a great difference! And I dread eating out, so there's that.. I'll need to replace a lot of cooking stuff and just get more creative. I'll definitely check out those Whole30 recipes too! Thanks y'all!

livingleanlivingclean

htate85 wrote: »

Sounds like I'll have to cook a whole lot more! Having 3 small kids and a husband whose diets are fine, I'm always making something separate for myself. I know they don't mind eating what I do, but I'm not going to force a change of lifestyle on them too. Will power is definitely tested when most of the pantry is off limits. I haven't strayed and can already tell a great difference! And I dread eating out, so there's that.. I'll need to replace a lot of cooking stuff and just get more creative. I'll definitely check out those Whole30 recipes too! Thanks y'all!

I'd look up paleo recipes - you'll get a whole lot more options, especially for snacks/desserts. Try raw vegan desserts too.

Perhaps because I choose to not eat a lot of grains, I find the gluten free part less difficult - there are still plenty of GF grains, and decent products to replace gluten grains. Consider basing meals more around meat/protein and vegies, and meals that are made up of separate components - you could add gluten/dairy sides for your family so you don't need to make completely separate meals.

jgnatca

I just got myself google educated on your condition. It sounds awful. Have you found any foods helpful?

htate85

Hah! Yeah, it's great.. Just staying away from gluten, dairy and low amounts of fiber have seemed to help me improve. I've found that I'm most sensitive to dairy though. Also, ate something with soy in it today and quickly learned that's not good either. Having the chance to feel "normal" has shown me how bad I really had it. Definitely don't want to go back

gidjinswife

I'm so sorry. I understand what a life altering diagnosis means, but I also know what it means to finally have a name for it and hope that you can feel somewhat normal again with lifestyle changes. I've been on the autoimmune protocol for a year and a half and feel loads better. Search for AIP recipes. Not only will they fit within your parameters they will reduce inflammation and may help heal some. Not cure, but help. Feel free to friend me if you want to know more. I also have small kiddos at home. Snacks olives, fruit, veggies with guacamole are all tasty. Dinner is some meat and veggies, including starchy one like sweet potatoes and winter squash. It's a little hot for soup but soup made with bone broth is super easy to digest and full of nutrients. Smoothies for breakfast, I like using Vital Proteins callogen peptides for protein powder.

shaumom

Hugs - although quick question. Were you ever tested for celiac disease, before you went gluten free? I ask because colonic inertia is something quite a few celiacs I know experienced BECAUSE of celiac disease. Or at the least, it disappeared once they went on the proper gluten free diet. But doctors are REALLY ignorant about the disease, even the ones you would expect to know about it, and so lots of symptoms of this remain relatively unstudied and you end up finding out about it years later when a group of celiacs sit around and realize they all experienced something that the doctors haven't even mentioned yet, you know?

If you suspect you might have it, or even just want to be extra sure in case you do, you might explore avoiding cross-contamiatnion to celiac levels of severity, just to start out. :-) There are sites that talk about it.

That said, GF and DF - SO HARD. Sympathy! My son had to be that for a long while and woo, yeah, it's a pain. So, first...assume you will have to cook almost all your food from now on, because you will. There are not a lot of truly gluten free and dairy free processed foods, although more now than there used to be.

EnjoyLifeFoods brand does just a few goodies, like cookies and chocolate chips, and they are free from both, though.

Some vegan GF foods are available now, but they won't have eggs either, which tends to make any bready products even worse than they would be as GF products anyway, so...don't expect much there.

For your own food - cashew cream is awesome. I'd recommend making it yourself. literally just get raw cashews, soak overnight, and blend up with some water to desired thickness. This stuff will thicken, like dairy does, when cooked, so can be great for dishes that you want that in. It does have a slightly sweet taste, so you have to use it mostly for foods that doesn't matter in, like desserts and pancakes and such, or where there are so many flavorings that it drowns it out.

Non-dairy GF milks are out there now, but truly, SO easy to make yourself, and a billion times cheaper. You can find recipes online to make your own rice milk - literally just brown rice, water, and enough time cooking. you add in an oil or sweetener for taste and texture, but it can work for small things that don't need much thickening, like biscuits, pancakes, that sort of thing.

Some other snacks:
roasted corn nuts
socca flat bread - french chickpea based flatbread with oil, salt, and chickpea flour, basically
injera bread - Ethiopian flat bread from fermented teff (you have to ferment yourself - do it for more than the three days that is always on there, and the bread is better. Like, try for 5-10 days, if you can). Use traditional recipes because modern ones add wheat. It's like a slightly sourdough tasting crepe - VERY flexible and soft, even though teff unfermented makes extremely crumbly, bleh bread. Good for wrapping up savory foods like lentils and meats.
this salad - is awesome - http://natashaskitchen.com/2010/04/12/broccoli-salad-with-apple-and-walnuts/ I hope everything very small and leave out the cranberries and it tastes great.
soups - easier to find GF versions and dairy free versions. Or just make your own - toss in a ton of veggies, cook, blend up, and then add seaonsings and meat, and you're done.
apples and peanut butter
celery and peanut butter
meatballs and a little dip
avocado chocolate pudding - avocado is another good dairy sub
smoothies - just don't add dairy. I have seen some people add GF oats, or chia or flax, or non-dairy milks, or juices, to frozen fruits and veggies.
chips and salsa
tamales
do quesadillas but with avocado and beans and spices rather than cheese
baked potatoes with roasted veggies or mushrooms
roasted veggies or any kind
Oh, or for the less healthy but tasty - make this batter: 1/2 c GF flour, 1/4 c. cornstarch, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 egg, 1 Tb oil (optional), 1/2-1 cup water (or to desired thickness). Just use this to coat anything at all and fry that sucker - I do it in the pan, with maybe 1 inch of oil. I've done veggies and meats added more seasonings to it. Probably would do well with fish.
Spring rolls - they have wrappers now that are certified GF
tofu dishes. You can make your own fried tofu easily, too, which can be a bit tastier. Just take out of package, wrap in paper towels and press between two plates for 15 minutes. They cut into cubes, coat in starch, and fry in 1 inch of oil for about 2-4 minutes (until pale brown) then turn and do the other side. Great to add to rice with a sauce over them.
This is a link to GF hoisin sauce, as that can be hard to find one to purchase, if you like making Asian foods https://thankheavens.com.au/2013/03/13/gluten-free-hoisin-sauce/
Oh, and a general Tso's recipe that works if you use this hoisin sauce and then GF soy sauce:
http://www.grumpyshoneybunch.com/2009/05/general-tsostofu.html

And this GF, DF cream of mushroom soup is great, too:
http://learningtocookalloveragain.blogspot.com/2014/02/dairy-free-cream-of-mushroom-soup.html

htate85

Thanks for all the great tips!!
(I've never tested for celiac. I was fairly healthy as a child and my current condition didn't bother me until after I started having kids, which my digestive doctor thinks may have triggered it (with every pregnancy symptoms got stronger). Sounds really strange..)