Eating gluten-free In College

[kduggan]

i'm a freshman in college and i've gotten a large fridge, microwave, ect but i'm still not sure what to get to kep my stomach full. i'm at school in a small town so superwalmart or the local grocery store are about my only food options. any suggestions for "normal" food that are gluten-free that would make good meals and snacks would be greatly appreciated...thanks in advance!!

[gf4life]

I believe Walmart has started labeling their gluten free foods as such, and they might have a list available. this could help you with your shopping. Another useful thing is this list available online at:

Open Original Shared Link

Just remember to check the labels even if it is on the list, since many ingredients can change rather quickly and companies are not required to notify consumers.

[Guest Norah022]

If you can see if your school has a dietician as part of health services and set up an appointment with them.

Also see if through student affairs you can set up a meeting with dining services to go over your options on campus.

[Tigger18]

hi!

I am in college too, when I lived in the dorms I was still undiagnosed but here a few ideas...

amy's frozen stuff

microwave popcorn

baby carrots

yoplait yogurt

nuts

lara bars

gluten-free cereal (they usually have at least 1 kind at grocery stores)

you can even keep eggs in your fridge and "scramble" them in the microwave in a mug

cream of rice, you can cook it in the microwave and mix in some berries or dried fruit

good luck! I will try and think of more......

You could always try and order stuff of the internet too.

where are you going to school?

-Dana

[eKatherine]

My daughter is not gluten-free, but she had a rice cooker she used when in college.

[kbtoyssni]

Have you talked to someone in food service at your school yet? My brother's college is very celiac-friendly. They have a separate fridge in the back filled with gluten-free foods and a microwave that the gluten-free kids can use at any time. Everytime I visit, they're very good about getting me clean pans, showing me ingredients, giving me actual eggs instead of the egg-powder mix everyone else has to use.

[domineske]

Have you talked to someone in food service at your school yet? My brother's college is very celiac-friendly. They have a separate fridge in the back filled with gluten-free foods and a microwave that the gluten-free kids can use at any time. Everytime I visit, they're very good about getting me clean pans, showing me ingredients, giving me actual eggs instead of the egg-powder mix everyone else has to use.

What a progressive attitude! What college?

[kduggan]

thanks for all the suggestions...and keep them coming i'm at murray state university in KY

[Corkdarrr]

Do you like Thai food? Thai Kitchen has a bunch of instant stuff (rice noodle bowls, pad thai, etc...) and their products are clearly labeled if they are gluten-free. All are easily microwavable and found at common stores.

I also eat a LOT of rice and beans. Shred some cheese on it, salsa, sour cream and crushed up tortilla chips. YUM! It's more expensive, but if you don't want to/can't make rice yourself, Uncle Ben's has the pouches of rice that just need to be microwaved. I believe the Spanish or Mexican flavored one is gluten-free.

[wozzy]

I would talk to the dining people. I go to Michigan and I went gluten free about halfway through freshman year. It was hard (I lived in a dorm that was known for it's vegan food which is typically not gluten free) but I survived. I ate a lot of hard boiled eggs, veggies, yogurt, rice. There is another dorm on our campus that has gluten-free foods, like pasta and stuff, but I never went because it was far away.

The dining staff were helpful, though. They sent me a list of everything that was gluten free along with a list of all the ingredients in all of the food they serve.

I don't know how strict the rules are where you go about toasters, rice cookers, etc in the dorm rooms, but if you have a serious food allergy, you might be able to get around it. Or hide it.

For me, the issue wasn't so much cooking the food but getting it because the grocery store was not in walking distance.

I did end up losing weight and becoming anemic, though...

[kbtoyssni]

What a progressive attitude! What college?

He goes to the University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse. It's not too big (maybe 6000 students?), but there are about four celiacs who go there. I have no idea if it's just UW-L that has gluten free food or all UW schools. I went to UW-Madison, but wasn't diagnosed until after I graduated.

[Swingin' Celiac]

Hey I'm an incoming freshie too. I know public schools are required to accomodate special diets, so, like everyone else has been saying, ask dining services. I know at UC Irvine they have all the students with special dietary needs meet and plan with the cooks and such. Communication is key. Does your school require a dining meal plan for freshman? Mine does, and I think it would probably make your life easier to let them cook a lot of your meals, especially considering your lack of proximity to good gluten-free hotspot grocery stores. Just make extra careful that you educate them about cross-contamination issues and give them the lovely extensive list of questionable ingredients listed on this site. They'll probably much more willing to help than most restaurants. As for snacking and dorm food ideas here are some wonderful gluten-free mainstreams you can have assuming that you don't have any other allergies/intolerances to worry about.

