Did I Do Everything In The Wrong Order Already?

[Dru]

I just registered and I am sure that there are answers to similar questions on this board somewhere but I am hopelessly confused at this point and in need of some advice. Here's (the short version of) my (long) story.

I have been having very bad GI related problems since about mid-March. I was on antibiotics in increasingly stronger (an often overlapping) doses beginning the first week January to get rid of a sinus infection that would not go away. The GI trouble began toward the end of the last round of antibiotics. My Dr. told me that I had IBS and put me on meds to make the problem go away. The meds did not help and I went back and was given different meds. Those actually seemed to make my problems worse. I was sent to a GI Dr. who did an upper GI panel where I drank a lot of barium and they took e-rays of my stomach and small intestines. That came back normal. I also was given a stool sample test that came back showing no traces of blood and a celiac blood test that came back with all three things in normal range. My Dr. then sent me to a dietitian to start an elimination diet.

So, now I'm mostly done with an elimination diet and have found out that I am allergic to corn, soy, egg yolk, and possibly to peanuts. I also test positive for a dairy allergy and have not even attempted to add that one back in on the elimination diet because of the problems it causes. When I met with my dietitian the other day she had just come from a training workshop on celiac disease. She looked at the blood testing that my Dr. had ordered and compared it to her notes and told me that he did not do the test for the thing that is most accurate. I'm not really sure which ones he did and what she was looking for, but I can find out if it makes a difference in giving me advice. She also told me to try oats, barley, quinoa, and wheat (in that order) as the last few foods in my elimination diet. She says if I react to those then I have to eat them for at least 6-8 weeks so that I can have a biopsy to test for celiac.

I have only made it through oats so far, but I have not felt this bad in a long time. I ate oats (I used oat flour to make cookies and ate several cookies with each meal) for the past three days and actually left work sick today after only having the cookies at breakfast. I am not sure where to go from here. I am not eating dairy, corn, soy, or egg yolks at all and am not eating any prepackaged foods except for a few gluten free things from the local health food store. The reactions that I had to corn and egg yolk were no where near this bad and I think even soy was not as strong a reaction as oats.

If I react to oats is this a sure sign that I will react to barley and wheat or could I be allergic to oats? If I do react to the other things do I really have to eat them for months in order to have a biopsy for celiac? Could I just get the blood test for the genetic marker and assume that if I don't have the marker than I don't have celiac? If I do have the biopsy is it 100% accurate in diagnosing celiac? Also, is there any chance that I actually have IBS if I have all of these allergies and possibly have celiac?

I know it's a long post. Thanks for reading.

-Dru

P.S. Sorry if this is a re-post. The first attempt didn't seem to work.

[Eriella]

Although it is theoretically possible for you just to be allergic to oats, I highly doubt it. What I would do is call your doctor and explain that you feel horrible eating oats and ask if you can switch to wheat. If you also feel horrible on wheat, then it is gluten. You should be able to get a gluten-intolerance diagnosis based on positive dietary response alone, which will save you 2 months of agony. While you will never know if you have full-blown celiac or "just" gluten intolerance, the treatment is the same: Don't eat gluten.

Good luck!

[ravenwoodglass]

The elimination diet was how I was diagnosed after years of false negative blood tests. It is a very valid way of diagnosing us. The only thing I don't agree with is the need to poison yourself for months so they can get a maybe positive biopsy, if they hit the right spot and manage to do it correctly. I also agree that I would do wheat next, in the form of cream of wheat or wheat germ berries or whatever allows you to test with as pure of a form of wheat as you can. Chances are you are going to react if you also reacted strongly to oats. Once you get a reaction you have your diagnosis IMHO. One thing to note is that for many the problems that come from celiac make us very reactive to other foods while we are still consuming gluten. For some those reactions and even other allergies lessen once we have healed.

