Gluten Free As Of Today! Meal Suggestions

[Guest ShannonL]

As of today I am gluten-free. Any suggestions for good foods to stock up on. Replacement foods. Also I HATE eggs so any breakfast cereal suggestions? I LOVE chicken nuggets....any good relacement for the coating? I am going to a bday party tonight ....wish me luck. I already heard the gluten laden menu. Looks like I will be eating fruit! I am looking forward to feeling better though. I am sooo sick of being TIRED/nauseaus and just plain pathetic.

Shannon

[Rikki Tikki]

Hi Shannon and welcome to the boards. As far as cereal I stick to either fruity pebbles or the chocolate ones.

For the coating I just soak in milk and use either the gluten-free flour or the baking mix and both seem to work out well.

Glad to have you, there are many helpful people here!

You will find at many functions you will need to either bring your own food or stick to fruits. You will also find that you will feel so much better once you heal that it will amaze you. Have you been diagnosed with celiac? How long were you sick. Many people feel better right away, I was ill for so many years it took me about 3 years to really feel normal again. Be careful of cc when you eat someplace and stick to basic food at first. Gluten is in many foods under different names. The new labeling laws helps but only with wheat.

Best of luck and welcome!

[CarlaB]

Cereal's already been mentioned ... so start with meat, chicken, fish, fruit, veggies, potatoes and rice. Then ask here if there is any certain food you are missing from before and there will definately be suggestions.

Tinkyada is the best gluten-free pasta IMO. OH, and I always bring my own bag of food to parties ... if someone touches the fruit with gluten on their hands, it will be contaminated, so be sure to get a bowl of it before anyone else does.

[jkmunchkin]

Welcome Shannon!!

I'm sure you're going to get tons of suggestions but here are some of my favorites.

Bread - Order from Gluten Free Bread Basket in Chester, NY

www.gfbreadbasket.com

Pasta - Tinkyada

Chicken Nuggets - Bell & Evans gluten-free Chicken Nuggets and/or Tenders (can be found at Whole Foods)

Cereal - Nature's Path Honey'd Cornflakes, Fruity Pebbles

Trader Joe's Chicken Taquitos (awesome with some Kraft melted Mexican Cheese and Old El Paso refried beans)

Soup - Wolfgang Puck French Onion, Pacific Foods Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper

Ughhhh, I'm having a total mental block right now. Ok well those are some of my staples for gluten-free food. But you'll learn there is still tons of "mainstream" food you can have.

We're all here to help you learn and support you.

[Carriefaith]

There are recipes on this thread for a wide variety of foods: Open Original Shared Link

Have a fun party!

[lonewolf]

I LOVE chicken nuggets....any good relacement for the coating?

I use rice flour, cornmeal, paprika, garlic and salt, after dipping the chicken pieces in some olive oil since I can't do eggs or milk. I've also used crushed up crispy rice cereal or Corn Crunch 'Ems cereal to give it a crispier crust.

[Adelle]

Ya so the "ener-G" brand makes breadcrumbs (gluten free!). Also anything by "gluten-free pantry" is delish. My best advice? GET A BREADMAKER!! Best decision I ever made! Yay! Good luck and congrats!

[hineini]

I 2nd the recommendation of Tinkyada pasta. Nearly identical to gluten-containing pasta, though you may have to make it a few times to figure out how to cook it to be exactly the right texture (as it goes from al dente to mushy kinda quick). It even reheats well. You can use it to replace noodles in any recipe.

Also, I discovered a really yummy new breakfast food: Dr Praeger's Broccoli Pancakes. They're basically broccoli-potato patties you can heat up in the toaster or under the broiler. gluten-free and tasty, especially with some ketchup!

I also like to start the day off with toasted gluten-free bread with jelly and almond butter on it. Very filling (esp if you use one of the almond-based breads like Food For Life's almond-rice bread)

I seem to tolerate oats pretty well but I only eat McCann's since they are less likely to be cross-contaminated. They are a good start to my day, especially if I ad some fresh fruit and flax meal.

[momandgirls]

We always coat chicken in mashed potato flakes. It's delicious. I also use them to thicken soups or stews. I know we're in the minority, but we like Orgran pasta the best (the corn and rice mix or the animal shapes). I bought a new breadmaker and love it (Zojirushi) - Pamela's amazing wheat free bread mix is our current favorite. The Gluten Free Pantry brownies are amazing as is Namaste chocolate cake. Kinnikinnick pizza crusts (frozen and personal size) are the best, in our opinion. For breakfast, we mostly do milkshakes (rice milk, banana and frozen berries or chocolate syrup). I hope that gives you some ideas and hope you feel better soon!