*Fritos

*Tostitos

*Cheetos

*Lay's Potato Chips

(disclaimer: Frito-Lay has a portion on its website that lists gluten-free options, but it makes the note that they don't use dedicated lines for the gluten-free stuff but they do wash them before switching products, so if you're extremely obsessive about CC or if your extremely sensitive than its up to you, but I don't think I've had any problems)

*M&M's (plain and peanut)

*Hershey's milk chocolate

*Jet-Puffed marshmallows (non graham cracker s'mores anyone?)

*Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

*Orville Redenbaucher's (not sure I spelled that right) microwave popcorn (not the caramel kind)

*Kozy Shack rice/tapioca pudding (check the container I think it says gluten-free)

*Smart Balance will label if it's gluten-free

*Mission is great for tortillas/tortilla chips (they'll label gluten-free)

*Coca-cola products are gluten-free

*Barq's and A&W rock

*KC Masterpiece Original BBQ sauce works for me but they won't guarantee gluten free cause of cross contamination possibilities

Okay so you probably can't make a meal out of those but hopefully they might give you at least a couple of options in social situation (use common sense though CC is a possibility).

For meals, it seems that you'll probably have to stick with the basics if your limited in terms of grocery shopping places, but try online shopping for interesting things. Making big meals then freezing left overs is awesome. Anyway good luck, I hope you're just as excited as I am about starting school.

[utdan]

I attend a private University--Brigham Young in Provo, Utah. They have a Taco Bell in the main dining hall, and I figured that I could eat the Southwestern Steak Bowl with no problem. I did suffer celiac-like symptoms for 3 days after eating it though. I say this because I don't know if school-based fast food restaurants have different operating procedures than normal ones.

[Corkdarrr]

I attend a private University--Brigham Young in Provo, Utah. They have a Taco Bell in the main dining hall, and I figured that I could eat the Southwestern Steak Bowl with no problem. I did suffer celiac-like symptoms for 3 days after eating it though. I say this because I don't know if school-based fast food restaurants have different operating procedures than normal ones.

Check out Taco Bell's website. Nearly everything they make is gluten-filled.

Smaller fast food restaurants should have similar operating procedures as do larger ones because it is all based on corporate policy.

One difference might be a large McDonald's or BK, for example, does so much business that they have dedicated fryers for the fries. A smaller chain (like one you'd find in a campus food court) doesn't do as much business so they don't have as many fryers, therefore leading to a higher possibility of CC issues.

But as far as I know, TacoBell is a no-no. Sorry!

-Courtney

[May9]

Hello,

I'm a Junior in college. Assuming you don't have any other food allergies - you may want to try instant grits (I add butter or jam). Also, I eat alot of fruit, dried fruit and trail mixes (so long as there is no granola). If you have a blender you can make smoothies with ice, frozen fruit, sherbet, lemonade and orange juice. They fill me up fast and I can take them with me.

I'm not sure how gluten sensitive you are but I had to stay away from rice krispie treats (and the like) because of MSG (monosodium glutamate). Also look out for "modified food starch", "modifed corn starch" and "malt flavoring or extract". These can be hidden glutens in ingredient lists.

Good luck. May 9

[GFBetsy]

I attend a private University--Brigham Young in Provo, Utah. They have a Taco Bell in the main dining hall, and I figured that I could eat the Southwestern Steak Bowl with no problem. I did suffer celiac-like symptoms for 3 days after eating it though. I say this because I don't know if school-based fast food restaurants have different operating procedures than normal ones.

utdan -

I actually used to be a student Supervisor at the Cougareat, and I can tell you that the Taco Bell there is a franchise like all the others. We ordered and used Taco Bell products (meats, diced tomatoes, all of it. - except maybe for the cilantro, which I wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy, anyway . . . it tastes like soap!). Last time I checked, the only gluten-free thing taco bell offered was pintos & cheese . . . but them may have added gluten to that by now! Try L&T . . . they used to do baked potatoes, which were very cheap and definitely gluten-free.

Betsy

[utdan]

Check out Taco Bell's website. Nearly everything they make is gluten-filled.

Smaller fast food restaurants should have similar operating procedures as do larger ones because it is all based on corporate policy.

One difference might be a large McDonald's or BK, for example, does so much business that they have dedicated fryers for the fries. A smaller chain (like one you'd find in a campus food court) doesn't do as much business so they don't have as many fryers, therefore leading to a higher possibility of CC issues.

But as far as I know, TacoBell is a no-no. Sorry!