[Laura333]

Wait a minute. I think a large part of your stomach problems is this:

" was on antibiotics in increasingly stronger (an often overlapping) doses beginning the first week January to get rid of a sinus infection that would not go away. The GI trouble began toward the end of the last round of antibiotics"

It is well-known that taking antibiotics can cause havoc with the normal intestinal flora -- while destroying the bad bacteria (the sinus infection), the antibiotics also kill off the good bacteria in the gut/intestines -- which can create IBS-like symptoms, produce or worsen food intolerances, and many other problems. Many people take probiotics while taking antibiotics to prevent this. Once this balance of good vs bad gut bacteria is upset, you have to take steps to replenish the good, and it's not always easy. But, once you do, it's quite possible that your food allergy problems will either go away or not be as bad. I'm not explaining this very well, but if you're interested in learning more, try googling antiobiotics and probiotics.

I'm having similar issues myself, but because of additional (seemingly non GI-related) symtpoms, I've gone through a lot of tests, only to test all negative. I decided to try going gluten-free to see what would happen, and many of my symptoms were immediately better. Symptoms return when I eat pasta again. Then, I realized I have taken several month-long courses of antibiotics during the last 2 years (without supplementing with probiotics), so this may be the true problem for me as well. Funny, I've read about this stuff for years because of problems in my family, but didn't apply it to myself!

Good luck!

[hathor]

She also told me to try oats, barley, quinoa, and wheat (in that order) as the last few foods in my elimination diet. She says if I react to those then I have to eat them for at least 6-8 weeks so that I can have a biopsy to test for celiac.

There is no gluten in quinoa. It is a safe grain used by many of those with gluten problems. The fourth grain that has gluten is rye.

[Dru]

Wait a minute. I think a large part of your stomach problems is this:

" was on antibiotics in increasingly stronger (an often overlapping) doses beginning the first week January to get rid of a sinus infection that would not go away. The GI trouble began toward the end of the last round of antibiotics"

It is well-known that taking antibiotics can cause havoc with the normal intestinal flora -- while destroying the bad bacteria (the sinus infection), the antibiotics also kill off the good bacteria in the gut/intestines -- which can create IBS-like symptoms, produce or worsen food intolerances, and many other problems.

I actually realized that this was a problem. I have spoken to my Dr. about this (a different Dr. than the one who kept putting me on more and more antibiotics) and he was actually the one who insisted that I start taking probiotics. I have been taking them 3 times a day (as per the instructions on the bottle) for about 3 months now. I took them for about a month before starting the elimination diet. My Dr. thought that perhaps I could solve the antibiotic induced problems by using the probiotics to re-balance my gut flora. I think that they have helped, but not enough to solve the problem.

I am pretty sure that the antibiotics caused the unhealthy balance of flora that is probably the trigger for all of my recent symptoms. I have been diagnosed with food allergies for years (first diagnosed for dairy and yeast in 1993 and then for corn, soy, and melon and coconut in 2001). Over the years I have been able to eat many of these foods in moderation and be okay, until recently.

I do know that the elimination diet has made me feel great during the times that I am not eating a challenge food that makes me sick. I do not have any IBS type symptoms if I avoid dairy, corn, soy, peanuts, and egg yolk. Until last weekend I had not been eating any gluten (really my only grains have been rice and whatever is in the Namaste brand mixes).

Last Sunday I started eating oats and ate them from Sunday night through Wednesday morning. I was feeling sick by around the end of Tuesday and still do not feel better. This reaction is worse than the reaction that I have had to any other food I have challenged since I started the elimination diet. That is what made me post here.

My Dr. originally thought that the probiotics would fix the problem and when it didn't he did the blood tests for Celiac and when those were negative he sent me to a dietitian to start an elimination diet. He told me to wait to try gluten containing grains until last because he was pretty sure I would react badly to wheat based on what I had told him about my problems with food (like one of my worst morning reactions came on days where all I ate was 2 waffles and a banana).

