Help! Need Food Suggestions!

[Guest rosei]

I am having trouble finding any foods okay for me to eat. Especially when I'm away from home a lot. I need food suggestions (snack, meals, anything) for a gluten-free, corn-free, rice-free, & peanut-free diet! I'm unsure about food additives & derivitives, & soy, lactose, beans, & gas-y vegies & fruits too. I'm having trouble organizing things to take with me, & having trouble shopping for food in general. It feels like there's hardly anything I can eat. I feel better when I don't eat, but I'm starving... Any suggestions would be very appreciated. Thanks!

[tarnalberry]

I'm going to cover a wide range of things here, since I can't tell if you're avoiding soy, dairy, beans, veggies, and fruits as well. If you're uncertain about these items, I'd recommend finding the time and energy to do an elimination diet so you CAN figure out what you can and can't eat. (Note that different beans produce more gas than others - you just have to try them and see which ones affect you.)

apple slices with non-peanut butters (like cashew-butter or soy butter)

pear slices with cheese

smoothies made from frozen fruit, soy milk, and maybe some coconut milk for fat

bean salad (make a big batch and put it in small containers for taking with you)

muffins made from tapioca flour, potato flour, millet flour, amaranth flour, and sorgum flour if you can tolerate it

buckwheat - cooked however you like it

BTW, you can always try taking some lactaid with the dairy products to see if that helps.

[Guest rosei]

Thanks Tiffany!

I'm making a list & testing different things out. I find it difficult to know what the culprit is when I get symptoms, since it could be a delayed reaction to any food from hours or a few days before.

I tried something different while I was out today. It was a chip that looked kind of like pork rinds, but was made of cassava flour & fish (from an an oriental market). It tasted good (since I needed something with a crunch), but I didn't feel well a little while later & I'm not sure if I was reacting to the chips or something else. The chips had some salt msg & flavoring, so it could have been that, or the drink I had which had real fruits, but also had pure cane sugar & Red 40. Finding pure foods to eat while away from home is difficult, & I'm not sure what additives might be best to avoid, or worth trying. It's all so complicated.

I did buy some sorghum flour, & a few others to try. Though what is sorghum? And what exactly is tapioca? I haven't heard of tapioca flour before. I also bought something called "potato starch." I'm not sure what to do with it, especially since I don't have a lot of time to cook, & when I do, my children don't want all the "weird" foods I'm trying.

Is lactaid a vitamin over the counter? Is it for lactose intolerant, or casein?

I bought a new notebook today I plan to keep with me for writing my food lists, diet intake, symptoms, & questions down in. Hopefully that will help me organize, track, & eliminate.

Has anyone you know of tried the extensive RAST & ELISA blood testing? I'm hoping to get that soon (from www.foodallergy.com, www.gsdl.com, & I think there's also www.greatplainslaboratory.com for that). I'd love some feedback on whether that has been helpful to anyone else. I understand those labs provide personal elimination diet guidance after testing.

Tomorrow I'm getting my bone density test results back & hopefully some vitamin deficiency blood testing.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

[tarnalberry]

sorgum is a grain that is not considered to be a problem for celiacs, but is somewhat closely related to corn, so people with corn issues may not tolerate it well - it's hard to say without trying it. tapioca is, I believe, a starchy root. you can use those flours and potato starch for baking (though you may need other flours). It's definitely worth sitting down and making a list of things that you think you might enjoy or do well with. I do that for the times when I'm busy, or I'm apt to way overeat. ;-)

[Ruth]

I'm not sure if this will work for you, but try Enjoy Life Foods. Their labels on cookies, cereal etc. say they do not use most major allergens.

I know one of the boxes says the product is free of nuts, soy, corn, yeast, dairy, and gluten ... not sure about rice though. It's worth a call/visit to their web site.

Good Luck!

[SteveW]

My meals are based around chicken,fish and eggs.

I have a veggie or mixed veggies

-Squash,green beans,asparagus, small amounts of broccoli,and tomatoes.

all veggies are cooked until soft because if I eat them raw bad thing happpen

Fruits that don't bother me

Watermelon-not only is it delicious it makes me feel full for a while-too bad the season is over

Cantalope,bananas(go anywhere fruit), and apple sauce(Motts makes a all naturaul one with nothing added that is very good)

After 9 months of being gluten-free I'm starting to eat a little cheese with my morning omlet- mmmmmCheese

Almond flour is a good choice for muffins and crusts- a little pricy but it taste pretty

good.

So for travel snacks

-Hard Boiled Egg

-Fruit and Chesse or nut buttet

-Almond muffins-e mail me if you want the recipie

-Bananas

-How about a avacado-lots o calories,good fats and easy on the stomach

SC Pepermint Tea is really good and calms my stomach and is gluten-free.

That's about what I eat.

I'm following a gluten-free Specific Cab Diet-no grains and or starchs.

I've gone back and forth but I always feel better on the SCD.

[plantime]

For flour, I use a blend consisting of one part chickpea (aka garbanzo bean), one part potato, and 1/4 part tapioca. It works well for me for pancakes, cookies, and cakes that taste like brownies. I use ground flax in place of eggs, and honey instead of sugar.

[tarnalberry]

Amaranth flour makes fab pancakes too!