Hello - I'm New

[Ada]

Hello, I was diagnosed with Celia recently and being trying to be gluten free for 3 weeks.

I thought it would be easier, but it's being hard especially to get use to this diet, especially in

the mornings. I miss my bread and pizza. There're not much choices out there.

How are you guys coping with this?

Thanks.

[Ursa Major]

Hi Ada, and welcome to this board. I am glad you were diagnosed, as now you can get well. It takes a while to get the hang of the diet, but you'll be fine.

Check out Nini's 'newbie survival kit', it has a lot of valuable information, that will help you know what to eat, what shampoo, conditioner, lipstick etc. is safe and a whole lot more. Here is the link: Open Original Shared Link. Scroll down to the bottom to find the links to the kit.

You can still eat bread and pizza, just gluten-free ones. See if your local grocery store has a gluten-free section, if not, check your health food store. You can also order many things online.

And of course, a lot of food is naturally gluten-free, like meat, vegetables, eggs, fruit, nuts, seeds etc. Why not eat bacon and eggs and a fruit salad for breakfast? Or buckwheat pancakes.

It will get easier, I promise.

[happygirl]

Ada,

Welcome to the board! This can be very overwhelming. Celiac is a strange disease.

Luckily, there are a lot of products out there. Some areas carry more. Where do you live? Do you live near a Whole Foods?

Have you looked online at www.glutenfreepantry.com, glutenfreemall.com, or allergygrocer.com?

Tinkyada rice based pasta is a great gluten free pasta that many on here love, myself included.

Whole foods has a great line of gluten free baked products, including breads, rolls, pizza crusts, etc.

Kinnicknick also has many great gluten-free products.

Check out some of those sites---you will see LOTS of great gluten free brands. Some are better than others...a lot depends on personal preference.

Hope this helps. Let us know specifically what you are looking for and people will chime in with their favorite brands. Let us know if you have questions on things you see!

Laura

[Creative-Soul]

Just wanted to say "Welcome!" This will get easier as time goes by and you learn more about the diet and going Gluten free as a whole. You're going to have to be willing to adjust a bit from the onset...that made things much easier for me. What helps the most is concentrating on what I CAN eat, instead of what I CAN"T. And when I get the urge to feel sorry for myself (which still happens sometimes!), I just remember what horrible symptoms I get and/how awful I feel when I eat a particular food... the urge disappears in no time flat!

[Guhlia]

Welcome! As everyone else said, it gets easier over time. Now it's second nature to me. Gluten-filled goodies don't even look good to me anymore. I'd much prefer to eat my fresh baked gluten-free treats. I would definitely recommend getting yourself a few gluten free cookbooks to start out... Don't let a few failed recipes scare you off. I personally recommend Incredible Edible Gluten Free Foods for Kids by Shari L. Sanderson, incredibly easy recipes that turn out incredibly well. I also love The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy by Bette Hagman, this book has the absolute best pizza recipe I've ever found (gluten free or gluten filled). The pizza recipe also makes fantastic bagels, rolls, pizza, and mini pizzas. Yum! You can likely make all of your old recipes gluten free. Whenever it calls for flour, use Bette Hagman's rice flour blend (you'll want to mix this up fresh to save tons of money): 3 parts white rice flour, 2 parts potato starch, 1 part tapioca starch... Add 1 teaspoon per 1 to 1-1/2 cups of flour blend. I still use all my old recipes and just sub this flour blend for all purpose flour. They turn out fabulous AND they don't make me sick like they did pre-gluten-free...

If you're really struggling with the diet, try finding the book Living Gluten Free for Dummies. It's one of those yellow and black dummies books. It has some great information and it's a very easy read, great book.

I also use allrecipes.com and epicurious.com for recipes... They have some naturally gluten free recipes as well as some that I sub gluten free ingredients in.

Someone around here has the list of companies that will list gluten on their labels... Kraft is one of those companies, they will list wheat, barley, rye, or oats on the label. Wal-mart's Great Value brand says "gluten free" right on the container if it's gluten free, they'll even tell you if it's produced in a facility with wheat.

