New To This...

[javamama]

Hi everyone,

My dad was diagnosed this past week. The first thing I did was go on-line to do alittle research, and then bought a book. My dad lives alone (66 years old). He was diagnosed with colon cancer 15 years ago, and had a colostomy done. Thank-god he has been cancer free ever since! To me this is another blow that he has to live with. I want to help him in any way that I can. He is a very healthy active person. Any suggestions for someone that is new to this? He is also Italian. Loves his pasta and bread! I guess we will be going to the health food store real quick! Thanks for all of your help. Angie

[Guest jhmom]

Hi Angie, you are very sweet for looking out for your dad, I am sure he appreciates it! That is wonderful news about the cancer being gone! This disease may be overwhelming at first but eventually will become second nature to him. You should also be tested as it is genetic (even if you do not have symptoms).

As far as the bread and pasta, he can still have them they just have to be gluten-free (gluten-free). I recently bought some gluten-free bread online and it was actually pretty decent, better than what I found in the stores. As far as the pasta I like corn pasta better than rice. My local grocery store carries it in their health food section, so I don't have to travel far for it.

Here are some link that have been helpful to me:

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link - this is where I ordered the bread from

www.glutenfreeinfo.com

I hope this helps you and your father out. Keep visiting the site, it is very helpful!

[gf4life]

Hi Angie,

I like the Tinkyada brand Brown Rice Pastas the best. The corn pasta is good. I DO NOT recommend any of the De Boles brand of pastas. None of us in the family liked them.

As for bread, most of the store bought gluten free breads I've tried are just not worht the small fortune that you have to pay for a loaf. They just don't taste very good, and usually the testure is not too good.

Your dad would probably do best just eating the normal meats, veggies, fruits, white rice, brown rice, corn bread (as long as it does not have added wheat flour) and other foods that he is used to and just relace his pasta with rice or corn pasta, he may just want to skip the bread for a while, and watch out for sauces and gravies.

Some good websites for shopping online are Open Original Shared Link , and Open Original Shared Link , and Open Original Shared Link .

You should ba able to find many good choices of pasta in the health food store, as well as gluten free flours if you want to make some breads for your dad.

Good luck. Your dad is very blessed to have you there for him right now.

Being gluten free should decrease his chance of his cancer ever coming back.

God bless,

Mariann

[angel-jd1]

Hi I DO NOT recommend any of the De Boles brand of pastas. None of us in the family liked them.

I personally think the DeBoles are good. I like their sghetti.

-Jessica

[gf4life]

Hi Jessica,

I'm glad you like De Boles, it goves you another choice when you are pasta shopping. We couldn't stand it. Yuck. On the top of my shopping list is "NO DE BOLES PASTA", so I don't accidently forget and buy another package.

I figured somebody must like it, since they sell it at all the health food stores I've been to.

Mariann

[KAthyB]

Hi Angie! My 18 year`old daughter was just diagnosed and used to live on pasta. I tried about five brands before I found one she would eat. It is Bi-Aglut, imported from Italy and she likes it. I cook it according to package directions with a dash of olive oil and rinse it in a colander before adding the sauce. I've also used it for mac n cheese and with oil, butter and parmesean cheese. If you use it for soup it is better to cook the pasta in water first and rinse it as it clouds the broth.

If your dad can read Italian, have him check out the website at Bi-Aglut.com. I can only understand a little and I don't think you can order direct. I can't find the egg pastas but you can get a few items at www.gluten-free.com and dietaryshoppe.com. I went to the Dietary Shop yesterday, as it is in my area and found they had more varieties of the pasta then the brochure lists so you might want to call and asked. I made the Ditalini today in Swanson gluten-free chicken broth and it was good. The downside, it's expensive.

Good Luck!

Kathy

[javamama]

I just wanted to thank all of you for your input. I really appreciate it!

Angie

[HSWade]

javamama, I think my wife would get along with you based on username. Two cups before she speaks to anyone but the dogs...

