Struggling with Gluten Free

I make a lot of my homemade quest bars which are super easy, filling and require minimal ingredients. I just use the oat's from Trader Joe's which are gluten free and cheaper than Bob's Red Mill. I'll send you the recipe if you'd like. I've been gluten free for 5 years but it takes a lot of practice. Are there any foods you really don't like? I eat a lot of fritatas for dinners or breakfast. Basically whatever veggies I have on had with eggs in a skillet put under the broiler to finish. Yum!

I'm gluten free, but probably by accident. I"m not trying to avoid gluten. My diet is probably way too carby for you, though.

Editing this to add I'm a widow and just cook for myself. I also don't especially like cooking and chose this diet because it is simple and meets my nutrition numbers.

For breakfast:
steel cut oats (Bob's Red Mill brand). They don't have gluten. They take time to cook, so I make a giant pot that covers the week. I just reheat a small amount each morning. I slice an apple into the oats instead of using sugar. I order my steel cut oats from Amazon because I can get them at half the price they are sold in the store, plus I don't pay shipping because I have a student Prime membership. I think Bob's Red Mill also makes gluten free products.

Lunch and dinner:
usually lentils (1 cup has 18 g protein, or the protein of 3 eggs), with stir-fried vegetables (in a little olive oil because it is a good fat), plus 1 cup steamed kale or steamed collard greens. I use McCormick Perfect Pinch spices because some are no-MSG, no-salt. Sometimes I add 1/2 cup brown rice. Brown rice doesn't have gluten. I vary the vegetables between the two meals. I also cook a lot of lentils ahead of time, like I do with the oats, so it is very easy to put meals together. Sometimes I eat soup for one of these meals.

Snacks: apples and sliced raw vegetables like bell pepper and carrots,

Just eat the perimeter of the store ... Nuts, Seeds, Fruits, Vegetables, Meats/Poultry/Seafood, Eggs, Legumes/Beans, Dairy, non-gluten grains (quinoa, wild rice, soba noodles ... etc. ...)...


Just do grab n' go type meals ... You can cook up a bunch of quinoa or rice (baked sweet potato, maybe) and meat of your choice, on your day off and portion it out for a few days ...

I'm GF ... it's really not that difficult ... The only thing I really mis is pizza (and really, all I miss is the sauce and cheese, so I metlt cheese in tomato sauce and just eat that ...) and bread dipped in olive oil ...

STA: The-poster-above-me's suggestion of hummus, is a great one ... Hummus, veggies, and a hard boiled egg .. BOOM ... MEAL!

I eat oatmeal for breakfast, sometimes quinoa. If I want a sandwich for lunch I just put whatever would have gone in the sandwich into a white corn tortilla - better if it's been toasted or warmed first. I eat a lot of brown rice and potatoes instead of wheat products at dinner. I'm not diabetic, but I think your carbs are ok if you make sure you keep portions small and choose high fiber versions so your blood sugar doesn't spike. I'm sure your doctor would have better advice...

I'm a pasta freak, but I don't miss gluten because I have this really good brown rice pasta. I never was a big fan of bread, so no loss there. Good luck. You'll get used to it and it will get easier! :flowerforyou:

ETA: Ooh I almost forgot! I make homemade buckwheat pancakes when I'm not being lazy. (I only recently learned that buckwheat is actually a seed from a plant related to rhubarb. The only reason they call it buckWHEAT is due to it's grain-like properties.) Yum!

wheat belly diet has awesome recipes but a lot can take preparation. maybe on an off day can make a few of them to freeze for the week?

gf oats for breakfast with fruit mixed in and nut butter or maybe plain yogurt with same stuff mixed in.
i like chex cereals as well with fruit mixed into the bowl, the chocolate one is my favorite

chocolatecoveredkatie.com has some gf bars like nutritional bar recipes that are only a few ingredients to mix together. i good one i like are dates, unsweetened coconut and pure chocolate blended together then mush them into bars. tastes like a girl scout somoa cookie.

lunches gf tortillas or breads with sandwich fillings that you enjoy. i like mashing chickpeas mix with plain greek yogurt and spices and put lettuce and tomato on it. or can make tuna or chicken salad with avocado that's good too
if you have a slow cooker then try http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
you can cook a lot of that stuff overnight and then take some for lunch and have it for dinner, make a few to alternate throughout the week. has a lot of gf recipes in it

takes a little prep but my adopted mom makes the gf pizza crust from the wheat belly diet book all the time, maybe if you had some time you can make a few of the crusts at once, seriously it tastes so freaking good. i believe shredded zucchini is the base mixed with cheese and egg maybe.

good luck, it can be hard to adapt to dietary restrictions.

maybe smoothies as well with different fruits and greek yogurt?

= I work 12 hour days and don't have a lot of time to prepare the 12+ ingredient meals that are on Pinterest and recipe websites.
= Also, it's just me and don't need to use large amounts of ingredients for something that I will never eat all of before it spoils in my refrigerator.

I'm not gluten free...but I have some suggestions for the above issues that are universal, if you can find a few hours, once a week to prep. Most people can find a couple of hours over the course of a week to work towards health-related goals if they are really motivated to make it work. (It might mean giving up something recreational, but then that's a choice you have to make)

You can cook some of the more elaborate dishes ahead of time and portion them out. Then refrigerate or freeze each portion so during the week you can just grab what you need and heat it up. If you've got a microwave available at work, this is so much better than grabbing a protein bar or some crap from a diner next door. For breakfast, google "eggs in muffin tins". A great way to prepare breakfast ahead of time that takes very little effort to heat up in the morning.

regarding large amounts of things that go bad before you use them...I live alone, and yeah this can be a challenge.
One thing we may have to compromise on it variety. In order to use food before it goes bad, I may need to eat the same thing a few days in a row...no big deal, I make stuff I like to eat anyway and can vary my snacks if I need the variety.
Also, don't be afraid of frozen fruits & veggies! They are healthy, relatively inexpensive, and keep for long enough that you don't need to use them right away.

good luck!

