Celiac for beginners-ISO of recipes, advice and any useful

amother

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 2:14 am

Recent celiac diagnosis which is going to turn my life upside down. I love my cakes, cookies, bread, challah, all things gluten.
What tips, recipes do you have to help me adjust?
During the week I guess it's easier than shabbos. How do I manage for challah? And my shnitzel?
Any thing anyone can offer to support will be gratefully appreciated. I know life will continue on, and I will survive, but it all sounds rather daunting.
And how do I deal with everyone else? If we're invited out, or have a family simcha, what do I do?
TIA

amother

Lawngreen

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 2:55 am

amother OP wrote:

My daughter was diagnosed about a year ago. The transition was easier than expected, though it was a transition.

Let's start with during the week, there are gluten free cereals that you can have for breakfast, also oatmeal if you are allowed to eat GF oats.

Lunch - There are gluten free breads and pastas.

You can also start eating more protein based breakfasts and lunches. Think eggs, cottage cheese, yogurts.

Supper - we make the same as usual, just avoid pasta side dishes. Instead, we have potatoes, rice, quinoa side dishes. Chicken, meatballs and variations are all GF. Instead of breadcrumbs we use GF cornflakes crumbs.

Shabbos
Challah - use GF molino flour in the blue package which is wheat based and makes delicious challos. It's expensive, so keep making or buying regular challos for everyone else
Fish - buy GF gefilte, or use salmon
Soup naturally GF. Substitute any barley with short grain or round brown rice
Chicken - naturally GF
Potato kugel - can make without any matza meal or the like
Cookies and cakes - there are excellent mixes or flour substitutes. Or if you want healthier, use almond flour, can also mix with buckwheat flour, makes delicious cookies. Will post some recipes later.

Cholent - again use short grain brown rice
Schnitzel- GF cornflakes crumbs

I would also recommend going through your pantry and fridge and removing all condiments with gluten ingredients that you can replace with the same thing GF.

amother

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 3:03 am

amother Lawngreen wrote:

Thank you. How do the gluten free breads, pastas all taste? Is it worth buying them, they're quite expensive, if they don't taste great, I don't really want to eat them.
And is the GF Molino flour hamotzi?
I don't know yet whether I can have oats. I'm not sure whether to be cautious and avoid, or to keep eating oats as it increases what foods I can have.
I'm waiting for the follow up appointment with doctor and nutritionist. I've basically just been told go on a gluten free diet.

amother

Lawngreen

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 3:07 am

amother OP wrote:

Blue molino flour is hamotzi.

In terms of breads and pastas some are better than others. So you might want to try a few different brands and see what you like. I hear people recommending Barilla pasta. My daughter is fine with any.

My daughter's gastro told her that until her numbers go all the way down she can't have either traces of gluten or oats. Once they go down completely we can choose one or the other. My niece who also has celiac was allowed to have oats immediately though (different gastro, and she is in USA, we are in Israel).

charm

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 3:12 am

Although I am not celiac myself I have a lot of close family members that are. Be patient with yourself its a learning curve. for instant your spices have to be kosher lepesach otherwise they may have flour added. many if not all of the the knorr sauces are gluten free. There is a flour I think its cheaper in Israel that you can buy GF for challoh baking but be prepared for it to take you time to adjust to the texture and flavour. My family members eat a very healthy diet cos all fruit veg meat chicken etc is GF. You will find gluten free products all over but the biggest problem is basically travelling because gluten free does not easily allow for convenience foods like kuchen and sandwhiches. I once brought back from Israel marvellous GF pitta breads but they have to be kept in the freezer. I dont know where you live but in the uk there are lots of products in the supermarket under the London Beis Din, usa makes great pizzas and Israel lots of GF crackers. One of my family members goes straight after pesach to buy and freeze the fancy cakes cookies etc that are Kosher for Pesach GF and usually half the price if not less including soup croutons etc ... I know it sounds overwhelming but you will get there. Also remember its not like a peanut allergy where if you eat a peanut G-d forbid you could need to be rushed to hospital if you eat flour by mistake you will just get tummy ache etc but its not life threatening Hatzlochoh xxx

amother

Junglegreen

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 6:58 am

charm wrote:

It's not life threatening in the moment you eat it but down the line it can cause malabsorption of nutrients and chas vshalom cancer.
Just want to make sure whoever is reading your post knows that it's not just a stomach ache.

amother

Junglegreen

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 7:07 am

We like Ronzoni pasta the most(only the macaroni shape)
Canyon bakehouse breads -Heritage Style we like the best
Tates and Oreos make gluten free cookies that taste regular (of course there's soo many others) I find the Heimish brands not as good for cookies
For bread crumbs use Landau- I make shnitzel with it and really can't tell the difference
Yum Yum gluten free crackers are good
Snyder's gluten free pretzels
King Arthur measure for measure flour when baking non yeast recipes
coconut aminos or la choy gluten free soy sauce
Chobani flip almond coco loco and chocolate haze craze are GF
Trader joes, Walmart have lots of GF options

amother

Phlox

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 7:29 am

amother OP wrote:

Taste is very individual. It’s worth spending the money to try different brands to hopefully find one you like so you can have options. We threw out a lot in the beginning or we tried to taste things from friends so we didn’t have to buy full packages. The lifestyle in general is expensive because we either end up buying more proteins or more specialty items.
We made a decision to use GF oats and to use may contain/manufactured in a facility and of course Molino from the beginning. I just couldn’t fathom making things even harder than they already are. I figured if blood work or symptoms didn’t get better than I would cut more but thankfully this has worked well for us.

amother

Phlox

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 7:43 am

amother Junglegreen wrote:

That’s if you regularly eat gluten, a person who maintains a gluten free diet should not be living in fear that an accidental ingestion will cause long term or life threatening issues. Of course it shouldn’t be be intentional but there is a comfort in knowing that I won’t have to rush to the hospital if soemone feeds me something with the wrong soy sauce.

