How To Go Gluten Free!

So, Someone Gluten Free is Coming Over for Dinner

I read a statistic that as many as 30% of the population may have a gluten-intolerance.  If that is true than over the next ten years gluten-free will become a household phrase.  Until that happens, I thought you might appreciate some pointers on how to look out for a gluten-free guest.  When I am going to dinner at someone’s home I try to give a brief education without stressing the person out.  Believe it or not you CAN cook gluten-free for people without a ton of education.

Here is what I like to tell people to help a gluten free guest have a good meal:

• Keep it simple.  Adding lots of sauces and spices complicates matters for someone living gluten-free.  Every ingredient potentially has gluten in it so the more ingredients, the greater the possibility of contamination.
• Leave sauces and salad dressings on the side.
• Avoid casseroles.  Again you have the “keep it simple” going on here.  A gluten-free person will be better off if instead of doing that chicken and broccoli casserole if you serve all the ingredients separately.  That way they can skip the ingredients that have gluten in them and eat the ones that don’t.
• Keep ALL ingredients handy for the gluten free person to reference.  We become expert at reading packaging ingredients.
• Watch out for pre-prepared foods.  Marinades, spices, and food starch are just a few places that gluten likes to hide in and that means less food for the gluten free.
• Thicken with cornstarch instead of flour.
• Put croutons on the side of the salad.  I find that people are so particular about their salads that ALL guests tend to prefer the option of putting ALL of their own toppings on.  It takes a few more bowls on the table but everyone is happy.
• Try to call the gluten free guest and run down the menu with them.  Some people are less sensitive (those with celiac can’t have any exposure to gluten) so allow the guest to let you know what will and won’t work for them.
• Keep the buns and meat separate.  If the hotdogs or hamburgers aren’t already put on buns, the gluten free person will have a much easier time eating.
• Keep dessert simple.  Most ice cream, especially the higher quality brands, is gluten free.  Do a container of vanilla (some of the additions can have gluten) and a container of a soy cream option (there are some really tasty ones out there) so people who are dairy free can indulge too.  Include some cut up fresh fruit and maybe other fun toppings so everyone can create their own dessert.  There are also some really good gluten free packaged foods available like brownie or cake mixes.  I have found these to be about as easy as other traditional mixes and quite tasty for both the gluten free and regular folks.
• Make sure you avoid cross-contamination.  Wash all pans, knives, measuring utensils, containers, or cutting boards that had something with gluten on them (like bread, soy sauce, flour, etc.) before using for something else.
• Don’t feel bad that you are serving a few things that contain gluten.  Most gluten free folks understand that the world enjoys gluten-containing products.  As long as there is enough to fill out bellies, we are happy.  If the meal is actually balanced where we can enjoy an appetizer, veggie, carb, protein, and dessert…it is our lucky day!
• Know that the gluten free person may have other food issues too so it is helpful to consult with them (and really with all guests) so you don’t inadvertently avoid gluten but put in something else that can be equally harmful or that they plain don’t like or don’t eat for religious reasons.  Many people have allergies to particular tree nuts, dairy, preservatives, artificial colorings, or tropical fruits.

Here are a few things to make sure you avoid, keep completely separate, or ask the gluten free guest if they have a gluten free version they can bring along for the meal.

• ALL wheat flour and products containing wheat flour (enriched, whole wheat, cracked wheat, white flour, all of it)
• soy sauce (this one surprises most people)
• multi-grain chips or packaged, pre-seasoned rice dishes
• pastas
• spelt, barley, rye, graham, kamut, semolina, durum, triticale grains or flours
• licorice (another surprise)
• oats (some gluten free folks can tolerate them)
• beer (there are gluten-free options, some taste horrible; I like “Red Bridge”)
• breadings/coatings
• cereals
• vegetarian meat substitutes
• self-basting poultry

Know that “wheat free” does not mean gluten free.  Here is a simple menu you can see as an example of what to serve:

Appetizer: Veggies and dip (keep the container handy), hummus with corn chips (keep the container handy), guacamole with corn chips

Beverages: Wine, sparkling water, and fruit juice

Main meal: Baked chicken with fresh herbs, salt, and olive oil; mashed potatoes and gravy (thickened with cornstarch); steamed broccoli with butter, salt and pepper; spinach salad with toppings and dressings on the side.

