New To Gluten Free. Advice And Serviving Thanksgiving

[Duncanne]

I have suffered with memory loss, depression, joint pain, TMJ, extremely painful menstrual cramps that get worse, I just haven't felt like me for the more than 2 years. I was diagnosed with Hashimotos 2 years ago and think a gluten free lifestyle would help. I am on day 3 of my gluten free lifestyle, so I am still learning.

This will be my first gluten free thanksgiving. We are having a huge luncheon today at work and I would would like to participate, but don't want to fail. I am also having Thanksgiving at my Grandmas house and don't want to offend her by not eating her food. Do you think it is offensive to bring my own? Is there anything I could eat within the dinner? All this is new to me and it is very scary. Right now I think I may be going through withdrawals. Yesterday I was irritable, depressed, out of it and very tired. This morning I have the shakes, diarrhea, dizzy and weak. Any advise would be helpful.

[Reba32]

Thanksgiving is actually pretty easy to be gluten free, just don't put the stuffing inside the turkey, cook it separately, and serve it away from the turkey. Vegetables are all naturally gluten free, unless she buys pre-made pre-seasoned frozen stuff. Ask her ahead of time what she'll be making, tell her you're on an elimination diet because of health reasons, and I'm sure she won't be offended at all. She's your grandmother, she doesn't want to make you sick I'm sure!

Desserts can be tricky, but you can make a crustless pumpkin pie and take that to share. Just follow the recipe on the can of pumpkin, and don't put it in a crust. Easy peasy pumpkin custard.

I make the holiday dinners for my family, and they're always amazed at how good they feel when they leave here. They're not falling down tired, they're not bloated and gassy, and everything that I serve is made from scratch, gluten free and sugar free!

[captaincrab55]

Thanksgiving is actually pretty easy to be gluten free, just don't put the stuffing inside the turkey, cook it separately, and serve it away from the turkey.

Lets start with the Turkey being gluten-free.....

[saintmaybe]

Others will have amazing advice, I'm sure. I find stubborn west Virginia cussedness gets me through a lot of days. Patience, time, and gritting your teeth and powering through are sometimes all you've got.

[Alwayssomething]

This is my first gluten free Thanksgiving and I have only been gluten free for a couple months. I offered to make the turkey, I ordered an Amish Turkey and it will ensure that no one stuffs the turkey as other family memebers will be making the dressing. I cooked gluten free cornbread and froze that for cornbread dressing that I will also make and take. Gravy is the hard one for me I LOVE GRAVY, so I have asked that we have baked potatoes and baked sweet potatoes instead of mashed, if they choose to make mashed, then I will bake one of each for myself.

[Diane-in-FL]

This is my first gluten free Thanksgiving and I have only been gluten free for a couple months. I offered to make the turkey, I ordered an Amish Turkey and it will ensure that no one stuffs the turkey as other family memebers will be making the dressing. I cooked gluten free cornbread and froze that for cornbread dressing that I will also make and take. Gravy is the hard one for me I LOVE GRAVY, so I have asked that we have baked potatoes and baked sweet potatoes instead of mashed, if they choose to make mashed, then I will bake one of each for myself.

You can still have gravy.....just thicken it with corn starch, potato starch or an alternative non-gluten flour.

[RacerX35]

Here, I am cut & pasting from the other thread. This is the comment I made there.

At our first Thanksgiving gluten free. My wife toasted some gluten free bread and we made a home made stuffing. Of course with the size of our family coming over, we usually have 2 turkeys and 1 ham. One turkey was "normal" (you have to remember as well, that when the turkey is being basted, there is gluten from the stuffing just soaking in the turkey juices) and the other was gluten free. Everybody that tried the gluten free one said that they didn't really taste a difference. My mother also cooked up a very good gluten free gravy for me! At my age and still spoiled by mommy . I had a niece that made a gluten free cake and my wife and I found some gluten free crusts for a pumkin pie and an apple pie. If you get the support, then Thanksgiving is just as fun as it always has been.

Good luck!

