Grocery List/menu/meal Plan

[danaf617]

Hi! I'm hoping somebody can point me in the right direction.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Enterolab tests and as soon as I send that package off, I'm going gluten-free.

Committing to it is not a problem for me. Doesn't scare me a bit. But the thought of actually getting started....actually shopping for the first time and that first week TERRIFIES me.

Is there a going-gluten-free-for-dummies list anywhere? There must be, right?

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

Dear Dana,

there's a partial glutenfree list out there of mainstream glutenfree foods. However to my knowledge the list hasn't been updated since 2005. Which is not necessarily bad, however, if in a food on that list the ingredients changed, there might now be gluten in it. So, if in doubt, just leave it out, or call the manufacturer. It's this list:

Open Original Shared Link

Then there's another helpful page out there from the glutenfree chef. I use that one a lot:

Open Original Shared Link

Also, if you google or do a yahoo search for "gluten free food list", you will get some lists. And this forum also has tons of ideas. Here we do have a search button, too. So depending on what you're looking for, just throw it into the search line and there will most likely be an answer.

If you're looking for other ideas of course, you can ask us. One idea, that might help you get started is, go get yourself a folder, print out a list or two and take it with you to shop.

Happy reading and shopping, Stef

Hi! I'm hoping somebody can point me in the right direction.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Enterolab tests and as soon as I send that package off, I'm going gluten-free.

Committing to it is not a problem for me. Doesn't scare me a bit. But the thought if actually getting started....actually shopping for the first time and that first week TERRIFIES me.

Is there a going-gluten-free-for-dummies list anywhere? There must be, right?

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

Actually I think, there's even one of those "for dummies"-books out there for glutenfree... not sure though.

[missy'smom]

Yes, I believe that Connie Sarros wrote one of those "Dummies" cookbooks.

Carol Fenster's Gluten-free Quick and Easy cookbook lists product names in the the recipe ingredient lists(no guarantee that those brands will be available in your area).

You can also post what you usually eat for meals and maybe we can suggest some gluten-free solutions.

[celiac-mommy]

Do you have a smart phone? Can you download apps? There's a really good one that's called "Is that gluten free?" I think it cost me $5.99 and you get free updates every few months. The database is huge. It's been invaluable!!

[kareng]

Do you have a smart phone? Can you download apps? There's a really good one that's called "Is that gluten free?" I think it cost me $5.99 and you get free updates every few months. The database is huge. It's been invaluable!!

When I first got my iPad, Maxi, I looked and they didn't have anything. They have this one now! I'm downloading now. $6

Maxi gets to go grocery shopping with me now. Actually, my hub will like to take it as unless it says gluten-free he is confused. But he tries.

[celiac-mommy]

When I first got my iPad, Maxi, I looked and they didn't have anything. They have this one now! I'm downloading now. $6

Maxi gets to go grocery shopping with me now. Actually, my hub will like to take it as unless it says gluten-free he is confused. But he tries.

Let me know what you think! It's saved us so many times. Teachers, grandparents, babysitters, etc call me on the fly and I can give them an instant answer no matter where I am!

You're so lucky that Maxi is so absorbant for information

[danaf617]

No, I don't have a smart phone. Probably last person on Earth not to.

But, I do have an iPod Touch and can get most iPhone apps on there. I'd just need Wifi if it needs to be connected to the internet to use.

I guess what I'm asking for is a basic guide to get me started. What are some of your fav meals and snacks?

Breakfast will probably be most challenging cause I love nothing more than a bowl of frosted mini wheats.

I am at home with my small children so I have the luxury of time to prepare myself some things. I plan on making a big batch of brown rice at the beginning of the week and then just reheat as needed for lunch and dinner. I've never had/made quinoa but I will put that on my list.

Chicken, of course, and grass-fed beef. (I'm so excited that our fav marinade for grilled chicken is gluten-free! Yay!)

I have always strived to feed my family whole foods as much as possible so that's a good start I have. It will be "sides" that I have to change. If we're not having potatoes as our starch with dinner, we have pasta or rice. We all LOVE Goya's yellow rice and that's a no-no now. Damn. It's so yummy. If I make that for hubby and the kids, I'll just pull out some of that brown rice for myself.

I plan to get some butter to be specifically for me, as well as PB, fruit spread, etc and label them so no double dipping of gluten utensils.

What items do you buy every week when you grocery shop? What are some of your most common meals?

[missy'smom]

You'll do well since you already focus on whole foods. Maybe you could make long grain rice with chicken stock and saffron etc. to replicate the Goya rice? Pacific and Imagine make gluten-free stocks. Come to think of it, there's a gluten-free saffron rice mix that I used to buy at Whole Foods and some other stores. Sorry I don't remember the brand. You might like the Arrowhead Mills Maple Buckwheat Flakes cereal. It's lightly sweetened and has a bit of that whole-grain feel.

Much of what we used to eat can be made gluten-free. Trader Joe's gives a good buy on gluten-free brown rice pasta. Tinkyada is another brown rice pasta that is well liked. There was a breakfast thread started here recently with plenty of breakfast ideas. You can also do a search for breakfast, lunch or dinner and you'll find other threads devoted to ideas for those. There's really as much variety amoung our individual gluten-free diets as there is in the "outside world"

[lucia]

Hi! I'm hoping somebody can point me in the right direction.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Enterolab tests and as soon as I send that package off, I'm going gluten-free.

Committing to it is not a problem for me. Doesn't scare me a bit. But the thought of actually getting started....actually shopping for the first time and that first week TERRIFIES me.

Is there a going-gluten-free-for-dummies list anywhere? There must be, right?