Main meal #2: Mexican feast with plain refried beans, non-seasoned chicken strips, and seasoned ground beef (keep the seasoning ingredients handy), corn tortillas, taco shells, and all your favorite toppings on the side so folks can build their own.

Dessert: Poached pears or baked apples.

Dessert #2: Fresh fruit with real whipped cream.

You likely already serve gluten-free meals and don’t even know it!  If you like to experiment, ask your guest for recipes or try converting some of your own.  Have fun and go easy on yourself.  Having guests for dinner is about enjoying time with you or guests, not stressing over the meal!

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Gluten Free Living

I often am asked “so what can you eat”? or “what does it mean to be gluten-free”?  I admit that I was a bit intimidated when I was first diagnosed.  My doctor’s instructions were to “experiment” and when I asked him what would happen if I ate gluten, he said “you will probably feel uncomfortable.  If you choose to have gluten from time to time you may end up feeling the consequences.”

By this time I had already learned that I was negative for Celiac.  If I had been diagnosed with Celiac I would not have had such an option.  From what I understand about what is understood for people with Celiac is that they are at a much higher risk of developing digestive cancers.  Because gluten actually stays in our bodies for at least two weeks once it is consumed, if you cheat a couple times a month you are never fully ridding your body of the gluten response.

One of the gluten responses is inflammation.  Not like the swelling of the neck that some people get when they eat peanuts or are stung by a bee.  It causes inflammation of the digestive track and joints.  My fingers used to ache pretty frequently and because arthritis runs in my family I thought that was what the problem was.  When I went gluten-free my achy joints went away.

It was quite a learning process to figure out all the things I needed to avoid.  There are still some that sneak up and surprise me.  It is the most concerning eating out or at someone’s house.  The more gluten has been removed from my diet, the stronger my bodies response has become.  Gluten is not welcome here anymore.

For example, initially I continued to eat at Chinese restaurants.  You may not know it but gluten is in soy sauce.  I always had that “not quite full, odd feeling in my stomach” when I ate Chinese food but I didn’t think anything of it.  When I eliminated breads and other obvious gluten foods I found that my response to Chinese food became stronger.   I would feel like maybe I was getting a stomach bug with some cramping and discomfort and then usually diarrhea within 12-24 hours and then my joints would be achy again.  When you make the association like that, you find the cravings become easier and easier to resist.

So what do I avoid?  ALL wheat products including breads, flour tortillas, pastas (Semolina and Durum are types of wheat).  Other grains I avoid are: barley, rye, graham, oats (they are cross-contaminated with wheat unless specifically listed as “gluten-free” and I found over time I developed a reaction to them as I got other gluten foods out of diet), spelt (some gluten-free people eat this but it gives me a reaction and it is a type of wheat).  Standard foods I avoid: noodles, cornbread (because it is almost always cooked with a portion of wheat flour), breaded foods (like deep-fried veggies), soy sauce (unless wheat is not an ingredient), and licorice (yes, it has wheat in it about 98% of the time), gravies, sauces that are thickened, beer (Red Bridge is my favorite gluten-free beer).

What do I read the labels on or ask the person who cooked it?  Soups, salad dressings, casseroles, cheese spreads, sauces, vegetarian meat substitutes, supplements, protein or meal bars, snack chips (Doritoes have wheat in them as do Pringles), pretty much any processed food.  You would be surprised where wheat shows up.

That said, there are lots of things I eat.  I will cover that in a new post.

Technorati Tags: gluten free foods, gluten sources

Gluten in Home Cooked Meals

My sister-in-law is a wonderful woman and I am fortunate to have such a loving and caring woman in my life.  I know whenever we get together for dinner at her house we are throwing her a curveball because of my gluten intolerance and both my husband and I are vegetarians as well. 

The biggest challenge I find in my sister-in-law’s home cooked meals is she loves casseroles (and I do too!).  Many casseroles call for creamed or other canned soups.  In fact, I recently heard that when Campbells first came out with their creamed soups they weren’t designed to be soups at all but sauces.  That has certainly become the case in many casserole recipes.   Casseroles often add breadcrumbs or may have a main ingredient of noodles and some people may not realize that “egg noodles” are actually wheat.