My new question is: How long can a food reaction last? I stopped eating oats on Wednesday morning. I have looked back over my food diary and confirmed that it is the only new food that I have eaten in the past 2 weeks (I took about 4 days off after peanuts and then tried oats). I have never had a reaction this long to a food I have tried while on the elimination diet. I still feel horrible and have actually noticed over the past 3 days that I have developed other symptoms (severe fatigue, achy joints, headaches, and a tinge of depression). All of my other food reactions have just been the GI and skin reactions that I had when I first ate oats.

Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Dru]

There is no gluten in quinoa. It is a safe grain used by many of those with gluten problems. The fourth grain that has gluten is rye.

I know that quinoa is not a gluten containing grain and that rye is. I didn't mean to sound so ignorant.

I was told not to test rye since I told my dietitian that I HATE the taste of rye bread and she told me that rye is really only in rye bread. I also can not test rye by eating bread because of my yeast allergy. I have been able to eat a small amount of yeast in the past but I have not had any since I started my elimination diet 2 months ago so there would be no way to determine if the reaction to the bread was from the rye or the yeast.

I don't know the purpose in having my try quinoa unless my dietitian is just looking for a grain I can tolerate. I am not able to eat the quinoa pasta that my health food store sells since the only brand they carry is a mix of quinoa and corn flour (I'm allergic to corn). I bought a bag of Arrowhead Mills quinoa so that I can just make the grain. I am worried now that it may be cross contaminated like oats are. Is this a problem with quinoa?

My dietitian is doing the best she can and is consulting with other dietitians she knows for assistance but this is not something that she does regularly. I went back to school 2 years ago after my son was born so I have a crappy student health insurance plan and have to see the Drs at the school to stay in network. My GP is actually very good and has a master's degree in nutrition and some understanding of food allergies. My dietitian is good too, but she mostly sees 20 year old undergrads who are trying to figure out how to loose the freshman 15 while still drinking lots of beer. But, she has been consulting with a dietitian in town who specializes in food allergic patients and has food allergies herself in order to get advice on working with me. She is going to refer me to see that dietician once when my elimination diet is over but that dietitian is out of my network and even one visit will be very expensive on my student budget (m husband is also in school).

I am open to any comments or advice on any of this. Thanks for the help so far. It is great just to be able to chat about this. My husband is sympathetic but can only take so much talking about food in a day.

[confusedks]

Hello,

I don't think that quinoa is contaminated. I could be wrong, but I have never had a reaction and I'm REALLY sensitive to all gluten of any form. Make sure that you make it with chicken broth instead of water...I think it's digsusting in water, but REALLY good in chicken broth.

Kassandra

[Dru]

Hello,

I don't think that quinoa is contaminated. I could be wrong, but I have never had a reaction and I'm REALLY sensitive to all gluten of any form. Make sure that you make it with chicken broth instead of water...I think it's digsusting in water, but REALLY good in chicken broth.

Kassandra

Thanks for the tip, I would never have known about the chicken broth. Is there a good pre-packaged brand that is gluten, corn, soy and dairy free? I've never cooked with chicken broth before.

[gfpaperdoll]

I have been allergic to oats & barley for 35 years. Oats are really bad for me. I think that it will take you at least two weeks to get them out of your system. Did they give you a metallic taste on your tongue? If so, once that goes away, it still takes about 5 days or so...

I really cannot handle grains & am now eating paleo. Which is no grains, no dairy, no legumes, & no peanuts (a legume) & no potatoes. It is not for everyone but I am doing wonderfully on it. Lot of meat & veggies & fruits & nuts & some eggs. You might look into going more that route.

wishing you the best in your food journey to good health...

[aikiducky]

As to how long a reaction lasts - if it happens that you are indeed having a reaction to some cross contamination with gluten in the oats, that could last a couple weeks. The reaction gets triggered by the gluten, but it leads a life of it's own after that and only dies down slowly when your immune system calms down again. so the time it takes doesn't depend on whether or not you still have the gluten in your system. Don't try anything new before you're feeling all better again (I'm sure you know that but just a reminder).

