Tip 3: Know your GF substitutes!

So, you find out you have to go GF and you think I’ll never eat pasta, pizza, bread, cakes, cookies, or pastries again!
Thanks to the huge rise in the availability of GF products you can eat all of these things, just with substitute products.

What is a GF substitute/ product?
GF substitutes and products are processed in factories apart from where they can be contaminated by gluten.
GF substitutes replace the wheat, rye, and barley flour in a product with alternate flours. The alternate flours generally include rice, bean, tapioca, corn, and potato flours. The trick is that generally these flours must be used in combination to achieve the proper texture.

• You can buy the flours individually and blend your own as specified in a GF cookbook to use in recipes
• Buy a GF All Purpose Flour to use as a replacement for wheat flour in a recipe
• Or buy a pre-package GF mix for whatever you want to make

I use all 3 of these methods, but the easiest is to just buy a GF mix for brownies, corn muffins, bread, cookies, oatmeal, etc. My favorite brand of GF mixes and flours is Bob’s Red Mill, but there are a lot of brands making GF products now.

GF pasta is generally made from brown rice and is available at grocery stores that have a health food/ GF aisle. Don’t over cook it and cook with the lid off.

GF cereals, oats, and pancake/ waffle mixes are great options for breakfast.

Hope these GF options help add more great food to your diet!

Tip 2: Add new foods into your diet.

I’m a firm believer that whenever you cut foods out of your diet you have to add new foods into your diet.
Constantly thinking about all the foods you can’t eat can be seriously depressing on any sort of restricted diet.
So, instead of thinking about what you can’t eat, think about the foods that you can eat.
If the staples of your diet were pizza, spaghetti, sandwiches, muffins, bagels, and chicken fingers and you have to go GF, you’re going to have to introduce yourself to new foods.

First, I suggest trying dishes from other countries.
Maybe you’re the all American meat and potatoes eater, but there is a whole world full of food out there. I’ve always enjoyed ethnic cuisine, but when I found out about all my food restrictions I started paying more attention to what was in various ethnic dishes.
I’ve found that with my restricted diet authentic Thai food, Mexican food, Nicaraguan Food, Indian food, and Japanese food has a lot to offer me. Thai food uses a lot of coconut milk rather than cow’s milk and uses a lot of meat, veggies and rice. Mexican food uses a lot of corn rather than wheat…and on and on. I can’t eat every dish from these countries, but more than many others have to offer.
So, if you’re GF and tired of eating salads why not look up recipes and make dishes from one of these countries, or find an authentic ethnic restaurant in your area. You never know what you could love!

Second, I suggest trying unusually fruits or veggies that seem foreign to you.
I like shopping at groceries that have a huge selections of fresh produce. Every couple weeks I generally like to buy a fruit or veggie that I’ve never had before. Most of the time ‘ll look up how to cook it, peal it, eat it online. If I dislike it, I’m generally out less than $1. But, if I like it then I’ve found a whole new food to add to my diet.

Third, I suggest trying fruits and veggies you disliked as a kid.
Find recipes to make with these foods that enhance the flavor of the food. If you hated green beans as a kid, but your mom only made green beans from a can or cooked fresh ones until they were mush, try them again.
Try fresh green beans sauteed with salt, pepper, garlic, and lemon juice.

Do you notice that your face or stomach area is swollen or looks puffy?
Do you have eczema or skin rashes that never seem to go away?
If you said yes to one of these questions and nothing has seemed to help then you may benefit from a Gluten Free diet!

If you’ve decided to go GF you may be confused as to what foods have gluten in them. So, here’s an extensive break down list.
Please DO NOT let this list scare you! I’ll be following this post in the days and weeks to come with foods, products, and recipes to add into your diet because there are so many things out there you’ll just have to become aware of.

I suggest printing the list and putting it on a note card and carrying it with you at all times in your wallet or purse.

Obvious Sources of Gluten:
Bagels Barley
Biscuits Bran
Bread Cake
Cookies Crackers
Croutons Cupcakes
Doughnuts Flour
Graham Crackers Gluten
Muffins Noodles
Pancakes Pasta
Pastries Pie
Pretzels Rye
Tortillas Waffles
Wheat flour, germ, starch

Less Obvious Sources of Gluten:
Unless otherwise noted on the packaging these do or may contain gluten
Alcohol Graham Flour
Couscous Durum
Kamut Malt syrup, extract
Malt Vinegar Matzo Meal
Muesli Oats, Oatmeal, Oat Bran
Semolina Spelt
Triticale BBQ Sauce
Groats Beer
Ice Cream Ketchup
Lunch Meats Brewer’s Yeast
Mustard Caramel Coloring
Cereal Binding Pharmaceuticals
Cheese Chewing Gum
Rice Milks or Syrups Sauces
Chocolate Sausages
Couscous Sherbet
Shortening Einkorn
Soup Farina
Soy Milk or sauce Vitamins
French Fries Whole Meal Flour
Gliadin Yogurt (also frozen)
Soy Milk or Sauce Farro

Common Additives that May be Hidden Gluten Sources:
Bouillon Maltose
Caramel Coloring Modified Food Starch
Coloring Mono and diglycerides
Dextrin MSG
Emulsifiers Natural Flavorings
Fillers Seasoning Blends
Flavor Extracts Soy Sauce or shoyu
Hydrolyzed plant Stabilizers
or vegetable protein Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
Maltodextrin