Food options have never been a problem for me in the gluten-free life, even with my additional dietary restrictions and having to give up eating out at restaurants. With all the other things in the gluten-free life that cause me difficulty and stress, food options are the absolute least of my worries. They were actually the easiest part of my adjustment.
I’ve spent some time looking at blogs and other sites where people discuss whether or not the gluten-free diet is hard or easy, mainly focusing on food options and what to eat. Some of these people would tell readers to think about all the things they can eat and not focus on what they can’t. In a way, this is funny to me because I never really thought that I wouldn’t have options or things I could eat. I wasn’t afraid and definitely felt up to the challenge. Many fast-food restaurants had information readily available concerning gluten ingredients in their foods. Meals were no more difficult to plan than they were before I went gluten-free. I had the internet at my fingertips. I was able to go online to find information I needed about baking with gluten-free flours, gluten-free recipes, etc. and was able to figure out how to convert regular wheat flour recipes to gluten-free. From the outset, I knew I could find gluten-free products at the store. Many of these replacement products were pretty decent and were just as good if not better than their gluten counterparts.
Early on, when I thought I could eat at fast-food joints, I would find items on their websites that had no gluten and would order those. If I got tired of salads, there was chili and baked potato at Wendy’s and tostadas at Taco Bell. I could also get baked or broiled fish and veggie plates at Captain D’s. I loved getting salads at Subway because of the variety of veggies that could be added. Without the bread, I could order higher-calorie meats like steak to go on my salads. At Hardee’s, I could get a hamburger with a lettuce wrap instead of a bun. Many other places, although the people behind the counters would look at you strange, would fix up your sandwich without a bun or make other things according to your specifications. I actually felt safest eating at fast-food joints during this period because I had the ability to look up food items online beforehand and plan what I would order before I actually went.
I’ve never had trouble throwing together a quick meal, although when it comes to food I’m not very picky and am actually pretty easy to please. I would either heat single servings of frozen vegetables in the microwave or cook them in boiling water on the stove. I would season them with butter (or other alternatives when I went dairy-free for a while), salt, and pepper. I found sauces to flavor my meats, but when I had to eliminate vinegar, I began using McCormick’s seasoning mixes, which work really well and saved me from having to eat meats plain. Sometimes I may even just pour a small can of pork-and-beans, a small can of mixed vegetables (drained), and a small container of microwaveable rice together in a bowl, stir it, heat it up, and eat it. It actually makes a tasty and satisfying meal. For meals at work, I may take cut fruit and a fat/protein like sausage, cottage cheese, yogurt, or peanut/nut/seed butter for breakfast. For lunch, I may mix a protein (meat or bean), some veggies, pasta sauce, and a gluten-free pasta or quinoa in a dish for heating. Sometimes, when I need something quick, I might crack open a can of one of Amy’s soups or chilis and pour that into a container for heating. One of my favorite sandwiches is to put some homemade pimento cheese (made with vinegar-free mayonnaise) inside a gluten-free wrap. I pack a fruit and maybe some chips/crackers as well to go along with lunch. For potlucks, parties, and other similar gatherings, I’ve found it easy just to bring along a frozen dinner/entree to heat up if there’s a microwave available. These times are usually in addition to the times I have to make my meals for work, and I don’t usually feel like preparing something by hand at those times. It’s nice to have a break. Amy’s Kitchen is my go-to brand, but I also love EVOL and Cedar Lane, as well as a few others. Frozen dinners, canned soups, etc. are also what I now go to for “takeout”, since I no longer eat at fast-food joints. I’ll just run to the grocery store to pick up something while others go to their favorite fast food joints to pick out their meals.
I may have only bought one gluten-free cookbook that I can recall. I actually find it easier to convert my church cookbook recipes to gluten-free. These recipes are simple to start with and almost always use ingredients that I already have on hand. If I needed something the church cookbooks couldn’t provide, I could easily do an internet search for what I needed and be able to find something relatively quickly. When I first started gluten-free baking, I was able to go online and find information on how to incorporate gluten-free flours into a recipe developed for regular wheat flour. My first time baking gluten-free, I tried converting a brownie recipe to gluten-free by using two parts sorghum flour to one part cornstarch with the appropriate amount of xanthan gum. It turned out great. I also like to use one part sorghum flour, one part white rice flour, and one part cornstarch. This mix has worked really well for the other things in which I’ve used it also. Converting regular wheat flour recipes to gluten-free recipes can be quite fun and satisfying. It’s wonderful when everyone tries what I make and ends up loving it.
I know a lot of people don’t seem to like the gluten-free replacement products, but I’ve liked most everything I’ve tried. The bread could be better, but I can deal with it fine. I just wish the slices were bigger and that the loaves were not so expensive. I just don’t eat many sandwiches so that I don’t have to buy bread constantly. Corn thins and rice cakes work okay for bread sometimes. The cookies I’ve tried are good, and many of the baking mixes have worked out just fine. Where they haven’t, I’ve managed to find alternatives. Bob’s Red Mill pancake mix wasn’t all that great to me, and when I found a church cookbook pancake recipe that turned out really well converted to gluten-free, I just decided to use that recipe and not even buy a mix to save money. I’ve never had any issues with the gluten-free pastas I’ve tried either. To me, they’re just as good if not better than the traditional wheat pastas. I’ve tried pastas made from corn, rice, and even beans. There are a lot of snack options available as well. I really love the fruit and nut bars that Larabar puts out. Kind and NoGii are other good brands.
I don’t believe anyone needing to be gluten-free needs to worry about food options. There’s so much available now, and many more mainstream stores have gluten-free sections or are stocking gluten-free products. Certified gluten-free products seem to be becoming more and more commonplace. Fruits, vegetables, and meats are of course naturally gluten-free. Of course, there are going to be foods for which no good alternatives exist, like Krispy Kreme doughnuts, one of the things I miss the most. There are good gluten-free doughnut alternatives out there, but they’re just not the same. If no products exist, then at least most of the time, the food item can be made gluten-free. It should be easy enough to go online and search for a recipe, which is what I do when I need something gluten-free that I can’t find at the store. There’s a ton of information out there to help anyone get started.
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