coeliac disease - old style

make_life_easier

Does anyone have some good advice for gluten free foods and recipe's. This is all new to me and I havn't got a clue.

For instance has oxo gravy granuals got gluten in and what foods or recipe's can I make?

many thanks:beer:

msmicawber

Hi MLE,

Although not coeliac myself, members of my family and a good friend both are, so I'll do my best to help. The Sainsbury's web site is excellent for information about wheat and gluten free foods, and many of their own brand products are gluten free. Although it's not a cheap supermarket, it's often cheaper to buy their own brand stuff than to buy 'specialist' products elsewhere.

Do you know that you can get bread on prescription? If not, see your GP.

Finally, check the web for links to the Coeliac Society - there's bound to be a branch near you - as they, too, list products that have been checked to be safe.

Good luck.

wigginsmum

Bisto Best gravy granules are okay for coeliacs, but do check the labels in case they've changed since I last bought them.

We've investigated GF food for the past 8 years as my stepdaughter is coeliac (diagnosed at 4). There are some nice biscuits, cakes and crackers out there, but we've not yet found decent bread or been able to make it; even the prescription bread is at best mildly okay and then only when toasted.

Corn tortillas are great as a base for thin pizzas or wraps. Many coeliacs can tolerate oats as well so I tend to make flapjacks. Rice cakes with toppings are good in place of sandwiches - if we go out for the day we always take some. Watch out for ingredients in crisps - we tend to stick to Walkers Cheese & Onion. Lidl do a nice vanilla ice-cream which is GF.

Watch out for breakfast cereals containing barley or malt extract, even the ones you think would be okay like Rice Krispies and Cornflakes. Lots of items contain 'modified starch' without specifying what kind of starch, so you will need the foodlist from the Coeliac Society which is updated regularly.

Be prepared for extra expense if you're buying specialist food; rice and corn pasta is at least 3 times the price of ordinary wheat pasta. Sainsburys do some excellent frozen GF food like chicken & veg pies and pizzas. We've found that our menus have moved away from 'replacement' wheaty foods towards food like rice and corn. Indian is very popular in our house.

Don't despair - this is a radical change and you'll probably find yourself feeling angry and resentful, but if you've been diagnosed as coeliac, the change in the way you feel will really be worth it.

Pink.

Hi make life easier,

Some of the replies on these older threads might help you too:

Wheat free recipes and ideas

Gluten Free Foods

Pink

stuart264

Hi I'm not Celiac but I am Gluten Intollerant and newly diagnosed so I went through all the sort of stuff your going through.

Wigginsmum has given you one out of date bit of advice, you cant eat Cornflakes any longer because of the barley malt used to make them golden, they were taken off the list about 8 months ago . If you want the latest stuff then go on the Coeliac UK website http://www.coeliac.org.uk join up and get the lastest issue of the Gluten Free Directory.

Few tips I have fouind to avoid getting "Gluten Free" fleeced.

1. Go Asian most of the asian sweets, deserts and noodles are rice free as some parts of asia tend not to grow rice. e.g. I am getting very fond of Filipino foods as they are all gluten free because of no or very little wheat.
2. Asian stores stock 100% rice noodles which can be used instead of gluten free pasta. 99p verses £2.50 for the gluten free version...

I have a load of Gluten Free recipies that I have tried on my PC so if you want to PM me and give me your e-mail address I can send them over as a zipped PDF.

Stuart.

make_life_easier

Am I right in thinking that 'flour wheat' is bad for celiac's?:o

SuiDreams

The best place to look is definately the Coeliac Awareness site the site is excellent boards to chat and ask for advice and the support boards containing loads of helpful information like recipies etc (also suggestions on restaurants etc). http://www.coeliacawareness.org.uk/

Personally we cook everything from scratch now. Loads of fresh veg and meat, we eat a lot of rice as well. The hardest thing was the sauces but we've got those down as well now.

Let me know if you need anymore help

modgit

wigginsmum wrote:

but we've not yet found decent bread or been able to make it; even the prescription bread is at best mildly okay and then only when toasted.

Try Glutafin select bread, it still has to be microwaved when fresh but is the nearest thing to normal I've found. You can register with Glutafin and they sent me a box of samples.

As far as home baking, I buy Doves Farm gluten free flour, it's sold in morrisons, asda, and tesco, for around £1.50 a bag. It bakes lovely, so much better than prescription flour.

SuiDreams

modgit wrote:

As far as home baking, I buy Doves Farm gluten free flour, it's sold in morrisons, asda, and tesco, for around £1.50 a bag. It bakes lovely, so much better than prescription flour.

I use Doves Farm Gluten Free Flour as well and find that its great for everything, especially the occasional Pancake.

Bread wise I like dietry Specials loaf at the moment and Tesco's Pitta and Naan Breads.

SuiDreams

Forgot to mention Aldi is Excellent for Extra's like Chocolate and Ice Cream, I've got some lovely Ice Cream from Aldi at the moment its their Luxary Ice Cream its Gluten Free and its nice and soft. We got some GF Ice Cream cones from Local Health Food shop as well (think they are made by Bakarat?), If you go into a health food shop and you can't see what you want on the shelf ask, they don't always keep a lot of Stock and are happy to order in for you. The best one I have found so far is called "For Goodness Sake" (I think) I've found Holland and Barratt to be very unhelpful and they don't stock very good stuff.

If you want cornflakes get Whole Earth Cornflakes they are Orgainic and Gluten Free and delicous.

make_life_easier

http://www.coeliacawareness.org.uk/

Thanks SuiDreams, this has been very helpful as near to the bottom of the page it gave me Asda's gluten free foods and I shop there quite often. It only gives asda brands though, so I will look futher for more famous brands as well - not that there is anything wrong with smartprice etc but there are certain foods I like to buy.

Although cooking from scratch is the best way. I need to know what is in sauces etc when I am making a meal.