Going gluten free? The good news is that there is a growing awareness about gluten free products and gluten free living. Many many brands are coming out with gluten free products and some have had gluten free items for a long time. There are even some restaurants that are including gluten free menus.
So...
let's start with pasta. Have you tried brown rice pasta? Trader Joe's has a good variety of brown rice pasta. However the very best brand I have had is Tinkyada. You should be able to find this in health food stores or Whole Foods. I do enjoy something called "buckwheat pasta" which is not wheat at all but actually made from berry! It is delicious and is mostly found in Japanese cuisine. Not all buckwheat pastas are created equal, however. Look for 100% buckwheat pasta at a Japanese market or again, Whole Foods. It is best with stir fries or other Asian-inspired dishes.
quinoa Have you tried Quinoa? This is a small grain that resembles couscous, but is 100% gluten free. It cooks like rice, and is incredibly good for you. It is one of the only grains that is a complete protein -supplying all 9 amino acids. CookingLight.com or foodnetwork.com has some great recipes using Quinoa. Find it at TJs or in bulk at a health food store. Our local Costco sells it!
as for bread, I have only tried three brands, the first two being terrible and the last is God send. The first one I tried was the EnerG Brand Brown Rice Bread from Whole Foods. Disgusting! It tasted like Styrofoam. I took it back it was that bad. To be fair, the second brand I tried wasn't terrible, but very very dense. This is the Food For Life Brown Rice Bread sold at Trader Joe's. It is OK toasted and spread with some butter and honey, but it is not a good sandwich bread. Recently I was introduced to brand called Udi's. This bread makes great fried egg sandwiches (my favourite) and sweeter things like P&J's. Try this for sure. They make a whole grain and white sandwich bread. The slices are very small, but that is fine by me. It is soft and toasts very nicely. I highly recommend it.
Rudi's is another brand (similarly named but different company!) that is delicious. I would describe their bread as more "whole grain"
tortillas As mentioned I love corn tortillas, so lately I have been happy with purchasing a Costco size, freezing them in small ziplock bags (they freeze perfectly), and then taking them out as I need to However, Trader Joe's has some great alternatives. Blue corn tortillas are a nice change. They are slightly thicker, bigger, and well, just fun. They also carry a brown rice tortilla which comes in a pack of 6. I would recommend buying the freshest bag you see, keeping it the fridge, and consuming in a week. I have also found that a few sprinkles of water on the tortilla before you warm it up helps "rehydrate" it. These brown rice tortillas are not good room temp. or cold, so definitely take the time to heat them.
packaged food I enjoying cooking a lot, so I don't tend to buy many packaged things, but Whole Foods is definitely the best source for Gluten Free packaged food. TJ's is getting better -adding new things all the time. They have a list on their website of all their gluten free products.
cereal TJ's gluten free granola is delicious though very caloric. For a less caloric and simpler granola try the Udi's brand. Nature's Path makes the best GF cereals. They have been making GF foods for a long time. Try Mesa Sunrise if you like a hearty breakfast cereal. It is rich blend of whole grains minus the wheat. The Honeyed Cornflakes by Nature's Path are good too.
cookies Enjoy Life Snickerdoodles and they are very tasty. Enjoy Life also makes a good cinnamon raisin granola. Pamela's makes the best chocolate chip cookie. LOVE THEM! Their chocolate chip walnut has too little chocolate chips in it for me. The Pamela's Lemon cookie is good if you like that sort of taste, but I am a chocolate gal! A brand called Liz Lovely makes individually packaged large cookies though I have not tried them yet.
energy bars GF "energy bars" try Lara Bars. TJ's has a few flavors, and WHFoods has dozens. The Key Lime Pie bar is like having dessert!
pizza more and more restaurants are offering gluten free pizza and gluten free beer! To make at home I like the Shar brand which is from Switzerland! I have found this brand at Sprouts and Whole Foods. (I had terrible luck the Whole Foods 365 brand of pizza dough mix! Maybe I'll give them another try one day...)
soy sauce Brag all about it...I LOVE Bragg's for a soy sauce substitute. San-J's makes a tamari sauce that is also delicious and perfect for a replacement in authentic Japanese recipe.
baking I love to bake. I have experimented with different flours (millet, buckwheat, sorghum, brown rice, etc) and the easiest thing I can suggest to you is Pamela's Gluten Free Baking Mix. IT IS DELICIOUS and everything I have ever made from it has people insisting on the recipe. That one mix makes great cookies, biscotti, pancakes, waffles, muffins, and scones. She is truly my savior. I don't really miss traditional bread, pasta and soy sauce, but I would be so sad to never have a chocolate cookie or scone again! If you chose to try other mixes DO NOT BUY anything that has bean flour in it. Many gluten free flour blends have garbanzo or fava bean flour in them and they are disgusting! Also, white rice flour based mixes tend to have a gritty taste.
candy be careful with candy as most chewy candy (i.e. licorice) contains wheat flour as its first ingredient.
I will add more as I go and possibly change the format of this site, but for now...I hope that helps!!!
one more weird tip....If you eliminate gluten/wheat and your symptoms persist or start up again after a while you might also check your lotions, soaps, etc. I know it sounds weird, but remember that your skin is the biggest organ in your body and it can absorb anything. I developed a big rash and skin discoloring from Aveeno lotion (oatmeal based) and when I stopped using it my symptoms went away immediately!