Ray

[Marilyn R]

I have suffered with memory loss, depression, joint pain, TMJ, extremely painful menstrual cramps that get worse, I just haven't felt like me for the more than 2 years. I was diagnosed with Hashimotos 2 years ago and think a gluten free lifestyle would help. I am on day 3 of my gluten free lifestyle, so I am still learning.

This will be my first gluten free thanksgiving. We are having a huge luncheon today at work and I would would like to participate, but don't want to fail. I am also having Thanksgiving at my Grandmas house and don't want to offend her by not eating her food. Do you think it is offensive to bring my own? Is there anything I could eat within the dinner? All this is new to me and it is very scary. Right now I think I may be going through withdrawals. Yesterday I was irritable, depressed, out of it and very tired. This morning I have the shakes, diarrhea, dizzy and weak. Any advise would be helpful.

Hi Duncanne, and welcome to the forum.

Going gluten-free is so overwhelming at first. It's a major lifestlye change. The irritability, depression and fatigue are something I went through too when I first went gluten-free. (Have to clean, plan, get rid of old scratched wooden/non-stick cooking pans, cutting boards and utensils & toaasters, become food focused.) The shakes, D and weakness really concern me. That sounds like another food intolerance or fairly significant cross-contamination.

I'm not saying I'm giving the best advice, but what I would do is focus totally on getting well right now. I would not risk dinner at Grandma's. I'd call her up and tell her that you love her to bits and wouldn't miss her cooking or company for anything, but that you haven't been feeling well, tell her what you told us, and say you'll come by for dessert, and please don't be offended but you're just going to bring some fruit because you have to eat very simply or end up very sick right now.

Eat a safe meal at home and go over earlier than you said you would so you can see all of your relatives. When dessert time comes, whip out your nice fruit. If you're putting it on the table, take your little hand held cooler into grandma's kitchen, pull out a dish and stick the separate little container you packed of it, and walk back into the dining room. (That's so you don't have to appear greedy and be the first one to take the fruit before it gets contaminated by somone who uses a pie server from the pumpkin or apple pie to slide a little extra fruit on their plate.)

Too much flour going on at Thanksgiving for me, too many spoons dipped into this and that. Give yourself a break and some time heal (and learn), and promise Grandma that you'll be there next year with bells on your toes.

[Duncanne]

Thank you all for all the great advice. I think I am over the withdraws I am still kinda tired and weak. I called my Aunt and luckily it is at her house. I explained what was going on with me, she totally understood and said she had read about hashimotos and gluten free (she is a home nurse). She said she would not be offended at all. She just wants me to get feeling better. She said I can make some things if I want or just bring my own food.

All of this still seems overwhelming. I had dinner at my other grandmas house last night and she wanted to make a pizza and thought there wouldn't be any gluten in it. We looked and couldn't find anything except a salad for me. I feel so awful, I hate feeling like my family has to cater to my needs.

And today I was craving chocolate and found a no bake cookie recipe. I had finished them and tasted one, then thought I didn't check the oat ingredients. I looked and saw "may have trace amounts of wheat"..... dang walmart. I hope It didn't contain trace amounts.

Luckily I got a bread machine and am making my first batch of gluten free bread.

[MinnesotaCeliac]

Duncanne, my family almost gets it, but almost does not keep me on track to getting healthy. Allow yourself to learn to say no thank you without guilt. The other side is you need to let people(family included) think what they may. I'm new to this too and have been freed from the stress and guilt by knowing that I need to do this! This will be my first thanksgiving too (I attend three), and I will bring my own food. The important part is the social aspect of being around family. Good luck!

[jswog]

And today I was craving chocolate and found a no bake cookie recipe. I had finished them and tasted one, then thought I didn't check the oat ingredients. I looked and saw "may have trace amounts of wheat"..... dang walmart. I hope It didn't contain trace amounts.

Unless they are CERTIFIED gluten free oats, you can be about 100% certain that they DO contain CC. Oats get CC in the field, through the harvesting process, through the processing, etc.