Wanted: Anxiety Reliever And Label Translator...

[renelaray]

I was diagnosed with Celiac a little over 2 months ago and have had a fairly easy transition into a gluten-free lifestyle so far. I've always loved to cook and had a fabulous kitchen in my last house so I just considered it a new challenge and was having fun coming up with new and creative meals that would be healthy and safe for me to eat. 3 weeks ago I came back to Alaska for a visit through the end of August and since getting here I'm finding myself more and more overwhelmed with trying to maintain the diet. My mother, who I'm staying with, has a tiny kitchen that I hate to cook in so I find myself making excuses to not cook my own meals anymore I have no idea where to shop and when I do go to the store I totally stress myself out trying to find something to eat that doesn't involve a lot of preparation. When I look at the ingredients labels I feel like I'm reading a foreign language, I have no idea what I'm looking for. I've been living off of salad (without dressing) and eggs for 3 weeks and just get more and more depressed. I know it's really important for me to stick to my diet because I'm still in the healing process and, well, frankly because the reaction isn't worth cheating, but it's just so overwhelming! How can I help control my anxiety in the store and what are some easy solutions to meals that won't take a lot of preparation and time? Once I get back home in a month I will definitely be going back to cooking my meals and dealing with more meats but right now I just need help finding easy, and inexpensive, solutions while I'm traveling. Thank you so much for any help or even just reading, I don't really have anyone I can talk to, my family is just as new to this as I am and because they don't have to go through it they don't really understand the problems I'm facing.

Thanks Again!

~the new girl~

[ShayFL]

Throw in some nuts and fruits if you tolerate them. Canned tuna.....canned chicken (but do read the labels). Sardines. Canned salmon. I dont know what is available at the stores there for pre-packaged stuff.

Corn tortillas. Canned beans. Refried beans and corn chips. Make a taco salad.

[missy'smom]

Kraft will disclose ALL gluten on their lables and won't hide anything. By law wheat is required to be listed by the name "wheat" but barley isn't required to be listed as "barley". However Kraft voluntarily lists it as "barley". Look for the Kraft name, sometimes it is on the back, as they have many different lines under their umbrella. Then scan the ingredient list and allergen statement. If you don't see wheat, barley, oats or rye on the label. It's safe.

There are a few other companies that have the same policy. Maybe someone else can list them. I don't know them off hand. But knowing just one can really expand your horizons.

If you like frozen potato products, Ore-Ida has a list of their products that are gluten-free on their website. You could get a cheap aluminum, disposable baking pan or sheet to cook them on, instead of mom' s contaminated one.

[psawyer]

Welcome.

Kraft is just one of a number of companies/brands that have a policy that they will always clearly disclose any gluten in any ingredient in a product. Along with many other folks here, I prefer to deal with such suppliers

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Here is my own list, which may not be as complete:

Arrowhead Mills, Aunt Nelly's, Balance, Baskin Robbins, Ben & Jerry, Bertoli, Betty Crocker, Blue Bunny, Breyers, Campbells, Cascadian Farms, Celestial Seasonings, ConAgra, Country Crock, Edy's, General Mills, Good Humor, Green Giant, Haagen Daz, Hellman's, Hormel, Hungry Jack, Jiffy, Knorr, Kozy Shack, Kraft, Lawry's, Libby's, Lipton, Martha White, Maxwell House, McCormick, Nabisco, Nestle, Old El Paso, Ortega, Pillsbury, Popsicle, Post, Progresso, Ragu, Russell Stover, Seneca Foods, Skippy, Smucker, Stokely's, Sunny Delight, T Marzetti, Tyson, Unilever, Wishbone, Yoplait, Zatarain's.

The list covers a lot of brands that you can find at "normal" prices at your local grocery store, without having to pay through the nose for specialty brands.

Not every product by these brands is gluten-free. You must read the label carefully. But if you do, and none of the words wheat, rye, barley or oat appear, then I consider it safe.

I hope this has helped. Ask questions here, there are many of us who have been at this for years and can help with answers.