So...
let's start with pasta. Have you tried brown rice pasta? Trader Joe's has a good variety of brown rice pasta. However the very best brand I have had is Tinkyada. You should be able to find this in health food stores or Whole Foods. I do enjoy something called "buckwheat pasta" which is not wheat at all but actually made from berry! It is delicious and is mostly found in Japanese cuisine. Not all buckwheat pastas are created equal, however. Look for 100% buckwheat pasta at a Japanese market or again, Whole Foods. It is best with stir fries or other Asian-inspired dishes.
quinoa Have you tried Quinoa? This is a small grain that resembles couscous, but is 100% gluten free. It cooks like rice, and is incredibly good for you. It is one of the only grains that is a complete protein -supplying all 9 amino acids. CookingLight.com or foodnetwork.com has some great recipes using Quinoa. Find it at TJs or in bulk at a health food store. Our local Costco sells it!
as for bread, I have only tried three brands, the first two being terrible and the last is God send. The first one I tried was the EnerG Brand Brown Rice Bread from Whole Foods. Disgusting! It tasted like Styrofoam. I took it back it was that bad. To be fair, the second brand I tried wasn't terrible, but very very dense. This is the Food For Life Brown Rice Bread sold at Trader Joe's. It is OK toasted and spread with some butter and honey, but it is not a good sandwich bread. Recently I was introduced to brand called Udi's. This bread makes great fried egg sandwiches (my favourite) and sweeter things like P&J's. Try this for sure. They make a whole grain and white sandwich bread. The slices are very small, but that is fine by me. It is soft and toasts very nicely. I highly recommend it.
Rudi's is another brand (similarly named but different company!) that is delicious. I would describe their bread as more "whole grain"
tortillas As mentioned I love corn tortillas, so lately I have been happy with purchasing a Costco size, freezing them in small ziplock bags (they freeze perfectly), and then taking them out as I need to However, Trader Joe's has some great alternatives. Blue corn tortillas are a nice change. They are slightly thicker, bigger, and well, just fun. They also carry a brown rice tortilla which comes in a pack of 6. I would recommend buying the freshest bag you see, keeping it the fridge, and consuming in a week. I have also found that a few sprinkles of water on the tortilla before you warm it up helps "rehydrate" it. These brown rice tortillas are not good room temp. or cold, so definitely take the time to heat them.
packaged food I enjoying cooking a lot, so I don't tend to buy many packaged things, but Whole Foods is definitely the best source for Gluten Free packaged food. TJ's is getting better -adding new things all the time. They have a list on their website of all their gluten free products.
cereal TJ's gluten free granola is delicious though very caloric. For a less caloric and simpler granola try the Udi's brand. Nature's Path makes the best GF cereals. They have been making GF foods for a long time. Try Mesa Sunrise if you like a hearty breakfast cereal. It is rich blend of whole grains minus the wheat. The Honeyed Cornflakes by Nature's Path are good too.
cookies Enjoy Life Snickerdoodles and they are very tasty. Enjoy Life also makes a good cinnamon raisin granola. Pamela's makes the best chocolate chip cookie. LOVE THEM! Their chocolate chip walnut has too little chocolate chips in it for me. The Pamela's Lemon cookie is good if you like that sort of taste, but I am a chocolate gal! A brand called Liz Lovely makes individually packaged large cookies though I have not tried them yet.
energy bars GF "energy bars" try Lara Bars. TJ's has a few flavors, and WHFoods has dozens. The Key Lime Pie bar is like having dessert!
pizza more and more restaurants are offering gluten free pizza and gluten free beer! To make at home I like the Shar brand which is from Switzerland! I have found this brand at Sprouts and Whole Foods. (I had terrible luck the Whole Foods 365 brand of pizza dough mix! Maybe I'll give them another try one day...)
soy sauce Brag all about it...I LOVE Bragg's for a soy sauce substitute. San-J's makes a tamari sauce that is also delicious and perfect for a replacement in authentic Japanese recipe.
baking I love to bake. I have experimented with different flours (millet, buckwheat, sorghum, brown rice, etc) and the easiest thing I can suggest to you is Pamela's Gluten Free Baking Mix. IT IS DELICIOUS and everything I have ever made from it has people insisting on the recipe. That one mix makes great cookies, biscotti, pancakes, waffles, muffins, and scones. She is truly my savior. I don't really miss traditional bread, pasta and soy sauce, but I would be so sad to never have a chocolate cookie or scone again! If you chose to try other mixes DO NOT BUY anything that has bean flour in it. Many gluten free flour blends have garbanzo or fava bean flour in them and they are disgusting! Also, white rice flour based mixes tend to have a gritty taste.
candy be careful with candy as most chewy candy (i.e. licorice) contains wheat flour as its first ingredient.
I will add more as I go and possibly change the format of this site, but for now...I hope that helps!!!
one more weird tip....If you eliminate gluten/wheat and your symptoms persist or start up again after a while you might also check your lotions, soaps, etc. I know it sounds weird, but remember that your skin is the biggest organ in your body and it can absorb anything. I developed a big rash and skin discoloring from Aveeno lotion (oatmeal based) and when I stopped using it my symptoms went away immediately!