New Here, But...

[cokids]

My husband has a new diagnosis of celiacs disease an I have questions. If I decide to go gluten free with him, what do we face? I realize that we cannot eat anything with gluten in it...I have checked the list.

What else should we do? I surmise from reading the forum that we shouldn't use the same pots and pans we have used before? We should get rid of glutenous foods...I plan to give them to my daughter. Should we ask other family members to be tested? My husband is 72 years old, so this is not new. He has been anemic for months with no explanation until this!

We are generally vegetarian and I am thinking we need to go back to meat in order to eat. Thoughts? Any gluten-free vegetarians here? Recipes or links? My husband loves beans, but I hate them!

Thanks for all your wonderful info!

Beth

[BeccaBol]

I am in the same situation, my husband is the one with Celiac, I am not. But as far as using the same pots and pans, we do and there has not been a problem with it, just wash them really well if you decided to cook something with Gluten for yourself. The only meals that I cook are all gluten free, saves time to just have everything be that way so I am not cooking two different meals. There are plenty of ways to eat gluten free and still be a vegetarian, although we are not, but alot of ppl tend to go more vegetarian when they are gluten free, eat more fresh produce, etc. We love Brown rice and eat it a lot, we also eat a lot of potatoes, beans, lots of fruit and veggies. I don't know if you eat eggs or not, but we use those a lot, they are filling and pretty reasonable to buy.

I absolutely love this website, and have found many yummy meals on it!!! And it is Gluten free! Open Original Shared Link

That is the link for the vegetarian section, don't know if you have a slow cooker, I'm sure you do, but if you don't than I would definitely say it is one of the best things to get! Hope there is some things that help! Keep asking if you have more questions, I am also new to this, as it has been only a yr since my hubby was diagnosed!

[Financialman]

Keep in mind that Celiac Disease is an inherited autoimmune disease. If other people in your family have an symptoms similar to what your husband had before he was diagnosed then they should be tested. The problem with the testing is that unless the doctor actually looks inside the small intestine, endoscopy, the other tests are not conclusive proof that one has Celiac Disease. I had numerous blood tests and the only test that found and confirmed Celiac Disease was the endoscopy down the throat into the small intestine.

Your biggest problem is not just be careful of what you eat but with cross contamination when you go to social events, restaurants, and family/friend"s houses. It takes some getting used but most of the people on this forum, including me diagnosed in November 2009, have found ways to prevent from getting sick through contamination. Easy no. Doable yes. Just be patient and stay tuned to this forum.

[Takala]

Re Pots and Pans:

Ditch the used non stick ones (hello, thrift store donation or other giveaway) as the coating is porous. Ditto the silicone baking things (personally, I think that using rubbery stuff in the oven is sorta creepy), the plastic/rubber spatulas, the wooden and plastic cutting boards, the wooden spoons and rolling pin, the plastic soft tupperware food storage containers. Some old bakeware will also have a residue that just won't come off, so pitch it or recycle it or use it for decoration. You will also need a new toaster for gluten free toasting. I recommend a toaster oven because the rack can come out for occasional cleaning.

If you have cast iron, you can either replace it or nuke it in the oven on the clean cycle and then scrub it out thoroughly and re - season it.

Regular stainless steel pots and pans should be fine.

This gluten-free diet routine is a bit harder to do vegetarian because some of us need to also be low carbohydrate to feel well, especially if one of the other basic vegetarian food groups just doesn't work out for you, for whatever reason. (many end up avoiding soy, as well as dairy or at least lactose) I went from nearly veg back to omnivore again, socially less pc but much healthier, some comical reactions from people in restaurants when I am ordering the classic 'Give Me Meat and Potatoes' routine while others are imitating browsing deer. Sometimes the server comes out and tries to give my plate to my husband and then catches himself, twice this winter at different restaurants my spouse has looked at the pay ticket in puzzlement after the meal and said, uhm, we didn't order this, wrong one, after we had gotten the correct meal anyway. He will usually order off the gluten free menu with me if there is one, and is like a hawk with the servers when the meal shows up, very nice but double checking - and he's caught a wrong sauce a time or two. The funniest one was at a nice place where everything went great until dessert, which we were absolutely assured the gelato was gluten free, so we get that for me, and it shows up with - a cookie stuck into the top of it. We both just look at the gelato crowned with The Mistake and then look at the waiter, and he says Oh My Gosh I'm so sorry, let me get rid of that for you and bring you the right one, sorry ! and whisks it off and returns with a fresh one without the crumby little intruder sitting on it. Best gelato I ever ate, had the whole meal with no reaction, but vigilance is required ! (have since gone back and eaten a different meal off their gluten-free menu with no reaction).

For home cooking, I would check out the baking forum, which has a lot of things besides baking, and also try googling gluten free vegetarian and checking for links to recipe blogs that way.

[GFinDC]

Hey Beth,

I was vegetarian for 5 years. But I went back to eating dead animals and wouldn't change that. I think they are really yummy! It is much easier to get the protein you need if you eat meat. I can't eat soy so most vegetarian meals are out from the get go.

It is generally better to eat whole foods instead of processed foods at the beginning. That way you don't spend all your grocery shopping time reading ingredients labels. Broccoli has a pretty short ingredient list. Broccoli. That's what is meant by whole foods, foods that are in their natural state, not processed, boxed etc. When you eat whole foods you don't have to worry if the chemical preservatives and food colorings in your food are a problem since there are none. After doing the diet a while you can learn which foods work well.