Talk To Me About Alcohol, And About Bread Please...

[Monklady123]

Okay, week two of trying to be gluten-free. Went to Trader Joe's today and bought some things, including their brand of rice bread. I'm eating it now, toasted. Not so sure about it. Maybe this will be something I'll just have to get used to? -- I've seen a lot of references on this site to Udi's bread. They didn't have it at Trader Joe's so I'll have to go to Whole Foods for that. But for those of you who have tried the TJ brand and Udi's, do you think Udi's is better? Since I'm not really liking this TJ brand I'm not sure I want to make the trip to Whole Foods right now unless you all say Udi's is much better.

Now about alcohol... I know not to drink beer. But sometimes I'll have a glass of wine -- usually rose -- after dinner. The mornings after I have the wine I wake up with a general queasy not-so-good feeling (although not the symptoms of celiac). This never happened to me before. Now that summer is here my husband and I sometimes have a gin and tonic. On gin and tonic nights I do not have wine. And the next morning after the gin and tonic I wake up feeling fine. So clearly there's something in the wine. But since I'm not getting the specific symptoms that I get when I eat gluten, I'm wondering if it's just somehow my body can't metabolize it due to the damage from the gluten. But then why would the gin and tonic be okay?

Lol...anyway, what do you all think, those of you who have been at this longer than I have. Thanks!

[kitgordon]

Hi - I'm only 2 weeks in also, and finding I don't tolerate some wines well. Organic ones seem a little better for me, but maybe you should just stick to the gin and tonic for now if it agrees better with you. Also Red Bridge beer is gluten-free if you like beer. I like the Udi's bread OK; haven't tried Trader Joe's, so I can't compare, but none of them are the same as regular bread, I don't think, unless maybe you make your own, which I am thinking about but haven't tried yet. I like Glutino's English muffins and bagels pretty well.

[Darn210]

Definitely prefer the Udi's here . . . even over the homemades (at least the home-mades at THIS house ) This is the only bread that we have had that my daughter is willing to eat untoasted in a sandwich. It arrived not all that long ago at our local Whole Foods so if it is somewhat of a drive, you might want to call first to see if they are carrying it yet.

Alcohol . . . hmmmm . . . I've only got one guess and that would be the tannins in the Rose . . . although they should be lower than in a red (right?) Have you tried a white? and if so, had a similar result? I know that I can drink a LOT more white wine than I can red Other than that, I'm drawing a blank.

[Looking for answers]

Wines have sulfites in them which often leads to this reaction. I'm a little better now that I'm gluten free, but I do find wine overall hard to digest. Organics are better because they do not use sulfites.

[tictax707]

;)Personally, I think Udi's is WAY better than Trader Joe's bread. The sensitive baker makes fantastic bagels and crusty rolls. You can order the bagels & crusty rolls through gfmeals.com if you are not in so cal, where the sensitive baker is based. I don't know what to say about the wine vs. gin & tonic...

And for better or worse, with time, your tastes will change. I remember I baked a batch of cookies early on, and was just revolted by the taste of the dough. Miraculously the cookies came out just fine. But I make the same recipe now (~8 years later) and can't taste a thing.

[WheatChef]

I have yet to find a suitable gluten-free bread (aside from my Gluten-free homemade banana nut bread) but as far as beer goes Green's is definitely one to check out. It's an import and priced more along the lines of a fine microbrew than the cheaper Redbridge. As far as flavor and body goes there's no comparison between the two however, Redbridge tastes like "gluten-free" beer like Udi's tastes like "gluten-free" bread; Green's tastes like beer.

[sb2178]

I have to say that I picked up the Trader Joe's bread on Tuesday and promptly put it back on the shelf. It felt like a dry cement block, and I used to eat those German-style dense rye breads so coming from me that's saying something.

Kinda glad to hear that not buying it was a good choice. :-)

[kareng]

Sometimes it helps to wait a month or so after going gluten-free. I found I was comparing to the full gluten products. After I have stopped remembering the flavors. Also, found stuff I really liked and would have eaten anyway if I had tried them. My neighbor always gets gluten-free crackers because she likes them.