Pauliina

[hathor]

The important thing to do with quinoa is to thoroughly rinse it. The plant makes its own bitter tasting pesticide substance that needs to be taken off. It isn't harmful to human health, but it can make the quinoa taste strange. So the disgust could have been due to any such residue, rather than anything inherent in the quinoa. I make mine with water all the time and frankly the grain doesn't have that much flavor.

What I do is mix in various things after cooking, like beans, veggies, salsa, etc. Or I cook a variety of gluten-free grains and/or legumes together -- this works well when I have little dips and daps of different things.

[Dru]

Thanks for the tips.

Hathor,

I saw in your sig that you are yeast and soy free and mostly avoid caesin and egg. Any advice on what you eat when avoiding all of those would be greatly appreciated. My list is similar -- no dairy, soy, corn, yeast, or egg yolk. I know that you eat corn but I am much better at figuring out if there is corn in something so I could edit suggestions to take out the corn contaminated stuff.

Thanks.

[hathor]

Thanks for the tips.

Hathor,

I saw in your sig that you are yeast and soy free and mostly avoid caesin and egg. Any advice on what you eat when avoiding all of those would be greatly appreciated. My list is similar -- no dairy, soy, corn, yeast, or egg yolk. I know that you eat corn but I am much better at figuring out if there is corn in something so I could edit suggestions to take out the corn contaminated stuff.

Thanks.

I'll answer you here rather than in your PM to me so others can see or jump in with comments.

I'm vegetarian too (essentially eat a vegan diet) so what I eat might not agree with what you want to! I've been able to convert a lot of my previous recipes to being gluten-free -- e.g., use a gluten-free pasta, use quinoa or kasha to sub for couscous and bulgur, thicken sauces with arrowroot rather than wheat flour, etc. The biggest switch was cutting out the soy. (Enterolab told me that soy lecithin would be OK, so this made things considerably easier. I've found recently I'm able to handle small amount of soy, such as soybean oil or a little soy flour way down on an ingredients list; at first I was very sensitive to the stuff. I haven't challenged with a bunch of tofu or the like; I probably shouldn't )

My main dishes have a starch (or more than one) and then I add in veggies. gluten-free starches include:

gluten-free pasta (I've seen these made from brown or white rice, quinoa, corn, potato, and a combo of ingredients -- the flavors vary depending on the source)

gluten-free pizza crust (haven't done this yet, but I have plans ...)

gluten-free tortillas

Rice

Wild rice

Buckwheat (soba noodles [as long as they are 100% buckwheat], kasha)

Quinoa

Millet

Amaranth

Teff (can't say I've tried this one yet -- sometime I am going to attempt to make my own injera because the Ethiopean restaurants around here all include wheat too)

Beans (here include things that can be made from beans, like hummus or falafel)

Lentils

Split peas

Peas

Corn (in kernels or corn meal [polenta])

Potatoes

Sweet potatoes

Winter squashes

Typically when I menu-plan, I will pick something from each category of starch: a pasta dish, a rice dish, something made with a different grain, a legume dish, a potato or sweet potato dish, etc. That way I get a variety during the week. I can't say I'm in a rut. I have scads of recipes I've yet to try.

I guess if you want meat, others will have to jump in with their advice

Recently I've tried items with yeast in them and haven't noticed a reaction. And I never DID notice a reaction with yeast and my score was right on the edge. So I've started having that. I never was able to find much research about the significance of antiyeast antibodies if one doesn't have any adverse symptoms. I did see a study where many celiacs start out with antiyeast antibodies, but lose them after going gluten-free for awhile. So I felt safe in at least testing it. I haven't tried anything like a bunch of nutritional yeast (something a number of vegetarians/vegans like), but I've never developed a taste for it to begin with.

