Kind Of New To This

[hillary13]

Hi Everyone!! I'm new to this forum....

I was diagnosed with Celiac disease in February 2011 and since then have been on a gluten free diet off and on. A few weeks after being diagnosed with Celiac disease, I was also diagnosed with gastroparesis. This is where the nerve in my stomach doesn't work properly so my body has trouble digesting foods.

I was on the gluten free diet after I was diagnosed for quite a while, but due to the cost of the foods, I had to go off of the diet. I am not working and just on food stamps and then lost my food stamps for a period of time.

Anyway, is there anyone else who has both of these diseases? I'm having trouble combining the two diets. I am often in pain when I eat the gluten free diet because it seems these foods are not easily digestible like what is needed for the gastroparesis diet.

I am also looking for suggestions on what is the best bread to get....

Thanks!!!

Hillary.

[JonnyD]

I was diagnosed at about the same time and have been gluten free since. I was also diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis. From what I understand, multiple auto-immune disorders are common. I recently started a food journal to try to figure things out with my diet. It's a bit of a pain but worth it. I found it best to keep a pretty simple diet in the meantime.

Good luck!

[Bubba's Mom]

Hi Everyone!! I'm new to this forum....

I was diagnosed with Celiac disease in February 2011 and since then have been on a gluten free diet off and on. A few weeks after being diagnosed with Celiac disease, I was also diagnosed with gastroparesis. This is where the nerve in my stomach doesn't work properly so my body has trouble digesting foods.

I was on the gluten free diet after I was diagnosed for quite a while, but due to the cost of the foods, I had to go off of the diet. I am not working and just on food stamps and then lost my food stamps for a period of time.

Anyway, is there anyone else who has both of these diseases? I'm having trouble combining the two diets. I am often in pain when I eat the gluten free diet because it seems these foods are not easily digestible like what is needed for the gastroparesis diet.

I am also looking for suggestions on what is the best bread to get....

Thanks!!!

Hillary.

If you were DXed with Celiac..you CANNOT eat gluten! I would think having your system inflamed by gluten wouldn't help your other problem?

Don't buy processed gluten free versions of junk food. They are full of hard to digest starches/carbs. Get fruits, veggies, and meats, eggs, and dairy if you tolerate it. A bag of potatoes and carrots are pretty cheap, and you can make stew(use a cheap cut of beef or chicken), fry potatoes, make mashed potatoes. Use the carrots in soups, or cooked as a side dish.

Get a pork roast on sale and cook it with veggies as a side, and use left overs to make pork fried rice.

Eggs are inexpensive. You can eat them hard boiled, or make omelettes incorporating left overs.

You can make meatloaf/meatballs by using crushed GLTUEN FREE Rice Krispies, or Rice Chex smashed up as your bread crumbs.

See if there's a nice produce market/farmer's market in your area. Most run specials on certain things and you can plan some of your meals around what they have too.

Get chicken when it's on sale and roast it, or make soups. A stewed chicken with a bag of frozen veggies and rice can make a nice soup and you can freeze it in single serving sized containers for use later.

I hate to see that you aren't sticking to a gluten-free diet. You will be causing yourself more harm and will open yourself to additional diseass. Please don't hurt yourself..get better!

Others may have recommendations for good breads. I have found I don't care for any ready made breads. King Arthur gluten-free flour (found in a lot of grocery stores in the regular flour aisle) has an easy recipe for bread that turns out ok.

[Metoo]

ditto the above poster. You are doing more harm then good by eating gluten. You are probably making your other condition worse, by ignoring the fact that celiac is an autoimmune disorder, so everytime you eat gluten your body is trying to attack itself.

Gluten Free food can be inexpensive. Buy rice in bulk (its like $6 for 10lbs at Sam's)...but potatoes (approx $4 for 5lbs!). Buy a whole fryer chicken (raw) for $4 at the grocery store, throw it in the crock pot all day while you are gone, and then when you get all the meat off, leave the bones in the crockpot and make chicken stock overnight in the crockpot. Freeze it and throw it into more meals.

I have 4 people to feed, and I am still managing to get my meal costs around $1.5-1 a person per meal, and I am making things that taste good, not just eating for substance.

Tonight we are having Creamy chicken and rice, made it in the crock pot all day (one can of evaporated milk ($1), frozen chicken tenderloins (I do buy these for convience, approx $1, the whole bag is $4.99), 1 can of gluten free cream of mushroom soup ($1.25 on sale), some butter, water) then add gluten free noodles I bought from big lots for $2...the whole crockpot worth comes out to $5.25 and I will feed 4 people plus have some leftover for lunches. If I want to stretch it out more I will add rice, which is like 20 cents a whole pot full.

