Shopping for Gluten Free Living
If you or someone in your household has celiac disease, you have to find foods that are gluten free to prevent the painful and inconvenient reactions that happen when the gluten protein is consumed. With this autoimmune disease, gluten triggers the body to attack the intestines when it is consumed, causing diarrhea, muscle cramping, and abdominal pain. Not only is the reaction uncomfortable, but it can happen at unpredictable times, depending on the intestinal activity of the sufferer. In order to avoid these occurrences, some precautions while shopping is necessary.
Your first choice in your shopping adventure should be fresh fruits and vegetables, not canned products or prepared foods. Nature takes care of its own, and those are the choices that do not contain gluten. Lean meats, such as chicken, fish, and turkey are also good choices. If you want pork or beef, be sure the fat content is low, and steaks and chops have been trimmed to remove excess fat, since the animal fat can contain glutens consumed by the animal before butchering. You have to avoid any foods that contain rye, wheat, barley, oats, or malt flavorings. However, depending on where you shop, you can find some prepared foods that are gluten free.
The biggest thing to remember is to read labels. Some products, such as rice cereals or flours, state they are gluten free. But some can contain gluten levels above the recommended level of 20 parts per million (ppm). In most cases, someone with celiac disease needs foods that are less than 10 ppm to avoid severe reactions to the gluten protein. Processed foods often contain flavorings that contain malted wheat or barley in order to thicken sauces. These are usually above the recommended levels, although the label may say “gluten free.”
There are lists available of the different food additives that contain gluten, but they are extensive. Your best option is to choose the foods that nature has given us, rather than the foods that are created for your convenience. Although food preparation times may be longer, you have to consider the consequences of eating those foods that have that hidden enemy in them. Even small amounts of gluten can cause havoc, so it is important to know what you put in your body, and how it will react. That ground turkey hamburger on a lettuce bun will be a better choice than that fatty beef burger from a fast-food restaurant. That is, if you want to avoid a lot of suffering.
Get some gluten free sweets for you Valentine this year…
Looking to get your special someone some gluten free goodies for Valentine's day this year? If so, you are in luck because we just found a great coupon code for Gimmee Jimmy's Cookies. Just use code REDTAG20 to get $20 off of a $90 purchase. Jimmy's sells gluten free cookies, brownies, and even lava cakes!
Products to Shelves
It seems like gluten free signs are popping up everywhere. I went into a Superfresh the other day and besides there being a gluten free section there were also signs underneath the price of items labeled “gluten free.” At Shop Rite as well, Betty Crocker cake, brownie and cookie gluten free mixes line the shelves and gluten free Bisquick joins the pancake mixes. I’ve tried them all and every one tastes great. Companies are getting closer and closer to making gluten free foods equal to their normal counterparts. The Betty Crocker mixes are really good and just as easy to make as the regular products. Like most gluten free food, the cakes and brownies come out a little on the heavier side, but nothing terrible.
Dining Cards- Why Didn’t I Think of That?
Recently I came across dining cards that are now being sold in various different languages explaining what Celiacs Disease is, what can't be eaten, and how things should be prepared. It makes it easy to be able to just hand the waiter a card to give to the chef. It eliminates the language barrier and makes travel so much easier. I feel like the concept is so simple, but so useful. They come laminated in many different languages and you can purchase them from numerous places. It's such a simple concept that it really makes me wonder why I couldn't have come up with the myself.
http://www.triumphdining.com/products/gluten-free-dining-cards
Restaurant Rescuer
When I first was diagnosed with Celiac’s Disease it seemed like I would never go out to dinner again. Little by little I found more and more places near me that had gluten free dining, but that didn’t help me when I went on vacation or back to school. It’s stressful to have to go into a restaurant where the server doesn’t even know what gluten is. Then my mom bought The Essential Gluten-Free Restaurant Guide: How and Where to Eat 2008-2009. They have come out with a new one, but I’m sure the concept is the same. The book is divided by state and then under each state is a list of restaurants that have gluten free food. There are different icons that mean gluten free menu available, gluten free products available, gluten free chain restaurant and more. I’ve found this book to be somewhat of a bible when it comes to finding somewhere to eat in an unfamiliar area. Some of the menus are even listed in the back and every restaurant lists the towns and phone numbers to call. I highly recommend buying this book to make dining out so much easier. I love it!