Yes, I probably should change all the info at the bottom of my posts. I just can't figure out what my position IS on soy and yeast yet

Breads from Anna sells mixes that don't contain yeast or any of those other things you can't have.

Let's see, what else? There are nondairy, nonsoy milks out there. Try different ones and see which you like. I like almond milk or hemp milk personally. Rice milk seems rather bland to me (don't get Rice Dream; it isn't gluten-free). I just bought some hazelnut milk yesterday ... I can't wait to try that.

I haven't found a good sub for margarine or butter, but I rarely used these products to begin with. For baking, I would try something like applesauce or pumpkin instead or utilize fatfree recipes. When I was first diagnosed, I found a sinful gluten-free chocolate cookie mix and I used coconut oil as the fat. My understanding is that ghee has no casein in it; some people use that.

EnerG makes an egg substitute product that works for baking. I've also successfully used ground flax seed mixed in a little water.

It would probably be easier if you ask any specific questions you have left, rather than my continuing with random advice

Strange ... in looking at the preview of my post, it seems that anywhere I typed G F (without the space inbetween), it gets converted to "gluten-free." I never noticed that before. I simply mention it to explain my otherwise inexplicable lack of capitalization at times

[Dru]

I'll answer you here rather than in your PM to me so others can see or jump in with comments.

I'm vegetarian too (essentially eat a vegan diet) so what I eat might not agree with what you want to! I've been able to convert a lot of my previous recipes to being gluten-free -- e.g., use a gluten-free pasta, use quinoa or kasha to sub for couscous and bulgur, thicken sauces with arrowroot rather than wheat flour, etc. The biggest switch was cutting out the soy. (Enterolab told me that soy lecithin would be OK, so this made things considerably easier. I've found recently I'm able to handle small amount of soy, such as soybean oil or a little soy flour way down on an ingredients list; at first I was very sensitive to the stuff. I haven't challenged with a bunch of tofu or the like; I probably shouldn't )

It's funny, I was vegan until I went away to college in '95 and they had nothing vegan on the meal plan (even the salad bar that they claimed was a "Staple vegan option" never had a single vegan salad dressing on it and often had cheese and egg that had fallen into the other veggie bins). I went back to being just vegetarian until 2002 (I was diagnosed with a soy allergy in 2001 and after a year I gave up on trying to get enough protein without eating soy). For the past 5-6 years I have slowly learned to eat seafood and poultry. I was shocked to read that you have managed to stay vegetarian with all of your other food restrictions. Perhaps if I hadn't been newly married and working 70+ hour weeks at the time I would have had more time to cook and figure out how to stay vegetarian, but my idea of a meal back then had been reduced to some sort of morning star farms main dish with a potato something on the side.

Anyway, I don't have a whole lot more time now (finishing up my last year of law school and have a 2 year old son). Any suggestions you have for quick and easy anything would be fabulous. I obviously don't mind eating vegetarian meals, I just haven't been exclusively veggie for a while now.

I do have a local health food store so if there are mixes or boxed things that I could get there that would be useful that would be great to know about too. I am strictly no yeast, dairy and soy at this point.

Thanks for all of your help so far. It's nice to know I'm not the only person in this strange food predicament.

I guess I can't really complain. I was a yeast free vegan in the early 90s and that had to have been harder than this just for the lack of products out there. My first ever trip to a Fresh Fields was amazing back then. There is so much more to work with these days.

[hathor]

Really, the "getting enough protein" issue with a vegan diet is a common misperception. There is no need to eat soy, count grams, or go to special lengths to get enough. Unless one is eating junk (or nothing other than fruit), one easily gets all the protein (and all the essential amino acids) one needs. One does not get all the protein one gets from a Standard American Diet, but actually getting too much protein can create all sorts of health issues. Here is a link where you can read more: Open Original Shared Link

There are plenty of people who are vegetarian, vegan, or mostly so and avoid gluten. This entire subject has come up several times on this forum and I'm hardly alone. My adjustment wasn't that great. The only problem is that my restaurant options have declined. Going on vacation on a small river cruise ship a couple months ago I did have to eat fish at dinner, because they seemed incapable or unwilling to give me enough calories otherwise.