[hillary13]

ditto the above poster. You are doing more harm then good by eating gluten. You are probably making your other condition worse, by ignoring the fact that celiac is an autoimmune disorder, so everytime you eat gluten your body is trying to attack itself.

Gluten Free food can be inexpensive. Buy rice in bulk (its like $6 for 10lbs at Sam's)...but potatoes (approx $4 for 5lbs!). Buy a whole fryer chicken (raw) for $4 at the grocery store, throw it in the crock pot all day while you are gone, and then when you get all the meat off, leave the bones in the crockpot and make chicken stock overnight in the crockpot. Freeze it and throw it into more meals.

I have 4 people to feed, and I am still managing to get my meal costs around $1.5-1 a person per meal, and I am making things that taste good, not just eating for substance.

Tonight we are having Creamy chicken and rice, made it in the crock pot all day (one can of evaporated milk ($1), frozen chicken tenderloins (I do buy these for convience, approx $1, the whole bag is $4.99), 1 can of gluten free cream of mushroom soup ($1.25 on sale), some butter, water) then add gluten free noodles I bought from big lots for $2...the whole crockpot worth comes out to $5.25 and I will feed 4 people plus have some leftover for lunches. If I want to stretch it out more I will add rice, which is like 20 cents a whole pot full.

Here's part of my problem...I HATE rice. It's not one of those I can learn to like it, either. I gag on it every time I eat it. And, we can't find gluten free cream soups anywhere....The gluten free foods in this area are very limited and cost a ton of money.

I have gone back on the gluten free diet but it has not been easy. I'm not much of a cook or a baker which makes it hard because I don't have a clue about substituting things, etc.....

[cyberprof]

Here's part of my problem...I HATE rice. It's not one of those I can learn to like it, either. I gag on it every time I eat it. And, we can't find gluten free cream soups anywhere....The gluten free foods in this area are very limited and cost a ton of money.

I have gone back on the gluten free diet but it has not been easy. I'm not much of a cook or a baker which makes it hard because I don't have a clue about substituting things, etc.....

Have you tried quinoa? It's a great side dish. Cooks easier than rice and is more like a noodle taste.

How about potatoes? Cooking baked potatoes in the microwave couldn't be easier. Top with a can of hormel chili or some Classico spagetti sauce and meatballs.

You can also get pre-cooked mashed potatoes in the deli case.

There are corn-based pastas as well as quinoa-based pastas.

Cooking can be hard but start with easy things.

Top corn tortillas with salsa and cheese and broil or toast in toaster oven.

There's also buckwheat (which has no gluten) or cornmeal/polenta.

You may need to order noodles or quinoa but check the grocery store first. You can order online via the gluten-free Mall on this site or via other big online sites like amazon.

Good luck! You can do this!

[hillary13]

I have not tried quinoa yet. It makes me nervous since it is so expensive and if I don't like it then I'm stuck with it. I have been doing baked potatoes and the corn pasta. I don't like the rice pasta....I had trouble cooking it. It stuck together and when I drained the water off of it, the water was like a glue. It really grossed me out. I can't order things online or go to small specialty stores....I am not working and have food stamps so I have to be able to purchase items with these....

[Skylark]

Hmmm... easy to digest? I've found rice pasta $2/bag at a couple of our local health food stores. Safeway makes rice noodle bowls that are gluten-free and often on sale for $1. Potatoes and sweet potatoes of course, and you might still find winter squash cheap. As Metoo mentioned, whole chickens can be very affordable on sale. You can also get a cheap cut of beef and cook it until it's falling-apart tender. It just takes a little acid like red wine; olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice marinade; or a can of tomatoes to tenderize the meat. I just put my pot roast recipe in this thread and there are some others as well. Use a Dutch oven if you don't have a crockpot.

A few of the Progresso soups are labeled gluten-free. You should be able to find them without any trouble.

If you can have them, split peas, dried beans and lentils are super-cheap. You can make a great big pot of vegetarian split pea soup for only a few dollars. I make it kind of like this but less potato and flavored with basil with rather than thyme. I imagine the thyme would be good too.

Open Original Shared Link

As far as bread, I'm grain-free now but my favorite was Rudi's. Udi's is good too. Both have a lot of vegetable gums so I hope you can digest them OK. I also like the Bob's Red Mill gluten-free bread mixes.

