New To Gluten Free

[new to gluten free]

I absolutely love food...all food...now I find out I have celiac disease. I am glad to know what is wrong with me (finally). I go to the normal grocery store and want to cry. Things seem so limited now, and I have to always be on guard. I go to a health food grocery store and I have to spend WAY too much money on very little groceries. Does everyone go through a sad or upset time before you finally accept this??

[lovegrov]

I think everyone goes through some sort of grieving.

The good news is that there's a TON of stuff in a "regular" store that you can eat. It won't have wheat in it and processed stuff can be iffy, but there's really a lot more there than you think right now. I don't spend any more now than I did before going gluten-free, but I also rarely buy specialty gluten-free foods.

richard

[jststric]

I would say yes. At least it was for me. I still have my moments I throw myself a pity party. Growing up in the south on great food, I had to give up all the fried stuff and since I'm also lactose intolerant, rice, bean, egg and nut intolerant, Had to give up MOST things I absolutely loved. Southerners don't just eat....we have love affairs with our food. I've been doing this for 3 yrs and am getting better about it though. Yes, the alternative stuff is expensive but you learn what you can do and how you can work around the need for so much alternative stuff sometimes. Hang in there.

[new to gluten free]

Thanks for getting back to me so fast! Glad to know I am not the only one who gets upset about this...change is always hard, especially with food!

[ang1e0251]

Welcome to the Forum! We do have strong emotional attachments to our food. But the good news is we can learn to form new attachments to food that is safe for us. You can buy most of your food in a normal market. Just stick to the basics of what you can eat, meat, vegetables, and fruits. You look like you could probably tolerate corn tortillas in place of bread and straight cornmeal or instant potatoes for breading. You will learn what you can convert to your diet and what could be a problem. You know if you want to convert certain favorite recipes, this is a good place for it. We have quite a few cooks who love a challenge!

I personally don't buy much processed food so my food budget isn't too crazy. I do buy soy milk and coconut milk but I was using that before so that was in my budget anyway.

It's normal to mourn that large part of your life that has changed. I didn't say lost because you are just changing it not losing it. Find a couple of splurge comfort foods that you can make or buy and have those around because you deserve a treat. When you go into a pity party, make sure you have something special just for you. Lately mine has been coffee soy ice cream with hot fudge sauce.......

[new to gluten free]

Welcome to the Forum! We do have strong emotional attachments to our food. But the good news is we can learn to form new attachments to food that is safe for us. You can buy most of your food in a normal market. Just stick to the basics of what you can eat, meat, vegetables, and fruits. You look like you could probably tolerate corn tortillas in place of bread and straight cornmeal or instant potatoes for breading. You will learn what you can convert to your diet and what could be a problem. You know if you want to convert certain favorite recipes, this is a good place for it. We have quite a few cooks who love a challenge!

I personally don't buy much processed food so my food budget isn't too crazy. I do buy soy milk and coconut milk but I was using that before so that was in my budget anyway.

It's normal to mourn that large part of your life that has changed. I didn't say lost because you are just changing it not losing it. Find a couple of splurge comfort foods that you can make or buy and have those around because you deserve a treat. When you go into a pity party, make sure you have something special just for you. Lately mine has been coffee soy ice cream with hot fudge sauce.......

thanks! I will come here to get ideas for recipes much appreciated.

[Ahorsesoul]

I've been gluten free for awhile so I've forgotten how it feels at the beginning. I love to cook and I love good tasting foods. I would never put tomato sauce on a rice cake and thing that's pizza (yes, had someone suggest this when I was moaning about missing pizza in my early days).

Now I say I can make anything gluten free. I have two things I still miss: phyllo dough and cream of shrimp soup.

The phyllo dough I know I could try making myself but I"m too lazy. I do have a few recipes printed off but doubt I'll ever try them. The Cream of Shrimp soup I use to use for a dip recipe I have. I have found nothing (yet) that gives me the same flavor. I do make my own cream of mushroom soup.

I feel so much better that I don't mind if I miss out on something. I decided when I gave up gluten I would not do without the things I love; pizza, pasta and all those yummy gluten items that made me sick. I found replacements for all of them. And I demand that they taste good because I really do not like cardboard. Bread for sandwiches had been a problem until I read here about Udi Bread. I'm eating more sandwiches now than I ever did before going gluten free. I can't wait to try it for my turkey stuffing recipe at Thanksgiving.

So ask here and I'm sure someone can tell you how to make what you think you are missing.

Contact your local grocery store to see if they have a gluten free listing of their foods. Wal-mart and our local Nash Finch store both have them.

[glutenfreeinminnesota]

I've been gluten free for awhile so I've forgotten how it feels at the beginning. I love to cook and I love good tasting foods. I would never put tomato sauce on a rice cake and thing that's pizza (yes, had someone suggest this when I was moaning about missing pizza in my early days).

Now I say I can make anything gluten free. I have two things I still miss: phyllo dough and cream of shrimp soup.

The phyllo dough I know I could try making myself but I"m too lazy. I do have a few recipes printed off but doubt I'll ever try them. The Cream of Shrimp soup I use to use for a dip recipe I have. I have found nothing (yet) that gives me the same flavor. I do make my own cream of mushroom soup.

I feel so much better that I don't mind if I miss out on something. I decided when I gave up gluten I would not do without the things I love; pizza, pasta and all those yummy gluten items that made me sick. I found replacements for all of them. And I demand that they taste good because I really do not like cardboard. Bread for sandwiches had been a problem until I read here about Udi Bread. I'm eating more sandwiches now than I ever did before going gluten free. I can't wait to try it for my turkey stuffing recipe at Thanksgiving.

So ask here and I'm sure someone can tell you how to make what you think you are missing.

Contact your local grocery store to see if they have a gluten free listing of their foods. Wal-mart and our local Nash Finch store both have them.

would you mind sharing with me how you make cream of mushroom soup?? This is how I make a lot of my casseroles and cant figure out how to replace the "bad" ingredients... I went and bought UDIs bread, havent tried it yet...and a local gluten free bakery has stuffing thanks!