[kitgordon]

Sometimes it helps to wait a month or so after going gluten-free. I found I was comparing to the full gluten products. After I have stopped remembering the flavors. Also, found stuff I really liked and would have eaten anyway if I had tried them. My neighbor always gets gluten-free crackers because she likes them.

What brand of crackers? I haven't found any that I like yet.

[Skylark]

A lot of white wines have sulfites that you can react to. Red wines also have a fair amount of histamine that can leave you feeling funny. Gin has none of that. My own favorite drink is a good, dry hard apple cider.

As far as bread, Udi's is my favorite, with Glutino or the Whole Foods brand second. I haven't seen a Trader Joe's brand but they don't carry anything I like around here as far as bread. I've gotten packages of little rice crackers that were good there.

[kareng]

What brand of crackers? I haven't found any that I like yet.

Crunchmasters (I have gotten them at Costco but I've seen them other places. Also, Marys Gone Crackers, the pepper ones.

[Monklady123]

Thanks everyone. This Trader Joe's bread truly is horrid so I guess I'll make the trek over to Whole Foods for Udi's. The "trek" is all of .... maybe a mile. lol.. I had just had my fill of shopping today, so didn't want to do any more.

And, I will try some organic wine and see if that makes the difference. -- But I'm expecting tonight and tomorrow morning to be pretty good because we had the gin and tonic this evening (because it's so dang hot out), and my dinner was totally gluten free. Chicken in one of those Trader Joe's simmer sauces and I read the label very carefully, edamame, salad (oil and vinegar for me, hold the croutons), and rice. So far so good.

I might get over to Whole Foods tomorrow (like I said, it's soooooooooooo far away ) and I'll let you know what I think of the Udi's.

Thanks again.

[Mack the Knife]

I really haven't liked any of the store bought breads I have tried. So I have gotten into baking my own gluten free bread and am having a lot of success. Unlike the store bought breads my bread is delicious, rises really high, is light and can be eaten untoasted.

Baking your own bread is a bit time consuming - so when i measure out the ingredients I do four of five batches of the combined dry ingredients (except the yeast) and store them in zip lock bags. Then all I have to do is add the yeast and wet ingredients, mix, rise and bake.

I don't have a bread machine, but apparently they make the process a lot easier.

Baking is very therapeutic and relaxing and being able to eat decent bread makes it totally worthwhile.

[Mack the Knife]

You can drink cider instead of beer. They are almost all gluten free. If I go to a pub and they don't have gluten free beer (which is most of the time) I usually get a cider instead.

[Monklady123]

Mack, do you have one particular recipe that you can share? I do have a bread machine, brand new in fact (bought it last month and haven't had a second to sit down and figure out how to work it, lol).

Believe it or not my husband toasted a piece of the Trader Joe's bread last night and said it wasn't bad. oy...! He's going to try it this morning for breakfast, with peanut butter. More power to him I guess... if he eats it then it won't go to waste, because I sure as heck am not eating it! gag....

[charlenabelle]

What brand of crackers? I haven't found any that I like yet.

Have you tried Schar Table Crackers? They are very good...even my husband likes them (he's non-Celiac). Actually, all of the Schar products are very tasty

[ciavyn]

Udi's bread is awesome -- I like it better than regular bread, but I'm not a bread person traditionally, anyway. Udi's has texture and flavor. I do NOT like the whole grain -- prefer the white. The whole grain seems to disintegrate when you chew it. The white stands up to the challenge!

I love glutino crackers. yum.

What is "cider" when referring to beer? Is that alcoholic? And I'm always up for a bread recipe too, so if anyone is sharing...

monklady -- hang in there. Your taste buds will change, and after a while, you'll wonder that people can eat that thick, gluten-y yuck. I recently traveled, and was having a hard time finding food in the airport that I could eat. I watched people go to the california pizza kitchen and get these huge focaccia sandwiches. We are so out of touch with normal portions these days! The sandwiches looked huge, and I felt sick just watching them ingest such a massive amount of a heavy bread. Funny how things change...