Fatfreevegan.com has a separate gluten-free recipe section, but many of the general recipes will work. There are scads of vegan recipe sites around. There is a Yahoo group with lots of recipes on file: Open Original Shared Link There is a separate forum for the gluten-challenged on the McDougall discussion board and a relatively new discussion board at www.vegiac.com. I even have a cookbook with recipes that are vegan and manage to avoid all the common allergens (Food Allergy Survival Guide).

Quick and easy? A couple favorites for standard recipes are McDougall's Quick and Easy Cookbook and The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet:

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

I also have a number of vegetarian cookbooks at home and keep track of anything that looks particularly interesting in the monthly McDougall newsletter.

In terms of meals I just make up:

Cook quinoa or rice and add a can of beans, some veggies and seasonings. For instance, last night I added black beans, corn, & halved grape tomatoes to quinoa, then some sliced green onion, minced fresh chili, and salsa.

Cut Yukon Gold potatoes into chunks and bake until the outsides are getting crispy (this seems not to work as well with other potatoes for some reason). Serve with a prepared pasta sauce on top. (When I use a prepared sauce, I often throw something else in too -- diced roasted bell pepper, sliced dried tomatoes, peas, corn, assorted leftovers in the fridge that need eating up ...)

Slice tubed polenta, bake, and again serve with prepared pasta sauce.

Put sturdy greens or other veggies into the same water where I am cooking pasta. This makes things easier. Or I put fresh spinach into the hot dish at the end and it quickly cooks.

Split peas or lentils cook up quickly. Add seasoning and put over rice. I often stir in spinach here.

Microwave whole potatoes or sweet potatoes and serve with salsa, bean dip, herbs or leftover sauces.

Saute fresh veggies in a little water, veggie broth, or wine. Season and serve over a grain or pasta.

Bush's vegetarian baked beans over pasta, with fresh spinach stirred in at the end.

Open cans of beans and tomatoes. Season and call it veggie chili.

Dice a couple onions and put them in the crock pot with 2 cups of assorted dried beans and 4 cups water. Cook on low all day, season at the end (I might add a can of tomatoes or greens too), and serve over a starch of some sort (pasta, rice, toast, etc.)

Really, once you get used to this kind of cooking, it is easy enough to make up stuff based on what you have around. The other day, for instance, I cooked baby bok choy, carrot, and red bell pepper in a little water. I poured in a can of light coconut milk and a heaping tablespoon of Thai red curry paste. It seemed a little runny, so I dissolved several spoonfuls of arrowroot in water & added it. Served the whole shebang over soba noodles. It really only took me a few minutes.

Of course, you will have to adjust what you do according to the tastes of your son. My kids were really picky eaters when they were little. Fortunately, they've outgrown that for the most part.

You might want to ask the question of quick vegetarian meals here or on one of more of the other boards I mentioned. I'm sure you can get plenty of other ideas.

I'm impressed you are even cooking, not to mention taking care of a 2 year old, in your last year of law school. I think I just ate a lot of junk and prepared items when I was in law school. But I didn't know anything about nutrition, my vegetarianism had lapsed (probably because my college food service just gave me sliced cheese and hardboiled eggs [i hadn't heard of veganism, and I'm sure they hadn't either]), I didn't know about my food intolerances, and I didn't have a family. Now with my son starting grad school and my daughter spending her college junior year abroad without food included, I'm trying to teach them to do better than I did I bought them each a couple cookbooks for vegetarian college students (supposed to be quick, easy, and not creating huge amounts). I don't know if they've made anything from them yet. Let me know if you want the names of these books.

