New Member New To Celiac Disease!

[rkmonckton11]

Hi My name is Kristen And im 19 Years old and i just got diagnosed with celiac disease. I am so miserable

this whole non eating gluten thing sucks. Im a natural born cook and when i found out about this i was stumped!!! I can cook Anything! but this gluten free stuff is just so frustrating. and im starving all of the time. No one around me seems to understand. Does anyone have any tips, on how to eat? im hardley eating anything. Im such a picky eater. i just need some guidance. ive been so depressed about this whole celiac thing. All i seem to do is cry and sulk and that isn't right. My stomach hurts constantly. And i feel stressed over it! I love to cook i just need to help and i deas. my sister bought me 2 cooking books for my birthday . I came on to this fourm for some help. ive been reading around and have found help. but i could like to know what other picky eaters eat. and if other people feel the same as i do. I would love help and some celiac friends!! Thank you

Kristen

[debmidge]

Kristen

You've hit the right place! The board is full of help hints, tips, similar stories and feelings.

It's only natural to be depressed about this major change in your life...but as long as you don't have other food intolerances you'll do well. You'll learn how to be creative with non gluten ingredients. If you have other food intolerances you'll pick up hints and tips about that as well and ideas on how to accomodate it.

Don't be bashful about joining into an ingredient conversation or other related topic. The support this board supplies is priceless.

As to being picky, my husband is picky only because he has celiac with other food intolerances. You'll find others which have differing levels and combinations of food intolerances. Some, like my husband, do not eat in restaurants or at homes of others due to these intolerances. Everyone has celiac, but each has their own "comfort" level.

So try us out - - I know you'll be glad you did.

Deb

[gfp]

Kristen, boy are you lucky... you enjoy cooking and know how. So many people don't.

There is very little can't be made gluten free except convenience food like pizza and pasta and then you can use substitutes but there is a whole world of naturally gluten free food waiting to be discovered.

Why don't you make a list of what you like and let us help you through the transistion and tell you what to watch out for.

[jenvan]

As gfp said--be grateful for the fact that you like to cook--b/c that is a big help with a gluten-free diet! You can cook so many great things! Most main courses are easily made gluten-free as well as baking recipes too, with simple ingredient substitutions. A few items get tricky, but overall, once you get the hang of it, its not so bad. Can you give us some specific things you'd like help or ideas on?

[kbtoyssni]

If you're a fan of cooking, you should try the cookbook "The Gluten Free Gourmet". The stuff in there is really good, especially the cakes/cookies

Maybe you could tell us some of the stuff you like to eat, and we can tell you how to make it gluten-free. I always say that I eat everything I used to, I just have to watch the brands I eat and sometimes make substitutes for things like pasta and bread.

Things will get easier, though. I'm sure you still feel yucky, and you probably will for a while. And it's hard to know what you can and cannot eat at first. I think I used to go hungry a lot of the time, too, because it was easier than trying to call another company or do more research.

Some basics that you might like:

-Cook up a ton of rice and have it sitting in the fridge to be reheated when you get hungry. I mix my rice with cheese and salsa.

-Baked potatoes with salad on top.

-Eggs in any form.

-Peanut butter on apples, celery, etc.

-Gatorade, I like this because I needed some source of extra calories and it doesn't upset my stomach. I figure the electrolytes can't hurt.

-Sherbet, yummy and slides right down and doesn't both my stomach.

-Meat, if you eat it.

[GFBetsy]

Kristen -

Check out the cookbook "Saving Dinner" by Leanne Ely - it's got a lot of GREAT recipes that are naturally gluten free. (Some of the recipes call for flour or suggest you eat things with whole wheat rolls . .. don't do that, naturally!)

Also, check out the website www.eatingglutenfree.com. There are a ton of great gluten free recipes there.

