Being Gluten-Free on the Fly
How can I substitute on the fly? You may have figured out by now that life is a bit more complex being gluten-free. Pre-planning is very important, especially for those times when life gets really busy. Substitute on the fly by keeping a little stockpile of easy gluten-free snacks and foods in your car, your desk at work, and your pantry (put it in the back so you don’t eat all your “easy” foods when you actually have the time to cook). I also like to freeze extras of big meals that I make so I have options and I don’t need to cook from scratch every day.
If things are especially busy for you try to keep your meals as simple as possible, whether in a restaurant or someone else’s home. For example:
- Ask if you can have your sandwich wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves instead of bread (and prepared on it’s own plate rather than the regular prep area that has all kinds of cross contamination). Get condiments on the side.
- Use frozen gluten-free waffles, pancakes, or corn tortillas to substitute as bread or in recipes calling for bread.
- In a restaurant, try to go with the house-made dressing because the chef will know all the ingredients and can tell you with certainty if it has an gluten-containing ingredients in it.
- Instead of using pita pieces or crackers for dips and cheese, use corn chips or potato chips (read the bags to make sure they are gluten-free).
- Choose the most simple and natural form of food available. Select the fresh fruit salad rather than the fruit crisp (almost certainly contains gluten) or go with the steamed veggies rather than the veggie casserole (highly likely that it contains bread crumbs, noodles, and/or creamed soup).
- Know what chain restaurants are the most gluten-free friendly. Outback and Chilis both have gluten-free menus available and more restaurants are adding them everyday. Keep in mind your order may take a little longer than others.
- Snack on fresh popped popcorn with a good cheddar cheese.
If you are highly sensitive OR you have Celiac, you need to be much more careful about cross contamination and be more thorough on your ingredients. It is remarkable to me as I watch people serve themselves food how easy it is for cross-contamination to happen. You need to look out for yourself so you don’t end up in a world of hurt.
November 03 2009 11:00 am | Uncategorized