*Gluten Free Hints and Tips*. I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread that has hints and tips for people who are glut

Page 4 / 52
herika, Dec 30, 4:04am
I was the same and had to go without red meat for ages, even just plain. I also had to go without any type of baking too. But Im okay with both now. Once I cut out all gluten from my diet ("hidden" gluten being the worse) my system was able to heal and I find I can now tolerate a lot of foods I couldnt eat before. Make sure you use gluten free maize cornflour for thickening sauces, as not all cornflour is gluten free :)
colb1, Dec 30, 4:30am
You help has been fantastic, thanks so much :) Next question what about a Gluten free Curry powder?
colb1, Dec 30, 4:32am
Thanks a million for your help, will look at the other thread, I use Arrowroot, have done for years.
2halls, Dec 30, 4:52am
Moshim's Asian Food Warehouse on Durham St has a wonderful curry powder that is definitely gluten free:Mida's. It comes in a jar and is on the same shelves as all the spices I think (from memory). Moshim's is also a good place to buy rice flour, finely ground cornmeal, rice etc. Prices fair, quality very good. (I'm beginning to think I should run GF shopping tours of CHCH ! He he :-)
colb1, Dec 30, 5:43am
Hehe thats not a bad idea at all, shopping is a nightmare when you can only eat/add certain things as I am fast finding out grrrr.
Hopefully it is open tomorrow, we are curry nuts in this house, the polenta sounds intersting too. I use garlic alot as flavouring, I have just made myself a dry roasted veg salad to go on top of spinach leaves, and baked fish, I am adding a little yoghurt to see what happens, plus I make a zuc soup with a little water and curry powder then whiz it, so the GF Curry powder will be interesting.
Do you have to avoid dairy products?
Next question Worcester sauce.
2halls, Dec 30, 5:54am
Yes, I don't have any dairy. Worcester sauce you need to buy Boss brand (I buy the spicy one). BTW, if you are curry nuts in your house, be prepared to spend quite a bit of time at Moshim's as you will see lots of goodies. Asian Food Warehouse on Salisbury Street is also very good, but I prefer Moshim's as Indian is more my thing than Chinese. I buy organic Signature Range rice milk, and believe it or not, it is cheaper than ALL the non organic rice milks ! I get it at Fresh Choice Barrington, but have also seen it at Countdown :-)Be very careful with soy milk, too much is NOT a good thing, particularly if you are a woman (google "soy milk + health risks" if you don't believe me).
colb1, Dec 30, 6:04am
I feel you should do shopping for people that don't have time, what a gem you are, I presume rice milk is used in place of milk? , I hardly drink or use milk, being such a novice coconut milk and cream is ok to use? as these are used alot with curries, I am guessing I think I heard the Carnation evaporated milk is better than the coconut milk, heavens I am getting confused now :(
2halls, Dec 30, 6:26am
If you can't have dairy don't touch the Carnation (that is literally evaporated MILK with goodness knows what to make it taste like coconut! ). Coconut milk/cream are fine. Another good place for you if you eat nuts/seeds/dried fruit is Snapdragon on Colombo St (Sydenham), almost opposite the Westpac bank. Their prices are excellent, and the quality of the products is second to none. They also have the cheapest top grade long grain brown rice in town (to the best of my knowledge). :-)
herika, Dec 30, 7:11pm
I use Melrose Worcester sauce, its very good :)
colb1, Dec 31, 1:42am
Thanks! ! I presume you know the right combination to make a a general flour mix, highway robbery to buy, Bin Inn seems dearer than New World.
colb1, Dec 31, 1:46am
Been out and done the shopping to have the correct products in the pantry, very tiring! ! , appreciate you giving the brands to look for, what a mindfield otherwise, Happy New Year to you :)
herika, Dec 31, 6:24am
Hint for today:Cook the whole packet of Rice Stick Noodles and save what you dont use for that meal. Make sure you rinse with cold water in a sieve. Cover with clingwrap and put in fridge. Mext day use as you would left over rice. Brilliant ! :)
natural_juse, Jan 1, 5:17am
Bump, and a question. I have been on a gluten free diet now for 6 weeks, YAY. I feel fantastic. I am starting to struggle and find things a bit harder now though. What do you normally have on hand for hunger pangs? I am normally OK at work, because I have some GF cookies and nuts, but at home the cupboards aren't stocked sufficiently yet.

