Gluten Free Foods

[HydraWoman]

I am not a very good cook and I was wondering what is the types of food I should stock up on. I can tolerate dairy and oats. I have rice, gluten-free pasta, fresh and frozen veggies, gluten-free crackers and bread, chex cereal, oats, cheerios, milk, yogurt and fresh fruit. What else should I be stocking up on?

[northernsunshine]

I am not a very good cook and I was wondering what is the types of food I should stock up on. I can tolerate dairy and oats. I have rice, gluten-free pasta, fresh and frozen veggies, gluten-free crackers and bread, chex cereal, oats, cheerios, milk, yogurt and fresh fruit. What else should I be stocking up on?

Do you like Indian or Thai food? I keep a lot of Tasty Bite Indian meals in my pantry as well as Thai Kitchen rice noodle packs. They are more expensive, but a great replacement for ramen. I also keep those steam in the bag Edemame packs in my freezer for snacking. Xochitl chips are fabulous and keep for a long time even after opening the bag.

[hannahp57]

sorry to put a damper on your post but Cheerios brand cereal is not gluten free. there are gluten free versions of oat cereal but those are made with commercially processed oats.

on a positive note, i keep cocoa or fruity pebbles around the house

i like ian's pizza kit. its fast and EASY and you just have to add your cheese and i think a couple things to the crust mix. its yumy

[HydraWoman]

Thanks for the cheerios tip. I had them for my granddaughter and just assumed they were gluten free. I need to start reading lots of labels.

[Juliebove]

I guess it would depend on where you have to buy the food! If I can get something at one of the grocery stores near me or the health food store around the corner and they always have plenty in stock, I buy it as I need it.

If I have to drive far away or mail order it, then I stock up. If it is something I buy at Costco, I generally have to buy a case, so I stock up. Things I tend to stock up on are canned vegetables and meats, broth, bread, pretzels and cookies.

[hannahp57]

no problem! for anything containing oats.. they HAVE to say "certified gluten free" or they are glutenous. however the gluten free oats from Bob's Red Mills are amazing

what others kind of snack foods do you and your family like? maybe we can give recipe or good products that we've all tried... im still trying to come up with a comparable poptart recipe. i dont know why but i cant get over them

LUCK!

[curlyfries]

I like to keep tuna packets and nuts to carry with me when I go somewhere and don't know if I'll be stuck somewhere with nothing I can eat. *note*....make sure the nuts are safe.....some aren't.

I also always have in stock Kinnickinik frozen pizza crusts and tostadas. The tostadas I can top like a pizza or with refried beans and cheese.......lots of other possibilities there.

[pbennett]

do you like peanut butter? Gluten free peanut butter can be used in lots of recipes and for sandwiches. Even if you don't cook much, you can make the very simple 3 ingredient peanut butter cookie - 1 cup sugar, 1 cup peanut butter, 1 egg...

If you like Mexican food, beans, rice, tamales, pico de gallo, fajitas, nachos..

you'll need cheese!

I like to keep tuna packets and nuts to carry with me when I go somewhere and don't know if I'll be stuck somewhere with nothing I can eat. *note*....make sure the nuts are safe.....some aren't.

I also always have in stock Kinnickinik frozen pizza crusts and tostadas. The tostadas I can top like a pizza or with refried beans and cheese.......lots of other possibilities there.

[brigala]

As you're just getting started, I would suggest Mrs. Leeper's boxed meals. They cook up just like Hamburger Helper (or Tuna Helper, or Chicken Helper...). I don't use them much anymore, but they helped take some of the "OMG, what can I cook?" out of the picture when I was first starting out.

I was a lousy cook, too. One huge advantage of the Celiac thing is that I am now seriously learning to cook. I actually eat much better food now, and nobody in my family complains that all our meals are gluten-free -- because they're better and truly home-cooked meals with real ingredients instead of stuff thrown together out of cans.

Pasta is really the only thing I buy special gluten-free in any significant quantities anymore. Of course I buy other specialty foods, too, but as occasional food and not as staples.

-Elizabeth

[Amyleigh0007]

I always make sure I have plenty of Pamela's pancake and baking mix. You can do anything with it; make waffles and pancakes, bread chicken nuggets and pork chops, make biscuits. I also make sure I have lots of Tinkyada pasta on hand. The new gluten free Betty Crocker mixes are great!

[merry0709]

I am not a very good cook and I was wondering what is the types of food I should stock up on. I can tolerate dairy and oats. I have rice, gluten-free pasta, fresh and frozen veggies, gluten-free crackers and bread, chex cereal, oats, cheerios, milk, yogurt and fresh fruit. What else should I be stocking up on?

I`ve been gluten-free for 5 years. This is what I do. If you have a Trader Joe`s nearby, they have alot of gluten-free stuff. gluten-free frozen pancakes, very good. Their rice pasta good and reasonable. I buy chicken breasts fresh or shrimp, cut them up and sautee with mixed fresh or frozen veggies whatever you like, then dump some of the Trader Joe`s cooking sauces on. They have all kinds, Italian, Indian, Thai curry, etc.

then heat it up. You got a healthy awesome meal gluten-free in 5 minutes. And you can do it a ton of different ways. Put rice or pasta on the side, you got a full meal.

Another thing you might want to try is quinoa. It`s a seed you cook like rice, very healthy, you can sweeten it, or put butter on cheese, herbs whatever. Really good.

Another one----keep around potatoes ( if you can have them ) or sweet potatoes to bake in the micro. A little butter, cinnamon

and sweetener, awesome. 5 minutes.

Keep frozen berries onhand to snack on in the P.M. instead of ice cream.

But my basic word of advice to you would be----hang up most processed foods altogether. Go to a fruit, veg and meat market, and eat alot of raw and learn how to cook from scratch a bit. It`s not that hard, cheaper, and you don`t have to be reading labels, eating all the chemical crap and be worried about getting sick all the time from additives. Reading labels forever is too much of a hassle for me. If you just eat stuff in it`s natural state, you don`t have to worry about it. If you can quit eating junk, and start eating stuff in it`s natural state, you are going to feel so much better in no time.