Gluten-Free for Medical Reasons

Cutting out bread seemed like an insurmountable task before we took on the challenge. It turned out to be fairly simple, because most things you eat with bread, you can simply eat without bread. Other things need a substitute, such as burgers, which we used two pieces of leaf lettuce for a bun for a while, or simply cut it up and ate it with veggies. After a while we cut out red meat altogether, so now there is no need for bread with our chicken and fish recipes.

If you have any specific favorite dishes that you are wondering about how to substitute, do share them and I'm sure people will have some suggestions.

The biggest general advice I can give, is to avoid processed foods labelled "gluten-free" and try to stick to foods that are naturally gluten free. It's not so bad once you find things like almond and coconut flour you can use for at home gluten-free baking, etc.

I guess I take a bit of a different tack than the guy above you. I've been dealing with Celiac Disease for three years now. I have no qualms eating gluten free replacement foods because either making them from scratch (with expensive, very perishable alternate grains) is a pain in the butt or time consuming.

There's nothing more sad than eating a hamburger on a leaf of lettuce or a hot dog without a bun. So, live it up!

Hopefully you live in a place with decent grocery stores, or else you're going to be out of luck. Udi's makes the best hot dog and hamburger buns. They also make good white sandwich and multigrain bread.

Buy some quinoa/corn/rice pasta for pasta. Tinkyada is a really good brown rice pasta but my girlfriend I think may have convinced me to try switching over to quinoa pasta.

Asian food is always easy for us, but SOY SAUCE IS NOT GLUTEN FREE! Buy some gluten free Tamari and use that, or the g/f kikkoman (I haven't personally used this yet). Stir fries are awesome and tasty with rice!

Watch out for commercial chicken/beef/vegetable stock. Most have gluten in them. In general, read every label. Make sure you know the rules behind ingredients. Modified Food Starch in the US is 99% of the time corn based since corn is so cheap, make sure you keep an eye on labels for malt (made from barley). There are lots of other rules about ingredients that you can find if you google it.

If you have Celiac (I don't know why you're going gluten free) you'll need to replace any porous kitchen tools you have that would have had glutinous stuff in it : wooden bowls, spoons, doughboards/cuttingboards, and nonstick pans that would have dealt with them (gets in microscopic cracks and washing doesn't help).

Its daunting, and once you get over the mourning phase you can do it! And if you crave something that has a "convenience food" available for it, by all means go grab it; ultimately you have to be happy, and not everyone can be happy living off of protein and veggies.

Rice chex and corn chex cereals are gluten free.
Und's is GF and tastes perfectly acceptable after you get used to it.
We buy GF soy sauce -- can't remember the brand right now.

The manufacturers periodically change their ingredients so do your own double checking.
I send this list because I like the Milky Way Midnight candy bar every so often.
http://glutenaway.blogspot.com/2012/10/gluten-free-candy-list.html

Be careful about buy in bulk or in open bins. Wheat can get in them.

Mostly, we eat potatoes, winter squash, and lots of vegetables and fruit.
You don't miss the bread and pasta after awhile.
Everything is tricky when you eat out -- depending on how sensitive you are.

I'm the girlfriend of spinal77 (see above). Although I don't have to eat gluten free, I often do simply because it's easier than preparing separate food when we cook together. I've enjoyed Udi's bread, particularly when toasted and I love quinoa pasta. We tend to bake with Cup 4 Cup. It's a 1 to 1 substitute for regular flour. It works for some recipes and not for others. You'll need to experiment. Bob's Red Mill has many great gluten free items. We like the pancake mix and the cornbread.

If you find yourself wanting to go out to dinner, PF Changs is an excellent option. In our experience they are very educated about the gluten-free lifestyle and pay attention to contamination issues in the kitchen. Gluten free items are well-labeled on their menu. As a bonus, many of their dishes are reasonable in terms of calories. I cut them in half and save the left overs. I find that half of their porition size is more than enough to fill me up.

Bonefish grill also has gluten-free items that are reasonable in terms of calories. In our experience, their staff is less educated than PF Changs' so make sure you go in knowing what you want and reinforce the need to prepare the meal with clean gloves or recently washed hands on a noncontaminated surface.

Faster options, though more problematic with regards to calories, are Chipotles and Jason's Deli. In general, just go in well-educated and don't be afraid to speak up and educate the staff if they seem lost.

There are apps for smart phones that may help you locate gluten-free restaurants in your area.

Don't despair, it takes some practice, but eventually you get the hang of it.

I don't bake with GF flours, but then again I never baked before either, lol. My DH does pancakes or baked waffles using Pamela's mix on a Sunday morning every couple of weeks. I go through 1 loaf of bread in a month I generally like Udi's Omega 3 Flax bread and only toast it , also a lady here where I live who is Celiac makes the most delicious Onion Cheese Bread that I buy once in a while and toast but it is heavier, more like a banana bread consistency (cost between 8 & 9 bucks though). I use Nature's Path Mesa Sunrise flakes for breakfast or for crumbs for 'breading' anything. I don't have cereal every morning though, I like my protein, fruit and greek yogourt. Once in a while I will get a GF pizza and do up my own toppings. Also sometimes brown rice pasta or quinoa pasta. My DH & I love Asian food, so we have a lot of Thai food, Chinese food, etc. home made. All San-J Asian sauces are GF in case you need a change. I like their Peanut Thai style and Szechuan sauces the best. I use Braggs Aminos instead of regular soy sauce.

ETA As you can tell, I've never 'loved' bread. Even in school I had more interesting foods and only took a sandwich about 1x a week. I liked leftovers from supper the night before mainly like chili, stirfries, cold veg salads, etc. Yes, I was that strange one sitting by herself at the 'other table' lol.

There seem to be a lot more gluten free products around now- I tend to have a mix of naturally gluten free foods and some replacements- I used to love pasta, so I do by GF pasta and have it very occasionally. I keep GF bread in the freezer so if I want toast I can have it, but I tend to just work around it most of the time. The good news is that you can eat a pretty well balanced diet without it, so while it takes a bit of getting used to, it is possible.

Jumping on here to suggest something I didn't see above. Aldi's has a GF line which is MUCH less expensive than other stores I've seen. They don't have bread (at least at my Aldi's), but they have lots of basic substitutes, including snacks and rice.