To see a sample visit…. http://www.celiac.com/catalog/triumph_sample_pages.pdf http://www.celiac.com/catalog/triumph_sample_pages.pdf
Gingerbread Houses
Every Christmas my housemates and I have a gingerbread house making contest. Last year I couldn't seem to find gluten free graham crackers so I ended up just using normal ones and not eating any of it. It was more torturous than enjoyable. This year however I actually did find some. They didn't have them at whole foods, but I actually found them at shoprite. I bought Jo-sef Gluten Free ones. They weren't as big as a normal graham cracker (only about half the size) but they did the job. I was able to make a gingerbread house and eat it as I built it. I suggest having two different frosting if you are making them with non-gluten free crackers. I had my own frosting and my housemates had their own so that we didn't cross contaminate. The crackers weren't the best tasting ones I've tried, but once I put frosting on them they were great. They aren't light like typical graham crackers and are on the hard side, but they weren't terrible.
WATCH out for these candies: (they DO contain gluten)
Twizzlers, KitKat, 100 Grand, Hershey Hugs, Nestle Crunch, Whoppers
If you want a list of gluten free candy go here: http://surefoodsliving.com/2009/10/06/gluten-free-halloween-candy-quick-list-2009/
FINALLY a donut!
Almost everyday I go into Dunkin Donuts to get a french vanilla coffee. The days that are the worst are the ones when I have to wait on line. I stand there for what feels like hours just staring at all the different donuts and muffins wishing and wishing that I could just once eat the strawberry frosted one. The worst part is that the man that works there likes me so he goes out of his way to sneak me free munchkins. I take them because it makes him sooo happy and I just give them to someone, but it's sheer torture. Today I went to whole foods to get my normal gluten free stuff not even thinking maybe they have donuts. When I was in the freezer isle I decided to look at the breakfast foods and there I saw gluten free donuts. They're made by kinnikinnick- I bought the sugar/cinnamon ones, but they also had glazed, plain and chocolate dipped. I just warmed them up and they were GREAT!! They had a perfect consistency and tasted like the real thing. They were kind of small, but they were dense so two filled me up the same as normal donuts would. I HIGHLY recommend these to anyone especially those that are craving a good donut like I was... Plus after really wanting one for over a month now having one put me in a great mood!
Gluten Free Cookies Review
My mom is an amazing baker including gluten free stuff so until I came back to college I really hadn't had much of a need for store bought cookies (my moms are better than all the ones out there). But the cookies I make from scratch don't really seem to measure up to hers so I resort to the store bought ones. Some are a close second and some really aren't even worth the money the company spent to make them let alone sell them.
Dr. Schar Brand (10/10)- These cookies are REALLY GOOD. They tend to be a little expensive, but if you are looking for quality then you've found it. They have a bunch of different kinds from vanilla wafers to shortbread cookies. My personal favorite are the chocolate covered hazelnut wafers (they remind me a little of the forrero rochers I used to love)
Enjoy Life Brand (9/10)- These cookies are really good as well, but they have more of a cake like consistency. If you're looking for regular chocolate chip cookies you may not want to buy these, but if soft and chewy is what you want then you've definitely found them in the Enjoy Life Brand. They are all soft baked, and they have more than enough varieties: chocolate chip, gingerbread, apple and even snickerdoodle (try the double chocolate brownie gluten free cookies).
Mi-Del Gluten Free Oreo
Gefen Gluten Free- (7/10) These cookies are good, but consistency and taste wise they are slightly lacking. You can tell you are biting into a gluten free cookie and the taste is a little on the bland side. They are not bad though and worth giving a shot.
Pamela's Simplebites Cookies
There are tons of brands out there, but I probably won't be trying many of them because I have found the Pamela's, Dr. Schar, and Enjoy Life brands. If anyone has found a decent oreo cookie however please share.
LUNDBERG Risotto
So as a previous loyal customer of pasta sides and easy dinners like that you can understand my devastation when I found out those days were gone. However, recently I discovered risotto made by Lundberg. So far every kind I've tried has been gluten free but I'm not sure if all varieties are. (creamy Parmesan, Florentine, tomato basil, Italian herb) They are excellent and all my non-gluten free friends and family agree. Risotto is a type of rice, but when you cook it I feel like it resembles a mix between rice and pasta. It's really easy to make, but takes about 20 minutes. All the flavors are great and it makes enough for 3-4 people. I HIGHLY suggest giving it a try.
Gluten Free Thai Pavilion and Simply Asia
For me, the hardest part of Celiac disease is not being able to go out and grab something to eat. As a college student half the time I'm too lazy to cook and the other half I just don't have the time. Thai Pavilion (instant rice noodles and sauce) and Simply Asia (rice noodle soup bowls) are my go-to for a quick lunch and if necessary dinner. Both products are made from rice noodles and both can be made either with boiling water or in the microwave. I suggest making it with boiling water if you have a stove because it softens the noodles more than making it in the microwave. Thai Pavilion has a bunch different kinds that are all good, but my favorite is the authenic pad thai. Simply Asia also has a lot of choices, but the best is the Thai ginger. They only take three minutes to make and one minute to cool down.
*Just make sure that it is gluten free because both brands have ones that aren't