-Courtney

The Southwest Steak Bowl is listed as being gluten-free on their website. Oh well, at least I know now. It's only as gluten-free as the students working it are careful not to cross contaminate. I talked to the head manager and I went back into the kitchen and talked with the employees of another place, "Terriyaki Stix" and they have the Kalua Pork as being gluten-free -- however, when I talked to the employee making the dishes she says she uses the same tongs for not only the pork but for the other bins that contain gluten as well. This, combined with different employees coming in every 2-3 hours or so and you never know what happened in the kitchen.

I just got a little job in the food court in Subway. So now I will see all the stuff that goes on back there! Maybe I can get somebody in the main kitchen to set aside something for me before it hits the restaurant bins. Not giving up hope yet.

[chocolatebunny]

I'm not in college yet, but here are some ideas of foood that you can buy pretty much anywhere and can turn into meals...

Instant rice

cans of soup

nuts

sunflower seeds

dried fruit

cans of beans (bring a strainer)

gluten-free cereal

rice cakes

nut butters

cheeses

corn tacos (put some veggies from the cafeteria on with your beans)

Another thing that would be helpful is protein powder. You get this in a large size at a healthfood store and it will probably last you a semester. Just put it in food or drinks as a protein boost.

Hope this helped and good luck!

[teeta]

I am a senior in high school and have been looking at colleges. I think I have decided on Indiana Wesleyan University. They were (like all the schools i visited) very helpful and accomodating with celiac disease. IWU said I could even live in an on campus lodge which has a full kitchen and they will adjust my meal plan. I plan on making meals like twice a week and then making enough for three days (pasta, pizza, baked chicken, soup, spaghetti, etc). I think I will end up eating a lot of baked potatoes b/c they are cheap, fast, and yummy; I will also make a lot out of corn tortillas and corn chips. Oh yeah and it might be a good idea to invest in a George Foreman grill (those things are awesome!)

Last year I went to a celiac disease conferance in Columbus,OH and they said MSG, modified corn starch and modified food starch (it will say wheat now in parenthesis if it is not corn) are all okay. But I could be wrong.

Hope that helps

[NicoleAJ]

I just wanted to jump in on the instant grits issue--they're certainly a great idea. Just make sure that you don't get the Quaker Oats ones; I called the company about them a few months ago and they said that they have cross contamination issues with them (though their plain rice cakes have been tested as gluten free).

I'm a grad student, but I was surprised that my very large, public university does not have a lot of resources for celiacs. I went to the school nutritionist and tried to get some info on eating in the commons or at the food courts (hoping that they'd be so accomodating that I could have most of my lunches there since I'm always on campus with teaching and office hours), but they had no clue. She told me to go around to them individually and ask, which seemed like such a waste of time, particularly if they are not all informed about the gluten free diet. Consequently, there is a fridge and a microwave in the office, so I just bring my lunch and heat it up, or I eat at home. It's too bad that they're not more accomodating--I'd have such trouble dealing with this if I had to live in the dorms at this school.

[Corkdarrr]

I just wanted to jump in on the instant grits issue--they're certainly a great idea. Just make sure that you don't get the Quaker Oats ones; I called the company about them a few months ago and they said that they have cross contamination issues with them (though their plain rice cakes have been tested as gluten free).

I'm a grad student, but I was surprised that my very large, public university does not have a lot of resources for celiacs. I went to the school nutritionist and tried to get some info on eating in the commons or at the food courts (hoping that they'd be so accomodating that I could have most of my lunches there since I'm always on campus with teaching and office hours), but they had no clue. She told me to go around to them individually and ask, which seemed like such a waste of time, particularly if they are not all informed about the gluten free diet. Consequently, there is a fridge and a microwave in the office, so I just bring my lunch and heat it up, or I eat at home. It's too bad that they're not more accomodating--I'd have such trouble dealing with this if I had to live in the dorms at this school.

Yeah...I went to my school's nutritionist at the beginning of the semester just to see if she could help me any further in terms of meal ideas.

She felt so bad! It was blatantly obvious that I knew a TON more about celiac than she did. The only thing she had in her office about celiac was the most basic info. She said she'd do more research if I wanted to come back, which I didn't. Hopefully though she will have a little more info in the future for some other student that comes in somewhere down the line.

Per the college eating, I am extremely lucky that I never lived in dorms or anything so I've always had a full kitchen. Plus I was diagnosed just several months ago, so none of this was even an issue before that. Even if it had been, I always had awesome roommates that would've worked around my "craziness." And now I'm fortunate enough to have a boyfriend who doesn't think I'm crazy at all - but supports me fully and can read labels with the best of 'em!

Courtney