Gluten free - what's allowed/what avoid?

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• sueh21 Posts: 2,565

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  29/03/14 - 00:10 #2

  My husband was diagnosed gluten intolerant last year, it's a tricky diet but gluten free foods and places to eat out are becoming much more readily available.
  The most difficult thing is bread, it's expensive and not very nice. He has found the Genius brand to be the best for sandwiches,others just fall apart and are only fit for toast. For packed lunches he has salads, the rice sachets you can do in the microwave and jacket potatoes. A lot of ready made sandwich fillers are fine but you have to check the ingredients as sometimes recipes change with no warning. Supermarket own brand crisps tend to be ok (chees and onion and salt and vinegar)but Walkers for example are made in a factory with gluten.
  Nairns gluten free oatcakes and crackers are fine and Black Farmers daughter brand sausages. Our local Tesco superstore seems to have the widest range of gluten free goods including frozen fish fingers, pies and pizza which are ok for a quick meal.
  Things we have to be careful about is contamination e.g the family toaster, he uses toaster bags, has his own butter/marg and we are careful about jam and marmalade etc,e.g not spreading on normal bread and then putting the knife back in the jar.
  He has to plan ahead a bit if we are out for the day and take his own supply of snacks.
  Eating out is getting easier, most places are gluten aware. The big pizza chains Pizza express, Ask, Prezzos have pasta and pizza available. Nando's is fine.
  Good luck with the diet, hope you don't have to stay on it. On the plus side my hubby is feeling much better and has lost weight.

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• Revenga Posts: 11,321

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  29/03/14 - 00:35 #3

  Serve to Win: The 14-Day Gluten-free Plan for Physical and Mental Excellence by Novak Djokovic
  
  ETA: I realise this is a pretty unhelpful contribution, but I just so happened to notice the very reasonable price at the same time as reading this thread.

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• evil c Posts: 7,833

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  29/03/14 - 03:35 #4

  Just to say that B&M frequently have expensive gluten free biscuits that they sell very cheaply and are delicious. Worth a browse for other gluten free products at bargain prices too. I love B&M! Off topic but this week they have organic unrefined cane sugar 500g 59p. I've stocked up.

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• RootsFran Posts: 510

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  29/03/14 - 17:52 #5

  Asda are doing a Gluten free wrap that is great for packed lunches, also great if you follow Slimming World as counds as a healthy extra B or 4.5 syns.

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• jaymmu Posts: 57

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  30/03/14 - 21:45 #6

  ASDA now stock some of the Udi's range. They're quite a big gluten free brand in America and I've had their bagels and pop tarts from ASDA. They also now stock gluten free pastry in the frozen food aisle.
  The other thing I do is to make Vietnamese rice paper rolls or sushi for lunch.

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• Des leader Posts: 226

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  30/03/14 - 22:40 #7

  Doves bakery do a great line of gluten free flour and bakery products. Ive made their madeira cake and no one has noticed any difference

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• mounty Posts: 19,155

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  30/03/14 - 22:48 #8

  you have to be really careful with a gluten free diet and check the ingredients of everything, even unexpected foods like crisps, corn chips, cooking sauce, dipping sauce.
  
  you even need to check the ingredients in the items on the 'free from' section in the supermarkets as those products are 'free from something' but not necessarily gluten (eg some products are free from eggs or milk or nuts).
  
  the best option is to buy staple gluten free bread, cereal and pasta and then cook meat and veg from scratch. and dont eat out while youre on it as it's very difficult

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