Breakfast was the hardest for me too. There's a thread started on the "recipes" forum about what to eat for breakfast:

I'd also suggest browsing through the "recipes" forum. The information goes way beyond just recipes. I found out there that most Indian food is gluten-free. It hadn't even occurred to me before that!

[lucia]

One more thing - I really love my pocket/purse-size "Ultimate Guide to Gluten-Free Living" from the Celiac Center at Columbia University. Easy to order online.

It organizes a ton of information about how to go gluten-free, including sections on getting started, shopping, grains, restaurants, and travel. It's nice to have all the info laid out in one place.

[danaf617]

Thank you so much! I feel like I've spent hours on here already and I haven't even looked in the recipes forum yet.

My other obstacle is going to be my husband. Since I tested negative on the celiac panel my gastro ran, he doesn't understand switching to such an extreme diet "just to see." He thinks I should just see another gastro.

As I started explaining some of the can't-have foods, he said "If that were me, I'd say 'screw you, stomach' and keep eating what I wanted."

My response of course was "not if you felt like this!"

[misslexi]

Don't bother with gluten-free bread, or bread like things for now. You'll just be disappointed and your family won't eat them.

Open Original Shared Link

I've made those, I got the hang of it by the second try. My mom liked them. Next step is to try them on my younger brother. That will be the real test. But fresh out of the pan, when they are still warm they are wonderful. Once they cool they tend to crack if you roll them.

Most people seem to be under the impression that gluten-free means weird, I know my boyfriend is. You would be surprised how many regular things you eat (if not very processed) are gluten-free. Sometimes you can do something as simple as change brands for things you like. One of the store brands of chicken stock here is gluten-free but the name brand isn't. Small things like that.

Things I eat:

Breakfast: eggs, potato, bacon, pancakes/waffles from gluten-free mix, frozen gluten-free waffles (eh), egg in a tortilla if I have any hanging around, fruit smoothie, yogurt, omelettes, cereal

Lunch: leftovers, quesadillas (lately I like tuna+salsa+cheese with maybe a bit of plain yogurt on the side to dip) corn chips (Tostitos is gluten-free so far, in my experience) with salsa, or hummus, something like that, breakfast foods, salad, lunch is the hardest meal of the day. usually its leftovers.

Dinner: baked chicken+chopped up and baked potatoes w veggies, stirfry w rice, rice pasta with assorted sauces (Rizopia is a good/inexpensive brand), chili+porkchop+rice casserole, homemade white cheese soup/sauce thing to replace canned cream soup for chicken brocolli bake, tortillas with ground beef, a roast with potatoes, flavoured rice mixes (there are only a few I've found that are gluten-free, that I'd like. All regular brands), pork kebabs, I could probably keep going. all sorts of yummy things! french fries + homemade chicken nuggets (corn chips crushed up for the crispy part)

Snacks: Rice cakes, Nature's Path granola bar, gluten-free cookie, gluten-free rice krispie square, fruit, rice chips...

It really isn't as limiting as people think. Especially if you have time to cook/bake.

I own two cook books, one is full of...weird stuff. I wanted something with recipes just like what my mom and grandma made growing up and I found this one:

You Won't Believe It's Gluten Free! by Roben Ryberg, its lots of really, really easy recipes. They taste like real wheat things. At least all the ones I've tried. note, potato based baked goods really are gummy, I like cornstarch based ones better. The cornstarch banana bread tastes just like the one I grew up with.

Don't worry so much. There are lots of things at Walmart, and other big stores like that. Just check ingredients! I rarely go to a specialty store for groceries. I don't know where you live, but we have a chain called Bulk Barn here, and I get lots of the special things like xantham gum and flours there.

[danaf617]

misslexi, thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to reply like that. I really appreciate it. Seeing an sort-of overview of what a gluten-free diet looks like makes it less overwhelming.

[sunnybabi1986]

Hi!

General Mills has a site with all their gluten free foods listed Open Original Shared Link.

If you click on "products" you get a food list. If you click on "recipes" you get lots of yummy recipes using their products.

AWG makes Always Save, Best Choice, and Clearly Organic products. Their gluten free list is Open Original Shared Link.

Hormel has a gluten free list Open Original Shared Link.

Campbell's has a list Open Original Shared Link.

and Heinz has a list Open Original Shared Link.

I found it really helpful to print these lists off and put them in a binder with dividers. In the store, I can just flip through the binder to find out if the item is on the company's gluten free list. This works great until you can learn to read labels and know company policies. I've given binders to family members so they can buy things for me as well. Just be sure to check the lists occasionally, as they update and change them.

Another good resource for gluten free meal and snack ideas is this page Open Original Shared Link.

Because this list is a year old, be sure to double check the labels before putting the items in your cart, though! Some things may have changed.

Good luck! You'll do fine, this is the most encouraging place to be, on these forums. You'll get a lot of good information here!

[summerteeth]

Cecilia's Marketplace has a grocery guide that was extremely helpful to me when I was first learning how to read labels - they have updates every so often on their website if a product changes (ie, no longer gluten-free). This can be hard though because products change all the time!

Breakfast was hard for me, too, at first. I pretty much just eat a bowl of fruit with a protein (like a piece of chicken or turkey) for breakfast. It is cheaper than most of the cereals and I don't have to worry about CC. There are also rice cakes (Lundberg are for sure gluten-free, the new packages of Quaker say gluten-free on the back).

Good luck! This site is a very helpful resource.

[LD89]

Trader Joe's has a great gluten-free list available right in the store, just ask and they're usually happy to help you find everything you need. Whole Foods has a great selection too, but if you're on a budget like me Trader Joe's is the best bet.