Transitioning To Usa And Need Help With Meals

[mftnchn]

I am re-entering the USA for 2 1/2 months in mid January. I'll be at my son's home for several days (gluten kitchen) then having to clean and set up the kitchen for myself in a new place (its furnished with food in it, so I will have to clean and sort carefully).

So I need some ideas of what I can easily find in regular grocery stores, either have my daughter in law buy up ahead, or that I can easily pick up. I'll not have access to a gluten-free kitchen during this time.

Its a hard transition because I cook everything from scratch here, and also have woman who helps with my cooking.

I'll be in Lakewood, WA, then in Portland OR to set up my own living quarters. In Portland, I know where to go for gluten-free stuff, but haven't a clue about Lakewood/Tacoma.

Thanks for any ideas you might have.

[AndreaB]

I'm not real familiar with the Tacoma area but I do know Marlene's Market is somewhere around exit #127. I'll have to ask hubby. Fred Meyer has some stuff and they are pretty populous. Whole Foods is in the Seattle and Bellevue area but I'm not sure about Tacoma/Lakewood. There is one about 1 mile from Dr E's.

As far as easy things.....hmmmmmm. I'm in my own food rut but we eat alot of Food For Life Rice Flour Tortillas with whatever for fillings. We buy Sheltons frozen turkey products (some aren't gluten free but they are clearly labeled). Tinkyada pasta is good but don't know about using the collander at the house.....that probably wouldn't be a good idea, but you may be able to figure out something.

What types of foods do you like?

[mftnchn]

Pasta might be okay because I will likely have to buy my own collander anyway to use while I am home. Are there any prepared sauces that are GFCFSF?

Would Marlene's have the Food for Life tortillas? That seems like a good option, making sandwiches and stuff.

I like a lot of things, just trying to think of what would be easy to do, and without buying much volume of stuff in Lakewood. Just need to get by for a few days.

Mostly just need simple but with some balance of protein, veggie and not too heavy on carbs.

I could do a roast if my DIL has a pan that is safe to use. Maybe a soup.

[pixiegirl]

My home is not gluten free (I have a teenager that eats gluten and is messy to boot). I don't have any trouble at home at all. Before I make myself a meal I clean the granite countertops really well and I do have my own cutting board.

Although I do go to Whole Foods and other speciality stores I mostly buy most of my food at a regular grocery store. Fruits, veggies, meat, cheese, dairy, canned beans, tomato sauce, etc.

Classico pasta sauces I believe are all gluten free. I buy Mission corn tortillas, I buy those chips by Hain Naturals. I get Annie's salad dressing and my gluten-free pasta in the "health food" section of the regular grocery. I buy various cheeses there and for pizza cheese I buy the Kraft cheeses in bags. I eat Yoplait yogurt.

As far as using pots and pans that some times hold gluten things.... I'm sure some people go as far as buying their own set of them to be used only gluten-free (I have my own toaster and if you go to Kmart you can buy one for about 9 bucks) but our pots and pans are all stainless steel and so if my daughter has used them for things containing gluten I first hand wash them to get off anything stuck on, then run them thru the dishwasher and I never have reactions (and after more then 5 years of no gluten I'm very sensitive to it).

We have 3 colanders in the house, 2 stainless and one is some sort of enamel. I'd never use the enamel one, its a bit chipped and I feel like gluten could get caught in it but I use the stainless ones all the time. I go over them first with a brillo pad then run them thru the dishwasher. No problems at all.

Hope this helps a little!

Susan

[Offthegrid]

I have not seen a soy-free tomato pasta sauce at a regular grocery store here (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). You can make your own tomato sauce, though, from diced tomatoes, tomato paste, etc.

I personally have be putting a little bit of olive oil on my rice pasta (not too much) and then some type of meat and herbs. I also have sauteed veggies in olive oil and added to the pasta.

Other easy meals are cooking your own meat and then rice or potatoes on the side and some veggies. gluten-free does not have to be complicated.

[AndreaB]

Pasta might be okay because I will likely have to buy my own collander anyway to use while I am home. Are there any prepared sauces that are GFCFSF?

Would Marlene's have the Food for Life tortillas? That seems like a good option, making sandwiches and stuff.

We like the Eden Organics line of tomato products. They do have spaghetti sauce and we are gluten-free/sf/df ourselves. They don't use citric acid in there products which is why I started buying them. My daughter always reacted to Muir Glen.

I'm pretty sure Marlenes would have the tortillas.

We make hummus (or you could buy it), sometimes we put in Sheltons Turkey Patties. I've used Eden Organic canned pizza/pasta sauce with ground beef for taco type wraps. Eden Organics also has a glass jar or Spaghetti Sauce. I have seen that at Fred Meyer too (at least in Longview). We've also used egg salad and then nut butter/fruit spread. Can't forget scrambled eggs and turkey bacon...that's good too. The wraps are pretty versatile.