Chana Miriam S

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 8:42 am

amother OP wrote:

I have not got celiac but have been grainless for almost seven years. You don’t have to be as strict as me, so I’ll leave most of the advice to celiacs.

I just wanted to tell you that it’s incredibly motivating when you feel better. To me, nothing tastes as good as things that don’t agree with me make me feel.

I will say that the simpler your food is, the easier it is to be gluten free. Learn what things are inherently gluten free and eat them rather than processed stuff.

One great recipe for crackers is flax crackers which are pretty easy, require at their most basic flax seeds and water and which are addictive so be careful you don’t overeat them, because they’re very high in fibre.

I don’t use a recipe but they’re all over the internet.

Refuah shlemah.

amother

Currant

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 10:25 am

My daughter was recently diagnosed with celiac, and we went through the same adjustment period. It’s actually been easier than expected. I made some slight adjustments to my cooking habits, but otherwise we barely feel the difference.

Breads have been the most challenging, as my daughter- a picky eater long before her celiac diagnosis- doesn’t love the texture. But eventually we found things that worked. The best option for us has been Trader Joe’s bagels, especially the Everything Bagels. It’s trial and error, and you’ll have to see what you like from all the options out there. Udi’s makes breads and baguettes that many people like. No Way It’s Gluten Free makes rolls that are very popular too.

For challah, we use Molino flour. My daughter doesn’t love the texture and prefers the outer crust, so I’ve started making twists instead of small challahs to maximize the crust surface area. She likes that.

We love the Ronzoni pasta, and happily swapped out elbows macaroni/penne/spaghetti for the whole family. We can’t tell the difference. It’s that good. But the very best pasta we’ve tried is the Trader Joe’s egg fettuccine, sold in the fridge section. I freeze them and defrost as needed. I use them in dishes where egg noodles are better, like cabbage and noodles, Japanese-style noodles, etc.

The Udi’s frozen pizza crusts are fantastic - I like them better than the non GF versions.

Instead of bread crumbs, just use GF corn flake crumbs. Gefen’s are gluten free. Use these for schnitzel, as a filler for meatballs, or anywhere else you’d normally use bread crumbs. Barely a sacrifice.

The Gratify pretzels are delicious. They taste better than the real thing, in my opinion. Trader Joe’s sells an amazing chocolate chip cookie dough in the fridge section. The smell, taste, and texture are incredible.

For pantry staples, many ingredients are naturally gluten free, and even those that aren’t, some companies make GF versions. Double check the barbecue sauces/duck sauces to make sure. La Choy’s soy and teriyaki sauces are gluten free, as are some of the Mikee’s and Bone-suckin sauces.

You’ll get there. It’s overwhelming in the beginning, and you may spend a lot of money on trial and error, but it’ll become second nature very soon. Hatzlacha to you!

amother

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 2:10 pm

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate everyone taking the time. Yeah, I think the hardest part is all the stuff I don't realize the gluten is in, like the spices or sauces. Should I assume that if things don't have any gluten ingredients, even if it doesn't say gf, it's safe? I've noticed some of the kosher foods in my cupboard don't have whether it's gf, it just gives the ingredients. Thankfully most of the spices and sauces so far in my cupboard have all been free of obvious gluten.

I think the challah is going to be my biggest challenge. Bread, pasta and the like, I can cut out and eat other foods, but I can't not eat challah. Is molino flour better than oat flour for challos? Does anyone have a good recipe for challah I can try?

I'm being positive and trying not to see it as such a big deal and a major lifestyle change (even if it is). When I sat my kids down to explain it to them, they were really busy trying to work out which foods would still be okay for me to eat. It was really sweet. I think it's forcing me to eat healthier as I have to prepare food in advance, and I can't just grab a sandwich or some crackers.

amother

Emerald

Wed, Jan 31 2024, 3:26 pm

Think pessach
throw out soya sauce.

Sweets: Chocolate Mousse, Ice cream in all varieties, fruit salad,
Dates with massepain (almon candy dough). Caramel coated almonds or oats, chocolate coated nuts, etc.

What also works are all kinds of fruit pies, because they do not need to raise, so you can get away with gluten free flour.
Or cookies, which do not need to rise either.

For cereals you can have glutenfree oats (oats are naturally gluten free, but not all oats you buy are 100% glutenfree), either raw with milk, yogurt and fresh fruit or cooked as porridge.

Quote:

I think the challah is going to be my biggest challenge. Bread, pasta and the like, I can cut out and eat other foods, but I can't not eat challah.

For challah, people with coeliac disease are patur, as far as I know, since in most places there is no "hamotzi" which is gluten free. The gluten-free bread is not hamotzi, in general. So if you like to have something fluffy like challa, go for gluten-free bread, but don't feel obliged to do hamotzi.

Quote:

Also, if I buy gluten free flour-can I use it in my regular recipes? Or will it not work?

Probably not, because gluten is what holds the dough together, what makes it elastic and allows it to rise with yeast or baking powder.
As mentionned above, you are probably best off with pies and cookies.