We use Tinkyada rice pastas. We undercook them slightly, just a bit more al dente than we would a wheat pasta, dump them into a colander and rinse them thouroughly with cold water, transfer the pasta to a plastic bowl and then zap it in the microwave for 60 seconds to heat it back up and finish the cook.

We make a variety of sauces, in the summer we grow our own edible herbs in strawberry pots on the deck. Fresh herbs, minced garlic, and extra virgin olive oil with anything else you want to add(salmon chunks, or shrimps, we live on the coast), broccoli, sausages, or whatever, sauteed while the noodles cook is then poured onto the noodles and quickly stirred in and served.

A big bottle of red wine...

I am not gluten intolerant, but I eat my wife's diet almost every meal at home except for the occasional breakfast bagel.

These pastas are really quite good. I am still looking for a good gluten-free lasagna noodle...

[seeking-wholeness]

HSWade, do you find Tinkyada's lasagna noodle has problems? I don't make lasagna very often because I can't have dairy either, so what's the point? But I have been considering attempting a vegan lasagna anyway....

[gf4life]

Sarah, if you find a good recipe for lasagna without cheese, let me know. I have some Tinkyada lasagna noodles, but just have no idea what to use in place of the cheese to make it taste"right".

Mariann

[tarnalberry]

try looking for vegan recipes, but really, you don't need anything to replace the cheese.

just layer the noodles, tomato sauce, and veggies, and enjoy!

[alexa11219]

Hi Angie. It is hard from the beginning. But your Dad's gone through such an ordeal! He'll be a winner in this situation also.

Since I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance, every grocery shopping is like going to a library - I carefully read each label, all the info on packages, boxes, cans. Time spent is worth it. I learned a lot from gluten-free cooking books, their introductory articles were useful to me. From those books I learned that we should not use preground pepper for it usually contains (and it's never mentioned on the label!) wheat flour to keep it powdery. Blue cheese is prohibited as well as beer. I had a very bad reaction after eating processed meats, like ham, sausages, franks and similar, later I learned it also contains gluten. Actually, canned food is also prohibited. Watch for MSG for it's not only cancerous but in addition is not gluten-free. You should eliminate any product containing modified food starch. Dry wine is good, but some other liquors are not, since I'm not such a drinker, I don't remember which ones.

I always loved pizza. Well, now I use mexican tortillas instead, three of them, layered with gluten-free pizza sause, cheese, mushrooms, some other stuff. Bake it in a toaster oven. Of course, it's not a real pizza, but it'll do, at least for me. I tried gluten-free pizza crusts and bagels, they are not worth the money.

You may find a lot of good stuff in oriental food markets, Chinese, Korean, Thai. Prices there are low.

Let us know how your Dad is doing if it's not such a problem for you.

Good luck.

Alexa

[alexa11219]

Hi Angie. That's Alexa again. I want to warn you to be very careful with your Dad's meds. Lots of them have gluten in one or another form and it's never mentioned in the ingredients. Doctors sometimes forget to keep it in mind. So, it's you who have to keep track.

[Guest jhmom]

Doctors sometimes forget to keep it in mind

Yes and some doctors have NO clue what meds are gluten free, just had my family doctor tell me that after giving me an antibiotic for strep throat.

[angel-jd1]

Well, now I use mexican tortillas instead, three of them, layered with gluten-free pizza sause, cheese, mushrooms, some other stuff. Bake it in a toaster oven.

I tried this sort of thing tonight. I took a mission white corn tortilla put it on a Pam'ed baking sheet. Sprinkled some cheese over it, topped it with another tortilla, pizza sauce on the top of that one then toppings (hamburger, pepparoni, mushrooms, onions, green peppers) and then more cheese on that. Baked at 450 for about 10 min.

It was REALLY good. It reminded me of a cross between thin crust pizza hut pizza and those little english muffin pizzas I used to make all before the gluten free days.

I would definately try this again, maybe next time with ham and pineapple mmmm

-Jessica