[AndreaB]

I personally have be putting a little bit of olive oil on my rice pasta (not too much) and then some type of meat and herbs.

We do that too.....or just use some coconut oil. My daughter was not doing well with oils for awhile so we'd just gone to herbs, veggies and meat.

[mftnchn]

Susan,

You mentioned cheeses, so maybe you missed that I am dairy free and soy free as well as gluten free. So I am not sure about your other suggestions?

Everyone,

Thanks for your suggestions. The Eden Organics--are they all GFSFDF or do you have to read labels? I am thinking about asking my DIL to buy some up ahead for me.

That plus the tortillas.

Is Annie's salad dressing soy free? Any other suggestions for purchased salad dressing?

I'm thinking that salads would be easy, then roasting meat plus potatos/veggies, and then the wraps with stuff in them. Along with a pasta option, I should be fine for a few days.

The olive oil and herbs idea sounds good too, could try on pasta, salad or roasted meat and potatos.

[AndreaB]

The Eden Organics--are they all GFSFDF or do you have to read labels? I am thinking about asking my DIL to buy some up ahead for me.

Everything I've seen and bought from them has been. I've bought pizza/pasta sauce, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes and the spaghetti sauce.

[Glutenfreefamily]

I know some "seeds of change" salad dressings are dfsfgf. We eat that way usually. I can pm you some vegetarian recipes if you want some.

[mftnchn]

I think I am ok on recipes mostly, so once I settle in I should be okay. Where do you get the "seeds of change" dressings?

[confusedks]

Do you know if there is a trader joe's somewhere near by where you will be? They are GREAT for gluten (they have a list of stuff that doesn't have gluten in it on their site) and obviously dairy and soy will be labeled.

Can you tolerate raw veggies okay...for things like salads? Again, Trader Joe's has some good gluten-free, sf, cf dressings. I don't know about any "conventional" dressings because I don't buy "conventional" foods anymore.

Be careful because some corn tortilla chips have soybean oil in them (come to think of it, you may not react to that..don't know though). Again, all of Trader Joe's ones don't have soy in them (always double check though.)

One pasta sauce from TJ's is gluten-free, df, sf and ONLY one...it's called "Marinara Sauce" and it has a yellow wrapper with bright red tomatoes on it. All the others have soy in them.

Do you do rice cakes? With almond butter? I too am in a major food rut, so I'm not much help...if I think of anything else, I'll let you know!

Kassandra

[Glutenfreefamily]

I buy it at my local health food store, most I imagine would have it.

[pixiegirl]

Yep I did miss you were dairy free... some of Annie's dressings are soy and dairy free as well as being gluten free. I have bought Drew's salad dressings and they clearly mark on each variety what it is free of. Seeds of change has some that are dairy and soy free too.

Sorry for the mix up, its was I get for checking in her before 6 am!

Susan

[mftnchn]

It looks like there is a Trader Joes and Whole Foods in north Tacoma. It is a ways as we are south of Tacoma but might be a possibility, maybe even on our way back from the airport if my DIL doesn't mind.

[AndreaB]

Marlene's is 38th St.....go west on 38th couple blocks or so.

Here's the address so you can go to Mapquest.com.

It's exit 132 off I-5.

Marlene's Market & Deli: 253-472-4080

2951 S 38th St, Tacoma, WA 98409

[tom]

. . . . I am dairy free and soy free as well as gluten free.

Hehehe Sherry I was guessing the S was sugar!! (Silly me! Now I remember some of the tasty treats you've mentioned before)

Sugar knocks out many jarred sauces for me.

The GFCFSFSF(!) one I like best is Amy's Roasted Garlic, tho it is expensive. It's organic also - I usually react to non-organic tomatoes, and for that matter some organic ones.

I'm in Portland right now and bought it at New Seasons, tho I usually get it at WhFds.

One pasta sauce from TJ's is gluten-free, df, sf and ONLY one...it's called "Marinara Sauce" and it has a yellow wrapper with bright red tomatoes on it. All the others have soy in them.

I coulda swore I looked at that yesterday and that it had cheese. Hmmmm maybe it had sugar instead, making it a no-go for me.

I'm probably mixed up.

(Heehee Andrea I like the new slant I feel in reading your posts now that we've met )

[AndreaB]

(Heehee Andrea I like the new slant I feel in reading your posts now that we've met )

T asked if we'd see you again. I told her maybe next time you come up to see your sister.

[mftnchn]

Thanks for all this input, sounds like I would be best to make a trip to Trader Joes/Whole Foods when I get in on the 15th.