And just Ditto what everyone else has said: Loving to cook puts you way ahead of the game when it comes to eating gluten free. At least you don't have to learn how to boil water! Experience at "regular" cooking (and a love of cooking) easily transfers to gluten free cooking. And once you have some experience with gluten free flours, it becomes really easy to modify "regular" recipes and make them gluten free. Last night I modified a "regular" cobbler recipe and made gluten free Peach Raspberry Cobbler. It was so good! And it was easy, too. It just takes a little time . . . soon you'll be spending most of your time fighting people off of your gluten-free goodies. And they'll be envious because they never get things that taste so good (because all they eat is pre-packaged mac-and-cheese)!

Best of Luck!

Edited to add: I would also suggest that you find a support group in your area and then make a gluten free "cooking buddy". It helps a TON to have someone to cook/experiment with. It makes things seem less overwhelming when you've got a friend helping you out.

[Nantzie]

Like everyone else says, once you know the tricks of the trade, there's not much you can't do. Just let us know what you're missing and we'll jump in with some ideas. I rarely cooked before I found out about celiac. And even then it was just reading the instructions on the side of the box. Now that I've been gluten-free for several months, I cook all sorts of stuff. I even can make real gravy with my eyes closed now. Use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour in the same amount as regular flour to make a roux and start from there.

Sometimes the picky eating thing is actually a side effect of celiac, so that may change after a while.

If you're a bread eater, Pamela's Wheat Free Bread mix is really good. We use it for toast, sandwiches, really anything you would use regular bread for. It even smells a lot like real bread when it's baking.

Pamela's Pancake and Baking mix is also really good for pancakes. And there's a recipe for Choc chip cookies on the package that tastes like regular cookies.

You'll pretty much find out as you go along that certain flour mixes work for certain things, and some people like one flour mix over another. You'll figure out your preferences.

Some mainstream things that just happen to be gluten-free are:

Cool Ranch Doritos

Easy Cheese (not the bacon kind - it has gluten) - great for the classic Easy cheese in celery thing

Lays Stax Potato Chips - I'm not sure if all flavors are, but the plain ones are.

Reese's PB cups

Plain M&Ms (not sure about the other flavors - I'm a purist )

Mission Tortilla Chips - it even says Gluten-Free right on the bag

Salsa

Hunt's Manwich Sauce

Dinty Moore Beef Stew

Thai Kitchen products - most are gluten-free - the noodles are made from rice.

Soda (thank goodness!)

My advice for the first while is to just worry about being gluten-free, and not about healthy in any other way. It's too overwhelming. As you figure things out, especially since you're a natural cook, you'll replace the junk stuff pretty quickly. But it's nice to be out and about and know that you can stop at any convenience store and grab some Cool Ranch Doritos and know they're okay. For the first week or two I ate Thai Kitchen Noodle Carts and natural things like meat, veggies and fruit.

Also, In N Out Burger has what they call a "Secret Menu". Open Original Shared Link Click on the little white file folder at the bottom. There's a Protein-style burger that I order all the time with no problems. It's wrapped in lettuce. You just order it protein-style and they know what you're talking about.

Oh, and I almost forgot - go visit this blog - Open Original Shared Link Make sure you read the archives. I think she started writing it about a year ago. She loved to cook before finding out about her celiac too, so she went through some of the same things you're going through.

Hope that helps.

Nancy

[rkmonckton11]

I want to thank everyone so much for the help!! Celiac disease is so overwelming. I love to cook & thank god my mother left me with the passion to cook which i love!!! Its just the flours in the cooking gluten free that confuse me!. I dont think i have any other intolerances other than gluten. my GI doctor didnt tell me i had any other intolerances. Im having some difficulty because i lost my mom 4 years ago and my dad has diabetes and he does the whole thing where "you'll get better in no time" or that kind of stuff. So he buys his stuff for his diabetes wich is sugar free and he hardly eats anyways!! and i just buy my stuff for celiac disease and then my boyfriend lives us and he eats normal so its so hard eating gluten free! Im such a snacker!! thats all i seem to do!! which is horrible! I have 2 gluten free cooking books that my sister got me for my birthday that have helped alot. But the whole mixing the flours gets me confused! Does anyone know of any support groups out in Northern California? Bay Area?

Thank you

I'll be back later!!