[psawyer]

Cider is an alcoholic beverage made from apples.

[Monklady123]

I'm also interested in the cider. I'm used to cider being a non-alcoholic beverage that's "stronger" or darker than ordinary apple juice. One can have "hard cider" which is cider that's fermented. But is there alcoholic cider that's already bottled? Like hard lemonade? Sounds like it could be yummy, and a good option on a hot summer day. [i'm planning for our hot, humid Washington, DC summer...ick]

[Skylark]

I'm also interested in the cider. I'm used to cider being a non-alcoholic beverage that's "stronger" or darker than ordinary apple juice. One can have "hard cider" which is cider that's fermented. But is there alcoholic cider that's already bottled? Like hard lemonade? Sounds like it could be yummy, and a good option on a hot summer day. [i'm planning for our hot, humid Washington, DC summer...ick]

Hard cider is an alcoholic drink made from apples. Ciders tend to run 4%-8% alcohol range, so they're comparable to beer. It's easiest to find bottled, but if you're lucky a pub will have one on tap. English and Irish pubs seem to have ciders most often because they're very popular in the British Isles. Trader Joe's carries bottled cider, as do many specialty liquor stores. Some celiac sites advise celiacs to check labels in case there is barley malt in the cider as well as apples, but I have not yet seen a cider with barley.

Fooey. I tried to link a list of gluten-free ciders but the site has been banned for spamming here. The list is: Ace, Blackthorn, Blue Mountain, Bulmer's, Cider Jack, Crispin, Doc's Draft, Fox, Gaymer, J.K. Scrumpy's, Magner's, Newton's Folly, Original Sin, Spire, Strongbow, Woodchuck, and Woodpecker.

My personal favorites are Blackthorn and Magner's because they're dry and have good flavor. Irish pubs will often serve a bottle of Magner's and glass of ice. Strongbow is pretty dry too. If you like a sweeter drink, try Woodchuck.

[tictax707]

Ditto on the recipe sharing for the breadmaker! I love to try making my own. I have had some successes and some dismal failures. It's a fun adventure regardless...

[Skylark]

I get good bread with the Bob's mixes. The "Wonderful Bread Mix" works well and even though it has the bean flour, it doesn't taste weird to me the way the baking mixes do.

I get the best results if I measure liquids very carefully. The dough is wetter than regular bread, so I also have to mix everything in a bowl before I add it to my bread machine. Otherwise it clumps up on the dough hook and the flour doesn't all get mixed in.

[sb2178]

You can get good continental dry ciders in wine bottle/ champagne sizes too. can't think of any brands off hand, but my favorite (and kind of far away) outlet carries a few. "Cidre" is generally how it's spelled for French imports; Apfelwein for German imports.

Dry ciders are wonderful-- there are a few classy US producers that make some that are dressy enough for New Year's and birthdays. I know of Eve's Cidery in NY, West County in MA...

[i-geek]

You can get good continental dry ciders in wine bottle/ champagne sizes too. can't think of any brands off hand, but my favorite (and kind of far away) outlet carries a few. "Cidre" is generally how it's spelled for French imports; Apfelwein for German imports.

Dry ciders are wonderful-- there are a few classy US producers that make some that are dressy enough for New Year's and birthdays. I know of Eve's Cidery in NY, West County in MA...

As long as you can make sure that the cider is gluten-free. I had a bad reaction to a cider from a small brewery. I couldn't get confirmation that the cider was gluten-free and apparently some brewers add barley malt for flavor/color/increased alcohol content (I know Hornsby's used to, and they still list "natural flavorings" as an ingredient). I liked Strongbow very much and had no problem with it.

[Nor-TX]

You should try the Katz Gluten free Challah. If you go to their website you can request a free box of their baked goods to try. I love this bread. I like it even better than the Udi bread. It is moist and sweet and nutty. It is wonderful fresh or toasted. I am amazed at this product. If they can make such a great product why do we have to put up with all the horrible, dry, heavy, breads that fall apart with you touch them?

Katz Gluten free challah isn't sold in the north Dallas area so I order it in bulk over their website. It is definitely worth it.