It is a huge GF world out there, and I know I have only just scraped the surface with what I have learnt.
winnie15, Jan 1, 8:37am
Does bacon have gluten in it?
i had 2 pieces of streaky bacon with salad today and feel weird afterwards and then got a heap of wind... not nice.
natural_juse, Jan 1, 9:44am
I'm not 100% sure, but have just checked my bacon in the freezer (Hellers) and it doesn't. Perhaps some brands do? Hopefully someone will know the answer to this, as I would like to know also.
earthangel4, Jan 1, 10:22am
Yes bacon does have gluten in it, I can only eat bee hive,
gaspodetwd, Jan 1, 6:49pm
All the prepacked 'gluten free' labelled bacon gives my two a gluten attack - so we guess they don't clean down properly in between runs when processing.
However - if you are in Chch - the smokehouse smokes their own bacon - definitely GF. No cross contamination. Delicious. They have a cafe restaurant. And the chef manages special orders really well. We have been a quite a few times and they have been wonderful.
herika, Jan 1, 10:08pm
Hi winnie, I cant have any of the usual commercially prepared bacon, even if it has "gluten free" on it. I buy a locally made one. It may not be gluten that is the culprit but theres definately something in the bacon that gives a bad reaction (I wonder if its similar to one of the ingredients they put in ham when processing that? )
herika, Jan 1, 10:12pm
Hi, veges are good for snacks, carrots, celery, also apples and pears and other fruit is good too. I dont buy very much GF commercially preprepared and packaged food at all, its often full of nasty additives and preservatives, and expensive. Keep reading through this thread and you will find heaps of hints and tips to help you :)
winnie15, Jan 2, 6:33am
Imade this today and its yummo!
carrot cake from healthiers simple baking mix - wheat and gluten free:
1 1/2 C simple baking mix, 1/2 tsp ginger and cinnamon, 1 tsp mixed spice, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 C castor sugar, 1/2 C brown sugar, 3 large eggs, 1/2 C sultanas or raisins, 1 C sunflower or canola oil, 3/4 C chopped walnuts, 2 Tbsp desiccated coconut, 1 tsp vanilla ess, 2 C grated carrot.

Preheat oven to 180 c . Line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper and grease well.
Sift baking mix, spices and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.
Add remaining ingedients and stir until just combined. DO NOT overmix.

Pour cake batter into prepared tin and smooth surface flat.
Bake for 55 - 60 mins or until risen and set.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 mins before turning out.
Ice with cream cheese icing if desired.

Cream cheese icing:

125 g cream cheese, softened, 2 1/2 cups icing sugar, 50 g butter, softened.

I didn't ice mine as it would have been to sweet for me. . i also wrapped each peice in glad wrap and have popped them in the freezer so i'm not tempted to overeat... my new method of 'self control! '
winnie15, Jan 2, 6:35am
Herika i'm pleased with the gluten free recipe booklet i bought off you. Isure takes the guess work outta of the beginning stage!
winnie15, Jan 2, 6:39am
I bought GF cereal bar... it was the most revolting thing i've ever tasted... gross gross gross . . so i threw $6 worth of them out in the rubbish. I have raw nuts on hand and find them a great healthy snack, and of cos apples and banana's, rice crackers and rice cakes and of cos my carrot cake for a treat!
winnie15, Jan 2, 9:59am
Hair analysis for food intolerances , are they good to go on?
winnie15, Jan 2, 10:09am
i think my body isnn't too fussed on tomatoes either . . and perhaps cheese as well... . i cooked up some GF pasta and put some pasta bake sauce over it with a sprinkle of cheese. My tummy is sore and bloated and my head feels fuzzy. I think i'm going to have to do an elimanation diet and find out that way. some people swear by getting the hair tested, but i'm not so sure about that? ?
herika, Jan 2, 8:00pm
Hi winnie, I couldnt eat tomatoes for a while and now try to buy the acid free ones if available. Some cheese has a yellow food colouring in it (I forget what it is just now, but is mentioned somewhere here) that could be the problem. I have heard of people getting their hair tested but Im not sure about it either.