[Pearia]

I want to thank everyone so much for the help!! Celiac disease is so overwelming. I love to cook & thank god my mother left me with the passion to cook which i love!!! Its just the flours in the cooking gluten free that confuse me!. I dont think i have any other intolerances other than gluten. my GI doctor didnt tell me i had any other intolerances. Im having some difficulty because i lost my mom 4 years ago and my dad has diabetes and he does the whole thing where "you'll get better in no time" or that kind of stuff. So he buys his stuff for his diabetes wich is sugar free and he hardly eats anyways!! and i just buy my stuff for celiac disease and then my boyfriend lives us and he eats normal so its so hard eating gluten free! Im such a snacker!! thats all i seem to do!! which is horrible! I have 2 gluten free cooking books that my sister got me for my birthday that have helped alot. But the whole mixing the flours gets me confused! Does anyone know of any support groups out in Northern California? Bay Area?

Thank you

I'll be back later!!

As far as mixing flour goes there is a substitute flour mix my wife gets from Mona's Gluten Free. There is also really good mixes for bread & other things. So far everything we have tried from there has been great. She has a great website & will ship anywhere. We are lucky enough to be close so we can go to the store. Good Luck!

Mark

Open Original Shared Link

[gfp]

I want to thank everyone so much for the help!! Celiac disease is so overwelming. I love to cook & thank god my mother left me with the passion to cook which i love!!! Its just the flours in the cooking gluten free that confuse me!. I dont think i have any other intolerances other than gluten. my GI doctor didnt tell me i had any other intolerances. Im having some difficulty because i lost my mom 4 years ago and my dad has diabetes and he does the whole thing where "you'll get better in no time" or that kind of stuff. So he buys his stuff for his diabetes wich is sugar free and he hardly eats anyways!! and i just buy my stuff for celiac disease and then my boyfriend lives us and he eats normal so its so hard eating gluten free! Im such a snacker!! thats all i seem to do!! which is horrible! I have 2 gluten free cooking books that my sister got me for my birthday that have helped alot. But the whole mixing the flours gets me confused! Does anyone know of any support groups out in Northern California? Bay Area?

Thank you

I'll be back later!!

I'm sure a support group will really help.....

Meanwhile ....

Honestly start off with minimal flour substitutes ... they work differently and can be really frustrating when your starting off .... baking is more a science than an art (IMHO) .. as a scientist I find all baking frustrating because its like work

making a roux is easy like other's have said but the best type of flour for different sauces is a bit trial and error.

Some like buckwheat are strong tasting and heavy and others like white rice are lighter and flavourless (so better for say a bechamel)

But the whole mixing the flours gets me confused!

Yeah don't worry its like learning to do something with the other hand.. it feels really weird but its 90% just practice and getting to know the different qualities of different flours.

Anyway... no harm in being a snacker ... its easier on the digestive system than all at once but if you take the time and pleasure in making nice snacks you are in a great situation...

For instance things like spring rolls in rice pancakes (vietnamese style) are great finger food.

You can make corn tortilla wraps ... etc. etc. etc.

Make up nice dips and have carrots, celery etc.

I also tend to make up extra's and freeze them for "ready meals" ...

Almost any Mexican food for instance should be gluten-free. Mainstream products are not because they use wheat additives and extenders but when you make your own use cornmeal. Almost all far eastern food with the exception of soy sauce is gluten-free so you buy gluten-free soy and make your own....

This tends to work far better than trying to make a wheat based dish without wheat....

[ravenwoodglass]

I love to cook & thank god my mother left me with the passion to cook which i love!!! Its just the flours in the cooking gluten free that confuse me!.

Thank you

I'll be back later!!

Welcome to the boards. The loving to cook as others have said will be a big help to you. The mixing flours thing got to me to. I felt more like a chemist than a baker and if I was in a gluten fog I always find some ingredient I had left out. Then I discovered Bette Hagmans Flour Mix, and there are others around also. That symplified things a lot. The gluten Free Pantry makes some great mixes also. I use their French Bread Mix for deep dish pizza. Chebe mix is good too. We also started to exeriment with a lot of different oriental dishes that are by nature gluten-free. The gluten free thing can be overwhelming at first but eventually it will be second nature.