[Adalaide]

I can sympathize with being ridiculously poor and feeling like I'm stuck in this limbo. I'm used to buying cheap processed foods for the convenience and the added benefit of having a ton of spare time (too sick to work) and being able to go nuts with coupons. Basically having to give all that up I find my grocery bill significantly increased, or at least I did at first. Then I realized there are so many options still.

About 2 nights ago I threw together an enchilada casserole. I just break corn tortillas into 6 or 8 pieces, coat in a sauce and line the bottom and sides of a pan. Then mix seasoned beef (either with salsa or taco seasoning) and refried beans. Layer the beef/bean mix with cheese and more tortilla pieces like a lasagna. By adding extra beans you can stretch the meat a lot farther and probably get two casseroles that would feed a family of four for a really reasonable price. (Of course with all those beans you may not want to see each other for the rest of the night! )

I also am in the habit of hitting a local grocery really early in the mornings. They mark down meats that are nearing the expiration date to about 1/4 or 1/3 of the regular cost. I picked up an entire leg of lamb for $20 last month, veal for $2, I find lots of smoked pork and fresh beef also. Lots of this can be stretched pretty far by making soups. Is it convenient? Not by any stretch of the imagination. But considering that my choices are this or spend the rest of my life so sick that there are days I literally can't get out of bed, I'm learning to cook.

As for coupons, I still use them I'm just not fanatical anymore since most are for processed foods. I would still recommend picking up the Sunday paper though. You can usually match up coupons with sales for things like frozen and canned veggies and fruits as well as many household products. The less you spend on other stuff, the more you'll free up for groceries or maybe some fun stuff. (You can check online to see what coupons are in the paper that week so you know if you should spend your money on it. I don't remember where though since I just get it delivered.)

[Korwyn]

Look at Quinoa to replace rice. It is much better than rice (I think) and cooks up the same way. I don't know if you have a Costco in your area, but you can find good sized bags of it there, or online. Get the prewashed Quinoa though, otherwise you have to rinse it because it has a natural insect repellent that is quite bitter. Quinoa is also much higher in protein than rice and has a lower glycemic index.

*sigh* I started this a least an hour ago, then got called away from my desk. I just got back, finished and posted only to see some others posted the same thing.

[eatmeat4good]

You would be perfect for Paleo...then you just have to fry meat and steam vegetables. Spend your food stamps on meat and vegetable only and leave the carbs alone. You won't regret it. Even though you will have cravings, your dollar will be spent on actual nutrition...not empty carbs. Mark's Daily Apple if you are interested. I had to be on food stamps too and I found my food bill went waaaayyyyy down eating Paleo. Meat is high but it is well worth it to your body. Gluten free food is high and it doesn't do a thing for you.

[hillary13]

You would be perfect for Paleo...then you just have to fry meat and steam vegetables. Spend your food stamps on meat and vegetable only and leave the carbs alone. You won't regret it. Even though you will have cravings, your dollar will be spent on actual nutrition...not empty carbs. Mark's Daily Apple if you are interested. I had to be on food stamps too and I found my food bill went waaaayyyyy down eating Paleo. Meat is high but it is well worth it to your body. Gluten free food is high and it doesn't do a thing for you.

i can't eat a lot of meat. most meats are very hard to digest. i can have a little bit of red meat...mainly ground beef....and chicken/turkey. No steak, pork, etc. I am in extreme pain when I eat some meats...

And, veggies have to be cooked until they are really soft. Otherwise I have trouble digesting those as well....

[cyberprof]

i can't eat a lot of meat. most meats are very hard to digest. i can have a little bit of red meat...mainly ground beef....and chicken/turkey. No steak, pork, etc. I am in extreme pain when I eat some meats...

And, veggies have to be cooked until they are really soft. Otherwise I have trouble digesting those as well....

Can you eat zuchini and other squashes? I have some good recepies for squash puree which would be a good alternative to mashed potatoes and cheap too.

I have some other ideas. I'll send you a PM (Personal Message).

[hillary13]

Can you eat zuchini and other squashes? I have some good recepies for squash puree which would be a good alternative to mashed potatoes and cheap too.

I have some other ideas. I'll send you a PM (Personal Message).

i actually haven't eaten zucchini or other squashes in a long time. I didn't like them at all as a kid...but I'm going to have try some stuff again and see what I think of them.

And, I'm still really interested in finding a good bread. Either one that I have to bake or something already made.

Thanks!!!

[cyberprof]

BTW, on the gluten-free pasta, cook it until it's almost (but not all the way) soft. Drain it and pour some hot water over it to separate it. Then coat it in your sauce immediately so that it doesn't stick.