Shopping online will also probably help you greatly in the beginning... I love Kinnikinnick.com for my flours, cookies, and bagels. I use shopbydiet.com for everything else. Try Tinkyada pasta if you're a pasta lover.

Chin up, it'll get easier.

[white]

Hello, I was diagnosed with Celia recently and being trying to be gluten free for 3 weeks.

I thought it would be easier, but it's being hard especially to get use to this diet, especially in

the mornings. I miss my bread and pizza. There're not much choices out there.

How are you guys coping with this?

Thanks.

Hi Ada - swelcome!

Playing safe with limited variety was important for my husband. We worried about the variety too but every time he tried something, pain was there. At the beginning we thought we could do this diet, but as time passed we learned that he had to avoid milk/cheese/yogurt, soy, red meat, egg, nightshades...etc. since his intestines were sensitive. So, I tried to create new recipes with only few ingredients.

now, he likes "quinva" and "rice pasta" and never has any pain after eating those.

I believe, when he gets better, variety will be there!

[SchnauzerMom]

Hi, I'm glad you joined us. My hubby and I have been gluten free since the middle of October. We weren't diagnosed with celiac but we discovered that gluten is definitely a problem for both of us. We both feel so much better without it. We loved breads and most baked things. I'm learning to make things with alternative flours. The taste is different from wheat flour but it's still good and getting better. An acquired taste, I think. I like quinoa, amarath, sorghum and tapioca flours the best so far. Brown rice flour and potato starch are good too. I have a gluten free cookbook but I have discovered that I can still use my old receipes. In fact, I like them better than the gluten free cookbook.

[Mary Contrary]

Hi and I'm really new to this too...and my H is just awesome, he just goes along with whatever I cook and is more than willing to make adjustment so i don't have to try and make two dinners, we are both pretty much on our own for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is a big deal for us.

It hasn't been too hard, been doing it for 2 months now...and I'm going to try making a gluten free pizza as soon as my digestive problems settle down..tomato sauce plays hell with my bowels at the mo, must be too much acid..and good god, I won't be eating popcorn again anytime soon either.

[Creative-Soul]

Hi and I'm really new to this too...and my H is just awesome, he just goes along with whatever I cook and is more than willing to make adjustment so i don't have to try and make two dinners, we are both pretty much on our own for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is a big deal for us.

It hasn't been too hard, been doing it for 2 months now...and I'm going to try making a gluten free pizza as soon as my digestive problems settle down..tomato sauce plays hell with my bowels at the mo, must be too much acid..and good god, I won't be eating popcorn again anytime soon either.

Hi, Mary! Glad to have you here as well. You are so fortunate to have a spouse that is so supportive of you! You are doing the right thing in taking it slow and allowing your system to heal first before tackling more complex/processed foods; it's best to keep things as simple as possible at first. Good luck with everything, and feel free to ask away if you need to! It's also great to go through all of the older posts...I find most of the answers to the questions that I have (that is, if you have the time to) that way.

[Mary Contrary]

Hi, Mary! Glad to have you here as well. You are so fortunate to have a spouse that is so supportive of you! You are doing the right thing in taking it slow and allowing your system to heal first before tackling more complex/processed foods; it's best to keep things as simple as possible at first. Good luck with everything, and feel free to ask away if you need to! It's also great to go through all of the older posts...I find most of the answers to the questions that I have (that is, if you have the time to) that way.

thank you so much, I have been checking out many topics..some make me laugh and some almost make me cry...but it is wonderful to know there are so many of us out here with the same problems...I just figure it isn't a life threatening disease if one takes care of themself...so I know I'll adjust...but I sure found out I need to stay away from peanuts for awhile...Good Lord !!! ate some last night and am paying dearly for it today...

[grannynanny]

PEANUTS????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[daffadilly]

Peanuts - for some weird reason I cannot eat roasted canned peanuts - they make me sick every time. BUT I have no problems with my Smuckers All Natural Peanut Butter. I have a lot of food allergies, so I usually accept these things & go on. I can eat all other kinds of roasted nuts with no problems, so I do not know what the problem with peanuts are. I think maybe mold, cross contamination or golly who knows what!!