[ÆON]

Oh, someone who likes to cook - what a wonderful thing! That's a step up in celiac world I think. I can't stand cooking myself, I used to do alot of eating out of microwaveable boxes.

I think the flour combining thing is a little complicated but I've had good luck with a couple of mixes from Bobs Redmill. The bread and the biscuit mix (I made scones with it) turned out way better than I thought they might.

The batter for the scones tasted hideous but it came out pretty good after baking.

[evie]

As far as mixing flour goes there is a substitute flour mix my wife gets from Mona's Gluten Free. There is also really good mixes for bread & other things. So far everything we have tried from there has been great. She has a great website & will ship anywhere. We are lucky enough to be close so we can go to the store. Good Luck!

Mark

Open Original Shared Link

In the early stages of gluten free I had such a HUNGRY feeling constantly so ate a lot but mainly protein, veggies and fruits. later I started baking a few items and beginning to get back lost weight. Kinnikinnick is a good brand, also have good luck/ bob's Red mill. Now I make my own mixes and use Betty Hagman's gluten - free gourmet book, many very good recipes!! Also I can see it would be hard for you to juggle 3 kinds of foods, diabetic, celiac and regular..WOW...you need to be wonder girl but I think you will get the hang of it with a bit of practice.

The first few weeks are the hardest but it is so important for you to be gluten free to avoid later problems..osteo, tooth, digestive, heart and so many more! Been there..done that!! prayers for you .evie

[br616]

chebe.com - a versatile manoic flour for pizza crusts, hors d'oeuvres; really great food company, especially the banana bread cake mix; cause you're special mixes; bob's red mill wonderful gluten-free bread mix, dakota lakes coating for chicken, chops, etc. the gluten-free kitchen cookbook, especially the blueberry muffins. tinkyada pasta especially the lasagna noodles, bi-aglut fette tostate

[Nooner]

Kristin,

You're going to be fine! Learning how to cook is harder than learning where the gluten is, so you're more than halfway there!

I'm still getting the baking thing down, too. Most attempts are at least edible, so it really helps if you change your mindset. It might not taste exactly like what you remember, but it can still taste good. My non-celiac hubby has enjoyed everything I've put in front of him.

In the meantime, Whole Foods has a gluten free bake shop. All the products are right next to the other bakery products, and the ones I've tried are pretty good! Buy a loaf of gluten free bread and keep it in the freezer (no preservatives, so it will spoil quickly) for those times that you just have to have bread. Thaw a slice or 2 in the microwave, toast if desired.

Hang in there!

[lpellegr]

Good for you that you can cook! This is a much harder diet to cope with if you're used to living on fast food and opening cartons. Look into the South Beach diet - the start of that is carb-free so it's almost naturally gluten-free (just make sure to watch out for tricky ingredients like hydrolyzed veg protein and modified food (unidentified) starch) and there should be a lot of recipes and meal suggestions there to get you started. If you want to bake bread from scratch, you can find mixes in some stores (but expensive), and might have to scrounge around in different health food stores at first to find the flours you need. Also try Asian grocery stores because they will have most of the rice, tapioca, and other flours really cheap and much finer in texture. Start with things like muffins and banana bread and get used to handling them before you try yeast breads or cookies. And if you're going to bake with xanthan gum, first there will be sticker shock at how much it costs, but it should last you a long time. Then you need to know that it seizes up like concrete once it gets wet, so mixing with a spoon will be tough. If you're going to bake a lot it's worth getting a Kitchenaid mixer or you'll never get the batters mixed well enough. And you will probably have a lot of weird failures until you get to know how the recipes work in your kitchen, but save the flops to make bread crumbs and try again. And remember that things like unprocessed produce and beans and meat and dairy are safe (with a few minor exceptions like bleu cheese) so you can find plenty to eat without having to go to any special stores. This forum is a great place for tips, so come back frequently - we'll help!