[cyberprof]

i actually haven't eaten zucchini or other squashes in a long time. I didn't like them at all as a kid...but I'm going to have try some stuff again and see what I think of them.

And, I'm still really interested in finding a good bread. Either one that I have to bake or something already made.

Thanks!!!

I like Rudi's gluten-free bread, which is sometimes kept in the freezer section to keep it fresher. Be careful, because they also make gluten bread. THere's also Udi's (yeah, Rudi's and Udi's...confusing) which some people like better.

Making bread may be cheaper if you can find a mix you like. Pamela's has a good mix and so does gluten-free Pantry.

[hillary13]

thank you, cyberprof, for all of the help. can quinoa be used instead of bread crumbs in meatballs and stuff like that??

[kareng]

thank you, cyberprof, for all of the help. can quinoa be used instead of bread crumbs in meatballs and stuff like that??

My mom has always made meatballs with cooked rice. Maybe quinoa would work.

[hillary13]

My mom has always made meatballs with cooked rice. Maybe quinoa would work.

thanks. maybe i'd be able to handle rice in meatballs....can you tell it is in there? I have a texture issue with rice.

[Adalaide]

For bread, after much online research I picked up a loaf of Udi's on my first trip shopping gluten free. It sat in my freezer for a week or two before I got brave enough to try it but once I did I realized I love it. My husband (quite possibly the world's most picky eater) even liked it, said it tasted like bread. Sure, it's like a nice dense wonderful multigrain bread but I wouldn't have guessed it's gluten free if I didn't already know. It's not only available at both local health food stores but at least one of the regular grocery stores. (Doesn't matter where you get it though, try not to have a heart attack when you look at the price.)

[Metoo]

Here's part of my problem...I HATE rice. It's not one of those I can learn to like it, either. I gag on it every time I eat it. And, we can't find gluten free cream soups anywhere....The gluten free foods in this area are very limited and cost a ton of money.

I have gone back on the gluten free diet but it has not been easy. I'm not much of a cook or a baker which makes it hard because I don't have a clue about substituting things, etc.....

Progresso makes them, they are clearly labeled and at nearly every Target, Walmart and grocery store. The ones that I have found are gluten free are Cream of Mushroom, Corn Chowder, Clam Chowder, Split Pea...etc.

[Korwyn]

i can't eat a lot of meat. most meats are very hard to digest. i can have a little bit of red meat...mainly ground beef....and chicken/turkey. No steak, pork, etc. I am in extreme pain when I eat some meats...

And, veggies have to be cooked until they are really soft. Otherwise I have trouble digesting those as well....

Have you tried digestive enzymes with HCl ? My wife has a similar issue until she started taking these. And since I started taking them I haven't had to use any kind of anti-acid or anything for more than a year. Here is the one we found works best for us: Open Original Shared Link. We found them at a local health food store, but they are quite a bit cheaper online.

[sfamor]

Out of curiosity, where are you located? Maybe someone on here from that area can give you some tips. Even though it might not seem like anything good (and affordable) is available in your area, someone who's been doing this longer might have some suggestions. For example here in California you can use food stamps at farmers markets. Also, a treat out here that I LOVE to splurge on (actually not much of a splurge, it's very very cheap) is going to In-and-Out for a burger and fries. I just order the burger "protein style" and it comes without a bun. Plus their fries are fine to eat because they don't fry anything else up in the fryers that might have wheat.

The quinoa pasta is really good and tastes the most like regular pasta. It doesn't get mushy like corn or rice pasta does.

You could try making smoothies for yourself in the blender with frozen fruit and plain yogurt as a cheap, easy treat or even breakfast.

It will be a challenge to get used to the idea of changing your diet so radically, but it will be even more of a challenge to keep dealing with the health problems that are caused by NOT going gluten free! Many of us have been on food stamps at one time or another and it IS possible to eat gluten free! Go to your public library and see if you can get a simple gluten free cookbook. Start small- don't try the most complicated recipe first. You have the right attitude about this and I know that you'll be fine!

[hillary13]

I'm in Michigan....anyone else in Michigan???

And, I have gotten some cookbooks from the library...and am starting to play around with things.

I am not much of a cook or a baker so it's been kind of interesting....

[Sparky10]

i actually haven't eaten zucchini or other squashes in a long time. I didn't like them at all as a kid...but I'm going to have try some stuff again and see what I think of them.

And, I'm still really interested in finding a good bread. Either one that I have to bake or something already made.

Thanks!!!

Trader joes has a delicious gluten free bread made from brown rice...if you use the toaster,be sure not to use the old one that has breadcrumbs in it!