Gluten free and Starches
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mooglysmom
Posts: 319 Member
How often do you eat gluten free bread/crackers/pastas?
I'm currently steering towards more whole foods, but I've realized that I'm probably hurting myself with all the STARCH when I make anything like pizza, pasta, pancakes, etc...
I thought when I gave up the gluten I'd get better about this, but nope. I just crave all this starchy food still, and so do my kids! And of course any time I make something, its a necessary evil, isn't it? If you want that bread like response from your dough, you've got to add potato starch, or tapioca flour.
So, what kinds of flours do you use? I generally use organic brown rice flour (mostly due to cost effectiveness), but sometimes I use Sorghum as well.
I'm currently steering towards more whole foods, but I've realized that I'm probably hurting myself with all the STARCH when I make anything like pizza, pasta, pancakes, etc...
I thought when I gave up the gluten I'd get better about this, but nope. I just crave all this starchy food still, and so do my kids! And of course any time I make something, its a necessary evil, isn't it? If you want that bread like response from your dough, you've got to add potato starch, or tapioca flour.
So, what kinds of flours do you use? I generally use organic brown rice flour (mostly due to cost effectiveness), but sometimes I use Sorghum as well.
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Replies
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Hi! When I first made the switch to gluten free I actually gave up a lot of that stuff all together and focused on foods that were naturally gluten free. Now that I've been eating gluten free for almost a year I've found substitutes that work for me:
Pasta- Spaghetti Squash (added nutrients! super low cal) or I pick up rice noodles at a Koran grocery store by me- I like that the price isn't jacked up by being "gluten free" and I think they taste really good
Bread- This is one I more or less have given up- I eat a lot of sandwich type things in corn tortillas. Sometimes I make my own bread using brown rice flour.
Crackers- I love blue diamond nut thins! But I only get those on sale
How long have you been gluten free for? I find that my cravings for starchy foods have decreased- Or that potatoes and rice can help. Another idea is to alternate potatoes and sweet potato and make them in different ways: Baked, french fries, scalloped, shredded... etc.
Hope this helps!0 -
Brown Rice, Sorghum, Coconut Flour, Millet flour, Buckwheat (i had no idea it was actually a fruit, not a grain), Potato Flour, corn flour (I'm not allergic, some are) and the starches. Oh - and Almond flour if you don't have a nut allergy. I swear by it. I would like to use bean flours more, but the taste is still an adjustment for me. Lentil flour fritters are super tasty.
The thing i discovered recently is that I have to keep the starches to a minimum. Most of the make-up of Gluten Free pre-made baked goods is mostly starch - which is basically spiking my blood-sugar. It's making me kind of manic. I cut-back the starch and moved to slow-digesting foods (gluten free whole oats, cooked buckwheat groats, etc) and it has helped calm the body enormously. FYI!0 -
I tend to stay away from almost all grains and starches. Rarely I will have a slice of gluten free bread, oatmeal, or a little rice. But it's only about once a month or so. I also cut waaaaay back on potatoes. Those were not helping me lose the last few pounds I wanted. :-)
I give myself one "free" meal a week to tackle any sweets/drinks/starchy cravings I might have. Then try to stay on track the rest of the week. Only having those things at one meal for the week really helped a lot for me.
Oh, and I also had to recently cut out all legumes when I finally made the connection that they cause the arthritis in my wrist to flare up. :-(0 -
Very helpful, thanks! More or less just wondering what everyone else does!
I've been gluten free for 3 years now (feels like forever, lol!), but I LOVE to bake. It's really hard to get out of that! I need to make some changes in my baking!
I'm allergic to buckwheat though
. I was SO sick last time I had some. Oats are a no no too!
I've been buying the Crunchmaster crackers, mostly for my son as he can take them to school (the almond thins tend to have dairy in them, and he can't take them for lunch since he sits at a nut and dairy free table).
It's so hard to think outside the grain box, lol, moving on to more whole foods with few exceptions. 0 -
I eat lots of potatoes, buckwheat, and quinoa. Very little processed starch, and that has to be homemade because of other allergies/intolerances. My hubby and son go through a loaf of gf bread in a week, and we have pasta once a week. In addition to whatever potatoes, pancakes, etc. I have prepared for suppers.0
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I've used coconut flour, almond flour, and flax meal. I try to stay away from too much starch, as I am insulin resistant, too. And I do know it's addictive to me! I do eat some rice and potatoes, but I try to limit it.
I finally had some of the Udi's gf bread last week, and man did I get bloated, lol.0 -
I really do better with a lower-starch diet, too. Sweet potatoes are okay, but white potatoes are iffy.
I do use brown rice tortillas to make wraps with greens, humus or guac, something protein. And I have corn tortillas sometimes with cheese and veg.
The corn pastas hold together better than the rice ones, I think. Haven't been eating them, though.
I did have some great bread lately that was quinoa and chia, I think. And I saw a recipe for almond-meal pancakes that sounds wonderful!
Meringues are nice portable cookie substitutes. And vegetable slices and peanut butter or some dip cab work well.
One thing i do is, if I cook rice, I use maybe two parts brown rice to one part lentils. It's a little like a pilaf.0 -
The blog GlutenFreeGirl has some good links and recipes.0