In addition to casseroles, and of course any bread, rolls, or pasta, there are other places where gluten may show up in a home cooked meal that otherwise looks safe:

• Marinades are a trouble spot because of the frequent addition of soy sauce or other wheat or malt flavorings.  This includes some pre-cooked chicken and some lunchmeats.
• Breading is something to be avoided since 99% of the time it is wheat (this includes panko which is the Asian-style breading and “beer battered” which has beer in the batter but is wheat-based).
• Any sauce should be investigated for ingredients, especially if it is thick (such as alfredo).  This includes creamed vegetables.  Vegetables can still be creamed using milk and cornstarch or substitute arrowroot or tapioca but if the person cooking is familiar or comfortable with these applications they have likely used flour.  Sauces that are not thick have the possibility of having soy sauce in them, another common source of gluten.
• Soups, especially creamed or thick soups, will often have wheat in them.  Or they may have noodles or orzo (which looks like rice but is wheat).
• Desserts are especially problematic, including some ice cream.  Many special flavors of ice cream (like cookies and cream) have wheat in them.  Always read the label to be sure.
• Prepared salad dressings are another source of gluten although if you make your own, the likelihood of gluten being in there is very small (unless you include soy sauce).

There are many modifications that can be made when you are cooking for yourself or if you have family or friends who are open and interested in learning new cooking techniques.  Home cooked meals can be gluten-free and tasty, it just takes a little more education and effort.

Where gluten hides on food labels

Thanks to the labeling laws getting more and more clear there are fewer places where gluten can hide in the list of ingredients.  For example, food starch is a common ambiguous term that may or may not mean wheat.  In addition, sometimes a company will use a strain of wheat that isn’t as common or that makes it sound fancy and may cause you to question if it is wheat or not (such as “Einkorn” or “Semolina” or “Triticale”).  Of course you also want to avoid any barley, rye, or oat products.

Watch out for Aisan dishes as they often contain a lot of ingredients and the soy sauce may be hidden in the middle of the list.  I have found that in general Thai and Indian food are less likely than Chinese to have wheat in them.  You still want to read the labels or check with the kitchen every time.

The longer the list of ingredients, the more processing that probably happened to produce that “food” product and the less healthy it probably is for you.  That is a good general rule around label-reading. 

For people with gluten-intolerance they can be a little more lax on label reading, if they choose to and are willing to accept the consequences.  For those with Celiac, they really need to be clear about the safety of a food before they purchase it.  For example:

¨     Vitamin E is sometimes processed with wheat germ oil.  This is a concern not only for Vitamin E supplements but also shortenings which may contain Vitamin E.

¨     Shortening: See the Vitamin E explanation above.

¨     Spices: Straight spices are pretty much always gluten-free because it is just the spice as the only ingredient.  For spice blends you may run into gluten as an additive. 

¨     Pudding: May contain barley malt for flavoring and/or wheat starch.

¨     Cereal: May contain any number of wheat grains and/or non-gluten-free oats; may contain malt flavoring.

¨     Rice Syrup: May contain barley enzymes.

¨     Brewer’s Yeast: often processed with wort, a fermented barley.

¨     MSG: May contain wheat, especially if produced outside the United States.

¨     HVP/TVP Hydrogenated Vegetable Protein or Textured Vegetable Protein*

¨     Natural Flavor*

¨     Stabilizers*

¨     Fillers*

¨     Vegetable Gums*

¨     Monoglycerides*

¨     Diglycerides*

¨     Modified Food Starch*

* By “ingredient” alone you cannot tell what the raw materials are so you cannot determine if gluten is or is not an ingredient.  Contact the company, especially if you are highly sensitive or have Celiac.

Cross contamination is also a concern since the same equipment may be used to process both gluten and non-gluten products.  If you contact the company they will be able to tell you if a product is produced in a dedicated gluten-free facility or what kind of cleaning the equipment goes through.

It is important to stay on top of labels and any concerns you may have.  Food manufacturers can change their ingredients with every batch if they choose to so you always need to read labels.  Manufacturers are recognizing the purchasing power of those with gluten-intolerance and Celiac Disease and they are getting much better about voluntary labeling.

Technorati Tags: food labels, gluten, gluten free