I've taken to Japanese food...

I do all the cooking in our house. I have a daughter who's GF, and another daughter who used to be GF before she outgrew her intolerance. In our house, we do a lot of substituting, especially at breakfast time. The more I can substitute without the other kids getting hot and bothered, the better.

Breakfast:
I found this GF pancake mix that everybody loves. I'll make pancakes, waffles, and "breakfast cake" (pancake batter poured into a baking pan and baked) with it. I've found sausages that are GF. And the truth is, there are lots of things we eat that have no reason to have gluten in them. One of my GF daughter's fave breakfasts is an egg poached in salsa. It's Heaven! Yogurt is big. She's not much into oatmeal, although I keep GF oatmeal around, for those few times when she gets a hankerin'.

Lunch:
I bake GF rolls. We buy this GF bread mix from Breads From Anna. It's good, but it dries out quickly. So instead of making a loaf of bread, I knead the dough in our dedicated GF bread machine, then pull it out and make it into buns. I let those rise then bake. I cool them all the way and freeze them 2 at a time in sandwich baggies. Then I pull them out as I need them. She loves them. Anything I can do with the other kids, I can do with her buns. Including grilled cheese sandwiches. We have a tortilla press and believe it or not, these make good tortillas if pressed flat enough. I have to be careful with things like chips, as many of them contain gluten in their seasonings. But with some diligence, we're pretty good.

I also avoid all HFCS and nitrates/nitrites. So shopping can be a bit dodgy. We make our own bbq sauce, salad dressings, things like that. Oh sure most of them are GF to begin with, but I feel better when I can keep a really close eye on the ingredients going into my little bundles of joy. I also keep a lot of fresh fruit around. These are all things that go well in the little cherubs' lunch boxes.

Supper:
The sky's the limit, as long as I'm paying close attention to ingredient lists. 2 of our kids have (or did have) GI issues, so every night with supper I break out a bottle of kombucha - a drink that's supposed to help keep tummies and GI tracts flowing smoothly and feeling good. I truly believe it helps. We're big noodle eaters and the kids are perfectly happy with GF brown rice noodles. We do a million things with them. Their favorite is just simple brown rice noodles tossed in brown butter with some garlic. Simple simple. They're also soup eaters. My GF kid's fave is egg drop soup. Nothing but a scrambled egg poured into a pot of chicken broth. Easy peasy. Ham noodle soup - oh yeah. And one kid goes nuts for squash soup. I have to be really careful if I'm buying from a can, but I like making soup so there's rarely a problem.

Essentially, there are 2 things that will help you live a GF lifestyle:
1) Only buy things that are naturally gluten free. Fresh fruits/veggies. Meat. Cheese. Eggs. That kind of stuff. You know, unprocessed. It takes processing to get gluten into something. (Unless you're one of those rare few who buy whole wheat kernels). This isn't totally failsafe. You have to know to stay clear of things like barley, or oats. But basically it's pretty true. Stay fresh, unprocessed, and you'll be fine.

2) Become a label reading maniac. The better you get at reading labels, the easier it becomes. As you get the hang of things, you learn what products to suspect, what products to avoid, and what you can put in your cart. The better you get, the more routine it becomes, and the less daunting it is. When we first went GF, I'd go to the grocery and literally cry on the way home. I was so frustrated, scared, confused, intimidated. I didn't know how I was going to do this for my family. But I learned. I learned the words, the "code" (if you will), the aisles to go down and to avoid. And I learned how to ask the people at my grocery questions without feeling stupid or intimidated. This takes time. And if you're like me, a lot of tears. But you'll get there, I promise.

I hope this helps, and I wish you well. Contact me if there's anything I can help you with.

TriJoe.

I am not GF but my SO and I try to limit our refined carbohydrates and that includes breads and pasta.

Snacks: I eat one ounce servings of cheddar cheese and almonds. Or one piece of fruit (an apple or a banana).

Dinner: We eat seasoned pork, chicken, or fish (100 grams or 4 oz servings) and normally one cup of broccoli or another vegetable.

Lunch is leftovers. My SO bakes a bunch of pork or chicken every few days. It's an adjustment in taste but you can create your own dry rubs for pork or chicken on the weekend and it'll last awhile.

My son was diagnosed with Celiac disease several years ago. I went out and bought the fancy flours, tried all the prepared gluten free food, and then I got smart about it.

My motto has been "what is the easiest way to do this gluten free?"

You can very easily make most items you currently make gluten free just by substituting a few items.

Better batter gluten free flour (on amazon.com) is expensive, but worth it if you are making something (pies/cookies) that requires flour.

Corn starch can be used for thickening in place of flour.

Spaghetti/pasta we like best is Heartland Gluten free (at walmart/meijer/online). Cook it with a LOT of water (8oz. of pasta in a large stock pot of water) and it turns out great - I actually like it better than regular pasta!

Any meat you want is fine, just be careful with marinades - a lot of them have gluten. Just read the labels.

Eggs are always a great choice

There are a lot of mixes in the grocery stores if you don't cook from scratch.

ALWAYS read the labels until you know that something is 100% GF. Remember that barley, malt and rye do not have to be listed in the food allergen section of the labels and for my son they really set him off with symptoms.

Good luck & take the easy way to GF )