In terms of prepared items from the grocery store, I probably don't use that many (other than the Bush's vegetarian beans ) I do have a number of hot sauces, salsas, pasta sauces, etc. about, and like seasoning mixes like those of Mrs. Dash, curry powders, garam masala, etc. (saves time). I have gotten away from many mixes because many seem to be so high in sodium. I know that there are some nice rice or grain mixes, but the names escape me.

I haven't come up with a good sub for soy sauce yet. I've seen recipes using chick pea miso, but haven't found that product locally. I do think that ume plum vinegar or fish sauce (the kind without wheat, of course) would work.

[Dru]

Really, the "getting enough protein" issue with a vegan diet is a common misperception. There is no need to eat soy, count grams, or go to special lengths to get enough. Unless one is eating junk (or nothing other than fruit), one easily gets all the protein (and all the essential amino acids) one needs. One does not get all the protein one gets from a Standard American Diet, but actually getting too much protein can create all sorts of health issues.

Wow, thanks for all of the ideas. I will definitely have to post up for additional recipe ideas. I think with the protein thing I fell prey to the ideas of some dietitians who went to school back in the days of the "square meal" nutritional model and thought that it was not really a meal unless it featured meat. I had trouble convincing any of the nutritionists that my Drs sent me to that I could even survive as a vegetarian! I was very sick and no one could figure out what was wrong with me and I kept testing boarder-line anemic and hypoglycemic and I was technically "underweight" despite having gained nearly 15 pounds since high school. Anyway, I just gave up fighting and started eating some meat. My husband already ate chicken and fish when he was not eating with me, so it has worked out for us to go this route.

My son, as you correctly guessed, is an insanely picky eater and often we just make him a separate meal so that we can eat something other than mac and cheese or chicken soup (he eats those, fruit, oatmeal, and yogurt and almost nothing else).

As for law school and having a 2 year old, I think I am just used to having no time at this point. He was 12 weeks old when my first year classes started and I have just adjusted to never having time to do anything other than school or baby stuff. This elimination diet has forced me to stop eating like a law student and start cooking. Before I got sick I pretty much cooked by making something that came in a box and we ate out a LOT. This has all been a huge change. The last time I did all of my own cooking from scratch was when I was vegan over 10 years ago.

Anyway, I am obviously more overwhelmed than I had come across in previous posts, but I am trying to get a handle on this. Thanks so much for all the advice. I would love the names of any additional cookbooks that you know of with quick and easy recipes and any names of brands that I can buy that are gluten free and vegan.

I'm sure that I will have many more questions as I go but right now I have decided to go back to eating mostly rice and veggies until I feel better so that I can move on to challenging barley (still reacting to the oats and trying to get back to "normal" right now). Thanks so much for the help.

[hathor]

The two cookbooks I linked to are the ones I have used. I particularly like the 5-ingredient cookbook, since I seem to be slow when it comes to wielding a knife Here is one example of a recipe from that book, which I posted on another list (under a different name):

Open Original Shared Link

It is for a baked risotto. Really if you have arborio rice, veggie stock, and any sort of veggie -- and think at least 1 hour ahead -- you have dinner. Actual prep time where you have to physically do something is minimal, especially if you have a jar of prediced garlic.

I see that there is a list of quick vegan recipes here: Open Original Shared Link

I haven't tried any of them.

I've taken a look at the cookbooks I gave my kids. Although there are some vegan recipes in them that would work, quite a few of the recipes would be eliminated due to food intolerance constraints. Both cookbooks are vegetarian, not vegan, because that is how my children eat. The author of the better-looking book also has a students' vegan cookbook available that has some nice reviews:

Open Original Shared Link

I can't think of any brands offhand that are completely vegan and gluten-free and would work for family meals. Tasty Bite has some single serving meals that would be in this category, though: Open Original Shared Link

Thai Kitchen has some things that might work for you. Here is their allergen list:

Open Original Shared Link

I'll keep my eyes open the next time I go to the store. If some other brand occurs to me, I'll let you know.