I just posted this for someone else...but!

If you or a friend of yours becomes gluten intolerant, please do keep this post in mind. I'll add to it whenever I get a question. I know I still need to cover pastas (a lot of them suck..) and recipes and stuff :)



RESTURAUNTS AND EATING OUT

You are looking at a loooot of Mexican- it is inherently more gluten free when authentic. Qdoba's is great, I like the nachos they have there a lot- it's more or less a burrito but instead of a flour tortilla they put in a ton of corn chips and tasty queso. Just about any Mexican place that has any authenticity, you can trust their 'hard' tacos and tacostadas and the corn chips. If the corn chips look woo whitish, or if they dont have that corn aftertaste, stop eating. Naked (tortilla-less) burritos are good too, but I feel you get more for your money out of nachos.

Quiznos salads may be your best friend. Tell them no flatbread and ask them to send the meat and cheese through the oven. My personal favorite is the Black and Blue. If you make it a meal, avoid the sun chips :( sadness..

In sports bars and American food joints, if you cant get a satisfactory salad, they usually can do buffalo wings -breading. the Adkins diet actually did a lot to help celiac folk, many places wont question you if you ask for something minus the bread or breading.

Avoid soy sauces. :( La Choy is a safe brand, most Chinese joints use Kikkomen though which does contain wheat. Seitan is another name for wheat gluten, which they fry like tofu. In general if it's sort of brown, dont eat it. Moo Goo Gai Pan is safe, and to be honest I try not to think too hard on the fried rice and grin and bear the consequences :( no noodles, Hot and Sour Soup is iffy, egg drop is okay usually, as are clear broths in general. The whole range of barbecued stuff is usually a-ok, and unless the resturaunt is more american than chinese, it's very possible they use rice flour to bread their breaded items. Ask!! The waiter can usually tell you or ask the chef, and rice is actually a better breading medium than flour.

Italian...you're kind of screwed. Basic meat dishes, salad -croûtons, stick to oil and vinegar because a lot of places use wheat gluten to stabilize their dressings T.T Also gravies and white sauces are very dangerous. Avoid Italian whenever you can, it's an exercise in sadness :(

I've heard Outback has a gluten free menu...but I cant verify this.


SHOPPING

Breads. There are a lot of varieties of breads for celiac's...DONT BUY "FOOD FOR LIFE"! it's like a damn brick! A lot of gluten free breads require toasting to be really edible, but that brand just sucks. Unfortunately it's also very, very common. Glutino and the whole foods house brands are what you want- and they even make nummy scones and fresh cookies too! Unfortunatley I have yet to find a good french bread.

Last but certainly not least...Pizza. At whole foods they sell a few brands of pizza and pizza crust. The crusts are kinda meh, but, there's one brand that pretty much only puts out a three cheese and a spinach pizza that is awesome. It's better than some wheat pizzas I've eated. George's is okay too, it's more expensive thought and not quite as good. If you arent vegan, double check gluten free foods to make sure the dairy in them is real, as nice as it is that there are gluten free options for vegans....it just doesn't help the taste or consistency for omnivores and vegetarians :P

ALCOHOL


Watch your alcohols. All hard liquors (gin, rum, bourbon, whiskey) are safe. Beer is not. Malted is not. I have found that good hard ciders more than replace beer- you just have to find the right one. Woodchuck is too sweet for me, although the Dark and Dry is tasty and the Amber is good from time to time. My favorites are Strongbow, followed by Original Sin, followed by K. K is cheap as hell, by the way. I advise against the Woodchuck Pear cider (vomity aftertaste), Hornsby, and absolutely the worst cider I've ever drank, Woodpecker. Beware specialty ciders that say they are organic or old fashioned- usually all that means is you get apple chunks and they are selling you normal apple cider that they let sit in a cupboard. :X

Mead is also usually A-ok, but do check it for rye, barley and wheat. I had some honey meads at Nambroth's place that was delicious..

Wine is across the board A-ok. One thing I've found about gluten free life is that since you cannot have a lot of junk foods, you tend to drink a little more :/ not a lot more, just a little. It's probably still better for you.

CANDIES/SNACKS

First off....
Red no.5. I'm sorry. Red 5 and a lot of red dyes are derived from wheat :( I just avoid pretty much all red processed foods. The confectioner's glaze on M&M's and a lot of "____ in a candy shell!" type things? Yeah. Wheat+dye+sugar+water. The good news is that cheesy poofs and potato chips and rice cakes are pretty much safe- do check it if it has a flavor coating though, ESPECIALLY RANCH. Wheat is often used as a binder to keep the spices on the chip. Doritos is especially bad about that- fortunately they have plenty that are okay including Nacho Cheesier. Generally, non-red hard candies are fine. Chewy candies need to be checked. Mentos is completely off limits, sorry :( Reese's peanut butter cups are fine, though, if you like those :) Nut thins you can even get in Target, they are amazing. Even if you dont like nuts. try them.

CEREAL

Woe was me when I realized I couldent have Cheerios anymore. For cereal I recommend Cream of Rice for hot cereal. Add butter, salt and brown sugar, it's good. Oatmeal is very, very risky- the jury is out on whether oats are okay but most celiacs avoid oats.

Enviro Kids makes a couple gluten free things. Peanutbutter Panda Puffs are good :3 Also, Barbara's makes "Puffins", which come in a variety of flavors and are delicious. Puffed rice and corn flakes are fine, rice crispies are fine, corn and rice chex are fine. Corn pops are not, along with a huge list of others :(

Lately I've been Friendship brand California Style Cottage Cheese, mixing it with hass avocado and sprinkling it with brewer's yeast for breakfast. Eat that with some nut thins or spread it on toasted Glutino flax bread. Yum.



IN GENERAL-

Remember that;

You need to take vitamins like B vitamins to replace what you would have gotten from wheat.

Most people are so dumbfounded about this allergy that I dont think they think when they ask what you can eat. I know, I know. "You cant eat wheat?! What about bread? Donuts? Bagels? OMG YOU CANT EAT BAGLES WHAT ABOUT MUFFINS?!!" They are just trying to wrap their heads around it. It does show how much of a disconnect there is between some people and their food though.

You will become wretchedly tired of salads. Dont be afraid to ask the waiter about altering things- like potroast sans gravy and biscuits and so on. If you need to, explain that this isnt a fad or a choice, it's medical. Ask if they have an Allergen Information Sheet if it's a chain place- at best you'll have a checklist right there for you and at worst..you'll have my experience where the guy thought I wanted a Braille menu. Oh, south carolina...

After a year or so, you do forget a bit what wheat was like, and that helps. You dont think about it as much and the wheat free foods you have taste better to you. Right now, I only really, really miss two things- convenience and french bread with brie.

Always always read the ingredients before you buy something.

Modified Food Starch on a label= wheat gluten :(

Xantham Gum is 12$ for a small pack...but it is used in teaspoon increments and it makes a world of difference.

Whole foods is your friend. There are gluten free grocers online that ship by the cooler, but honestly you are better off shopping at whole foods for the gluten free items or baking them yourself. Sadly, Trader Joe's isnt awesome with the gluten free thing.